Re: [Lefkow] Slayings of judge's husband, mother were "execution-style" hits
Anne Warfield
Spouse's love, mom's pride remembered
By Ana Beatriz Cholo and Mickey Ciokajlo, Tribune staff reporters.
Tribune staff reporters Trine Tsouderos, Hal Dardick, Brendan
McCarthy, Jamie Francisco, freelance reporter Sean D. Hamill and The
De
Published March 2, 2005
Parishioners called Rev. Jeannette DeFriest throughout the day Tuesday
struggling with the same question: Don't all these good deeds mean
anything?
Their question reflected the pain they felt at the death of Michael
Lefkow, a dedicated member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Evanston
and the husband of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow. Members gathered
Tuesday evening for a prayer service for Lefkow and his visiting
mother-in-law Donna Humphrey, both of whom were found slain Monday in
the basement of the family's Edgewater home.
About 40 members of the church gathered Tuesday night for a half-hour
prayer service, exchanging hugs and sharing tears. As they filed out
afterward, many stopped to embrace DeFriest.
"Michael was an example that while we're here, we should do our best
for others," DeFriest said.
Judge Lefkow found the bodies of her husband and her mother late
Monday. Chicago police and federal authorities have launched a
wide-scale investigation to find the killer.
Those who knew the couple described them as inseparable.
Despite hectic weekday mornings spent making lunches, drinking coffee
and getting their daughters ready for school, Michael and Joan Lefkow
would commute downtown together.
He would drive, while she would entertain him by reading stories from
the newspaper.
Upon arriving at the federal court, Michael Lefkow would escort his
wife into the building. Then he would cross the street to his law
office, where he helped the poor and those with employment issues,
said friend William Spielberger, an attorney who shared space with
Lefkow in the Monadnock Building. At midday, he would often drop by
his wife's courtroom with lunch and sometimes a rose. The couple would
try to make it home by 6:30 p.m.
But on Monday, Joan Lefkow drove in to work alone, because her
husband, who recently had injured his Achilles tendon while playing
tennis, was recuperating at home after having surgery last week.
With his plaster cast, he "was having trouble getting around, even on
crutches," Spielberger said.
Family, friends and neighbors said Tuesday that they are reeling from
shock and wondering why the respected lawyer and Humphrey, 89, were
targeted.
"Fear has come into the neighborhood--into the heart of the
neighborhood, where it really hits home," said Laura Truax, who lives
a block from the Lefkows on Magnolia Avenue.
"These were people just like us. There's a lot of soul searching and
agonizing going on. ... Where do we go from here? I don't know."
Susan Lefkow, Michael Lefkow's younger sister, said she will spend the
next several days with her sister-in-law to support her and the
couple's four daughters. He also has a daughter from a previous
relationship.
"Everybody is very, very upset of course," Susan Lefkow said, her
voice breaking.
Her brother's cast was supposed to come off Wednesday, she said. "He
was doing pretty well, considering he was on crutches and was 64 years
old," Susan Lefkow said.
The attorney, known for being an impeccable dresser with a fondness
for hats and ties, was deeply involved in the Episcopal Church,
including in his parish.
"It's been very sad," said Episcopal Bishop William Persell. "They are
very committed to the church, at all levels of their life."
Michael Lefkow was secretary of the six-person Standing Committee,
which acts as an advisory council to the bishop, he said. He also
served on the Episcopal Lawyers Volunteer Network, which offers legal
counsel to the churches.
"He was very careful and very fair," Persell said.
The bishop added that he was impressed by how the family handled the
situation in 2003 when 33-year-old Matthew Hale was charged with
soliciting Joan Lefkow's murder a month after she had held him in
contempt of court in a separate civil suit.
"They took some precautions," Persell said. "But they didn't go away
and hide or something. They were very committed to what they do. She
didn't back out of the case."
Close friends said the family was low-key about the extra security
measures put in place to protect the family.
"When they came to visit us, the [agents] came along," said Thomas
Robb, a close family friend. "I always had plenty of food, but they
never came in. Joan felt kind of shy about it, her friends fussing
over her. Joan doesn't draw attention to herself. She is humble in the
greatest sense of the word."
The couple's unity was on display at Joan Lefkow's induction as a
federal district judge in fall 2000. Michael Lefkow paid tribute to
his wife during the ceremony, touching on her personal and
professional accomplishments.
"By 17, it was apparent that she had the right stuff to be a judge.
