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Ionia shooting victims identified; gunman committed suicide in domestic dispute

2-27-2010 Michigan:

UPDATE: Police say Ionia teen was on phone with 911 as former Michigan state trooper shot stepson, her mother, himself

IONIA -- Police have identified the man who shot and killed himself inside his Ionia home today as Bart Cunningham, 37. He is a former state police trooper who pleaded guilty to a sex crime in 2003.

Cunningham shot and seriously injured both his wife, Wendy Cunningham, 42, and her 16-year-old son, police said. The boy's name is Joshua Snyder. Both were in serious condition this afternoon at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

The incident started as a domestic dispute, police said.

Bart Cunningham enlisted as a state police trooper in 1996, but resigned in 2004 while assigned to the Kalkaska post.

In 2002, Kalkaska police arrested Cunningham on a high-court misdemeanor of fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct, state police records show. He pleaded guilty in 2003 to assault and battery and attempted fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct and was sentenced to 18 months on probation.

In late December 2007, he was arrested in Ionia for domestic violence. He was sentenced to 12 days in jail and 12 months on probation. ..Source.. by Barton Deiters | The Grand Rapids Press

Former Police Officer And Convicted Rapist Committs Suicide

2-26-2010 Alabama:

MOBILE, Alabama - Sources tell News 5, the former Chickasaw Police Officer facing life in prison for raping his young step-daughter has committed suicide.

Bob Ingle, 51, was supposed to be sentenced tomorrow.

Ingle's step-daughter, Rebecca McEvoy was killed in an unrelated car crash one year after she told her best friend about the alleged abuse.

Ingle was arrested in December 2006. He fought to get the charges dropped based on what his attorneys argued was his constitutional right to confront his accuser.

The case faced six delays as the judge and attorneys sorted out what evidence would be allowed.

Sex offender commits suicide during standoff in Sandy

2-25-2010 Oregon:

A man found dead after a police standoff in Sandy was a convicted sex offender who visited Philomath High School under a fake name in December — and who was wanted by Lebanon police for allegedly committing recent sex crimes.

Steven Routley, 35, apparently shot himself Wednesday afternoon at a residence in Sandy where he’d reportedly been staying.

Police were seeking Routley on charges of second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse, being a felon in possession of a firearm, using a child in a sexual display and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges stemmed from contact with high school students in the past two weeks.

According to Sandy Police Department spokesman Lewis Sytsma, at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, members of the Portland Police Bureau and the U.S. Marshals Service attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Routley near the 37900 block of Highway 26 in Sandy.

Sandy police were called to assist after Routley ran into a nearby house. Authorities believed Routley was armed, and they knew he had an extensive criminal history, so the Clackamas County Interagency SWAT team was called in. For several hours, the SWAT team tried to make contact with Routley but was unsuccessful. The team also fired tear gas into the house.

At about 3:35 p.m, the SWAT team entered the room where they thought they would find Routley — and found his body.

“We believe (death) was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Sytsma said.

No one else was believed to have been in the residence at the time. Routley reportedly had been working at the residence.

Neighboring businesses and residences were evacuated during the standoff. Highway 26 was closed in both directions in the area around the house.

Lebanon detectives went to Sandy on Wednesday afternoon to assist with the investigation.

In December, Routley used a fake name to sign in as a guest at Philomath High School, and he visited an art class. While he was there, he was overheard offering to give students private lessons. School officials said he never was left alone with any students.

On Jan. 14, a man called the Benton County Sheriff’s Office to report that Routley had tried to invite his daughter to be his “friend” on Facebook, the online social networking site.

Routley had served a 15-year prison term in Michigan for two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13. He was released from prison in May 2009 and was no longer under corrections or parole supervision.

In response to Routley’s visit in December, Philomath School District officials changed the check-in procedure for visitors and had been examining whether criminal charges against Routley could be pursued.

When contacted by phone last month, Routley told a Gazette-Times reporter that he “didn’t recall” signing into Philomath High School with a fake name. He declined to comment further, saying “I’m sure whatever I say, you’ll manipulate it by the time it hits the paper.”

Routley updated his sex offender registration with a southeast Portland address in mid-January, according to Oregon State Police.

