Dead Kids Found In Freezer

Renee Bowman, 43, of Lusby, Md is now in police custody. While investigating child abuse allegations involving her 7-year-old adopted daughter, authorities made a gruesome find. In her basement was a freezer containing the frozen remains of two other girls, aged 9 and 11, both of whom had been adopted by Bowman. She is charged with first-degree child abuse and is being held without bail while murder charges are being considered.

It all began when a neighbor Phillip Garrett found the 7-year-old girl wandering the neighborhood, injured and hungry in a blood- and feces-soaked nightshirt. She explained that she had escaped from a locked bedroom by jumping out a second-story window of her mother's house.

"I asked if she was OK. She said no," said neighbor Phillip Garrett, who found the girl walking down the street. "She said, 'My mother beats me to death all the time."'

Garrett, 21, who lives two houses down from Bowman, said he brought the girl to a neighbor's house, called 911 and ordered her a pizza. She indicated she had last eaten on Tuesday when her father was at the home, said Garrett, who realized he had met her mother once and described her as "frazzled."

The little girl had open sores and lesions on her buttocks and lower thighs, marks on her neck made by a cord, rope or other item and bruises on her hands and lips, police said. She told investigators her mother beat her with the heel of a blood soaked shoe. She was taken to hospital. The Maryland Department of Human Resources plans to petition the court to gain custody, said Nancy Lineman, an agency spokeswoman.

When police went to Bowman's home, there was no-one there. It wasn't until later that day when Bowman returned to find her daughter missing that she went to the police station. When she arrived at the police station she was questioned about the abuse of her 7-year-old daughter.

Under questioning Bowman admitted that he had beaten her daughter. She said she was angry over her daughter's mental capacity and was stressed out and she (Bowman) was out of control and needed help.

The 7-year-old had previously mentioned that she had two sisters who were both dead, killed by Bowman. When Bowman was questioned about the other girls she admitted that they were in a freezer in her basement. The police got a warrant to search Bowman's house on Pawnee Lane.

They found the bodies of the two girls, one 9-years-old and the other 11-years-old, encased in ice stuffed in the freezer. Police are still piecing together a timeline for the family, but believe the two girls were killed in Montgomery County one to two years ago. Their frozen bodies may have been transported in a freezer when Bowman moved more than an hour away to Lusby in February.



Sheriff Mike Evans said the surviving girl was never enrolled in Calvert County Schools and that no trouble had ever been reported at the house. Bowman's only contact with the sheriff's department since she arrived was a traffic stop.

Evans said Bowman had a boyfriend who was cooperating with investigators. The boyfriend was a potential witness, but Evans would not comment on whether he was a suspect. He said the man did not live with Bowman and was not a father to her children.

Bowman adopted the oldest girl in July 2001, D.C. officials said. Three years later, she adopted the girl who would now be 9 and her 7-year-old sister. She is not biologically related to them.

Texas Style Justice

Jose Luis Gonzalez, 63, was found not guilty of the murder of unarmed 13-year-old Francisco Anguiano, who he shot in the back. The week-long trial took place in the Texas border town of Laredo. It took the jury of 8 men and 4 women, just three hours to determine Gonzalez' innocence. In fact many people in town thought that he should not even have been arrested let alone put on trial.

“I thank God and my attorney, the jury and the judge,” Gonzalez said in Spanish after the verdict. “It was a case where it was my life or theirs, and it's a very good thing that (the jurors) decided in my favor.”

It all began in July 2007 when four young boys, ranging in age from 11 to 14, broke into Gonzalez' mobile home looking for snacks. Gonzalez, who had endured several previous break-ins at his trailer, was in a nearby building, came over and confronted the boys with a 16-gauge shotgun.

He then forced the boys, who were unarmed, to their knees. The boys say they were begging for forgiveness when Gonzalez hit them with the barrel of the shotgun and kicked them repeatedly. It was at this point that Francisco Anguiano was shot in the back at close range.

Gonzalez said he had the juveniles on the ground and was trying to keep them at bay with a shotgun when Anguiano made a sudden movement toward his feet. Gonzalez perceived the teen to be lunging for him and he fired the weapon into Anguiano's back, claiming he feared for his life.

According to one of the boys, Jesus Soto Jr., now 16, Gonzalez then ordered them at gunpoint to take Anguiano's body outside. Found on Francisco's body were two mashed Twinkies and some cookies that were stuffed into the pockets of his shorts.

Gonzalez said he was sorry for Anguiano's death, but "it was a situation in which I feared for my life."

Texas law allows homeowners to use deadly force to protect themselves and their property.

"I feel vindicated for Mr. Gonzalez and his family and for all of the homeowners and all of the seniors in Laredo," said Isidro "Chilo" Alaniz, Gonzalez's attorney. "This case has huge implications across the board. We always, always believed in Mr. Gonzalez's right to defend his life and his property."