She was ambitious, calm, intelligent, analytical, dispassionate, yet
keenly interested in the welfare of the community, and able to play by
the rules," Michael Lefkow said.
He was one of 196 candidates on a list of attorneys seeking associate
judge appointments in Cook County Circuit Court. There are 20
openings, and Lefkow's interview was scheduled for March 17.
As for Donna Humphrey, Robb described her as a "farm girl from Kansas"
who never went beyond an 8th-grade education but was "more educated
and classy than most people I know. ... Donna made her daughter who
she is."
Humphrey's neighbors in Lakewood, Colo., said she was a voracious
reader who enjoyed political debates.
"She would send Joan things she had written," said Krys Juleen, Joan
Lefkow's administrative assistant. "You could just tell how proud she
was of her daughter."
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020262mar02,1,3061574.story?coll=chi-news-hed
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Anne Warfield
`Execution-style' hits
Officers find broken window, bloody shoe print
Judge, family placed under tight security
By Jeff Coen and David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 2, 2005
Chicago police and federal agents joined forces Tuesday to investigate
the slayings of a federal judge's husband and mother, killings that
law-enforcement sources were calling "execution-style" hits.
With no arrests in the case and authorities exploring a range of
possible motives, U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow and her surviving
family members were in an undisclosed location under round-the-clock
security.
Investigators on the task force formed Tuesday believe that Lefkow's
husband and mother were forced into the basement, made to lie on the
floor, then shot multiple times, including in the head and chest, the
sources said.
From blood patterns on the floor, it appeared that Michael F. Lefkow,
64, remained alive briefly Monday and tried to move, a source said.
The judge's mother, Donna G. Humphrey, 89, was apparently forced to
the basement without the two walking canes she required to get around.
The canes were found elsewhere in the house.
Investigators also found a shoe print in blood, and evidence that the
killer made some attempt to clean up the scene before leaving, the
sources said.
"Whoever entered was there with the specific intent to harm anyone
they found inside," another source said.
While white supremacist Matthew Hale's 2004 conviction for trying to
have Judge Lefkow murdered loomed at the forefront of the
investigation, authorities maintained Tuesday that it was too soon to
conclude that any hate group was behind the murders.
But security measures for other judges and prosecutors involved in the
Hale case also have been increased, the source said.
Investigators at the scene combed the property Tuesday and searched
sewers and garbage bins for a block in every direction, potentially
for a weapon. They also re-entered the house Tuesday night to search
the second floor for other evidence.
The task force also was trying to determine the significance of at
least one witness' report of seeing two men sitting in a car in the
street outside the Lefkow house in the 5200 block of North Lakewood
Avenue, a source said.
Police Chief of Detectives James Molloy said the task force formed to
handle this case includes more than two dozen Chicago detectives, FBI
agents and U.S. marshals who will work around the clock in two shifts.
Molloy asked any potential witnesses to come forward, urging them to
call in tips to Belmont Area detectives at 312-744-8445.
Investigators believe the "point of entry" was a broken basement
window.
Shards of glass from that window, believed to have at least one
fingerprint, were sent Tuesday to an FBI lab.
There were "signs of movement" in the muddy ground outside the window
and someone had tried to secure the window after it was broken. Police
also found material on the ground in front of the window that may have
been placed there by the intruders.
Investigators have all but ruled out burglary or robbery as a motive
for the killings because no valuables were taken from the home. Both
victims were found wearing jewelry.
Molloy said forensic technicians have not determined an exact time of
death, but based on known activity at the house, police believe the
murders were carried out between 10:30 a.m., when Humphrey spoke by
telephone to her granddaughter, and 5:30 p.m., when the judge
discovered the bodies.
The judge called home sometime Monday afternoon and was concerned that
nobody answered, a source said. The Lefkows' teenage daughter came
home at 4 p.m. to retrieve a gym bag and left without seeing her
family members or noticing anything amiss.
As the probe into the murders gets under way, Chicago detectives are
taking the lead, Molloy said. Two high-ranking officials in the
detective division will supervise the 24-hour operation.
Detectives were scouring past cases unrelated to the Hale case that
were handled by the judge or Michael Lefkow, and were interviewing
relatives of some people Judge Lefkow had ruled against.
In their long careers, both Michael and Joan Lefkow have been involved
in thousands of cases between them. By their nature, legal proceedings
are an adversarial process that ultimately involves winners and
losers.
Michael Lefkow's practice concentrated in labor and employment law,
often representing federal employees who had been fired or
disciplined. He has pending lawsuits against clients for failure to
pay legal bills.
