AL- Victim, shooter identified in Good Hope murder

Posted in Related Deaths

4-6-2009 Alabama:

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of the victim and shooter involved in a murder-suicide in Good Hope Saturday evening.

Cullman Sheriff Tyler Roden confirmed Sunday that Sarah Francis Smithson Wren, 63, was shot and killed outside her home in a trailer park on Megan Lane. Roden also confirmed Johnny Ellis Mayo, 46, of Good Hope as the shooter.

Deputies received a call concerning a shooting in Good Hope at approximately 8 p.m.

Roden said Mayo, who also lived on Megan Lane, walked across the street to Wren’s residence and shot her with a 12-gauge shotgun while she was on her front porch. Roden said Mayo then walked to the back yard of his own house and shot himself.

FL- Former Findlay man found dead in Florida jail

4-30-2009 Florida:

A former Findlay man was found dead last week a Florida jail after apparently committing suicide.

The Tampa Tribune newspaper reports 31-year-old Jeremy Lunn was found hanging by a sheet in his jail cell on April 23rd.

Lunn was being held on charges including driving under the influence, burglary, fraudulent use of a credit card and resisting arrest without violence.

He was in the process of being extradited to Ohio at the time of his death.

Lunn, a Florida sex offender, had an outstanding warrant out of Hancock County Common Pleas Court for failing to register his residency with the sheriff's office in February 2008. ..Source.. by WFIN.com

MD- Sexual Abuse Suspect Found Dead in New Carrollton

4-28-2009 Maryland:

A Howard County man wanted since last week on charges of sexually abusing a young family friend was found dead today of an apparent suicide in New Carrollton, authorities said.

George N. Kiriacon, 50, of the 10600 block of Whiterock Court in Laurel was found just after 10:30 a.m. in his truck in the garage of a home in the 5700 block of 85th Avenue. Police did not say how he died.

Police said they had been told Kiriacon was at the residence, but they did not immediately explain his connection to the home.

Last week, Howard police began searching for Kiriacon after a boy reported Kiriacon, a family friend, had abused him over a period of four years, beginning when the boy was 8 years old. The boy said Kiriacon had engaged in various sexual acts with him at Kiriacon's Laurel residence.

Kiriacon was charged with child sexual abuse, three counts of second-degree sex offenses and other offenses.

Yesterday, Howard police announced a $1,000 reward for information leading to Kiriacon's arrest and issued a press release containing his photo.

Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said detectives are still investigating whether Kiriacon might have victimized other children and are asking any other possible victims to come forward. Kiriacon also owned a home in Capon Bridge, W.Va., and was known to frequent that area.

An autopsy on Kiriacon's body is scheduled for tomorrow. ..Source.. by Aaron C. Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer

MI- Convicted sex offender found dead in Oakland County Jail

4-27-2009 Michigan:

Pontiac -- Authorities are investigating the jail death of a 64-year-old convicted sex offender from Brandon Township who, along with his wife, was charged with the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl.

William Arthur Keely was found about 5:30 a.m. Monday in his Oakland County Jail cell, where he apparently cut his wrists with a sharp object and bled to death, according to a preliminary investigation.

Keely was awaiting trial on three counts of child sexual abuse activity, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; providing pornography to a child; being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a five-year sentence; and a mandatory two-year sentence for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

His wife, Margaret Keely, 53, who is an Oxford High School teacher, is charged with failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail.

Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said the alleged victim, an Oxford High student, said she was befriended by Margaret Keely at school in 2006 when she was a freshman and introduced to William Keely. She said she was invited to the Keelys' house to do odd jobs and has worked for the couple for two years. She said Keely invited her over to the couple's house June 26, and while they watched a movie together, he sexually assaulted her. She told police she fled the house and drove home. She later reported the incident to authorities.

The girl told authorities William Keely paid her money to test sexual devices and submit a survey of her experience.

According to Oakland Circuit Court files, that activity is very similar to another teenage victim's claims in 2000. A 14-year-old foster daughter living in the Keelys' home then said Keely also asked her to try out bras, panties and sexual arousal devices and then critique and rate the products.

