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FBI nabs convicted robber 36 years after he escaped from prison -- because he called his mom
Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, August 23rd 2011, 12:53 PM
The FBI nabbed a convicted killer 36 years after he skipped out of jail, thanks to a call he made to his dying mother in 2005, the FBI said.
William Walter Asher 3rd was arrested Friday at his California home after investigators used phone records to find the 66-year-old murderer who's been on the lam since 1975.
"After 36 years of looking over his shoulder, William Walter Asher 3rd ... is finally back where he belongs -- in prison," the FBI said in a press release.
Asher was sentenced to life in prison in 1967 for a murder in which he and three accomplices robbed a San Francisco bar and beat the bartender to death.
Eight years into his sentence, he escaped from a minimum security inmate fire camp in El Dorado County with the help of a female accomplice, the California Department of Corrections said.
While on the run, Asher worked as a truck driver in Canada, married a woman and separated before coming back to California.
Back in the U.S., he worked as a truck driver under a different name and for 10 years had been living with another woman - who had no idea he was a fugitive.
The break, authorities said, came after a source told them Asher had called his dying mother in 2005.
"According to source information, shortly before (the mother's) death, she asked various family members to assist her in using the 'secret' number to call 'Billy,'" the FBI said.
That was enough to put authorities back on the felon's trail.
Agents scoured phone records of people who may have helped and found two calls made to a home in Salida, Calif., to a man named Garry Donald Webb two days before Asher's mother died, CNN reported.
They staked out the house and eventually nabbed their man.
"Although the trail went cold over the years, investigators never gave up their hunt for Asher and recently got the break they needed," the FBI said.
The dog ate my diamonds... Really!
Posted: Aug 22, 2011 4:20 PM EDT Updated: Aug 22, 2011 4:36 PM EDT
WALB
ALBANY, GA -
$10,000 worth of diamonds disappeared from a Georgia jewelry store, but they didn't have to go far to find them again. They quickly figured out it was an inside job, and recovered the jewels the next day.
In fact, they didn't even have to call police.
John Ross Jewelers is well-known in town for their four footed mascots. Tiffany and Velvet roamed the shop for years, and appeared in commercials. After their passing, Honey Bun now greets customers and as Chuck and Ann Roberts found out their new pup has expensive taste.
Honey Bun's not much of a guard dog, but is great on customer relations. "He's been loved," says Co-owner Chuck.
Customers sometimes hide treats in their purses for Honey Bun, but the Roberts' recently learned this pampered pooch has more expensive taste. It happened two weeks ago when a customer came in.
"A customer came in, and I jumped up out of my chair and came out here to wait on him, and I left the chair where he could jump up on my chair, and jump up on my desk," said Roberts.
On the desk four packs of loose diamonds, about a carat each to set in diamond earrings, pens, and dog treats. When he returned only three packs remained, and an empty pouch like this one was lying on the floor.
"We looked all over and there weren't any diamonds, so immediately I knew he'd eaten them."
Since Honey Bun wasn't talking, there was only one way to find out.
"She came down and took him across the street and we ran X-rays."
Carbon doesn't show up on an X-ray, but two blank spots confirmed Honey Bun was a likely suspect. It only took a day, and they found another surprise.
"The next afternoon sure enough the earring back and two diamonds were recovered, no panic."
Honey Bun was guilty as charged, but this pooch was granted a reprieve.
"I haven't scolded him to this day and I won't. Why not? It's my fault for leaving the chair there, that's why," said Roberts.
It's taught Roberts a valuable lesson. He's now very cautious about where he leaves his desk chair and they're keeping a closer eye on Honey Bun especially around the precious gems.
Incidentally, the diamonds Honey Bun chose to eat, weren't the best pair. If they were, Chuck Roberts said they'd be in the display case now. They were cleaned up and sent back to the supplier.
Honey Bun also got a clean bill of health and doesn't appear to be phased by the incident.
LINK TO VIDEO:
8:26 p.m. Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Rev. Al Sharpton officially tapped as MSNBC host
FRAZIER MOORE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — After several weeks in a tryout role, the Rev. Al Sharpton has officially been named host of a weeknight hour on MSNBC.
In his new role, the well-known civil rights activist and minister will lead a lively and informed discussion of the day's top headlines, MSNBC said.
Sharpton called the hosting job "a natural extension of my life work and growth."
