Sexual abuse scandal in the Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus has had different episodes of Catholic sex abuse cases in various jurisdictions. Abuse in the United States- Diocese of Chicago: Internal church records released in 2013 indicate that the Jesuits of the Archdiocese of Chicago willfully concealed sex crimes committed by Jesuit priest Donald McGuire for more than four decades. A letter written in 1970 by John Reinke, the president of Loyola Academy where McGuire worked, admitted that McGuire's presence at Loyola was "positively destructive and corrosive," but suggested transferring him to Loyola University instead of sending him to treatment or turning him over to the legal system.McGuire was finally tried for his crimes and found guilty of molesting two teenage students in Wisconsin in 2006. McGuire was sentenced to seven years in prison for this, and was later tried and found guilty for another act of abuse in 2009. This time, he was sentenced to 25 years, making it likely that he would die in prison. McGuire later died in a federal prison in 2017. Lawsuit: Robert Goldberg, one of McGuire's victims who was instrumental in his conviction, filed a lawsuit against both the Midwest Jesuit Province and the main Society of Jesus office in Rome in 2019. Diocese of Fairbanks: In February 2008, the diocese of Fairbanks announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming inability to pay the 140 plaintiffs who filed claims against the diocese for alleged sexual abuse by priests or church workers dating from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, was named as a co-defendant in the case, and settled for $50 million. The Diocese, which reports an operating budget of approximately $6 million, claims one of the diocese's insurance carriers failed to "participate meaningfully". Diocese of Portland: The lawsuits in the Fairbanks diocese have also affected the Jesuit community in the diocese of Portland, given that the Western Province of the American Jesuits is located in the State of Oregon. In February 2009, the Province of Oregon became the first Jesuit order to file for bankruptcy. In March 2011, the Oregon Jesuit Province agreed to pay nearly 500 victims of sex abuse $166.1 million As party of the bankruptcy agreement, the Oregon Jesuit Province also disclosed the list of Jesuit clergy who were accused of committing sex abuse. Diocese of Boston: In 2002, criminal charges were brought against five Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area of the United States, John Geoghan, Paul Desilets, Paul Shanley, Robert V. Gale and Jesuit priest James Talbot, which ultimately resulted in the conviction and sentencing of each to prison. Only includes ordained Jesuits and does not include some accused people who were affiliated with the Jesuits. Seven on the list taught at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine. All but 15 of the Roman Catholic priests on the list are dead, and all of the alleged abuse took place before 1997. List of Accused Clergy in Central and Southern United States: On December 7, 2018, the USA Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus released a list of 42 priests under its jurisdiction who had allegations of sex abuse. The list also includes those from predecessor organizations such as the New Orleans Province, the Missouri Province, and the Independent Region of Puerto Rico of the Society of Jesus. Those with credible allegations are either deceased or no longer in active ministry, while 4 who had less credible allegations are still active in the province. List of Accused Clergy in Western United States: On December 7, 2018, the USA West Province released a list of Jesuit clergy who were accused of committing sex abuse while working for areas in the province. Reports of abuse are dated as early as 1950, While the Province of the present-day was formed in 2017. the list includes reported abuse in the former California and the former Oregon Provinces, against whom a credible claim of sexual abuse of a minor (under the age of 18) or a vulnerable adult has been made. The former Oregon Province was also required to release the list of accused clergy as party of its bankruptcy settlement. List of Accused Clergy in Midwest United States: On December 17, 2018, the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus released a list of Jesuits who had accused of molesting children while working for areas in the province. Listed reports of abuse go as early as 1955. The present-day Province was formed in 2017 as a merger between the Chicago, Chicago-Detroit, Detroit, and Wisconsin provinces. List of Accused Clergy in Maryland Province: On December 17, 2018, The USA Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus released the names of Jesuits who had accused of molesting children while working for the Province. The list goes as far back as 1950 at earliest. The Province stretches from the state of Georgia to the areas just below the state of New York. Abuse in Germany- Canisius-Kolleg Berlin: In 2004 and 2005 two former students of the school told the headmaster of this Jesuit school that they had been sexually abused by two of their former teachers. In December 2009 and January 2010 two other boys contacted the headmaster and claimed the same about the same teachers. The headmaster decided to write a letter to all former students in which he stated that he was deeply sorry for what happened. After receiving the letter several others of the former students contacted the headmaster and said that they too had been abused. In January 2010, the headmaster wrote a personal letter of apology to all pupils at the school. The names of the former students claiming to be sexually abused have been withheld from the public, but the public was told that many of them were notable scientists or held political or economic positions of power. It was also revealed that some of the alumni who had been abused decided to send their children to the Canisius-Kolleg. One of the teachers has spoken out and said the allegations made against him were true, because he really had abused boys. The teachers might not be sued for what they did, because it seems that in most cases the statute of limitations has passed, but the abused boys wanted them to apologize. Apologies and financial compensations were issued to the victims. An investigative report detailing allegations of substantial abuse was released in 2010. Jesuit College of Sankt Blasien: In 2010, Padre Wolfgang S. admitted to several acts of sexual abuse of minors during his years as a teacher in Sankt Blasius from 1982 to 1984. Prior to that he had taught in another Jesuit college in Berlin (Canisius-Kolleg) where he had also molested children. The order in 2010 concedes that upon discovery, his superiors did provide help for him to emigrate to South America. Other cases of sexual abuse of minors in the Jesuit order have also been reported lately and are being investigated. As of February 2010, it seems that all cases have become time-barred. Abuse in Latin America- Affair in Chile: Rev. Stefan Dartmann disclosed that the same abusive teacher in Germany had been guilty of similar crimes in Jesuit schools in Chile and Spain. In August 2019, revelations surfaced that Jesuit Father Renato Poblete, who died in 2010, had sexually abused 18 adult women and four underage female minors. He also impregnated at least one of these women and forced her to have an abortion. One of the minors he abused was only three years old and a daughter of one of his adult victims as well. Lawsuit against Rome headquarters: One December 31, 2019, it was reported that Robert Goldberg, who was sexually abused by the late Chicago-area Jesuit priest Donald J. McGuire, was suing both the Midwest Jesuit Province and the main Society of Jesus office in the Vatican.

