Tyler Weinman Gets State Aid

Tyler Weinman, 18, is accused of mutilating and killing 19 cats. He faces 19 counts each of felony animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body, and 4 counts of burglary. He is free on $249,000 bail and wears an electronic monitoring device to track his whereabouts.

Tyler Weinman is a high-school dropout who used to work as an aquatic sports camp counselor. He currently has no job and no money. He does however have a family who appear to be comfortable. And he does have a lawyer, defense attorney David Macey, who has been paid a $50,000 retainer fee.

The money for both the $249,000 bail and the $50,000 lawyer is coming from Tyler Weinman's grandfather, Richard Weinman.

Defense lawyer David Macey told the court that Tyler was broke and was going to need financial assistance in order to defend himself.

"This is a massive investigation, the likes I've never seen in 14 years. He's going to need help from the judicial commission to have a competent defense,'' Macey said.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge John Thornton granted David Macey's motion for assistance. The judge approved $10,000 to pay for depositions of more than 100 witnesses listed by prosecutors and an additional $2,500 for investigative costs. He also cut the daily cost of Weinman's electronic monitoring bracelet.

The state's Justice Administration Commission, which administers state funds for defendants who can't pay legal bills, objected to Weinman's request. Miami-Dade prosecutors did not raise any objections.

Weinman was arrested on Sunday 6/14/09 by Miami-Dade police on 19 counts of felony animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and 4 counts of burglary. For further details click the following links:

• Cat Killer Caught


• Cat Killer in Court


• Cat Killer Released on Bond


• Cat Killer AffidavRFeleased

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60-Year-Old Man Sexually Abused

People who work with the mentally disabled, children and other vulnerable members of society are placed in a position of special trust. To violate that position in any way is something that should be dealt with swiftly and unequivocally.

Carolyn M. Wheeler, 29, of Cortlandt is one such person who appears to have broken that special trust. She was charged with felony second-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person and misdemeanor second-degree sex abuse.

Wheeler was employed at the Somers Manor Nursing Home located at 189 Route 100, Somers, N.Y. as a recreational leader. On the day in question (Aug. 17) she was off duty and had returned to her workplace. At about 6pm she was caught by a staff member having sexual relations with a 60-year-old male patient, a resident of the home, who suffers from severe mental defects.

The police were called in and Wheeler was arrested. Investigators are not sure whether this was a one-time occurrence or if there has been a history of sexual contact with this patient or any others.

"Our investigation so far is only revealing this incident," state police Investigator Jennifer Hahl said. "The only reason we know about this incident was because a staff member walked in on it."

Investigation is difficult because many of the patients in the home suffer from dementia and other mental conditions. Wheeler has been fired from her job. She was arraigned before the Honorable Michael McDermot and was subsequently remanded to Westchester County Jail and later released on $3,000 bail. She is scheduled to reappear in the Town of Somers Court on 08/24/09 at 5:30 pm.

Any further questions in relation to this arrest should be directed to Investigator J. Hahl of the New York State Police Somers Bureau of Criminal Investigation Office.

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Teacher Paid Student for Sex

Melissa Ann Andreini, 28, a special education teacher who taught at the Helper Junior High School in Helper, Utah resigned her position on August 3, 2009 after being charged with three counts of third-degree felony unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

She is accused of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old male student, a ninth grader, who attends the same school but was not in her any of her classes. Not only is Andreini accused of having sex with the teen but also of paying him, on at least three different occasions, $500 after having sex. Court documents did not specify whether the money was payment for having sex or payment to ensure the teen's silence.

The mother of the 15-year-old boy heard about the relationship with the teacher and went to her house to confront her about it on July 3rd. According to court documents, Andreini admitted to the mother that she did indeed have sex, multiple times, with her son and paid him a total of about $1,500. The mother reported the incident to the police and Andreini was arrested and charged with three counts of third-degree felony unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

Andreini was booked into the Carbon County jail and released after posting $10,000 bail. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 28th before Judge Douglas Thomas Price. If convicted, Andreini faces up to five years in prison on each count.

Robert Cox, special programs director for the Carbon County School District said that Andreini was hired as a special education teacher in the fall of 2006. She submitted a letter of resignation to the district on Aug. 3.

"We take very seriously the safety of our students," Cox said. "We want our students to feel safe and feel comfortable in school. We regret that this would happen in our district or in any other district."

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Fiancee Attacked Before Marriage

This is the strange case of  former Alderman Keith Maynard, 42, who had represented the 4th ward of Ansonia, Conn. He is accused of breaking into his then fiancee's home and assaulting her, four days before the marriage. He resigned from his position on the Ansonia Board of Alderman on the eve of his arrest.

Maynard is accused of knocking Ida Lucarelli to the ground, covering her with a blanket and hitting her with a baseball bat, police said. She did not recognize her attacker, she told police. He was wearing a mask. See a copy of the affidavit here.

Alderman Keith Maynard was arraigned on charges of second-degree assault, first-degree unlawful restraint and first-degree reckless endangerment. The judge ordered Maynard to stay away from his Cook Street home. He was also ordered to turn over any firearms he may have. He posted a $50,000 bond on Aug. 20th and was released. He is due back in court on Sept. 4th.

