DIVORCE, BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES VICTIMIZING NON-JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CRIME CASES

$$$ JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES FINANCIAL COURT CASES $$$

DOOR-KNOCKING THIEVES, RAPISTS, AND MURDERERS

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CRIMES AGAINST
FELLOW JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES VICTIMS

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In the following criminal cases, the WatchTower Society - Jehovah's Witnesses religion served as the spiritual element of the perpetrator's and/or other actor's formative environment, or otherwise served as a major influencer of the perpetrator's and/or other actor's behavior. The following cases are often tragic, and speak for themselves.

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VIRGINIA v. DAVID HERNANDEZ SHUMAKER is an ongoing 2013-14 Virginia criminal court case which involves a 28 year-old Jehovah's Witness Minister named David H. Shumaker, of Rochelle, Virginia. The ALLEGED victim is an unidentified, recently divorced 38 year old Jehovah's Witness female who attends the same Culpepper Virginia Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

On the morning of December 17, 2013, David Shumaker borrowed a "friend's" car to drive to the Richardson Elementary School, in Culpepper, where he waited for the victim to bring her children. While the victim was inside the school, Shumaker donned a ski mask and hid inside the victim's van. When the victim entered her van, Shumaker threatened her with a knife, and told her to drive away. However, the victim escaped from her van and ran inside the school building. Leaving the knife and mask behind, Shumaker ran after the victim inside the school. There, school officials locked Shumaker inside an office and called 9-1-1 as he attempted to explain that the whole matter was nothing but sexual "role-playing".

David H. Shumaker allegedly told police that he and the 38 year-old Jehovah's Witness Divorcee had had a previous sexual relationship, and that he had simply been attempting to fulfill one of her "rape fantasies". The victim denied such, and alleged that Shumaker had been "stalking" her, and that he had even once been found inside her home. Interestingly, media reports indicate that the victim has written letters to Shumaker during his incarceration. In February 2014, David Shumaker was indicted on three felony charges -- abduction with the intent to defile, carjacking, and wearing a mask in public. It will be interesting to see if this case ever sees the light of a courtroom. Something tells me that the prosecutor is going to find that his principal witness is less and less cooperative.

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NAMIBIA v. SELMA NAMBI was a 2014 criminal court case. After denying the crime for five months, while allowing others to be accused of such, in July 2014, a female Jehovah's Witness named Selma Nambi, age 21, admitted that she had stolen $4000.00 USD from fellow Jehovah's Witness Nadia Lourdes Manuel Da Silva, with whom she lived. Having pled guilty and made partial restitution, she was hand-slapped with a fine and no jail time. Selma Nambi used the stolen money to pay for tuition, books, etc. at the Polytechnic of Nambia.

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TERRY JOHNSON - DONALD JOHNSON MURDER-SUICIDE. In January 2014, Terry Johnson, age 58, of Berea, Ohio, walked into the MetroHealth Medical Center, in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was being treated for mental health issues on a then out-patient basis, pulled a handgun, and fatally shot herself in the head. Several hours later, security guards found Donald Johnson, age 61, dead inside a vehicle parked in the Medical Center's parking garage. He too had been fatally shot in the head. Reportedly, the Johnsons had separated about two years previous after filing bankruptcy, but had remained married, and had recently discussed re-uniting. Online observers report that the Johnsons were Jehovah's Witnesses.

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COLORADO v. ISABELLA YUN MI GUZMAN was the 2013-14 Colorado capital MURDER prosecution of 18 year-old Isabella Guzman, who is believed to have been reared by Jehovah's Witness parents and possibly JW stepfather. Robert Guzman and his Korean wife, Yun Mi Guzman, divorced around 1999 when Isabella was only 4 years-old. Only a year later, Yun Mi Guzman remarried to a eight years younger Ryan Paul Hoy (former Bethelite???). Isabella went to live with Robert Guzman and his presumably new wife when she was 7 years-old. It is unclear exactly when Isabella returned to live with the Hoys, but as Isabella grew older, her relationship with her Mother became strained and eventually contentious.

On a Monday in late August 2013, Isabella broke up with her boyfriend, and Isabella ended up chasing him off with a golf club when he attempted to retrieve some property from the Hoy's home. The next day, Isabella and her Mother got into an argument of unknown topic during which Isabella spit in her face. Yun Mi Hoy, age 48, who interestingly must have been in the habit of sleeping separately from her husband, asked Ryan P. Hoy, age 40, to sleep in her locked bedroom that Tuesday night because she was afraid of Isabella. When she awoke on Wednesday morning, she had a threatening email on her telephone from Isabella. When Yun Mi arrived home from her Portrait Studio business on Wednesday afternoon, Isabella again threatened her Mother, who then called the Aurora, Colorado Police to the house at 5:02 P.M.. The police talked to all the parties and left thinking that the situation had been de-escalated. Yun Mi Hoy then telephoned her ex-husband, Isabella's father, Robert Guzman, who came over around 7:00 P.M. and counseled Isabella about "teenage rebelliousness" and her need to respect her elders.

"I went to talk to her because her mother was worried and wanted me to talk to Isabella. So, I went to talk to Isabella and we sat down in the backyard looking at the trees and the animals and I started to talk to her about the respect that people should have for their parents. And I was trying to let her know that she should be obedient to her parents, not rebellious, that she should try to listen more and everything was going fine. ... In the conversation, I thought that I made progress, but obviously it didn't do nothing, because hours later, this thing happened. ... Isabella is a good kid. She's good hearted. But I don't know what could've happened -- honestly -- to provoke this kind of reaction."

Isabella stayed in her room for the rest of the evening. Yun Mi Hoy then returned to her photography business until she again arrived home around 9:30 P.M. Around 10:00 P.M., Yun Mi Hoy went upstairs to take a shower before going to bed. While in the shower, Isabella slipped into the bathroom and attacked her Mother with a baseball bat. After Yun Mi went down, Isabella pulled a knife and stabbed her more than 150 times, plus cut her throat. Isabella was finally interrupted by Ryan Hoy who came upstairs to see what was the commotion. Curiously, Isabella did not attempt to hurt Ryan Hoy, and Ryan Hoy did not attempt to stop the escaping Isabella. Isabella left the Hoy home and spent the night in her car at a nearby parking garage, where she was apprehended the next day.

In June 2014, after months of psychological evaluations, the Prosecutor asked the Colorado court to accept Isabella Guzman's plea of "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity", and to confine her in the State Hospital for treatment until she is no longer a threat to herself or society, when further court hearings will decide her further fate. During Isabella Guzman's evaluations, she was found to be hallucinating and talking to persons not present. Isabella Guzman was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

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Jehovah's Witness husband allegedly wages holy war on Catholic wife

RACINE [WISCONSIN] -- A man allegedly threatened to injure and kill his wife after an all-day argument over religion. The man, 30, is charged with substantial battery, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, false imprisonment and intimidating a witness. If convicted, he could face up to $40,000 in fines and 35 years imprisonment. The Journal Times is not naming the man to protect the identity of his wife and daughter.

According to court records: Officers were sent to a 21st Street home at 8:23 p.m. [Sunday] Jan. 13, when they found the victim visibly upset and shaken. She said she and her husband had been arguing all day, since she refused to go to a Jehovah's Witness meeting that morning.

The woman said her husband is a Jehovah's Witness while she is Catholic. She said he felt she should practice the same religion he does, and that she was lying to their daughter by allowing her to celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter.

Starting that evening, the woman said their fight escalated. She said her husband has martial arts experience and has told her that he could "punch through steel if he wanted to." She said her husband strangled her until she blacked out, held a knife to her throat and threatened to cut her hand off and to kill her.

At one point, the woman said her husband handed her the phone and pushed 9-1, telling her to push the last number to see what would happen. When she pushed the final 1, her husband threw the phone, breaking it apart. She was once able to run out the front door, but her husband caught her and dragged her back inside.

Eventually, the woman said her husband got some alcohol from the refrigerator and told her he was going to get drunk and jump in Lake Michigan before driving away. Once the woman knew he was gone she grabbed her daughter and went to a neighbor's house to call police. -- The Journal Times, Jan. 31, 2008. (edited)


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TOLEDO, OHIO "FORD FAMILY" MURDER-SUICIDE. In November 2012, a Toledo, Ohio Jehovah's Witness GrandMother named Sandy Kay Ford, age 56, accompliced by her 32 year-old son, named Andy R. Ford, plotted and executed a joint suicide pact in which they also murdered three children of another daughter of Sandy Ford, named Mandy Lynn Hayes, who reportedly no longer followed the Ford Family's WatchTower Cult religion.

Reportedly, there had been sufficient issues with the children of the Hayes Family such that three of them -- ages 10, 7, and 5 -- had been living with their maternal grandparents, Randy D. Ford and Sandy K. Ford, for the prior three years. Then, in November 2012, those three children had been returned to the Hayes home just outside Toledo, in Sylvania, Ohio. The family disagreement over physical custody of the three Hayes children was such that Police had to be called twice that week.

Mandy Hayes had dropped off those three children at school on the following Monday morning. However, Sandy Ford was waiting for them inside the school. Sandy Ford made her three grandchildren leave school and go home with her, where her son Andy and she had pre-prepared their deaths. Sandy Ford and Andy Ford pulled their car inside a garage where they had rigged a hose to the exhaust of a truck which could then be ran inside their own vehicle. There, accompanied by their two dogs and a cat, the two adults sat and distracted the three children until they all were overcome by the carbon monoxide fumes. Investigators later discovered that some of the materials used to affect the murder-suicide had been purchased the previous Friday, so this savage act was unquestionably premeditated. Police were finally called to the home of Randy and Sandy Ford by Randy Ford after he arrived home from work later that day, and he eventually discovered multiple suicide notes inside the home.

That school had informed Mandy Hayes that her children were not in class, so she repeatedly telephoned Toledo police in an attempt for them to check to see if her mother had kidnapped her three children, but they refused to even make a welfare check at the Ford home. I'm surprised that there was not a lawsuit!

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DENNIS PERRY - LUCY PERRY MURDER-SUICIDE. In July 2013, 64 year-old Jehovah's Witness Minister, Dennis Joseph Perry Sr., of Suffolk, Virginia, first shot his 67 year-old wife, Lucy Celenia Perry, and thereafter shot himself. The murder-suicide occurred about a week after the couple returned home from attending the annual WatchTower Society District Convention.

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FLORIDA v. JONATHAN ROWLES is an ongoing 2010-13 Florida juvenile manslaughter case. Sometime prior to 9:15 AM on a Sunday morning in August 2010, 13 year-old Jonathan Rowles shot his JW Mother, Kelly Ann Rowles, age 39, in the back of her head using one of his father's, Christopher Rowles', rifles. Jonathan Rowles initially told responding Collier County deputy sheriffs that an "intruder" had shot his mother while he watched television in another room of their Naples condominium, but quickly admitted that such was a lie when investigators began to realize that Rowles' assertions and the physical evidence did not match up with Rowles' "intruder" story.

Rowles then claimed that he had "accidentally" shot his JW Mother after he took a .22 caliber rifle from his father's gun cabinet, fully loaded it, and then began horsing around and taking aim at various objects in the condo, including aiming toward the back of his mother's head and "accidentally" pulling the trigger. Responding deputies later described Jonathan Rowles as being "fairly calm" and "relatively composed" at the scene. Rowles chatted with deputies about video games, school, and things he had recently done with his JW Mother.

In February 2013, after multiple hearings and a January trial, Jonathan Rowles was found "delinquent" -- the juvenile equivalent of "guilty" -- on a single charge of manslaughter. The Judge found that Rowles did NOT intentionally shoot his mother, but that Rowles' recklessness and negligence did meet the legal standard of manslaughter. The Judge ruled that Rowles be sent to a moderate-risk juvenile justice facility for at least six months, where Rowles will receive intensive mental health therapy.

Jonathan Rowles reportedly had struggled in school -- particularly with his reading skills. The tall and stocky Rowles had also recently been moved to an "alternative school" after several incidents of "bullying" and fighting. During all of his court hearings and the trial, Jonathan Rowles was supported by attending Jehovah's Witness Family and friends. Several of those family members and fellow Jehovah's Witnesses sent letters of support for Rowles to the Judge -- calling Jonathan Rowles a "gentle giant" on a spiritual path.

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FLORIDA v. CHRISTOPHER DALE ROWLES was a 2012-13 CHILD MOLESTATION prosecution of 43 year-old Christopher D. Rowles, of Naples, Florida., whose 13 year-old son, Jonathan Rowles, had shot and killed their JW Wife/Mother back in August 2010. In March 2012, Chris Rowles, was arrested and jailed on charges of sexually molesting an unidentified girl(believed to be his daughter or step-daughter) repeatedly while she slept when she was 14 years-old to 17 years-old. Rowles confessed such to police. In June 2013, Rowles was convicted of one count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim 12 to 15 years old, and was sentenced to an unknown term in state prison.