Besides his work as a community leader and religious figure, Sharpton already hosts a nationally syndicated radio show. He was a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination that eventually went to U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
The 6 p.m. hour serves as an important lead-in to MSNBC's weeknight slate that includes Chris Matthews, Laurence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. The network has done a swift reconfiguration in prime time since the abrupt departure of its marquee host, Keith Olbermann, in January. Olbermann took his show to Current TV.
In addition to being a guest on MSNBC throughout the network's history, Sharpton has also served as an occasional guest host on several of its programs.
"I've known Rev. Sharpton for over a decade and have tremendous respect for him," said MSNBC president Phil Griffin. "I'm thrilled that he's now reached a point in his career where he's able to devote himself to hosting a nightly show."
Earlier this month, Griffin dismissed the notion that the possible hiring of Sharpton might represent a conflict of interest for the cable channel.
"He's been on MSNBC for all 15 years," MSNBC President Phil Griffin said at the time, noting Sharpton's long track record with the network.
Sharpton last year had weighed in on behalf of the Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. as the government scrutinized the company's ultimately successful takeover of NBCUniversal. Sharpton, the head of the National Action Network civil rights group, was among minority representatives approached by Comcast executives for support. MSNBC is part of NBCUniversal.
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Two intruders caught sleeping in caskets at Weaver's Funeral Home
Barrett Hartsock
This morning at 10:30 a.m. officers were dispatched to Weaver’s Funeral Home on a report of intruders inside the building.
Workers in the casket storage facility discovered two males asleep in caskets while they were working in the building.
When the employees told the intruders that they were calling the police they fled the area by jumping out a window. One of the subjects managed to escape. The other, Barrett Lance Hartsock, was caught and arrested.
Hartsock was charged with burglary and vandalism over $1,000.
The second intruder described as a white male, last seen in the area of Cherry St. At that time was shirtless. His name may be Lars and he may go by the nickname Sparks or Sparky.
There was more than $9,000 in damage done to the caskets the two were sleeping in.
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia is felt in Maryland.
It happened around 1:50 p.m.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The quake was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County.
Other people reported feeling moderate shaking in Odenton, Anne Arundel County, and Washington, D.C, as well as North Carolina, New York and Rhode Island.
LINK TO VIDEO:
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6181013
| Tuesday, 23 August 2011 | |
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Bizarre News
Heidemarie’s incredible story began 22 years ago, when she, a middle-aged secondary school teacher emerging from a difficult marriage, took her two children and moved to the city of Dortmund, in Germany’s Ruhr area. One of the first things she noticed was the large number of homeless people, and this shocked her so much that she decided to actually do something about it. She had always believed the homeless didn’t need actual money to be accepted back into society, only a chance to empower themselves by making themselves useful, so she opened a Tauschring (swap shop), called “Gib und Nimm” (Give and Take). Her small venture was a place where anyone could trade stuff and skills for other things and skills they needed, without a single coin or banknote changing hands. Old clothes could be traded in return for kitchen appliances, and car service rendered in return for plumbing services, and so on. The idea didn’t really attract many of Dortmund’s homeless, because, as some of them told her to her face, they didn’t feel an educated middle-class woman could relate to their situation. Instead, her small shop was assaulted by many of the city’s unemployed and retired folk eager to trade their skills and old stuff for something they needed. Heidemarie Schwermer’s Tauschring eventually became somewhat of a phenomenon in Dortmund and even prompted its creator to ask herself some questions about the life she was living.
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Mother forces 'thief' son into parade of shame
Alexis Gillham
The Daily Telegraph
August 23, 2011 12:00AM
Punishment ... the boy with the sign around his neck. Picture: Supplied Source: The Daily Telegraph
A MOTHER made her child sit in public with a sign pinned to his shirt that said: "Do not trust me. I will steal from you as I am a thief."
The boy, thought to be aged about 10, was also wearing Shrek ears and writing lines in what appeared to a form of public punishment, according to dozens of witnesses who contacted the Townsville Bulletin.
The boy spent almost an hour on Sunday near a popular waterpark in Townsville while his family ate lunch nearby, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Diane Mayers was so "horrified" when she saw the boy she contacted Child Safety Services to intervene.
Ms Mayers, who worked with the department in the past, said any long-term effects of public humiliation would have been much worse than physical abuse.
