3-Year-Old Girl Frozen to Death

The following is a sad, tragic story of a little 3-year-old girl named Cassandra Weronick. She was found frozen to death in the snow less than a mile from her home. It is so very hard when parents have to bury their children but what makes this so much more poignant is that it was so unexpected. This little girl wandered away from home in the middle of the night with only a shirt and diaper on. She most certainly died a slow, painful, bone-chilling death in the snow with the temperature outside in the single digits. Her parents are devastated.

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"There's not too much you can say about it other than its a sad, sad event," said State Police Capt. Wayne Olson.

It was a neighbor, a newspaper carrier, that found little Cassandra in the snow less than a mile from her home at 33 Aldrich Road, Mountaindale in upstate New York. At first she thought it was a doll lying in the snow but when she got out of her car to investigate, she saw it was a little child.

Around the same time Cassandra’s father, Douglas Weronick, called 911 at 7:03 am to report his daughter missing. He handed the phone over to his wife, Lisa, so that he could begin searching the neighborhood. Only three minutes later—while Lisa Weronick was still on the phone with dispatchers — the neighbor called 911 to report she’d found a little girl’s body.

While out searching for his missing daughter, Douglas Weronick heard the call for a child with cardiac arrest broadcast over another neighbor’s police scanner. He went up the road to the address - to his neighbor Diana Dimilia's house -  and discovered his daughter’s body in the snow just off the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the youngest of three children.

"When I left this morning it was about 9 degrees, so it was down in the single digits, I mean bitter, bitter cold last night and you know it's amazing that she could have even gotten this far," said neighbor Diana Dimilia.

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The police believe that it was around 3 am that Cassandra wandered off in the cold. The family dog started barking about that time. Cassandra's mom, Lisa, was woken up by the noise. She discovered that the door was left slightly open and - believing that the dog had opened the door - shut it and bolted it and then went back to sleep.

Police say Cassandra had wandered away from home before, but was quickly found her at a neighbor's house. The Weronick's had even made efforts to prevent her from sneaking off again.

"The parents had a couple locks on the door, evidently she was able to bypass the latch and lock to get out of the house so I think her own ingenuity was probably part of the problem," said Olson.

At the Spring Glen Grocery, the owner, Ramila Patel, told CBS 2 the parents often stopped in with Cassandra and their two older boys.

"I know the family, husband and wife, [they're] wonderful. This is so sad, oh my gosh," said Patel.

The investigation continues, but police say there are no signs of foul play, just a tragic set of circumstances.

94-Year-Old Woman Arrested

Theodora Garreau, 94, a resident of Westminster Commons, a nursing home located at 560 St. Charles Ave, NE Atlanta, Ga. was arrested by the police on the charge that she assaulted a fellow resident with a telephone. Her relatives say that not only was she arrested but she was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where she was shackled to a bed.

Theodora's daughter, Fran Daniel, said her mother, who suffers from dementia, was charged with assaulting her roommate. The police report states that Garreau threw a phone at her roommate, causing a small cut to the roommate's lip. Jeff Andrews, the administrator for Wellington Healthcare which owns Wellington Commons Nursing Home, told WSB-TV Channel 2 that Garreau and the roommate were involved in a physical altercation and had to be separated by a nurse, adding that Garreau was the aggressor.

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According to Fran Daniel, the nursing home reacted in an unprofessional manner and should have resolved the incident without having to call the police.

“She had meds to be sedated. They could have restrained her safely and taken care of the issue in-house,” said Daniel. "I really don't understand how she can be charged with battery.”

Daniel said she isn't happy that her mother was also allegedly shackled to a bed while she was under arrest at Grady and has hired an attorney, Robert Kaiden.

The nursing home claims they had no choice in the matter. They asked the roommate's family if they wanted to press charges and that's when police were called. The officers initially cited Garreau with disorderly conduct but later upgraded the charge to simple battery. The police have declined to make any comments on the case.

Attorney Robert Kaiden insisted Garreau, who weighs about 80 pounds and has arthritis, did not hurt the other woman. He plans to fight the charges and is considering a civil suit against the nursing home.

“They violated her patients’ bill of rights,” Kaiden said. “You’d think they would have some sort of standard operating procedure to handle this in a different way.”

“She didn't throw a phone at anybody. She doesn't recall throwing a phone at anybody,” he said, "calling the police was a drastic measure. I think it's borderline abuse. I think they have abused this woman.”

Theodora Garreau was released on bond. She is no longer staying at Westminster Commons. Her family is searching for another nursing home.