Florida School for Boys

The Florida School for Boys, also known as the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys (AGDS), was a reform school operated by the state of Florida in the panhandle town of Marianna from January 1, 1900, to June 30, 2011. A second campus was opened in the town of Okeechobee in 1955. For a time, it was the largest juvenile reform institution in the United States. Throughout its 111-year history, the school gained a reputation for abuse, beatings, rapes, torture, and even murder of students by staff. Despite periodic investigations, changes of leadership, and promises to improve, the allegations of cruelty and abuse continued. After the school failed a state inspection in 2009, the governor ordered a full investigation. Many of the historic and recent allegations of abuse and violence were confirmed by separate investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2010, and by the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in 2011. State authorities closed the school permanently in June 2011. At the time of its closure, it was a part of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Because of questions about the number of deaths at the school and a high number of unmarked graves, the state authorized a forensic anthropology survey by University of South Florida in 2012. They identified 55 burials on the grounds, most outside the cemetery, and documented nearly 100 deaths at the school. The state said it did not have authority to allow exhumation of graves, which would permit determination of cause of death and identification of remains. (In addition it wanted to sell land on the property.) A family member of a student who died at the school in 1934, and who wanted to reinter his remains, filed suit and gained an injunction against the state's moving ahead with the sale before remains could be exhumed and identified. The state responded to the court injunction and authorized more work by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of South Florida, including exhumations. In January 2016, the USF team issued its final report, having made seven DNA matches and 14 presumptive identifications of remains. They will continue to work on identification. After passage of resolutions by both houses of the legislature, on April 26, 2017, the state held a formal ceremony to apologize personally to two dozen survivors of the school and to families of other victims. In 2018, bills were being considered to provide some compensation to victims and their descendants, possibly as scholarships for children. In 2019, during preliminary survey work for a pollution clean-up, a further 27 suspected graves were identified by ground penetrating radar. Many people, including former detainees, believe that over 100 bodies were buried on the school's grounds, and that further investigating should be done until all the remains have been identified and cared for. Campus and structure: From its opening in 1900, the Marianna site was an open campus of about 1400 acres without any perimeter fencing. The site was originally divided into two sub-campuses, South Side or "Number 1", for white students, and North Side, or "Number 2", for "colored" students. The sections were segregated until 1966. A cemetery was located in the North Side, known as the Boot Hill Cemetery. Most of the graves were unmarked, and records of many of the documented 100 students who died at the facility were lacking. A 2014 report from an extensive forensic investigation, carried out by University of South Florida beginning in 2011, said the buried remains of 55 students were found, including numerous remains found outside the cemetery boundaries, in the woods or brush areas. The state has been trying to identify them, some through the use of DNA, but many were still unidentified by the time the report was issued. In 1990–91, the North Side campus was permanently closed. In 1929, an 11-room concrete block detention building, also containing two cells (one for white, and one for black students), was constructed to house incorrigible or violent students, the site at the time not being fenced. Students called it "The White House". In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the site of most beatings of students. After corporal punishment at the school was abolished in 1967, the building was used for storage. In 2008, in response to allegations of the extreme beatings and torture that took place there, state officials sealed the building in a public ceremony, leaving a memorial plaque. It has remained empty since. At the time of the US Justice Department investigation in 2010–11, shortly before the facility was closed, Dozier was a fenced, 159-acre "high-risk" residential facility for 104 boys aged 13 to 21 who had been committed there by a court; their average length of stay at Dozier was nine to twelve months. They lived in several cottages, with each boy having an unlocked room. On an adjacent site was the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center, a "maximum-risk" facility for chronic offenders gilty of felonies or violent crimes. It housed residents in single, locked cells like a prison. History: According to the 2010 abuse investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the school was first organized under an 1897 act of the legislature and began operations on the Marianna campus on January 1, 1900, as the Florida State Reform School. It was overseen by five commissioners appointed by the governor William Dunnington Bloxham, who were to operate the school and make biennial reports to the legislature. At some time thereafter, the commissioners were replaced by the governor and cabinet of Florida, acting as the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions. In 1914, the name was changed to the Florida Industrial School for Boys and in 1957 to the Florida School for Boys. In 1955, the Okeechobee campus opened. In 1967, the name of the Marianna campus was changed to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, in honor of a former superintendent of the school. In 1903, an inspection reported that children at the school were commonly kept in leg irons. According to the 2012 interim report by the University of South Florida, which was commissioned to investigate the cemetery and burials, the school was investigated by the state six times during its first 13 years of operation. A fire in a dormitory at the school in 1914 killed six students and two staff members. Eleven students were recorded as having died in the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, but they were not named. A 13-year-old boy sent to the school in 1934 for "trespassing" died 38 days after arriving there. Recorded burials at the Boot Hill Cemetery took place from 1914–1952. 1960s: In 1968, Florida Governor Claude Kirk said, after a visit to the school where he found overcrowding and poor conditions, that "somebody should have blown the whistle a long time ago." At this time, the school housed 564 boys, some for offenses as minor as school truancy, running away from home, or "incorrigibility", including cigarette smoking. They ranged in age from ten to sixteen years old. The White House was closed in 1967. Officially, corporal punishment at the school was banned in August 1968. In 1969, as part of a governmental reorganization, the school came under the management of the Division of Youth Services of the newly created Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS). In 1996, HRS was reorganized as the Florida Department of Children and Families. According to a 2009 report following investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), there were 81 school-related deaths of students from 1911 to 1973. Thirty-one of these boys were said to be buried on the school grounds, with other bodies "shipped home to families or buried in unknown locations." There are 31 simple crosses as grave markers at the cemetery, installed in the 1960s and 1990s, but they have been found not to correspond to specific burials. The 2012 Interim Report by the University of South Florida team found a total of 98 documented deaths at the school from 1914–1973, including two staff members. 1980s and 1990s: In 1982, an inspection revealed that boys at the school were "hogtied and kept in isolation for weeks at a time". The ACLU filed a lawsuit over this and similar mistreatment at a total of three juvenile facilities in Florida. By this time, the Dozier School was housing 105 boys aged thirteen to twenty-one. Federal lawsuits concerning school conditions resulted in the Department of Justice's monitoring Florida's juvenile justice system beginning in 1987. In 1985, the media reported that young ex-students of the school, sentenced to jail terms for crimes committed at Dozier, had subsequently been the victims of torture by guards at the Jackson County jail. The prison guards typically handcuffed the teenagers and hanged them from the bars of their cells, sometimes for over an hour. The guards said their superiors approved the practice and that it was routine. In 1994, the school was placed under the management of the newly created Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, which operated the school until its closure in 2011. By this time, the school had facilities to house 135 inmates. Many of the boys sent there had been convicted of rape or of committing "lewd acts on other children". On September 16, 1998, a resident of the school lost his right arm in a washing machine. A lawsuit was filed against the institution and the plaintiff was awarded an undisclosed amount in 2003. 21st century: In April 2007, the acting superintendent of the school and one other employee were fired following allegations of abuse of inmates. The state officially acknowledged that abuses had taken place there; the White House Boys, a growing group of adult survivors who had been held there in the 1950s and 1960s, were speaking out to the press. In October 2008, several of them attended a ceremony to install a historic plaque at the White House that acknowledged that past. The news was carried nationwide. In late 2009, the school failed its annual inspection. Among other problems, the inspection found that the school failed to deal properly with the numerous complaints by the boys held there, including allegations of continued mistreatment by the guards. State Representative Darryl Rouson said the system was struggling to move on from a longstanding "culture of violence and abuse". The U.S. Department of Justice conducted a survey of 195 US facilities, including the Florida School For Boys. According to its 2010 report, 11.3% of boys surveyed at the school reported that they had been subject to sexual abuse by staff using force in the last twelve months, and 10.3% reported that they had been subject to it without the use of force. 2.2% reported sexual victimization by another inmate. DOJ said these percentages meant the home was deemed to have neither "high" nor "low" rates of sexual victimization compared with the other institutions assessed in the survey. In July 2010, the state announced its plan to merge Dozier with JJOC, creating a single new facility, the North Florida Youth Development Center, with an open campus and a closed campus. However, the following year, claiming "budgetary limitations," the state decided to close both facilities on June 30, 2011. Remaining students were sent to other juvenile justice facilities around the state. After Hurricane Michael, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office was given the property, now known as ‘Endeavor’, to relocate from their damaged offices. White House Boys: In the late 20th century, former students who had been held at the school in the 1950s and 1960s began to share accounts of abuses that they had suffered or observed against students. They organized as a group who became known as "The White House Boys". By the early 21st century, there were about 400 members, survivors of this school from the 1950s and 1960s. Since the early 2000s, members of the group began to speak publicly about their experiences to the media, and to challenge the state to investigate practices and personnel at the school. More than 300 men have publicly recounted abuse and torture at the school. The survivors have had some internal struggles and set up more than one website. In 2009, the Florida School for Boys was the subject of an extensive special report, For Their Own Good, published by the St. Petersburg Times. Allegations focusing on the 1960s included claims that one room was used for whipping white boys and another for black boys. (The facility was fully segregated until 1968.) The whippings were carried out by guards using a 3-foot-long belt made of leather and metal and were so severe that the victim's underwear could become embedded in his skin. One former student said that he had seen a boy trapped in a running laundry dryer at the school and suspected the boy was killed. One former student stated he was punished in the White House eleven times, receiving a total of more than 250 lashes. Others alleged they were whipped until they lost consciousness and that the punishments were made harsher for boys who cried. Some alumni also stated there was a "rape room" at the school, where boys were sexually abused by guards. The complainants said some of the victims were as young as nine years old. In February 2010, the White House Boys filed a class action suit for damages against the state government, but it was dismissed by a judge in Leon County, Florida, because the statute of limitations had run out for such a suit. A bill introduced in the 2012 session of the Florida Legislature to provide compensation to victims of abuse at the school failed to pass. In 2017, the state officially apologized to about two dozen survivors and families; in 2018 the legislature was considering bills to provide compensation, funds for a memorial and to create a task force to determine where to bury unclaimed remains found during a three-year investigation. After the land was 'gifted' to Marianna, a study became mandatory from the EPA, which quickly found over two dozen more graves. Investigations- Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2010: On December 9, 2008, Florida Governor Charlie Crist directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to investigate the allegations of abuse, torture, and murder recounted by the White House Boys and their law firm. Crist requested that the department determine: 1) the entity that owned or operated the property at the time the graves were placed, 2) identification, where possible, of the remains of those individuals buried on the site and 3) determine if any crimes were committed, and if so, the perpetrators of those crimes. The FDLE conducted more than one hundred interviews of former students, family members of former students, and former staff members of the school during the 15-month investigation, but no concrete evidence was found linking any of the student deaths to the actions of school staff, or that there had been attempts by staff to conceal deaths. None of the graves were opened during the investigation (The investigation determined that the thirty-one graves at the facility had been dug between 1914 and 1952.) A forensic examination of the "White House" was conducted. No trace evidence of blood on the walls was found. Some former Dozier students told investigators that they felt they had "needed the discipline." Troy Tidwell, who was a staff member at the school during that period, said that punishments in the White House were not excessive. He said staff used the leather strap because they were concerned that spankings with wooden paddles, as had previously taken place, might injure the boys. In January 2010, the Department of Law Enforcement released its findings: This investigation included over one hundred interviews of former students, family of former students, and former staff members of the school. The interviews confirmed that in addition to the implementation of the Individual Rating System, school administrators used corporal punishment as a tool to encourage obedience. The interviews revealed little disagreement about the way in which corporal punishment was administered. The former students were consistent in that punishment was administered by school administrators and adult staff witnesses in the building referred to as the White House. The former students were consistent in stating that a wooden paddle or leather strap was the implement used for administering punishment. The area of disagreement among former students was the number of spankings administered and their severity. Although some former students stated that they were "beaten" to the point that the skin of their buttocks blistered and bled profusely, there was little to no evidence of visible residual scarring. A secondary disagreement was the former students’ perceptions of the punishment process. Some former students stated that their spankings caused them no psychological harm and that they learned from their mistakes, while others stated that, mentally, they suffered greatly as a result and still do so to this day. Some reports by former students stated that in addition to corporal punishment, they were also subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of former staff members or other students. With the passage of over fifty years, no tangible physical evidence was found to either support or refute the allegations of physical or sexual abuse. On March 11, 2010, State Attorney Glenn Hess announced that no criminal charges would be filed in the case. After interviewing investigators and attorneys representing both the White House Boys and an administrator, and after reviewing the Department of Law Enforcement's report, Hess concluded that he would be unable to prove or disprove criminal wrongdoing in the case in a court of law. Department of Justice, 2011: In its December 2011 report of its investigation at the Dozier School, the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice made the following findings about staff at the school, who were cited for use of excessive force, inappropriate isolation, and extension of confinement: The youth confined at Dozier and at JJOC were subjected to conditions that placed them at serious risk of avoidable harm in violation of their rights protected by the Constitution of the United States. During our investigation, we received credible reports of misconduct by staff members to youth within their custody. The allegations revealed systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices exacerbated by a lack of accountability and controls. . . . These systemic deficiencies exist because State policies and generally accepted juvenile justice procedures were not being followed. We found that . . . staff did not receive minimally adequate training. We also found that proper supervision and accountablity measures were limited and did not suffice to prevent undue restraints and punishments. Staff failed to report allegations of abuse to the State, supervisors, and administrators. Staff members often failed to accurately describe use of force incidents and properly record use of mechanical restraints. University of South Florida, 2012–2014: Dr. Erin Kimmerle is a forensic anthropologist and University of South Florida Associate Professor who had led a USF team of anthropologists, biologists, and archaeologists exploring the Marianna campus in a project authorized by the state. The stories of the White House Boys piqued her interest, as she had worked with international groups to identify remains and burials in areas of warfare. She thought the specialists at her university could aid the state in identifying undocumented areas of burial by using current technology and scientific techniques. She was especially curious why there are no records of the locations of the burials, as is customary at state prisons, hospitals and similar institutions. Dr. Kimmerle said, "When you look at the state hospital, the state prisons, the other state institutions at the time, there are very meticulous plot maps you can reference. Or if you are a family member today, you can say, 'Where is my great-aunt buried?' and they can show you exactly where. So, why that didn't happen here, I don't know. But that does stand out."In 2012, the team used ground-penetrating radar and some excavation to identify where bodies are buried. However, in order to determine if the cause of death was from injury, illness, or murder, the bodies must be exhumed. Given the long history of reported violence at the school, many people believe that some students died because of abuse. Under existing law, exhumations can be done only at the request of a family member. But many of the burials are of students who were here in the early 20th century, and records make it difficult to identify their families. By December 2012, the researchers indicated that they had located 55 graves on the grounds. Given that they had documented nearly 100 deaths at the school, the team believed that a second cemetery was likely to exist. Thomas Varnadoe was sent to the Florida School for Boys in 1934 and died there a month later. His nephew, Glen Varnadoe, came forward in 2012 saying that he wanted to have his uncle's remains exhumed for reinterment at his family's cemetery near Lakeland. He had visited Dozier School in the 1990s, and a staff member showed him where his uncle might be buried. That location was not the same as the area where the most recent burials were found. The state originally limited the USF team to searching the existing, delineated cemetery grounds, saying they did not have the authority to order exhumation of graves. 2013 court injunction to force exhumations: When the state announced plans to sell much of the Dozier property for redevelopment, Varnadoe filed suit against the action, as he was a family member seeking a specific exhumation. A judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the sale until Thomas Varnadoe's body was exhumed. State officials subsequently granted the university team permission to search all areas of the former facility for possible burial sites. They requested federal funds to pay for a forensic examination of all graves on the grounds. On August 6, 2013, Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet issued a permit allowing a team of University of South Florida anthropologists and archaeologists to excavate and examine the remains of any and all boys buried at the Dozier site. Exhumations and identifications: Exhumations began on August 31, 2013. According to Robert Straley, a spokesman for the White House Boys: The school segregated white and black inmates and...remains are located where black inmates were held. He suspects there is another white cemetery that hasn't been discovered. "I think that there are at least 100 more bodies up there", he said. "At some point they are going to find more bodies, I'm dead certain of that. There has to be a white graveyard on the white side." Bones, teeth, and artifacts from grave sites were sent to the University of North Texas Health Science Center for DNA testing. In January 2014, the University of South Florida announced that excavations have yielded remains of 55 bodies, almost twice the number documented in official records. By September 26, 2014, the remains of three boys, George Owen Smith (reported missing since 1940), Thomas Varnadoe (reportedly died of pneumonia in 1934), and Earl Wilson (died in 1944), had been identified. In January 2016, the USF team issued their final report. They had made a total of seven DNA matches and 14 presumptive identifications from the 51 remains found at the site. A total of 55 burials were identified, but only 13 were made within the cemetery grounds, and "the rest of the graves were outside... in the woods, including under a roadway, brush, and a large mulberry tree." While they had documented 98 deaths at the site, they were unable to identify any more burials on the grounds. Some bodies may have been sent home to students' families. The USF team will continue to work with other organizations and families on DNA and other means of identification of the remains that were found. They created computer facial approximations from remains to help with identification. A number of families, including the Glen Varnadoe family, have filed requests to have the remains of their children or relatives repatriated. In late March 2019, an additional 27 "possible" graves were identified during a pollution clean-up on the Dozier site. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis directed state agencies to work with Jackson County officials to "develop a path forward". In mid-July 2019, University of South Florida forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle was going to return to investigate if anomolies discovered were, in fact, more graves. State compensation for reinterment: In March 2014, Governor Rick Scott signed a bill authorizing up to $7500 per burial for those families who wanted to reinter the remains of relatives identified in unmarked graves at the Florida School for Boys. This followed the University of South Florida's report in January, which said they had been able to make matches of 21 sets of remains to known families. In addition, the bill proposes creating a task force to establish a memorial, "as well as deciding how to handle the remains of bodies that have yet to be identified or claimed by families." 2017 state apology to victims and families: On April 26, 2017, the state held a formal ceremony with families and survivors to apologize for the abuses of children at the school. Both houses of the legislature passed resolutions supporting the apology. Some two dozen men stood as their names were called. A proposed House bill would fund two memorials to be built in Tallahassee and in Marianna, reburial of remains, and provide some kind of restitution to victims. The Senate said it would consider it. As of April, 2019, it has not passed. A spokesman for the White House Boys said they did not want any remains reburied on the grounds of the school or even in the county, as they believed local people were complicit in what went on there.