"The boy just kept his head down and was staring at the ground," she said. "The parents had gone to all the trouble of printing two copies of the sign - one for the back and one for the front - and laminating them. A lot of work had gone in to it.
"A lot of people walked past and were laughing at him, including boys who would have been his age.
"At one point the boy had taken off the Shrek ears. My daughter walked past and heard the mother say, 'Put them back on or I'll smack your head in'."
'I've been shot – I hope it doesn't ruin my new hairdo': 92-year-old heroine threw herself in front of crazed gunman as he blasted three in salon
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:37 AM on 23rd August 2011
Gunman: Darren Williams injured three Women including his wife in Newport, Wales
A heroic 92-year-old was blasted in the neck with a shotgun when she leapt in front of a gunman who opened fire in a crowded Wales hairdressers, it was revealed today.
The woman sprang into action after Darren Williams, 45, burst through the doors of Carol Ann’s Salon in Newport, brandishing the double-barrelled gun.
The courageous widow was hit in the neck as she tried to protect hairdresser Rachel Williams, 37, from the attack by her estranged husband.
She first kicked a table towards the 16-stone bodybuilder before stepping between the gunman and his intended victim as he raised the weapon.
But Darren still fired both barrels of the shotgun - hitting his wife in the leg, the pensioner in the neck and another customer in the arm – before fleeing to woodland where he was later found dead.
Neighbouring vet Peter Heathcoate told how he ran to the salon after hearing the shots fired - and helped the injured women.
Mr Heathcote said: ‘I have never seen anything like it. I did not know what I was going in to - whether people had been shot and whether they were still alive.
‘Rachel Williams was lying on the floor and the older lady had blood coming from her head.
‘She was very shocked but said she was trying to protect the woman who was shot, which is amazing.
‘She had tried to kick over a table towards him and it was still there broken on the floor.
‘The old lady was worried about where she had been shot because she didn't want surgeons to shave her hair - because she'd just had it cut.
‘Rachel was very calm and I was trying to reassure her as she was laying on the floor.
Crime scene: Armed police arrived at the scene within minutes, but the gunman had already fled
‘She told me how she had been shot in the leg and that it was her ex-husband who had come into the store.
‘The gun was right there next to me. It was an antique shotgun and looked very elaborate.’
Mr Heathcote said how his team of vet surgery staff helped to patch up the wounded women until the ambulance service arrived.
‘The police and paramedics arrived about two minutes after this happened and the firearms police were also there very quickly.’
The brave 92-year-old, who hasn't been named, was released from Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport after being treated for the shotgun wound.
Shooting: Malpas Road, in Newport, South Wales where the 92-year-old was blasted in the neck with a shotgun by Darren Williams
Police are still investigating Williams' friends involved in hunting and shooting to discover how he managed to get his hands on the illegally-held shotgun.
Williams is believed to have used another weapon to shoot himself dead after escaping from the hairdressers salon in the attack in broad daylight on Friday afternoon.
Rachel was today still receiving treatment for her wounds at the Royal Gwent Hospital. She is stable and is expected to need plastic surgery.
Military and shooting enthusiast Williams was jailed for four months in 2004 after police discovered the ‘arsenal of weapons’ in his bedroom at their home in Newport, Gwent.
It included a stun gun, a .22 pistol, a machete, a hunting knife, cannisters of CS gas and bullets.
But Williams is believed to have kept up his interest in guns and weapons after being released from prison.
Neighbours said the couple were parting - and decided to sell the property for £129,000 because of the impending divorce.
The couple married five years ago but have lived together at the house for about ten years.
They have a son, 15, of their own and Darren has another son, 21, from a previous relationship.
At the scene: Police at the scene of a shooting at Carol-Ann's Hairstylists on Malpas Road, Newport in South Wales
An inquest is expected to be opened tomorrow by Gwent coroner David Bowen.
Mr Williams, 45, from Cwmbran, South Wales, went on the run for five hours before he was found dead in the woods.
Police have confirmed he went to the hairdressers to confront his ex-wife over their separation.
His family have now said he had been suffering in recent weeks because of the 'traumatic break-up of his marriage'.
They said he had 'desperately needed professional medical attention'.
Mr Williams was found at 8.15pm on Friday at Brynglas Woods in the Newport area.
Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with his death.
Superintendent Dave Johnson, local commander for Newport Police, said that Mr Williams ‘enjoyed hunting and the outdoor life’.
