U.S. Supreme Court clears way for execution of defiant VA murderer

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On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of VA death row inmate Paul Warner Powell, 30, which will allow the state to set another date for his execution. Powell was actually sentenced to death as a result of a letter he wrote to Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, in which he bragged about his horrific crime.

Powell was convicted of the 1999 murder of Stacie Reed and the rape of her 14-year-old sister in Manassas, VA.

Not long after his conviction, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the verdict, claiming that the prosecution failed to prove that Powell had committed death penalty-eligible offenses, prior to killing Reed. Such offenses include rape and robbery.

The court however, upheld Powell’s convictions for the rape and attempted murder of Stacie Reed's younger sister.

As Powell sat in his prison cell in 2001, thinking he was free from further prosecution for the murder of Stacie Reed, he wrote a profanity-laced, taunting letter to Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert. The letter revealed previously unknown details of the crime.

Powell wrote: “Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all ... are.”

Powell said he went to the Reed home to confront her about her current boyfriend. He forced Stacie to the floor and tried to rape her. He said that when she tried to resist, he stabbed her in the chest and finished her off by stomping on her throat.

Powell continued: “I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha! Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid ... and saving me?”

Powell also admitted that after he killed Stacie, he hid in the house waiting for her little sister, upon her return from school he viciously attacked her and thought that she would soon die.

In light of this admission from Powell, he was not only charged again with the murder of Stacie Reed, but with her attempted rape as well, which made him eligible for the death penalty. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.

Last July, Powell was granted a stay by the Supreme Court while they deliberated whether or not to hear his appeal. Today’s rejection of his case was Powell’s last chance to stop his execution, barring intervention from Gov. Bob McDonnell, which is highly unlikely.

Ebert said: “I'm hopeful this is the last legal chapter in the long history of this case. The survivors -- Stacie's mother and [her sister] -- have really been traumatized by delay after delay. Hopefully they're going to get some peace and closure after all these years.”

In an email to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Stacie’s mom, Lorraine Reed Whoberry said simply “Praise God,” when told of the court’s decision.

 

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Court upholds conviction of pedophile priest

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On January 10, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts unanimously upheld Father Paul Shanley's 2005 conviction for the rape of a young boy. The ruling ended any hopes the former priest had for another trial. Shanley is currently serving a 12 to 15 year prison sentence for the crime.

The case which set a precedent for the use of repressed memories by victims of sexual abuse, marked the lowest point in the Catholic Church’s long molestation scandal, and what many believe was the beginning of the end for the church’s viability in the U.S.

In a statement, the Court concluded: "In sum, the judge's finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature. ... There was no abuse of discretion in the admission of expert testimony on the subject of dissociative amnesia."

For decades, the Catholic Church shielded and protected child-molesting priests. As complaints would come pouring-in from parents threatening to involve the police, the church would simply ship the offending priest off on a sabbatical, eventually pawning them off on another unsuspecting parish where the process would begin again. That practice is nothing more than aiding and abetting known criminals. The enormous toll of lives destroyed by this disgusting and cowardly exercise by the Catholic Church will never be fully known.

In his book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, Leon Podles wrote: "In late 1993, Shanley was sent to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for evaluation. The Boston archdiocese has refused to release this evaluation, but other released files show that Shanley admitted to nine sexual encounters, of which four involved boys, and that he was diagnosed as 'narcissistic' and 'histrionic'. Shanley admitted that he was 'attracted to adolescents.’”

The Catholic Church has been forced to pay-out millions to the victims of pedophile priests. Fed up with the hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of innocent children, many Americans have fled the Church. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, 65 churches have been forced to close their doors due to a sharp decline in parishioners.

Boston was once considered the center of the American Catholic society. Catholic worshipers in that city were shocked to learn of the outrageous behavior displayed by Cardinal Bernard Law and the offending priests he protected for so many years. One of those priests that Law moved around to several different parishes was Father Paul Shanley, incredibly, he even served at Exodus House, a home for troubled youths from 1976-79.

As a result of this pedophile’s contact with so many children, the diocese secretly settled many lawsuits brought against the church by the parents of Shanley‘s victims.

As it turned out, Fr. Shanley was not only a molester, but an advocate for NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association). While Shanley was eventually convicted of child rape, Cardinal Law was rewarded by Pope John Paul II, who brought him to Rome where he now holds a prominent position within the Vatican.

