National Crime News

On this page we intend to bring you national news related to violent crime, parole hearings, violent crime related legislation and victim's rights.

April, 2008

National: National Crime Victims' Rights Week: Justice for Victims. Justice for All. April 13th-19th, 2008.

"Each April since 1981, the Office for Victims of Crime has helped lead communities throughout the country in their observances of National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW). Rallies, candlelight vigils, and a host of commemorative activities are held each year to promote victims' rights and to honor crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf." Links:

OVC website

Recipients of Crime Victims Rights Week Awards

Online article about Victims Rights Week in Missouri

Online article about Victims Rights Week in Tennessee

Online article about Victims Rights Week in Minnesota

Maryland: The Fetal-Death law was not used in Maryland until last month, when David Lee Miller was convicted in Baltimore County Circuit Court of killing his pregnant girlfriend. Links:

The Daily Record online article

Virginia: The one year anniversary of the VA Tech shootings finds the families and survivors trying to turn grief into action. Links:

USA Today online article

Michigan: The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill April 9th, that would allow victims of crimes or families of deceased victims up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work during any 12-month period to attend court proceedings. Links:

Mlive online article

South Carolina: Proposed law to eliminate parole for violent offenders. Under the proposed law, non-violent offenders would undergo an 18-month program instead of going to prison. Links:

CBS Live5 News online article

Virginia: Article about Barbara Consentino, the victim-witness coordinator for the commonwealth's attorneys office. Links:

WTOP news online article

Missouri and Illinois: Fugitive changes proposed for Missouri and Illinois. Acknowledging gaps that can aid felony fugitives, officials from Missouri and Illinois advocate greater efforts to hunt fugitives, alert police elsewhere and generate more public tips. Links:

STLtoday online article

March, 2008

Florida: New Sketch Released In Boca Murders. After midnight on December 13th, 2007 Nancy Bochicchio, 47, and her daughter Joey, 7 (just 4 days shy of celebrating her 8th birthday) were found bound and shot to death at point-blank range in Nancy's black Chrysler Aspen SUV which was parked in the lot on the south side of the Sears department store. Authorities believe they were killed earlier in the afternoon on December 12th.

Mall surveillance video shows Nancy and Joey enter the mall at 2:19 p.m. At 3:11 p.m. they are seen leaving the mall carrying shopping bags. Police believe Nancy and Joey were carjacked in the parking lot minutes after getting into their SUV. Detectives say Nancy was forced to drive to a nearby ATM and withdraw $500. During this time, she tried to call 911 but was disconnected before she could say anything.

Nancy and her daughter were bound with clear plastic zip ties and handcuffs. According to police, Nancy busted out of her handcuffs in an attempt to flee her abductors. It's thought that this action resulted in their death.

Nancy and Joey

Boca Raton Police Service Department Wanted Poster

Boca Raton Police Service Department My Space Page Bochicchio Case

America's Most Wanted page on the Boca murders

SIMILAR CASES:

Randi Gorenberg a Boca Raton mother was killed by an unidentified attacker at the Town Center mall on March 23, 2007. She drove a black Mercedes SUV and mall cameras show her leaving in broad daylight. Thirty minutes later, Randi was shot and killed while trying to escape her unidentified captors. Her case remains unsolved.

On August 7, 2007 at the same mall Police say a gunman attacked and held hostage a 30-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son in the same parking garage where the Bochicchios were murdered. This garage is located at the Southwest end of the mall. In the August 7 attack, cops say the gunman pointed the gun at the child's head while he made the woman withdraw a large sum of money from a nearby bank. The gunman then forced his hostage to drive back to the parking garage, where he bound her and left her and her son in the car.

The Boca Raton Police have released a composite sketch of the man in the August 7 attack. They think the August 7 attack may be related to the Bochicchio murders, but they haven't ruled out other possibilities. The man in the composite is said to be a white man with a good tan, between the ages of 18 and 25. Police say he is between 5'10" and 6' tall, with a medium build. They also think he could have a ponytail.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Boca Raton Police Services Department, Detective Bureau at (561) 338-1352 or Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS.