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ANOTHER OREGON JW MURDER - SUICIDE -- WITH A TWIST ERRR TRYST. On Monday, Memorial Day 2013, at around 6:00 PM, the holiday peace was shattered when multiple gunshots rang out from the 25+ year-long home of Kenneth Van Patton and Melinda Van Patton, which was located just south of the city limits of Hillsboro, Oregon. Neighbors thereafter observed 56 year-old Glen Hamilton running out of the house and stumbling over the surrounding fence. Kenneth Van Patton followed Glen Hamilton out of the house and fired another gunshot at Hamilton as he continued to run away from Patton while repeatedly screaming, "I'm just trying to help." Kenneth Van Patton then went back inside his home, from where a single final gunshot was heard.

Responding police found Kenneth Patton, age 61, dead with a single gunshot wound to his head. Melinda Patton, age 56, was dead from multiple gunshots to her torso. Glen Hamilton was relieved to be alive -- having suffered only a single wound to his ARSE, which was probably from the single shot that Patton had fired at him inside the home. Yes, you guessed it. This married Jehovah's Witness Couple, with multiple adult children, who had been married for 37 years, were now in the process of breaking up, and Ken Van Patton obviously thought that his house guest Glen Hamilton was doing more than "just trying to help".

Police reported that they had responded to the home three times in the past two months, including at around 9:30 AM the previous Sunday morning. There was never any violence, so all they could do was suggest that one of the couple leave the home -- which they both refused to do. The divorced Glen Hamilton, who reportedly is/was a onetime fellow Jehovah's Witness of the Pattons at the Hillsboro Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, reportedly had been living with the Pattons since November 2012. Police and neighbors stated that Glen Hamilton and Melinda Van Patton had been romantically involved. Typically, little additional info has escaped from silenced local JWs who know exactly what all had gone on.

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OREGON v. JONATHAN DANIEL HOLT was a 2012-13 murder prosecution. Jonathan D. Holt, age 24, was alleged to have kidnapped, sodomized, and murdered 21 year-old Whitney Heichel, who was a married Jehovah's Witness who lived in the same Gresham, Oregon apartment complex as Jonathan Holt and his own wife, Amanda Holt. Despite the fact that local JWs were heavily involved in the investigation of Heichel's disappearance from the very outset, the fact that suspect Jonathan Holt and his wife were fellow Jehovah's Witnesses was only slowly revealed to the media -- and then given little weight. Initially, suspect Holt was identified as being a possible "acquaintance", since he also resided in the same apartment complex. Later, Holt was identified as an "acquaintance" of the victim. Even later, Holt was identified as an "acquaintance" of both the victim and her husband. Eventually, the local chief of police barely even mentioned as an aside that Holt and the victim "may" have known each other "through Jehovah's Witness meetings". Finally, a reporter interviewed the Portland neighbors of Jonathan Holt's parents, who identified Holt and his parents as "Jehovah's Witnesses". Apparently, the last thing the Oregon Jehovah's Witness community needs is another media blitz reporting another murder of a Jehovah's Witness by a fellow Jehovah's Witness -- after all, it has been a year or so since the last JW-on-JW murder in a long series over the past decade.

ADDENDUM: The victim's family, no doubt in conjunction with local JW leaders, finally issued a public statement acknowledging that Jonathan Holt was "an irregular attendee of our meetings" (The JWs bolded and underlined "irregular".) The JWs' statement also called Jonathan Holt's wife "an innocent victim", and added, " and our love and support is as strong for her and her family." That likely can be interpreted as indicating that Holt's wife and family are probably also Jehovah's Witnesses.

The JWs' carefully worded statement obscures the question whether Holt was reared as a JW in nearby Portland, and would have associated with the victim and her husband over the years. By calling Holt "irregular", the statement also obscures the question as to Holt's association between the local Gresham Kingdom Hall, his previous Kingdom Hall in Portland, and possibly his JW Wife's previous Kingdom Hall. The WatchTower Society's PR Dept may have even drafted this statement. Never forget that JWs are masters of devilishly relating facts without ever telling the complete truth.

UPDATE: The majority of the OREGON MEDIA continue to cooperate with the Jehovah's Witnesses in labeling Jonathan Holt as a mere "acquaintance" of Clint and Whitney Heichel, who merely "irregularly" attended the same "church", despite an abundance of contrary evidence pointing to the probability that the Holts and Heichels had known each other for many years. TheOREGON MEDIA has FAILED to even mention that this is another JW-on-JW murder in a long series of such murders over the past decade. In the multiple news articles reporting on Jonathan Holt's "theft" of a friend's car in 2011, Holt's possession and disposal of multiple handguns, and Holt's possession of child pornography on a computer, the OREGON MEDIA has FAILEDto even question how such character flaws stack up with the fact that Jonathan Holt is not only a "Jehovah's Witness Minister", but was likely "reared" as a JW by JW Parents.

Jonathan Holt's former neighbors in Portland stated that Jonathan Holt and his parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. Jonathan Daniel Holt and Amanda "Adams" Holt were married in 2010 at the very SAME Kingdom Hall in Gresham where the recent "Open House", or "Memorial", for Whitney Heichel was held. Non-JWs should understand that in order to be permitted to be married in a Kingdom Hall, engaged couples are required to meet with the "Elders" and be thoroughly questioned so as to be determined to be "exemplary" Jehovah's Witnesses (even being asked as to whether they have engaged in forbidden premarital sex). Amanda Holt and Clint Heichel even met and spoke at the regular religious service at that same Kingdom Hall on Wednesday night, October 24, 2012, which would seem to indicate that not only did they attend the same Kingdom Hall -- they were members of the same "congregation", which only makes sense geographically given that they live in the same apartment complex. Clint Heichel even told reporters that Jonathan and Amanda Holt had recently cared for the Heichel's pets and plants while the Heichels were out of town, and Clint Heichel had recently helped Jonathan Holt work on his motorcycle. Jonathan Holt was even sufficiently well known amongst Gresham Jehovah's Witnesses that some had recognized Holt out walking while they were searching for the missing Whitney.

Unbelievably, Lorilei Ritmiller, MOTHER of Whitney Heichel, publicly released a letter that she supposedly wrote to fellow Jehovah's Witnesses. That letter contained this "revelation" regarding what is most important to Jehovah's Witnesses:

"My family has been told that many are crushed with sadness for us. Dont be overcome with grief. As difficult as this has been, a tremendous opportunity has opened up because people in communities around the earth have opened their hearts wide to learning more about us as a people and the God whose name we carry. Because of the experiences I have recently witnessed or someone has shared, this ordeal has greatly impacted the minds and hearts of really good, compassionate and loving people. I promise you that if Jehovah told me that he would end this cruel system immediately so that I could hold Whitney safe and warm in my arms, see those shining eyes and her radiant smile tomorrow, I promise you that I would beg him to wait so that we would have the time to reach out to those people. We could not rescue Whitney but we can rescue them. Jehovah knows what he is doing."

UPDATE: Congratulations are extended to the WatchTower PR machine for controlling the Oregon media's spin on this murder, which has nearly erased the slightly significant FACT that this MURDER was committed by a JEHOVAH'S WITNESS.

Unconfirmed rumors are now saying that Jonathan Daniel Holt had been a "Ministerial Servant", who stepped down in 2011 after the overnight theft of a friend's automobile. Jonathan D. Holt also had taken E.M.T. training, although it is unknown whether he ever actually worked as an E.M.T. Another rumor says that Holt used his E.M.T. training as a First Aid tech with the WatchTower Society's local Oregon "Regional Building Committee".

FINAL UPDATE: In a June 2013 plea deal, Jonathan Daniel Holt pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree robbery. Charges related to Holt's illegal entry into the Heichel's apartment and theft of a cellphone, plus charges relating to child pornography found on Holt's computer were all dismissed. Holt agreed to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole to avoid facing the death penalty at trial.

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MAINE v. JARROD ZACHARY BILODEAU was a 2011-12 Maine criminal court case. In September 2012, Jarrod Z. Bilodeau, age 28, pled guilty to burglarizing six Jehovah's Witnesses homes located in five communities in Kennebec County, while those six JW families were attending regularly scheduled religious services, in late 2011. Jarrod Bilodeau is a well educated and well known member of Kennebec County, who reportedly recently suffered from alcohol and/or substance abuse problems. Bilodeau's affiliation with the local JW community typically went unspecified, although some of Bilodeau's victims reportedly were "relatives" who immediately suspected that Bilodeau was the perpetrator. Interestingly, although only "some" of Bilodeau's victims were "family", the entire group of JW victims petitioned the Prosecutor's Office for an extraordinarily light sentence for Bilodeau, plus showed up at Bilodeau's sentencing hearing to support the light sentence of $20,675.00 in restitution, and time served (six months in local jail). The 4 years prison sentence was suspended and replaced with 3 years probation. Bilodeau seems to have been cooperating with more than one judicial body interested in this matter.

MAINE v. JARROD ZACHARY BILODEAU was an October 2014 Maine criminal court case. Bilodeau reportedly was arrested on a probation hold in April 2014. In October 2014, Jarrod Bilodeau, age 30, reportedly was sentenced to a jail term of nine months and one day, fined $1100.00, with three-year license and registration suspension, following his August 2014 arrest for possession of heroin, OUI arrest in July 2012, and a registration failure arrest in December 2013.

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In August 2012, 14 year old Jeremy Antonio Pereyra, son of Jehovah's Witness Parents, Francisco Pereyra and Keren Pereyra, of Derry, New Hampshire, was traveling in Londonderry on I-93, during afternoon rush hour traffic, in an automobile driven by his JW Mother, when a physical altercation erupted. Keren Pereyra pulled her car over to the side of the busy interstate, and proceeded to call 9-1-1 to report "a domestic". Jeremy A. Pereyra jumped out of the family vehicle and ran off into some nearby woods. However, soon thereafter, Jeremy Pereyra returned and proceeded to run out in front of oncoming traffic, where he was struck and killed by a driver who was NOT cited by investigating New Hampshire State Police.

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CROWN v. PAUL KELLY was a March 2012 case in which a British Jehovah's Witness, named Paul Kelly, age 45, was sentenced to 24 months community service, mandatory participation in a domestic violence program, and fined $300.00, after he used an axe to chop open the barricaded door to his 22 year-old stepson's bedroom. Kelly told police that he and his stepson of four years did not get along because the stepson's behavior was contrary to Jehovah's Witness beliefs.

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NEW JERSEY v. DWAYNE FLOURNEY is an ongoing 2012 murder case in which a 26 year-old African-American is accused of stabbing to death the two people who reared him -- his doting 76 year-old grandmother, Sandra J. Flourney, and his father, 52 year-old, Brian Flourney. In March 2012, in Maplewood, New Jersey, Dwayne Flourney allegedly first stabbed to death his grandmother on a Saturday afternoon, and later that day, his father, when the father came home from his work as an investigator with the local DA's office. Dwayne Flourney reportedly then invited 8-10 friends to the family home for a drinking party that same evening. Dwayne Flourney was described as a troubled adult whom had been kicked out of the family home on multiple previous occasions. It is known that this was a Jehovah's Witness family because one media report quoted a neighbor who described Sandra Flourney as a JW who frequently proselytized the neighborhood.

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SUICIDE OR MURDER? In July 2012, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, a Jehovah's Witness named David Sibekithemba Madebe, then age 33, married a fellow Jehovah's Witness named Samantha Musawenkosi, then age 23. In April 2013, Samantha Madebe DIED -- purportedly, by SUICIDE. Samantha's family believes that she was MURDERED.

On the evening of April 15, 2013, while driving from their suburban Bulawayo home to pick up David's visiting mother, who had taken a Greyhound bus from South Africa to Bulawayo, the allegedly miffed Samantha proclaimed, "Why was I the last person to know that your mother is coming? David responded that he had only learned about his mother's intent to visit via her text that same day. David alleges that Samantha then proclaimed, "I am now tired of this," and opened up the passenger side door of their Toyota 4x4 pickup truck and jumped out. David claims that he attempted to grab Samantha, but failed, and that the Toyota pickup then ran into the ditch and wrecked. David claims that the impact was so great that he was thrown from the Toyota. In shock, instead of telephoning an ambulance, or the police, David instead telephoned his mother at the bus station. David's mother then telephoned David's sister, Privilege Zhou, who is the wife of a medical doctor, and possibly a nurse. Privilege Zhou reportedly first telephoned her brother David Madebe, before then traveling to the scene of the accident. Curiously, Privilege Zhou was the FIRST PERSON to arrive at the scene of the accident, where she "realized" that Samantha was dead, and instead of telephoning an ambulance, or the police, telephoned Samantha's family to notify them of Samantha's death.

At a court inquest held in August 2014, Samanthas sister Isabel Melisa Chizirika testified that David Madebe had failed to give Samantha's family a convincing account of what transpired on the night of Samantha's death. While David's family testified that the marriage was "happy", Isabel Melisa Chizirika testified that David Madebe was "over controlling", and that Samantha suffered from David's "emotional abuse" during the entire nine months that they were married. Isabel Melisa Chizirika further testified that when the family went to the scene of the accident the following morning, they found what they believed to be "animal blood" all over the scene. They also questioned the fact that Samatha's body was found on the opposite side of the roadway from which she allegedly "jumped". Isabel also claimed that Davids brother-in-law -- a Dr Zhou -- attempted to discourage the family from viewing Samantha's corpse, and encouraged a quick embalming and burial. The post mortem report indicated that Samantha died due to multiple skull fractures and subarachnoid haemorrhage.