 

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Disabled woman raped in broad daylight on sidewalk, no one stops to help

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It was about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as a 26-year-old woman walked from a friend’s house to the West Toledo branch library, when police say she was approached and asked for sex by Anferney Fontenet, 15.

When the woman refused, Fontenet allegedly placed a pair of scissors to the woman’s chest, pulled down her pants and began raping her on the sidewalk, in full view of oncoming traffic.

Though several cars drove by as the attack occurred, and despite her screams for help, no one stopped to assist the woman. Instead, a few drivers called 911, and one man blew his horn at the assailant.

Incredibly, as the woman lie on the sidewalk after the attacker fled, she asked a pedestrian if she could use his cell phone, he simply ignored her and kept walking. The rapist had stolen her phone as well.

The victim who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and walks with a cane, lives in a nearby group home.

She told the Toledo Blade: "I'm ticked off because people were doing nothing. Just driving by. What kind of humans are we becoming?"

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre told reporters: "I cannot think of another case ever in my 32 and half years ever when someone was raped on the side of the road. Ever."

Numerous witness descriptions helped police locate the alleged attacker.

According to police, Fontenet confessed to the rape.

TPD Sgt. Sam Harris said: "He told us that he saw the woman walking alone on the street and in his mind he determined that he was going to have sex with her."

Fontenet has been charged with juvenile delinquency in connection with rape and robbery. Prosecutors will ask that he be tried as an adult.

 

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Norfolk woman convicted of killing her daughter had history of child abuse

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On Tuesday, Jathiya Wooden, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the starvation/dehydration death of her 4-year-old daughter, Tamera.

Around 4:00 p.m., on Aug. 30, 2008, Wooden decided to punish her daughter for wetting the bed by placing her in a corner of the apartment she shared with her live-in boyfriend. She stacked furniture around the child so that she could not leave.

Already terribly underweight and suffering from dehydration, little Tamera was unable to even sit down in her makeshift jail cell.

Around 2:00 a.m., Tamera began beating on the wall and screaming for her mother to let her out. Wooden responded to her daughter’s cries by beating her for several minutes with an umbrella.

It was not until 2:00 p.m. the following day, a full 22 hours after pinning her daughter in a corner, that Wooden discovered that Tamera was dead. Apparently, her boyfriend, Troy Edwards sat for hours playing video games, while the girl‘s lifeless body lie only feet away..

Rather than reporting the girl’s death, Wooden and Edwards shoved her body into a closet. Wooden then called the police and claimed that her daughter ran away from a nearby playground and was now missing.

Of course, it did not take long for the pair’s story to unravel.

Wooden told police that around 9:00 a.m., she screamed at her daughter to wake up. But did not investigate when the girl failed to respond.

According to court documents, Wooden said: “I thought she was just playing, like she was just mad or something, she was just trying to be smart, probably one of her games she was playing.”

Wooden continued: “If I knew I was hitting her somewhere that could have killed her I would have never done it, but it was in the middle of the night, and it was dark, and I didn't know.”

The girl’s autopsy results showed that she died from malnutrition and dehydration, her little body simply shut down after being forced to stand for hours. She was also covered in bruises, with many of the wounds perfectly matching the tip of Wooden’s umbrella.

The 4-year-old weighed only 26 pounds.

Wooden has been convicted of child abuse in the past, and though she has six children, only Tamera and her infant daughter were living with her at the time. Two of the children lived with their father.

Another child was taken from Wooden and lives with her mother.

Prior to the child’s death, Tamera’s paternal grandmother filed a complaint with local child protective services against Wooden. However, no investigation was conducted.

Wooden will be sentenced in May. She faces up to life in prison.

Her boyfriend, Edwards, has already pleaded guilty to murder and child-neglect charges but is yet to be sentenced.

 

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Facebook meeting results in armed robbery

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Police in Suffolk, VA have arrested a 16-year-old girl, who they say made a date with a 24-year-old Chesapeake man for the purpose of robbing him.

Suffolk public information officer Debbie George said that on Tuesday evening, the man drove to a house in the 800 block of Milford Lane to meet the girl. Upon arrival, he was approached by three assailants who robbed him at gunpoint.

The suspects allegedly stole the mans wallet, cell phone, and tools from his truck.

The girl was charged with armed robbery and is being held at the Tidewater Detention Home.

