MENTAL HEALTH

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FAMILICIDE & OTHER JW-ON-JW CRIMES

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The following criminal and other cases, in which the Jehovah's Witnesses religion served as the spiritual element of the perpetrators' and/or other actor's formative environment, or otherwise served as one of the major influencers of the perpetrators' and/or other actor's behavior, are often tragic, and speak for themselves.

Court Cases involving Jehovah's Witness Criminals who have been convicted of stealing money from their fellow Jehovah's Witnesses, and similarly related crimes, are summarized on a sister website. Click HERE for two webpages of financial related case summaries.

Visitors to this website should keep in mind that this website generally defers to SILENTLAMBS.ORG for coverage of the topic of sexual abuse and molestation committed by Jehovah's Witnesses. However, I will occasionally post summaries of a few of such type court cases in which the perpetrator committed other crimes, such as murder, or where there are other factors which make appropriate the posting of the case on this website.

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NORTH CAROLINA v. OSORTO was a 2004-5 North Carolina criminal court decision. Despite being one of the most outrageous cases of its type, this OSORTO case has received only limited coverage. In November 2005, Oscar Omar Osorto Sr., 47, of Liberty, North Carolina, was convicted of using his position as a Jehovah's Witness Elder to repeatedly have sex with two 13-15 year-old sisters -- sometimes inside the Siler City Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oscar O. Osorto Sr. was sentenced to 25 - 30 years in prison.

The two teenaged girls were the daughters of a single Jehovah's Witness Mother of four, who looked to Oscar Osorto and his position as an Elder as someone who could help her with counseling her teenagers on spiritual matters. Osoto alleged that he uncovered that one or both were having sex with their boyfriends, and that he set up rendevous for them at local motels in exchange for the girls agreeing to also have sex with him only a few times. The girls apparently denied such, and testified that Osorto had started molesting them in 2000, when the oldest reached 12 years of age. The incidents allegedly continued until Osorto was arrested in July 2004. By that time, Osorto had allegedly been pressuring a third younger sister to also have sex with him. Although not charged with offenses relating to the third sister during this trial, she alleged that Osorto had also abused her.

At the sentencing hearing, Oscar Osorto Jr., told the judge that his father was a man who gave his strength, love, and compassion "to anyone who needed it", and that his father had always supported his family and others.

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"Appellant was charged with stalking Solis from March 1, 2001 through May 14, 2002. The undisputed evidence showed, among other things, that from at least August, September, or October 2001 through May 2002, appellant repeatedly sent flowers, letters, gifts, and cards to Solis - eventually almost daily- and that he actually called and went to her mother's place of business, when Solis and her mother had the same first and last name. The jury could rationally have believed that these actions constituted a course of conduct, occurring on more than one occasion, that was directed specifically at Solis. ... ...

 

"Appellant repeatedly sent flowers, letters, gifts, and cards to Solis, eventually almost daily, and went to and called her mother's place of business. Once, appellant placed a gift on the car of Solis's friend, which was the same color as Solis's car, and which the jury could rationally have believed that appellant thought was actually Solis's car. After Solis first reported appellant's behavior to a church elder, Leon Kinloch, in either June or in the Fall of 2001, the church elders decided to 'monitor the situation' and to try to prevent appellant from sitting near Solis. However, they were unsuccessful at preventing his approaching her: 'on multiple occasions,' appellant would position himself 'to either get in close proximity to [Solis] to pass her notes or to get in her line of sight to establish some sort of-what appeared to be to try to establish some sort of eye contact.' After the elders had asked him to leave the congregation because of his actions toward Solis, appellant 'often would drive through the parking lot of our Kingdom Hall'; after the elders told him not to drive through the parking lot, appellant at least once stood in another church's nearby parking lot in sight of those (including Solis) exiting the church. Solis testified that she believed that appellant was waiting specifically for her because he 'kept staring at me ... ,' although she followed up by admitting that she did not know whether he was actually waiting for her. Finally, Elder Kinloch explained that Solis had come to him in the Fall of 2001 complaining that 'according to her, [appellant had] been following her.' ... ...