After the "suicide", David Sibekithemba Madebe relocated to South Africa, where he reportedly is "employed by the Jehovahs Witness Church".

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WatchTower rules mandate that only "exemplary" members may use their local Kingdom Hall for a personal function such as a wedding or funeral. That fact prompts this posting of an alleged MURDER that occurred in Nigeria in February 2012. Dick Chidiebere, age 34, and Naomi Chidiebere, age 24, were just married at the Ijegun, Nigeria Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in November 2011. Allegedly, on February 10, 2012, Dick Chidiebere came home late, and DRUNK. When Naomi chastised Dick, he became infuriated, and beat her up. Naomi escaped his beating and hid in a closet in the couple's four-bedroom residence. Dick then retrieved a container of gasoline, poured such on Naomi, and set her ablaze. Naomi managed to escape the home, and ran to a friend's home for help. Naomi was eventually taken to a local hospital, where she died about a week later. The exemplary JW, Dick Chidiebere, was arrested as he was attempting to leave the country. Chidiebere denies Naomi's allegations, and claims that she must have been burned in a mysterious accidental fire.

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WASHINGTON v. BRYAN ALARCON is an ongoing November 2011 state of Washington criminal case in which 19 year-old Bryan Steve Alarcon has been accused of burglarizing the homes of fellow Jehovah's Witnesses while they were attending meetings at the Mount Vernon, Washington Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Local JWs described the teenager as a"former" member, which probably is the local JWs way of keeping from having to admit that Alarcon was reared as a JW in their own congregation. Alarcon pleaded "not guilty" to three counts of residential burglary and three counts of trafficking stolen property.

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OREGON v. JOSE PEREZ-SILVA was an 2009-11 Oregon murder prosecution. For the past 6 years, in the wake of the Longo and Bryant Jehovah's Witness familicides, the Oregon news media has concealed the fact that Ana Berthan Meraz, then age 32, and her killer, Jose Perez-Silva, then age 29, were both active Jehovah's Witnesses Ministers. Reportedly, Ana Meraz and Perez-Silva had been involved in a secret "intimate relationship" even prior to Meraz's then recent divorce in 2005. However, in May 2005, as Meraz and Perez-Silva drove to work, Meraz ended the affair. The enraged Perez-Silva pulled a box cutter and stabbed and slashed Meraz as she drove along an interstate highway near Ashland, Oregon. Meraz was able to call 9-1-1 during the attack. Arriving paramedics found the bloody and dying Meraz lying outside her auto alongside the interstate. Efforts to save her life were unsuccessful. Perez-Silva's attorneys admit to their client's guilt, but they were hoping for a manslaughter conviction, rather than murder. They allege that their client was suffering from depression, emotional disturbance, and physical health issues which prevented him from having the requisite mental capacity to have committed "murder". However, this killer was convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison.

JOSE MERAZ v. CITY OF MEDFORD was a 2007 civil court case in which Jose Meraz, the allegedly cuckolded husband of Ana Meraz, and possibly also a Jehovah's Witness, filed a $3,000,000.00 "wrongful death lawsuit against the 9-1-1 provider, on behalf of the estate, and the 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter whom Jose Meraz had with Ana Meraz. Meraz accused the 9-1-1 center of negligently mishandling the call, which resulted in delayed arrival of paramedics, and causing the death of his ex-wife. Outcome unknown.

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SHELLY DIANNE NAROIAN. Described as an active devout Jehovah's Witness, Shelly Dianne Naroian, 47, was shot and killed in her living room by a Hillsborough, New Hampshire Police Officer on May 19, 2011, which coincidentally was the JW's birthday. Non-JW Husband explained that the couple had been arguing because Shelly's 42 year-old stepson, a High School Teacher, had lived with the couple for the past 10 months. Shelly Naroian wanted him evicted. Husband had threatened divorce. Husband eventually went to bed, but was awakened by Shelly around midnight. Having evidently found the hidden keys to the husband's gun safe, Shelly was holding a pistol to her head. She asked husband "is this a good one to use?" Husband called 9-1-1. At some point, Shelly discharged a firearm inside the home after police took up positions outside the home. Shelly then threatened to shoot the stepson, but he took two pistols from her, and then escaped from the home. Shelly pointed an unloaded pistol at the responding officers after they entered the home. Both fired, with one bullet fatally striking Naroian in her neck.

Shelly Naroian had a history of mental illness. She had been hospitalized twice for psychiatric problems, most recently around Christmas time in 2010. Shelly was diagnosed with bipolar and dual personality disorders. Both husband and stepson stated that Shelly suffered from mood swings that could occur in an instant. "She saw enemies everywhere. If you didn't think like she did, you were not only wrong, you were evil. She was out of touch with reality, and you never knew from one minute to the next what mood she was going to be in or what she was going to do", stated stepson. Both of the couple's natural children had rejected their mother's WatchTower religion due to her irrational behaviors and beliefs. Husband also believes Shelly was abusing her multiple prescribed medications as well as taking medications that didn't belong to her.

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JAMES KENISKI MURDER. In May 2007, a 46 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness named James Keniski, of Villa Park, Illinois, died slowly from BLOOD LOSS after languishing for 8 days in multiple hospitals, when his JW Wife, Keena Keniski, REFUSED to permit the administration of life-saving blood transfusions. Initially, James Keniski had been beaten and robbed by four Chicago hoodrats who had come to the Keniski home under the pretense of selling James Keniski additional DRUGS. Obviously, James Keniski was a strong enough Jehovah's Witness to die rather than accept a blood transfusion, but not good enough of a Jehovah's Witness to prevent associating with vicious Chicago drug dealers, and do whatever Keniski did with the drugs that he purchased.

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JOSHUA RAY. Described by his Jehovah's Witness Parents, Jerry Ray and Betty Ray, of Bluffton, South Carolina, as "active" in the family's local Bluffton Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, thirteen year-old Joshua Ray was accidentally shot and killed while at the home of a 17 year-old friend. The circumstances are unclear, but the accidental shooting reportedly occurred around 6:30 A.M., on a Sunday morning, in June 2011. Local police allege that Joshua Ray, the 17 year-old friend, and another 16 year-old friend, had spent that Saturday night drinking vodka and smoking marijuana. Local police also alleged that the Trio were"wanna-be gangsters", who were involved in local criminal activity. Commenters allege that the involved families include "illegal aliens", some of whom may be involved in drug trafficking.

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CONNECTICUT v. JOSEPH V. AMBROSE and JOSEPH AMBROSE v. ROBIN AMBROSE are related 2005-07 Connecticut court cases. At some point around 2005, a Jehovah's Witness Elder at the Canton Connecticut Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, named Joseph V. Ambrose, age 54, and his wife, Robin Ambrose, age 40, obtained a legal separation, and were pursuing divorce, but continued living in the same Canton, Connecticut house. The couple are the parents of four children, but only the three youngest still lived at home.

Jehovah's Witnesses On A Mission

May 05, 1996
By BONNIE G. DRESNER; Courant columnist

One recent weekday morning, a group of well-groomed men and women gathered, Bibles in hand, in the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall in Canton.

Their destinations, after they divided into two carloads, were the doorsteps of homes in surrounding communities. Their mission was to spread the word that God is interested in mankind and that he will bring about changes in the world.

These are the publishers, the members of the Jehovah's Witnesses who travel door to door to discuss their beliefs. Almost every day, publishers head into nearby neighborhoods from the Kingdom Hall in Canton or Granby to discuss the words of the Bible with anyone who will listen.

It is a task Witnesses undertake to let their neighbors know what they believe the Bible predicts is in store for the world. Judging by the polite but uninterested reception they often receive, it's clear to many Witnesses that their purposes are misinterpreted.

"Most people have a lot of misunderstanding about Jehovah's Witnesses,'' said Rick Tomasko, an elder with the Granby Jehovah's Witnesses. "They think they know what we are . . . They don't because they've never talked to us.''

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible is the word of God and suggest that many worldly events, particularly those they see as evidence of the continual decline of civilization, are fulfillments of a biblical prophecy.

They say the Bible predicts a time when God will destroy all evil influences, in the battle of Armageddon. Many people will survive Armageddon and many others will be resurrected from the dead. Afterward, all will live eternally in a universe filled with peace and beauty.

"The reason we go door to door is, [for example], if you saw your neighbor's house on fire, no matter what time it was, you would notify them,'' Tomasko said. "We feel the Bible gives clear indication that we're living in the last days of the system of things. We want to tell people . . . what the Bible has to say. We're not out to convert the world.''

What they are out to do is get their booklets and magazines into the hands of others and to impart the knowledge that everlasting life can be had here on Earth. On a good day of canvassing door to door, Witnesses find someone willing to discuss the Scriptures. On a really good day they reach somebody who is interested enough to request a call back in the future or perhaps to schedule a Bible study session at home.

"I placed six magazines Saturday and Sunday,'' said Joe Ambrose an elder in the Canton congregation, about his accomplishments on a recent weekend. "And I had four conversations in the morning. Normally, if we get in one good conversation, we feel we have accomplished something.''

Those seemingly slight achievements are just what Witnesses expect from their door-to-door ministry.

"We don't expect most people to listen,'' said Scott Perry, an elder in the Canton congregation. "Most will not be interested. We just want them to have the opportunity to know what will happen . . . to have a proper warning.''

The Canton Kingdom Hall, which was built in 1981, serves about 140 members -- up from the 100 who belonged when it opened. The Kingdom Hall in Granby, which took three days to construct in 1989, serves about 100 members. That congregation has decreased slightly over the years, Tomasko said.

There are 123 congregations with about 12,000 Witnesses in the state, according to Gary Breaux at the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in New York, the headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses can trace their origins to the early 1870s in Pennsylvania, to a Bible study group led by Charles Taze Russell. By 1880, congregations from that group had moved into nearby states.

In 1884, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was incorporated. Its name was later changed to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. By 1909 the work had spread internationally and the society's headquarters moved to Brooklyn, N.Y.

New members trickle in slowly to the Kingdom Halls in Canton and Granby. Those who join often say their initial contact with the organization was that encounter on their doorstep. But becoming a Jehovah's Witness involves more than quoting the Bible. Those who join must be committed to the faith.

"Your conduct has to be right in harmony with the Scriptures,'' Ambrose said. "Your morals have to be right in line.''

Late on a Sunday night in January 2006, Joseph Ambrose attacked his wife with a pipe -- smashing her face and head. Ambrose later drove his wife to Hartford Hospital, where he let her out at around 2:00 AM, and he then fled. After a Monday long manhunt, which included a search of the fields and woods which surrounded the local Kingdom Hall by S.W.A.T., and a lock-down of nearly the entire town, police finally captured Joe Ambrose, who had a loaded pistol in his possession. Several more weapons were found at the home. The three children were temporarily placed with CPS. Police records also indicated a prior domestic violence incident in 2003, which involved Joe Ambrose and the oldest son who no longer lived at home. Joseph Ambrose was charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping. In October 2007, Joseph V. Ambrose was convicted on a single count of first degree assault and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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SUICIDE - BOMBING OF MISSOURI KINGDOM HALL OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. On Saturday afternoon, July 26, 2008, at around 1:45 PM, a 52 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named Ralph E. Phillips, of Buckner, Missouri, committed suicide inside the newly-constructed Bates City, Missouri Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses simultaneous with his having set off a gasoline bomb which he intended to destroy that Kingdom Hall.

Ralph Phillips poured a large quantity of gasoline throughout the Kingdom Hall, which when ignited, resulted in a fiery explosion that initially blew out the rear wall and portions of the roof at the rear of the building. Secondarily, the remainder of the Kingdom Hall was heavily damaged by heat and smoke. Ralph Phillips' corpse was found inside the Kingdom Hall, with a single gunshot to the head, which was ruled to have been self-inflicted. It is not known if the gunshot ignited the explosion, or whether Phillips' somehow managed to otherwise ignite the explosion simultaneous with his suicide.

The suburban Kansas City Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is located at 6001 Foggy Bottom Road, just outside Bates City, was just recently completed. The "dedication" ceremony apparently had been planned for sometime in August, and will go on as scheduled. Reportedly, the WatchTower Society had members of its' local Regional Building Committee standing by to rush in and rebuild the structure as soon as state and federal authorities completed their investigations. Interestingly, this "religious suicide-bombing" on American soil received no national nor international media attention.