Suffolk police are also looking for Bruce J. Dignard Jr., of Windsor, and Bradley S. Sordelet, 25, of Chesapeake. Both are wanted for armed robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, as well as conspiracy to commit robbery.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of these two suspects is asked to call police at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

 

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Court upholds conviction of pedophile priest

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On January 10, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts unanimously upheld Father Paul Shanley's 2005 conviction for the rape of a young boy. The ruling ended any hopes the former priest had for another trial. Shanley is currently serving a 12 to 15 year prison sentence for the crime.

The case which set a precedent for the use of repressed memories by victims of sexual abuse, marked the lowest point in the Catholic Church’s long molestation scandal, and what many believe was the beginning of the end for the church’s viability in the U.S.

In a statement, the Court concluded: "In sum, the judge's finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature. ... There was no abuse of discretion in the admission of expert testimony on the subject of dissociative amnesia."

For decades, the Catholic Church shielded and protected child-molesting priests. As complaints would come pouring-in from parents threatening to involve the police, the church would simply ship the offending priest off on a sabbatical, eventually pawning them off on another unsuspecting parish where the process would begin again. That practice is nothing more than aiding and abetting known criminals. The enormous toll of lives destroyed by this disgusting and cowardly exercise by the Catholic Church will never be fully known.

In his book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, Leon Podles wrote: "In late 1993, Shanley was sent to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for evaluation. The Boston archdiocese has refused to release this evaluation, but other released files show that Shanley admitted to nine sexual encounters, of which four involved boys, and that he was diagnosed as 'narcissistic' and 'histrionic'. Shanley admitted that he was 'attracted to adolescents.’”

The Catholic Church has been forced to pay-out millions to the victims of pedophile priests. Fed up with the hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of innocent children, many Americans have fled the Church. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, 65 churches have been forced to close their doors due to a sharp decline in parishioners.

Boston was once considered the center of the American Catholic society. Catholic worshipers in that city were shocked to learn of the outrageous behavior displayed by Cardinal Bernard Law and the offending priests he protected for so many years. One of those priests that Law moved around to several different parishes was Father Paul Shanley, incredibly, he even served at Exodus House, a home for troubled youths from 1976-79.

As a result of this pedophile’s contact with so many children, the diocese secretly settled many lawsuits brought against the church by the parents of Shanley‘s victims.

As it turned out, Fr. Shanley was not only a molester, but an advocate for NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association). While Shanley was eventually convicted of child rape, Cardinal Law was rewarded by Pope John Paul II, who brought him to Rome where he now holds a prominent position within the Vatican.

 

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Disabled woman raped in broad daylight on sidewalk, no one stops to help

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It was about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as a 26-year-old woman walked from a friend’s house to the West Toledo branch library, when police say she was approached and asked for sex by Anferney Fontenet, 15.

When the woman refused, Fontenet allegedly placed a pair of scissors to the woman’s chest, pulled down her pants and began raping her on the sidewalk, in full view of oncoming traffic.

Though several cars drove by as the attack occurred, and despite her screams for help, no one stopped to assist the woman. Instead, a few drivers called 911, and one man blew his horn at the assailant.

Incredibly, as the woman lie on the sidewalk after the attacker fled, she asked a pedestrian if she could use his cell phone, he simply ignored her and kept walking. The rapist had stolen her phone as well.

The victim who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and walks with a cane, lives in a nearby group home.

She told the Toledo Blade: "I'm ticked off because people were doing nothing. Just driving by. What kind of humans are we becoming?"

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre told reporters: "I cannot think of another case ever in my 32 and half years ever when someone was raped on the side of the road. Ever."

Numerous witness descriptions helped police locate the alleged attacker.

According to police, Fontenet confessed to the rape.

TPD Sgt. Sam Harris said: "He told us that he saw the woman walking alone on the street and in his mind he determined that he was going to have sex with her."

Fontenet has been charged with juvenile delinquency in connection with rape and robbery. Prosecutors will ask that he be tried as an adult.

 

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U.S. Supreme Court clears way for execution of defiant VA murderer

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On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of VA death row inmate Paul Warner Powell, 30, which will allow the state to set another date for his execution. Powell was actually sentenced to death as a result of a letter he wrote to Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, in which he bragged about his horrific crime.

Powell was convicted of the 1999 murder of Stacie Reed and the rape of her 14-year-old sister in Manassas, VA.

Not long after his conviction, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the verdict, claiming that the prosecution failed to prove that Powell had committed death penalty-eligible offenses, prior to killing Reed. Such offenses include rape and robbery.

The court however, upheld Powell’s convictions for the rape and attempted murder of Stacie Reed's younger sister.