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The Fritzl Drama Continues

Josef Fritzl, 74, is in jail. He belongs there. He is the monster that kidnapped his own daughter, Elisabeth, imprisoned her for 24 years and raped her continuously resulting in 7 children --- six of whom are still alive. The five part video documentary -  "The Josef Fritzl Story" - shines a light on the dark side of human nature and gives us a peek into the world of a truly evil person. For more about Josef Fritzl and family find all the posts here: The Josef Fritzl Page.


His trial date has been set for March 16, 2009 in St. Poelten, Austria where he is currently being held in jail. According to Franz Cutka, deputy head of Sankt Poelten criminal court, the initial proceedings will be open to the public and media but later access will depend on further developments in the case, he added. Fritzl has been charged with murder, rape, sequestration, incest, grievous assault and slavery. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Previous problems in getting a jury together seem to have been overcome. According to Austrian law, the jury consists of eight members, with two substitutes. Thirty police officers and prison warders will be on duty to keep order in what is regarded as the most shocking crime in modern Austrian history. Over 250 media representatives have requested permission to attend the trial.

Meanwhile, Josef Fritzl has been making some news for himself. He has announced that he has converted to Buddhism. According to reports he spends most of the 23 hours a day in his cell studying the peaceful Far Eastern philosophy.

Speaking through his lawyer Rudolf Mayer, Fritzl said that he has found a lot of comfort in reading Buddhist literature and finds the religion "fascinating". Fritzl first discovered Buddhism on a family holiday in Thailand but has only started studying the religion in depth while behind bars.

He hopes to be reincarnated as a decent person in his next life if he can help stop other weirdos copying his crimes. As if to reinforce that notion, Fritzl has invited criminal psychologists to study his warped mind. He wants experts to quiz him to work out the root of his evil. Fritzl told his lawyer: "They should look at what makes me tick and learn from it to stop anything like this happening again. "

Fritzl said: "I realize now that I am not normal, and I see that somebody who did what I did cannot be regarded as normal.  With the help of therapists I want to know what the real reasons are for why I behaved like I did and I want to get treatment, I want to be healthy again at some point."

‘I am aware I will spend a very long time in prison. I would like to be examined by as many profilers, psychologists and psychiatrists as possible, preferably the most renowned in the world. They should look into the deepest depths of my soul and learn from it for future cases.’

Professor Reinhardt Haller, an Austrian forensic psychiatrist mentioned by Fritzl, said:

‘It would be in the service of science to examine this unique case as thoroughly as possible. From the point of view of both medicine and criminology his personality is most certainly worth examining.’

Teen Attacks Parents over Cellphone Use

This is one of those stories that makes you stop and think. Some parents really have no control over their kids. Discipline seems to be a concept of a bygone era. Some children have lost all respect for parental authority. The following story may not be typical of the problems most parents face but at the same time it is not as uncommon as you might believe.

The following appeared in the news journal Delawareonline.com written by Ira Porter dated Jan.26, 2009:

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A 16-year-old Laurel girl threatened her parents with two large kitchen knives early Sunday after her father confiscated her cell phone.

The frightened parents retreated into their bedroom and locked the door, then called police. It took officers about 10 minutes to calm the girl and persuade her to put down the knives, Delaware State Police said.

"I can't comment on the state of mind of the juvenile, but this is one extreme example of a teenager having something as little as her phone taken away from her and how it affected her emotionally," said Cpl. Bruce Harris.

State police said they were called to the home in the 11000 block of Sandy Ridge Drive at about 3 a.m.

Police said the girl's father heard her talking on the phone in her bedroom, and knew that there were no minutes left on her phone.

He said he suspected the girl had stolen money from her mother's purse earlier in the day to purchase minutes on a prepaid card, Harris said.

After the father took the phone from the girl, she became angry, grabbed two large kitchen knives and threatened her parents, police said.

The parents locked themselves in a bedroom and called police. Police said the teen violently attacked the door.

Police responded and talked the girl into putting the knives down after 10 minutes of negotiating. She was charged with possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, two counts of aggravated menacing, terroristic threatening, disorderly conduct, theft, criminal mischief and possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited.

She was committed to Stevenson House after failing to pay $14,000 secured bond.

The William Marion Stevenson House Detention Center is a lock-secure facility staffed for 55 pre-adjudicated male and female youth under the age of 18 years old, located in Milford, Delaware.

Several types of programs are available: HIV prevention, pregnancy prevention, aggression resistance, and drug education. Certified providers offer medical, dental, and psychological services. Religious services of various faiths are regularly scheduled or can be provided upon request.

Academic education is provided by public education teachers. Credits received in these facilities can be transferred towards a high school diploma or GED.

Throughout the resident’s stay, staff maintain contact with the family to assist in adjusting the youth’s behavior towards becoming a better citizen. Services are available to assist them in providing guidance to help their child to meet this goal.