 

"... when Solis first reported appellant's behavior to church Elder Kinloch in either June or in the Fall of 2001, Elder Kinloch described Solis's demeanor as 'very concerned.' Elder Kinloch described Solis's demeanor during the period that the church's 'monitoring' period and afterwards as 'very, very concerned,' 'very, very jittery and jumpy,' 'incredibly nervous,' 'consistently nervous,' 'extremely jumpy,' and 'maybe even frightened so much so that she was hesitant to attend meetings,' 'so fearful of the situation that she actually stopped coming to the Kingdom Hall,' 'afraid of her shadow,' and 'consistently in fear of someone coming up behind her.' The elder explained that Solis's demeanor over the last three years had changed 'dramatically.' ... ...

 

"... In addition to Officer Veazy's doing so, Elder Kinloch talked to appellant about the situation, asking him to stop sending Solis things, at least once in November or December 2001 and possibly more than once. When appellant's behavior toward Solis continued, the church elders eventually asked appellant to leave the congregation. ... ...

 

"Solis had never even spoken to appellant, encouraged appellant to take any interest in her, or had any contact with appellant (except for her written refusals to have lunch with him the very first time that he sent her notes) at any time before or after he began his efforts in March 2001. Nonetheless, starting in August, September, or October 2001, appellant repeatedly and persistently - and, later, even daily- pursued Solis through letters, cards, flowers, and gifts. Appellant called and came to Solis's mother's store and left things in the mailbox there. Appellant's letters used language that one might use if one were intimate with someone or knew that person extremely well, stating that he and Solis would marry, referring to their children and grandchildren, and often speaking in language that indicated that he believed that their love was deep and mutual and that their marriage was a fait accompli. Appellant also referred to Solis's buttocks, to wanting to see her breasts, and to how they would keep his bedroom busy after they were married - all without her having spoken even one word to him.

"Even after Elder Kinloch had told him to leave Solis alone and to leave the congregation, appellant 'often would drive through the parking lot of our Kingdom Hall' and at least once stood nearby in sight of those (including Solis) exiting the church. Appellant's efforts became more frequent as time went on, and he continued his conduct even after he had been advised by Officer Veazy (January 2002) and Elder Kinloch (Fall of 2001) that Solis was terrified or did not welcome his advances and that he should leave her alone; even after he had been expelled from the church because of his behavior toward Solis; and even after he had been arrested for this offense.

"Even as early as January 2002, Officer Veazy was 'concerned' with appellant's behavior because '[i]t just wasn't normal' and because appellant had admitted already having watched Solis for a very long time. The officer also opined that, although Solis did not mention on her first visit to him that appellant had injured or threatened to injure her, the officer 'could understand where [Solis] was coming from,' given appellant's conduct. As for appellant's conduct at church meetings, Solis explained: '[W]e even got up to move [at church] and he kind of just got mad and he, you know, stormed out a couple of times when the Elders told him, you know, 'You can't sit there' or 'You can't do that.' ... ... ."

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CONNECTICUT v. WEST was a 2005 Connecticut Supreme Court decision which affirmed the 2001 trial court decision. In August 2001, a by-then 26 year-old Jehovah's Witness Licensed Practical Nurse, named Chasity West, who had been employed at the local state prison, was convicted on a variety of burglary, assault, attempted murder, and murder charges resulting from her role in the July 1998 "JW Family Love Triangle" attack against three other Jehovah's Witness relatives in her Windsor and Bristol, Connecticut family. West was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release, plus seventy years.

Arnold and Tammi Cuyler married sometime around 1990. Tammi Cuyler, a Supervisor with Connecticut's Department of Children and Families, was a Jehovah's Witness from a large extended Jehovah's Witness family, so it likely can be assumed that Arnold Cuyler, a banker, was probably also a JW. Jarrell Cuyler was born around 1991. Lindsey Cuyler was born in August 1995.