Judge Lefkow's cases run the gamut of issues, from employee
discrimination, wrongful-arrest claims, federal family leave law
infractions, patent violations, federal detentions related to
terrorism, gun transaction record-keeping, and determinations of guilt
and innocence in criminal cases.
If the murders are linked to Lefkow's judicial duties, the Federal
Judiciary Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2002, could come into
play. Under the statute, a person convicted of trying to intimidate or
retaliate against a federal judge--including by killing a family
member--would be eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors said.
Hale's mother, Evelyn Hutcheson, confirmed Tuesday that FBI agents had
visited her East Peoria house, asking where another Hale relative had
been Monday.
But the mother said the relative had a solid alibi and had been at a
local business that has a security camera. She also said FBI agents
went to his workplace, where supervisors told the investigators he was
doing a good job.
"It just ticked me off because it sure seems to me they want to link
our family" to the deaths in Chicago. "Enough is enough," she said.
Hale's father, Russell Hale, said FBI agents had not visited his home,
also in East Peoria, where Matthew Hale lived before his 2003 arrest.
However, East Peoria's police chief confirmed that his department was
cooperating with the FBI in the investigation.
Officials on Tuesday said a federal threat alert issued on the Aryan
Brotherhood organization in the past several weeks was not a warning
specific to Chicago, though it was available nationally and was noted
by agents here. FBI spokesman Ross Rice said the alert originated in
Houston, where a defendant was facing trial locally and allegedly made
a list of witnesses in the case against him.
The information included a general note from the FBI that such groups
have a long history of "witness intimidation and animosity toward law
enforcement" but contained no information related to Lefkow.
Though Judge Lefkow had been the target of Hale's plot, she and the
U.S. Marshals Service had agreed more than a year ago to end a
protective detail assigned to her around the time of Hale's arrest,
said James Tantillo, chief deputy for the service in Chicago.
A source said Tuesday that U.S. District Judge James Moody, who is
scheduled to sentence Hale in April, was out of town and not thought
to be in any immediate danger. A source said his family was being
protected by federal agents.
Tribune staff reporters Ray Long, Tom Rybarczyk, Matt O'Connor and Hal
Dardick contributed to this report
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020263mar02,1,3454791.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Anne Warfield
On the Web, allies of Hale cheer slayings
By Oscar Avila, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporters
Brendan McCarthy and Ray Long contributed to this report
Published March 2, 2005
There isn't much left of Matthew Hale's organization, experts say,
except a legacy of hate and a small group of unpredictable, angry
sympathizers.
Monitors say the group formerly known as the World Church of the
Creator has fallen apart since Hale was jailed in 2003 and convicted
for plotting to kill Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow.
But on white supremacist Internet sites Tuesday, some Hale
sympathizers were cheering the slayings of two Lefkow family
members--even as they criticized the rush to associate Hale or his
group with the deaths.
Police confirmed that they are focusing their investigation on the
Hale connection but cautioned that no evidence has been found linking
the slayings to him or his followers.
Lefkow has been a target of vitriol for white supremacists ever since
she became involved in a trademark suit against Hale's organization.
Several groups even publicized the family's address, mistakenly
stating that they are Jewish.
Even though Hale's group now boasts about 10 chapters, only a tenth of
the number from its peak in the late 1990s, experts are still wary
because they noticed that the anger against Lefkow intensified after
Hale was convicted last year for plotting to kill her.
"The verdict was an indicator to the membership that the system was
stacked against them and that it needs to be acted upon," said Devin
Burghart, a researcher at the Center for New Community, which tracks
hate groups.
According to watchdogs, the organization started in 1973 under the
leadership of Ben Klassen, a white nationalist who preached that Adolf
Hitler was a prophet and that members should prepare for "RAHOWA"
(racial holy war).
The group slowly grew to include chapters in 20 states, according to
an analysis by three anti-hate groups. But the leadership began
collapsing in the early 1990s until Klassen committed suicide in 1993.
Hale, a graduate of Southern Illinois University Law School, led a
resurgence after he was appointed the group's leader, the "pontifex
maximus," in 1995. He moved the group's headquarters to central
Illinois.
The group gained national prominence in 1999 when member Benjamin
Smith went on a rampage across the Midwest against minorities, killing
former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong and Indiana
University student Won-Joon Yoon.
Federal authorities investigated Hale's role, but he was never
charged.
The World Church's troubles started when Hale was sued for trademark
infringement and eventually jailed for plotting to kill Lefkow, who
was handling the trademark infringement case.