Neverland Ranch

Sycamore Valley Ranch (formerly and most famously Neverland Ranch, or simply Neverland) is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, located at 5225 Figueroa Mountain Road, Los Olivos, California, on the edge of Los Padres National Forest. It is known for being the home and private amusement park of American entertainer Michael Jackson from 1988. Originally named Zaca Laderas Ranch, the estate was renamed to Sycamore Valley Ranch shortly after it was purchased by property developer William Bone in 1981. In 1988, the ranch was sold to Jackson, who renamed it after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up. Jackson's first encounter with the ranch came when he visited Paul McCartney, who was staying there during their filming of the "Say Say Say" video. According to La Toya Jackson, Michael expressed interest to her in someday owning the property at that time. As of 2019, the ranch is owned by Colony Capital and has been for sale for several years. The ranch is located about 5 miles (8 km) north of unincorporated Los Olivos, and about eight miles (13 km) north of the town of Santa Ynez. The Chamberlin Ranch is to the west, and the rugged La Laguna Ranch, is to the north. The Santa Barbara County Assessor's office says the ranch is approximately 2,700 acres (1100 hectares). Background: The estate was originally known as the Zaca Laderas Ranch at the time of its purchase by the property developer William Bone in 1981. Bone renamed the estate the Sycamore Valley Ranch and moved there with his family. Bone commissioned the architect Robert Altevers to design the principal buildings on the ranch, and the pair spent two and a half years researching potential designs and ideas. The 13,000 square foot (1,200 m²) main house was completed in 1982, based on a design by Altevers, with formal gardens, a stone bridge, and a four-acre lake with a five-foot waterfall. Bone later said that in building the house he had "...a desire to express everything I had learned in 15 years of home building...I achieved here all the things I wanted to do in my business but could not". He had considered converting the property to a country club but did not do so. Residence of Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson purchased the estate from Bone in 1988 for an unknown amount: some sources indicate $19.5 million while others suggest it was closer to $30 million. The property was initially purchased by a trust with Jackson's lawyer, John Branca, and his accountant, Marshall Gelfand, as trustees, for reasons of privacy. The arrangement was later rescinded by Jackson in April 1988 and he became the ultimate owner of the property. It was Jackson's home as well as his private amusement park, with numerous artistic garden statues and a petting zoo. The property included three railroads: one 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge named "Neverland Valley Railroad", with a steam locomotive named Katherine after his mother (Crown 4-4-0 (2B), built in 1973), and two coaches. The other was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge, with a C. P. Huntington replica locomotive made by Chance Rides. There was also a custom-made private electric train that was purchased by Jackson for his own children Prince, Paris and Blanket. The train was manufactured in 2001 from a German company Elektro-Mobiltechnik. The train was set up in the yard at Neverland behind the main house and had 100 feet of track. There was also a Ferris wheel, Carousel, Zipper, Octopus, Pirate Ship, Wave Swinger, Super Slide, roller coaster, bumper cars, and an amusement arcade. The master closet also contained a secret safe room for security. Some of the events that took place at the Ranch included the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky in 1991, the live Oprah Winfrey interview of Jackson in 1993, and an event in 1995 when Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley hosted children from around the world. Neverland Ranch was searched extensively by police officers in connection with the People v. Jackson trial after he was charged with multiple counts of molesting a minor in 2003. Jackson was acquitted of all charges. However, Jackson stated he would never live at the property again as he no longer considered the ranch a home and did not return to Neverland. Jackson's sister, La Toya, wrote of her experience staying at the ranch during her brother's trial in her 2012 memoir Starting Over. In 2006, the facilities were closed and most of the staff were dismissed, with a spokesperson stating that this was the reflection of the fact that Jackson no longer lived there. Neverland Ranch has a central role in the allegations against Jackson of child sexual abuse; it is one of the main sites where Jackson's accusers have said the sexual abuse took place. The ranch's association with sexual abuse allegations was described as a possible reason for a significant decrease in value. Financial status: Reports of foreclosure proceedings against Neverland Ranch were published on October 22, 2007. A spokesperson for Jackson said that the loan was merely being refinanced and Jackson (later his estate) remained the majority stake holder, with a legal retention of 87.5% of the ranch. On February 25, 2008, Jackson received word from Financial Title Company, the trustee, that unless he paid off $24,525,906.61 by March 19, a public auction would go forward of the land, buildings, and other items such as the rides, trains, and art. On March 13, 2008, Jackson's lawyer L. Londell McMillan announced that a private agreement had been reached with the private investment group, Fortress Investment, to save Jackson's ownership of the ranch. Before the agreement, Jackson owed three months' arrears on the property. McMillan did not reveal the details of the deal. On May 12, 2008, a foreclosure auction for the ranch was canceled after Colony Capital, an investment company run by billionaire Tom Barrack, purchased the loan, which was in default. The selling price was $22.5 million. In a press release, Jackson stated, "I am pleased with recent developments involving Neverland Ranch and I am in discussions with Colony and Tom Barrack with regard to the Ranch and other matters that would allow me to focus on the future." On November 10, 2008, Jackson transferred the title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company, LLC, and neighbors reported immediate activity on the property, including the amusement rides being trucked along the highway. Jackson still owned an unknown stake in the property, since Sycamore Valley Ranch was a joint venture between Jackson (represented by McMillan) and an affiliate of Colony Capital. The Santa Barbara County Assessor's Office stated Jackson sold an unknown proportion of his property rights for $35 million. Subsequent news reports however, indicated that Colony Capital had invested only $22.5 million in the property. In any event, reliable sources indicate that Colony is the majority owner. Kyle Forsyth, Colony's project manager, described the estate's Tudor-style buildings and savanna-like grasslands as "English country manor meets Kenya." Eventually, Colony hopes to sell the ranch, located in Santa Barbara County, in its entirety. Subdividing it, says Forsyth, "would destroy it." Since 2009, the Neverland Ranch rides Balloon Samba, Jeeps, Wave Swinger and Dinos have been featured attractions at the California State Fair in Sacramento. Death of Michael Jackson: Following Jackson's death, press reports during June 28–29, 2009, claimed that his family intended to bury him at the Neverland Ranch, eventually turning it into a place of pilgrimage for his fans, similar to how Graceland has become a destination for fans of Elvis Presley. The singer's father Joseph Jackson later denied the reports. Construction equipment and gardeners entered the grounds on July 1, prompting speculation that preparations were being made for something related to Jackson's death, but local officials stated that a burial there would be only allowed if the owners of the ranch would go through a permitting process with county and state government before establishing a cemetery at the site. Jackson's 2002 will gives his entire estate to a family trust. The ranch was the setting for two media appearances on July 2, 2009. Jermaine Jackson took The Today Show's Matt Lauer on a tour of the main house, and he was interviewed on the grounds of the house by Larry King for his show. In January 2013, singer Lady Gaga announced her willingness to help Jackson's children in keeping the ranch by investing in the property. Restoration: The amusement rides and animals were gone by 2009, replaced with a meditative zen garden and a section decorated with Peter Pan, Michael Jackson's favorite fictional hero. In May 2015, it was announced that the Neverland Ranch, renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch, would be put up for sale with an initial price tag of $100 million. By that time, Colony NorthStar had completed extensive renovations to the property. Many people, including fans, protested and disagreed with the decision. Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of Michael wrote an open letter to Colony NorthStar expressing his disagreement with their decision. As of May 2016, the 2,698 acre ranch, jointly owned by the Jackson estate and Colony NorthStar, was being sold by Sotheby's International Realty with an asking price of $100 million. The price included the 12,598 square foot six bedroom Normandy-style mansion, the four-acre lake with waterfall, a pool house, three guest houses, a tennis court, and a 5,500-square-foot movie theater and stage. The train station and railway tracks were also included. According to TIME, the owners were "specifically looking for a buyer who doesn’t plan to turn the place into a museum for the singer". Due to lack of interest, the asking price of the ranch had fallen to $67 million by February 2017. The property was still on the market in early 2018, at the same price, with Coldwell Banker. In February 2019, the asking price of the ranch was reduced to $31 million, $69 million less than the original asking price of $100 million in 2015. The listing agent for the ranch says nothing has changed except the price. The ranch's structures and landscaping are still being maintained.