In August 1995, Tammi Cuyler's 21 year-old Jehovah's Witness first cousin and babysitter, Chasity West, began an affair with 31 year-old Arnold Cuyler. Arnold Cuyler and Tammi Cuyler separated soon thereafter, and divorced in March 1996. Apparently, Arnold Cuyler and Chasity West were able to keep their affair a secret given that Chasity West and her mother, Joyce West, who was Tammi Cuyler's aunt, continued to baby-sit for Jarrell Cuyler and Lindsey Cuyler until sometime in 1997. It was not even until early 1998 that Tammi Cuyler first reported the affair to the Elders of the her Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Possibly more than one Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was involved, but Chasity West lied and denied the affair to whichever group of Elders conducted her own "judicial hearing". There are also "hints" that Arnold Cuyler, who was living in Bristol at that time, may have also been approached by JW Elders from one or more Congregations, and that he also may have denied the affair.

Arnold Cuyler and Chasity West maintained an ongoing relationship from August 1995 forward, but Arnold Cuyler rejected West's attempts to get married and move away from Connecticut and the prying eyes of all their Jehovah's Witness family members. Arnold Cuyler used as his excuse his parental obligations to his young son and daughter.

Keeping it in the family, Chasity West paid $3400.00 to Alexis Grajales, the 18 year-old boyfriend of another [probable JW] cousin, India Riley, to help her solve the "children problem". Using a key copied from a house key that Chasity West, who was reportedly accompanied by yet another cousin named Amber Riley, had stolen out of Lindsey's diaper bag while the children were being babysat by a Great-Grandmother, Chasity West and Alexis Grajales entered the home of Tammi Cuyler around 2:00 AM on July 9, 1998. While Grajales restrained Tammi Cuyler, Chasity West attempted to cut the throats and wrists of Jarrell Cuyler and Lindsey Cuyler with a box cutter. West nearly decapitated Jarrell Cuyler, but Lindsey Cuyler survived deep cuts to her throat and arms. Curiously, no attempt was made to kill nor seriously injure Tammi Cuyler. Danny Henderson, Tammi Cuyler's 18 month-old nephew, whom she was babysitting, also went untouched.

Chasity West and Alexis Grajales were eventually arrested and charged for the crimes. Alexis Grajales turned states witness and testified against West because he allegedly had been under the impression that West was only going to vandalize Tammi Cuyler's home.

During the trial, Chasity West alleged that Tammi Cuyler's father, Wallace Henderson, had sexually abused her when she was a child. Joyce West also alleged that Wallace Henderson had also sexually abused Tammi Henderson when she was a child.

Joyce West, mother, and Paul West Jr., brother, each gave specific testimony during the trial, that if believed, would have negated parts of the case established by the prosecution against Chasity West. Joyce West even testified that Chasity West was at home at the time of the attack. Reportedly, by the end of the trial, various segments of these JW families were extremely upset with other segments.

During the police investigation of this case, Roberto Marquez, 23, of Hartford, Connecticut, was charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. Outcome unknown.

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Devon Jacobs, 18, and Quenton Jacobs, 17, had spent that Sunday attending their local Kingdom Hall, and going door-to-door selling WatchTowers. That evening, they decided to attend the "Get-Together" at the Palace Roller Skating Rink. There, while apparently waiting for the rink to open, the two JW Brothers got into an argument with Hatcher reportedly over a girl. The opening of the rink apparently interrupted the argument, and the Jacob brothers went inside. However, Hatcher, who JWs later reported as having been "disfellowshipped", retreived a pistol from his car. Inside, Hatcher proceeded to shoot Devon Jacobs multiple times in the chest and abdomen, while Quenton Jacobs was wounded in the leg. A third older Jacobs brother attempted to transport his brothers to the hospital, but got lost on the way. By the time they got to a hospital, Devon Jacobs had died due to loss of blood (one can't help but wonder if the likely offered blood transfusion would have saved him in the ER).