"This group was always more of a cult of personality around Matt
Hale," said Mark Potok of the Intelligence Project at the Southern
Poverty Law Center. "The [movement] is now more like a decapitated
monster."
But Potok cautioned that the membership remains especially violent,
"the gutter of the gutter" among white supremacist groups.
Russell Hale, Matt's father, disputed that description and said in an
interview Tuesday that his son's organization was "totally
nonviolent." While Russell Hale acknowledged that his son attended
inflammatory rallies, he doesn't believe white supremacists had any
involvement in the deaths.
Hale's group, now generally known as the Creativity Movement, has been
relatively quiet.
In Hale's home base of East Peoria, Ill., city officials say they have
heard no activity from the group in about two years. Before, Hale and
supporters frequently would pass out racist fliers or hold boisterous
rallies.
In Montana, once one of the group's hotbeds, membership essentially
consists of one activist living in a rural shack, said Travis McAdam,
research director for the Montana Human Rights Network in Helena.
"Actually, the shack has burned down so he's out there in a trailer,"
he said.
But while researchers say the group is in tatters, many sympathizers
have joined other organizations, including the West Virginia-based
National Alliance, which promotes "Aryan values," and the National
Socialist Movement, a pro-Nazi group based in Minnesota.
And experts warned that sympathizers still celebrate violence.
A purported member of Hale's group from Palatine posted this message
Tuesday on the Vanguard News Network message board: "While I certainly
understand that we are not supposed to be advocating illegal
activities, there is nothing illegal or harmful in being happy about
this incident. I can barely contain my glee."
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020258mar02,1,4962123.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Anne Warfield
Fellow jurists won't let fear stand in way of justice
By Matt O'Connor and Patrick Rucker, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune
staff reporters Todd Lighty, Maurice Possley and Rex Huppke
contributed to this report
Published March 2, 2005
In the wake of a colleague's unimaginable loss, judges at U.S.
District Court in Chicago on Tuesday continued with the day-to-day
matters of jurisprudence. One held closing arguments in a case. Others
hunkered in their offices writing decisions or attended meetings with
attorneys.
But thoughts of the shocking murder Monday of U.S. District Judge Joan
Lefkow's husband and mother were never far from mind, and the dozens
of jurists who walk the courthouse halls were forced to reflect on
their potentially dangerous roles settling complex and often
acrimonious cases. According to federal sources, about a dozen judges
from the courthouse requested additional security Tuesday.
"This comes with the territory. You never know where it is going to
come from," one judge said Tuesday. "What I am trying to say is
there's no way to be safe, there's no 100 percent in the world."
Since 1979, three federal judges have been murdered in the United
States. If Monday's slayings are linked to Lefkow's role as a jurist,
it would mark the first time relatives of a federal judge have been
murdered, according to Marc Farmer, assistant director of the U.S.
Marshals Service's judicial security division in Washington.
On Monday night, Lefkow returned to her home in Edgewater and found
her husband and 89-year-old mother shot to death in the basement.
Investigators don't know if there's a connection between the murders
and any cases the judge was involved in, including one against white
supremacist Matthew Hale, who was convicted last year of putting a hit
on Lefkow.
Regardless of the motive, the slayings gave many judges pause.
"I think there is a commitment to justice and our role in that. But
there's probably less focus on that than on the immediate sense of
loss and concern," U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said.
Lefkow "is a person of such grace and dignity," Pallmeyer said. "It's
hard to imagine the pain she is suffering."
Echoing the determination of many of the courthouse's district and
magistrate judges not to let the Lefkow tragedy deter them, U.S.
District Chief Judge Charles Kocoras said in a statement: "Even as we
mourn these senseless deaths, we must maintain our resolve to carry
out the work of this court in upholding the rule of law in our
country,"
In recent years, threats against judges have risen dramatically to
about 700 a year nationwide, according to the Marshals Service, which
is charged with protecting about 2,000 federal judges and magistrates.
Most of the threats aren't serious, but each is investigated.
"We take them all seriously and look into them," said David Turner, a
spokesman for the Marshals Service. "If there is some reason to
believe the threat is at all serious, we take appropriate action. That
can range from door-to-door coverage around the clock to increasing
surveillance and extra security equipment."
Allegations that Hale tried to have Lefkow murdered first surfaced in
January 2003. The judge had found Hale in contempt of court for
refusing to comply with a copyright-infringement lawsuit that required
Hale to change the name of his organization, then called the World
Church of the Creator.
