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Post by Admin on Nov 12, 2023 15:37:05 GMT
11/11/23 Gilgo
Rex Heuermann’s estranged wife Asa Ellerup will be attending her husband’s serial murder trial to see firsthand the evidence in the charges he’s facing, her attorney says.
Divorce Attorney Robert Macedonio confirmed to DailyMail.com that Ellerup wants to see the court proceedings for herself after Heuermann, the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of several sex workers.
Ellerup filed for divorce just six days after her husband of 27 years was arrested in July.
“She wants to hear and see how it is played out in court. Not what the media has put out. Not what the podcast people are saying,” Macedonio told the Daily Mail. “She wants to hear and see for herself what is presented in court.”
Heuermann, a 60-year-old ex-Manhattan architect, is accused of killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.The bodies of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello were found along the shore of Long Island’s Gilgo Beach. Ten bodies in total have been found there since 2010, according to investigators. The area is near Heuermann’s home.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges he currently faces and is due back in court on Nov 15. Ellerup recently visited Heuermann in jail for the first time since he was arrested, but her attorney offered “no further comment” on the visit.
Macedonio told DailyMail.com that Ellerup is "holding up well" given the circumstances.
Heuermann and Ellerup share two adult children. The children did not accompany Ellerup to visit Heuermann in prison on Wednesday.Macedonio added that Ellerup is “adjusting,” saying that, for her, “every day gets a little bit better to being what the new normal is,” with the “new normal” being life without her husband. “It’s like after the death of somebody in the beginning,” Macedonio said, according to DailyMail.com. “She and the kids are okay.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 19, 2023 16:00:09 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 19, 2023 16:00:48 GMT
11/17/23 Dru Sjodin
Nov. 18—GRAND FORKS — When 22-year-old Dru Sjodin went missing in 2003, East Grand Forks Police Chief Michael Hedlund couldn't help but think of his own daughters." Just being a father of three daughters, I approached it from the front of, 'OK, if this was my daughter that went missing, how would I want the police department to be handling the situation?' " he recently told the Grand Forks Herald. Hedlund wasn't alone. Throughout the hectic hours and days following Sjodin's abduction, law enforcement took the case personally, he said. "What can we do to try to help this family find their daughter?" Hedlund said. "I think that happens in virtually every major investigation across the country but, for us, that was a unique circumstance."
At the time, Hedlund was the public information officer at the Grand Forks Police Department. After Sjodin's disappearance, he agreed to as many interview requests as possible. "You never know," he said. "That one media appearance might be seen or heard by someone that might have information. Maybe (you'll reach) the one person that happened to see something in the parking lot that day."
Twenty years ago next week, on Nov. 22, 2003, Sjodin was confronted outside of Grand Forks' Columbia Mall by Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., a sex offender who'd been released from prison earlier that year. Sjodin had just finished shopping after working a shift at Victoria's Secret and was talking on a cellphone with her boyfriend, Chris Lang, as she left the mall.
"Oh my God," was the last thing Lang ever heard her say. The call abruptly ended. Sjodin's body was found nearly five months later in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota, a city 20 miles east of Grand Forks.
In the two decades since the kidnapping and murder of Sjodin, the case has been the focus of television shows, podcasts and other media. Her killer's name repeatedly resurfaced during appeals that ultimately spared him from the death sentence that was handed down four years after the murder. In 2006, then-President George W. Bush signed "Dru's Law," which created the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry.
Before all of that, though, the community came together in hopes of finding the missing woman. Following the abruptly ended call, Lang answered another call from Sjodin on the evening of Nov. 22. The line immediately went dead. Police were able to trace Sjodin's cellphone to the area of a rest stop, Fisher's Landing, on Highway 2 about six miles east of Grand Forks. Sjodin's roommate reported her missing that night after Sjodin failed to show up for her shift at the El Roco, a Grand Forks nightclub. Within a day, law enforcement asked the public to join the search. The response was remarkable, according to Deputy Chief Bill Macki of the Grand Forks Police Department, an investigator on the case.