"I've worked with Keith Maynard for many years, while he was on the board, in matters of importance to neighborhoods, both in his ward and throughout the city. and that's why this is a sad day," Police Chief Kevin Hale told the Register. "Nevertheless, we went where the facts took us.

"Domestic violence is a top priority for this police department. We take these matters very seriously," he added.

According to police spokesman Lt. Andrew Cota, the arrest stems from an incident July 1 on Cook Street involving Maynard's fiancee, Ida Lucarelli. On that date, his fiancee reported to police that around 11:15 a.m., she had come home to find a man in her house. She claimed the man threw a blanket over her head, hit her with a bat and ran out the back door. She did not recognize the intruder who wore a mask during the attack, police said. She was treated at Griffin Hospital for minor abrasions.

Police used witness statements and cell phone records -- which showed Keith Maynard was in the Valley around the time of the attack instead of in Westport, like he claimed -- to identify Maynard as a suspect in the attack.

The phone records also showed that after Ida Maynard called Keith Maynard to tell him she had been assaulted, Maynard called his brother, Tyrone, and a woman whom he identified as more than just a friend.

Asked by police the reason he attacked his wife, Maynard replied, "No idea why I did it"

Police Lt. Andrew Cota said police have not identified a motive and are no longer searching for one. He said neither Keith Maynard nor Ida Maynard told police of any problems they were having as a couple.

"We don't have anything that points at a motivation for us. Sometimes, you don't have one," he said.

Cota added, "Obviously there's something. But (Keith Maynard) didn't define it. He didn't tell us why."

"We can't believe somebody could be evil enough to beat his fiancee, go back to work and then marry her four days later in front of friends and family," Jennifer Lucarelli, Ida's sister, said. "And, at the wedding, to stand up in front of 200 people and give a toast, thanking her trainers at the gym for giving her the strength to survive, all for a girlfriend. It's just shameful."

Maynard told his wife he'd been the masked attacker earlier in the week and asked for reconciliation, Ida Maynard said.

"He'd have a better chance of God coming down and marrying him," she said

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Cute, Sexy....Trouble

Take a good look at the picture of the waitress. She is cute, some might even say sexy, sitting on a police car, holding a rifle. This picture could easily adorn the bedroom wall of many a hotblooded male. Well, there are six people who wish that that particular photo had never been taken.

That picture caused the firing of one police deputy; three others received 3-day suspensions without pay; another received a letter of reprimand. It also left Midland Sheriff Gary Painter more than just a little bit embarrassed.

The picture was taken at the Twin Peaks Restaurant — where waitresses typically wear halter tops and short shorts — at 100 Louis Henna Blvd., Round Rock, Tx. The restaurant promotes its "fun, friendly and sometimes flirty atmosphere!"


View 100 Louis Henna Blvd in a larger map

A group of Midland County deputies were in Round Rock for training when they decided to stop by the Twin Peaks restaurant for drinks. There they met a waitress named "Bambi" - her real name is Vanda Purvis - and after between 3 to 5 beers each, they invited her out into the parking lot to pose for them with an AR-15 assault rifle.

An off-duty Manor police officer, Brian Wells, was passing by and saw the plain-clothed deputies hand the waitress the assault rifle. He flagged down one of Round Rock’s officers and told them what he saw.

That was when all hell broke loose.

According to the incident report several Round Rock police officers swarmed the area after hearing about the assault rifle.

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said in a news conference: "They did exactly what they were supposed to do" and that his deputies would have done the same thing if an AR-15 was being carried around like that.

Painter was particularly irked by part of the incident report, where it stated two of the deputies, Evans and Wright, told a Round Rock investigator "they would hope for some form of professional courtesy" while questioning them.

"I am very embarrassed by what had happened, and I am very hurt at the same time," Painter said. "In this particular incident, people got stupid, pretty quick. I am mortified by it."

Painter said it would have been a "knee-jerk reaction" to fire all of the deputies involved. Instead, he interviewed each deputy separately and doled out reprimands based on the deputies' participation in the incident.

Sheriff Gary Painter said he fired deputy Daniel Subia for giving the waitress the assault rifle. Deputies Miguel Ramos, Chris Evans and Ron Wright were given three days off the job without pay. Deputy Art Nunez, who stayed inside the Twin Peaks restaurant that night, was given a written reprimand for his role in what Painter called an "embarrassment" for the sheriff’s department.

Eric Poteet, a spokesman for Round Rock police, said they did not charge the deputies because no crime was committed. Dee Hobbs, chief of the criminal division of the Williamson County attorney's office, had said the officers could have faced charges of disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail.

Twin Peaks is a restaurant chain that advertises itself as having "twice as much fun as other restaurants" on its website, placing that phrase next to a model dressed in a crop top holding a mug of beer and a meal in a basket. Twin Peaks restaurant manager Sam Baiocco declined comment.

The photo was taken with a camera belonging to the Midland County Sheriff's office and Painter, while showing it, said: "I don’t think it was worth somebody’s job".

I wonder if the deputies were planning to drive after their "3 to 5 beers each" and would they have asked for "some form of  professional courtesy" if they were stopped.

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