UPDATE: Raleigh, North Carolina police are now looking into whether the Boca Raton murders are related to an unsolved homicide of a pregnant Raleigh woman behind Food Mart last summer.

The descriptions are similar: a young white or Hispanic male with a medium build and a ponytail; but there is a large difference in descriptions given for the man's height.

The Florida sketch is on the right and the North Carolina sketch is on the left. Links:

NC Wanted online article

Illinois: A profile of Desi Jellen, the victim service specialist for the Madison County's state's attorney's office, who for the last 20 years has assisted people hurt by violent crimes and domestic battery.

"If I ever reach a point where I'm not learning from these victims and their families in each situation, then I'm done with it," said Jellen. Links:

Belleville News Democrat profile of Desi Jellen

California: SLA member Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Soliah, was released March 20th after serving six years of her twelve year sentence for her role in a plot to kill Los Angeles police officers by blowing up their patrol cars.

Olson earned credit against her sentence for working while in prison. She served on a maintenance crew that swept and cleaned the main yard of the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

Tim Sands, president of the Police Protective League, said Olson "attempted to murder LAPD officers by bombing two police cars, she needs to serve her full time in prison for these crimes and does not deserve time off for working in prison. Criminals who attempt to murder police officers should not be able to escape justice simply because they have good lawyers."

Dr. Trygve Opsahl, the husband of Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four, who was shot to death during a botched 1975 Symbionese Liberation Army bank robbery said:

"It's all pretty much in the past. The sentencing system is so complicated it's pretty hard to comprehend. I feel if somebody's involved in murder it used to be the death sentence. But now they just quibble over whether it's a few months or years in jail." Links:

Los Angeles Times online article

San Francisco Chronicle online article

UPDATE: Family members of victims of the SLA and police targeted for bombing are upset that Olson has been released from prison.

Jon Opsahl, son of Myrna Opsahl, said he learned of Olson's parole from the TV news Friday morning:

"I'm just dumbfounded that someone can be involved in an SLA terrorist-type group, commit murder and get out of prison in a half dozen years. The justice system is incompetent or impotent."

Myrna Opsahl was a mother of four who was at the bank targeted by the SLA. She was shot "by accident" according to one of Olson's accomplices. She was there that day to deposit the weekly take from the church donation plate.

Retired LAPD Officer John Hall, one of two officers in a patrol car Soliah pleaded guilty to trying to bomb, said in a statement Friday that people should be directing their displeasure at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.

"We need to ask them why it is that our taxpayer dollars and our parole system are being used to put convicted murderers and terrorists back on the streets," he said.

Olson pled guilty to two charges of possessing a destructive device with the intent to murder. She was initially sentenced to five years and four months, but the term was later extended to 12 years by a state prison board.

After the 1999 arrest, Jon Opsahl and two Los Angeles prosecutors -- Eleanor Hunter and Michael Latin, both now judges -- began a push to see murder charges brought against Soliah and several SLA cohorts in the Sacramento bank robbery. Soliah and four other SLA members ultimately accepted plea deals.

Soliah initially was to serve six years for the murder of Opsahl. Soliah's sentence was whittled back and, with time off for her prison work, she ultimately spent a year in prison for the killing. She also was allowed to serve it concurrently with her time behind bars for the failed police car bombings. Links:

Los Angeles Times online article

UPDATE: Sarah Jane Olson has been returned to prison. Olson's return to prison came after corrections officials said an "administrative error" resulted in her early release. She will now not be eligible for parole until March 17, 2009, officials said. Links:

The Mercury News online article

Los Angeles Times online article

New York Times online article

San Francisco Chronicle online article

CNN online article

UPDATE: Sara Jane Olson's premature release from state prison last week was the result of a clerical error made three years ago. Links:

Los Angeles Times online article

UPDATE: The corrections department has launched an internal review into what went wrong in the premature release of Olson. Three rank-and-file workers who calculate inmate release dates and two supervisors are under investigation.

Los Angeles Times online article

AP online article

Ohio: The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and the family of a Cleveland police officer killed in the line of duty are trying to keep his killer in jail.

Floyd Graham was arrested and convicted in Fred Vacha's death and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He will appear before the parole board for the third time April 30th.