The foster daughter contacted authorities after claiming to have had sexual intercourse with Keely twice in the home. A jury found him guilty of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, but the conviction was dismissed on appeal and he was granted a second trial in which he pled no contest to a lesser charge, received a one-year jail sentence -- with credit for time served -- and was placed on two years probation with various conditions. He was placed on the state's sexual offender registry in 2002. ..Source.. by Mike Martindale / The Detroit News

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Oxford man apparently commits suicide in Oakland Co. jail

4-27-2009 Michigan:

Oakland County Sheriff Deputies are investigating the apparent suicide of a 65-year-old Oxford man in the Oakland County Jail.

William Arthur Keely was awaiting trial on rape and weapons charges when he died in his single cell. Deputies found him dead at about 5:25 a.m. today.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Keely used a small piece of metal from a soft cast that was on his wrist because of a tendon injury.

“He apparently used it to inflict wounds upon himself that caused his death,” Bouchard said in a statement. “He did leave a suicide note in his cell.”

Deputies arrested Keely June 30 after a 16-year-old girl told police he invited her to his home, watched an adult movie with her and raped her.

The girl had done odd jobs for Keely and his wife, Margaret, who taught the girl at Oxford High School.

Margaret Keely is charged with failing to report child abuse. ..Source.. by JOHN WISELY • Free Press Staff Writer

CA- Suspected molester commits suicide in jail

4-27-2009 California:

A judge on March 9 quietly dismissed the child molestation charges against a former Ramona youth softball and basketball coach because the defendant died while in jail in an apparent suicide.

In documents released by the San Diego Medical Examiner’s office, it was determined that James Russell Phillips, 42, died from a prescription drug overdose on Dec. 17, 2008. Although it was initially believed that Phillips had a heart attack, a toxicological testing determined the cause of death as “acute doxepin intoxication.”

Suicide was listed in the autopsy report as the manner of death. The report said the level of the prescription drugs was “explained only by intentional ingestion of excess medication.”

“His death was a suicide by using or taking too much medication,” said Lt. Dennis Brugos, of the sheriff’s department, last week.

Toxicological reports take a long time to process, and the autopsy was performed because Phillips was an inmate.

Phillips had been housed in the George Bailey Detention Facility for almost a year. On Dec. 17, he went into convulsions. The report said his head and neck were twitching and he was transported to Sharp Chula Vista Hospital, where he died.

Phillips, who lived in Julian, was arrested in March 2008, and charged with molesting five girls. Phillips was a volunteer coach. The Ramona Unified School District issued a statement after his arrest that said Phillips had never worked with the district.

The coaching he did also included soccer. All of the games and training were done in Ramona and Julian.

The death certificate was presented to El Cajon Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh on March 9 by Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso and he dismissed the case. The March 9 date was the trial date.

Phillips’ attorney, Arturo Herrera, said he was stunned to learn that Phillips may have committed suicide. Herrera said he believed his client died of a heart attack and did not know of the medical examiner’s report until a reporter called him last week.

“He was in fine spirits. He was looking forward to going to trial. We had character witnesses lined up,” said Herrera. “We had witnesses who put him somewhere else (when the molestation occurred).”

“We were getting ready to put up a good defense,” said Herrera.

Herrera said he remembered Phillips having trouble getting medical treatment for a sore shoulder and only getting aspirin. The medical examiner’s report said Phillips did not have a prescription for any drug while in jail.

The report said Phillips had a history of depression and anxiety, but there was no suicide note found. The report said last year Phillips asked his mother if his life insurance would pay benefits in the event of a suicide.

Medical personnel attempted to save Phillips. The autopsy report says he had a lip laceration, a contusion on his chest, and rib fractures that were “all due to intubation and attempted resuscitation.”

Phillips was ordered to stand trial on seven felony counts in a preliminary hearing held in June, 2008. Although there were five victims, two of them recanted previous statements about Phillips. Grasso said the victims were between the ages of nine to 12 years old. The charges said the molestation occurred in 2006 and 2007.

Phillips had pleaded not guilty and both sides said even before Phillips’ death that the case would only be resolved with a trial. ..Source.. by Neal Putnam

NH- Man killed in Lakes Region crash faced trial

4-25-2009 New Hampshire:

SANDWICH – A man who died in a single-vehicle crash on Squam Lake Road Friday morning was facing trial on four charges of equipment theft later this year in Carroll County Superior Court.