They also have a strict policy with regards to telephone use:

Once a youth is admitted, they are given the opportunity to make two phone calls; after those calls, all phone calls are collect. Each resident will be given a PIN number and only allowed to make outgoing calls to the phone numbers on their phone sheet. Residents may receive phone calls from court workers, social workers, attorneys, DFS workers, and Aftercare/Probation workers at any time. Resident may telephone their attorney at any reasonable time if the attorney agrees to accept the call or the charges. Residents may call parents, legal guardians, foster parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings as indicated on their phone sheet.

At least here there seems to be strict discipline. I am sure the teen who thought is was OK to pull a knife on her parents will have a long time to think about actions and consequences. She will in all likelihood end up with a criminal record which might follow her for the rest of her life. Did things really have to go this far??

Gay Mayor Refuses to Resign

Mayor Sam Adams, 45, publicly apologized for lying early in his campaign about the relationship with an 18-year-old man, Beau Breedlove, in 2005. The openly gay Portland, OR. mayor is also accused of asking the teen to lie for him as well. This has prompted many to call for the mayor to resign. He has refused to do so.

The mayor met privately with the four city commissioners to discuss his political future just three weeks after being sworn in. The next day Sam Adams informed City Commissioner Randy Leonard and the other commissioners that he had decided not to resign.

In a statement posted on his website the mayor said he believed that he still had positive contributions to make, drawing on his 20 years of public service to the city. He thanked his supporters and his critics and promised: "I will work harder than I have ever worked before to make sure Portland meets our challenges."

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Although the Mayor has his supporters calls for him to resign have come from a number of organizations and individuals. The Oregonian of Portland in an editorial has called for the mayor to resign as have other smaller Portland newspapers and the police union.

The gay-oriented publication Just Out, is also calling for his resignation. Its publisher, Marty Davis says: "I feel at this point, his character has a deep flaw" :

"By his own admission, by committing the act of lying to the citizens of Portland, Adams has failed to show the principled character that this publication feels is a basic requirement for an elected official," the editorial said.

Mayor Sam Adams sat down with the editorial board of the Oregonian and gave a videotaped interview. Afterward the newspaper, in an editorial, said:

Nobody -- not even the mayor -- knows if his sense of right and wrong will fail him again, but he is asking us to give him another chance. In his Tuesday news conference Adams responded to one question this way: "If it's no longer in the city's best interest for me to stay on, I will resign."

He's already said he doesn't plan to quit, but we submit that it is not in the city's interest to have a mayor who cannot vouch for his own character under fire.

He should resign.

Adams was elected easily last year, 2008, making Portland the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor. He was sworn in Jan. 1.

Rumors of the relationship had surfaced when the then-city commissioner was getting ready to run for mayor in 2007, but he and the teen, Beau Breedlove, both denied it at the time. Adams said he lied then because the rumors claimed the teen was underage. He said the relationship did not begin until after the teen turned 18 in June 2005. That is the legal age of consent in Oregon. He admitted he asked the teen initially to deny the relationship. "I am deeply sorry that I asked him to lie for me," he said.

Beau Breedlove also gave an interview to the Oregonian to explain in his own words what really happened between himself and the Mayor. While agreeing with the Mayor that the two of them did not have sex until two weeks after his 18th birthday in June 2005, Breedlove said that the Mayor had kissed him twice "on the lips" when he was still 17 years old. He also says he welcomed Adams' kisses and romantic interest, even though he was underage.

Beau Breedlove, now 21, told The Oregonian that Adams kissed him on the lips on two occasions before he turned 18 -- once in Adams' car and the other in the second-floor men's room in City Hall after a party that Adams, then a city commissioner, had in his office.

"I do not see any relationship that I ever had with Sam as me being taken advantage of," Breedlove said. "I do not feel like I was ever a victim. I may have been 17, but I was an adult, and I knew what I was doing."

Adams said he didn't recall kissing Breedlove. But Adams said that even if he did, his earlier denials stand.

"I said that there was no sexual contact before he was 18," Adams said. Asked again whether he kissed Breedlove, Adams replied: "I don't remember, but if I did, it was not sexual contact."

Sam Adams'  attorney, Robert Weaver, said that even if Adams kissed a 17-year-old Breedlove, Adams broke no laws.

"There is nothing that (Breedlove) has said that is inconsistent with what the mayor has said," Weaver said. "The mayor has said there was no sexual activity. Kissing is not sexual activity."

Oregon State law says third-degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor, can occur when someone subjects another person to "sexual contact" when the person either does not consent to the advance or is younger than 18. The law defines sexual contact as "any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person ... for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either party."

Sam Adams is under criminal investigation by the Oregon attorney general's office.