Lebanon Det. Sgt. Kevin Martinez told the Lebanon Express that Routley also is a subject of interest in investigations in Michigan and the Portland area. ..Source.. by Rachel Beck, Gazette-Times


Standoff for sex offender ends in his death

SANDY, Ore. – A wanted sex offender ran from police Wednesday prompting a response from SWAT and a traffic tie-up for hours on Highway 26. A law enforcement source said they found the man dead in a home but said officers fired no shots. They said 35-year-old Steven Routley died from a self-inflicted wound.

This area is 11 miles southeast of Gresham on Highway 26.

Just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday residents reported hearing several loud booms. Law enforcement told us that those were smoke grenades thrown into the home in an attempt to smoke out their suspect.

Agents entered the home around 2:40 p.m. Around 3:30 p.m. the scene was being cleared.

Behind the scenes

Routley was a registered sex offender facing new charges out of Lebanon, Ore., Sergeant Kevin Martinez with Oregon's Lebanon Police Department confirmed.

On Jan. 28 of this year, KATU reported on Routley's alleged attempt to get into a Philomath, Ore., high school using a fake name. Philomath Police Chief Ken Elwer said an officer talked to Routley. However, even though Routley is a convicted sex offender, he is not on supervision and thus Elwer said that him being at the school did not violate any laws.

A law enforcement source said Routley was holed up in his stepmother's home.

Police said they believed Routley was armed with a 9 mm handgun.

At the scene

Witnesses at the scene said they counted as many as 17 law enforcement vehicles Wednesday afternoon.

Traffic in and out of town on Highway 26 was closed in both directions until around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Traffic also was shut down between University Avenue, at mile post 23.65, and Southeast Bluff Road, at mile post 23.87. Those in town could detour around the scene.

The Oregon Department of Transportation had established a marked detour for passenger vehicles. The detour followed Bluff Road to Meeker Street back to Highway 26 in both directions. Trucks were being turned back. Motorists experienced "long delays."

Near the site of the law-enforcement convergence, a woman at the Les Schwab tire store at 37895 Highway 26 said those inside the store were "trapped" until officers leave. They were cautiously "hiding behind tires," she said.

Routley's history

Sergeant Kevin Martinez with Oregon's Lebanon Police Department said the new charges against Routley out of Lebanon were reported to police on Feb. 22 and involved a 16 year old. He said the charges stem from acts within the past two weeks.

Lebanon police had charged Routley with the following: using a child in the display of sexually explicit conduct (used a visual recording device to record the victim in sexually explicit poses); sex abuse 2; sex abuse 3; contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor; and two charges of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

In 1995, Routley was sentenced to up to 15 years for second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13. He served his prison time in Michigan and was released in 2009. ..Source.. by Jennifer Meacham and KATU News

Police: Youth Minister Commits Suicide After Guilty Plea

2-24-2010 Ohio:

Batavia Ohio: Troopers said a former youth minister who pleaded guilty on sex charges killed himself hours after the verdict.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Christopher Evans, 39, shot himself in the head at East Fork Lake State Park. Evans had been a youth pastor at the Saltair Church of Christ since November 2007.

A Clermont County sheriff's deputy found Evans in a vehicle in a visitor parking lot off Slade Road late Monday.

Evans pleaded guilty to charges of sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct of a 15-year-old girl on Monday. He faced up to 50 years in prison when he was to be sentenced in late April.

Evans was charged with the crime in December. ..Source.. by WLWT.com

Inmate hangs himself in Buncombe jail

2-21-2010 North Carolina:

ASHEVILLE — An Asheville man facing child sex offense charges committed suicide by hanging himself Saturday in the Buncombe County jail, authorities said.

Michael Todd Aidt, 36, of Hensley Drive, was found hanging by a sheet in his cell by a detention officer who was conducting supervision rounds around 8:30 p.m., Lt. Ross Dillingham said.

He said officers immediately removed Aidt from the sheet, and on-site detention medical personnel attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Aidt had been jailed since Dec. 6 following an armed standoff with deputies at a mobile home on Dillingham Circle off Riceville Road. Deputies responded to a call after a suspect barricaded himself inside the residence with a shotgun.

The standoff ended peacefully after deputies deployed a chemical into the home and the suspect exited, Dillingham said.