As Powell sat in his prison cell in 2001, thinking he was free from further prosecution for the murder of Stacie Reed, he wrote a profanity-laced, taunting letter to Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert. The letter revealed previously unknown details of the crime.

Powell wrote: “Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all ... are.”

Powell said he went to the Reed home to confront her about her current boyfriend. He forced Stacie to the floor and tried to rape her. He said that when she tried to resist, he stabbed her in the chest and finished her off by stomping on her throat.

Powell continued: “I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha! Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid ... and saving me?”

Powell also admitted that after he killed Stacie, he hid in the house waiting for her little sister, upon her return from school he viciously attacked her and thought that she would soon die.

In light of this admission from Powell, he was not only charged again with the murder of Stacie Reed, but with her attempted rape as well, which made him eligible for the death penalty. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.

Last July, Powell was granted a stay by the Supreme Court while they deliberated whether or not to hear his appeal. Today’s rejection of his case was Powell’s last chance to stop his execution, barring intervention from Gov. Bob McDonnell, which is highly unlikely.

Ebert said: “I'm hopeful this is the last legal chapter in the long history of this case. The survivors -- Stacie's mother and [her sister] -- have really been traumatized by delay after delay. Hopefully they're going to get some peace and closure after all these years.”

In an email to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Stacie’s mom, Lorraine Reed Whoberry said simply “Praise God,” when told of the court’s decision.

 

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Disabled woman raped in broad daylight on sidewalk, no one stops to help

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It was about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as a 26-year-old woman walked from a friend’s house to the West Toledo branch library, when police say she was approached and asked for sex by Anferney Fontenet, 15.

When the woman refused, Fontenet allegedly placed a pair of scissors to the woman’s chest, pulled down her pants and began raping her on the sidewalk, in full view of oncoming traffic.

Though several cars drove by as the attack occurred, and despite her screams for help, no one stopped to assist the woman. Instead, a few drivers called 911, and one man blew his horn at the assailant.

Incredibly, as the woman lie on the sidewalk after the attacker fled, she asked a pedestrian if she could use his cell phone, he simply ignored her and kept walking. The rapist had stolen her phone as well.

The victim who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and walks with a cane, lives in a nearby group home.

She told the Toledo Blade: "I'm ticked off because people were doing nothing. Just driving by. What kind of humans are we becoming?"

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre told reporters: "I cannot think of another case ever in my 32 and half years ever when someone was raped on the side of the road. Ever."

Numerous witness descriptions helped police locate the alleged attacker.

According to police, Fontenet confessed to the rape.

TPD Sgt. Sam Harris said: "He told us that he saw the woman walking alone on the street and in his mind he determined that he was going to have sex with her."

Fontenet has been charged with juvenile delinquency in connection with rape and robbery. Prosecutors will ask that he be tried as an adult.

 

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Court upholds conviction of pedophile priest

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On January 10, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts unanimously upheld Father Paul Shanley's 2005 conviction for the rape of a young boy. The ruling ended any hopes the former priest had for another trial. Shanley is currently serving a 12 to 15 year prison sentence for the crime.

The case which set a precedent for the use of repressed memories by victims of sexual abuse, marked the lowest point in the Catholic Church’s long molestation scandal, and what many believe was the beginning of the end for the church’s viability in the U.S.

In a statement, the Court concluded: "In sum, the judge's finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature. ... There was no abuse of discretion in the admission of expert testimony on the subject of dissociative amnesia."

For decades, the Catholic Church shielded and protected child-molesting priests. As complaints would come pouring-in from parents threatening to involve the police, the church would simply ship the offending priest off on a sabbatical, eventually pawning them off on another unsuspecting parish where the process would begin again. That practice is nothing more than aiding and abetting known criminals. The enormous toll of lives destroyed by this disgusting and cowardly exercise by the Catholic Church will never be fully known.

In his book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, Leon Podles wrote: "In late 1993, Shanley was sent to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for evaluation. The Boston archdiocese has refused to release this evaluation, but other released files show that Shanley admitted to nine sexual encounters, of which four involved boys, and that he was diagnosed as 'narcissistic' and 'histrionic'. Shanley admitted that he was 'attracted to adolescents.’”

The Catholic Church has been forced to pay-out millions to the victims of pedophile priests. Fed up with the hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of innocent children, many Americans have fled the Church. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, 65 churches have been forced to close their doors due to a sharp decline in parishioners.