State Police said that Andrew Alimonti, 52, of Moultonborough, was a passenger in a 1991 Pontiac Firebird being driven by Scott Condit, 39, of Conway, which was westbound and went off the right side of the roadway shortly after 7 a.m. and collided with a tree.

Police said Alimonti died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash, which took place less than a half mile east of the Sandwich town beach on Squam Lake. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Medical Examiner Will Bartels.

Condit was transported to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia where police say he is being treated for serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Police said the accident is still under investigation but it does not appear that excessive speed or alcohol contributed to the crash.

Alimonti was indicted last year on four counts of receiving stolen property according to Carroll County Attorney Robin Gordon, who said the cases had not yet been scheduled for trial.

She said Alimonti had also been arrested in 2008 for failure to register as a sex offender with the Moultonborough Police Department.

Three weeks ago Moultonborough Police recovered a SUV belonging to Alimonti from a 15-foot-deep hole on his property on Dufault Road property.

Lt. Thomas Dawson of the Moultonborough Police Department said that the SUV belonged to Alimonti but police did not believe he was the person who buried it.

Dawson said Friday that the investigation into the incident is continuing.

Police were alerted to the buried vehicle following an incident at Alimonti’s property on March 31 in which a tenant, Michael Salsman, 34, allegedly beat his wife, Alacea Dyer Salsman, 23, and attempted to stab her with a butcher knife.

According to police, Alimonti took the knife away from Salsman, who faces five felony charges, including attempted murder, and is currently being held on $25,000 cash bail at the Carroll County House of Corrections.

Alimonti was arrested in April 2008 on charges of receiving stolen property after police found a stolen Caterpillar front end loader, which had been reported missing from the parking lot at the Steeplegate Mall in Concord, in his driveway.

The vehicle identification plates and decals had been removed and the exterior company decals had been scraped off the loader and the surface painted over.

Police said that the loader was seized and with assistance from the State Police- Highway Enforcement Division and was positively identified as the one which had been stolen in Concord in early 2008.

In addition to the front-end loader, which was valued at $40,000, police also recovered a 1987 Case backhoe loader valued at $18,000, a John Deere bulldozer valued at $40,000, a Bobcat loader valued at $14,000, and a 2001 Ski-Doo snowmobile, which had been reported stolen. Police said the total value of all of the stolen equipment, some of which had been missing for 10 years, was over $150,000. ..Source.. by ROGER AMSDEN, New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent

PA- Inmate's death in jail declared a suicide

4-25-2009 Pennsylvania:

n Allegheny County Jail inmate awaiting trial on a number of child pornography possession charges hanged himself early Thursday, authorities said.

Paul G. Hagelthorn, 54, of Natrona Heights in Harrison, was found hanging by a piece of cloth tied to an upper bunk in his cell on one of the jail's medical pods.

The county medical examiner's office ruled Mr. Hagelthorn's death a suicide.

Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent James Morton said a guard checked on Mr. Hagelthorn at 11:46 p.m. Wednesday and all appeared normal. During another check at 12:02 a.m. Thursday, he was found hanging and efforts to revive him failed. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 12:25 a.m.

Mr. Hagelthorn's trial on child pornography and related charges was scheduled for July. ..Source.. by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

VA- Accused child molester kills self before expected guilty plea

4-25-2009 Virginia:

A 40-year-old Springfield man committed suicide in the Alexandria jail just hours before he was expected to plead guilty to filming a 15-year-old girl as he sexually abused her, an Alexandria sheriff’s spokesman said Monday.

Don Douglas, known as “Uncle Donte” to the victim and her several siblings, had convinced the girl to mix sleeping pills into her parents’ drinks so she could sneak out earlier in the evening to see him, according to documents filed in Alexandria’s U.S. District Court.

Family members told investigators that Douglas had become a close confidant and they viewed him as their pastor, although he was not formally linked to any church.

Douglas was first arrested Oct. 4 after he brought the victim to a Fairfax County police station where the girl reported the sexual abuse. After meeting with Douglas and the girl, police charged Douglas with abusing her. The charges escalated to federal charges after pictures of the girl were found on Douglas’ computer and linked to interstate trafficking of child pornography.