Aidt was charged with two counts of first-degree rape of a child younger than 13, two counts of statutory rape of a child younger than 16, and one count of sex offense in incidents dating from 2005-2009, according to arrest warrants. He was being held on a $500,000 secured bond.

Terrie Lynn Davis, 35, of Hensley Drive, was charged in December with two counts of accessory after the fact to Aidt’s alleged crimes. Davis told the victim not to report the rapes, according to arrest warrants. ..Source.. by Clarke Morrison

Wanted Man Kills Himself

2-13-2010 Arkansas:

An Alabama man wanted in connection with soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet shot himself Thursday in a Fort Smith motel room during a struggle with members of a federal task force.

Louis Elliott, 33, of Bessemer, Ala., shot himself in the head at about 10:15 a.m. in his room at the Inn Towne Lodge, 301 N. 11th St. He later was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Task force members opened the door with a key, but a safety latch kept them from opening the door enough to enter the room, said U.S. Marshal Dick O’Connell of the Western District of Arkansas.

Law enforcement officers identified themselves and ordered Elliott to open the door, but he closed it instead. By the time task force members unlocked and kicked in the door, Elliott had made his way over to his belongings and was crouched in a corner.

“They were on him very quickly trying to struggle with him to get the gun,” O’Connell said. “They somehow lost their grip on him.”

One of the four officers executed a dry stun on Elliott’s leg with a stun gun, but was unsuccessful in deterring the suspect from turning the handgun on himself.

The four officers — a deputy U.S. Marshal, a Greenwood police officer, a Crawford County sheriff’s deputy and an officer with the state Department of Probation and Parole — are members of the River Valley Sex Offender and Fugitive Task Force.

No one else was injured during the struggle.

Elliott left a suicide note with his girlfriend in Shelby County, Ala., after a felony warrant for enticement of a minor for indecent purposes/computer enticement was issued for his arrest just more than a week ago, O’Connell said.

“They knew before going in that he had suicidal tendencies,” he said.

The Fort Smith Police Department arrived afterward and collected evidence from the scene. Elliott’s body will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.

“We had no knowledge that they were in the city serving a warrant,” said Fort Smith Police Sgt. Daniel Grubbs.

Authorities learned of Elliott’s location after his girlfriend let someone know she had heard from him, O’Connell said. ..source.. by Amy Sherrill

Inmate hanged himself at Hardee County Jail

2-11-2010 Florida:

HARDEE COUNTY - On December 31, an inmate, while being incarcerated in the Hardee County Jail, committed suicide.

Inmate Romane Bernard Williams (26) took his own life by hanging during the evening hours of New Year's Eve.

CPR was performed by jail staff members until Hardee County EMS arrived. They started performing CPR at 8:48pm and he was pronounced at 9:06pm.

The family of the deceased was notified in Ft. Meade by Hardee County and Polk County Sheriff's Office personnel.

At this time there is a continuing investigation by the Sheriff's Office regarding this incident. Inmate Williams was being held in our jail on the burglary, petty larceny, sexual assault and kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. ..Source.. by My Suncoast.com

Jail inmate commits suicide

2-8-2010 Minnesota:

UPDATE: Despite life-saving efforts by jail staff, ambulance personnel, medical staff at Fairview Medical Center and North Memorial Hospital, Walter Alan Wildhirt died on on Saturday, Feb. 6 at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale.

Correctional officers found convicted sex offender Walter Allen Wildhirt, 32, had attempted suicide in the Mille Lacs County Jail on Thursday, Feb. 4. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

According to Mille Lacs County Sheriff Brent Lindgren, a well-being check was conducted at approximately 5:20 a.m. when they found Wildhirt out of his bed.

Wildhirt attempted suicide using the bed sheet, which he attached to a sprinkler head grate on the wall. He wrapped the sheet around his neck.

Twenty-five minutes prior to that, a well-being check found Wildhirt in bed under the covers.

Correctional officers performed life-saving measures on Wildhirt, including CPR, assisted breathing, and the use of an AED (automated external defibrillator).

North Memorial Ambulance transported Wildhirt to Fairview Northland Medical Center in Princeton. Lindgren reported that Wildhirt had a pulse when the ambulance transported him.