"The community banded together," Macki said. "Despite the differences community members might have, when tragedy strikes — whether it be a flood or, in this case, a kidnapping — the community always comes together." Sjodin's friends immediately began spreading flyers with information about her disappearance. An email was sent to every UND student, faculty and staff member. Hundreds attended a vigil at UND days after Sjodin's disappearance. Busloads of volunteers were transported from Grand Forks to Fisher — the closest community to the last known location of her cellphone — to search for Sjodin. Friends even traveled from her hometown of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, to join the searches. National Guard members helped, too.
"We had hundreds of volunteers, in North Dakota as well as in Minnesota, because we were searching a lot of different areas," Macki said. The community wanted to help, he recalled, and residents sent in thousands of tips with hopes that something would stick. Seemingly overnight, the story of Sjodin's disappearance was picked up by news agencies across the country, Hedlund said. "It probably is a factor that Dru looked like the girl next door," he said. "She was a pretty, blonde, blue-eyed girl. A college student at UND. There one second and gone the next, with limited traces as to what had happened."
It seemed impossible — or perhaps people wanted to believe it was impossible — for a woman to be abducted from the local mall parking lot, a traditionally well-lit, busy area. It was a place people considered safe, Hedlund said. There were many people coming and going during business hours at the mall, which was a significant retail destination in Grand Forks at the time, he said. "We don't know whether she was able to scream, or whether she was able to do anything," Hedlund said. "It happened quickly enough; it's possible that nobody did see it." No eyewitness reports ever came in.
Sjodin's case received widespread attention. One day, there were four or five reporters in the GFPD lobby. The following day, there were dozens. "In just a matter of a couple days, it exploded," Hedlund said. "All kinds of TV trucks parked outside, with their towers going up in the air. Tons of them all over the place. It was very, very chaotic, and a very different world from what any of us at the GFPD were certainly used to." At one point, there were so many requests for interviews that he couldn't manage them all himself. For a time, fielding media inquiries was a full-time job for Hedlund and Lt. Michael Kirby. "Some of those days I'd be coming to the station at 5 in the morning to tape something for one of the morning shows, and I might be there until 10 that night taping something for a live newscast that evening," Hedlund said. "There were lots of very long days."
Reporters, and law enforcement, traveled from around the U.S. following Sjodin's disappearance. "The response from other agencies that came into Grand Forks to assist was amazing," Hedlund said. "They had volunteers from across the country that were willing to come."
Every morning, briefings were held in a classroom area at the Grand Forks police station. For the first couple of weeks after Sjodin disappeared, the room was packed, Macki said. "I couldn't even guess how many investigators were down there," he said. "You'd walk in, and it was like, 'wow.'" Among them were police officers, sheriff's deputies, FBI agents and border patrol agents. They set aside rank and agency affiliation and focused on the task at hand: finding Sjodin. "It was an honor to be a part of that," Macki said. "I have no doubt that teamwork ultimately helped us solve this investigation, because there were no issues of jurisdiction, or worries about how important an investigator was. Everyone just did their role." Considering most of the team had never worked together, Macki was amazed by the efficiency of the investigation. Less than two weeks after she disappeared, Sjodin's kidnapper was arrested.
Macki recalls that UND Police Department Lt. Don Rasmussen found one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case: an empty multi-tool sheath located near Sjodin's car. A few days after Sjodin went missing, while law enforcement interviewed area sex offenders, Det. Mike Iwan was tracking where the sheath — which bore the label "Tool Shop" — might have been purchased. Special Agent Dan Ahlquist, from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, had just wrapped up an interview with Rodriguez, who consented to a search of his vehicle. Inside, Ahlquist found a knife, but it was clean. There was no reason to seize it. Until there was. Iwan returned to the station with a new multi-tool sheath that matched the empty one found near Sjodin's car. He placed it on the desk between Ahlquist and Macki. Inside the sheath was a knife. "That's the knife," Ahlquist said.
With this new information, police were able to get a search warrant and, ultimately, found biological evidence on Rodriguez's knife and inside his vehicle. "Had Mike Iwan not promptly done his assignment and found out where that knife was; had Dan Ahlquist not gotten a consent search, looked at the knife, inspected the knife; had we not all been together at that moment, it would have maybe taken us a little longer," Macki said. Rodriguez was arrested on Dec. 1. The arrest, however, was just part of the process. Sjodin still was missing.
Searches slowed, largely due to winter weather conditions. Her body was found 147 days after she disappeared, on April 17, 2004.