In May 2002, Vincent Hatcher was convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to the mandatory term of life in prison with no chance of parole. Hatcher was also convicted for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act, and sentenced to two and a half to five years; as well as 10 to 20 years for aggravated assault on Quenton Jacobs.

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PENNSYLVANIA v. MOORE was a 2000-1 Pennsylvania murder court case. Limited Details. In Summer 2000, 25 year-old Malcolm Moore, Philadelphia, stabbed to death his Jehovah's Witness Mother, Mary Moore Hooper. Moore reportedly had been severely mentally ill for years, and had been cared for by his mother until he went beserk and stabbed her over 100 times. Moore claimed that "evil voices" instructed him to do the deed. Thelma Moore, 29, was the only other sibling. Outcome unknown.

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NEW YORK v. RODRIGUEZ was a 2001-2 New York murder court case. William Rodriguez, 37, and Gloria Rodriguez, 35, who lived in the Bronx, apparently were a happy Jehovah's Witness couple for many years. The JW Couple had three children. However, sometime around 1999, after Gloria Rodriguez became employed with the local Bronx Board of Education, possibly after the youngest child had reached teenage years, Gloria Rodriguez started "cheating" on her husband. Gloria Rodriguez had an affair with Hector Rodriguez, 23, in late 1999 or early 2000. She also may have had other affairs.

In Summer 2001, Gloria Rodriguez asked for a divorce, but William Rodriguez refused. Given the JWs' belief that divorces should only be considered if a partner has committed adultery, it apparently took a while for William Rodriguez to suspect his wife of cheating. Once the lightbulb came on, the couple may have started arguing and fighting because Gloria Rodriguez did not want to 'fess up. As much as it does not make sense to non-JWs, Gloria Rodriguez may have preferred to hire the murder of her husband, rather than admit to adultery, which would have resulted in her "excommunication", even if she were an "inactive" JW.

Gloria Rodriguez approached Hector Rodriguez and offered him $1000.00 down, and $3000.00 afterwards to kill her husband. Hector Rodriguez agreed. On Monday morning, August 6, 2001, at 7:35 AM, as William Rodriguez walked to his street-parked car to go to work, Hector Rodriguez approached him in a fake robbery attempt. Hector Rodriguez then gunned down William Rodriguez in a hail of bullets -- one of which grazed a bystander.

Hector Rodriguez then fled to Florida, where he was arrested on that Thursday at a Tampa area Western-Union office, where he believed he was going to receive the additional $3000.00. It is unclear how police solved the case so quickly.

In May 2002, Gloria Rodriguez and Hector Rodriguez each pled guilty to first degree murder, and reportedly were to be sentenced to 20 years to life.

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TEXAS v. WALDEN was a 2001 Texas murder court decision. Limited, incomplete details. In May 2001, a 93 year-old "devout" and "active" Jehovah's Witness, named Julia Walden, of Brazoria, Texas, was murdered by her 39 year-old son, Johnny Walden. Walden was convicted, and he may have received a 40 year prison sentence in a plea deal.

Johnny Walden and his 18 month younger brother, Tommy Walden, were adopted by Julia Walden when they were babies/infants, and when she was in her mid to late 50s.  Julia Walden's husband, Bill Walden, left her not long thereafter, and she reared the boys by herself. There is a good possibility that the two boys were children of one of Julia Walden's relatives.

Johnny Walden had lived a troubled life -- from childhood right up to the murder. He was the "bad" son, while Tommy was the "good" son. Over the years, Johnny Walden had claimed that his troubled life was the result of mental issues caused by his having been sexually molested when he was around 3-4 years old by a late-teens male relative who also lived in the household at that time.

Possibly after serving a tour in the Army, Johnny Walden returned to Brazoria and married Sheryl Anderson, and they had a son sometime around 1984/5, named Jonathon Walden. Johnny Walden and Sheryl Walden divorced around 1992/3.

Prior to April 2001, Johnny Walden had lived away from Brazoria. It is not clear whether this was his choice, or whether he had been incarcerated. In any event, Johnny Walden asked his mother's permission to move into a small house behind her home, and she allowed him to do so, in April 2001, despite protests from Tommy Walden, Sheryl Anderson, and Jonathon Walden.