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AUSTIN TEXAS FAMILICIDE. Four members of an Austin, Texas area family of Jehovah's Witnesses died in May 2011 as a result of a pending divorce. Fellow Jehovah's Witnesses, Jose Antonio Lopez, then 23, and Shauna Kay McLean, then age 22, married in 2005. A son, Hayden Lopez, was born in May 2010. The JW couple began to experience marital problems, so Shauna K. Lopez and the couple's young son moved back in with her parents, Pat Garrett McLean, age 54, and Deena Henderson McLean, age 52. Jose Lopez enrolled at Austin Community College. On the Sunday evening of May 8, 2011 (possibly after a meeting with the couple's JW Elders), an enraged Jose Lopez went to the McLean's home taking along a shotgun. Pat G. McLean went out to meet Jose Lopez as he pulled into the driveway. Pat McLean was immediately shot and killed. Shauna Lopez, her son, her mother, her brother, and a family friend escaped out the home's rear door, but Jose Lopez caught up with them in the backyard, and shot and killed Shauna Lopez and Deena McLean. Jose A. Lopez fled the scene, but was spotted by police shortly thereafter. A high-speed 13 mile long freeway chase ensued. At a police roadblock, Lozez crashed into an unoccupied police car, and was killed.

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MARYLAND v. MICHAEL HENRY MOSBY and MICHAEL HENRY MOSBY MURDER-SUICIDE. African-American Michael H. Mosby was reared by Purnell Mosby and his second JW Wife, Delores J. Mosby. Mike Mosby was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in July 2004. Around 2007, Mike Mosby married Ruby Johnson Mosby, whom was nearly four years older than him. In June 2008, Michael Mosby, age 19, was arrested on assault charges in Baltimore. Only a few days later, Purnell C. Mosby reported to Baltimore Police that Ruby Johnson Mosby had been "missing" that weekend -- apparently not showing up for field service on Saturday morning, nor at the Sunday meeting. Purnell Mosby met police Sunday night at his son and daughter-in-law's home which was revealed to be the scene of a MURDER-SUICIDE. Indications were that Ruby Mosby, age 23, had been stabbed to death sometime Saturday, while Mike Mosby committed suicide sometime on Sunday.

See also: PURNELL C. MOSBY and MICHAEL HENRY MOSBY v. ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER.

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In September 2014, a "Letter To the Editor" was sent by an AFRICAN-AMERICAN JEHOVAH'S WITNESS GRANDMOTHER to multiple Harrisburg, Pennsylvania media outlets whom the JW GrandMother accused of being "disrespectful to his memory" during the reporting of the murder of her 18 year-old GrandSon, "Leaky", who was SHOT by his escaped-from-jail 15 year-old cousin. African-American JW GrandMother apparently found it "disrespectful"that media outlets were also reporting that her murdered 18 year-old GrandSon already had FOUR CHILDREN OUT-OF-WEDLOCK.

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Here is an October 10, 2014 article from the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE (edited):

[African-American] Teaira Whitehead, 16, of Homewood, was "known to law enforcement" (oftentimes a code phrase for "prostitute") before joggers found her dead and nude Monday afternoon in the North Side park, ... . ... ... [The District Attorney] said Teaira associated with known heroin dealers, ... . He said he would not describe her as a dealer but said she was a known heroin user. Officials are attempting to track down anyone who had contact with her between the time she last contacted her family, Sunday evening, and the time her body was found. Teaira's father said the family did not wish to speak with reporters. There will be a memorial for Teaira at 6 p.m. Monday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 8899 Frankstown Ave. ...

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Early on Thursday morning, October 23, 2014, at around 1:13 A.M., a 20 year-old "exemplary" African-American Jehovah's Witness named Justin R. Rice, of Abbeville, Louisiana, was riding his motorcycle in a Lafayette, Louisiana, upscale residential subdivision -- apparently at a high rate of speed -- when he struck and broke in half a large masonry brick mailbox located on the opposite side of the street. An unconfirmed newspaper comment alleges that Justin Rice was being pursued by Lafayette Police.

Justin Rice died at 7:00 P.M. later that same day (blood transfusions rejected?). The evidently "exemplary" Jehovah's Witness Minister's funeral was conducted by Elder Derrick Sam at the Abbeville Louisiana Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interestingly, in the published funeral notice, "local bikers" were encouraged to attend the Kingdom Hall funeral, and a member of the local African-American "PUSHING THE LIMITS" motorcycle club was named for additional information, along with listing his telephone number. The Abbeville Louisiana Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses appears to be unlike any JW congregation that we ever attended.

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In August 2013, on an early TUESDAY morning, at around 2:15 A.M., Gizelle Coria, age 16, was riding on a bicycle along with an otherwise unidentified 18 year-old Hispanic male "friend", when Gizelle inexplicably jumped off the bicycle and was struck by a Hispanic driving an SUV. Coria was initially transported to Holland Hospital, but later died at Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. Event times were either vague or erroneous in all media reports. Does anyone really believe that refusal of blood transfusions was not a factor in this eventual death? The KINGDOM HALL FUNERAL of "exemplary" Hispanic Jehovah's Witness, Gizelle Coria, of Holland, Michigan, was hosted by the Holland Michigan Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

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OHIO v. BENFORD EDWARD HESTER. Benford E. Hester was arrested in August 2010 on charges of DUI and operating a motor vehicle without a license. Outcome unknown.

OHIO v. BENFORD EDWARD HESTER. Benford E. Hester was arrested in January 2005 on charges of physical control of a vehicle while DUI and Aggravated Menacing. Outcome unknown.

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TENNESSEE v. FRED W. CLASPELL was a 2009-10 Tennessee criminal prosecution. In late December 2009, a Jehovah's Witness named Fred Claspell, then age 57, of Smithville, Tennessee, was charged with filing a false police report, with additional criminal charges pending. On Christmas Day 2009, Fred Claspell reported to Smithville Police that someone had stolen a $600.00 minibike from his garage. That minibike apparently was soon located -- chained to a lightpole at the Smithville Wal-Mart. Surveillance footage showed Claspell riding the minibike into the parking lot and then chaining it to the lightpole before entering the store. (Not known how Claspell got home.) Claspell's best response was that he must have been "drunk" at the time.

Fred Claspell apparently was already known to the Smithville Tennessee Police Department. In July 2007, an unidentified male caller made a telephone call from a neighbor's telephone stating that a man at [Fred Claspell's address] was suicidal and would hurt anyone responding. Police shut down the neighborhood and surrounded Claspell's home. They attempted to telephone Claspell only to discover that Claspell's home did not have a telephone. Hmmm??? After 20 minutes of no response to their loudspeaker, Fred Claspell came running out of his frontdoor yelling, "I'll kill you all. Shoot me I want to die." The likely inebriated Claspell slipped on the front porch steps, and fell to the ground. Officers were able to quickly move in and take Claspell into custody. Claspell was unarmed. However, the police report noted that while closing and locking the front door that firearm parts, ammunition, and multiple large swords were observed inside the residence.

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NEW YORK v. PHILEMON CHAVIS was a 2011 New York criminal case which involved an Albany, NY Jehovah's Witness couple of 25 years, named Philemon A. Chavis, age 44, and Karen (Kross) Chavis, age 46. Exactly what events in the couple's past life had led to the acts giving rise to this criminal case are not known. Karen Chavis spoke in length at the sentencing hearing, but did so in "couched" language only meaningful to the large crowd of JW family and supporters in attendance.

Philemon A. Chavis worked as a public works investigator for the New York Department of Labor. Chavis was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, strangulation, felony assault and possessing a weapon. Albany Police accused Philemon Chavis of slamming Karen Chavis' head into concrete, punching her, and choking her to unconsciousness at the couple's home, on a Sunday morning in March 2011. Police say Chavis then tied her up, placed her in her own Saab automobile, and thereafter forced her to try to extract $100,000.00 ransom from her parents and brother. Karen Chavis' family reported the kidnapping to police, who eventually went to the Chavis home, found Karen Chavis, and arrested Philemon Chavis. Karen Chavis spent several days in the hospital being treated for bleeding on the brain, two broken ribs, a collapsed lung, cracked teeth, and a number of other injuries. Police allege that Philemon Chavis had originally planned to murder his wife. They found knives, a Taser, and a sawed-off shotgun in Philemon Chavis' own BMW.

One of our sources alleges that Philemon Chavis was a longtime JW Elder, who had worked as an "attendant" at the WatchTower Society's "Special Assembly Day" on the Saturday before the assault. Media sources reported Philemon Chavis then spent that Saturday night drinking at one or more bars, and that he did not return home until around 7:00 AM Sunday morning. Media sources further reported that the first "ransom call" on Sunday was made to the home of Karen (Kross) Chavis' parents, but they were not home, so they instead telephoned Karen's brother. Our source further alleges that the reason that a message had to be left on Karen's parents' answering machine was because they were attending their own "Special Assembly Day".

In August 2011, Philemon Chavis agreed to a plea deal which offered him a 19 year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to felony assault.

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TEXAS v. NOEL TRAVIS DEAN was a 2007-11 Texas murder case. African-American Jehovah's Witnesses Noel Travis Dean, then age 21, and Shannon Kay Williams, age 21, were married in May 2005. Natives of Los Angeles, California, the Deans lived in Houston, Texas, where Noel T. Dean had already relocated to be near family. Shannon Dean reportedly had been reared as a devout Jehovah's Witness, and had even spent time as a "Pioneer". Little has been said about Noel Dean's JW history given that all the JWs who know him have assumed his guilt, and have had only negatives to say about him -- particularly labeling him with a variety of labels implying "mental illness". It is known that the JW Couple attended the same LA schools, and had known each other, and had been an item, since junior high school. In July 2007, after a party held at their home, Noel Dean discovered sexually-related "texts" between Shannon Dean and another male on his wife's cell phone. An argument ensued, and at around 2:30 A.M., Shannon Dean grabbed a .40 caliber pistol from a dresser, ran into the couple's master bedroom, and then shot herself in the head -- according to Noel Dean. Noel Dean told investigators that his wife had been suicidal, and had even attempted suicide previously.

Noel Travis Dean was charged with murder after medical examiners ruled that a bruise on Shannon Dean's head, which was caused by the pistol's front sight, likely resulted from someone standing over her and firing the pistol. A 2007 murder trial ended in a "hung jury". In the 2011 retrial, the defense presented expert testimony which refuted the medical examiner's ruling, and on cross-exam, the medical examiner agreed that this new theory was plausible, and that his office would change their ruling from "homicide" to "undetermined". Prosecutors then dropped the charges, and the case was dismissed -- forever ending any future charges against Noel Dean.

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KENTUCKY v. GRANT EVAN SHMIDHEISER was a 2010 Kentucky criminal court case. In March 2010, Grant E. Shmidheiser, of Somerset, Kentucky, then age 26, was arrested on domestic violence charges. Outcome unknown. Grant Shmidhesier was reared as a Jehovah's Witness by regionally prominent JW Elder Kenneth Shmidheiser (aka Ken Shmidheiser), who also is the Editor of the COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL newspaper.

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BARBARA KAY NELSON v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON. DOMESTIC ABUSE - TRO. November 2016.

WISCONSIN v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON was a January 2015 Wisconsin court case in which Morgan Neslon, age 52, of Briggsville, Wisconsin, was found guilty of Operating a ATV while Intoxicated. Morgan Nelson was reared/baptized as a JW in Wisconsin and Kentucky by Elder/MS Wayne Nelson and Joyce Nelson. Married way over his head. Wife Barbara Kay Vernon was drop-dead gorgeous daughter of prosperous JW Elder.

WISCONSIN v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON was a 2007 Wisconsin criminal prosecution of Morgan Neslon, age 45, of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. In January 2007, Morgan Nelson was arrested on charges of DOMESTIC ABUSE-BATTERY and DOMESTIC ABUSE-DISORDERLY CONDUCT. In a February 2007 plea deal, Nelson was given a deferred sentence of 6 months in jail on each charge. Charges were dismissed in March 2008 after successfully completing deferral plan.

BARBARA KAY NELSON v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON. DOMESTIC ABUSE - TRO. March 2005.

WISCONSIN v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON was a 1991 Wisconsin criminal prosecution of Morgan Nelson, then age 29, then of Marathon County, Wisconsin. In October 1991, Morgan Nelson was arrested on charges of AGGRAVATED BATTERY and CHILD ABUSE. In a May 1992 plea deal, Nelson pled guilty to two counts of battery, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 2 years probation. A Bail-jumping charge was dismissed.

Multiple lawsuits filed by creditors (1997-2011). Foreclosure (2011, 2000). Bankruptcy (2000).

See also:FIRST & FARMERS BANK OF SOMERSET KENTUCKY v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON (1990) and KENTUCKY CENTRAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. WAYNE MORGAN NELSON (1990), which was a Kentucky civil lawsuit filed by a client of Nelson's Weather Systems Roofing. Nelson allegedly did a roof tear-off on Day1 planning to install roof on Day2. Bank Building allegedly was not tarped or poorly tarped. It rained that night doing over $52,000.00 damage. Most if not all of Nelson's business and personal assets were seized and sold at auction to partially satisfy September 1990 judgment and lienholders.

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ILLINOIS v. PAUL WILLIAMS is an ongoing 2010 Illinois state murder case. In December 2010, a 19 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness named Paul Williams, of Park Forest, Illinois, was arrested and charged with the murder of a fellow 34 year-old female Jehovah's Witness and neighbor, named Aisha Nettle-Boone. Other neighbors observed suspicious activity at the home of Aisha Boone, and the police were called. The police found the front door wide open, and the victim lying unresponsive inside the home. Nettle-Boone was transported to a local hospital, but died several hours later -- from strangulation. Info provided by neighbors led the police to Paul Williams, who admitted only that he had been at the home earlier that day.