There is a petition against Graham's parole. The online petition can be found at the police union's Web site. Links:

NewsNet5 online article

California: Detectives arrest man suspected in 1975 murder.

Carl Eric Price, 50, was arrested March 19th, and was charged with murder and robbery in connection with the August 21, 1975 slaying of Mamie Johnston. The 84-year-old widow was strangled and stabbed at in a home invasion robbery. Links:

San Francisco Chronicle online article

New Jersey: The sister of a 13-year-old girl who prosecutors claim was murdered by convicted killer Robert Zarinsky in 1968 are suing him.

Joan Conway, the sister of Jane Durrua, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday in state Superior Court. It claims the girl was "viciously attacked, assaulted, sexually assaulted, beaten and battered" by Zarinsky. Links:

Newsday online article

North Carolina: UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President found shot to death. The investigation into the shooting is continuing. Anyone with information is urged to call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 968-2760 or CrimeStoppers at 942-7515. Links:

NBC17.com online article

ABC News online article

Atlanta Journal-Constitution online article

UPDATE: Photographs of a "person of interest" in the case of slain college student Eve Carson show him possibly using her ATM card, said Chief Brian Curran of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, police on Saturday. Links:

CNN.com article

CNN.com article with a colorized photo os "person of interest"

Associated Press article

UPDATE: Two men have been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. student body president Eve Carson. 21-year-old Demario James Atwater, of Durham. Police are still searching for the second suspect, 17-year-old Lawrence Alvin Lovett Jr.

Lawrence Alvin Lovett Jr still at large.

Links:

wsbtv online article

UPDATE: Second suspect in murder of UNC-Chapel Hill student arrested,Lawrence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, was arrested Thursday morning (March 13th) in connection with Carson's death.

Lovette also has been charged in connection with the January death of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato, 29, a doctoral engineering candidate from India. Links:

CNN online article

New York: On March 13th, 1964 Kitty Genovese, on her way home from work, was murdered by Winston Moseley, in seeing and hearing distance of 38 neighbors who did nothing to assist the woman. Moseley comes up for his 13th parole hearing this week, just before the 44th anniversary of the murder.

Moseley 72 has shown little remorse for the crime preferring to view himself as the ultimate victim. During one parole hearing he said: "For a victim outside, it's a one-time or one-hour or one-minute affair, but for the person who's caught, it's forever."

After his conviction for the murder of Kitty Genovese, Moseley escaped from a Buffalo hospital in 1968, going on a two-day crime spree during which he tied up a couple and raped the wife as her husband looked on. Links:

NY Daily News online article

UPDATE: Winston Moseley was denied parole for the 13th time March 11th. He will be eligible for review again in two years.

Associated Press online article

WABC New York, N.Y. online article

Times Ledger online article

Missouri: Douglas E. Oerly, 46 is wanted in connection with an arrest warrant issued Tuesday, March 4th for failure to show up for state-required treatment.

Oerly was convicted in 1980 of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 82-year-old Eula L. Cook during commission of a burglary. He served just over 15 years for the murder. Oerly was returned to prison for parole violations for two months in 1996 and five years in 2002. In 2007 he was paroled again.

Oerly is described as 6 foot tall and 185 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. Police believe Oerly might be driving a blue Chrysler Pacifica with Missouri plates 4BP-12X.

Anyone with information on Oerly’s whereabouts is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 875-8477 or its Web site, 875tips.com, or the Sedalia branch office of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole at (660) 530-5530. Links:

Columbia Daily Tribune online article

UPDATE: Douglas E. Oerly has been caught. Oerly was arrested late Saturday in San Diego. Brian Hauswirth, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said it was unclear what Oerly was doing in California.

"When you’re on parole, you’ve got to have permission to leave the state," Hauswirth said. "He clearly did not, so we’ll need to find out what he was doing out there." Links:

Columbia Daily Tribune online article

San Jose Mercury News online article

New York: The appellate court has thrown out the second-degree murder conviction of Walter Casper III, who was convicted of murdering his wife Catherine Bly Casper in 1999. They say that the evidence warranted a conviction for second-degree manslaughter, making Casper eligible for parole.

