BEFORE I DIE I WANT TO....(428 Pics)

A Photoshop Request Disaster

Relative's DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area Rapist case, DA's office says

Sacramento investigators tracked down East Area Rapist suspect Joseph James DeAngelousing genealogical websites that contained genetic information from a relative, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday.

The effort was part of a painstaking process that began by using DNA from one of the crime scenes from years ago and comparing it to genetic profiles available online through various websites that cater to individuals wanting to know more about their family backgrounds by accepting DNA samples, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi.

The investigation was conducted over a long period of time as officials in Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert's office and crime lab explored online family trees that appeared to match DNA samples from the East Area Rapist's crimes, Grippi said. They then followed clues to individuals in the family trees to determine whether they were potential suspects.

The process finally came to fruition last Thursday, when the investigation focused on the possibility that DeAngelo might be a suspect, a suspicion bolstered by the fact that he had lived in areas where the attacks occurred and was in the right age range, Grippi said. 

Schubert said in an interview at her office that the April 19 determination that DeAngelo might be a suspect set the investigation into high gear.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones' investigators set up surveillance on DeAngelo in his quiet Citrus Heights neighborhood and obtained his DNA from something he discarded.

The crime lab began testing the material and Schubert said she got a call last Friday night from Grippi while she was at a high school fundraiser telling her that the DeAngelo DNA matched that found at decades-old murder scenes in Ventura and Orange counties.

"I was at a dinner at Cristo Rey High School and Steve Grippi called me," she said. "And so I probably used a few words I wouldn't put in a newspaper, but basically said, 'You'd better not be lying to me.'"

The sample provided "overwhelming evidence that it was him," Schubert said, but she decided they wanted a second sample, which sheriff's officials recovered.

The results from testing that second sample came in while Schubert was in her office Monday night, she said.

"The second sample was astronomical evidence that it was him," Schubert said, adding, "There were a whole lot of holy s--- moments."

Authorities began moving quickly to plan the arrest.

"We wanted to be able to move quickly because it wasn't like he was in custody somewhere," she said, adding that she didn't tell all prosecutors with unsolved crimes around the state in an effort to keep the discovery secret.

"Not all the DAs knew at the time that the arrest was made," she said. "I think it's a fair statement that it was closely held.

"There were concerns about public safety in terms of if he figured out something was going on."

DeAngelo was arrested outside his home Tuesday afternoon and booked into the county jail on two charges of murder in the February 1978 slayings of Katie and Brian Maggiore in Rancho Cordova.

He is expected to face charges in 12 homicide cases in Sacramento, Orange, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties stemming from a rape and slaying spree that authorities say stretched from 1974 through May 1986.

DeAngelo faces arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday, but authorities still must determine where he ultimately will stand trial and whether he faces death penalty prosecutions. Some of the murders were committed at a time when the death penalty had been ruled unconstitutional, but others are eligible.

Schubert said she wants to meet with prosecutors from the counties where DeAngelo is suspected of murders and plan a joint prosecution similar to that used in the Luis Bracamontes cop-killing trial that ended with a death penalty sentence on Wednesday.

Bracamontes killed deputies in Sacramento and Placer counties in 2014, and was jointly prosecuted in Sacramento by Rod Norgaard from Schubert's office and Dave Tellman from the Placer DA's office.

"It makes sense to do it in one county," she said, adding that the case could be moved to Southern California because 10 of the 12 murder victims were killed there.

"The majority of the murders happened down in Southern California, so I'm comfortable with wherever it's going to be as long as everybody gets to be a participant," she said.

Prosecutors also must grapple with whether to file rape charges against DeAngelo because for many cases the statute of limitations has expired.

Sacramento prosecutors do not currently plan to file such charges. In Santa Clara County, where the East Area Rapist was linked to two rapes in San Jose in 1978, the district attorney's office said it would not seek to prosecute DeAngelo because the statute of limitations had expired.

But other jurisdictions are considering it, including Yolo County, where authorities said Thursday they are investigating three rapes in Davis nearly 40 years ago they suspect were committed by DeAngelo.

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig indicated in a written statement he would seek to prosecute DeAngelo in connection with the Davis attacks, the first prosecutor in the state to announce such plans.

Reisig said his office would work with Schubert, the FBI and Davis police “to solve the Davis rapes, vigorously prosecute the rapist and achieve some sense of justice for the victims, family members and the Davis community.”

Contra Costa County's district attorney is working with police agencies there to investigate whether DeAngelo committed nine sexual assaults in that county between 1978 and 1979, DA spokesman Scott Alonso said.

Alonso said the statute of limitations may present a challenge. He said the office is evaluating cases with the county sheriff and police in Concord, Danville and Walnut Creek, where attacks linked to the East Area Rapist occurred.

"I think we're very interested in pursuing justice for the victims in these cases and pursue what we can file under the statute of limitations," Alonso said. "We want to see justice for these terrible crimes."