In 2006, Rodriguez was found guilty of Sjodin's kidnapping and murder. Although North Dakota does not have the death penalty, it was a federal crime due to Rodriguez transporting Sjodin across state lines. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was overturned in 2021 when Judge Ralph Erickson ruled that Rodriguez's constitutional rights were violated during the trial, among other issues. In March, U.S. prosecutors declared they will no longer seek the death penalty for Rodriguez. U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, based in Fargo, told Forum News Service that he was straightforwardly directed to withdraw the sentence by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Rodriguez's ability to avoid death for the crime has been especially frustrating for North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, who was a prosecutor in the case against Rodriguez. "The Biden Administration's withdrawal of the death penalty notice against Alfonso Rodriguez means that this death row inmate will no longer face the sentence handed down by a federal jury in 2006," Wrigley said in a statement issued in March. "Rodriguez will remain in prison for life, but the gates of death row will be opened, returning him to general prison population where he will be allowed to construct a social existence and life for himself within the confines he found so comfortable across the decades he was previously imprisoned." "This result is a grave affront to justice and to the hearts and souls of all who loved and cared for Dru Sjodin. They have our prayers for God's peace as do all who held out the hope there would be justice for that brave woman." Rodriguez was moved to a high-security prison in Sumterville, Florida, earlier this year.
After her daughter's death, Linda Walker set out to fight for change and raise awareness about violence against women. Walker and Lang gave talks about the subject, one of which Hedlund attended. "I walked into that auditorium that night and Dru's mom saw me, and she literally ran up to me and gave me one of the biggest hugs I've ever had in my life, and just kept thanking me over and over for what I'd done for their family," he said. "I was just doing my job." Even when things don't turn out right, the resulting effort can still have a positive effect on families, Hedlund said.
Among Sjodin's legacies is the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry, a government-run site that "provides information on the whereabouts of registered sex offenders, regardless of state territory or tribal boundaries." The site includes a picture of a smiling Sjodin, along with a biography. It also notes that Rodriguez was a level three sex offender who'd been released from prison, following a 23-year sentence, just six months before Sjodin's disappearance.
Walker remains thankful for the community support her family received and continues to receive. "The outpouring of love and support — oh my gosh — through the years, and still from people all over," Walker recently told a Forum News Service reporter. An annual golf tournament fundraiser in Pequot Lakes is still held in Dru's memory, and an annual run/walk was held for years as well to create awareness of violence against women and children.
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Post by Admin on Nov 23, 2023 7:07:27 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 23, 2023 7:15:33 GMT
11/22/23 Dru
GRAND FORKS — It was 20 years ago today 22-year-old Dru Sjodin was kidnapped from the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks.
The Univesity of North Dakota student was then raped and murdered by a serial sex offender. The case grabbed the attention of the region and nation for the next five months as local, state and federal investigators worked to find Dru Sjodin. The case did not have full closure until earlier this year.
"Going through this to some extent brings me back to these days," said Grand Forks deputy police chief Bill Macki as he paged through seven photo albums filled with several thousand pictures investigators took.
Twenty years later, the sights and sounds are still fresh in the minds of many. Thousands of members of law enforcement, Dru's family and friends and volunteers would spend five months searching for what happened to Dru Sjodin. "Everybody wanted to find Dru," said Macki, who was one of the lead investigators on the case. Sjodin was small town girl from Pequot Lakes with a charming smile who soon felt like family to everyone across the nation.
Two decades later, Dru Sjodin case still resonates in Grand Forks and across the nation "The complete innocence of the victim, the everyday nature of what she was doing at the time, walking out of a mall in a small Midwestern town," former U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley, who prosecuted the case, recalled.
"Very kind-hearted, genuine person, nice to everybody, I don't think you could meet anybody who met her, interacted with her that would have a negative thing to say. I think there's not a lot of people like that in the world, that's very rare, and maybe I didn't necessarily understand that at the time when I was 22 years old," said Meg Flategraff, who was Sjdoin's childhood friend and roommate in college.