Boston was once considered the center of the American Catholic society. Catholic worshipers in that city were shocked to learn of the outrageous behavior displayed by Cardinal Bernard Law and the offending priests he protected for so many years. One of those priests that Law moved around to several different parishes was Father Paul Shanley, incredibly, he even served at Exodus House, a home for troubled youths from 1976-79.

As a result of this pedophile’s contact with so many children, the diocese secretly settled many lawsuits brought against the church by the parents of Shanley‘s victims.

As it turned out, Fr. Shanley was not only a molester, but an advocate for NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association). While Shanley was eventually convicted of child rape, Cardinal Law was rewarded by Pope John Paul II, who brought him to Rome where he now holds a prominent position within the Vatican.

 

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Court upholds conviction of pedophile priest

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On January 10, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts unanimously upheld Father Paul Shanley's 2005 conviction for the rape of a young boy. The ruling ended any hopes the former priest had for another trial. Shanley is currently serving a 12 to 15 year prison sentence for the crime.

The case which set a precedent for the use of repressed memories by victims of sexual abuse, marked the lowest point in the Catholic Church’s long molestation scandal, and what many believe was the beginning of the end for the church’s viability in the U.S.

In a statement, the Court concluded: "In sum, the judge's finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature. ... There was no abuse of discretion in the admission of expert testimony on the subject of dissociative amnesia."

For decades, the Catholic Church shielded and protected child-molesting priests. As complaints would come pouring-in from parents threatening to involve the police, the church would simply ship the offending priest off on a sabbatical, eventually pawning them off on another unsuspecting parish where the process would begin again. That practice is nothing more than aiding and abetting known criminals. The enormous toll of lives destroyed by this disgusting and cowardly exercise by the Catholic Church will never be fully known.

In his book, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, Leon Podles wrote: "In late 1993, Shanley was sent to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for evaluation. The Boston archdiocese has refused to release this evaluation, but other released files show that Shanley admitted to nine sexual encounters, of which four involved boys, and that he was diagnosed as 'narcissistic' and 'histrionic'. Shanley admitted that he was 'attracted to adolescents.’”

The Catholic Church has been forced to pay-out millions to the victims of pedophile priests. Fed up with the hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of innocent children, many Americans have fled the Church. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, 65 churches have been forced to close their doors due to a sharp decline in parishioners.

Boston was once considered the center of the American Catholic society. Catholic worshipers in that city were shocked to learn of the outrageous behavior displayed by Cardinal Bernard Law and the offending priests he protected for so many years. One of those priests that Law moved around to several different parishes was Father Paul Shanley, incredibly, he even served at Exodus House, a home for troubled youths from 1976-79.

As a result of this pedophile’s contact with so many children, the diocese secretly settled many lawsuits brought against the church by the parents of Shanley‘s victims.

As it turned out, Fr. Shanley was not only a molester, but an advocate for NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association). While Shanley was eventually convicted of child rape, Cardinal Law was rewarded by Pope John Paul II, who brought him to Rome where he now holds a prominent position within the Vatican.

 

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VA Amber Alert called-off, stepfather charged in boy's death

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On Tuesday night, Va. State Police called-off the Amber Alert issued for 2-year-old Aveion Malik Lewis, the next day, police in Roanoke charged the boy’s stepfather, Brandon Lockett, with child neglect, improper disposal of a human body and obstruction of justice.

According to police, Lockett has admitted that the child was dead before he contacted authorities. As yet, there is no information into how the boy died.

The Amber Alert began on Friday, after Lockett reported Aveion’s abduction late Thursday afternoon.

Lockett initially claimed that three assailants forced their way into the family’s Jamestown Place apartment, struck him unconscious, and when he awoke, his stepson was gone and his 4-year-old daughter was bound and gagged.

He said that the kidnappers left a $10,000 ransom note.

Though police were suspicious of Lockett’s story, they continued searching for the toddler, conducting traffic stops, going door-to-door in his neighborhood, and passing out fliers.

Roanoke Police Chief Joe Gaskins told reporters: "We had some reservations about the stories that were being told, but considering the child, we couldn't afford to assume that an abduction had not occurred, so we certainly had to work it from the angle that there had been an abduction."

 

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Supreme Court says convicted cop-killer Mumia can be executed

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The Supreme Court has just thrown out a lower court ruling which blocked Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence for the murder a Philadelphia police officer nearly three decades ago.

However, the High Court also recommended that the Third Court of Appeals take another look at Mumia’s claims that the jury in his capital case had not been instructed properly.