However, Assistant District Attorney Uriel Druker maintained during his closing arguments that the case was not about homeowners' right to protect their property, but about when a person is justified in using deadly force to do so.

"What really took place here was a case of vigilantism," he said after the verdict. "A 13-year-old boy was killed because a man was enraged."

“This case was never about homeowners versus criminals. The evidence in this case was compelling enough to show that wasn't the case at all,” he said. “I think the message that was revealed is that it's OK for a person to take the law into their own hands.”

Francisco Anguiano's aunt, who asked not to be named, said in Saturday's editions of the Laredo Morning Times that she was disappointed with the verdict.

"The state fought the case the way it should have," she said. "There was a sufficient amount of evidence, and I thought that some of the jurors would be a father or a mother, and perhaps they would think about this happening to them."

In Texas, the state that made frontier justice famous, the right to use deadly force to protect your life and property is sacred. When Gonzalez entered the trailer, he had no idea who was inside and if the intruders were armed.

"These kids were inside his house," said food distributor Francisco Hernandez, noting a homeowner wouldn't know "if they're there to steal potato chips or to stab you. He really shouldn't be on trial."

Many people in Laredo defended Gonzalez's actions. In online responses to articles published by the Morning Times, comments included statements such as: "The kid got what he deserved“ and calls to "stop the unfair prosecution.“

Man Sues over Amputated Penis

Phillip Seaton, 61, went into hospital for a circumcision. When he awoke after surgery he found that his penis had been cut off. He and his wife, Deborah, have filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified compensation and also unspecified punitive damages for the removal of his penis. They claim that the penis was amputated without consulting either Phillip or Deborah Seaton, or giving them an opportunity to seek a second opinion. See the TV coverage here.

Being sued are:

• Dr. John M. Patterson, who performed the surgery


• Commonwealth Urology, where the procedure took place


• Dr. Oliver James – Anaesthesiologist for use of general anaesthesia, when Seaton had specifically asked for it not to be administered.

In the lawsuit, filed in Kentucky State Court, the couple claim "loss of service, love and affection." Phillip Seaton claims he has suffered mental anguish, pain, and has lost the enjoyment of life. The lawsuit states that Dr. Patterson received consent to perform a circumcision and only a circumcision, and that Seaton did not consent to his penis being removed.

The Seaton's lawyer, Kevin George, said Dr. Patterson amputated the organ after finding cancer, but he only had consent to remove the foreskin.

"Sometimes you have an emergency and you have to do this, but he could very easily closed him up and said, 'Here are your options. You have cancer,' and the family would have said, 'We want a second opinion. This is a big deal,'" George said.

Dr. Patterson's attorney, Clay Robinson, of Lexington said the procedure was ‘medically necessary’ and authorized by the patient. He said Dr. Patterson performed the surgery because the patient, 61-year-old Phillip Seaton, had cancer and had already given permission to perform any medical procedure deemed necessary. The doctor's post-surgical notes show the doctor thought he detected cancer and removed the penis. Attorney Kevin George said a later test did detect cancer.

The Seatons' suit is similar to one in which an Indianapolis man was awarded more than $2.3 million in damages after he claimed his penis and left testicle were removed without his consent during surgery for an infection in 1997.

Another Taser Death

Iman Morales, 35, is dead after falling 10ft headfirst onto the sidewalk in front of his Brooklyn home. This was no accident. He was tasered by a police officer, under orders from lieutenant Michael Pigott, a 21-year veteran of the force. The officer, a 10-year veteran of the force, who fired the taser, which can deliver a five-second jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity through two wires, has not been identified.

"When they Tasered him, he froze and pitched forward. He fell on his head," said witness Ernestine Croom, 40. "They didn't put out a mattress or a net or anything."

"They didn't try to brace his fall. They did nothing. I've seen a lot of things in my time. But what they did was wrong," said neighbor Kirk Giddens, 39, a mental health worker.

According to neighbors Morales, who was emotionally disturbed, had "freaked out" earlier in the day, and his mother called the police at 1:52 p.m., saying he was threatening to hurt himself and had stopped taking his medication. An Emergency Service Unit (ESU) police truck showed up around 2:05p.m. at Morales' third-floor apartment at 489 Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Morales refused to open the door of his apartment for the police and instead opened a window and crept naked onto the fire escape. As the police forced their way in, Morales made his way up to the 4th floor apartment, occupied by Tanya Wright.

"He tried to get into my window. He banged. He said, 'Let me in! Let me in!' But no way I'm letting a naked man into my apartment," said neighbor Tanya Wright, 40.

Unable to gain entry to Tanya's apartment, Morales crawled down the fire escape, screaming and posing for the crowd, which by now had gathered outside, as he went.

"When the police came, he was screaming, 'You're gonna kill me and I'm gonna take everyone with me. I'm gonna die and you're gonna die with me,'" said neighbor Sean Johnson, 43.