Murder of Ahmet Yıldız

Murder of Ahmet Yıldız was a case of anti-LGBT hate crime that occurred on 15 July 2008 in Üsküdar, Istanbul. His murder by the hands of his father Yahya Yıldız, has been widely referred to as the first known case of gay honor killing in Turkey. Murder: Marmara University Physics Department student Ahmet Yıldız filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor about a year before the incident on the grounds that he had received threats from his family. On the night of 15 July 2008, Yıldız, who had gone to a cafe, faced the attacker following which he tried to get out of his car and escape. He was shot three times in the chest and eventually died from his injuries. Out of the five bullets that were shot, one injured the AK Parti's nominee for parliament Ümmühan Daraca. Commenting after the incident, Yıldız's cousin Ahmet Kaya said, "Yıldız was the only son of an extremely religious and wealthy Kurdish family in Şanlıurfa". Lambda Istanbul's human rights lawyer Fırat Söyle, who had previously served as a consultant to Yıldız, said that three months before the murder, Yıldız filed a complaint with the district attorney's office after receiving death threats from his family, but the prosecutor's office refused to initiate an investigation or provide protection to Yıldız. Yıldız's murder event had wide repercussions in the local and foreign press. British newspaper The Independent also covered the issue and stated that cases of honor killing were not limited to Turkey. Investigation and trial: The trial for Ahmet Yıldız's murder began on 8 September 2009 and continued with the trial of Yahya Yıldız as a fugitive defendant. İbrahim Can, with whom Yıldız lived after he left his family, said about the incident: "I have seen the support of many organizations to fight for my lover. Ms. Ümmühan, who was injured in the incident, also helped us by opening the case. I thank her. It is surprising that the murderers of my darling Ahmet Yıldız have not been caught. Together we went to the prosecutor's office and reported that his family had been making death threats. I think we're experiencing gay discrimination. That wouldn't be the case if my lover was a woman. But that's my choice, and it's nobody's business." The case is postponed to a later date for the collection of evidence, After the 6th hearing, Can stated that he would start the ECtHR process, and stated: "Murderers are not coming out. An international arrest warrant has not yet been issued. I want this warrant issued at the next hearing. The court should abandon its homophobic attitude. This has now become a political cause. The court does not show the will, determination and effort to arrest the victim's father. In a homophobic country, it will not be desirable for them to clarify this case." Zenne Dancer: The film Zenne Dancer, based on a story inspired by the murder of Ahmet Yıldız and directed by Ahmet Yıldız's friends Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay, was released on 13 January 2011.

J. Frank Hickey

John Frank Hickey was an American child molester and serial killer. Due to the postcards he mailed to the police and media, he was dubbed The Postcard Killer. Early life: John Frank Hickey was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Irish immigrants Michael J. Hickey and Mary Ann Magrath. He was baptized Roman Catholic at St. Patrick's Church, which was only two blocks from his parents' lodgings. After his arrest for murder in 1912, Hickey claimed to have been physically abused by his father. In his early teens, Hickey joined Lowell's First Congregational Church on Kirk Street. He also became an official of the Lowell YMCA and the Christian Endeavor. First murder: On September 1, 1883, 18-year-old Hickey contacted police and said that he had found 34-year-old pharmacist Edwin W. Morey dead on the floor of the McGibbon's Drugstore, where both had worked. Hickey claimed that Morey had been despondent for some time due to alcoholism and that he had been trying to help his co-worker regain sobriety. As the doctor believed that Morey had taken poison, a stomach pump was brought. At midnight, Morey showed some signs of life, but died shortly after three o'clock in the morning. Years later, Hickey admitted to having murdered Morey with laudanum. He had been afraid that if their employer had found Morey intoxicated, he might fire them both. Freemasonry: Listing his occupation as "Secretary of the YMCA", Hickey applied for and received membership in Lowell's William North Masonic Lodge in 1887. In 1889, he became a Master Mason. Despite his later claims, Hickey never attained the rank of 32nd degree Freemason. Although his biographer Vance McLaughlin describes Hickey as having "quit the Masons in June 1895", Masonic records tell a different story. In March 1895, Hickey was arrested in Lowell for stealing 20 gallons of alcohol from his employer. In response, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts ruled Hickey "a liar and profane" and expelled him "from all the rights and privileges of Freemasonry" on June 12, 1895. Second murder: In 1896 Hickey left Lowell and would never live there again. Between then and 1902, he drifted around Canada and the Northeastern United States, working various industrial jobs. On December 10, 1902, Hickey encountered Michael R. Kruck, an eleven-year-old newspaper vendor. When Kruck offered to sell him a newspaper, Hickey responded that he would purchase all of them if the boy would follow him into Central Park. When Kruck did so, Hickey strangled him and left his body with the newspaper bundle under his head. The coroner later examined the body and found no evidence of sexual assault. The coroner's inquest ruled that Michael R. Kruck met his death by being strangled "by some person or persons unknown to this jury." On December 12, 1902, Michael Kruck's body was released from the morgue and buried at Brooklyn's Washington Jewish Cemetery. Third murder: On October 12, 1911, Hickey, then employed as a steel plant supervisor in Lackawanna, New York, noticed seven-year-old Joey Joseph playing at his father's men's furnishing store. Later, when Joey was making mud puddles with a friend in the street near his house, Hickey motioned to them to join him. He gave Joey a few pennies to buy candy for himself and his friend. Upon Joey's return, Hickey abruptly told his friend that it was time for him to go home. Hickey then took Joey by the hand and led him to an outhouse behind a saloon on Ridge Road. There Hickey strangled Joey into unconsciousness, sexually molested him, and then strangled him to death. Hickey then dumped the boy's body into the outhouse pit.[3]:8 Postcards: Despite the assistance of the Buffalo Police Department, the investigation into Joey Joseph's disappearance had almost no leads. Then, on October 30, 1911, a postcard was delivered to Lackawanna police chief Gilson. It read, "Joseph Joseph will be found in the bottom of a water closet with three seats, back of the saloon near Doyles, on Ridge Road. A drunk crazed brain done the deed, and remorse and sorrow for the parents is bringing results that will soon come to an end. The demon whisky will then have one more victim, making four in all. Drag the closet with the three seats."

Thomas DeSimone

Thomas Anthony DeSimone was an American mobster of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He is alleged to have participated in both the Air France robbery and the Lufthansa heist. DeSimone inspired the character Tommy DeVito, one of the main characters of the 1990 film Goodfellas, played by Joe Pesci in an Oscar winning performance. Early life: Tommy DeSimone had two sisters, Dolores and Phyllis, and two brothers, Robert and Anthony. Both of DeSimone's brothers were associates of the Gambino crime family; Anthony was murdered by mobster Thomas Agro in 1979. Phyllis was James Burke's mistress from the time she turned 16. DeSimone was the brother-in-law of mobster Joseph "The Barber" Spion, who was slain for refusing to help kill DeSimone in the late 1970s. DeSimone was also the ex-son-in-law of Gambino associate Salvatore DeVita. DeSimone's father owned a printing shop, which he lost due to a compulsive gambling addiction. Both his paternal grandfather, Rosario DeSimone, and uncle, Frank DeSimone, were bosses of the Los Angeles crime family. Rosario became the boss of the Los Angeles family after Vito Di Giorgio was killed in Chicago in 1922. Frank was a criminal attorney turned mobster; "Uncle Frank", as he was known, replaced the deceased Jack Dragna in 1956, and became the second DeSimone family member to assume control of the Los Angeles family. In 1965, when he was 15 years old, DeSimone was introduced to Lucchese family caporegime Paul Vario. Henry Hill, a Vario associate who was in his early 20s at the time, later recounted his first meeting with DeSimone, describing him as "a skinny kid who was wearing a wiseguy suit and a pencil mustache." DeSimone worked under Vario, Burke, and Hill, among others, becoming involved in truck hijackings, dealing and fencing of stolen property, extortion, fraud and murder. While hijacking, DeSimone would always carry his gun in a brown paper bag. "Walking down the street, he looked like he was bringing you a sandwich instead of a .38." Hill said. Air France robbery: McMahon received notice that between $400,000 and $700,000 would be delivered on Friday, April 7, 1967. He said the best time for the actual robbery would be just before midnight, when the security guard would be on his meal break. On the day of the robbery, Henry Hill and DeSimone drove to the Air France cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport with an empty suitcase, the largest Hill could find. At 11:40 p.m, they entered the Air France cargo terminal. McMahon said that they should just walk in, as people often came to the terminal to pick up lost baggage. DeSimone and Hill entered the unsecured area unchallenged. They unlocked the door with a duplicate key. Using a small flashlight, they found seven of the bags, which they loaded into the suitcase and left; $420,000 was taken. No alarm was raised, no shots fired, and no one was injured. The theft was not discovered until the following Monday, when a Wells Fargo truck arrived to pick up the cash to be delivered to the French American Banking Corporation. Murder of William "Billy Batts" Bentvena: On June 9, 1970, a "welcome home" party was thrown for William "Billy Batts" Bentvena, a made man in Carmine Fatico's Gambino crew, at a hangout owned by Burke called Robert's Lounge. At the party, Bentvena, who had just been released from prison after serving a six-year term for drug possession, saw DeSimone and asked him if he still shined shoes, which DeSimone took as an insult. A couple of minutes later, when the issue was apparently forgotten, DeSimone leaned over to Hill and Burke, and told them, "I'm gonna kill that fuck." Two days later, on June 11, Bentvena went over to "The Suite", Hill's establishment in Jamaica, Queens, to go drinking with Hill, DeSimone, and Burke. Later that night, DeSimone took his girlfriend home, and Burke started making Bentvena feel comfortable. Twenty minutes later, DeSimone returned with a .38 revolver and a plastic mattress cover, walked over to Bentvena at the corner of the bar, and attacked him. Burke restrained Bentvena while DeSimone pistol whipped the mobster with the revolver. In the book Wiseguy, Hill said that before DeSimone started to beat Bentvena, DeSimone yelled; "shine these fucking shoes!" DeSimone killed Bentvena not only because the latter had insulted him, but also because Burke had taken over Bentvena's loan shark business while Bentvena was in prison. According to Hill, Bentvena had been complaining to Joseph N. Gallo about getting back this racket. Not wanting to return the business to Bentvena, Burke knew sooner or later Bentvena would have to be killed. After the beating, the three men put Bentvena into the trunk of Hill's 1970 Buick Electra and later, while the three men were driving on the Van Wyck Expressway, they discovered that Bentvena was not dead. They visited DeSimone's mother's house to get a knife, lime, and a shovel. Later in the drive, closer to their destination, Hill said it had been an hour of DeSimone's driving, and DeSimone kept getting mad about the noises in the trunk, so he finally slammed the brakes, leaned over for the shovel, and then Burke and DeSimone "didn't actually shoot him, they just stabbed him, thirty or forty fucking times, fucking horrible." Hill does not mention a knife, but claims Burke and DeSimone finished Bentvena off by beating him with a tire iron and the shovel, respectively, and the men later buried him under a dog kennel. At the time of the murder in 1970, Bentvena was 49 years old and was a made man in the Gambino crime family. Murders of Gianco, Cersani, and Jerothe: DeSimone's third murder, described by Hill, was of a young man named Michael "Spider" Gianco, who was serving as a bartender at a card game. Gianco and DeSimone had an argument (after Gianco forgot DeSimone's drink) that resulted in DeSimone pulling out a handgun and shooting him in the thigh. (In the film he was shot in the foot.) A week later, when Gianco was again serving drinks and donning a full leg cast, DeSimone started to goad him about his wounded leg, spurring Gianco to tell DeSimone to "go fuck himself". After a stunned silence, a delighted and impressed Burke, having now developed a respect for Gianco for sticking up for himself, gave him some money before jokingly teasing DeSimone, who hadn't said or done anything in retaliation, about "going soft". DeSimone lost his temper and fatally shot Gianco three times in the chest, angrily demanding of Burke if that was "good enough for him". Burke, furious with DeSimone, made him bury Gianco's body in the cellar by himself. Hill stated that after he saw this he was truly convinced that DeSimone was a total psychopath. It is believed that Gianco's body was subsequently moved, because it was not found in that location. On The Howard Stern Show, Hill said that Gianco was buried next to Robert's Lounge, which was owned by Burke, along with other bodies. There was a later interview on The Howard Stern Show with Gianco's sister, who wanted to know where the body was. DeSimone's fourth murder, according to Hill, occurred when he and another associate named Stanley Diamond got carried away after being asked to "rough up" a witness to a robbery. After a truck heist, a foreman had refused to allow Burke to unload the ill-gotten cargo in his warehouse and vehemently protested because they had no union cards. Burke attempted to reason with the man, who stood his ground and refused to be intimidated. Burke later sent DeSimone and Diamond to the man's house in rural New Jersey, with instructions to "rough up" the man to ensure he would cooperate with Burke in the future. DeSimone and Diamond, angry and worked up about having to drive all the way to New Jersey, ended up beating the man to death. DeSimone's fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the murder of his best friend, Dominick "Remo" Cersani. Burke got suspicious about Cersani and later found out from contacts in a Queens DA's office that he was talking to the New York City Police Department, and that they were going to arrest Burke on a truck hijacking charge. DeSimone and Burke met Cersani at Robert's Lounge and said to him, "let's take a ride". DeSimone strangled Cersani with piano wire. Hill said in Wiseguy: "Remo put up some fight. He kicked and swung and shit all over himself before he died." Burke had Cersani's body buried next to the bocce court behind Robert's Lounge. It was said that whenever Burke and DeSimone played bocce with their friends, they would jokingly say: "Hi Remo, how ya doing?" DeSimone killed Gotti protégé Ronald "Foxy" Jerothe on December 18, 1974. DeSimone had dated Jerothe's sister and had beaten her up, prompting Jerothe to threaten to kill him. When DeSimone heard about the threat, he went to Jerothe's apartment and knocked on the door. Jerothe opened the door and punched DeSimone in the face. DeSimone then shot Jerothe between the eyes. Lufthansa heist and Edwards murder: The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $23 million in 2019) was stolen from the German airline Lufthansa, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery committed on American soil at the time. Burke decided on Tommy DeSimone, Angelo Sepe, Louis Cafora, Joe Manri, Paolo LiCastri and Robert McMahon as the robbers. Burke's son Frank would drive one of the back up vehicles and Parnell "Stacks" Edwards' job was to dispose of the van afterwards. Soon after the heist, DeSimone murdered Parnell "Stacks" Edwards, a black musician and career criminal. Edwards was supposed to have driven the vehicle to New Jersey, where it (along with any potential evidence inside) was to be destroyed in a junk yard belonging to John Gotti. Instead, Edwards parked the truck in front of a fire hydrant at his girlfriend's apartment, where police discovered it two days after the heist. Paul Vario subsequently ordered DeSimone to kill Edwards. Once he found out where Edwards was hiding, DeSimone and Angelo Sepe visited Edwards and shot him five times in the head. Disappearance: It is believed that DeSimone was murdered as a reprisal for having killed two of John Gotti's close friends, William "Billy Batts" Bentvena and Foxy Jerothe. However, the alleged murder may also have been related to $250,000 of the Lufthansa heist robbery money that had gone missing; his lover was a suspect in stealing the money. One theory is that DeSimone would have had access to the money and would have known his lover, Theresa Ferrara, was an informer for the FBI, sealing his alleged fate. On January 14, 1979, DeSimone's wife, Angela, reported him missing. She said she had last seen DeSimone a few weeks earlier when he borrowed $60 from her. When Hill became an FBI informant in 1980, he told authorities that DeSimone had been murdered by the Gambino crime family. Despite the oft-given date of death of January 14, 1979, the exact date of DeSimone's murder is uncertain. Hill claimed that in "the week after Christmas," he and Burke had gone down to Florida to straighten out a drug deal gone bad. DeSimone had remained behind in New York, because he was going to be made. When Burke called to see if the ceremony had occurred (the code phrase was to ask if DeSimone had seen his godmother yet), Burke was told that it had been called off due to a heavy snowfall. The next day, Burke found out that DeSimone had been murdered; he slammed the phone down and began crying, as depicted in the film Goodfellas. Hill also indicated in both the book Wiseguy and the DVD commentary to Goodfellas that DeSimone had already been killed when Martin Krugman disappeared on January 6, 1979. In 1994, Hill, in his book Gangsters and Goodfellas, gave an expanded story of the events leading up to DeSimone's death. Hill's wife, Karen, had been having an affair with Hill's boss, Mafia caporegime Paul Vario. When Hill was sentenced to prison, DeSimone approached Karen. When she turned him down, DeSimone attempted to attack her. In retaliation for the attempted rape, Vario approached the Gambino crew and revealed that DeSimone had murdered Jerothe and Bentvena without first seeking permission from the Gambino crime family, violating Mafia protocol. Sometime in late December 1978 or early January 1979, DeSimone was contacted and told that he was going to be "made." Peter Vario (Paul Vario's son) and Bruno Facciolo took him to an unknown location, where he was murdered. Two theories about DeSimone's alleged murder and murderer(s) exist from mob "insiders". According to mob informant Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi, Thomas Agro said in 1985 that he had murdered Thomas DeSimone. Agro also claimed to have murdered DeSimone's brother Anthony after he turned informant. Agro also suggested murdering the eldest and last remaining brother, Robert. According to Ianuzzi, Agro would often laughingly refer to killing the third DeSimone brother, stating: "Maybe it's time to go for the DeSimone trifecta!" Another account, told by Hill in Gangsters and Goodfellas, states that John Gotti himself was the assassin, although in the presence of Thomas Agro. On May 17, 2007, on the Howard Stern Show, Hill reaffirmed that Gotti had killed DeSimone. He also added that the death "took a long time," as Bentvena had been a personal friend of Gotti's, and he wanted DeSimone to suffer before he died. Gotti's role as the assassin was repeated in the 2015 book The Lufthansa Heist, cowritten by Hill and journalist Daniel Simone, although this account claims that DeSimone's death was instantaneous from three gunshots to the head. According to Sal Polisi, DeSimone was killed by Thomas Agro (in the presence of John Gotti), and that Agro slowly tortured him to death. It has been theorized DeSimone is buried in a suspected "Mafia graveyard" on the Brooklyn-Queens border near John F. Kennedy International Airport, where the body of Al Indelicato was found in 1981, and the bodies of Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera were recovered by police in 2004. In popular culture: DeSimone was portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 1990 movie Goodfellas, renamed Tommy DeVito. Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this depiction.

Peter Winston (chess player)

Peter Jonathan Winston in New York City was an American chess player. He shared first prize in the 1974 U.S. Junior Chess Championship. Winston disappeared in mysterious circumstances in January 1978. His last published FIDE rating was 2220. Disappearance: In late 1977, Winston attended a FIDE-rated tournament at Hunter College High School in New York City. Despite being one of the highest-rated players in the tournament, Winston lost all nine of his games. A few months later, on January 26, 1978, following further surprising game losses, Peter Winston vanished and was never heard from again. According to some sources, Winston's disappearance occurred when he left his home without money, identification, or luggage during a severe winter storm. Theories: Theories abound that Peter Winston committed suicide in a way that would ensure his body would not be found. Many chess players who were close to or acquainted with Winston claim that the champion chess player's mental health had deteriorated, along with his game performance, in the last few years of his life, and that he had lost all control of himself, perhaps in part due to a rumored drug dependency. Notable games: In the following game, Winston decisively defeats six-time U.S. Champion Walter Browne. Winston annotated the game in the October 1972 Chess Life & Review, pages 625–26. -Winston vs. Browne, 1972 -1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.Bd3 0-0 10.Nf3 Na6 11.0-0 Rb8 12.Nd2 Bd4+ 13.Kh1 Nf6 14.Nf3 Ng4 15.Bxa6 Bxc3 16.bxc3 bxa6 17.c4 Re8 18.e5 Rb4 19.h3 Nh6 20.Qd3 a5 21.Ba3 Ra4 22.Qb3 Bd7 23.Rfe1 Nf5 24.g4 Nh4 25.Ng5 dxe5 26.Ne4 exf4 27.Nxc5 Rxa3 28.Qxa3 Qc7 29.Rxe8+ Bxe8 30.Re1 Bd7 31.Nxd7 Qxd7 32.Qe7 Qxe7 33.Rxe7 f3 34.Kg1 Kf8 35.Rxa7 f5 36.c5 f4 37.c6 1–0 Black resigned.

Zebra murders

The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a small group of Black Muslim serial killers in San Francisco, California from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least fifteen people and wounded eight others. All the victims were white. Police gave the case the name "Zebra" after the special police radio band they assigned to the investigation. Some authorities believe that the "Death Angels," as they called themselves, may have killed as many as 73 or more victims since 1970. Criminology professor Anthony Walsh wrote in a 2005 article that the "San Francisco–based Death Angels may have killed more people in the early- to mid-1970s than all the other serial killers operating during that period combined." In 1974 a worker at the warehouse where they were based testified to police for a reward, providing private details about the murders. Based on his evidence, four men were arrested in connection with the case. They were convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The informant received immunity from prosecution for his testimony and was admitted to a witness protection program for him and his family. First wave of murders, 1973: On October 19, 1973, Richard Hague, 30, and his wife, Quita, 28, were walking near their Telegraph Hill home, when they were kidnapped by a group of black men and forced into a van. Quita was fondled by two of the men, and then nearly decapitated by a third man who cut her neck with a machete. One of the first pair attacked Richard with a machete and left him for dead, but he survived. Ten days later, on October 29, Frances Rose, 28, was repeatedly shot by a man who blocked her car's path and demanded a ride, as she was driving up to the entrance gate of the University of California Extension. On November 9, a 26-year-old gas company clerk, Robert Stoeckmann, was assaulted by another man, but gained control of the gun and fired back. The attacker, Leroy Doctor, was later arrested and convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. Saleem "Sammy" Erakat, a 53-year-old Jordanian Arab Muslim, was bound and shot dead in the restroom of his grocery store on November 25. On December 11, Paul Dancik, a 26-year-old artist, was shot three times in the chest by a man as he was preparing to make a telephone call at a payphone. Two days later, on the evening of December 13, future San Francisco mayor Art Agnos, then a member of the California Commission on Aging, was attending a meeting in Potrero Hill. Agnos, 35, was in the largely black neighborhood to discuss building a government-funded health clinic in the area. After the meeting ended, Agnos was talking to two women at the curbside when a man approached and shot him twice in the chest. Agnos was seriously injured, but survived. During the same evening, Marietta DiGirolamo, 31, was walking along Divisadero Street, when she was shoved into a doorway by a man and shot twice in the chest. The shots spun her around and struck her once in the back, killing her. On December 20, "Angela Roselli" (not her real name), a 20-year-old college student, was shot three times near her apartment by one of two men. She survived, although one bullet nicked her spine. An 81-year-old janitor, Ilario Bertuccio, was shot that same evening while walking home from work in the Bayview district. He died almost instantly after four shots to the shoulder and chest. On December 22, two more victims died within six minutes of each other. Neal Moynihan, 19, was killed as he was walking near the Civic Center while shopping. A man had walked in front of him and shot him in the face, neck, and heart. The killer (or perhaps a different killer, per authors Cohen and Sanders) then chased down 50-year-old Mildred Hosler as she was heading to her bus stop, and shot her four times. On December 24, an unidentified John Doe victim was killed. The man's remains were recovered on February 10, 1974. Reaction: The murders caused widespread panic in San Francisco. People attempted to find safety in numbers whenever they went out, and avoided going out at night as much as possible. The city ordered an increased police presence throughout the area. The police were baffled by the randomness and apparent lack of motive in the killings. Brutality and an apparent lack of remorse on the part of the gunmen marked the attacks. Initial evidence related to the killings revealed a common pattern. In a hit-and-run shooting, the gunman would walk up to his victim, shoot the victim repeatedly at close range, and flee on foot. Another link among the shootings was the killers' preference for a .32 caliber pistol, based on the slugs recovered from the victims and the shell casings found at the crime scenes. A special task force was formed to solve and stop the murders, led by Detectives Gus Coreris and John Fotinos. San Francisco Police Chief Donald Scott assigned the "Z" police radio frequency for their exclusive use. Since the letter "Z" is known in common phonetic use as "Zebra", the group became known as the Zebra task force, and the murders became known as the Zebra murders. Second wave of murders, January-April 1974: The killings resumed on January 29, 1974, with five more shootings; four were fatal. Tana Smith, 32, was shot while walking to a fabric store. Vincent Wollin, 69, was shot while walking home. John Bambic, 84, was shot while collecting discarded bottles and cans. Jane Holly, a 45-year-old housewife, was gunned down while doing her laundry at a laundromat, and Roxanne McMillian, 23, was shot while carrying items from her car to her new apartment. Of these, only McMillian survived, but she had to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. A sixth victim was Thomas Bates, a hitchhiker who survived being shot three times that night near Emeryville but was not originally associated with the Zebra murders. On April 1, 1974, two Salvation Army cadets were walking toward the Mayfair Market two blocks from the Salvation Army School for Officers' Training Center when a black man who was following them overtook them, wheeled around, fired four shots at them, and fled. Thomas Rainwater, 19, died; Linda Story, 21, survived. Two policemen were on the scene within 15 seconds, and although a manhunt was initiated, it proved to be futile. The police suspected that the Zebra killers had struck again, as the shell casings on the sidewalk were found to be from a .32 caliber gun. On Easter Sunday, thirteen days after the Rainwater-Story shootings, Ward Anderson, a merchant seaman, and Terry White, a 15-year-old student, were both shot and wounded as they stood at a bus stop at the corner of Fillmore and Hayes streets. Their attacker was a black man who approached the corner on foot and fled after firing. On the evening of April 16, 23-year-old Nelson T. Shields, IV, son of a wealthy Du Pont executive, accompanied a friend to pick up a rug at a house on Vernon Street in the Ingleside district. Shields had opened the back of his station wagon and was making room in the cargo area for the rug when he was shot repeatedly. A witness later testified that she saw a black man rushing up Vernon Street at the time of the shooting. The police suspected it was another Zebra murder, as the shell casings found at the scene matched a .32 caliber, the size of the weapon in other killings. Reaction: The new wave of murders on January 29 shocked the city, and people renewed precautions taken during the first wave. The city suffered losses in revenue by a dramatic drop in tourist traffic. Streets were deserted at night, even in North Beach, a neighborhood known to have a seven-nights-a-week nightlife. Police decided to take drastic measures. Inspector Gus Coreris dictated generic suspect descriptions with the best-known characteristics of the killers to SFPD sketch artist Hobart "Hoby" Nelson, who drew two sketches based on the descriptions. The sketches were distributed to the media and to SFPD officers, none of whom knew the sketches were generic. San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto and Police Chief Donald Scott announced that police officers would begin stopping and questioning "large numbers of black citizens" who resembled the description of the killer: a black man with a short Afro and a narrow chin. Once stopped, checked, and cleared, each citizen received a specially printed Zebra Check card from the officer(s) that they could show to police if stopped again. More than 500 black men were stopped by police during the first weekend the program was in operation. This provoked vocal and widespread criticism from the black community. But Dr. Washington Garner, the first black member of the Police Commission, called for blacks to be understanding of the exceptional circumstances. The policy also faced internal criticism. The Officers For Justice group, led by Jesse Byrd, a Nation of Islam associate, described the policy as "racist and unproductive". Acting on a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and the ACLU, U.S. District Judge Alfonso J. Zirpoli ruled the widespread profiling of blacks was unconstitutional, and police suspended the operation. Deceased victims: 1973: -Quita Hague, 28, Oct 19 -Frances Rose, 28, Oct 29 -Saleem "Sammy" Erakat, 53-year-old Jordanian Muslim, November 25 -Paul Dancik, 26, December 11 -Marietta DiGirolamo, 31, December 13 -Ilario Bertuccio, 81, December 20 -Neal Moynihan, 19, December 22 -Mildred Hosler, 50, Dec 22 -Unidentified John Doe victim, Dec 24 1974: -Tana Smith, 32, January 29 -Vincent Wollin, 69, Jan 29 -John Bambic, 84, Jan 29 -Jane Holly, 45, Jan 29 -Thomas Rainwater, 19, April 1 -Nelson T. Shields, IV, April 16 Wounded- 1973: -Richard Hague, October 19 -Robert Stoeckmann, 26, November 9 -Art Agnos, 36, December 13 -"Angela Roselli", 20, December 20 1974: -Thomas Bates, Jan 29 in Emeryville -Roxanne McMillan, 23, Jan 29 -Linda Story, 21, April 1 -Ward Anderson, April 14 -Terry White, 15, April 14 Arrests and convictions: Following the city's offer of a $30,000 reward, a break came in the Zebra case in April. Anthony Harris, an employee at Black Self-Help Moving and Storage, called police a week after the sketches had been posted and subsequently agreed to meet with Zebra case detectives in Oakland. Harris claimed to be one of the persons featured in the police sketches. He provided specific details regarding several of the attacks which the police had never released to the public. Harris denied that he had committed any killings, but admitted that he had been present at many of them. Harris told the police about the Black Muslim group, and told them of a homicide that did not make the papers; the group had abducted a homeless white man ("John Doe #169") from Ghirardelli Square. They took the man to Black Self-Help Moving and Storage's warehouse, where they gagged and tied him. According to Harris, while this man was conscious, others of the group took turns hacking away his limbs. Harris told the detectives that they had dumped the body into the bay. He told his story in such detail that the police were convinced of its veracity. In addition, it affirmed their recovery of a body on the previous December 24, 1973: it was a bound and badly butchered male torso and limbs missing his hands, feet, and head; it had washed up in the city's Ocean Beach district at the foot of Pacheco Street. Harris provided the police with names, dates, addresses, and details — enough information for the prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against the suspects. Harris subsequently sought, and received, immunity from prosecution for his help in breaking the Zebra case, as well as new identities for himself, his girlfriend, and her child. On May 1, 1974, simultaneous police raids during the pre-dawn hours were made, resulting in the arrests of Larry Craig Green and J. C. X. Simon in an apartment building at 844 Grove Street. More suspects were arrested at Black Self-Help Moving and Storage's facility. None offered resistance when arrested. Of the seven men arrested that day, four men were released for lack of evidence. Mayor Alioto announced the news of the raids and said that the killings were perpetrated by a group who called themselves the "Death Angels" and targeted whites and dissident blacks. He said that their members had to show proof of attacks and murders to advance in the cult, and may have killed as many as 73 persons since 1970. Scholars continued to study this group. Criminology professor Anthony Walsh wrote in a 2005 article that the "San Francisco–based Death Angels may have killed more people in the early- to mid-1970s than all the other serial killers operating during that period combined." Black Muslim leader John Muhammad, the minister of Mosque #26 in San Francisco, denied the allegations that there was a Black Muslim conspiracy to kill whites. The Nation of Islam paid for attorneys for Green, Moore, and Simon. Jessie Lee Cooks pleaded guilty before the trial, and the Nation did not provide him with defense counsel. Defendants: -Jessie Lee Cooks -Larry Craig Green -Manuel Moore -J. C. X. Simon Trial: The trial started on March 3, 1975. Efforts by the defense to discredit Harris were unsuccessful. He revealed many grisly details over twelve days of testimony. The Zebra team presented evidence of a .32 caliber Beretta semiautomatic pistol, which was recovered from the backyard of a home near the scene of the last murder. They demonstrated the chain of ownership of the gun to one of the workers at Black Self-Help Moving and Storage, and showed that the gun had been used in many of the murders. Based upon the testimony of 108 witnesses (including Harris), 8,000 pages totaling 3.5 million words worth of transcripts, and culminating in what was then the longest criminal trial in California history, Larry Green, J. C. X. Simon, Manuel Moore, and Jessie Lee Cooks (by plea deal) were convicted in 1976 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The jury deliberated for eighteen hours. Each man was sentenced to life imprisonment. Aftermath: On March 12, 2015, J. C. X. Simon (aged 69) was found unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State Prison, where since 1976 he had been serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He was declared dead of unknown causes, pending an autopsy.

2016 Kansas–Missouri murder spree

The 2016 Kansas–Missouri murder spree was a March 2016 American mass shooting in which four men were shot in a killing spree in Kansas and another was shot, shortly afterward, in Missouri. Background: On the night of March 7, 2016, four men were shot to death with a shotgun in Kansas City, Kansas. One of them managed to call police about the shooting before dying. On the morning of March 8, 49-year-old Randy J. Nordman was shot to death in Montgomery County, Missouri, 170 mi (270 km) east of the site of the first shooting. A truck believed to have been driven by the suspect was found five miles away along Interstate 70, and a massive manhunt for him was launched. Two police helicopters and at least one SWAT team was involved in the search. Arrest and legal proceedings: On March 9, police in New Florence, Missouri, responded to reports of a man pulling a firearm on a civilian at a gas station. At 12:18 a.m., a suspect, who lived next door to the four initial victims, was found at a muddy hill alongside Interstate 70 and arrested by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeants Primm and McGinnis. No shots were fired despite him being armed. He was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle at the time of his arrest. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Kansas and was jailed in Montgomery County, Missouri, with bail set at $2 million. The day following the arrest, he attempted suicide by cutting himself with a safety razor. He was admitted to a local hospital and was classified to be in stable condition. On June 1, the suspect pleaded not guilty to the Missouri killing. The death penalty was sought in that case. In September, his Missouri case was transferred by a Montgomery County judge to St. Louis, Missouri for trial. The suspect had previously been sentenced to two years in a California prison for making terroristic threats and had been deported from the U.S. in April 2004 in relation to that California charge, but had reentered illegally again at an unspecified time. On April 9, 2019, the suspect was found alone and unresponsive in his cell. He was taken to a hospital where he later was pronounced dead. Victims: Kansas: -Jeremy Waters, 36 -Michael Capps, 41 -Clint Harter, 27 -Austin Harter, 29 Missouri: -Randy Nordman, 49

David Koresh

David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell) was an American cult leader of the Branch Davidians sect, claiming to be its final prophet. Koresh came from a dysfunctional family background and was a member and later a leader of the Branch Davidians, a movement led by Benjamin Roden that splintered off from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is also known as the Sheperd's Rods. The Davidian Adventist Church founder was disfellowshiped and ousted by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1935. Koresh joined the Branch Davidians, which was based at the Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas. Here he competed for dominance with another leader named George Roden, until Roden was jailed for murdering another rival. The serving of arrest and search warrants by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) as part of an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives provoked the 1993 raid on the center. Four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed during the initial two-hour firefight, both sides claiming the other side fired first. The subsequent siege by the FBI of almost two months ended when the center caught fire in disputed circumstances. Koresh and 79 others were found dead after the conflagration. Early life: Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell on August 17, 1959 in Houston, Texas to a 14-year-old single mother, Bonnie Sue Clark and father Bobby Wayne Howell. Before Koresh was born, his father met another teenage girl and abandoned Bonnie Sue. Koresh never met his father, and his mother began cohabitating with a violent alcoholic. In 1963, Koresh's mother left with her boyfriend and placed her 4-year-old son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Earline Clark. His mother returned when he was seven, after her marriage to a carpenter named Roy Haldeman. Haldeman and Clark had a son together named Roger, who was born in 1966. Koresh described his early childhood as lonely. Due to his poor study skills and dyslexia, he was put in special education classes and nicknamed "Vernie" by his fellow students. Koresh dropped out of Garland High School in his junior year. When Koresh was 19 years old, he had an illegal sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl who became pregnant. He claimed to have become a born-again Christian in the Southern Baptist Church and soon joined his mother's church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There he became infatuated with the pastor's daughter and, while praying for guidance, he opened his eyes and allegedly found the Bible open at Isaiah 34:16, stating that "none should want for her mate"; convinced this was a sign from God, he approached the pastor and told him that God wanted him to have his daughter for a wife. The pastor threw him out, and when he continued to persist with his pursuit of the daughter he was expelled from the congregation. In 1981, he moved to Waco, Texas, where he joined the Branch Davidians, not to be confused with the original Davidian Seventh-day Adventist group. Benjamin Roden, who died in 1978, originated the Branch group in 1955 with new teachings that were not connected with the original Davidians. Koresh played guitar and sang in church services at Mount Carmel Center. His band played a few times at clubs in Waco, and former members (such as David Thibodeau) have written that he recruited them through music. Koresh also tried to pursue his own record company but he was not successful due to lack of funds and support. Ascent to leadership of the Branch Davidians: In 1983, Koresh began claiming the gift of prophecy. It is speculated by David Thibodeau in his 1999 book, A Place Called Waco, that he had a sexual relationship with Lois Roden, the widow of Benjamin Roden and leader of the sect, who was then in her late-sixties, eventually claiming that God had chosen him to father a child with her, who would be the Chosen One. In 1983, Lois Roden allowed Koresh to begin teaching his own message, called "The Serpent's Root," which caused controversy in the group. Lois Roden's son George Roden intended to be the group's next leader and considered Koresh an interloper. When Koresh announced that God had instructed him to marry Rachel Jones (who then added Koresh to her name), there was a short period of calm at Mount Carmel Center, but it proved only temporary. In the ensuing power struggle, George Roden, claiming to have the support of the majority of the group, forced Koresh and his group off the property at gunpoint. In 1985, Koresh and around 25 followers set up camp at Palestine, Texas, 90 miles (140 km) from Waco, where they lived under rough conditions in buses and tents for the next two years, during which time Koresh undertook recruitment of new followers in California, the United Kingdom, Israel and Australia. That same year Koresh traveled to Israel where he claimed he had a vision that he was the modern day Cyrus. The founder of the Davidian movement, Victor Houteff, wanted to be God's implement and establish the Davidic kingdom in Palestine. Koresh also wanted to be God's tool and set up the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem. At least until 1990, he believed the place of his martyrdom might be in Israel, but by 1991 he was convinced that his martyrdom would be in the United States. Instead of Israel, he said the prophecies of Daniel would be fulfilled in Waco and that the Mount Carmel Center was the Davidic kingdom. After being exiled to the Palestine camp, Koresh and his followers eked out a primitive existence. When Lois Roden died in 1986, the exiled Branch Davidians wondered if they would ever be able to return to Mount Carmel Center. But despite the displacement, "Koresh now enjoyed the loyalty of the majority of the Branch Davidian community". By late 1987, George Roden's support was in steep decline. To regain it, he challenged Koresh to a contest to raise the dead, going so far as to exhume a corpse to demonstrate his spiritual supremacy. Koresh went to authorities to file charges against Roden for illegally exhuming a corpse, but was told he would have to show proof (such as a photograph of the corpse). Koresh seized the opportunity to seek criminal prosecution of Roden by returning to Mount Carmel Center with seven armed followers, allegedly attempting to get photographic proof of the crime. Koresh's group was discovered by Roden and a gunfight broke out. When the sheriff arrived, Roden had already suffered a minor gunshot wound and was pinned down behind a tree. As a result of the incident, Koresh and his followers were charged with attempted murder. At the trial, Koresh explained that he went to Mount Carmel Center to uncover evidence of criminal disturbance of a corpse by Roden. Koresh's followers were acquitted, and in Koresh's case a mistrial was declared. In 1989, Roden murdered Wayman Dale Adair with an axe blow to the skull after Adair stated his belief that he (Adair) was the true messiah. Roden was judged insane and confined to a psychiatric hospital at Big Spring, Texas. Since Roden owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on Mount Carmel Center, Koresh and his followers were able to raise the money and reclaim the property. Roden continued to harass the Koresh faction by filing legal papers while imprisoned. When Koresh and his followers reclaimed Mount Carmel Center, they discovered that tenants who had rented from Roden had left behind a methamphetamine laboratory, which Koresh reported to the local police department and asked to have removed. Name change: Vernon Howell filed a petition in California State Superior Court in Pomona on May 15, 1990, to legally change his name "for publicity and business purposes" to David Koresh. On August 28, 1990, Judge Robert Martinez granted the petition. Koresh is the Biblical name of Cyrus the Great (کوروش, Kurosh), a Persian king who is named a Messiah for freeing Jews during the Babylonian Captivity. His first name, David, symbolized a lineage directly to the biblical King David, from whom the new messiah would descend. By taking the name of David Koresh, he was "professing himself to be the spiritual descendant of King David, a messianic figure carrying out a divinely commissioned errand." Allegations of child abuse and statutory rape: Koresh was alleged to be involved in unproven multiple incidents of child abuse and sexual abuse. Koresh's doctrine of the House of David[18] did lead to "marriages" with both married and single women in the group purportedly including with at least one underage girl. The underage girl was Michelle Jones, the younger sister of Koresh's legal wife Rachel and the daughter of lifelong Branch Davidians Perry and Mary Belle Jones. A six-month investigation of child abuse allegations by the Texas Child Protection Services in 1992 failed to turn up any evidence, possibly because the Branch Davidians concealed the spiritual marriage of Koresh to Michelle Jones, assigning a surrogate husband (David Thibodeau) to the girl for the sake of appearances. Regarding the allegations of child abuse, the evidence is less certain. In one widely reported incident, ex-members claimed that Koresh became irritated with the cries of his son Cyrus and spanked the child severely for several minutes on three consecutive visits to the child's bedroom. In a second report, a man involved in a custody battle visited Mount Carmel Center and claimed to have seen the beating of a young boy with a stick. Finally, the FBI's justification for forcing an end to the 51-day standoff was predicated on the charge that Koresh was abusing children inside Mount Carmel Center. In hours following the deadly conflagration, Attorney General Janet Reno told reporters that "We had specific information that babies were being beaten." But FBI Director William Sessions publicly denied the charge and told reporters that they had no such information about child abuse inside Mount Carmel Center. A careful examination of the other child abuse charges found the evidence to be weak and ambiguous, casting doubt on the allegations. The allegations of child abuse stem largely from detractors and ex-members. The 1993 U.S. Department of Justice report cites allegations of child sexual and physical abuse. Legal scholars point out that the ATF had no legal jurisdiction in the matter of child protection and it appears that these accounts were inserted by the ATF to inflame the case against Koresh. For example, the account of former Branch Davidian Jeannine Bunds is reproduced in the affidavit. She claimed that Koresh had fathered at least 15 children with various women and that she had personally delivered seven of these children. Bunds also claims that Koresh would annul all marriages of couples who joined the group and had exclusive sexual access to the women. Koresh fathered multiple children by different women in the group. His House of David doctrine was based on a purported revelation that involved the procreation of 24 children by chosen women in the community. These 24 children were to serve as the ruling elders over the millennium after the return of Christ. In his book, James Tabor states that Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the standoff that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives". On March 3, 1993, during negotiations to secure the release of the remaining children, Koresh advised the Negotiation Team that: "My children are different than those others,” referring to his direct lineage versus those children previously released. Raid and siege by federal authorities: The siege began on February 28, 1993, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) raided Mount Carmel Center. The ensuing gun battle resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians. Shortly after the initial raid, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team took command of the federal operation, because the FBI has jurisdiction over incidents involving the deaths of federal agents. The negotiating team established contact with Koresh inside the compound. Communication over the next 51 days included telephone exchanges with various FBI negotiators. Koresh himself had been seriously injured by a gunshot. As the standoff continued, Koresh and his closest male leaders negotiated delays, possibly so that he could write religious documents he said he needed to complete before he surrendered. His conversations with the negotiators were dense and included biblical imagery. The federal negotiators treated the situation as a hostage crisis. The siege of Mount Carmel Center ended 51 days later on April 19, 1993, when U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations of FBI officials to proceed with a final advance in which the Branch Davidians were to be removed from their building by force. In an attempt to flush Koresh from the stronghold, the FBI resorted to pumping CS gas from a M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle with battering ram into the compound. In the course of the advance on the compound, the church building caught fire in circumstances that are still disputed. Barricaded inside the building, 79 Branch Davidians perished in the ensuing blaze; 21 of these victims were children under the age of 16. According to the FBI, Steve Schneider, Koresh's right-hand man, who "probably realized he was dealing with a fraud," shot and killed Koresh and then committed suicide with the same gun. A second account gave a totally different story: "Koresh, then 33, died of a gunshot wound to the head during the course of the fire. No one knows who killed him or if he killed himself. The medical examiner reported that although federal law enforcement personnel fired no shots that day, 20 people, including five children under the age of 14, had been shot, and a three-year-old had been stabbed in the chest. Aftermath: Koresh is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tyler, Texas in the "Last Supper" section. Several of David Koresh's albums were released, including Voice of Fire in 1994. In 2004, Koresh's 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, which had been damaged during the raid, sold for $37,000 at auction. It is now owned by Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols cited the Mount Carmel Center raid as motivation for the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995—timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco assault. On January 23, 2009, Koresh's mother, Bonnie Clark Haldeman, was stabbed to death in Chandler, Texas; her sister, Beverly Clark, was charged with murder. Four documentary films have been made about the siege, including different versions of Waco: The Rules of Engagement, Waco: A New Revelation, Waco: The Big Lie, and Waco: Madman or Messiah. In 2018, BBC Radio 5 live created a radio podcast End of Days about the death and life of David Koresh, his involvement in the Waco Siege and the recruitment of people in Nottingham, Manchester and London. The Court TV (now TruTV) television series Mugshots released an episode about Koresh titled David Koresh. Koresh is portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in the 2018 miniseries Waco. Koresh was one of the sources of inspiration used to create the fictional cult leader Joseph Seed in the 2018 action-adventure video game Far Cry 5. Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada themed an EP around the Branch Davidians and the Waco retreat called In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country. Their track "1969" from their second LP Geogaddi also makes reference to the sect with the vocal sample "Although not a follower of hseroK divaD" (David Koresh, reversed), "she's a devoted Branch Davidian".

Florence Sally Horner

Florence Sally Horner was a girl abducted by serial child molester Frank La Salle in 1948. The kidnapping, captivity and repeated rapes of Horner allegedly made her the prototype for the title character of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Abduction: In March 1948, 10-year-old Horner attempted to steal a five-cent notebook from a Woolworths in Camden, New Jersey. Frank La Salle, a 50-year-old mechanic, caught her stealing, told her that he was an FBI agent, and threatened to have her sent to a reform school unless she reported to him periodically. In June 1948, he abducted Horner. La Salle instructed her to tell her mother he was the father of two of her school friends and she had been invited on their family vacation to the Jersey Shore. He spent 21 months traveling with her in different U.S. states. According to charges later brought against La Salle, it was during this period that he raped her repeatedly. While attending school in Dallas, Texas, Horner confided her secret to a friend. Later she escaped from La Salle, and phoned her sister at home, asking her to send the FBI. When arrested on March 22, 1950, in San Jose, California, La Salle claimed that he was Florence's father. However, authorities in New Jersey confirmed that Horner's father had died seven years previously. La Salle was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 30 to 35 years in prison under the Mann Act. Death: Horner died in a car accident near Woodbine, New Jersey, on August 18, 1952. As the Associated Press reported on August 20, 1952: "Florence Sally Horner, a 15-year-old Camden, N.J., girl who spent 21 months as the captive of a middle-aged morals offender a few years ago, was killed in a highway accident when the car in which she was riding plowed into the rear of a parked truck." Cultural references: Critic Alexander Dolinin proposed in 2005 that Frank La Salle and Florence Sally Horner were the real life prototypes of Humbert Humbert and Dolores "Lolita" Haze from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Sarah Weinman's book The Real Lolita also alleges that Horner's ordeal inspired Lolita. Although Nabokov had already used the same basic idea—that of a child molester and his victim booking into a hotel as father and daughter—in his then unpublished 1939 work Volshebnik (Волшебник), it is still possible that he drew on the details of the Horner case in writing Lolita. An English translation of Volshebnik was published in 1985 as The Enchanter. Nabokov explicitly mentions the Horner case in Chapter 33, Part II of Lolita: "Had I done to Dolly, perhaps, what Frank Lasalle, a fifty-year-old mechanic, had done to eleven-year-old Sally Horner in 1948?"