The Marshals Service in Chicago said it provided protection outside
the courthouse for Lefkow in early 2003 after Hale was arrested. But
the security detail was pulled seven to 10 days later after the threat
was no longer deemed viable by the Marshals Service, the FBI and
federal prosecutors, with the concurrence of Lefkow herself, officials
said.
"You cannot have 24-hour, full-time security for every federal judge
and every member of the judge's family," U.S. District Senior Judge
Marvin Aspen said. "That's just not going to happen."
James Tantillo, chief deputy of the Marshals Service in Chicago, said
there had been no information of a viable threat against the judge or
her family before the murders Monday.
Robert S. Vance, a federal appeals court judge in Birmingham, Ala.,
was killed in 1989 when a mail bomb delivered to his home exploded.
Vance's son, Robert Vance Jr., a circuit judge in Birmingham, said
Tuesday that the murders of Lefkow's relatives "brought it all back."
"Every judge that deals with a case involving criminals, angry people,
this goes through their mind: `Is this person going to lash out in any
way?'" Vance said. "It is something that lurks, but you never let it
affect you."
The vast majority of the time, "it's business as usual," Vance said.
"Every now and again, you realize that this may not be all together
safe."
A judge who requested anonymity said she once confronted the
girlfriend of a man she had sent to prison for 9 years after he was
convicted of counterfeiting. The judge noticed that the girlfriend was
following her near the federal courthouse, so she walked up to the
girlfriend and warned her to stop.
The judge said she shook for 20 minutes in fear after the
confrontation.
Years later, a few months before the man was to be released from
prison, the judge sent a letter to prison officials asking them to
notify her when he was released.
The judge never heard back from prison officials. But she did get a
letter from the man with a copy of her letter attached.
In Chicago, there have been a number of attempts on judge's lives.
More than 60 judges work in the federal courthouse.
In 1994, Connell Steve Hardy made it past metal detectors and into a
judge's chambers with a seven-inch kitchen knife tucked in his
waistband. Hardy intended to confront U.S. District Judge George
Marovich, who had dismissed a lawsuit Hardy filed against a former
employer, authorities said. Hardy was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
In 1995, Peter Saunders, a convicted murderer incarcerated in
Stateville Correctional Center, sent a threatening letter and a
bomb-like device hidden in a hollow book to U.S. District Judge
Blanche Manning. Three weeks earlier, Manning had dismissed a lawsuit
Saunders had filed against prison officials.
A court security officer detected the device before it was delivered
to Manning. Saunders was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison for
the attempt on the judge's life.
In 2003, a Belize native with a history of schizophrenia set toilet
rolls on fire in his backpack, ran into the lobby of the Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn St. and threw the bag across the floor.
He then shouted biblical references and threatened President Bush.
Luke Jemmot was sentenced to community service probation and mental
health treatment.
- - -
Federal judges killed
Since 1979, there have been three federal judges murdered and at
least one spouse injured.
John Wood, 63
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
- Killed
May 29, 1979
- Shot by a hired killer outside his San Antonio home.
Richard J. Daronco, 56
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- Killed
May 21,1988
- Shot in a garden of his Pelham, N.Y., home.
Robert S. Vance, 58
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
(Handles cases originating in Alabama, Florida and Georgia)
- Killed
Dec. 16, 1989
- Mail bomb exploded at his home in Birmingham. Wife, Helen
Vance was injured.
Chicago Tribune
Sources: Administrative Office of the U.S.
Courts, Federal Judicial Center, U.S. Marshals
Chicago Tribune
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020260mar02,1,2275140.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Anne Warfield
How judge became target of hate
Chicago Tribune
Published March 2, 2005
U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow originally ruled in favor of
Matthew Hale and his white supremacist church when a trademark
infringement case filed against the World Church of the Creator first
came before her in January 2002.
But when an appeals court overturned Lefkow's decision and she tried
to enforce the new ruling later that year, Hale became angry and
plotted to kill her, a federal jury ruled last year.
The jury of six whites, five blacks and one Hispanic convicted Hale on
April 26, 2004, of soliciting his security chief to murder Lefkow.
The security chief, Anthony Evola, was in fact an FBI plant in Hale's
church who had secretly recorded their conversations.
On one of those tapes, recorded Dec. 5, 2002, at the church's
headquarters in East Peoria, Evola is heard asking Hale, "We gonna
exterminate that rat?" in reference to Lefkow.
Evola testified at trial that Hale leaned back in his chair with both
hands behind his head and "nodded yes with a smile on his face."