With the police close by, Morales left the fire escape and stepped onto the 2-foot-wide metal top of a roll-down security gate for a ground-floor business. He then ripped an 8-foot fluorescent light bulb from the business' sign and used it to swing at the police.

“He was naked and he kept screaming,” said Joseph Adrien, who works at a nearby dry cleaners. Another witness said Mr. Morales’s mother was kept off to the side, pleading with the police to let her calm her son’s nerves, but being told repeatedly that it was now a police matter.

It was at this point that lieutenant Michael Pigott, gave the order to an ESU officer on the ground to taser Morales. The officer complied and half an hour after his mother called the police, Morales hit the ground at 2:27 p.m. headfirst and died.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU_lI3o_WgI]

Here is a videotaped recording of Iman Morales as he was tasered by the police.

[wpvideo hPt04XYr]

The police said an officer at the scene had radioed for an inflatable bag, and it was not clear why the bag had not arrived when Mr. Morales fell, or why the officers had not waited for it before using the Taser on Mr. Morales.

According to a statement by the department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne:

“None of the E.S.U. officers on the scene were positioned to break his fall, nor did they devise a plan in advance to do so,” the statement said, referring to the elite police Emergency Service Unit.

Michael Pigott, the lieutenant who gave the order to use the Taser, was placed on modified assignment without his gun and badge. The 37-year-old officer who fired the weapon was put on administrative duty. An investigation by the Police Department and the Brooklyn district attorney is ongoing.

Officers in the Emergency Service Unit receive intensive training for exactly the kind of crisis depicted on the video. Their training includes how to deal with emotionally disturbed people and the use of nonlethal restraints. They are taught how to use air bags and how to deal with would-be jumpers.

Last year, members of the unit helped respond to most of the 80,000 calls the Police Department received for reports of emotionally disturbed people, the police said. Stun guns are used about 300 times on average. So far this year, stun guns have been used 180 times. No other deaths have been reported.

The use of the taser in the Iman Morales case appears to have broken departmental guidelines. The order not to use tasers in certain situations appears in a 10-page interim order issued by the Police Department in June.

The order discusses types of people the Taser should not be used on, including children, the elderly and pregnant women, and instructs officers not to use them “in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface.”

Spokesman Paul J. Browne said that the Brooklyn district attorney's office has asked that the NYPD not question either officer - leaving open the possibility that criminal charges may be applied later.

City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said in a telephone interview that the situation could have been handled better by the police.

“My first take is that while I’m sure there are no experts out there on how to handle a crazy naked man with a weapon on top of a ledge, I’m also sure this wasn’t the right way, ” Mr. Vallone said on Wednesday evening.

“A situation like that is never going to end in a good way,” Mr. Vallone said after watching the video. “The most important thing is that no innocent bystanders or police got hurt. But clearly, it could have been handled better.”

Mr. Vallone said a public hearing on the department’s use of Tasers might be needed to fine-tune its policy on using them.

One frequent critic of the Police Department, State Senator Eric L. Adams of Brooklyn, said that the death of Mr. Morales underscored its continued inability to deal with the mentally ill. Standing in front of Mr. Morales’s building, Senator Adams said, “You can give someone desk duty, you can suspend someone, you can fire someone, but these are Band-Aids.”

“His mother called 911,” said Sharonnie Perry, a community advocate who lives down the street. “She called for assistance and the assistance she got was her son being killed.”

The Nastiest Apartment

I am sure every kid has heard the phrase "Clean up your room!". Well this apartment in Houston is living proof that some people just don't get it. This is by far the nastiest apartment I have ever seen. I am pretty sure that the girl who used to live here has never had any guests come over. The landlord will have to hire a crew in has-mat gear to clean up this disaster zone.

The bathroom looks like it hasn't been used in a long, long time. The bath and the toilet are horribly stained and indescribably dirty; the floor is strewn with what looks like toxic waste; just to get near the bath tub (not that anyone would want to) definitely requires protective clothing not to mention industrial strength boots. It is obvious that personal hygiene was not a top priority!!

This person is obviously a smoker who doesn't own an ashtray and used to have a computer. She prefers takeout pizza and loves coffee and soda (both Coke and Pepsi products). She has never cooked a meal in the apartment but does own an iron. She has her own little corner on the couch and doesn't particularly care where anything else goes, especially the garbage!!

She has a bed (even though it may be difficult to find in the pictures) and does most of her eating and drinking in the bedroom and on the bed. Of course to get to the bed itself is a feat worthy of an Olympic-style obstacle course. And just like the couch, she has her own little spot on the bed that it carved out from all the rest of the junk in the room. I guess she does have to stretch out somewhere!!

You may be wondering why I keep referring to this person as "she". Well lets see if "you " can spot the clues in the pictures above. I think it goes without saying that "she" is single and is likely to remain so for a long time!

P.S. Don't let the kids see this article. They may get the idea that their room is not so bad after all!!