Tag Archives: News
Etan Patz: Investigators have a tough road to conviction
As I continue following the case of Etan Patz, I am struck by a few different thoughts.
First, it is amazing to me- assuming this child was disposed of in the manner suspect Pedro Hernandez claims he was- just how easily a life can be seemingly erased.
Just gone.
Hernandez says after luring the child into the basement of the bodega (where he was employed), he simply placed the body in a bag, and left it in the narrow walkway/alley where the trash collectors would have taken it as part of their regular pick up.
In just a short period of time, the child has simply vanished. Now, 33 years later, it is unlikely he will ever be found.
Next, I am struck by the how difficult this case is going to be for the prosecution. What was the motive for committing this crime? Hernandez doesn’t seem to be a pedophile. When asked why he did it, Hernandez had no answer. He says he doesn’t know. He later said that maybe he did it because little Etan reminded him of a nephew he wasn’t fond of.
Others have speculated that Hernandez was mentally ill, as if that explains the lack of motive. If Hernandez was simply crazy, how did he manage to dispose of the boy’s body in such a thorough manner? How did he manage to live a sane life, with a wife and a child, committing no other crimes, victimizing no other children for 33 years?
Then again, perhaps there are other victims, and Hernandez managed to kidnap and dispose of them as effectively as he kidnapped and disposed of Etan.
Personally, I doubt he could have done that over the course of so many years without raising suspicion somewhere along the way.
In a case that has had its share of both suspects and false confessions, a case that is 33 years old, where there is no body, DNA or physical evidence, the lack of motive seems significant.
I wonder how police can be sure they have the right man. Even if they do, I’m not sure they’ll be able to convince a jury to convict him.
Man claims he killed Etan Patz
Is this the break authorities have been waiting for?
A man in police custody has implicated himself in the murder of New York City youth, Etan Patz.
Patz disappeared in 1979 while on his way to his school bus stop.
He was six years old, and while long considered dead, authorities have yet to locate the boy’s body, or charge anyone with his murder. There have been multiple suspects over the years.
Etan was the first missing child to have his picture featured on milk cartons, and the case has held public attention for decades.
Suspect Pedro Hernandez lived in the same neighborhood as Patz when he went missing. Hernandez confessed to killing a “child” to both a family member and spiritual advisor in recent years, though he did not name the victim. He has since told police the child was Etan, and that after killing him, he placed the boy’s body in a box. When he later returned, the box was gone.
I feel immense sympathy for the parents of this lost child. Every few years another lead or suspect turns up, and they find themselves back in the spotlight. After getting their hopes for closure dashed so many times, I wonder how they manage to hold it together. They are strong people, that is for sure.
My thoughts join with the thoughts of millions, hoping for some resolution at long last.
Arrest made in Sierra LaMar abduction
All signs point to a tragic conclusion in the case of the mysterious disappearance of teen Sierra LaMar.
Authorities believe LaMar disappeared on her way to the school bus stop on the morning of March 16th. She had been active on her Twitter account while getting ready for school, until all activity suddenly stopped. School officials confirmed she was not present in class that day, and canines later lost her scent at the end of her driveway.
Sierra’s cell phone and handbag, with items of her clothing carefully tucked inside, were later found abandoned.
Police recently announced that they were looking for a red Volkswagen, a vehicle seen in the vicinity at the time of LaMar’s disappearance. The car was later located and seized.
Authorities have since announced that DNA found on the clothing from inside the discarded handbag are a match to 21 year old Antolin Garcia-Torres.
Garcia-Torres’ DNA was in the database due an earlier assault arrest. While that incident was non-sexual, it was a felony, which allowed police to obtain his DNA.
Investigators have said the man has been under 24-hour surveillance since March, with the hope he’d lead police to the girl’s body. After two months, nothing new had surfaced, and the decision was made to arrest him, for the public’s safety.
The suspect since been linked, by physical evidence, to another assault- this one dating back to March 2009.
Currently it is thought LaMar’s abduction was random, and police believe she is dead.
In the meantime, Garcia-Torres’ family says police have the wrong man, and that he did not commit this crime.
This writer would like to point out that while DNA doesn’t lie, people definitely do.
It’s difficult to face the fact that a loved one is actually a monster, capable of inhuman acts against those least able to defend themselves.
Hopefully this man will show some mercy on Sierra LaMar’s family, and finally tell them where they can find her body. She deserves to come home, and they deserve to know she is, at the very least, resting in peace.
Dharun Ravi Sentenced in Rutgers Case
The judge has opted not to recommend the man’s deportation to India, where he is a citizen.
Ravi had been looking at a potential 10 year sentence, but it seems the judge agreed with popular sentiment, and chose a much lighter punishment.
Dharun Ravi was an insensitive jerk when he spied on his roommate, but he is no hardened criminal.
I hope Tyler Clementi’s parents are able to find a measure of peace in the future, knowing they will forever miss their son. I am equally hopeful Mr. Ravi can move forward in earnest, and make a positive mark on the world.
Movie comparing abortion to Holocaust “accidentally” shown to students
High school students were in for quite a surprise when they were shown a graphic documentary that compared a legal abortion to the Holocaust.
Supposedly it was an accident.
I can only imagine the scandal, had a video “accidentally” been shown advocating a woman’s right to choose, depicting the pro-life movement as Nazis making Heil Hitler gestures instead.
War on drugs: Grandma gets life sentence
56 year old Elisa Castillo, a grandmother with no criminal record, was sentenced to 68 years in prison on a drug offense.
Authorities claim Elisa drove a tour bus from Mexico to Houston, TX on numerous occasions, and that the bus was carrying cocaine and large amounts of cash across the border. They say Elisa knowingly participated in the drug-running scheme, and charged her accordingly.
Elisa, however, claims she was asked by a Mexican resident to drive the bus as part of his tour-bus company, and says she knew nothing about the drugs or the cash that was hidden on-board. Prosecutors doubt this, pointing out that money and drugs had been found on the bus in the past, and Elisa continued to drive it.
Initially offered a plea deal, Elisa could have escaped a life sentence, had she turned over the names of higher operatives, people who were masterminding the conspiracy. Elisa, claiming she had no idea there was any illegal activity occurring on the bus at all, was unable to give authorities any names. As a result, the prosecution tried her, the jury convicted her, and the judge sentenced her using non-mandatory guidelines.
What did the grandma know about the drug running?
Was her sentence appropriate, or has the war on drugs become futile?
Lesbian Couple Charged with Staging Hate Crime
These are the kinds of actions that make human rights’ movements subject to the “one step forward, two steps back” experience:
It appears a lesbian couple has been charged with staging a hate crime, with themselves as the victims. Now, thanks to the actions of these two women, many will think twice before taking crimes against gay people seriously- or even believing they were committed at all.
What motivates these people?
Court docs: Trayvon Martin shooting ‘ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman’
Just confirming that which normal people most of us already knew, it comes as no surprise that George Zimmerman could have avoided shooting Trayvon Martin.
Still waiting to hear evidence supporting the fact that Zimmerman was the one fighting for his life. I’ll probably be waiting a while.