On Nov. 22, 2003, Sjodin was kidnapped from the parking lot of the Columbia Mall after finishing up her shift and shopping. She was last seen alive leaving Marshall Fields. Alfonso Rodriguez is seen on video hanging out at Target, which was located in the current Scheels space. Sjodin was on the phone with her boyfriend when she was snatched, but nothing sounded alarming to him. Flategraff, who was also Sjodin's sorority sister, reported her missing later that night when she did not come home between jobs. "My intuition just knew something was not right, and when I called I thought they were not going to believe me," said Flategraff.
"Every morning during the briefing, would say what day it was and Dru is still missing, and those words penetrated," said Macki. A week into the investigation, 50-year-old Alfonso Rodriguez was identified as a suspect. Rodriguez, a three time convicted sex offender, had just been released from prison after serving 23 years for stabbing and raping another woman. However, during the course of numerous police interviews, he refused to tell police where he left Dru Sjodin's body. "To this day I still remember sitting across from him, very close, just a few feet from him, leaning in to him and there was an energy there I really can't explain. It was frustrating. I certainly lost sleep over it. I focused my investigative years after that on learning to interview people better," said Macki. Five months later, Dru Sjodin's body was found in a ravine not far from where Rodriguez lived with his mother in Crookston. Her phone was nearby.
"That's how cold blooded it was. He knew that before the victims had testified against him and in those other cases he ended up going to jail and he figured at his age he was going to go to jail for the rest of his life if he got caught this time so he killed her," said Wrigley. Rodriguez would become the 50th federal inmate put on death row. "He had forfeited his right under the laws of the United States to live among us. That was justice," said Wrigley.
Earlier this year, after more than 15 years of appeals, Rodriguez was taken off death row and sentenced to life without parole. "With the legal side of it, having that be finalized is a step in navigating grief and moving forward, I don't know that you will ever fully be healed from that experience and everything over the last 20 years," said Flategraff.
Following Sjodin's murder, the Department of Justice launched the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry in her honor. The government site provides information on the location of registered sex offenders. Wrigley, who prosecuted the case, says tougher laws are still needed today, adding that society owes it to future victims.
Rodriguez was classified as a level three sex offender when he was released. "They think level three sex offenders are like 65 or 70% likely to recidivate or reoffend within five years, but what does that tell us about what we should be doing with those sex offenders, should they just be allowed to walk out of that prison and say, 'Well they served their sentence, they're out?' I mean if it was 70% likely I was going to walk out of this news building today, retrieve a firearm from my car and just start shooting around the neighborhood, would you let me walk out of here? No, you wouldn't," said Wrigley.
"Her legacy has been lasting and her life wasn't for nothing, and has made a large impact on the community. She had a great life ahead of her that she didn't get to live," said Flategraff. An annual golf tournament is held in Dru Sjodin's hometown of Pequot Lakes each summer. The fundraiser promotes awareness of violence against women and children. It also awards a $5,000 college scholarship in Dru Sjodin's name to a Pequot Lakes high school student.
Alfonso Rodriguez is serving his life sentence at a federal prison in Florida. He declined to be interviewed for this story.
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Post by Admin on Dec 1, 2023 14:16:25 GMT
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Post by Admin on Dec 1, 2023 14:18:12 GMT
11/30/23 Gilgo
LONG ISLAND, NY — Cheek swab samples taken from Asa Ellerup, the estranged wife of accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, match DNA found on bodies of the victims, a report by Newsday said.
Heuermann, of Massapequa Park,, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder charges and three counts of second-degree murder charges in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010.
A grand jury investigation is ongoing into the death of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes; Heuermann is the primary suspect in her death, officials have said.
A total of 11 sets of remains were found in the Gilgo Beach murders, which rocked Long Island, including that of a toddler and an Asian male. Heuermann has also been potentially linked to Karen Vergata, whose remains were found at Davis Park on Fire Island.
According to a bail report filed at the time of Heuermann's arrest, Ellerup was out of town in Iceland at the time Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello disappeared. She has not been accused of, or charged with, any crime.
DNA samples were taken from Ellerup after Heuermann was arrested.
The report detailed DNA analysis of hairs recovered from the examination of the victims' bodies; the women were wrapped in burlap and leather belts, the report said. During the examination of the three belts that bound Brainard-Barnes, one of which was used to bind her feet, ankles and legs together, a female human hair was recovered from a belt buckle, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
Waterman, who was bound by clear of white duct tape, had two female human hairs found on her body; a female human hair was recovered on a piece of tape inside the burlap wrapping of Costello's body, Tierney said.