On the evening of May 20, 2001, Johnny Walden and Julia Walden argued over whether or not Johnny had been molested by a relative when he was a child. Apparently, this had been a decades-long issue between Johnny and his mother, who apparently had always denied that the molestation had occurred. Julia Walden still would not admit such. Johnny Walden apparently stewed overnight on the issue, and re-initiated the argument on the morning of May 21. Apparently, when Julia Walden still would not admit that Johnny had been molested, he attacked her, and smothered her to death with a pillow.

Tommy Walden found his mother's body when he got off work that afternoon. She was in her bed, as if she had died in her sleep -- except for the signs of a struggle on both her forearms. Johnny Walden was the main suspect, and he apparently confessed a few days after the Kingdom Hall funeral.

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NEW YORK v. CRABTREE was a 2000 New York court case. On October 4, 2000, a Jehovah's Witness Elder, named Michael R. Crabtree, 33, of Walton, New York, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree assault. Outcome of criminal charges, which Crabtree is assumed to have denied, is unknown, but Michael Crabtree conducted a funeral at the Hamden, New York Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in April, 2001, which would indicate that he apparently suffered no organizational punishment as a result of these charges.

The charges were "pressed" by Lisa Key, 29, of Delhi, New York, who also attended the Hamden, New York Congergation of Jehovah's Witnesses, where Mike Crabtree was an Elder. Lisa Key alleged that she left her 9 year-old son, Matthew Key, and another unidentified male youth at the Crabtree's home while she went to a doctor's appointment. After she returned, the Crabtrees, the Keys, and the unidentified boy all had dinner together at the Crabtree's home. After dinner, Matthew Key and his friend went outside to play.

Michael Crabtree allegedly then told Lisa Key that there had been a problem while she was at her appointment. Key claimed that Crabtree told her that Matthew and he had had a "confrontation", and that Crabtree had had to "smack" Matthew. Lisa Key then called her son into Crabtree's home and confronted him in front of Crabtree. The 9 year-old allegedly began to cry, and allegedly displayed his chest. Lisa Key later reported:

"There was a perfect handprint on Matthew's left side. It was bright red, and you could see every finger, like the handprints a child makes in school with fingerpaint, and there was an indentation on his chest left by Mike's wedding ring. I was stunned. I just told the kids it was time to go, and we got out of there."

After Key and the two minors left the Crabtrees, Matthew Key and his friend allegedly told Lisa Key that they had been playing basketball with Mike Crabtree, but that Crabtree got too rough, and they didn't want to play anymore, so they went into his house, and sat on the couch. They claimed that Crabtree came inside, got angry, and hit Matthew Key.

Lisa Key further related that Mike Crabtree had been "working" with her son since around April/May of 2000, and especially so after she and her husband divorced in June 2000. Crabtree also had been conducting weekly "bible studies" with the 9 year-old for several months, and they apparently had always gotten along well.

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In April 2000, a Newton, North Carolina, Jehovah's Witness Couple, named Robert Avery Graham, 38, and Sherry Graham, 38, each died after refusing to consent to life-saving blood transfusions made necessary by blood loss caused by gunshot wounds.

Limited details. Sometime on Saturday, April 15, 2000, Robert Graham shot his wife Sherry Graham in a domestic dispute at their home. Robert Graham fled their home, but Sherry Graham's gunshot wound apparently was not that serious given that she was conscious when police arrived and found her on the kitchen floor. It is not known whether she had telephoned police, or whether there were children in the house at the time of the shooting, nor is it known how long it was between the shooting and arrival of help.

Robert Graham was shot by Newton police several hours later on Saturday afternoon when Graham fired a shot at a moving cruiser, and apparently later threatened to again fire at police after his vehicle was stopped. Graham was admitted to the local hospital with a "non-life threatening" wound, but Graham refused to consent to a needed blood transfusion. Robert Graham died about 28 hours later on Sunday evening at Catawba Memorial Hospital due to blood loss.