On Nov. 17 Douglas was ordered to remain in the Alexandria jail without bail because he had already fled from similar charges in Texas, U.S. District Judge Ivan D. Davis wrote in the order.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 12, jail guards conducting a routine check discovered Douglas had hanged himself in a shower, sheriff’s spokesman Harry Covert said. Douglas was pronounced dead at Inova Alexandria Hospital at 3 a.m. Jan. 12. He was expected to appear in court later that day to plead guilty to the charges, court documents said.

Alexandria police are investigating the suicide as part of standard procedure, and the Alexandria sheriff has started an internal review, Covert said.

Douglas had grown close to the victim’s family after he had started visiting with them in May.

A month later, the victim and her sisters spent a night at Douglas’ Springfield home, court documents said. While there, Douglas had sex with the 15-year-old. He continued to meet with her through Sept. 29 at his home and in a Pennsylvania hotel room.

At one point, Douglas complained to the victim that he had to wait too long for her to sneak out at night to see him. The victim said she couldn’t leave until her parents were asleep. Douglas advised her to put sleeping pills in her family members’ drinks.

Police said they later found several broken capsules of Sleepinal in the victim’s house. ..Source.. by Freeman Klopott, Examiner Staff Writer

AL- Sex Crimes And Suicide

The reporter defines recidivism which is by no means confined to sex crimes, but with sex crimes it is lower than all other crimes except murder.

4-3-2009 Alabama:

A West Mobile man wanted for sex crimes with minors kills himself moments before Mobile Police arrest him.

Donald Clark Brooks, 50, is accused of luring at least three teens into his house on Wakulla drive. Police tell us that Brooks used alcohol and even offered side jobs to get the boys into his home. Once there, a victim's mother tells us that he would threaten the teens with guns and force them to have sex. The mother also told us that Brooks installed cameras outside his house to keep an eye on the boys while they were on his property.

Police had 11 warrants for Brooks ranging from sex abuse to sodomy. They were headed to arrest him on Wednesday morning but never got their guy. As police pulled into his driveway, Brooks shot himself in the head. He later died at the hospital.

Two of his victims were 15. The youngest boy was only 13.

Mobile Police tell us that Brooks served time for sex crimes in the late 1980's but that was before the Community Notification Act. In other words, Brooks didn't have to register as a sex offender. ..Source.. by Tiffany Craig Investigative Reporter

NY- NIAGARA COUNTY: Rape suspect dead at jail

4-20-2009 New York:

A Falls man, charged in what prosecutors called a “heinous” rape and sexual assault, hung himself in Niagara County Jail early Saturday morning.

Deputies said they discovered Vassel Simon, 45, 741 Spruce Ave., hanging inside his housing unit during a routine cell inspection around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

County corrections officers performed CPR and attempted to resuscitate Simon with the use of an automatic external defibrillator. The inmate was taken to Eastern Niagara Hospital-Lockport were he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The incident was made public in a press release issued by the Sheriff’s Department late Monday morning.

Sheriff James Voutour said late Monday the death will be fully investigated.

“Anytime we have a death in the jail we treat it like an unattended death,” he said. “A criminal investigator is called in. The crime scene unit is called in. We do a complete investigation.”

Voutour said a report by criminal investigators has already been completed and he will review it today.

In addition, Voutour said a report must be made to the state Commission on Corrections, chaired by former Niagara County Sheriff Thomas Beilein. The commission will send its own investigator to the jail for an independent investigation.

Simon was arrested by Falls police on April 13 and charged with first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sex act, third-degree burglary and third-degree menacing.

He was jailed in lieu of bail of $50,000 cash or $100,000 property after prosecutors asked for a high bail “due to the heinous nature of (his) crimes.”

Prosecutors had also expressed a fear that Simon, who they said was not a U.S. citizen, might try to flee the country. At the time of his arrest, he reportedly said to police, “Don’t arrest me, just deport me.”

Investigators charged that Simon climbed through a window of his Spruce Avenue home at 2:30 a.m. and attacked a woman there. He was accused of raping the victim and committing other sex acts.