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PENNSYLVANIA v. KENDALL ANDERSON is an ongoing 2010 Pennsylvania murder case. In November 2010, a 16 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness named Kendall Anderson, of Philadelphia, was arrested and charged with the murder of his 37 year-old JW Mother, named Rashida Anderson. Rashida Anderson's corpse was discovered buried under trash and rubbish in an alley located near the Mother and Son's home two days after Kendall Anderson reported his Mother missing. Police allege that Kendall Anderson confessed that he first beat his Mother in the head with a hammer, and then later beat her with a part of a chair before hiding her corpse in the alley. Relatives told media that Rashida Anderson was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and neighbors told media that both she and Kendall Anderson attended their local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Kendall Anderson reportedly had had problems in school -- having attended a local disciplinary high school for the past two years after reportedly stealing a laptop computer from his previous school. An older sister reportedly is attending college.

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CALIFORNIA v. JOSE LOUIS ORDUNO and UNITED STATES v. JOSE LUIS ORDUNO are separate 2010 criminal court cases involving an Jehovah's Witness illegal alien named Jose Louis Orduno. In September 2000, newspapers across the United States republished a SACRAMENTO BEE article relating the story of how Jose L. Orduno's life had been saved by a new blood substitute called HEMOPURE. In July 2010, Jose Orduno had been struck by a passing automobile while he was bicycling to his job at a Sacramento area McDonalds. The emergency room doctors stabilized Orduno's condition by administering two units of whole blood. However, when Orduno awoke, he ordered that he not be given any more blood transfusions due to his Jehovah's Witness beliefs. The hospital contacted the local WatchTower Hospital Liaison Committee, which sent a local JW Elder named Gregory Brown to the rescue. Gregory Brown informed doctors that no more blood transfusions could be administered, but that alternative treatments such as nitric oxide and Epogen could be used, although neither are of any significant benefit in emergency situations. Orduno barely clung to life for two weeks as he slowly died from lack of hemoglobin. A local surgeon told Orduno's doctors about an FDA-unapproved blood substitute called Hemopure, which is red blood cells taken from cows and mixed into a salt solution. Orduno's doctors contacted WatchTower representative Gregory Brown, who told Orduno and his doctors thatHemopure did not technically violate WatchTower rules. Long story-short, Orduno's life was saved by the Hemopure and the California taxpayers who paid for the six weeks long hospital stay that was made necessary by Orduno's WatchTower beliefs. It was not until after the fact that it became common knowledge that Orduno was only "studying" to become a Jehovah's Witness, but was not yet a JW, (nor a U.S. citizen).

In June 2010, Jose Orduno was charged with attempting to burn down a Sacramento area Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. In the ten year interim, Orduno had become an official Jehovah's Witness. However, Orduno had been disfellowshipped -- excommunicated -- shortly before his failed arson attempt. Orduno told reporters that he had been disfellowshipped due to "kissing and touching" his girlfriend. Orduno was pinpointed as the culprit after getting drunk and making terroristic threats towards the JW congregation and the JW Elders who kicked him out.

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NORTH CAROLINA v. JEFFREY GIST was a 2009 North Carolina familicide which managed to escaped the attention of WATCHTOWER WORLD -- until now. In March 2009, a 16 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness, named Mylin Tierra Bullock, was murdered by her step-father, 32 year-old Jeffrey Gist. Jeffrey Gist had a lengthy breaking-entering criminal record from 1998-2002, and had done 18 months in prison. However, Gist apparently reformed and possibly converted to the Jehovah's Witnesses given the reported several years long marriage to the victim's mother, Michelle Bullock Gist (also reported as Melissa Bullock Gist, and also Jocelyn Bullock Gist), who had two children -- the victim and her younger brother, C.J. Bullock. Mylin Bullock had complained to friends that Gist was "strict, real strict, and he didn't want her doing a lot of stuff". Gist even walked the 16 year-old to her school bus each day. On a Friday night in March 2009, Jeff Gist and Mylin Bullock argued over what Gist later claimed was their "relationship", while the JW Mother worked her night shift at a local health care facility. Early Saturday morning, Bullock's partially burned and beaten corpse was discovered in the parking lot of a nearby nature preserve. The autopsy revealed that Bullock had died of strangulation. Mylin Tierra Bullock received a Kingdom Hall funeral attended by her extended Durham, North Carolina area Jehovah's Witness family.

Ed Bullock, the victim's Jehovah's Witness maternal grandfather, initially told reporters that no sexual abuse was suspected, but later told reporters that such may have been the motive for the murder. Ed Bullock called Jeffrey Gist "a fine father", and told reporters that his daughter had "vetted" Jeff Gist before marrying him, and that he had even met Gist's parents, who were "professionals". Jeffrey Hamilton Gist quickly admitted killing Mylin Bullock, and eventually alleged that there had been a "relationship" between he and his step-daughter, and that the argument the night he killed Mylin had been the result of his"jealousy" over other males in her life. Gist also gladly pled guilty to the reduced charge of second degree murder, and he was sentenced to only 18-23 years in prison. The plea deal miffed both the local prosecutor and the sentencing judge, but was reportedly made at the insistence of Jocelyn, or Melissa, or Michelle Bullock Gist -- whichever is the name of Mylin Bullock's mother.

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CYNTHIA L. SICILIANO v. GRAHAM-POTTS is a still pending 2009-2010 California civil court case which involves a Jehovah's Witness Family who are suing the JW Husband's former Mistress for $$$$$$$$$ for the JW Family's"emotional distress". The JW Husband, named Marc Anthony Siciliano, 53, is testifying on behalf of the two named plaintiffs -- his JW Wife, named Cynthia Lee Siciliano, 46, of San Rafael, California, and the still-married-couple's nine year-old Daughter.

Cynthia L. Siciliano is alleging that a former employee of the JW Family's limousine business, named Jodie Graham-Potts, age 49, introduced Marc Siciliano to crack during an extra-marital affair which lasted from 2004 to 2006. Cynthia Siciliano further alleges that it was Graham-Potts' crack that caused her husband to act abusively toward her and the couple's daughter.

On March 1, 2005, Marc A. Siciliano was arrested for possession of paraphernalia and suspicion of being high on crack after being pulled over in Graham-Potts' car. To avoid prosecution, Marc Siciliano reportedly cut a deal with the prosecutor to wear a wire and act as an undercover narc for local police on multiple occasions involving illegal drug deals. According to media accounts of Marc Siciliano's testimony, it was Cynthia Siciliano's father, Lee Shroyer, a Mill Valley attorney, who suggested that his JW Daughter sue the Mistress using the little known Drug Dealer Liability Act, which was adopted by the California Legislature in 1996. The DDLA provides civil remedies for the ill effects of illegal controlled substances. A parent, spouse, child or legal guardian may sue anyone who furnishes or administers drugs to a relative. Damages may be recovered for emotional distress, among other things.

Interestingly, this JW Family decided to pursue the JW Husband's Mistress for money despite knowing that the JW Husband would testify at the trial that he had been a regular meth user even prior to his affair with Graham-Potts, and that a videotape of Graham-Potts and Marc Siciliano engaging in sex and using crack would be made public at the trial. Graham-Potts also testified that Marc Siciliano had told her that he had also had a previous extra-marital affair around 1998 -- about a year after he had married Cynthia Shroyer Siciliano. Per media reports, Marc Siciliano is now an active Jehovah's Witness -- having served a mereone year as "disfellowshipped".

UPDATE: At the end of this ten-day long trial, it took the "California Jury" of 8 females and 4 males only three hours to decide in favor of the defendant, Jodie Graham-Potts. The JW's attorney typically said that his clients would consider filing a motion for a new trial, while the defendant's attorney accused the JWs of twisting the law simply to exact revenge against the former mistress.

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The following snippet is excerpted from an August 2009 Ohio newspaper.

Deputies were dispatched at 11:10 p.m. Thursday to a Main Street residence in Bayard for a suicide attempt where a woman sliced her left wrist and was bleeding. She was refusing to allow EMS to treat her. When deputies tried to talk her into allowing the treatment, she started yelling that she was a Jehovah's Witness and if they tried to treat her, she would sue. She eventually passed out, received treatment at the scene and was transported to a hospital. Her fiance told deputies she had been on a three-day drinking binge.

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DANIELE ARESTIA MURDER-SUICIDE. In May 2010, a 37 year-old Italian Jehovah's Witness named Daniele Arestia murdered his 65 year-old JW Mother, and thereafter committed suicide. Arestia reportedly still lived with his mother and assisted with a small family business. Neighbors described Arestia as "lonely", "bashful", and "depressed".

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MAXIE MIER - JOANN MIER MURDER-SUICIDE. Around noontime on Tuesday, March 17, 2009, the daughter of Maxie Mier, age 71 and Joann Mier, age 64, of Orange, Texas, received a telephone call from her father stating that he had just shot and killed her mother and that he was going to shoot himself. Rhonda Dupuy, age 37, rushed to her parents' home where she found the dead bodies of both parents in the kitchen. Maxie Mier had shot his wife Joann Mier twice in the chest and once in the head. Maxie Mier shot himself once in the chest. The couple reportedly had been frequently arguing, and the marriage may have been troubled. Per the funeral home website, the double funeral was presided over by a local Jehovah's Witness Elder named Kelley Burch.

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LOUISIANA v.RODOLFO ORTEGA is an ongoing 2009 Louisiana murder court case. Around 4:00 A.M., on Sunday, January 18, 2009, an illegal alien named Rodolfo Ortega, age 47, choked his wife, San Juana Isabel Ortega, 32, during an argument at their Houma, Louisiana trailer home. Rodolfo Ortega respectfully waited until around 7:00 A.M. before he telephoned and reported the incident to one or more of his local Jehovah's Witness Elders from the Houma Louisana Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Reportedly, one of the Jehovah's Witness Elders eventually telephoned the Houma Police Dept about a "domestic disturbance" at the Ortega residence. Interestingly, the Houma Police did not show up to the Ortega's residence until around 10:00 A.M., which begs the questions as to what were the one or more JW Elders doing during that 2-3 hour time span, and exactly at what time did San Juana Isabel Ortega pass away? Did those JW Elders first report the crime to the Legal Dept at WatchTower Society world headquarters in Paterson, New York? And, why were emergency medical services not summoned? Upon arriving at the Ortega's residence, Houma Police discovered the deceased body of San Juana Ortega in the couple's bedroom. Rodolfo Ortega reportedly admitted to choking and strangling his wife, but was arrested on charges of second degree murder. Rodolfo Ortega also admitted to living illegally in the United States for the past 9 years. The Ortega's four children -- ages 5 to 12 -- were put in the custody of other relatives living in the area.

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IN RE M.H. was a 2008 Texas mental health proceeding which involved a menopausal Jehovah's Witness Female living in Cherokee County, Texas. In April 2008, M.H. was temporarily involuntarily institutionalized under unknown circumstances. Doctors determined that M.H. suffered from bipolar disorder, and needed treatment with psychoactive medication. M.H. refused to take such medication claiming that such violated her beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness. Both the trial court and appellate court ruled against M.H., holding that M.H. was declining the medications due to "mental illness", rather than religious proscriptions. The appellate opinion stated in part:

M.H. testified, stating that she understood that the doctor wants access to certain medications and that he believes the medications would lead to an earlier release. She said the doctor never told her what kind of medication he wanted to give her. She denied having a mental illness. She objected to all categories of medication except one that would deal with a "menopause problem." She accused the doctors and hospitals of being guilty of medical malpractice and insurance fraud and of being pathological liars. She explained that she is a Jehovah's Witness and taking any drugs is against her faith. She stated,

"As Jehovah's witnesses, we have spiritual spines and mental powers. We deal in realities all the time. We're victimized by bigoted people who don't like us or don't understand us or don't agree with us, and these all extend from K.K.K. and satan [sic] worshipers who know exactly who I am and know there was nothing that happened."

She denied being delusional or devoid of insight. She testified that if the doctors were to force her to take medication it could put her relationship with her god in great jeopardy. She clarified that she takes medicines that she really needs but does not take medicines that are convenient for others. She further explained, "I do not take drugs on the basis of my faith. I do not need it. There is nothing wrong with me. They just know I am telling the truth and are doing everything to discredit me."

Frankly, M.H. sounds like the typical middle-aged JW female to me. These same or similar remarks could be heard in thousands of conversations on any given meeting night at Kingdom Halls across the United States -- especially between "Elderettes".

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MINNESOTA v. COREY LEE GAUSTAD is an ongoing 2008 Minnesota murder court case. On Thursday, July 17, 2008, 21 year-old Corey Lee Gaustad shot and killed Christine Rose Nguyen, 48, who was the Jehovah's Witness Mother of his 17 year-old former JW girlfriend. Gaustad also attempted to murder his former girlfriend. Gaustad reportedly confessed not only to the murder and attempted murder, but also to having planned to murder his former girlfriend's father, grandmother, and a possible new boyfriend of his former girlfriend.

