Feces Throwing Man Gets 31-Year Sentence

Weusi McGowan, 38, of San Diego, Ca. got his wish for a new trial and a new public defender after he smuggled a bag of his own feces into court. During a break in the proceedings he opened the bag and smeared the excrement all over the face and hair of  Public Defender Jeffrey Martin. He then threw the remains at the jury, some of which hit the computer case of one juror.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lawson said in court that McGowan clearly has mental health issues, but he committed an intentional act when he threw the feces.

Lawson said McGowan had previously wiped human feces on himself and was examined by doctors to ensure he was mentally competent to stand trial.

Three days earlier Judge Jeffrey Fraser had denied McGowan's request for a new trial. McGowan had claimed that some of the jurors had seen him in shackles while being escorted into the courtroom. The judge spoke with and dismissed the jurors in question and allowed the proceedings to go forward. McGowan also asked to have the public defender removed from his case. This was also denied.

According to court records, McGowan “became very boisterous and somewhat belligerent” after his request was denied. At one point, he told sheriff's deputies, “You better put the chains back on before I do something.”

McGowan was on trial for an October 2007 incident in which he allegedly hit his victim with a rock in a sock, then tied him up and ransacked his apartment, taking money and drugs. He then fled in the man's car. He was caught shortly after and charged with robbery, assault, kidnapping and auto theft.

McGowan case was transferred to Judge Frank Brown. This time, instead of going to trial, McGowan plead guilty to residential robbery causing great bodily injury and residential burglary. He also pleaded guilty to assault on a public official and assault on a juror.

Judge Frank Brown ordered McGowan to pay $129 to the juror whose case was ruined by the feces. He then sentenced McGowan to 31 years and four months in state prison.

Defense attorney Stephen Cline said McGowan’s medications were messed up when he was about to go to trial. When medicated properly, the defendant does “relatively OK,” Cline said.

“He’s mentally disabled,” the attorney said. “(But) that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He can be extremely violent if not medicated.”

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Man Robs Same Bank Twice

John Millison, 45, of Drexel Hill, PA, would never be accused of being too smart. In fact it would be hard to believe that Millison even had a brain. It was on August 26, 2003, that he decided to rob the PNC Bank in Marmora, N.J.

He was arrested by Special Agent Joseph Furey of the FBI. He was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $27,072 in restitution. He was released on probation in November 2008.

Fast forward to the afternoon of July 27, 2009; John Millison, wearing a Phillies World Series T-shirt, puts a stocking over his head and decides to rob the very same bank that he went to prison for in 2003. Since the bank robbery went so well, he also hit the Pathmark Pharmacy in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. on the same day.

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FBI Special Agent Joseph Furey working with Woodbine Station detective Michael Stewart on the case, noticed similarities with the 2003 bank robbery and reviewed surveillance photos of the man wearing a stocking over his head. He tentatively identified him as John Millison, the same person he had arrested before in 2003.

They also learned about the robbery at the Pathmark Pharmacy and, over the next week, State Police detectives worked with the FBI and the Egg Harbor Township police to build a case. In both cases no weapon was displayed, nobody was hurt and only a modest amount of money was stolen.

On Tuesday, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:15 p.m., John Millison was located and arrested at a vacant home in the 200 block of North Sacremento Avenue in Ventnor, New Jersey. Although no money was recovered, he was charged with two counts of robbery and placed in Cape May County Jail in lieu of $200,000 cash bail.

According to federal court records, on the day Millison allegedly robbed PNC Bank, he was supposed to submit to a urine test as a condition of his probation. He faces several probation violations for the robbery charges in which he is accused of leaving Pennsylvania without permission.

He also allegedly failed a urine screening, testing positive for cocaine, and missed six other toxicology tests and 14 dates with a court-ordered psychiatrist.

According to authorities, this area has been a frequent target of bank robbers in the past year.

Police are investigating the robbery of Sturdy Savings Bank on 34th Street in Ocean City about a mile from the Marmora bank. Ocean City police said the suspects in the two robberies had different physical descriptions.

Another suspect, Oliver Archer, 29, of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing Ocean City Home Bank across the street from PNC Bank in Marmora on May 8. Ocean City Home Bank in Marmora was robbed a second time on May 11 by three suspects who await trial on that and other bank robberies.

Millison's family had a home on Bay Avenue in Ocean City. Neighbor Margaret Young said she knew an older couple named Millison but was not acquainted with John Millison. She said she was surprised by the high number of bank robberies in her neighborhood.

"To me it's the economy. It seems to bring out the worst in some," she said.

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Gas Station Clerk Murdered

Stephen Michael Haines, 18, of Gary, Ind. was charged with murder. He is being held without bond and faces a maximum of 65 years in prison for the murder of 26-year-old Gurjeet Singh. He is scheduled to go before a Lake County Indiana Superior Court Magistrate for an initial hearing.

Haines was one of four men who ran into the Gran Gas Mini Food Mart and Gas Station located at 1500 Grant St., Gary, on June 14th. The men kicked in the door to the cash register area, where Singh was working. Singh pushed back the men after they tried to grab him and was shot in the neck. Singh was taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake, where he later died. Police are still looking for the other three men.

Police said the suspects including Haines tried unsuccessfully to open the cash register. They allegedly took a VCR and a carton of cigarettes.