"Whatever you wanna do," Hale then said on the tape. "My position's
always been that I, you know, I'm gonna fight within the law. ... If
you wish to, ah, do anything yourself, you can, you know?"
Hale then added: "So we're clear?"
"Consider it done," Evola said.
"Good," Hale replied.
The taped conversation took place one day after Hale sent Evola an
e-mail asking for Lefkow's home address.
Prosecutors said Hale had targeted Lefkow because she presided over
the case in which an Oregon church had sued the World Church of the
Creator for trademark infringement.
Hale was on his way to a hearing in Lefkow's courtroom on Jan. 8,
2003, when he was arrested in the Chicago courthouse on charges of
soliciting her murder.
Lefkow later rebuffed suggestions to move Hale's trademark case to
another judge, saying that doing so would only pass along Hale's
hatred to that judge.
After Hale was convicted last year of soliciting Lefkow's killing, her
husband, Michael Lefkow, said he was grateful for the help of law
enforcement and the support of the judge's colleagues.
"We hope Mr. Hale will repent of his advocacy of evil," Michael Lefkow
said.
Copyright Š 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020259mar02,1,5355340.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bradley K. Sherman
Anne Warfield <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote:
>From the Chicago Tribune--
>
>On the Web, allies of Hale cheer slayings
>
>By Oscar Avila, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporters
>Brendan McCarthy and Ray Long contributed to this report
>Published March 2, 2005
>
>There isn't much left of Matthew Hale's organization, experts say,
>except a legacy of hate and a small group of unpredictable, angry
>sympathizers.
Hale's cell may be small or even defunct, but the organization is not.
--bks
edi...@netpath.net
fast-food robberies here in North Carolina! All the workers marched
into back room and shot in back or back of head. And they were - at
bottom - just robberies.
Assuming anything from how the judge's husband and mother were
killed is a big error.
See all our stuff at <a
href="http://stores.ebay.com/INTERNET-GUN-SHOW">Internet Gun Show!</a>
ronniecat
<edi...@netpath.net> swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, but instead wrote:
> "Execution-style hits?" There have been such killings after
>fast-food robberies here in North Carolina! All the workers marched
>into back room and shot in back or back of head. And they were - at
>bottom - just robberies.
> Assuming anything from how the judge's husband and mother were
>killed is a big error.
I find it interesting that you seem to grasp at any straw to suggest
this *isn't* related in some way to the Judge or the white supremicist
leader or group.
Just curious, are you familiar with Occam's Razor? If so, why does it
not work for you in this case?
ronnie
--
return address altered. remove my collar to reply.
~mon pied a terre virtuel * http://www.ronniecat.com ~
edi...@netpath.net
>I find it interesting that you seem to grasp at any straw to suggest
>this *isn't* related in some way to the Judge or the white supremicist
>leader or group.
>Just curious, are you familiar with Occam's Razor? If so, why does it
>not work for you in this case?
Yes - and Occam's Razor points solidly AWAY from "assassination" in
the Lefkow case! Instead, it points exactly where police normally
start investigations of every other case in which one spouse ends up
inexplicably murdered at home and the other spouse is unscathed -
toward the surviving spouse.
Lefkow's house has two dead bodies - and no reported sign of
struggle or 911 call or panic alarm call to indicate that the killer(s)
were anybody EXCEPT someone they felt comfortable with. Now who would
police start investigating if this were at YOUR house, YOU dead, YOUR
wife unscathed?
proudmari
<snip>
> Now, as to whether she hired someone,
> that's another story, but I think we'd
> have heard by now about something >that
> goes to motive. So far, nada.
> --Threnody
One thing that DID strike me as odd, is the daughter (I'm assuming the
one who lives there) came home around 4 PM, grabbed her gym bag and
left.
With a father in his 60's on crutches with a cast on his foot, and an
89 year old grandma who uses two canes, doesn't it seem she'd at _least_
have hollered out "Are guys Okay?" struck me as a little strange.
Of course, lots of young people are wrapped up in what they're doing and
wouldn't even think of it, but they're painting this as a VERY
close-knit family.
proudmari
edi...@netpath.net
>I mean, she's a judge. Her whereabouts during the day are generally
>RECORDED, not just noted by a passerby now and then. The police have
>already narrowed the window down to some six hours or so, something
>like 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 -- I can't find the #$%@! article now with
that
>information in it. But it's incredibly likely she was empaneled, on
the
>bench, meeting with lawyers, etc. during that time and therefore
unable
>to physically pull the trigger herself.