Reportedly, Corey L. Gaustad had met the teenage girl at some JW function(s) sometime around 2004 (probably when the Nguyens moved into the area). The couple apparently had started to date at some point, and in early 2008, Gaustad had apparently even considered "proposing" to the teenager. Interestingly, it was not long thereafter that the girl broke up with Gaustad, although he had told his family that the breakup was "mutual".

On the day of the murder, Corey Lee Gaustad followed the mother and daughter around as they shopped that afternoon, but he lost them at some point. Gaustad then went to their New Brighton, Minnesota apartment, and waited for the mother and daughter to return home. When the duo returned at around 3:30 PM, Corey Gaustad approached their vehicle. Christine R. Nguyen exited her vehicle and attempted to reason with Gaustad, but he shot her in the stomach. Gaustad then fired four shots at his 17 year-old former girlfriend, but missed, as she fled the scene. Christine Nguyen died about 4 hours later at a local hospital. Given the type wound, one can't help but wonder if she died because she refused to consent to blood transfusions.

Media reports indicate that the Nguyen family -- father, mother, daughter (home-schooled), and possibly a grandmother -- were all members of the New Brighton Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Gaustad family apparently are also associated with either the New Brighton Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, or another area Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. One media report stated:

"Gaustad's family was shocked Friday when they learned he had been arrested, noting he spent so much time studying the Bible.

"'It's hard to picture something like that,' said his younger brother, Josh Gaustad. 'He's so religious. He follows the Bible in every aspect of his life.' ... ...

"Gaustad graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 2005, school officials said. ...

"Corey Gaustad was depressed sometimes, his father said. His parents filed for divorce in 1993, and his mother, Charlene Gaustad, committed suicide in 1995, Arlen Gaustad said.

"'It just floors me,' he said. 'I would never think of him being a murderer. Why would he do that?'"

Unconfirmed internet postings claim that Corey Lee Gaustad had at some point served as a "Pioneer" in his JW Congregation, which is a full-time "door-knocker". Typically, the local JWs have yet to even claim him as a member.

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CALIFORNIA v. KELLY LEE JARKA is an ongoing 2008-09 California murder court case. In May 2008, a Murrieta, California Jehovah's Witness Elder, named Kelle Lee Jarka, 39, was arrested and charged with the April 2008 bludgeoning death of his 40 year-old JW Wife, Isabelle [Canchola] Jarka. Kelle L. Jarka was charged with first-degree murder, and the special circumstance of murder for financial gain, given that Jarka reportedly purchased $1,300,000.00&nin life insurance on Isabelle Jarka during the last few weeks preceding her death. The Jarkas reportedly were deep in debt -- partially due to the two Lexus vehicles and an expensive powerboat that they owned and enjoyed. Prosecutors described Kelle Jarka as "preoccupied with money, status and image", and further stated that Jarka had executed a "well-researched but sloppily executed murder."

Kelle Lee Jarka was arrested at the Southwest Justice Center's family law court on May 22 as he attended a hearing to attempt to regain custody of his 12 year-old daughter and 6 months-old son, who had been staying with Isabelle Jarka's parents [the Cancholas] since the murder. On April 27, the Jarkas' daughter had stayed overnight with her maternal grandparents, who lived just across the street. Reportedly, that evening the Jarkas had suffered a "shepherding call" from one of the other Elders in their JW Congregation, named Jose Cespedes, that lasted until 4:00 AM on the morning of April 28 -- apparently at the request of Isabelle Jarka. Around 8:45 AM, on April 28, Kelle Jarka called police to report that his home had been burglarized. Jarka reportedly didn't mention anything about his wife's death for the first 26 seconds of the call. Jarka then told police that he had gone shopping to buy coffee and baby formula, and when he returned home, he found a door forced open, the house ransacked, and his wife bloody and unconscious on the master bedroom floor. Isabelle Jarka died from 11 or more blows to her head as she slowly crawled from the couple's bed to the hallway during the lengthy attack, but no murder weapon was ever found. Shockingly, police believe that the couple's 6 month-old son was in the bedroom while the murder was committed.

Kelle L. Jarka's defense attorney portrayed him as a caring friend and father, who loved his wife, as well as a devout Jehovah's Witness, who had spent his younger years helping to build Kingdom Halls as a volunteer for the WatchTower Society's Regional Building Committee. Isabelle Jarka's relatives stated that the Jehovah's Witness probably had no clue as to the extent of her family's financial problems. Jarka's relatives stated that Isabelle was "trusting", "naive", and "easily taken in by people". They described Kelle Jarka as "secretive" and "very controlling". They further stated that while Kelle Jarka usually came off as a "nice person", that he also had a "darker side".

Interestingly, there was trial testimony regarding a male Jehovah's Witness in Jarka's Congregation who had recently died from AIDS -- a fact that was being kept secret from most Congregation members. Isabelle Jarka possibly suspected that something was going on between her husband and the dead JW's widow, and such may have been the reason for the lengthy visit of Jose Cespedes on the night of the murder.

UPDATE: In September 2009, it took a jury only two hours to convict Kelle Jarka of murder for financial gain. In November 2009, Kelle Jarka was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. The sentencing judge labeled the former Jehovah's Witness Elder as "pure evil -- nothing more, nothing less".

Interestingly, during the trial, the trial judge ruled that the testimony of Jehovah's Witness Elder Jose Cespedes was "evasive". [Research "Theocratic Warfare" doctrine of JWs.] William "Bill" Schafer, who is a Jehovah's Witness married to Kelle Jarka's sister, publicly declared Jarka's innocence, and stated that he was "proud" of Kelle Jarka, who "has shown remarkable faith".

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COLORADO v. RICARDO CORTEZ is an ongoing 2007-08 Colorado murder and attempted murder court case. Ricardo Cortez, age 25, is charged with the September 2007 murder of his estranged pregnant wife, Nikki Lynn [Fix] Cortez, age 21, and the attempted murder of her 24 year-old boyfriend, Sam Jantz. Around 11:00 PM, on Sunday, September 16, 2007, Ricardo Cortez burst into the Greeley, Colorado, home where Sam Jantz was living with relatives, and shotgunned his estranged wife. Sam Jantz ran from the home, but was partially struck by multiple shotgun blasts. Although initially admitted to a local hospital in "critical condition", Jantz recovered from his wounds. Ricardo Cortez, accompanied by his parents, voluntarily surrendered to police a few hours later. Ricardo Cortez, who the prosecution acknowledged to be suffering from a "moderate case" of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to his having served two tours of military duty in Iraq as a medic, pleaded "not guilty by reason of insanity", and was ordered by the court to be evaluated at the state mental health hospital for six weeks. Currently, the trial is scheduled for October-November 2008.

Limited details provided by local media seem to indicate that Ricardo and Nikki Lynn Cortez had began "studying" to convert to the Jehovah's Witnesses sometime after they married in June 2006. However, given that the couple's marriage soon began to fall apart, it is possible that it was Nikki Cortez who wanted to join the JWs, and that Ricardo Cortez's involvement may have been only to appease his wife. In fact, in March 2007, Ricardo Cortez had been arrested for punching Nikki Cortez in her face, and "holding her against her will" (possibly trying to stop her from attending a JW meeting), and apparently, instead of first seeking medical care for her broken nose and jaw, and/or police protection, Nikki Cortez went to the home of a local Jehovah's Witness "minister", named Raymond Bove. Such would indicate that it was Raymond Bove who was attempting to convert Nikki Cortez.

In a July 2008 court hearing, Raymond Bove testified that he knew both Ricardo and Nikki Cortez. Raymond Bove said that he considered them "friends", and that he had had the couple over to his home for dinner. (That revelation means little to non-JWs, but JW "Ministers" normally will not invite anyone to a meal in their home unless the invitees are JWs, or well on their way to becoming JWs.) Raymond Bove testified that the couple had attended the local Kingdom Hall "on occasion", but were not regular members.

Raymond Bove testified that it was "especially after" the March 2007 incident (for which Ricardo Cortez was arrested and eventually released on bond) that he reached out to Ricardo Cortez. Reportedly, a second unidentified JW Elder was brought in to help with dealing with Ricardo Cortez. (That way, the JWs' efforts to convert Nikki Cortez would not be negatively affected by whatever they did with Ricardo Cortez. If they converted both, then fine, but they did not want to chance losing Nikki Cortez as a convert. This exact same scenario has been played out hundreds, probably thousands, of times over the decades. JWs have broken up numerous marriages this exact same way. They make initial contact with the wife. Husband throws fit. Husband eventually starts attending meetings and "studying" to appease wife. Marriage still falls apart. Wife converts. Husband does not, and loses wife and any children in divorce. Some divorced/widowed JW male eventually gets himself the new convert as his new wife.)

Interestingly, the prosecution is seeking to have Raymond Bove testify regarding the "communications" between himself and Ricardo Cortez. Ricardo Cortez's defense team is seeking to stop such based on religious "privilege". Such forces the local JWs to walk a thin line. If the JWs separate themselves too much from Ricardo Cortez, which is probably what they want, then they may have to testify. But, if they do so, this is just one more publicized instance of the JWs either throwing "privileged communication" under the bus, or outright losing on the issue as they recently did during a California molestation trial. A ruling will have to be made prior to trial.

UPDATE: In November 2008, a jury convicted Ricardo Cortez of multiple charges relating to the murder and shooting, and he was sentenced to life plus 80 years in prison. It is not known how the court handled the "Raymond Bove" issue.

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COLORADO v. RAYMOND JAMES BOVE. Limited details. In June 2008, Raymond James Bove, age 37, of Greeley, Colorado, was arrested on charges of "Theft" and "Unauthorized Use of Financial Transaction Device". Outcome unknown.

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ILLINOIS v. BETTY WHITTEN is a 2006-08 Illinois murder court case. In April 2006, an African-American Jehovah's Witness Mother, named Betty Whitten, 57, of St. Charles, Illinois, and a member of the Elgin Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, stabbed to death her 34-year-old disabled daughter, Nyakiambi Whitten. Soon after her arrest, Betty Whitten was declared mentally unfit to stand trial, and was committed to a state mental health inpatient treatment facility until she was able to stand trial. In March 2008, Betty Whitten pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" to second-degree murder in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence. Whitten could be eligible for parole after 8 years in prison, but her time does not start so long as she is committed to a mental health treatment facility.

Betty Whitten reportedly had been treated for depression for several years. Whitten was the primary caregiver for her oldest daughter, who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and impaired vision at the age of two. On Monday morning, April 3, 2006, at the Whitten's rural home, Betty Whitten first threatened 24 year-old daughter, Rachael Whitten, but she fled the house, and eventually called her father and then the police from a neighbor's telephone. Betty Whitten then stabbed Nyakiambi Whitten three times with a kitchen knife. One stab wound to the heart was fatal. Before police could arrive, Whitten loaded the corpse into her car, apparently for the purpose of disposing of it in the nearby Fox River. Whitten stopped her car on a St. Charles bridge at a point before it was over the river. An unwitting police officer came up behind Whitten's stopped car. When the officer turned on his lights, Whitten accelerated, crashed through the bridge's guardrail, and landed upside down on a bike path below. There, police discovered the corpse and Whitten, who had a minor head injury.

Betty Whitten later told police that "demons" had cause her to do what she did. Whitten also stated that she believed Nyakiambi was being abused and that her husband had been unfaithful. The father, Earstin Whitten, 57, who was either an "Elder" or "Ministerial Servant" in the Elgin Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, stated that although Nyakiambi (Swahili for "first daughter") had various disabilities which required her to be constantly supervised, she had attended special education programs in St. Charles schools and at Elgin Community College until she was 21.

In June 2006, Betty Whitten filed for divorce from Earstin Whitten, claiming "extreme and repeated mental cruelty", as well as adultery. Betty Whitten also reportedly formally accused her husband of the same with their local JW Congregation. Earstin Whitten denied Betty's charges and apparently contested the divorce, but the outcome of the divorce (pending as of March 2008) and any congregation action is unknown. However, in March 2007, Earstin Whitten relocated to Reno, Nevada, "to start a new life", per Rachael Whitten, who stated that she was joining her father there.

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ALABAMA v. KISHON GREEN was a 2008-12 Alabama capital MURDER prosecution of African-American Kishon Green, who was reared by Jehovah's Witness Parents, James Green and Rachel Green, who had HOME-SCHOOLED Kishon Green during his four years of high school.

In January 2008, the "unemployed" 34 year-old Kishon Green moved back in with his Baby-Mama Tiffany Burrell, their 10 year-old son, and another 13 year-old son of Burrell's. A few weeks later, after a hard day of drinking and smoking crack (purchased with Tiffany's money), Green picked up the two boys from school and took them home. Shortly thereafter, Green stabbed and killed both boys and hid their bodies in a closet and bathroom. Green then picked up Tiffany Burrell from work, brought her home, and immediately began stabbing her. The attack on Tiffany was interrupted twice by two incoming telephone calls -- one from Green's Jehovah's Witness Mother, Rachel Green. Green then proceeded to finish his attack on Tiffany by beating her with a baseball bat. Green then washed up, changed clothes, and left with Tiffany's ATM card to buy more crack. Tiffany survived and called police. Green was soon apprehended and admitted what he had done.