"It was senseless. And really all homicides are senseless but what we gather from this, there was very little resistance," said Gary Police Department Commander Anthony Titus. "It didn't have to end the way it did."

Police say there were several customers walking around the store after the crime. But only one called 911 for help. They say a woman who was in the store after the crime posted what she knew on Facebook instead of calling 911 and talking with police.



When asked what he finds most disturbing about the surveillance footage, Titus said, "The fact that people went in and out of the store and didn't call police. There is a man laying there. Nobody thinks to dial 911 or check to see if he's OK or anything."

The victim's family is happy one suspect has been arrested, but they know more people have the clues police need. A translator said Sawaran Singh, the victim's father, can't find the words to describe the pain he feels right now. He traveled from Punjab, India to pray at a visitation with family and friends.

Gurjeet Singh's uncle, Randy Singh, said his nephew was liked by regular customers. He said this was the first holdup in the nine years he has owned the store. The uncle said that most days Gurjeet worked nearly 12 hours a day, seven days a week. On his time off, he would shop or rest up for his next work shift. Before working in his uncle's store, Gurjeet studied engineering at a Canadian university for four years.


For now, a grieving father prepares to take his son's remains back to India for a funeral. The future his family planned for him is only a memory. Sawaran Singh had to make the trip here alone, because he says the U.S. embassy in New Delhi wouldn't give his wife a visa. Gurjeet Singh's mother still waits to lay her son to rest.

Police say the robbers left the store in a car registered to Haines' mother; it was later found torched. Detective James Bond credits a tip from the public for leading him to Haines.



Detective Bond released still photos from surveillance footage of the incident to the media, after which the department received various leads on the suspects' identities. Police say they've identified who the other suspects are but they need more members of the public to stand up and tell what they know.

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4 Charged in Pharmacy Robbery Death

It was Jerome Jay Ersland, 57, of Chickasha, Ok. who shot 16-year-old Antwun Parker once in the head and later returned to pump five more shots into the teen as he lay on the ground, killing him. The incident occurred when Parker and his 14-year-old accomplice, Jevontai Ingram attempted to rob the Reliable Pharmacy in Oklahoma City. Ersland, who is the pharmacist, has been charged with murder in the death of Antwun Parker. See video below.



But it gets more complicated.....not only is Ersland charged with first-degree murder but so is Jevontai Ingram, the accomplice, and two other adults: Emmanuel Mitchell, 31, and 43-year-old Anthony Morrison. In addition to the murder charge Mitchell is accused of driving the getaway car and Morrison is accused of setting up the robbery and providing the gun. Morrison was also the last suspect to be arrested. See video below.



Jerome Ersland was freed on $100,000 bail and has returned to work at the pharmacy while the other suspects are being held without bail. Ersland's lawyer says his client acted in self defense in the shooting. Both of them appeared on the Bill Riley show in an attempt to explain what happened and why Ersland shot the teen so many times:



Ersland's bail of $100,000 was paid for by an anonymous supporter. It was District Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure who set the bail amount and even though most defendants accused of murder in Oklahoma are denied bail, the prosecutors raised no objection to Ersland being freed. In fact District Attorney David Prater even suggested to the judge that Ersland be permitted access to his gun at work, in case the pharmacy was robbed again.

The prosecutor said his position "sounds crazy” but he insisted that under the law Ersland has the right to defend himself and others at the pharmacy.

He said he worried crooks now will know it is "open season” at the pharmacy if Ersland is there. He also said Ersland could be fired.

Prater said the pharmacist would not be in court if the two robbers had not come into the drugstore. The judge said, "Then, why did you charge him, Mr. Prater?” The district attorney replied that Ersland went too far.

A clearly irritated Prater also told the judge, "I’m the one who filed the charge so my butt’s on the line.”

The judge nevertheless refused the request and said that Ersland could always get another job.

"I am going to limit his access to guns,” the judge said. "If someone wants to be around him, they are not going to have access to guns.”

In what seems to be an unusual relationship between the prosecutor and the defendant, Prater said the judge's decision was wrong and told Ersland after the hearing: "I want you to be treated fairly.”

Ersland is restricted to his home except for trips to work, church, court, his attorney’s office, the grocery store, restaurants and the doctor’s office. Ersland is recovering from recent back surgery and wears a brace. His attorney said he is on morphine. Ersland has said he is a veteran who was wounded during the first war in Iraq.

The family of Emanuel Mitchell questioned why the only person given bail was the shooter, Jerome Ersland.

"It's unequal treatment. I think there's a lot of prejudice going on," says Mitchell's Uncle Jimmy Williams.

"If one of them gets out on bond, they all should get out on bond," says Mitchell's mother Sharon Williams.

Cleta Jennings, mother of the dead teen, Antwun Parker, gave an interview in which she expressed gratitude that all those involved in the murder had been captured and said she wants justice for her son's death.

Nobody should have to die, not even a dog should have to die the way he killed my son. He was down, he was down, he did wrong, we know he did wrong, but he didn't have to go back and shoot him in his chest five times. He was a human being. He was human and he was my child, he was my baby and nobody deserves to die like that. And I'm sure this man has children and when he go home and look at his kids and he.....

Public opinion varies as to whether Jerome Ersland should be found guilty of murder.

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