Armstrong brother/Yosemite case
E-Brake
http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news101q.htm
7/31/99 -- 1:42 AM
Brother of Yosemite naturalist in same jail as sister's [killer].
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - The half-brother of slain Yosemite naturalist Joie Ruth
Armstrong is being held at the same jail where his sister's confessed killer
is in
custody.
Brady Schwartz, 18, is accused of stealing more than $18,000 from his family to
pay off a drug debt.
Schwartz's bond was raised Friday from $2,000 to $25,000, and he was ordered
eld at the Fresno County Jail, where Cary Stayner awaits an Aug. 6 arraignment
in U.S. District Court on a murder charge in the July 21 death of Armstrong.
Armstrong, who led outdoor education programs for the Yosemite Institute, was
beheaded July 21. The 26-year-old's body was found the next day near her home
inside the park.
Stayner has reportedly confessed to Armstrong's murder and the slayings
earlier this year of Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and family friend Silvina
Pelosso. They were last seen alive Feb. 15 at the Cedar Lodge where Stayner was
living and working as a handyman.
No charges have been filed in the Sund-Pelosso murders. FBI agents and
rosecutors are scheduled to meet Monday in Fresno to discuss which county
will eventually prosecute the case.
Schwartz, who shares the same mother as Armstrong but lives with his father,
was arrested July 18 after his father, a broker, discovered $3,300 in cash and
$15,000 in cashier's checks missing from their home.
Schwartz, who at first denied stealing the money, told the judge Friday that he
decided to tell the truth in the wake of his sister's death, saying his conscience
got the best of him.
-----------------------
This is such a tragic family situation, I feel awful for the mom of these two.
I hope this kid turns his life around; it sounds like he's starting on the
right path.
- E.
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Patty
Here's more details on brother from today's Fresno Bee:
Friday, Braden Schwartz and his father were in Superior Court, where the
teen-ager faced arraignment on a charge of grand theft.
Noting that the teen-ager had no prior criminal record, Judge John J.
Gallagher ordered Schwartz released on his own recognizance. Seconds later,
the youngster defiantly slammed a door from which inmates are led from the
courtroom.
"Inmate ordered held on $25,000 bail," Gallagher barked. Don Schwartz sat in
the gallery, dumbfounded.
"What happened?" he said.
Later, the Fresno businessman said he had actually hoped his son would
remain in jail: "He's a danger, not to me, but to himself."
According to Braden Schwartz's statement to police:
In early July, he went to Bakersfield to pick up 2 pounds of powder cocaine.
Back in Fresno, he delivered the drugs to a man who said the cocaine
appeared to be about $2,000 short.
Knowing his father keeps cash around the house, Schwartz decided to stage a
burglary.
On July 17, he took $3,300 in cash and three cashier checks worth $3,000
each. He then called Fresno police and reported a burglary.
After paying off the $2,000, Schwartz spent the money "here and there" and
tore up the cashier checks because they were already filled out to someone
else.
A day or two after he learned that his half-sister had been slain,
Schwartz's conscience got the best of him. He told his already suspicious
father of the theft.
Tuesday, Don Schwartz took his son out to get a snack.
"We went to get a bagel from Harry's Bagels and afterward I said to him,
'Brady, we are going to the police now.' " His son did not argue.
While waiting in the courtroom Friday, Don Schwartz said his son was coping
with life behind bars, but it was rough considering the timing.
"He's coming to the realization of his sister and his own situation,"
Schwartz said. "He really loved Joie."
YaKnow
George Byrd
on "Re: Armstrong brother/Yosemite case"
"YaKnow" <NoS...@Bluefield.Net> wrote:
>Thus we have one more drug connection in this case...
I'm not sure I understand what you mean.
Are you saying there is a causal connection between her brother's
activities and her murder? Or what?
GB
--
Opinions above are NOT those of APAN, Inc. and are NOT legal advice.
"A drug is neither moral nor immoral - it's a chemical compound.
The compound itself is not a menace to society until a human being
treats it as if consumption bestowed a temporary license to act like an asshole."
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