I don't know what federal judges in Chicago do - but I DO know what
state judges here in North Carolina do, having practiced trial law
through the 1990s. They take very LONG BREAKS - especially at
lunchtime! And - in civil court and (some) criminal, they close for
the day long before 5:00 P.M.
Nancy Rudins
> I'm sorry to interrupt your cheerful little conversation, Mr. Editor, but
> it's possible the judge has a solid alibi and has already been taken off
> the suspect list as far as being the person who did the shooting.
>
> I mean, she's a judge. Her whereabouts during the day are generally
> RECORDED, not just noted by a passerby now and then. The police have
> already narrowed the window down to some six hours or so, something like
> 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 -- I can't find the #$%@! article now with that
> information in it. But it's incredibly likely she was empaneled, on the
> bench, meeting with lawyers, etc. during that time and therefore unable
> to physically pull the trigger herself.
>
> Now, as to whether she hired someone, that's another story, but I think
> we'd have heard by now about something that goes to motive. So far,
> nada.
>
> --Threnody
Given the neighbor's report of the unusual event of a car
with two men in it parked in the neighborhood for some time,
I'm inclined to think that two men were involved in the
execution. If that happened, it would be simple for them
to subdue a temporarily disabled, albeit otherwise physically
fit, man, and an elderly woman who needed two canes to walk.
Kind regards,
Nancy
--
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
(lennon/mccartney)
Nancy Rudins nru...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/nrudins/
edi...@netpath.net
>Given the neighbor's report of the unusual event of a car
>with two men in it parked in the neighborhood for some time,
>I'm inclined to think that two men were involved in the
>execution. If that happened, it would be simple for them
>to subdue a temporarily disabled, albeit otherwise physically
>fit, man, and an elderly woman who needed two canes to walk.
Makes even LESS sense that way! Why did two people sit around in
one car for a protracted period - IF they had anything to do with the
killing? They sure wouldn't stay around afterward! And why would they
wait around before? (If they planned on sneaking into the home, they
didn't have to wait until anyone arrived - and could do it easier if
nobody was home, then just wait around for the judge to inevitably
arrive.)
It sounds much more likely that they were somebody's "off-the-books"
domestic help Kerik-style.
ronniecat
<edi...@netpath.net> swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, but instead wrote:
>>I mean, she's a judge. Her whereabouts during the day are generally
>>RECORDED, not just noted by a passerby now and then. The police have
>>already narrowed the window down to some six hours or so, something
>>like 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 -- I can't find the #$%@! article now with
>>that information in it. But it's incredibly likely she was empaneled, on
>the bench, meeting with lawyers, etc. during that time and therefore
>>unable to physically pull the trigger herself.
>
> I don't know what federal judges in Chicago do - but I DO know what
>state judges here in North Carolina do, having practiced trial law
>through the 1990s. They take very LONG BREAKS - especially at
>lunchtime! And - in civil court and (some) criminal, they close for
>the day long before 5:00 P.M.
Maggie? Is that you?
EnEss
> One thing that DID strike me as odd, is the daughter (I'm assuming the
> one who lives there) came home around 4 PM, grabbed her gym bag and
> left.
>
> With a father in his 60's on crutches with a cast on his foot, and an
> 89 year old grandma who uses two canes, doesn't it seem she'd at _least_
> have hollered out "Are guys Okay?" struck me as a little strange.
>
> Of course, lots of young people are wrapped up in what they're doing and
> wouldn't even think of it, but they're painting this as a VERY
> close-knit family.
The girl was reportedly in a big hurry to pick up her gym bag and get to her
afterschool athletics activity. She often came home to an empty house in the
afternoon, so was not immediately made concerned by the quietness of the
household. She did not notice anything immediately unusual around the house
of see anything disturbed that would give cause for alarm. It's true that
her father was recovering from a foot or leg surgery of some kind and was
using crutches to get around, but he hadn't been laid up in bed, unable to
leave the house. As for her grandmother, she simply didn't put much thought
into why she wasn't there. She may have assumed her father took her
grandmother out somewhere, or that perhaps her mom had gotten off work early
and came home before the girl did to take them out somewhere. It simply was
not her first conclusion that the quiet house indicated a terrible event.
Why would it be for most teenage kids running in the door to pick up other
clothes and run out again?
I can only say thank goodness the girl wasn't puzzled enough to investigate.