The proceedings are but the latest in the ongoing saga for the cop-killer, turned left-wing celebrity.

December 9, marked the 28th anniversary of the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. While the voice of Officer Faulkner has been silent for more than a quarter of a century, his killer is very much alive and his voice is heard quite often. The former Black Panther who goes by the name Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook) gives numerous interviews, delivers college commencement speeches, and even has a street named in in his honor. Despite his conviction and subsequent death sentence, Abu-Jamal continues to thumb his nose at the justice system and con those who seem to possess more sympathy than common sense.

On December 9, 1981, Officer Daniel Faulkner made a routine traffic stop of the car driven by William Cook (Abu-Jamal's brother). Cook exited the vehicle and began to struggle with Officer Faulkner. Abu-Jamal happened to be across the street, witnessing the struggle, he ran over and shot Faulkner in the back. Faulkner returned fire and hit Abu-Jamal in the chest. However, Abu-Jamal then stood over the officer as he lie on the ground and emptied his revolver, shooting him once in the face.

Fellow officers arrived at the scene and saw Officer Faulkner lying in the street in a pool of blood, while Abu-Jamal sat gasping for air on the curb. Officer Daniel Faulkner was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead later that night. Abu-Jamal was taken into custody and charged with Faulkner's murder.

In 1982, Abu-Jamal was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

Despite the overwhelming facts, Abu-Jamal has maintained his innocence and his lawyers have brought forth dozens of appeals. In 2001, they shopped the case to Federal District Court Judge William Yohn who actually overturned the death sentence. On March 17, 2006 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania filed an appeal with the U.S. Third Circuit, to reinstate the execution of Abu-Jamal. Gov. Ed Rendell has promised to sign the death warrant.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham has fought doggedly to reinstate the death penalty for Abu-Jamal. She has often characterized his conviction as "the most open-and-shut case" she has ever tried. Abraham has pointed out that despite his claims of innocence, Abu-Jamal "has never produced his own brother, who was present at the time of the murder, yet he has offered up various individuals who would claim that one trial witness or another must have lied; or that some other individual has only recently been discovered who has special knowledge about the murder; or that someone has fallen out of the skies, who is supposedly willing to confess to the murder of Officer Faulkner."

Among the many facts that Abu-Jamal has not been able to explain is how he received the bullet wound in the chest, nor why he was discovered at the murder scene. Despite his obvious guilt, groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the NAACP have continued to support Abu-Jamal for the last 25 years.

Since imprisoned, Abu-Jamal published a book, has been interviewed by Vanity Fair and National Public Radio, and even given commencement speeches via videotape to Evergreen State College, UC Santa Cruz, Antioch College, and Occidental College. He has also received a Bachelor's Degree from Goddard College as well as a Master's Degree from California State University, both courtesy of the taxpayers.

The cop-killer has even won international acclaim. Incredibly, three years ago the city of Paris awarded Abu-Jamal with an honorary citizenship. Fellow Black Panther Angela Davis attended the ceremony and accepted the award on his behalf. In 2006, the French city of Saint-Denis named a street after the murderer.

Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela have demanded a new trial for Abu-Jamal. While left-wing actors Danny Glover, Ossie Davis, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Asner have joined gangster-rappers Snoop Dogg and Public Enemy in supporting the militant murderer.

In 1994, Maureen Faulkner (Daniel's wife) learned that National Public Radio was planning to air a series of taped monologues by Abu-Jamal. It was at that time that she began her work to educate the public about the circumstances of her husband’s murder, and campaign to reinstate Abu-Jamal's death sentence.

Officer Daniel Faulkner was a five year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department as well as a U.S. Army veteran. At the time of his murder, Faulkner was attending classes in pursuit of his bachelor's degree as he had hopes of becoming a criminal prosecutor. He left behind his young wife Maureen, the two were married for only a year when he was killed.

*Reporter’s note: When a dedicated police officer is gunned-down by a filthy thug, it is an attack on all law-abiding citizens. When that officer's killer is then allowed to draw breathe for another 28 years, it is disgusting. When the killer is praised by ignorant celebrities, given honors by colleges, and treated by the liberal media as if he possesses sage wisdom, it is abominable.

Mumia Abu-Jamal (Wesley Cook) deserves to die a painful death, one in which he is completely alone and apart from his ill-informed fans.

Please take a moment to remember Officer Daniel Faulkner and the sacrifice he and so many brave men and women have made for the rest of us.

 

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