Kishon Green eventually pleaded "guilty" to two murder and one attempted murder charges. Green's defense attorneys put on evidence that Green was legally "mentally retarded", and such was accepted as fact by the judge. That meant that under American law Green could not be given the death penalty. Green received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

This court-declared "retard" somehow managed to eloquently state to the media after his sentencing, "Drugs impacted me. I am not a cold-blooded killer. I have a heart. I ask God and everybody for forgiveness. I have changed my life around. I know one day I will see my boys again."

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VIVIANE ROY (plus her three adult SEGBEFIA children) v. CANADA ET AL is an ongoing 1999-2013 Supreme Court of Canada civil court case in which the widow and three step-children of a Jehovah's Witness Minister, named Germain Roy, are seeking compensation for his death in December 1998, which occurred while he was in the "drunk tank" at the White Rock, B.C. RCMP station.

Viviane Segbefia Roy is an Egyptian immigrant who met Germain Roy in Montreal in 1990. Germain Roy financially assisted Viviane Segbefia until they married in 1992. In early 1995, the Roy family declared bankruptcy, and Viviane Segbefia Roy and her three children moved to Vancouver. After pursuing a compensation claim with S.A.A.Q. for a 1984 automobile accident injury, Germain Roy rejoined his family in Vancouver in late 1996. Awarded a pension of $2000.00 per month, along with a retroactive lump sum payment of $80,000.00, the Roys' life was described as "socially active", "happy", and "centered in the Jehovah Witness community". They purchased a condo in White Rock in November 1997 (foreclosed after Roy's death).

On December 17, 1998, at around 7:30 P.M., Germain Roy, age 57, was arrested by RCMP officers in the parking lot of a White Rock pub after a patron found Roy so drunk that he was unable to get inside his car. Just 23 minutes after being placed in the drunk tank, a cell check found that Roy had stopped breathing. Roy was rushed to the hospital, but was declared dead shortly after arrival. The autopsy disclosed a blood alcohol level of .37-.38. Like many other deceased Jehovah's Witnesses, Germain Roy was cremated.

Germain Roy apparently had had a drinking problem for some time. In March 1997, Roy was found drunk on the sidewalk outside his home and was hospitalized with a blood alcohol level of .268-.283 mg. In October 1997, Roy had been arrested for drunk driving. Roy's blood alcohol level had been .210-.220.

At trial, negligence was found, and liability was apportioned at 50% against Roy and 50% against the RCMP. That amounted to an award somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000.00 for Viviane Roy, and $7500.00 for each of her three adult chldren. That decision is apparently continuing to be appealed.

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CROWN v. JONATHAN COCK was a 2008-09 widely reported British murder case which we failed to report on in 2008 due to our falling for the DECEPTION of the Jehovah's Witness spokespersons proffered to the news media by the WatchTower Society. Nearly all media articles published following the shooting either portrayed or outright stated that Jonathan Cock was NOT a Jehovah's Witness. One news article even reported that Jonathan Cock was a "Methodist". That was a deception and a LIE on the part of the Jehovah's Witnesses who were selected to speak to the media!!!

In fact, 23 year-old Jonathan Cock had been baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses six months prior to the shooting, in March 2008. One of Jonathan Cock's parents' neighbors, who would have had no reason to lie, even stated that Jonathan Cock and his parents were "Jehovah's Witnesses". Apparently, Jonathan Cock, who had done a 4-year tour of duty with the R.A.F., simply had went through a period of "rebelliousness", and had delayed joining his family's WatchTower religion until after he became an adult.

After being discharged from the military, sometime in 2007, Jonathan Cock had been employed by "Clear-Flow", a highly successful Jehovah's Witness family owned and operated drain cleaning company. (Interestingly, there is a similiar drain cleaning franchise operated by Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, called "Cura-Flo".) Sometime in early 2007, Jonathan Cock began a relationship with the Millionaire Owner's then 18 year-old daughter, Danielle Hustler. It is still not known which truly came first -- Jonathan's relationship with Danielle, or his employment by Danielle's parents. Initial news media articles reported that the relationship had been a "secret" one, but given that nearly everything else told to the media was a LIE, that was probably also a LIE.

In any case, by August 2008, Danielle Hustler had ended the 18 months-long relationship (most media articles reported that the relationship lasted only "one year"), which had included serious discussions of marriage. Probably for good reason, Jonathan Cock believed that the breakup was instigated by Danielle's wealthy parents, Adam Hustler, age 41, and Susan Hustler, age 40. In September 2008, on a Saturday evening at around 10:00 P.M., Jonathan Cock, who had been exchanging texts, emails, and phone calls all week with Danielle, drove to the family's 7-bedroom Porth Kea Mansion, along with with a small caliber .22 rifle, after Danielle refused to keep a meeting with Cock earlier that day to which she had agreed. Cock's intent was either to reconcile or commit a murder/suicide. There, Cock attempted to speak with Danielle alone, but ended up in an argument with Danielle and her parents. The angry Jonathan Cock then pulled the somehow concealed rifle. The three Hustlers and Cock struggled over the rifle, pushed Cock outside of the Home's entryway, and attempted to escape back inside. Cock shot Susan Hustler twice in the back as she attempted to escape inside. Adam Hustler was shot once in the heart and once in the head, mortally wounding him. Cock also shot twice through a window at Danielle Hustler as she telephoned the police. Her single arm wound was not serious. Jonathan Cock thereafter attempted suicide by shooting himself in the mouth/head, but he managed to only partially lobotomize himself. Cock somehow managed to drive himself back to his parent's home, where he went to bed before being arrested early the next morning. In July 2009, in a jury trial, Jonathan Cock received a 25 year to life prison sentence.

Notably, at the time of the shootings and hospitalizations, the WatchTower Society Spokesperson made much adoo to the media about the fact that Susan Hustler had declined to accept doctor recommended blood transfusions. Susan Hustler was fortunate to survive this mess.

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA v. KENNETH CHARLES PICKETT. A Jehovah's Witness named Kenneth C. Pickett, of Perth, Australia, murdered 39 year-old Andrea Pickett -- his wife of 23 years, and mother of the Aboriginal couple's 13 children. The couple had only recently separated, but Kenneth Pickett had repeatedly violated a VRO - violence restraining order. Pickett stalked his estranged wife over the course of a weekend in January 2009. He threatened to kill her on Saturday night, so she fled to a different house on Sunday. On Monday night, Pickett chased Andrea outside that house and stabbed her 17 times as she held their 3 year-old child. This NUT thought that his wife was having an affair -- just what a mother of 13 needs. At trial, Pickett fell back on his WatchTower teachings claiming that his having killed his cheating wife resulted in him "saving her eternally" by having stopped her from committing adultery. Pickett pled "guilty" to murder in exchange for a life sentence with a minimum 20 year period.

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STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA v. T.V.M. was a 2007-08 MURDER and ARSON prosecution which is extremely INTERESTING due to the appearance that the SCANDALOUS aspects of this criminal case have caused both the Jehovah's Witnesses and the ex-JW community to partner in censoring publicity about this scandal. The JWs apparently managed to keep their connection to this murder-arson out of the media when the scandal occurred, and the homosexual-dominated ex-JW community apparently managed to censor later online discussions regarding this scandal.

We have not been able to locate any mention/discussion of this MURDER-ARSON case outside of the December 2007 Supreme Court of Western Australia decision which pertained only to a procedure issue in the prosecution. That decision only briefly indicates:

1. An adult male Jehovah's Witness, named "T.V.M.", was charged in the January 2007 murder of a second adult male Jehovah's Witness. T.V.M. was also charged with committing "arson" during the alleged "murder".

2. T.V.M. and the JW Victim were both "prominent" Jehovah's Witnesses.

3. T.V.M. and the JW Victim were both secret "homosexuals".

4. T.V.M. and the JW Victim were engaged in a secret "homosexual love affair", which apparently precipitated the murder and arson.

Anyone care to provide URLs to media coverage of this murder-arson, the prosecution, and online discussions of this Jehovah's Witness SCANDAL.

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OHIO v. TEOFILO MATOS JR. was a 2007 Ohio Domestic Violence prosecution. In September 2007, Teofilo J.R. Matos, age 56, of Lorain, Ohio, was arrested on charges of Domestic Violence. Outcome unknown. The Puerto Rican Matos was twice divorced before he died in 2010, when he was given a JW funeral.

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SOUTH AFRICA v. VELA MABENA and THANDI MAQUBELA is an ongoing 2010-2015 high profile MURDER case. The 60 year-old victim, Judge Patrick Maqubela, was an Acting Judge on the Western Cape High Court Bench, who was seeking a permanent appointment at the time of his death. At the time of his murder, in June 2009, Judge Patrick Maqubela was a NON-JW married to a JEHOVAH'S WITNESS WIFE, Thandi Maqubela, who was one of the two persons charged with the Judge's murder. Thandi Maqubela, then age 52, was also charged with altering her deceased husband's Will, and forging his signature thereto, as well as fraudulently submitting such into probate as her husband's Last Will and Testament.

The accomplice charged in this murder was Vela Mabena, who was a then 46 year-old male JEHOVAH'S WITNESS MINISTER, who reportedly was Thandi Maqubela's business partner in a Forever Living health products distributing business. Interestingly, Vela Mabena was previously the "Chairman" of a School District in South Africa, and a media report links him to efforts to supply needy schools in SA and other African countries with "books". More interestingly, Vela Mabena was arrested at his residence on the grounds of the French Consulate, where his wife was employed.

In the months leading up to the murder, Thandi Maqubela had went to great lengths to document the multiple affairs of her philandering husband. Thandi Maqubela then took the acquired evidence and began a campaign of character assassination against him. In June 2009, after Thandi Maqubela learned that her husband had made plans to divorce her, security staff at one of Judge Patrick Maqubela's apartments which he used when he traveled as a judge discovered Judge Maqubela's partially decomposed corpse in his bedroom. The death was initially attributed to a heart attack, but a criminal investigation was quickly began when more and more incriminating evidence gradually came to light which pointed at the Judge's wife, and eventually her JW friend and business partner, Vela Mabena. The JW Duo were formally charged with the Judge's murder in March 2010.

In November 2013, Thandi Maqubela was found "guilty" of altering her deceased husband's WILL, and forging his signature thereto, as well as fraudulently submitting such into probate as her husband's Last Will and Testament in an attempt to defraud his surviving children by previous wives and/or mistresses. Thandi Maqubela was also found "guilty" of the charges related to murdering her husband, but her fellow Jehovah's Witness business partner was found "not guilty", due to the prosecutor's inability to prove his guilt to the satisfaction of the jury. The sentencing process has been drawn out until mid 2015 as Thandi Maqubela's attorneys have done everything they can do to postpone such. The presiding judge made the point that Vela Mabena had not been proven to have been "innocent" of the murder charge, but that there simply had not been sufficient evidence to convict him. Notably, during the trial, fellow JWs Vela Mabena and Thandi Maqubela claimed to barely know each other. That, despite the fact that Mabena visited Thandi Maqubela at the apartment where Maqubela was found to have murdered her husband, on the day of the murder. The JW Duo also telephoned and texted each other multiple times during the two days before the judge's corpse was discovered, and thereafter.

Finally, in March 2015, after 60 year-old Thandi Maqubela had done everything she could possibly do to delay her sentencing for 16 months -- including changing attorneys multiple times and even feinting "mental incompetency" -- she was sentenced to 15 years for murder, three years for forgery, and three years for fraud. The three years each for forgery and fraud are to run concurrently, so Thandi Maqubela was effectively given an 18 year prison sentence.

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MASSACHUSETTS v. GEORGE WEST, MASSACHUSETTS v. GEORGE WEST, and MASSACHUSETTS v. GEORGE WEST was/is a series of 2006-7 Massachusetts criminal court cases, which involve an African-American family of Jehovah's Witnesses living in the Marlborough area. The defendant in these cases is the husband, George West, age 49, who was employed as a Hudson police officer from 1986 until 1999, when West retired from the Hudson Police Department because the use of deadly force and the carrying of a weapon conflicted with his religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness. West also served several years as the department's DARE officer.

Interestingly, in March 1999, George West had been the subject of national media attention, which publicized his resignation from his career as a police officer due his WatchTower beliefs that prohibited the carrying of a firearm. Apparently, George West had been reared as a JW, but he apparently had been inactive as a JW until he became active again sometime around 1995/96.

George West was convicted in October 2006 on charges relating to an attack on his wife in June, when he was charged with assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon. West was given a one-year term in jail, but was sentenced only to time served of 42 days, with the remainder of his one-year sentence suspended until October 2008. West also had been charged with assault and battery, and unarmed burglary, for a September 2006 Labor Day weekend incident, after which West served the 42 days. Fatima West had a restraining order discontinued on August 28, when Fatima and George shopped for a new car for her. On September 1, Fatima filed for a legal separation. On Labor Day, September 4, Fatima and the two teenage children spent time with George West at his Clinton apartment. Later that evening, during the AM hours of September 5, George West was arrested after attempting to enter Fatima's apartment.

