Solving the Somer Thompson Murder: Investigators Leaning on Community

Right: Sommer Thompson

abcnews.go.com/GMA

By SARAH NETTER

Oct. 29, 2009

Sheriff Says Killer May Have Scratches, Unnatural Interest in the case.

As police continue their desperate search for the person that killed 7-year-old Somer Thompson experts say that even the most random memory from the day she disappeared may lead to her murderer.

"I'm a strong believer that the community is an incredibly underrated and important resource for solving crimes, especially when the crimes are fresh," forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner told "Good Morning America" today. "You get the public mobilized to say ... 'What do you remember?'" ...

"We're referring to people associated with the offender in this case," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said. They likely don't realize they are associated with the killer, he said.

"Clearly there is a distinction between the pedophiles you see and the pedophiles you don't," Welner said. "The pedophiles you see may violate the children again and again and again. And the pedophiles you don't see violate and destroy."

...The sheriff urged people to alert detectives if they notice certain changes in people's behavior, like "an unnatural interest" in the girl's case, or hiding their vehicle in a shed or giving it away.
"You will recognize the change and even question them about it but not realize it is associated" with the Somer Thompson case, Beseler said.

Beseler said telltale signs of someone who could have been involved with Somer's murder would be a combination of several behaviorial changes, including:
1. Leaving the area unexpectedly.
2. Having missed work or other routine engagements, especially on Oct. 19, the day Somer disappeared.
3. Unexplained injuries such as cuts or bruises on the head, arms and hands.

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Mitrice Richardson--more sightings reported

LA Times

via latimes.com

by Shelby Grad

October 26, 2009

Malibu/LA, California--Family members and community activists said there have been new sightings of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared last month from outside the Mailbu sheriff's station.

According to Richardson's family, people said they saw the woman on Manchester Avenue and Denker Street, Manchester and Western avenues and Florence and Western avenues.
But none of the witnesses called the Los Angeles Police Department, which is searching for Richardson...

Detectives interviewed a group of Geoffrey's diners she joined uninvited -- who described her as odd but entertaining -- and her colleagues at the Mercantile Freight office in Santa Fe Springs who last saw her at work the day of her arrest. LAPD Det. Steven Eguchi said they told him that she was "giddy, really giggly. Out of the ordinary."

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Richardson's odd behavior -- as well as her failure to pay for a steak and a drink -- prompted restaurant staff members to call sheriff's deputies. Richardson was arrested, then released at 1:25 a.m., having no car, purse or cellphone...

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Authorities said they believe Richardson is still alive -- but they don't know where.

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Police probe conflicting alibis in Lindsey Baum kidnapping case

KOMO News

komonews.com

October 8, 2009

MCCLEARY, Wash. -- A man's conflicting stories to acquaintances were among the factors that led to the issuance of a search warrant in the Lindsey Baum case, according to an affidavit in support of the warrant obtained by KOMO News. The court documents identify as a person of interest a man connected to the properties searched last week.

Writing in the affidavit filed in Grays Harbor County Superior Court, a detective said he believed Lindsey had been kidnapped and that evidence would be found at the properties. Lindsey disappeared the evening of June 26 while walking home from a friend's house in the small mill town of McCleary.

...A person contacted investigators more than a month after the girl disappeared with information that led detectives to identify the man as a person of interest. The tipster said the man always drove a distinctive car with a loud exhaust, and found it suspicious that the man stopped driving the vehicle after Lindsey disappeared. Another person told detectives that they saw the vehicle near where Lindsey was last seen the night she vanished.

One person told police." (The person said) that his behavior had changed since the day of the disappearance. He had not come around as much," said Sgt. Steve Shumate with the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office.

But what really sparked the detective's interest is what the young man allegedly told his girlfriend the day after Lindsey disappeared." (He) told her he could not believe that a girl had been taken and cut up and dismembered," according to the search warrant. At that point, however, even detectives didn't believe Lindsey had been a victim of a crime...

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Detectives have not found any evidence to indicate the missing girl is no longer alive. According to the court document, detectives have received multiple conflicting statements about where the person of interest was on the night of June 26. Investigators wrote that the man told them he was working a second job at the time, but the business told detectives he hadn't been there in weeks.

KOMO News is not naming the man since he has not been arrested. The search warrants were served Sept. 25 at several properties in the McCleary area.

At one site, FBI investigators in protective clothing were probing an area near an old, abandoned house and large shed about one mile southwest of McCleary. Among the Items seized were two sex toys, several used condoms, a bag of children's clothing, computers, bed sheets, blankets, and a newspaper with a story about Lindsey...

"It could happen to anyone, and (I) hope they'd be there for me, too," said Rebecca Watts. Volunteers from all over the region, from Packwood to Seattle have joined in the search. Jen Page is a mother who drove 90 miles to help look for Lindsey. "I can easily imagine how hard it is, and this is the least I can do," she said.

Some staff members of "The Oprah Show" met with Melissa Baum earlier in the month, but it is not yet known for certain whether the case will receive national coverage. (I believe it already has--I'm in the central midwest prairie.)

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Judge postpones hearing in Cameron Brown case

right: Cameron Brown

The Daily Breeze

via dailybreeze.com

by Denise Nix

A judge postponed a hearing this morning for motions in the wake of the second mistrial in the Cameron Brown Rancho Palos Verdes cliff death case. Brown's defense attorneys were expected to ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor to reduce Brown's bail and the charges. However, the written motions were not filed in time and the hearing was rescheduled for Dec. 17.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said he anticipates re-trying the case some time next year.
Brown is charged with first-degree murder and the special circumstances of lying in wait and killing for financial gain for the Nov. 8, 2000, death of Lauren Sarene Key...

The last trial ended with a mistrial on Oct. 5. The first mistrial was in August 2006. Cameron Brown remains incarcerated.

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Chavira Brown murder earns Jonell Lloyd the Hard 50 + 10

BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle

via kansas.com

Oct. 29, 2009

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A Wichita man was given a Hard 50 prison sentence Wednesday for the death of an 18-month-old girl who was beaten, tied up in plastic bags and left in an attic to die.

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In imposing the sentence, Sedgwick County District Judge Jeff Goering also sentenced Jonell Lloyd, 23, to more than 10 years for child abuse. He ordered Lloyd to serve the sentences consecutively.

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Testimony at Lloyd's trial in July showed that he choked and beat Chavira Brown on July 31, 2008, after she woke up with wet pants. Lloyd had been caring for Chavira at the time in a home he shared with his girlfriend at 15th and Green.

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Under Kansas law, a Hard 50 sentence, which requires an inmate to serve 50 years before seeing a parole board, can be imposed only in cases where the aggravating factors of a crime outweigh any mitigating factors...
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But he said the aggravating factors in the case "vastly outweighed" any mitigating factors.
"Chavira did not die quickly," Goering said in issuing his ruling. "She was left in the attic to slowly asphyxiate over a period of hours."

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...In a brief statement before he was sentenced, Lloyd maintained his innocence, telling the judge, "I didn't do it." Chavira's maternal grandmother, Sheervonda Johnson, said after the sentencing that the sentence was appropriate...
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She said Chavira will always be remembered. "We all love her," she said. "We all miss her.... I'm glad it's finally over with. We can go on with our lives."

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