Interestingly, local JWs quickly claimed that Robert Graham was not a Jehovah's Witness, despite the fact that he was able to do what many JWs have been unable to do -- look death in the face and refuse to save his own life by simply saying "yes" to a WatchTower-prohibited blood transfusion.

Sherry Graham was transported at some point to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where she too died during the night of April 18-19, because she refused to consent to a needed blood transfusion. Sherry Graham's father, who provided info to reporters about his daughter's condition and the beliefs of JWs, identified himself as someone who had "studied with the Jehovah's Witnesses".

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SOUTH CAROLINA v. EAST was a 2000-2 South Carolina court decision. Limited details. At around 5:45 PM, on October 25, 2000, Mark East, 63, of Berea, South Carolina, shot and killed his wife of 40 years, Judith East, 57. Authorities reportedly found Judith East in the couple's living room dead from two shotgun blasts. The couple had four surviving children, and four grandchildren.

Curiously, in June 2002, the local prosecutor agreed to a plea deal with Mark East in which East pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of 30 years, BUT suspended upon completion of five years' home incarceration and five years' probation.

Apparently, there were unknown extenuating circumstances related to this "killing". Judith East reportedly was a Jehovah's Witness Pioneer, that is, a fulltime "doorknocker", with the Greenville Northwest Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Judith East's Mother was also a JW, so it is possible that she had been reared as a JW. And, since JWs are commanded not to marry non-JWs, if Judith East had been reared JW, then it is more probable than not that Mark East would have been a JW. Even those who know practically nothing about JWs know that someone married to a spouse with that many JW connections has themselves had some amount of JW connections over the years. At most, Mark East was or had been a JW. At the very least, he was a tortured non-JW husband, who simply may have had all that he could take.

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UNITED STATES v. PETER A. NEDD was a 1999-2000 Massachusetts federal criminal court case. In December 1999, a Jehovah's Witness, named Peter A. Nedd, was arrested by the F.B.I. on multiple charges of interstate threats and stalking. Nedd had been threatening to rape and murder three members of a fellow Jehovah's Witness family that lived in Massachusetts.

Peter Nedd, 38, had become obsessed with and started stalking the young teenaged daughter of this JW family sometime around 1995. After four years of telephone calls and letters from Nedd, the JW Parents obtained a restraining order against him. However, Nedd repeatedly violated that order in 1999 by telephoning them, threatening them, and appearing at their residence in an attempt to visit the by-then young adult daughter. Approximately 80 harassing telephone calls were tape-recorded.

In 2000, Nedd was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 33 months of incarceration. During this trial, the federal prosecutor presented evidence that Nedd had been diagnosed with a mentally illness as far back as 1989, but that Nedd had not continued to get psychiatric care or take his medication.

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PETER A. NEDD v. HOME DEPOT was a 1995-8 New York federal civil court case, which also involved Peter Nedd. In 1998, in New York, Peter A. Nedd sued his employer, Home Depot, in federal district court alleging employment discrimination. Although Nedd had only worked as a hourly sales clerk at a Home Depot store, he chose to represent himself as his own attorney against Home Depot. After two days of trial, and two days of deliberations, the jury decided in Nedd's favor, and awarded him $210,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages. Not bad for a first time trial lawyer. However, because of the statutory damages cap, the judge had to reduce Nedd's total award to $300,000.

All the specifics presented during the trial are not known, but Nedd, who was a large black man, made several allegations of discrimination. There was an unclear incident when Nedd was injured on the job, and he claimed there was several hours delay in getting him medical assistance. There was also an vague allegation that Nedd had been "detained" after his shift had ended, supposedly two or more times. Nedd also alleged that racist cartoons were placed in his locker. Nedd also alleged that his supervisor had called him a "nigger" the day he was fired. Nedd generally alleged that he was treated differently than white employees and that his termination was due to race.