All of those hairs were sent to an outside forensics laboratory, whic applies DNA techniques and direct genome sequencing in "difficult-to-solve forensic casework and the identification of human remains," Tierney said. In July, 2022, the laboratory was able to determine, through mitrochondrial DNA testing, that each of the hairs recovered on each of the three female belonged to a female that was not any of the victims, Tierney said.
Next, an undercover Suffolk County Police detective recovered 11 bottles from a trash receptacle outside of Heuermann's home, Tierney said. After DNA profiling, it was determined that the DNA profile on the bottle was the same as that of the hair sample on Waterman, indicating that the two belonged "to the same individual or someone closely related," Tierney said. "Based on the investigation and evidence recovered to date, that female is believe to be the wife of Defendant Heuermann," the report read.
The report then said that because Ellerup was out of the country at the time of Waterman's disappearance and murders, "it is likely that the burlap, tape, vehicle (s) or other instrumentalities utilized in furtherance of these murders came from Defendant Heuerman's reisdence, where his wife also resides, or was transferred from his clothing."
Robert Macedonio, the attorney representing Ellerup in her divorce proceedings against Heuermann, confirmed that DNA samples were taken from Ellerup and her children, according to Newsday.
When asked about the DNA on Wednesday, Macedonio told Patch: "I have not seen or heard about any of the reports and I have no comment."
Tierney also did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
At his most recent court conference, Tierney said there was much forensic evidence under review, including cell phone records and pings, DNA, mitochondrial DNA evidence, and more. He said he wanted a trial "based on evidence," and wanted to provide a full body of that evidence to the defense; that evidence so far comprises a full gigabyte.
Of the body of evidence and thousands of photos, Tierney said it was a "sprawling" investigation with search warrants at his home, business and storage facilities.
When asked about Heuermann's wife's appearance in court, he said he had no comment and that she came to the proceedings, "as is her right."
After the court appearance, Ellerup kept her head down and declined to answer questions.
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Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2024 21:36:16 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2024 21:41:51 GMT
2/7/24 Gilgo
Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann is feeling “lonely and depressed” behind bars at a Long Island jail, his lawyer told a court on Tuesday. Mr Heuermann, 60, appeared in Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, New York, wearing a black suit, white shirt and blue tie, with his hands cuffed behind his back. The Manhattan architect turned suspected serial killer has been held without bail ever since his 13 July arrest for the infamous Gilgo Beach murders – and has been placed in isolation for his own protection.
At the hearing, his lawyer Michael Brown told the judge that this had left the accused killer “feeling lonely and depressed”. He added that Mr Heuermann is receiving counseling. The hearing, which was held to give State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei an update on the case, was Mr Heuermann’s first court appearance since his indictment for the murder of a fourth woman. The suspected killer had previously been charged with the 2009 and 2010 murders of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. Last month, he was then also charged with the 2007 murder of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors turned over a trove of documents related to the case, including nearly 3,000 police tips, to the defence. “The leads are important,” Mr Brown told reporters about the documents after the hearing, according to Newsday. “I think you heard the government this morning say there’s somewhere close to 3,000 leads in this case. Obviously some of those leads aren’t going to be significant at all. But some of those leads are going to be extremely significant. And they’re going to be important for us in the defence of this case. So we want to see those leads and we want to see the credibility of those leads and we want to see what follow-up the police department did in regard to those leads.”
According to discovery he has reviewed so far, Mr Brown said that there were “significant” leads provided to police and claimed that, in at least one instance, police were close to charging another suspect. “We were informed, among other individuals, that there was another individual that the prior district attorney of this county was prepared to charge with these crimes,” Mr Brown said. “We haven’t received any of that documentation. We expect that it will be forthcoming, but that’s very important, extremely important to this case.”
The lawyer also said Mr Heuermann has been reviewing discovery in the jail. “The sheriff has been great; they’ve been permitting him to review the discovery,” Mr Brown said, but added that he is suffering from being in isolation. “He’s in this isolation situation … and I understand it, it’s for his own safety. You obviously don’t want someone in the jail trying to get their 15 minutes of fame, so that’s why he’s being isolated. But at the same time, he’s not getting any social interaction with anybody else other than a correction officer.”