Bly family members are asking the public to sign an online petition against parole of Casper, which is on the Web site of Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece. The petition is under the "Join the Fight" heading at www.senatorjoerobach.com.

The Casper's two sons and Bly family members are meeting with a parole official in Rochester. They are expected to give a victim impact statement, which would be considered during the parole consideration scheduled for mid-April. Links:

DemocratandChronicle online article

Petition a Senator Robach's website

Arkansas: The AR state Parole Board recommended executive clemency for two convicted murderers serving life. Ronald S. Collier, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1977. The board also recommended clemency for James Strouthers, 59, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1971.The board approved the recommendations over the objections of law-enforcement officials in the counties were the crimes occurred. The recommendations go to Gov. Mike Beebe following a 30-day notice period. Links:

The Morning News online article

Gov. Mike Beebe's website

Gov. Mike Beebe website contact page

North Carolina: The Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission is considering accepting 55 year-old Donnie G. Camp in the Mutual Agreement Parole Program, which gives prisoners early release in exchange for successfully completing educational and vocational training.

Camp and a first cousin-William K. Smith-were convicted of the March 6, 1980 murder of Ural J. Wagoner, a retired farmer who was a neighbor of the pair's Grandmother. They were sentenced to life in prison.

During the commission of the crime Camp shot Wagoner six times before he stabbed him fatally in the heart with a knife. Smith also said Camp took Wagoner’s wallet from his back pocket and then set the home on fire.

People interested in expressing an opinion can write to the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, 2020 Yonkers Road, 4222 MSC, Raleigh, N.C. 27699. The commission is required to review all offenders eligible for parole on an annual basis. Links:

Burlington Times News online article

New Jersey: Last month N.J. county prosecutors were told annual grants for victim's assistance are being cut by 68 percent, due to a substantial cut in federal aid and a new funding formula devised by the state Division of Criminal Justice.

The cuts will directly impact the prosecutors' victim-witness advocacy units, which provide an array of support services. Links:

NJ . com online article

Illinois: Double murderer Henry Hillenbrand is up for parole on March 19th. He pled guilty to the murder of Patricia Pence, 20, and George Evans, 22, in 1970. He was given consecutive sentences of 80-240 years in prison for Pence's murder and 50-150 years in prison for Evans' murder. Periodically he comes up for parole.

Though convicted in 1970 he has served only 24 years in prison because he escaped from La Salle County Jail before being sentenced. Authorities apprehended Hillenbrand 13 years later after he entered Canada on a trip.

Evelyn Tkach, Evans' sister said: "I know the case is old, but it will never be old to our families," Links:

The Times online article

UPDATE: A member of the prisoner review board interviewed Hillenbrand March 19, at Menard. The full prisoner review board will discuss the case and determine Hillenbrand's fate Thursday, March 27, in Springfield.

UPDATE: Henry Hillenbrand was again denied parole this week for the 1970 double murder and will not come up for parole again for three years.

Milton Maxwell of the Prisoner Review Board wrote of the decision to deny parole. The murders “have left a deep and indelible scar on the family.”

A petition opposing parole was circulated in Streator by family members of both victims.

Maxwell noted that Hillenbrand had shown some improvement in behavior but “that is not enough” to overcome the brutal nature of the crime.

Pantagraph online article

The Times online article

Peoria Journal Star online article

Kansas: In 1983 Michael Cade entered a home in Olathe, Kansas and attacked three siblings. He beat Janelle Duffield, 12 years old, to death. He severely injured her 15 year-old brother Paul. He kidnapped her sister Kelly Duffield, 17 years old, and later raped and killed her. He has come up before the Kansas parole board and their decision is expected by the end of March. Links:

Fox 4 in Kansas City, Kansas online article

Kansas City Star article

KMBC-TV 9 Kansas City online article

The Olathe News article

NBC Action News KSHB-TV online article

Georgia: The GA Supreme Court has ruled that a Judge may not impose a life sentence without parole for a defendant in a rape case, unless the State seeks the death sentence first. This 3 to 4 decision upheld a ruling by the State Court of Appeals, who found that a Grady County judge lacked the authority to impose life without parole on Rodolfo Lopez Velazquez, who pled guilty to rape of a 7 year-old girl in 2005.