Nedd's supervisor did take the witness stand and swore that he had never ever called Nedd the N-word. Home Depot stated that Nedd was fired because "he posed a threat" to the other Home Depot employees. Unfortunately, this post-trial order does not provide the "specifics" provided by Home Dept's defense team, if any. Even the USDC Judge rushed to Peter Nedd's defense in response to Home Depot's assertions that Nedd had posed a threat to co-workers.  The Judge stated:

"While Nedd is, indeed, a physically large individual, no evidence was adduced to suggest that he has ever assaulted, threatened, or in any way imperiled anyone. On the contrary, the evidence suggests that Nedd, a Jehovah's Witness minister, has devoted his adult life to activities designed to foster peace in the community."

Peter Nedd's case against Home Depot was finalized in mid 1998, and he probably received his $300,000.00 check in the summer of 1998.

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CALIFORNIA v. NELSON was a 1999-2000 California murder case. In February 1999, Teresa Nelson, 22, of Vallejo, California, fled to the home of her Jehovah's Witness Parents after arguing with and attempting to shoot her baby's daddy, Shawn Wilson. There, in her parent's garage, Nelson stabbed her 23-month-old daughter, Saliyah Nelson, six times with a carving knife. Nelson later tried to commit suicide by stabbing herself in the liver.

Teresa Nelson formally pleaded "not guilty by reason of insanity" to the resulting charges. Two court-appointed doctors concluded that Nelson, who had been reared as a Jehovah's Witness, had a family history of mental illness and displayed symptoms for several years that apparently went unnoticed or misdiagnosed. Nelson twice sought psychological counseling while pregnant.

Nelson's problems were exacerbated when she was "disfellowshipped" in 1996 for having gotten pregnant out of wedlock. However, Nelson may have been later "reinstated" given that in November 2000, one of Nelson's doctors reported to the court, "Ms. Nelson is highly troubled, clinically depressed and potentially suicidal, and cannot function independently. ... She apparently ruminates about spiritual matters, which include whether or not she will be accepted to her chosen religious group, when and how she will see her daughter, and under what circumstances will life be worth continuing.''

Nelson's public defenders failed in their attempts to have Nelson ruled legally incompetent to stand trial, and also failed with their insanity defense. A jury found Nelson guilty of second-degree murder, and assault on a child causing death, as well as one count of attempted manslaughter against Shawn Wilson. Sentence unknown.

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On Sunday morning, January 2, 2000, services at the Norco, California Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses were delayed for about an hour as Riverside County Deputies attempted to disarm an unidentifed 40-year-old JW Female who was threatening to commit suicide by slashing her throat and wrists with a kitchen knife.

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"It just seemed like a quiet way to kill and a relatively painless way to die. There was little pain. All of them were dead in less than five minutes. I hit them with a hammer in their sleep and then put them face down in the bathtub to make sure they did not wake up in pain. To make sure they were dead.

 

"... I have come to hate this life and this system of things. I have come to have no hope. I killed the children to exchange them for five minutes of pain for a lifetime of pain.

 

"... I know that Jehovah will take care of all of them in the next life.

 

"Please know that I love Leigh Ann, Matthew and Mychelle with all of my heart. If Jehovah is willing, I would like to see all of them again in the resurrection, to have a second chance. ... ."

 

The following 1999 Jehovah's Witness tragedy is difficult to categorize due to its involving a young JW adult, who was injured while committing a crime, and then committed "backdoor-suicide" by refusing a blood transfusion.

In February 1999, members of a family of Peruvian Jehovah's Witnesses had previously entered Canada -- apparently for the purpose of more easily crossing the border illegally into the United States. Maria de Jesus Cespedes-Cabanillas, 23, and probably others of her family, were using what was apparently a "well-known" method of breaking America's immigration laws -- sneaking into the United States late at night on slow moving freight trains crossing the Michigan Central Railroad Bridge, just south of the Whirlpool Bridge, in Niagara Falls, New York.

However, Maria de Jesus Cespedes-Cabanillas accidentally fell from the train as it proceeded through Niagara, and her left leg was severed. The woman was found by Border Patrol Agents, who then had her transported to Erie County Medical Center. There, Maria de Jesus Cespedes-Cabanillas' high moral standards would not permit her to consent to life-saving blood transfusions made necessary by her massive blood loss. She died around noontime the next day. Maria de Jesus Cespedes-Cabanillas was buried by relatives in Miami, Florida.

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In August 1999, an unidentified 16 year-old male, who lived with his grandparents near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was arrested for threatening the life of his Jehovah's Witness GrandMother, and threatening to go to her Kingdom Hall and kill certain persons there. The teenager was arrested on charges of assault and terroristic threatening, and was placed in juvenile detention pending further action. Given that the troubled teen had threatened to make an attack on the Lancaster Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, this was more than a simple family quarrel. As has repeated itself numerous times over the decades, the untrained JW Elders probably stuck their noses where such did not belong, and made a bad situation even worse. No further details.

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CALIFORNIA v. HENRIQUEZ was a 1996-2000 California multiple murder court decision. In August 1996, an African-American/Hispanic Jehovah's Witness, named Christopher Henriquez, 24, murdered his 8-months pregnant Jehovah's Witness Wife, Carmen Henriquez, 25, and their 2 year-old daughter, Zuri Henriquez. In 2000, Chris Henriquez was sentenced to death, and he now awaits justice in San Quentin Prison.

Christopher Henriquez, who also may have spent time as a youth with family in California, apparently was reared mainly in the Bronx -- as a devout Jehovah's Witness. When he was a teenager, Henriquez reportedly was chosen to travel all the way from either NYC or California to South Dakota to "pioneer" in "unassigned territory" (fulltime door-knocking) for the Jehovah's Witnesses. [Non-JWs should be aware that JWs take even the most inconsequential organizational assignments very seriously. For a male teen simply to be allowed to pass microphones at his Kingdom Hall, he must pass a series of character and performance "tests". Thus, for Chris Henriquez to be chosen to travel to SD is proof that he was an "elite" JW.]

Specifics are sketchy, but Henriquez possibly married Carmen Jones, of California, around 1992, after they were introduced to each other by fellow JWs. The marriage apparently was shaky, and Henriquez apparently moved back to NYC sometime in 1994, which would have been around the time of the birth of Zuri Henriquez. In 1994, Christopher Henriquez pled guilty to a robbery in NYC. He may have done some jail time, but was eventually paroled.

In July 1996, the JW Couple had made a fresh start in Antioch, California. After Henriquez lost his job, Carmen Henriquez discovered that Chris was planning a bank robbery, and moved out. A couple weeks later, she moved back in after Chris convinced her that he had not been serious. Apparently, she soon discovered otherwise, and probably told Chris that she was going to turn him in. Chris first tied Carmen up, and after he apparently was unable to convince her to keep quiet, he first beat, and then strangled her to death. Chris then killed their 2 year-old daughter by first smothering her, and then hitting her in the head with a hammer. A few days later, Henriquez hopped an airplane for NYC. Based on a tip, possibly from Chris's JW Mother, the FBI were waiting for Henriquez's arrival at La Guardia Airport, and he was arrested without incident. Henriquez was wearing a new Rolex, and had nearly $50,000.00 in cash on him.

Police described the young Christopher Henriquez as a cool, calm, calculating homicidal maniac, whose admissions surprised even them. Henriquez not only coldly confessed to brutally murdering his wife, the viable fetus, and his daughter, but Henriquez also confessed to robbing and murdering a Bronx loanshark and a man in Chinatown in 1994. Henriquez also confessed to robbing two California banks within the past month. Interestingly, Henriquez had two accomplices in the recent California bank robberies. I wonder who they were, and how Henriquez made their acquaintance. Christopher Henriquez also confessed to as many as 50 NYC muggings and robberies when he lived there in 1994. Who knows how many similar crimes he may have committed in NYC and California during the "gaps".

RECOMMENDED READING:

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Problem of Mental Illness

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