Archive for the ‘Investigations’ Category

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Witness Error: How Mind Tricks Can Put the Innocent Behind Bars

By Dawn in court cases, Crime, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, murder, Police Records, robbery, testimony, witness statement at February 13th, 2012 | No comments

Velazquez with Girlfriend and Two Sons One Month Before His Arrest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched Dateline last night and saw a program about Jon-Adrian Velazquez. His story is in the papers today.

Like so many other stories of wrongful convictions I have watched, I am amazed at the strength these people have to keep fighting their uphill battle. As one D.A. commented on last night’s program, once you are convicted, it is next to impossible to have that conviction overturned – even when everything points to the fact that the case was mishandled and the evidence was manufactured. 

When Jon-Adrian heard the police were looking for him, he knew there was a mistake. A retired police officer, Albert Ward, had been shot and killed in a numbers parlor (illegal gambling) during a botched robbbery.

Jon-Adrian voluntarily walked into the police station, agreed to talk to the police and even agreed to stand in a lineup. He felt he had nothing to worry about since he did nothing wrong. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Velazquez was fingered in that lineup.

Police honed in on Velazquez, now 36, after one witness, Augustus Brown, identified him after sifting through 1,800 mugshots. Jon-Adrian, although now a family man attending school to become a computer programmer, had been arrested on a minor drug bust when he was younger; hence, his photo was in police records.

In the Velazquez case, the witnesses said the man who killed the retired police officer was a black man with a light complexion and braids, a description that led police sketch artists to create a wanted poster. The man with braids in the poster looks nothing like Velazquez.  Read the full article »

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Girl Fights Off Walmart Kidnapper – Caught on Tape

By Dawn in Crime, hidden cameras, Investigations, Missing Children, MSI Detective Services at February 10th, 2012 | No comments

 

Brittney Baxter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Britteny, a 7 year-old second grader, screamed and kicked her way out of a kidnapping attempt in an Atlanta area Walmart.

Brittney Baxter was alone in the toy aisle of a Bremen, Ga., Walmart on Wednesday while her mom was briefly in the fruit section. Brittney’s mother was only gone for a couple of minutes when Thomas A. Woods, 25, of Austell, Ga., grabbed Brittney and tried to take her out of the store.

Store video captured Woods trying to silence Brittney while she fought back. In an interview with ABC News, Brittney said, “I was screaming and kicking and trying to get away and he put his hand over my mouth.”

Woods decided this wasn’t going to be easy, so he dropped the girl and ran out of the store.

Surveillance cameras outside the store captured Woods getting into his car. Police were able to put out a detailed alert that resulted in Woods being caught by police less than an hour later at his home in Tallapoosa, Ga. - a town about 10 miles west of the store.

Woods was released last October from state prison after serving four years for a 2004 conviction for voluntary manslaughter. Woods is denying that he was in the Walmart.

Woods has been charged with attempted kidnapping and is being held at the Haralson County Jail.

Brittney’s family is grateful their daughter is safe and happy that she is such a fighter. “I’m very proud of her,” said her dad, Randall Baxter. “I just thank the Lord that she got away.” Brittney’s mother said she will forever be afraid to take her eyes off her daughter.

In the ABC News interview, Brittney was asked if she had any advice to offer other children. Brittney said, “Always scream, try to scream and kick as hard as you can and go get someone you can trust.”

Good advice from Brittney and good for her for fighting and not allowing herself to become another missing child victim and statistic. Also, thankfully there were surveillance cameras that caught this guy.

Watch video @ abcnews

Other Source: Huffington Post

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Alleged iPad-Stealing TSA Agent Arrested at DFW Airport

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Stolen Property, Theft Investigations at February 7th, 2012 | No comments

 

Mac Phone Home Software

 

 

 

 

 

 

There have been a recent series of theft allegations against TSA employees.

One such case involves Agent Clayton Keith Dovel who was arrested last week on suspicion of stealing numerous iPads from passenger’s luggage at DFW’s airport.

It appears Dovel was stealing the iPads from his position where he screened passenger’s checked luggage by hand.

Due to the smarts of one victim, Dovel was caught because the victim had downloaded the “Find My iPhone” app onto her iPad. She was able to track her stolen iPad directly to Dovel’s house where police found at least seven iPads at Dovel’s home.

Dovel has been placed on leave until officials can further investigate the situation.

I think video surveillance cameras should be installed in the area where luggage is checked. This would catch those who are stealing, although I am sure most TSA employees are honest, hard working individuals.

Video surveillance in the screening area at John F. Kennedy International Airport recently helped catch a TSA agent who stole $5,000 from a passenger’s jacket. The surveillance video showed TSA agent Alexandra Schmid taking the money from a jacket pocket, wrapping the cash in a plastic glove and taking it to a bathroom.

The money hasn’t been recovered and police are investigating whether Schmid gave it to another person in the bathroom.

Schmid, age 31, was arrested on a charge of grand larceny and suspended pending an investigation.

It is best to never check items of value in your luggage and to check for your valuables after they have gone through the passenger screening area. If you must check your computers, there are software programs for Macs and PCs that will track your computer should it be lost or stolen.

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Cops: Powell Planned Murder-Suicide – Took Hatchet to Kid’s Necks

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, murder, Violence at February 7th, 2012 | No comments

 

 

 

 

 

The case of the Utah missing woman, Susan Powell, has been in the news for over two years. Child custody battles between the father of the children, Josh Powell, and Susan’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, have also been going on for years.

Apparently no one but the Coxes, Susan’s parents, could have predicted that things could only get worse – much worse.

Josh Powell left a voicemail for family members saying he couldn’t live without the boys and didn’t want to go on anymore. Then on Sunday, he set his house ablaze and killed himself and his two young sons.

Although Josh Powell painted himself as a tortured man, ridiculed without reason in the disappearance of his wife, the investigation and autopsy reports released showed the acts of a violent man who meticulously planned the double murder-suicide of himself and his two young sons.

Powell’s horrific murder-suicide seemed to come out of nowhere. Just days before, in a motion seeking custody of his children filed with a Washington state court, Powell said he missed his wife, and would remain strong for the boys. Things changed dramatically when the judge ruled against him, ordering the children to remain with Susan Powell’s parents for now.

On Sunday, Powell’s boys came for a routine supervised visit. They ran ahead, the social worker falling behind. Powell then locked the door, used a hatchet on his kids, and lit the house on fire. Powell and both boys died of smoke inhalation, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.

However, they also suffered “chop injuries” that contributed to their deaths — 7-year-old Charles was struck on his neck and 5-year-old Braden had injuries to both his head and neck, Baker said. Read the full article »

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