Simon told arresting officers the sex was consensual, but his victim said he choked her, hit her and threatened to kill her. The woman told police she thought she was going to die during the attack. ..Source.. by Rick Pfeiffer

SC- Chester man charged with indecent liberties found dead, suicide suspected

4-20-2009 South Carolina:

A Chester man was found dead Saturday after an apparent suicide at his home, according to Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker.

Tinker's office identified the man as Larry Maynard Clark, 62, of 2017-A Henry Road. Clark used a shotgun, Tinker said.

Clark had been charged last week with taking indecent liberties with four young girls in North Carolina, said Capt. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff's Office. The girls ranged in ages from 6 to 12, Sifford said.

Authorities charged Clark with three counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and four counts of indecent liberties with a child, Sifford said.

Clark was released on $25,000 bail after his arrest, Sifford said. ..Source.. by Herald Online.com

Former Scots teacher takes own life

4-13-2009 Australia:

THE body of a former teacher of The Scots PGC College in Warwick who was facing child sex abuse charges was found in a suburban park south of Brisbane on Thursday after his suicide, police confirmed yesterday.

Michael David Austin, 77, was due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 13 for a committal hearing to determine if he would face trial on at least 12 charges of sexual mistreatment of former students of the elite school.

A Warwick Police spokesman said shocked passers-by discovered his body about 4.30am on Thursday at a park on Underwood Road in the Logan City suburb of Rochedale South, where he is understood to have lived.

His vehicle was found a short distance away in the car park.

Austin was one of two former Scots teachers from the early 1970s to be charged with sex abuse after former students came forward last year with complaints to the police.

The other teacher, who cannot be named at this time, is due to face the Brisbane Magistrates Court for further mention on April 27.

Complainants in the Austin matter, who include both male and female former students, were devastated yesterday at his suicide, describing it as a “gutless and selfish act” to avoid justice.

John Paterson, the first complainant to come forward in relation to both of the ex-teachers, told the Daily News he and the others were “all very angry and all disappointed beyond explanation”.

“It's been a long road to get to the stage we did and I doubt there will ever be closure for any of us,” Mr Paterson said.

“In my case closure would have come firstly from a conviction and secondly his imprisonment.

“I am very angry and the frustrating thing is that there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.

“All that's been achieved is further hurt and pain for the victims.”

It is understood Austin was dismissed from the college for inappropriate behaviour towards a young female student, however the school has previously declined to confirm the precise circumstances of his departure.

Current college authorities have also denied their predecessors at the time failed to inform the police of complaints made about Austin by students alleging sexual abuse.

The college yesterday declined to comment on Austin's death. ..Source.. by Jeremy Sollars

TX- Police: Child sex suspect committed suicide

4-9-2009 Texas:

GALVESTON — A Houston man scheduled Monday for a court appearance in Harris County on child sex charges was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

John Wesley Gray, 39, was found dead at 5:50 p.m. Sunday inside a Galveston hotel in the 5900 block of Seawall Boulevard. Police do not suspect foul play.

Investigating officers found a note presumed to have been written by Gray, Galveston police said.

Gray was to appear in court with his attorney to hear evidence against him.

Gray was charged in Harris County Precinct No. 4 with online solicitation of a minor and indecency with child, a spokeswoman with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said. The charges stemmed from alleged encounters with a 13-year-old boy, the spokeswoman said.

Gray was also charged with possessing child pornography, in which he was accused of taking pictures with his cell phone, the spokeswoman said.

Once the district attorney’s office receives Gray’s death certificate, the office will drop the charges, the spokeswoman said. ..Source.. by Chris Paschenko / The Daily News

Juvenile Home inmate commits suicide

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CO- 3 found dead in Firestone home

Posted in Related Deaths

3-29-2009 Colorado:

Morning gunfire brings swat team

FIRESTONE — Police believe a 47-year-old man shot and killed his former wife, a friend of hers and then himself inside a Firestone home early Saturday morning.

SWAT team members found the bodies of 41-year-old Sharla Pierce, 38-year-old Michael Federico and Pierce's ex-husband, Michael Acker, inside her home several hours after neighbors first reported hearing gunshots, according to Firestone police Lt. Stacy Davis.

Davis said Pierce and Acker had been divorced for several months.

Federico did not live at the home, Davis said.

Firestone is east of Interstate 25 in Weld County about 30 miles north of Denver.