Asa Ellerup, Mr Heuermann’s estranged wife, was not in court for Tuesday’s hearing as she had been in the past. Justice Mazzei set Mr Heuermann’s next court date for 17 April.
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Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2024 22:18:11 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 7, 2024 22:23:48 GMT
2/6/24 Drew Peterson
February 06, 2024 at 6:00 am CST
Attorneys for former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson are investigating whether there are issues as to his mental fitness as they contend with his post-conviction bid to overturn his 2012 murder conviction. Peterson, 70, made his first court appearance at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet in likely seven years on Monday in front of Judge Dave Carlson. Peterson had long white hair, a white beard and a wore tan-colored prison uniform for his first appearance, where he did not say much other than to acknowledge Carlson’s greeting. For more than two years, Peterson has been seeking to overturn his 2012 conviction of the 2004 first-degree murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40.
At the hearing, Carlson said there were potential fitness issues raised and set the case over for another court date as Peterson’s attorneys with the Will County Public Defender’s Office look into the issue further. Peterson’s case is set for another status hearing at 9:30 a.m. March 6. Jason Strzelecki, one of Peterson’s attorneys, said their office raised the potential fitness issue but declined to explain why as of Monday. He said Peterson will be evaluated by a psychologist. Peterson’s other attorney, Samantha LaRowe Kerins, said they are asking for Peterson to be evaluated to determine if a fitness issue exists.
The events that led to Peterson showing up once again in Will County began about two years ago when he filed his hand-written petition for post-conviction relief. In the petition, Peterson said he was denied effective counsel and that his lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, did not allow him to testify on his own behalf during his 2012 jury trial.
Roughly eight months after Peterson filed his post-conviction petition, Joel Brodsky, his former attorney, gave an interview with WGN-TV in Chicago. In the interview, Brodsky said he was thinking about revealing “what happened” to Stacy Peterson, Peterson’s fourth wife. Stacy Peterson vanished in 2007 and has never been found. In response to the WGN-TV story, Drew Peterson’s new attorneys with the Will County Public Defender’s Office requested retired Judge Ed Burmila to impose a gag order on Brodsky. The gag order was requested so Brodsky’s statements would not jeopardize the court proceedings.
Brodsky unsuccessfully appealed Burmila’s gag order, which remains in effect to this day. Despite that gag order, Brodsky has nevertheless sent three letters to Judge Dave Carlson since last September. Carlson has sealed those letters from public view and reminded Brodsky in a court order that he was still under a gag order. At a court hearing last September, Carlson said Brodsky’s first letter discussed “the delay of the post-conviction proceedings and [Brodsky’s] impingement on his First Amendment right based upon the gag order entered by Judge Burmila.” Brodsky has not been willing to break the gag order.
Peterson remains incarcerated within the Illinois Department of Corrections but his exact location has been kept secret. In 2021, the Herald-News obtained a letter that revealed he was at one point locked up at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana.
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Post by Admin on Feb 24, 2024 21:12:05 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 24, 2024 21:14:33 GMT
2/23/24 Katelyn
BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — Butler County prosecutors continue to file new evidence related to Katelyn Markham's death almost a year after her fiancé was indicted in her murder.
WLWT obtained copies of all six rounds of discovery that prosecutors released to John Carter's defense team. Prosecutor Mike Gmoser previously revealed some evidence he said they had on Carter, such as poems found in his mother's home with references to death and burying a body. "They were in a binder with his name on them. Some had his name on, some did not," Gmoser said.
Since last summer, court records show 107 pieces of tangible evidence or documents have been handed over to Carter's defense team.
They include photos and videos from the Sacred Heart Festival on Aug. 13, 2011, the day Markham was last seen alive, photographs of Carter's handwriting, a computer forensics report from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation of Markham's MacBook and screenshots of Facebook conversations between Katelyn and a person only identified in court documents as "R.E."
Evidence also includes cellphone records for multiple people whose names haven't been disclosed, bank statements, a search warrant from property in Laurel, Indiana, owned by Carter's father and a TikTok video posted by someone with the screen name "MilkyTea."
Carter's defense attorneys have not filed a single motion to suppress any evidence in this case. The trial is scheduled to begin on June 24.
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