Wildhirt was then transported to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale.

He was in jail for a recent conviction of first and second degree criminal sexual conduct and was to be sentenced on Friday, Feb. 5. He is facing a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Wildhirt has been in custody since Sept. 15, 2009 on $300,000 bail. Carlton County also has an additional hold on Wildhirt.

He has two prior sexual assault convictions and multiple felonies, including burglaries, theft, dishonored checks and fourth degree criminal sexual conduct.

The sheriff praised his staff. “They did their job and that’s why they do those well-being checks,” Lindgren said. "Hopefully we got to this individual in time.

We may or may not have been successful in this case, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The BCA will assist with an inquiry into Wildhirt’s suicide attempt to ensure there is no appearance of conflict of interest. ..Source.. by Dawn Slade

Cops: Man kills newlywed wife, then himself

Posted in related deaths

This is a very odd suicide, something is missing. Whatever caused this man to kill his new wife is unknown, but after doing that it is likley he -knowing what prison is like for sex offenders- decided life was not worth living. It is a good thing his wife's daughter was staying elsewhere that night.
11-27-2009 Illinois:

A West Side man apparently shot to death his newlywed wife and then turned the gun on himself, Chicago police said this morning.

Antwone Coleman's body was found first late Thursday night, in the street in the 3300 block of West Monroe Street, a couple of blocks from the couple's residence in the 3400 block of West Madison Street. He had an apparent self-inflicted bullet wound to his head, police said.

As police investigated, they found the body of his wife, Claudette Coleman, 30, in the couple's third-floor Garfield Park apartment with a gunshot wound to her head.

Police came to the apartment about 1:55 a.m.

The couple were married Oct. 10, according to police.

Police said Antwone Coleman, 28, had a criminal record that included convictions for domestic battery and aggravated battery to a police officer. He was also a registered sex offender.

The older brother of Claudette Coleman said this morning that they were shocked to learn of her new husband's lengthy criminal record and said they knew nothing of any possible violence between the couple.

"It was news to us," said a distraught Artis Wilson outside his sister's apartment building in Garfield Park.

Wilson said that the couple had just spent Thanksgiving with family Thursday and that there were no signs of any trouble.

They were as "normal as you can get," Wilson said.

The couple grew up together, but Wilson said the family did not know of Antwone Coleman's criminal history.

Claudette Coleman was the mother of a 10-year-old daughter, Wilson said.

A friend of the family said Claudette Coleman's daughter had stayed with her great grandmother last night. ..Source.. Erika Slife and staff

Child molestation defendant in Gwinnett commits suicide

2-1-2010 Georgia:

An accused Gwinnett County child molester shot and killed himself at home Monday rather than return to court and sit through closing arguments.

Jeffrey Ford Clarke, 50, was facing a recommended 25-year prison sentence if convicted and could have received up to 400 years had he been punished for each alleged offense, which became moot with word of his possible suicide.

"I guess he gave himself the death penalty," said Danny Porter, Gwinnett County district attorney.

Clarke was charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation, three counts of child molestation and 14 counts of sexual exploitation of children. Seven alleged victims, all sons of family friends, testified during the trial they were 8 to 10 when Clarke wooed them with video games and sleepovers before molesting them at his home. The alleged victims' current ages range 11 to 29.

Police also found hundreds of images of child pornography on Clarke's home computer, according to Assistant District Attorney Lisa Jones, who said Clarke was one of the worst offenders she has prosecuted in her 17-year career.

"Those boys had to come in and all of them had to tell some of the most horrible things that ever happened to them in their life," Jones said. "He forced them to do it, and then he ended it like this."

Clarke shot himself twice around 9 a.m., when he was due in court, at his home outside of Monroe in Walton County, said Clarke's attorney, Eugene Novy. Walton County Sheriff's investigators said they are awaiting the results of an autopsy before declaring an official cause of death.

Clarke was out of jail on $275,200 bond with an electronic ankle monitor.

Novy said his client obviously was disturbed about being labeled a child molester and called the situation "very sad."

"The case wasn't decided," Novy said. "No matter what could have happened, it didn't happen, and now he's got a family grieving out here." ..Source.. Andria Simmons, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution