Monday, March 25, 2013

Awaiting Word On Human Remains

We continue to await word on whether or not the human remains found in Scurry County are those of Hailey Dunn, yet more human remains have been found in Sweetwater, in Nolan County.  These remains are said to be skeletal only, and were found in a person's backyard.

Meanwhile investigators are closed-lipped about anything else that was found at the Scurry County location while speculation continues on whether or not these remains are, indeed, Hailey's.

Update:  Skeletal remains were found up in a backyard in Sweetwater.
They were found in the 500 block of Locust.
The bones included a skull and a spinal column.
Police say they were buried under an 80-year-old shed. 
The homeowner discovered them when he pulled up the flooring to replace it. 
Right now, investigators are not sure whether the skeletal remains belong to an animal or a human. 
We're told they will be sent off for forensic analysis once the police chief returns from Austin. 

83 comments:

Dee said...

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=581792

"The skeletal remains were found in the back yard of a home.

The remains include part of a skull and a part of a spinal column."

veruca said...

Any word from mother of year yet?@

Anonymous said...

More likely if either of the remains are Hailey's they will be the ones found in Scurry County near Lake Thomas. I base that on the cell phone tower pings and what would have been Shawn's usual routes. And of course on the fact that I believe Shawn killed her and disposed her body. Local anon

Jo said...

We will have to see if Billie has as much to say about that body found as she did the one in Scurry County.

Anonymous said...

I agree Jo. I am interested in Bille's reaction.

BostonLady said...

What is going on in Texas with all these skeletal remains popping up? Yikes!

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?

BJD was the leader of the two and his cell phone pings and calls link him to her during the critical time period where, I believe, he was dumping the body.

I also think that his conversation with Billie's brother about killing a deer was more than just a "how easy it was" conversation, but suggested dismemberment.

Local anon said...

I agree Peter, Billie told Shawn don't tell me exactly where she is . I don't know what to make of the deer comment other than it was very inappropriate in reference to Hailey being missing.

Dee said...

Peter Hyatt said...
Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?

***Absolutely.

BJD was the leader of the two and his cell phone pings and calls link him to her during the critical time period where, I believe, he was dumping the body.

***I think SA kept in contact with her the whole time (except when out of cell phone range). She needed to know what was going on and maintain control but did not want to know everything (exactly where he put the body) for plausible deniability.

I also think that his conversation with Billie's brother about killing a deer was more than just a "how easy it was" conversation, but suggested dismemberment.

***I agree. That was a very creepy conversation to have.

Red Ryder said...

Yes, I wonder if there are any tool marks on the ScurryCounty bones? Not being told the exact location of Hailey's body would give Billie a nice deniability, no? I hope they can identify this person soon.

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic bbm


The lawyer for a suspect in the shooting death of a Georgia baby who was killed in his stroller says his client is "absolutely" not guilty.

"My client is absolutely, 1,000 percent not guilty," public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press. He made the comments Monday, while preparing for Elkins' first court appearance on a murder charge. It was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

Elkins is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, along with a 14-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile, Brunswick Police Chief Tobe Green said.

The14-year-old appeared in court Monday morning in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick.

The baby's mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home Thursday morning when the two confronted her and one of them opened fire.

"He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it," West said.

"When you have a baby you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said 'I don't have it.' And he said, 'Do you want me to kill your baby?' and I said, 'No, don't kill my baby!'"

One of the teens allegedly fired four shots, grazing West's ear and striking her in the leg, before he walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.

West said detectives showed her mugshots of about 24 young men. She pointed to one, saying he looked like the gunman. "After I picked him, they said they had in him custody," West said.

West said she thought the 14-year-old looked much younger.

"That little boy did not look 14," West said.

At Monday morning's hearing, the 14-year-old came into the courtroom shackled and wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit, The Florida Times-Union reported.

He glanced at the few members of the media allowed into the courtroom for the initial appearance as he shuffled to a lectern facing Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton.

The magistrate told the boy he can't set a bond since only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases.

"I'm going to see that you get a lawyer immediately," Barton told the boy.

The 14-year-old was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the Glynn County school system.

Elkins was a student in the system in October 2011 when he left Ombudsman, an outsourced alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

Tania Cadogan said...

Gough said he has demanded a bond hearing and filed a request for a speedy trial for Elkins.

"We look forward to our day in court," he said.

Police say the motive of the "horrendous act" is still under investigation and the weapon had not been found.

Neighbors made frantic calls to 911, some weeping and pleading for help. Police released recordings Saturday of three 911 calls placed right after the shooting.

One woman sobs as she says, "Somebody shot this child ... Please we need everything we can get."

Another caller tells an operator, "No, the baby's not breathing." He said the child was shot "right between the eyes."

A woman can be heard screaming in the background just before police arrive.

No callers reported witnessing the shooting.

Sabrina Elkins, the sister of the older suspect in Santiago's murder, said Friday that she believed her brother was innocent of the charges.

"He couldn't have done that to a little baby," she told AP. "My brother has a good heart."

Elkins said police came to her door Friday as her brother was approaching along the sidewalk.

"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she said. "He said, 'What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?'"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/25/lawyer-for-ga-17-year-old-says-his-client-absolutely-not-guilty-killing-baby-in/#ixzz2OaN7vWwm

OH dear, the attorney tells us what we need to know

Anonymous said...

It's just so werid that this body comes out of no were but in Sweetwater , I really don't think it's Haileys remain u just never know plus they said Shawn moved her body several times also how old we're the remains were?? Please God let this be over please Bring Hailey home already!!!

Skeptical said...

Did LE or the FBI ever inspect the storm cellar shown in one of the photos of Shawn in his mask and machete at his grandmother's house. He said he went to his grandmother's house the morning that he quit work. Was it to check if she was home so he could dismember Hailey? I hope they sprayed it with Luminol to test for blood. Criminals often stay close to places with which they are familiar.

Jo said...

Peter Hyatt said...
Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?

As ring leader, I don't think Billie would let Shawn make that decision on his own without knowing where he disposed of Hailey.

Didn't they go to Scurry the night before to get cash and drugs? If anything, they may have drove around that night to find the spot together and then Shawn had his instructions from Billie. I don't see Billie giving up any contol over the situation.

Lemon said...

I believe Shawn took the opportunity to indulge himself and his fantasies, and all that entailed, regarding Hailey.

Listening to his language and reading his language, nothing would surprise me regarding him.

Anonymous said...

Peter Hyatt said...
Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?


Billie was the ringleader and would want to have total control over everything. She did not tell him not to tell her.
She even discussed the "ugly fields" just like Cindy spoke of Caylee not being in the woods. She knew where she was disposed. She also knew that she was dismembered. He would have dismembered her in order to keep her body from being found and identified. so - that explains why she even knew they were "fields" (plural).

~ABC said...

It wouldn't surprise me to find out he video taped whatever he did to her.

Yes I do believe BJD told him specifically to keep the location hidden from her and I think when BJD looked into Hailey's bedroom, but "didn't touch her" that was her last goodbye.

Anonymous said...

I don't think she is that sophisticated. She was caught lieing about her daughter's disappearance. She was even arrested for lieing and telling the police SA was not at her house.

This would have required them discussing what would happen if they are questioned by the police, then furthermore discussing what questions would be asked in a polygraph, in order for her to truthfully say she doesn't know where Hailey is.

She has an "idea" where Hailey is, if she left it up to SA to dispose of her.

LovinTheNW said...

Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?

Yes. Billie Dunn wanted plausible deniability.

Nic said...

Good evening!

I think you're right in your assumption, Peter. Hailey was already "with Jesus", thus BJD knew where she was and that she was "safe". Where Shawn hid the body was neither here nor there except that not knowing fit with BJD's survival instinct. (I know nothing!)

Nic said...

o/t

Trying to catch up on some old cases. I completely missed this from last December. Not that she wasn't even tried for murder. Given that there is no limitation to when she could be tried, they left it off the table... for later.

Elizabeth Johnson, Mother Of Missing Baby Gabriel Johnson, Sentenced To 5 Years

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/elizabeth-johnson-sentence-gabriel-johnson_n_2257360.html

Red Ryder said...

ABC ~ I think it likely that SA videotaped some (if not all) of what happened to Hailey. Given his nature and history it is hard to imagine him not doing that. So, if he did it is either well hidden, in someone else's keeping, or has been destroyed out of caution (though I doubt it). The lure of reliving events and perhaps sharing with some other members of the Association of the wicked would be overwhelming I imagine. Would that someone in LE could get their hands on evidence like that!

Yukari said...

That LE affidavit about things taken from BJD´s home that was linked some days ago mentioned that the police found printouts of trutv articles on several serial killers that BJD said were hers. So she could have very well known not to let SA tell her where the body was disposed.

Anonymous said...

Just because the LAWYER used the phrase 1000% you think that's all you need to know? That is the LAWYER's verbage, and not a statement by the accused.

Pak31 said...

So are we to the point that it might appear as if SA and BJD used Hailey to fufill their sick fantasies? I hope not. I always want to hold onto hope that a mother has some sort of love and feelings to protect her child. I think BJD cared more about the man in her life than her child. I just hope that the body found is her. I don't want her dead, but I would love to see this case come to a close. It's really sad how some children are brought into this world. Born innocent, deserving the best upbringing possible but having the complete opposite. Just awful.

~ABC said...

Agreed Red Ryder!

It's just the way he operates. Someone mentioned keeping trophies, SAdkins is of the digital gen so it only makes sense to me.

Pak31 - Yes people find it very difficult to digest that a mother's love isn't always the "given" that is for most people. :(

BostonLady said...

According to some facebook rumors, and that is what this is, Billie thought she knew where Shawn put Hailey. Even Billie was shocked to find Hailey wasn't there. Allegedly when they did the blind drive with Gayle St.John, Billie pointed her towards where she thought Hailey was and found, she was not there.

I think Billie is very nervous right now because she knows this is most likely hailey. From the way the FBI is handling this, it is very different from the last time. So Billie is doing what she does best, talk too much. She is out trying to point the finger at Shawn while Shawn seems to be sitting by silently.

Now might be a good time for Shawn to work with FBI on a confession...

Anonymous said...

Off topic- Is anyone watching CNN live? Wth is wrong with the mother of the baby shot in the face? Something is wrong- crying with no tears. Her version is changing. Something is so wierd.. PETER!!!! Break it down brother- i will feel terrible if i am misjudging her, i dont think i am though. If you saw the interview i am curious to hear your opinion.
NVmomma702

Suzanne said...

Who's arm is that with the tattoo of Hailey?

Anonymous said...

She says the shooter approached her which leads me to think he was infront of her.She doesnt say he came up from behind. Why did he have to go around the stroller (her words) to shoot lil baby? Also, the shot wasvright between the eyes? Was there gun powder on the baby? Someone help me out? Whats it called when the victim had gun powder and the police are able to tell how far the gun was?
NVmomma702

Nanna Frances said...

Suzanne,
That tattoo is on Billie Jo Dunn. If Billie Jo have loved her daughter, she would have never allowed Shawn Adkins anywhere near her. She certainly would not have moved him to move in with her.

Nanna Frances said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nanna Frances said...

NVmomma702,

The reaction of the mother of the baby does seem off. She held on to her purse when her baby was threathen. What would you do? I would give his my purse instantly and offer him my jewelry even my wedding ring!

christy said...

Where is the LE affidavit? Thanks

Anonymous said...

I don't have children, but if this had been my dog, I would have thrown myself down on her to protect her (and did once when she was being attacked by two angry small dogs and one angry huge dog. thankfully they stopped, but I was prepared to take a hit.) That said, WTF?? A baby! Even if it wasn't YOUR child, instinct is to move to protect that which is weaker than yourself. It's just an automatic REACTION to something unexpected. It stinks! Stinks!

Layla said...

The case with the baby being shot--I havent been following it--I only read the article about it in my local paper when it 1st was being reported. My gut feeling was this is B.S. Two teenagers right? The mother won't give them money or she doesn't have money to give them, so they shoot her baby in his stroller? They aim the gun downward right at a baby in his stroller? And pull the trigger? Two teenagers? I don't buy it.

Layla said...

OK--I just watched the youtube video of the mother of the baby. Wow, my heart says she's lying. The leg and the tip of the ear wound were probably self-inflicted. I don't believe her. The story seems fabricated. Her telling of the story seems to lack real emotional feeling behind it, so when I listened to it I felt in my heart she is lying.

Anonymous said...

Christy, here is the link you asked for. Peter posted it a couple articles ago.

http://www.reporternews.com/photos/galleries/2011/jan/13/affidavit-search-data-storage-media/23373/#section_header

Something of interest said...

Off topic;



Mark Kelly Gun Control.jpg

March 6, 2013: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords listens to her husband, Mark Kelly, during a return to the supermarket where she was wounded in a rampage two years ago in Tucson, Ariz. (AP)

A Tucson gun store owner has decided to rescind the sale of a military-style rifle to Mark Kelly, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, after Kelly said he had intended the purchase to make a political point about how easy it is to obtain the kind of firearms he's lobbying Congress to ban.

Kelly's March 5 purchase of an AR-15-style rifle and a 45.-caliber handgun at Diamondback Police Supply sparked a frenzy of reaction from both sides of the debate after he posted to Facebook a photo of himself shopping.

A background check took only a matter of minutes to complete, Kelly said in the Facebook post, adding that it's scary to think people can buy similar guns without background checks at gun shows or on the Internet.

But Kelly couldn't immediately take possession of the rifle because the shop had bought it from a customer. As a result, the store is required by a Tucson ordinance to hold the gun for 20 days to give the city enough time to make sure the weapon wasn't used in a crime.

Store owner Doug MacKinlay said Monday in a Facebook post of his own that he "determined that was in my company's best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store."

"While I support and respect Mark Kelly's 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use," MacKinlay said in the statement.

He added that the store will return Kelly's money, donate the rifle to the Arizona Tactical Officers Association to be raffled as a fundraiser and make an additional contribution of $1,295 -- the value of the rifle -- to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program.

Kelly's purchase of the guns sparked accusations of hypocrisy from gun-rights supporters, with many on Facebook focusing on his motivations and the rules for purchasing such guns. Kelly, a former astronaut, said he intended to eventually hand in the rifle to Tucson police but planned to keep the handgun.

Kelly and Giffords started a gun control advocacy group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, amid the wave of recent mass shootings. They have been touring the country in recent months in support of expanded background checks for gun purchases.

Kelly bought the guns at a Tucson shop the day before he appeared with his wife at the supermarket where she was wounded during a shooting rampage that left six dead and 12 others injured two years ago. Giffords resigned from Congress last year as she continues to recover from her injuries.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/gun-store-rescinds-mark-kelly-rifle-purchase-questions-his-intent/#ixzz2ObwuKeAK

Layla said...

Also, there seems to be some alibi building at the very beginning of interview where the mother states that she doesnt go out very often so she figured she should take a walk to the post office. Kind of like Patsy Ramsey letting us know she was sleeping. Both letting us know they had nothing to do with the crime.
The poor baby! Just an atrocious act!

Anonymous said...

Ive heard the same from others regarding her responses to the shooter. It doesnt seem natural for a woman to argue with a gunman that has threatened to shoot your baby. Also, i read she said during an interview that "babies are expensive" or something along those lines. It seems odd to go off rambling like that when your babys death would be all consuming. During thebinterview i watched on CNN she was pulling a CA with the tissue and expressions of crying but not a single tear. Dr. Lillian Glass has done a lot of analysis on the dry crying that is interesting. I cant put my finger on it other than a mothers gut feeling that her answers, reactions, responses are off.
NVMomma702

~ABC said...

Sherry West = Bad acting. :((

Lis said...

OT
Hobnob, 1000% not guilty, hmmm? Not a good sign.

I believe that if the lawyer was convinced his client was innocent, he would not be issuing such an unreliable statement.

"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she said. "He said, 'What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?'"

-His response "what are you getting me for?" is saying, "which thing are you arresting me for?" This boy has done enough things wrong that he isn't sure which one he's being arrested for.

I think there are other issues with the mother, just my gut feeling, but I think it is possible that she did have a sum of money in that purse that she didn't want to give up and that is causing sensitivity. I also think it's possible, based on her language, that she did not take the boys seriously and she may have belittled/mocked them in her response to them (otherwise known as "disrespecting" them) and unwittingly escalated the situation, and she feels sensitivity over that.

I am wondering if she went to the post office to collect a check.

Time will tell!

Lis said...

Peter Hyatt said...

Does anyone else think that Billie may have told Shawn, "Don't tell me exactly where you buried her!"?

-I am on the fence on this one. It seems in character for her to have done so, yet "anonymous" makes a good point about BJD's reference to "the ugly fields." It may be possible she was involved up to the point of not knowing exactly which square foot of space in the field was used and that would be good enough in her eyes to say she "doesn't know."

I also think that his conversation with Billie's brother about killing a deer was more than just a "how easy it was" conversation, but suggested dismemberment.

-I agree.

~ABC said...

Is Clint Dunn saying anything at all? I haven't found any recent statements from him.

Lauren said...

Off topic from Hailey - I wanted to throw in my two cents regarding the baby being shot. Personally, I don't believe the mother is involved - at least not as far as her killing the baby herself. I don't think I'd buy she had anyone else do it either, not at the time being. That's not to say I wouldn't believe other possible scenarios..like a drug deal or something.

For starters, from what I've read so far, a check for gunshot residue on both her & her husband was negative. Then, while I've read there were no witnesses to the actual shooting, I did read people in the area heard the shots & came to help..so, not only was she negative for gunshot residue, but with the people coming to help, she surely wouldn't have had time to go any real distance to get rid of a gun and being shot in the leg would have made it kind of hard to run anywhere to toss it and may have left a blood trail. Not to mention LE probably checked the area for the gun. I've also read that LE was able to track down the two suspects with the aid of descriptions given by the mother "and others"..along with a check of school records - to me that sounds like even though none of the other people witnessed the shooting, someone, other than the mother, must have seen the suspects.

Then there is the fact that instead of saying something like "my son and the other boy" or "neither of them" - were there, did this, were involved - the mother of one of the suspects only said her son was just "a witness". This is without even getting into the crap on the FB profiles.

JMO~

Jen said...

Hi Layla and others discussing them toddler stroller shooting...

I am working on an exact transcription of the mothers uncut interview where she shows her wounds and tells 'what happened'. As I've transcribed, its been hard not to notice the majority of her words are dedicated to explaining/justifying her actions. The topic and obvious headline is the shooting of her defenseless baby, but she buries the topic and dedicated only one sentence to describing the actual shooting of her 'baby' (which is how she refers to him at every mention), and she talks 90% of the time about herself, her injuries and her feelings. I will try to get it finished and posted tomorrow so we can all analyze. My instinct is there's much more of this story to be revealed, possibly a drug debt or life insurance/restitution scam.

~ABC said...

Hi Jen. I was thinking of doing that transcription too! God bless you. :)

I was just doing a quick transcription of the Piers Morgan interview and I noticed the same thing! And she seems to be walking on eggshells, choosing her words a little too carefully. What has my attention at the moment is this;
"Um I have no doubts that th, the shooter they have in custody... I've, I've seen um his photo um on another reporters cell phone of th, the man that um they have in custody and it's definitely him."

She's changing horses in midstream to tell us how she knows what he looks like! That would be the same as giving a reason wouldn't it? And referring to him as "the shooter" seems out of place too. She also doesn't call the baby by name.

~ABC said...

Will someone please tell me how it is possible to cry with no tears? Or is my eyesight so bad I just can't see them? This video has the father of the baby too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9HmxQ08BXc

John Mc Gowan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Mc Gowan said...

OT.

Piers Morgan interviews Sherry West..CNN.

PM:"We know these two boys have been charged, one is seventeen we believe, one is fifteen.Do you have any doubt that the two that have been charged are the ones that committed this crime"?

SW:Umm i have no doubts that it, the shooter they have in custody,iv'e iv'e seen umm his photo umm on another reporters cell phone of the man that umm that they have in custody and that's definitely him.Their being charged with felony murder,and umm i just i i,i just hope that he the shooter dies.I mean i had to watch my baby die and i want him to die,a life for a life.And the young one he was an accessory an accomplice i that he gets a juvenile correctional facility to age twenty one,and a consecutive life sentence in a state prison."

PM: "You chose to cremate your little baby Antonio and chose to have a private memorial service,how would,how would you like to remember his short life?"

SW:"Alive,walking around waking him, me up,he didn't even get to say his first words,I'l never hear his first words."


http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2013/03/26/pmt-west-baby-shot-in-stroller.cnn?iref=allsearch

SAlurker said...

Off topic:
As far as Baby Antonio & Sherry West-I'm glad I'm not the only one that the story is still not sitting well with.

From the get go I've felt something was dreadfully wrong & I still feel that way.

No real logical reasons except for the mother's story and "performance".

This story has really bothered me as I feel someone is getting away with murder of a 13 month old baby!

~ABC said...

Oooops! Forgot to put OT on my Baby Antonio posts. Sorrryyy

John Mc Gowan said...

PM:"Do you have any doubt that the two that have been charged are the ones that committed this crime"?

SW:"Umm i have NO DOUBTS"

Anything in the negative is sensitive.

She doesn't answer the question she reflects PM's words back at him.If she doesn't tell us we cant say it for her.

"THE SHOOTER"=Passive language,i would expect to hear say killer,Murderer etc.

PM:"How would,how would you like to remember his short life?"

SW:""Alive,walking around waking him, me up,he didn't even get to say his first words,I'l never hear his first words."

Is this what she only come up with,how she would like to remember him.



"FELONY MURDER"

"ACCESSORY"

"ACCOMPLICE"

"JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY"

These words, and others she has used in past statements seem to me more of what a Police officer would use.

Is this her subjective internal dictionary,or is she repeating what she has picked up while speaking to LE.

I find this odd language for a mother to use right after she has lost her baby.

John Mc Gowan said...

OT..

8min interview Piers Morgan and Sherry west.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttIbChyrTYs

John Mc Gowan said...

PM does a good job here,he allows her to talk and doesn't but in..

SAlurker said...

Off Topic:
Amanda Knox's verdict was overturned. She has to stand trial again. Don't have a link at this time, but will find one shortly.

SAlurker said...

Here's a link to Amanda Knox's overturned acquittal:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/26/italy-highest-court-overturns-amanda-knox-acquittal-in-murder-case-orders-new/

~ABC said...

OT

Sherry West told the Times-Union Friday that she was leaving the area because she didn’t feel safe in Brunswick.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2013-03-23/story/police-release-911-tapes-brunswick-babys-slaying#ixzz2OdZtOkWi

Ney said...

OT: Wow! There will be a new Amanda Knox trial!

John Mc Gowan said...

OT..

Amanda Knox faces new trial as court overturns acquittal

ROME—Italy’s highest criminal court on Tuesday overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial, prolonging a case that has become a cause célèbre.
The Court of Cassation ruled that an appeals court in Florence must re-hear the case against the American and her Italian-ex-boyfriend for the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. The exact issues that have to be reconsidered won’t be known until the court releases its full ruling.
Lawyers for Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito looked grim as they huddled with prosecutors and court officials to get details after the ruling was issued. Lawyers for the Kercher family said they had got what they wanted.
In a statement Tuesday, Knox said it’s “painful” to have her acquittal on murder charges overturned by Italy’s highest criminal court but she’s confident in the truth, and says remaining questions about her case must now be examined by objective and capable prosecutors.
Knox said the Perugia prosecutors’ theory of her involvement in the murder of Kercher is “completely unfounded and unfair.”
She says: “No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity.”
Kercher’s body was found in November 2007 in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox and others in Perugia, an Italian university town where the two women were exchange students. Her throat had been slashed.
Prosecutors alleged Kercher was the victim of a drug-fueled sex game gone awry. Knox and Sollecito denied wrongdoing and said they weren’t even in the apartment that night, though they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
An Ivory Coast man, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the slaying in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence. Knox and Sollecito were also initially convicted of the murder and given long prison sentences, but were then acquitted on appeal and released.
The high court’s ruling Tuesday overturns the appeals court acquittals.
Italian law cannot compel Knox to return from the U.S. for the new trial. The appellate court hearing the case could declare her in contempt of court but that carries no additional penalties.
It is unclear what would happen if she was convicted in a new appeals trial.
“If the court orders another trial, if she is convicted at that trial and if the conviction is upheld by the highest court, then Italy could seek her extradition,” Knox’s lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said Monday.
It would then be up to the United States to decide if it honours the request. U.S. and Italian authorities could also come to a deal that would keep Knox in the United States.
Knox, now 25, and Sollecito, who turned 29 on Tuesday, were arrested shortly after Kercher’s body was found in a pool of blood.
The appeals court that acquitted them in 2011 criticized virtually the entire case mounted by prosecutors. The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
After nearly four years behind bars in Italy, Knox returned to her hometown of Seattle and Sollecito resumed his computer science studies, following the degree he successfully earned while studying in prison.
Knox is now a student at the University of Washington, according to her family spokesman, Dave Marriott.
Italy’s judicial system allows for two levels of appeals, and prosecutors can appeal acquittals.
Although the court on Monday heard gruesome details, including how Kercher choked on her own blood, it wasn’t ruling on the guilt or innocence of the defendants. Its sole task was to decide if the appellate trial was properly conducted.
Details of the ruling weren’t issued Tuesday and won’t be for several weeks.http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/03/26/amanda_knox_faces_new_trial_as_court_overturns_acquittal.html

Mainah said...

OT: I heard this song this morning and this verse made me think of Hobs:

"It's A Big Old Goofy World", Lyrics~ John Prine


Kiss a little baby
Give the world a smile
If you take an inch
Give 'em back a mile
Cause if you lie like a rug
And you don't give a damn
You're never gonna be
As happy as a clam

John Mc Gowan said...

OT..

De'Marquise Elkins Mother speaks out.


http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/03/25/georgia-baby-shooting-suspect-court-murder-charge?clusterId=60#videoplayer

Anonymous said...

About the shooting of the baby in Georgia - by the mother of one of the suspects saying her son was "just a witness" she's pretty much admitted that her son was indeed there and also not denying the other boy was there, nor denied the other one did shoot the baby.

For now, it at least sounds like this isn't a case similar to Susan Smith, where a mother killed her child(ren), and then tried to blame it on some innocent stranger(s). The only other thing would be if they found evidence of some plot with the suspects to have them kill her baby, for some reason.

Anonymous said...

The guy who found the remains is a prison guard from big spring tx. Last name was Lloyd. I bet he knows more than they are telling us.

Local anon said...