He said the double-barrelled shotgun that Mr Williams fired twice at the salon where his ex-wife worked had been recovered but that Mr Williams did not have a licence for it.
Anwar Ul Haq, 60, who lives above and works at Malpas Convenience Store - two doors down from Carol-Ann's Salon, said he heard about three shots and a woman in her 50's ran into his shop asking for help.
He said: 'A woman came out shouting "help, help"... she went to another shop and asked for help, in the mean time the police vans came.
'That woman was frightened, scared, she was when she came out.
The police said to go inside and close the doors. We didn't go outside then as the police blocked the road and after four o'clock the police said to us close the shops and so we closed the shop.'.
Shaving child's head isn't abuse. Seriously?
The Bakersfield Californian | Sunday, Aug 21 2011 10:30 PM
Updated Sunday, Aug 21 2011 10:30 PM
What the experts say
Discipline is never pleasant, but it should have a purpose, said therapist Laurel Sheffield, who works almost exclusively with foster children at the Henrietta Weill Child Guidance Clinic.
"Such as, if a child destroys a library book, a logical consequence would be to have them earn money to repay the library, or not being allowed to check out books," she said. "Discipline comes from the Latin word 'to teach.'"
Psychologist Corey Gonzales agreed, saying parents should understand what the goal is before meting out punishment and then assess whether they're achieving that goal.
"The first line attempt would be positive reinforcement," he said. And in some instances you may need to find leverage over the child by taking away privileges.
"As a parent, you will sometimes feel powerless," he said. "But you don't want react by flexing your muscles because that's teaching your kid how they should react" to adverse situations.
When a 12-year-old girl with previously shoulder-length, rich, brown hair comes to school in tears -- trying to hide her freshly buzzed head under a hat -- adults should take notice.
In this case, school officials did take notice after a local mom shaved her daughter's head to punish her for lying. They called Child Protective Services.
But, ultimately, one key person, and the system overall, let that little girl down.
Pat Cheadle Director of Kern County Human Services, cleared the mom of any wrongdoing, chalking up the girl's distress to general teenager's angst over any change to their appearance.
Lets pause to digest that.
It's been a long time since I was a teenager, but even at my advanced age I can state with certainty that it would be far more devastating to a young girl to have her head shaved involuntarily than even getting a pimple just before class photos.
And the fact that the girl's own mother, who knew exactly how sensitive her daughter was about her appearance, would inflict such humiliation as discipline makes the act far worse.
Cheadle could not talk about this case in particular, but did speak in general about how the department handles abuse allegations.
"As a parent, is that a form of punishment I would use? No," Cheadle said. "But cutting of the hair, in and of itself, doesn't rise to the level of the legal definition of emotional abuse."
I disagree, and frankly, think Cheadle blew it on this one.
But this story is troubling on many other fronts as well.
The system itself was rigged against this girl from the start.
Because she is an adoptive child, not a foster kid, she had no representation, there was no psychological evaluation done to assess how damaging this act was to her and there was no mandatory counseling for her or her mother.
The public doesn't usually hear about such cases. Even when a child is killed, the details are shrouded in secrecy, ostensibly to protect the child. But I've long contended the confidentiality more often protects abusers and the system itself. This case confirmed my suspicions.
Acting out, anger and pain
The girl, we'll call her "Ella," is adopted. Ella's adoptive mom, whom I'll call "Sandy," became frustrated with Ella as the girl began acting out about a year before the head shaving incident. (I'm not using real names here, for obvious reasons, but I did contact "Sandy." She declined comment.)
The bad behavior began shortly after Sandy refused to tell Ella anything about her biological parents, according to a social worker's report.
Hmmm. Might that be the real problem?
Anyhow, in the realm of bad teenage behavior, most of Ella's transgressions were fairly mild. But they absolutely required attention.
Sandy told the social worker that Ella had been taking things that didn't belong to her -- her sister's iPod, Sandy's make up -- and lying about it. Ella forged Sandy's signature on two school referrals for rule violations.
Sandy said she'd even caught Ella shaking her 3-year-old sister.
Ella had been grounded, her privileges had been taken away and she was given extra chores. Sandy told the social worker she had even gone to the extreme of cutting Ella's hair as punishment at least once before, but only by a few inches.
Then Sandy found her mascara and eye shadow in Ella's backpack and Ella lied about it.