In March, 2007 the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court on the grounds that the state did not first declare it was seeking the death penalty. The state argued it could not first seek the death penalty in this case because of a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that outlawed the death penalty for rape of an adult woman when the victim survived. Links:

Supreme Court of Georgia decision

Georgia Public Broadcasting News online article

Nevada: A legislative audit has sharply criticized the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation, saying the agency has failed to secure required DNA samples from parolees in many cases and failed to properly monitor released sex offenders. Links:

The San Diego Union-Tribune

UPDATE: State Parole and Probation Chief John Gonska, whose agency was harshly criticized in a recent legislative audit, resigned Monday March 24th. Links:

Mercury News online article

Las Vegas Review online article

KTNV ABC online article

Indiana: Rep. Tom Dermody (R) co-sponsored a bill (Senate Bill 117) that will ensure that parolees are responsible for paying their own parole, reducing direct costs to taxpayers.

SB117 will require parolees, once released from prison, to pay for required testing such as polygraphs and drug testing. This bill will provide that a parolee may be responsible for the reasonable expenses of participating in a program required as a condition of parole, and removes a requirement that parole discharge papers be forwarded to the sentencing court. If a parolee is unable to afford these costs, it will not affect their parole eligibility. Links:

In.Gov Official website of the State of Indiana Newsroom

Kansas: The parents of Kelsey Smith, an 18 year-old who was abducted and murdered in June 2007, will be conducting a safety awareness training at noon March 12 in the Polsky Theatre of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College. The free event is open to the public. Merchandise will be sold to benefit the Kelsey Smith Foundation, a not-for-profit charity created to protect youth and young adults. Links:

Kansas City Star online article

Kelsey's Army: The Kelsey Smith Foundation

South Carolina: Hit and Run driver forgoes his parole hearing after hundreds of signatures and emails are received opposing his parole. Brian Nelson, who had a suspended licence and a history of seizures, hit and killed Summerville police officer William Boland Bell, 48, and Berkeley County sheriff's deputy Marion Eugene Wright II, 27, who had stopped to help a woman stranded with a flat tire on Boone Hill Road the evening of Nov. 19, 2002. This was Nelson's first parole consideration. He will be eligible for parole consideration every year from now on. Links:

WCSC-TV S.C. online article

WCSC-TV S.C. online article 2

The Post and Courier Charleston, S.C. online article

North Carolina: Larry Demery, one of two men, convicted of murdering James Jordan-father of Michael Jordan-says that his two 1995 sentences, one for the murder of Jordan and one for a pair of robberies earlier in the same month, should run concurrently. His lawyer says that the state Department of Correction has incorrectly recorded them as consecutive sentences. If the sentences were served concurrently, Demery could seek parole after 20 years in prison. Links:

NBC 17 online article

WRAL-TV online article

UPDATE: Superior Court Judge Gary Locklear agreed with convicted murderer Larry Demery and his lawyers that his two sentences-one for the murder of Michael Jordan's father, James-should run concurrently. This would mean that Demery could seek parole in 2016. Links:

NBC17.com online article

Fayetteville Observer online article

Massachusetts: Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. urged state representatives and senators to support the Act to Protect and Enhance the Rights of Child & Adult Victims & Witnesses of Crime now before the Legislature. Early says significant progress has been made in protecting crime victims and witnesses in the state, but additional steps are needed to strengthen those protections. Links:

Worcester Massachusetts Telegram.com article

Kansas: Riccardo Harris' 19 year-old son was shot to death in January. Harris, a high school teacher and coach, has come up with a program aimed at students. The focus would be to show how devastating violence is. Harris hopes to launch the program in April. It will involve a video documenting his son's life, death and interviews with family members. Links:

KAKE ABC 10 online article

February, 2008

Arizona: $2 million cut in state funds for compensation and assistance to crime victims and their families. Links:

Tucson Citizen article

Virginia: Bill repealing Virginia triggerman rule wins final passage. In VA, only a person who is directly responsible for a murder can get the death penalty. A bill (VA HB 933) by Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) would apply the death penalty to accomplices who share the triggerman's intent to kill. Links: