UPDATE: More Info on Sabourin Murder
DOG3
Police arrest two in decapitation murder
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. CHARLES -- Police have arrested a 21-year-old Lindenwood University student
and a 15-year-old juvenile from St. Charles in the murder and rape of Tiffany
Sabourin, whose headless body was found near the Lindenwood campus on April 26.
The 21-year-old male enrolled as a student at Lindenwood in January and had
lived on campus, but dropped out April 26, said St. Charles Police Capt. Pat
McCarrick. He was ``close friends'' with the 15-year-old, who lives in a
neighborhood near campus, detectives said.
Neither McCarrick nor Lt. Robert Lowery Jr. of the Major Case Squad would
comment on how the two knew Sabourin, 13, from Wentzville, but said they had
been with her the night of Saturday, April 25.
Detectives brought the older suspect in for questioning by detectives at about
10 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said, after police had released a description of
a bedsheet.
``The sheet was a key factor in tracking them down,'' McCarrick said. ``We got
several calls last night, one anonymous, who admitted to knowing this student
and recognizing this sheet.''
He voluntarily stayed to be questioned, but left sometime during the night,
said Cpl. Ron Bextermueller. Detectives later asked him to return for more
questioning, which he did, and he was arrested this afternoon.
Charges were expected to be filed this evening.
When the suspect was brought over to the St. Charles City Jail for booking, he
held his head down, shaking it from side to side. He looked as if he was crying
when he peeked at television cameras.
Authorities would not comment on what evidence led to the 15-year-old, but
Lowery and McCarrick said detectives have received statements from both
individuals admitting the crime.
The juvenile is being held in the St. Charles County Juvenile Justice Center.
Copyright (c) 1998, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
** "An example from the monkey: The higher it climbs,
the more you see of it's behind" **
---Saint Bonaventure
Maggie8097
Michael posted:
Police arrest two in decapitation murder
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. CHARLES -- Police have arrested a 21-year-old Lindenwood University student
and a 15-year-old juvenile from St. Charles in the murder and rape of Tiffany
Sabourin, whose headless body was found near the Lindenwood campus on April 26.
<snip>
***Thanks for keeping us posted on this case. I've been trying to follow it,
but the national media doesn't seem too interested. I'm curious--what do you
know about Lindenwood University?
Maggie
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the
subject."--Winston Churchill
DOG3
***Thanks for keeping us posted on this case. I've been trying to follow it,
but the national media doesn't seem too interested. I'm curious--what do you
know about Lindenwood University?
Maggie
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the
subject."--Winston Churchill***
Maggie, I do not know much about Lindenwood. It is somewhat like a community
college environment from what I understand and this is not the first violent
crime at the University. Many, many students have complained to the media
regarding the lack of security. Supposedly, Lindenwood has grown a great deal
and is buying up surrounding family homes to use as dorm space, much to the
dismay of the long time residents of the area. My guess is, and it's just a
guess, Lindenwood officials may be trying to cut a few corners in order to
finance the University's expansion. Security being one area they may have
scrimped on. Lindenwood appears to be just an ordinary community college but
it's getting quite a rep these past few years.
Michael
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Here is a slightly more detailed article on this rather fascinating
murder-decapitation case, where a 21 year old University student and his 15
year old friend are under arrest, charged with raping, murdering, and
decapitating 13 year old Tiffany Sabourin, a girl that both boys apparently
knew and socialized with, at least to a minor degree.
We get a few very interesting tidbits of new info below. It was the 21 year
old, Jason Shipman, who committed the rape and sodomization upon Tiffany. She
was then stabbed fatally in her upper back. The killer then pulled the knife
out of Tiffany's back, and used the knife to saw off Tiffany's head! The
severed head was then apparently carried by Jason and his 15 year old
accomplice/friend to a portable bathroom-toilet about a quarter of a mile away,
and placed INSIDE the portable toilet stall. It's not clear whether the severed
head of Tiffany was actually placed inside of the toilet BOWL, or whether any
flushing attempt was made!
21 year old Jason was enrolled at the university where the body was found, on
campus. According to the below article, he "left school the day Tiffany's body
was found", although it's not clear whether he dropped out of school, or just
not attend school on that day, and subsequent days.
The 15 year old boy has been charged with murder. Authorities have not yet
decided whether he will be treated as an adult. I would certainly hope not,
since he is a minor and deserves to be tried in juvenile court, and to receive
no adult prison time. A police spokesman states that the 15 year old boy is
only 35 days short of his 16th birthday. He recommends that prosecutors DROP
the current murder charges that they have filed against the boy, wait 35 days,
and then REFILE the murder charge, at which point this CHILD, this BOY, can be
treated as an adult by your pathetic society's judicial system. What an
OUTRAGE, that your society is allowed to manipulate the judicial system in this
way. In a rational society, the legal age of adulthood for criminal
responsibility would corresspond with the legal age at which a child receives a
majority of adult privileges. That would be either age 18 or 21. This boy was
15 years old when he participated in this murder-beheading. He should be
treated as a 100% minor, and it is a PERVERSION of justice that prosecutors are
allowed to simply wait 35 days until the boy reaches his 16th birthday, and
then charge him as an adult, for the purpose of trying to inflict a maximum,
punitive punishment upon him.
Prosecutors are already announcing that they want to try and impose a death
penalty sentence upon 21 year old Jason. We get a few details on Jason,
including the fact that he is a Daddy, and lived together with a girl for
awhile. That girl, now aged 20, filed an order of protection against Jason last
year, citing his violent tendencies. Police are not saying whether Jason or his
15 year old accomplice have any past criminal records.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 5/8/98 online edition of The Saint
Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper:
Authorities arrest two in murder of 13-year-old girl
Friday, May 8, 1998
By Michele Munz
Of The Post-Dispatch
Bill Bryan Of The Post-Dispatch Contributed Information To This Story.
A Lindenwood University student and his 15-year-old friend have been charged in
the decapitation of Tiffany Sabourin, 13, of Wentzville.
Jason Shipman, 21, and his close friend, both of St. Charles, have confessed to
the killing and were charged Thursday, police said. Shipman also was charged
with statutory rape and armed criminal action.
Sabourin was stabbed to death on the Lindenwood campus sometime after midnight
April 26, said Tim Braun, the St. Charles prosecuting attorney.
Her headless body was dumped behind a bank near the entrance to the athletic
fields. It was found that Sunday morning at 6:50 a.m. by a Lindenwood student
who was walking to work.
Sabourin's head was found in a portable restroom nearby on campus, Braun said.
A police source said the girl had been fatally stabbed at the top of her back
after she was raped and sodomized. Then, almost as an afterthought, the knife
was used to cut off her head, and it was put in the portable toilet, near the
Lindenwood athletic field, the source said.
Shipman enrolled as a student at Lindenwood in January and had lived on campus,
but he left school the day Sabourin's body was found, said St. Charles police
Capt. Pat McCarrick.
The 15-year-old, who was being held at the Juvenile Justice Center in St.
Charles, has been charged with murder under the state juvenile code.
Braun said it would be up to juvenile authorities to decide whether he would be
charged as an adult.
The 15-year-old lived in a neighborhood near campus, detectives said.
McCarrick and Lt. Robert Lowery Jr. of the Major Case Squad would not comment
on how the two suspects knew Sabourin, but they said she had been with them on
Saturday night, April 25.
The older suspect was brought in for questioning by detectives about 10 p.m.
Wednesday night, authorities said, after a description of a bed sheet was
released by police.
"The sheet was a key factor in tracking them down," McCarrick said. "We got
several calls last night, one anonymous, who admitted to knowing this student
and recognizing this sheet."
The sheet was found in a large pond on the southwest edge of campus, about
one-quarter mile down a hill from where Sabourin's body was found, Braun said.
Shipman voluntarily stayed at the police station to be questioned Wednesday
night but left sometime during the night, said St. Charles police Cpl. Ron
Bextermueller.
Detectives later asked him to return Thursday morning for more questioning,
which he did, and he was arrested during the early afternoon. Charges against
him were filed about 5:30 p.m.
When the suspect was taken to the St. Charles City Jail for booking, in baggy
pants and a T-shirt, he held his head down, shaking it from side to side. He
looked frightened and seemed to be crying as he peeked up at television
cameras. He made no comment.
Authorities wouldn't comment on what evidence led to the 15-year-old, but Braun
said both of them had made statements to Detective Joe Delia of the Major Case
Squad.
Braun said if juvenile authorities dropped the juvenile charges, then the
charges could be refiled, and the boy could be tried as an adult. Because he is
35 days short of his 16th birthday, he can't get the death penalty.
Braun said the state may seek the death penalty in Shipman's case. "It has many
of the hallmarks of a death-penalty case," he said.
Since Sabourin's death, McCarrick said, Shipman has been living at various
places. Police were able to track him down through "contacts in the
neighborhood," Lowery said.
Detectives also recovered evidence from Shipman's dorm room, No. 120 at Cobbs
Hall, but wouldn't comment on what they found. They believe Shipman was the
person seen by several students walking on campus about 5 a.m. April 26.
Investigators have not finished searching the pond, Lowery said. A smaller pond
nearby on campus has also been roped off with police tape, but Lowery and
McCarrick would not comment about it.
Shipman's former girlfriend, Melissa Bergman, said in a protection order
against him last year: "I am afraid of him because he beat up his little
sister. No telling what he might do to me or anybody else."
Bergman filed protection orders against Shipman last July and December, records
show. The records show they have a child together and previously lived together
on Charwood Drive in St. Charles.
Bergman, then 20, said in the order that Shipman had harassed her. The order
said: "Paged me at 11:15 a.m., told me they were going to have me arrested for
harassment for having him arrested."
Authorities would not comment on whether Shipman or the juvenile had past
criminal histories.
A friend of Shipman's, a former co-worker at Hardees on Fifth Street in St.
Charles, said Shipman would study during breaks at work because he was trying
to earn his general equivalency diploma.
Shipman also had gotten a new girlfriend, the friend said, but they later broke
up.
The friend, who asked not to be identified, said that he and Shipman used to go
out after work but that he hadn't seen him in about two months.