The East Area Rapist is believed to have killed 12 people, raped at least 51 and burglarized hundreds of homes from 1974 through May 1986 along the length of California.

News that a suspect had been arrested in the 44-year-old mystery set off a frenzy of calls to the DA's office from news outlets around the world, and left Schubert reaching out to victims and investigators who had spent decades working to solve the case.

Schubert, who grew up in Sacramento and was 12 when the attacks began, said her brother recalled their father buying a gun because of the rapes and that her mother slept with a knife under her pillow.

The realization that the case might finally have been solved - and that it involved a man who had lived in Sacramento undetected for decades - comes 18 years after Schubert convinced her bosses in the DA's office to let her begin a cold case investigations unit and two years after she formed a statewide task force to focus efforts on the case.

"It's just surreal, so many years of people waiting...," she said. "It’s a big deal. It's a moment in time that I don't think anybody's going to forget...Everybody here understands the significance of this case."

Florida deputies have no confidence in sheriff who presided over the Parkland shooting, union says

More than 500 deputies in Florida have voted that they no longer have confidence in the sheriff who presided over the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students and staff.

Jeff Bell, president of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, said Thursday that out of 628 votes, 534 Broward County deputies cast a ballot to say they "no longer have confidence" in Sheriff Scott Israel. Ninety-four people voted for Israel, Bell said.

The union called for the vote over sheriff's office's response to the Parkland shooting as well as Israel's response to the criticism of him in the wake of the shooting, ABC Fort Lauderdale affiliate WLPG reported.

"These members have displayed great courage to come forward and vote under the threat of retaliation," Bell said. 

The association represents about 1,300 deputies and sergeants who "put their lives on the line every day," according to its president.

Bell said it is now time for the sheriff to start listening to both members of his office as well as the leaders of Broward County.

The association president took issue over Israel's leadership, policies and his handling of the budget. He also accused Israel of "taking care" of his family and friends by hiring them as "command staff at top levels" and attempting to "skirt the laws that are in place within the state of Florida."

"He fails to listen to the people," Bell said. 

After the results of the vote were announced, Israel released a statement saying that he "will not be distracted" by the union vote.

"I am accountable to the citizens of Broward County," Israel said. "My job is to continue to do the job I was elected to do, which is to ensure the safety of Broward County’s 1.9 million residents."

In his statement, Israel repeated a sentiment he expressed while to reporters shortly before the results of the vote were announced, which is that the vote was "designed to extort a 6.5 percent pay raise from this agency."

Bell responded to Israel's comments by calling the sheriff a "complete liar."

"This has never been abut a contract," Bell said. "This has been about his longstanding policies."

Bell said that the only thing that he and Israel agree on is that on the day of the Parkland shooting, school resource deputy Scott Peterson "needed to go into the building to save more lives."

More than a week after the shooting, Israel announced that Peterson "did nothing" as he stayed outside the school as shots rang out for more than four minutes. However, Bell said Peterson wasn't a "coward" and merely "froze."

The association will be taking the issue up with lawmakers in Tallahassee, where they will ask Gov. Rick Scott to "do his job" and re-evaluate Israel's position within the sheriff's office, Bell said.

No charges against West Milwaukee officers in death of a mentally ill man hit 18 times with Taser

Two West Milwaukee police officers who broke down a mentally ill man’s door and tased him in the shower 18 times before he died will not be criminally charged, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has decided.

More than 30 minutes elapsed between the first time the officers deployed their Tasers and the time Adam Trammell lost consciousness in the hallway of his apartment building, known to officers as a place that housed people with mental illnesses, according to police reports.

In between, Trammell suffered a black eye, a broken rib and more than two dozen cuts and bruises, according to the medical examiner's report.

On the officers’ body camera footage, Trammell can be heard screaming in agony.

He spent some of his last conscious moments vomiting profusely.

Chisholm concluded there was “no basis to conclusively link” the death of Trammell, which occurred in May, to the officers’ actions.

The officers, Michael Rohleder and Anthony Munoz, “responded to a medical emergency under complex circumstances that required them to attempt restraint,” Chisholm wrote to West Milwaukee Police Chief Dennis L. Nasci.

But Trammell, who was 22 and suffered from schizophrenia, did not exhibit any sign of needing medical attention until the officers had attempted to forcibly remove him from the shower, according to investigative reports.

When they pulled aside the shower curtain, Trammell stood still and stared blankly at them, the body camera footage shows.

"These police tortured Adam Trammell to death," said Robin Shellow, one of the attorneys representing the Trammell family. "This was not 'help.' They were not protecting or serving anyone. Naked, cold, confused, alone in his own bathroom and crying for Jesus to take him, he needlessly suffered."

Trammel's father was outraged by Chisholm's decision.