In November 2007, George West was arrested on charges of assault and battery (three counts), kidnapping, intimidating a witness, and threatening to commit a crime, when West allegedly attacked his wife, Fatima West, on Thanksgiving weekend. Due to the probation violation, West was ordered to serve the remaining days from the 2006 conviction in protective custody at the Billerica House of Correction, because he was once a police officer. The judge set bail after West's release from Billerica at $2500.00 cash, with conditions that West stay away from his wife and two teenage children, not use drugs or alcohol, and complete an education program. During these incidents, West has not been charged with attacking his 15 year-old daughter, or his 11 year-old son, although his wife allegedly told police that in years past that West had repeatedly threatened to kill them, her, as well as himself. Fatima West allegedly also has told police that her husband is mentally ill. Reportedly, both the wife and daughter have called police on various occasions, and both have testified against George, but both also have testified in George's favor on occasion.

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DARIC ROBERT FRANS. Around 7:00 AM, on the morning of Friday, October 20, 2006, unemployed and mentally ill 25 year-old Daric Robert Frans left his Grand Forks, North Dakota, apartment, which he reportedly shared with his father, dressed in camouflage and openly carrying a high-powered M-16 style semi-automatic assault rifle. On his person, Daric R. Frans also was packing a .32 caliber handgun, 10 hunting knives, a collapsible police baton, and 100 rounds of ammunition. At some point, as Daric Frans walked down the sidewalk, he pointed the rifle at an unidentified woman, who called 9-1-1. Approximately 30 local, county, state, and even Border Patrol officers eventually responded to the scene at the northeast corner of 17th Street and Highway 220, which apparently was near to fast-food restaurants, a day-care center, other businesses, including an adjacent business where Daric Frans' mother worked, and even a High School and a Community College. There, for approximately 30 minutes, Frans fired 35-40 rounds at police, striking at least 3 cruisers. Finally, a state trooper arrived, who also had an assault rifle. The trooper fired three shots, striking Frans once in the hip. Shortly thereafter, Daric Frans shot himself in the head with his .32 caliber handgun, at around 8:00 AM.

Daric Robert Frans left no suicide note, and supposedly had made no threats, so police were left to speculate whether Frans was heading to one of the nearby schools, his mother's place of employment, or somewhere else. Daric Robert Frans, and his two sisters, were reared as a Jehovah's Witness, in the East Grand Forks Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, by parents Doug Frans and Teresa Ostgard Frans, who separated when Daric was 15/16, and later divorced. Although reportedly reared in a nearly idyllic formative environment up until the time his parents separated, Daric Frans gradually developed one or more mental illnesses. Frans reportedly had worked in the family business as he grew up, but he had gradually even become unemployable. Frans spent two terms in jail, in late 2003 and early 2004, with one incident involving a handgun.

In an article published a year later, on the first anniversary of after this averted tragedy, that article stated that "his family wants people to know Daric was not a violent, dangerous person intent on killing others, but rather an increasingly troubled man who seemed to lose the ability to go on living. 'He was a beautiful little boy whose life ended tragically,' said his mother, Teresa Frans."

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WASHINGTON v. CARL RUSSELL SAMS was a 2005-06 Washington state criminal prosecution of then 80 year-old Carl R. Sams, of Sunnyside, Washington. On a Saturday afternoon in June 2005 (field service?), Carl Sams was DRIVING DRUNK when his 75 year-old wife, Helen Sams, convinced him to pull over and stop the car, but failed to convince Sams to exit the vehicle. Helen Sams eventually exited the vehicle, and continued to attempt to persuade Carl Sams to exit the vehicle. Carl Sams eventually ran over his wife -- supposedly accidentally. Helen Sams died about 20 hours later at Yakima Regional Medical Center. One can only wonder if refusal of a blood transfusion was the reason for her death given that she had been struck at relatively slow speed. Carl Russell Sams was arrested and eventually charged with Vehicular Homocide. Outcome unknown.

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In April 2005, three reportedly "Jehovah's Witness Pioneers" were injured or killed in a single-car automobile accident on the Santa Ana Freeway, near Tustin, California. Allen Dae Man Suh, age 22, Jennifer Suh, age 20, and James Pak, age 16, were returning home from a Jehovah's Witness wedding and reception, on a late Sunday night, at around 11:15 P.M., when Allen Suh "made an unsafe turning movement", lost control of his 2004 Infiniti G35, spun out of control, hit a guardrail, then hit a concrete divider, and then flipped. The two males died at the scene, but Jennifer Suh did not die until "later" at the hospital. (Blood transfusions denied???). The California Highway Patrol stated that the 2004 Infiniti G35, which Allen Suhs' JW Parents, Young Kyun Suh and Kyung Hee Suh, reportedly recently had helped Allen Suh purchase, had been "traveling at a high rate of speed". Jennifer Suh was a college student at UC-Irvine. Allen Suh had just graduated from DeVry University. James Pak was on his high school's tennis team, and played in both his high school's and the Beckman orchestras. It is not known whether James Pak's parents pursued a "wrongful death" lawsuit, but it is almost certain that they pursued the Suh's auto insurer.

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OHIO v. PAUL ADAMS was a 2004 Ohio court decision. Around 11:00 PM, on Saturday, January 3, 2004, four (4) Jehovah's Witness Youths were killed while racing another carload of Jehovah's Witness Youths as both carloads returned home from a Jehovah's Witness "Get-Together", which had been held that evening in Newark, Ohio. The two carloads of JWs were speeding westbound on I-70, about 20 miles east of Columbus, Ohio, when 18 year-old Paul Adams Jr., and his two unidentified JW Passengers, attempted to pass the second JW Auto using the right-hand emergency lane. Adams later alleged that the two autos were going about 80 miles per hour, in the rain, when he clipped the guardrail, and then struck the second JW auto, which was being driven by 18 year-old Joel Heisley, of Columbus. Joel Heisley's Toyota Camry then went out of control and struck a nearby car, and was in turn struck by a semi-truck. All four occupants of the Heisley auto were killed -- Joel Heisley, his sister, Alisha Heisley, age 26, and Nathan McIntosh, age 19, and David George, age 20, both of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Reportedly, Paul Adams Jr. was a close family friend of the Heisleys, who had even worked for the father, Kent Heisley, who was employed at a Columbus area golf course.

In April 2004, Paul Adams Jr. plea bargained "guilty" to four counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, and was sentenced to the minimum four years in prison. However, the week before Christmas 2004, local Judge Thomas Marcelain granted Adams' request to have his sentence reduced to only five years of probation. Adams was released from prison, apparently because Adams was a good Jehovah's Witness kid who was sorry for what he had done. Interestingly, the Judge Marcelain seemed almost to be directing Adams to become a JW Pioneer, by telling him: "Live your life in such a way as to honor the [four deceased JWs]."

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FLORIDA v. CHARLES LESTER PARSONS was a 2006 Florida murder case. During the early AM hours of Tuesday, April 4, 2006, a 49 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness, named Charles Lester Parsons, went to his former girlfriend's place of employment, which was a Exxon-Mobil gasoline station near Riviera Beach, Florida, purchased a container full of gasoline, then went inside the store where his former girlfriend was working behind the counter, doused her with the gasoline, and then struck a match and set her on fire. In the process, Charles L. Parsons also unintentionally ignited the store and even himself as he attempted to flee the scene -- leaving his burning ex-girlfriend to be rescued by other customers.

Charles Parsons, who suffered severe burns to his hands and arms, was treated at a local hospital before eventually being released to the care of Palm Beach County authorities, who charged him with attempted murder and arson. Parsons died at the Palm Beach County Jail Infirmary, on April 22, 2006, reportedly from a blood clot that had traveled from his leg to his lungs.

Charles Lester Parsons was a truck driver, who was known to his friends and family as "Big L". Parsons reportedly did not drink or smoke, and he supposedly had no prior criminal record, nor history of violence. Parsons' funeral was held at a local middle school gymnasium, and the funeral and graveside service were conducted by Walter Embry, an Elder at Parson's local Rivera Beach Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Charles Parsons' former girlfriend was Tanya LaDonna Cohen-Hughey, 38. She suffered third-degree burns over 90 percent of her body, and lived an agonizing 43 days before she died on May 16, 2006. Tanya Hughey was the mother of three children -- Anthony Hughey, 13, Tiara Hughey, 16, and Louis Decquir, 22. Hughey's relationship with the Jehovah's Witnesses, if any, is not known, but Parsons and she had dated for six years prior to their recent breakup. According to another former girlfriend of Parsons', named Margaret Hazel (who was probably a fellow Jehovah's Witness given that she told a reporter that she spoke with Parsons frequently, and last spoke with Parsons on the previous Sunday), the breakup was caused by Hughey's recent reconciliation with her ex-husband, whom Hughey had divorced in 2003 (do the math).

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ILLINOIS v. MARTIN KRACHT and KRACHT v. KRACHT were related 2004-05 Illinois court cases. In 2002, a Chicago area Jehovah's Witness, named Shaun Winston, started a "Home Bible Study" with Martin Kracht. Kracht, 22, soon converted to the JWs. In January 2003, Kracht married Winston's 19 year-old JW sister, Vanese Bell (or possibly half-sister -- the mother of Winston and Bell has even a third last name -- Sherry Harris). Emory Kracht was born sometime around January 2004. However, by Fall 2003, a pattern of domestic abuse and violence had developed, and the couple separated, but stayed in touch as Kracht continued attending Kingdom Hall meetings. By Fall 2004, Vanese Kracht filed for divorce. In the last week of November 2004, at the Sunday Kingdom Hall meeting, Vanese Kracht apparently agreed to bring Emory to the home of Martin's mother later that day, where Martin was apparently living. As it turns out, Martin Kracht had strangled to death his own 52 year-old mother on Saturday evening. Apparently, when Vanese and Emory arrived at the home, Martin also strangled them to death. Interestingly, Martin Kracht had been "disfellowshipped" only a few days previous. Martin Kracht reportedly attempted suicide twice. Police found him sitting inside a running auto inside a relative's garage. He had reportedly also eaten rat poison. Assumed that Kracht is now serving life without possibility of parole in an Illinois prison.
 
 
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ILLINOIS v. LAURENCE E. LOVEJOY was a 2004-07 Illinois murder court decision. In February 2007, an African-American named Laurence E. Lovejoy, age 40, of Naperville-Aurora-Matteson area, Illinois was convicted of murdering his 16 year-old step-daughter, Erin Janea Justice, in March 2004. I cannot locate a statement saying that Laurence Lovejoy was a Jehovah's Witness, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that he was. Even if he were not, the circumstances of this crime are such that the case is still pertinent to this webpage.

The memorial service for Erin Justice was originally scheduled to he held at the Naperville Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, but was moved to a High School in Aurora to accommodate the large number of expected attendees. That would indicate that Erin, and her mother, Valerie Lovejoy, were members in good standing in that Congregation. As for Laurence Lovejoy, Valerie Justice and he had only recently married "several months" previous. Given that Jehovah's Witnesses are for all practical purposes commanded to "marry only in the Lord", under threat of "marking" and "shunning", and given that the marriage was "recent", it is more likely than not that Laurence Lovejoy was either a baptized JW, or doing what it took to become such. On March 3, 2004, Erin Justice alleged that she was raped by her new stepfather at the family's Naperville apartment while Valerie Lovejoy was at work. Erin was examined at Edward Hospital, in Naperville, but there was no obvious evidence of trauma or injury to the 16 year-old girl. A rape kit obtained at the hospital was submitted for examination to the DuPage County Crime Lab, along with evidence obtained from the home. The State's Attorney's Office declined to press charges pending the results of the laboratory findings.

On March 4, 2004, the Lovejoys "closed" on a newly purchased townhome in Aurora. Due to such, and possibly other reasons, Valerie Lovejoy declined the prosecutor's recommendation that she obtain an Order of Protection. However, while Valerie and Erin moved into their new townhome in Aurora, Laurence Lovejoy either stayed in the Naperville apartment, or moved to an apartment in Matteson. On the morning of March 27, 2004, at around 9:00 AM, Laurence Lovejoy reportedly entered the Aurora townhome while Erin was sleeping. Reportedly, he attempted to forced Erin at knifepoint to drink over-the-counter medication containing pseudoephedrine in an amount that could have killed her. When Erin fought back, Laurence Lovejoy reportedly bludgeoned Erin on the head, stabbed her with a knife, sliced both of her wrists, and then drowned her in a bathtub, in an attempt to make it appear that she had committed suicide. Erin's body was discovered by her mother when she arrived home shortly before 11:00 AM. Laurence Lovejoy, who had minimal previous criminal history prior to this marriage, was not arrested and charged with the murder until nearly 5 months later. Notably, he also had a 7 year-old daughter from a previous marriage, and was possibly supported "morally" at the trial by that ex-spouse. However, in February 2007, it took the jury only 5 hours of deliberations to convict Laurence Lovejoy of both raping and murdering his step-daughter, only 6 hours to determine that he was eligible for the death penalty, and less than 4 hours to sentence him to the death penalty. The key evidence was an impression from one of Lovejoy's work gloves and a heel print from one of Lovejoy's work boots -- both found in the bathroom. Lovejoy currently is in prison going through all the routine "death penalty" appeals.

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