Sandy wasn't angry and didn't "snap," according to the report and later testimony.
She calmly brought Ella into the bathroom, had her lean over the sink, got out the clippers and buzzed all of Ella's hair off as the girl sobbed.
Ella was left with about an inch of uneven, dark brown fuzz covering her scalp. The next day,Sandy sent her off to school.
She did it, Sandy told the social worker, because she felt such a drastic act would finally get Ella's attention. Ella "prizes her hair most of all," Sandy said. The little girl was constantly combing and styling it.
She was "not trying to humiliate her, but her hair is all she cares about." Sandy admitted that she knew it would "piss her off," according to the social worker's report.
By the way, Sandy is a licensed foster parent.
Foster parents aren't allowed to cut a foster child's hair for any reason without express permission from the biological parent or social worker. I have to believe Sandy was familiar with that rule.
Ella cried when the social worker asked how she felt about her buzzed hair.
"I look like a boy," she said.
She confirmed that Sandy had cut her hair as punishment at least once before. Her offense that time was having used too much conditioner, Ella said.
The rest of the family -- father, sister and brother -- also confirmed Sandy had previously cut Ella's hair as punishment.
The social worker found the allegation of abuse "substantiated" and recommended, but could not mandate, counseling.
System failure
Sandy appealed that finding because, as she testified, it would have prevented her from working with children through her church.
Interestingly, a substantiated or inconclusive finding of abuse, which goes into a Department of Justice database, doesn't automatically revoke a foster care license. That would have to be done by another state agency in a separate investigation.
Back to the case at hand. The allegation of abuse was found substantiated by the social worker's supervisor and then went to a grievance review hearing.
Again, because Ella isn't a foster child, the system afforded her few rights.
Everyone at the hearing had a lawyer except Ella, who was called as a witness for Sandy.
Cheadle told me foster kids are assigned lawyers but the county isn't required to provide biological or adoptive kids an attorney, nor does it have the authority to do so.
I also wondered if Ella had to testify in front of Sandy and who did the questioning.
Cheadle couldn't be specific. But county policy requires a hearing officer to interview minors "off record" to determine if they're being coerced.
Ella's testimony was conducted with Sandy in the room, however, which I find extremely lame.
No kid is going to sit in front of their own parent and say, "My mom's a monster."
In fact, during the hearing, Sandy said she'd never before cut Ella's hair as punishment. Ella agreed even though she, Sandy and three other family members all told the social worker it had happened previously. Sure, they all could have been lying to the social worker. More likely, Ella was too intimidated to tell the truth at the hearing.
Stacking the deck
Hearing officer Jeff Mendoza pronounced the abuse allegation "inconclusive."
Shaving a kid's head has the potential to cause emotional abuse, he said, but whether it did was undetermined.
Mendoza, in his report, slammedthe county for not conducting a psychological evaluation and notdoing enough follow up to determine if Ella's anxiety over the buzz cut was intense and ongoing, the legal definition of emotional abuse.
But he knew full well the county had no authority to mandate a psych eval. And social workers, by law, have to make findings within 30 days of an allegation, not enough time to know if there was lasting harm.
It's a classic "Catch-22."
Finally, Mendoza wenton at length about Ella's behavior, which strikes me as blaming the victim.
Anyone familiar with teens will tell you Ella's behavior wasn't that far out and is particularly commonplace among foster kids and many adoptive children. Especially adoptive children having identity issues -- such those who've been refused information about their biological parents.
While I consider Mendoza's "inconclusive"finding extremely weak, Cheadle's final order of "unfounded" was worse.
Aside from equating head shaving to common teenage embarrassment, Cheadle also criticizedElla's behavior and took Sandy's word that sincegettingthe buzz cut the girl had beenon the straight and narrow.
There's been no follow up, no further interviews with Ella nor the school. This is all just coming from mom, who, by the way testified in the hearing that she felt "justified" in shaving her daughter's head.
Aside from that, is Cheadle suggesting that the ends justify the means when it comes to discipline? That's an awfully slippery slope.
Look, I'm not saying the mom should have gone to jail in this case.
But just like the mom said about shaving her kid's head, when you cross the line there are consequences.
Apparently, for 12-year-old girls, there are. But not adults.
Heidemarie Schwermer, a 69-year-old woman from Germany, gave up using money 15 years ago and says she’s been much happier ever since.