"This is a nightmare. I can’t believe this," Larry Trammell said. "I think those people should resign. The D.A. and the chief of that police department."

Nasci did not return telephone calls Thursday. Earlier, he said the officers remained on full duty while they were under investigation. 

The medical examiner’s report ruled the manner of Trammell's death as undetermined, but cited the Taser use — as well as the use of  sedatives by paramedics — as a contributing factor. 

The officers told investigators they tased Trammell because they wanted to get him medical attention, according to records.

“Responding as a first-line community caretaker of a mentally ill person who needs medical intervention is fundamentally different from committing a crime, but in some circumstances forceful restraint is required,” Chisholm wrote. 

According to the records, here’s what happened:

On the morning of May 25, a neighbor called police because Trammell, who had knocked on her door, was naked in the hallway, talking about the devil and his brother. She feared he was experiencing a psychotic break.

Trammell had not threatened anyone or brandished a weapon. When police arrived, a neighbor told them she feared he might harm himself. Trammell’s downstairs neighbor told them water was leaking through the ceiling from his apartment.

Rather than waiting for 25 minutes for someone to arrive with a key, police broke down the door and walked through the apartment to the bathroom, where they found Trammell taking a shower, drinking from a jug of water.

When the officers spoke to Trammell, he stared at them and did not reply.

Munoz reached for Trammell, who pushed him away. That’s when Munoz first deployed his Taser, causing Trammell to fall backward into the tub. After initially lying still, Trammell struggled as Munoz and Rohleder tried to handcuff him, so they tased him some more.

During the struggle, the officers dropped their Tasers. A third officer, who was outside he bathroom, handed hers to one of them.

The officers called West Allis police for help. West Allis recommended disengaging, so Munoz and Rohleder did.

Rohleder pulled the trigger of his Taser one more time from the hallway, while the leads to its wires were still embedded in Trammell’s body. Rohleder told investigators “this was not an intentional deployment, but occurred spontaneously when the West Allis police asked him if the Taser wires were still connected,” according to Chisholm's letter.

When paramedics arrived, Trammell was handcuffed and struggling on the ground outside his apartment. They gave him two sedatives, ketamine and midazolam, in an attempt to calm him down, the medical examiner’s report says.

By the time they got him into the ambulance, Trammell had stopped breathing and had no pulse. He was pronounced dead within minutes of arriving at the hospital.

The medical examiner listed the cause of Trammell’s death as excited delirium, a controversial condition often cited when police use force. 

Symptoms of excited delirium include aggressive or bizarre behavior, paranoia and high body temperature. Although pathologists cite the syndrome as a cause of death and emergency room doctors have procedures to treat it, excited delirium is not recognized by the American Medical Association or the American Psychological Association.

In evaluating the officers' actions, Chisholm reviewed Wisconsin Department of Justice guidelines regarding excited delirium.

They say officers in these cases should:

• Avoid increasing the subject's agitation or excitement.
• Minimize physical struggles with the subject.
• Minimize the use of restraints.
• Get medical care for the subject as quickly as possible.

The guidelines also say a "combative subject" should be placed under control before being put into an ambulance.

"If the circumstances do not permit this procedure, use other customary practices to gain control of the subject," the guidelines say.

Chisholm concluded the officers' actions toward Trammell were not abusive. 

“To support a finding of criminal culpability in these circumstances, I would have to demonstrate that the officers intentionally or negligently subjected Mr. Trammell to abuse under circumstances that were likely to cause bodily harm,” Chisholm wrote. “There is no evidence to support the officers intended to harm Mr. Trammell.”

Shellow and attorney Mark Thomsen of  Gingras, Cates & Wachs plan to file a civil suit against West Milwaukee.

‘I thought I was going to die’: Ex-NFL player details brutal arrest

A former college football player was slammed to the ground and choked until he said he was unconscious during an arrest by Henry County police officers in a shopping center parking lot, cellphone video of the attack shows. 

Desmond Marrow, 30, a former University of Toledo cornerback, detailed the arrest in a lengthy Facebook post Thursday night. The date and exact location of the arrest were not provided. 

Henry County police did not immediately answer questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the video or the circumstances of the arrest. 

“We will have to handle this (Friday) morning,” Capt. Joey Smith said late Thursday.  

Video shows Marrow being slammed to the ground by officers who he says thought his cellphone, which was in his back pocket, was a gun. Marrow is heard repeatedly saying, “I’m not even fighting back.” 

“During the arrest, the police knocked my teeth out, slammed me on my head and choked me out until I was unconscious,” Marrow said in the post. Before he says he fainted, Marrow told officers he couldn’t breathe. 

He said he suffered a shoulder strain and concussion. Marrow also alleges officers spit on him. 

“I was fully cooperating with the officers with zero resistance,” Marrow wrote. “I thought I was going to die.”

Marrow was picked up as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 but was released without playing in an NFL game.