Anon 9:13, do you mean the guy who found the scurry county remains or the Nolan county remains? And where did you hear that? Thank you

Anonymous said...

Scurry county remains.. One of the Deputies husband was at the site that day. He was telling some of the guys at work about.

Local anon said...

Thanks for the reply anon. Interesting Nd probably just a coincidence, one of of the dedicated searches and frequent spokesperson is Kristy Lloyd. May be no connection

Anonymous said...

Isn't it odd that all these human remains are suddenly popping up, even some underneath sheds. I think someone called police with several tips that have started the process of uncovering Hailey's remains.

Local anon said...

Yes, it is odd but the remains under the shed were found when residents were replacing the floor of an 80 year old shed. The mom took the bones to the school nurse who told her to call the police. Not determined yet of they are human or animal. At least that is what local news is reporting and showing in interviews.

Anonymous said...

Local anon said...

Yes, it is odd but the remains under the shed were found when residents were replacing the floor of an 80 year old shed. The mom took the bones to the school nurse who told her to call the police. Not determined yet of they are human or animal. At least that is what local news is reporting and showing in interviews.

She took them to the school nurse ? lol
March 26, 2013 at 10:48 AM

Local anon said...

Probably didn't suspect foal play and wanted to know if they were human so used the resource she thought would know. We did have a lot of ancient native American activity out here so she may have been thinking that

Red Ryder said...

The remains were allegedly found by a prison guard? Now that is interesting! I wonder if he was out for a stroll in this deserted place that is only reachable by foot or if someone whispered directions in his ear? Information is a valuable commodity in and out of prison. BJD and SA best think hard on who they said what to, I think their boat may have sprung a leak (at least that's what I hope!).

Anonymous said...

Well Red they fella was hunting fossils and arrowheads. The area is full of both, and sources state this guy is out around the lake every weekend.

Anonymous said...

All the media is saying the sweetwater remains were under a 80 yo building, and the floor looks original. My guess is that these are very old remains, back when folks used to bury their kin in the back yard. It was the same with the remains found in Big Spring last year.

Red Ryder said...

Ahhh! Thanks Anan 1:25 that makes sense, especially as the water has receded so much, new areas to check. My kids have found arrowheads in lakebeds too. However this person was found I'm glad they were and some family will know where their loved one is , and perhaps justice will also be served.

Layla said...

Jen--That would be great if you are able to transcribe it. We are on the same page with a lot of the things you picked up. I believe the language especiallly the unwavering use of "my baby" has elements of a rehearsed "story".
I also was stunned at how the mom became completely composed and stated (paraphrased) "they did an adult crime so they should have an adult punishment".
This is minimizing language. This was an abhorent crime, not an "adult crime". This was
an unspeakable crime.
My instinct is that either the mother perpetrated the crime. Yes, there were gunshots heard. The gun could have been tossed. Who knows if the crime was actually committed in that exact spot or somewhere else, then gunshots fired in the air at that location.
The mom's explanation of why she was taking a walk bc she doesnt get out often and so figured she'd take a walk to the post office--to me, this shows there was no legitimate destination, no reason to be out on this walk, she was not walking just for the sake of walking, she was walking in order to set up the scenario of the crime.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Local anon said...

Probably didn't suspect foal play and wanted to know if they were human so used the resource she thought would know. We did have a lot of ancient native American activity out here so she may have been thinking that

March 26, 2013 at 11:23 AM
_____
Baby horses were somehow involved?

Local anon said...

Baby horses? Was it determined to be a baby horse?

Tania Cadogan said...

Spot the typo

Foal play should be foul play

No horses were harmed in the writing of said comment

Lemon said...

"Foal Play - When Horses Go Bad"
- three(!) blogs over, on the left.

Tania Cadogan said...

Lemon said...
"Foal Play - When Horses Go Bad"
- three(!) blogs over, on the left.


Right next to Fowl Play - Why chickens cross the road. :)