As traumatic as it was for Judge Lefkow to find her loved ones the way she
did, think how much worse it would've been for a teenage girl to stumble
onto a scene like this? I'm sure her mother is grateful too it was her to
find the bodies, not her daughter.
NS
(add sbc before global to email)
EnEss
> Threnody wrote:
>>I mean, she's a judge. Her whereabouts during the day are generally
>>RECORDED, not just noted by a passerby now and then. The police have
>>already narrowed the window down to some six hours or so, something
>>like 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 -- I can't find the #$%@! article now with
> that
>>information in it. But it's incredibly likely she was empaneled, on
> the
>>bench, meeting with lawyers, etc. during that time and therefore
> unable
>>to physically pull the trigger herself.
> I don't know what federal judges in Chicago do - but I DO know what
> state judges here in North Carolina do, having practiced trial law
> through the 1990s. They take very LONG BREAKS - especially at
> lunchtime! And - in civil court and (some) criminal, they close for
> the day long before 5:00 P.M.
Your wish to cast guilt on the wife and daughter of 2 murder victims is
despicable, beneath contempt and highly offensive, which I'm sure is your
chief purpose. You hope and wish to offend the regular users of this forum
and incite our outrage. I know too well your tactics. The kind of garbage
you're posting is identical to posts I saw yesterday at the Nazi/White
Supremecists message board, Vanguard News Network. Dozens of users of that
forum are posting messages that assert it's impossible for all sorts of
reasons that the murders could be the work of a Nazi/White Surpemecist
group, or that the "evidence" points to a garden variety burglarly (suggests
"minority" criminal; also, nothing missing from the home which was full of
valuables and the victims were still wearing jewelry when they were found)
or that perhaps it was a "domestic" crime (which works nicely from a Nazi's
vantage point in casting aspersion on the object of hatred, the judge
herself). Many of these posts go on in the same breath to declare the crime
is a "triumph" and a "victory" for the "Pro-White Liberation Movement". How
can it be a "triumph" and a "victory" for your "movement" if you won't admit
one of your vile brethren is responsible?
Your posts on this crime are way too familiar in text and tone to be a
coincidence. They're a complete restating of the officially adopted "party
line" of your fellow Nazis and Klansmen regarding the Lefkow-Humphrey
murders.
Don't anyone be fooled by "editor". If any of you doubt what I'm saying,
take a look at the VNN forum--if you can stomach the repulsive filth you'll
find there--and check out some of the messages. Go to www.vnnforum.com
EnEss
> <"editor" wrote:
>> "Execution-style hits?" There have been such killings after
>>fast-food robberies here in North Carolina! All the workers marched
>>into back room and shot in back or back of head. And they were - at
>>bottom - just robberies.
>> Assuming anything from how the judge's husband and mother were
>>killed is a big error.
> I find it interesting that you seem to grasp at any straw to suggest
> this *isn't* related in some way to the Judge or the white supremicist
> leader or group.
>
> Just curious, are you familiar with Occam's Razor? If so, why does it
> not work for you in this case?
For your answer, go to the Vanguard News Network (vnnforum.com), a message
board forum for a group calling themselves the "Pro-White Liberation
Movement" -- better known as Nazis and KKKers -- and check out some of the
posts in the Lefkow-Humprhey murders thread (if you can stomach it). This is
the "party line" 'editor' and his fellow Nazis have adopted officially
regarding these executions. They balk at the suggestion the murders could be
committed by one of theirs, and be related to Mark Hale's conviction for
murder conspiracy against Judge Lefkow, although many of them crow about
what a fine day it is for the Pro-White Movement. They are too cowardly to
admit repsonsibility, yet relish in the opportunity to cast blame on the
usual run of home invaders, most of whom are "minorities" they can't resist
qualifying as an addendum, or the survivors of the victims.
It's too coincidental that "editor" is parroting the same propaganda, while
promoting his "gun show" web site after his sig. file (or should I say "sig
heil"?). Not really funny, I know. These are really scary people, in
addition to being more despicable than for which there are words.
Nancy Rudins
> In Message-ID:<112e9av...@news.supernews.com> posted on Thu, 03 Mar
> 2005 08:55:26 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>
>>Given the neighbor's report of the unusual event of a car
>>with two men in it parked in the neighborhood for some time,
>>I'm inclined to think that two men were involved in the
>>execution. If that happened, it would be simple for them
>>to subdue a temporarily disabled, albeit otherwise physically
>>fit, man, and an elderly woman who needed two canes to walk.
>
> I'm not sure that the execution staff itself is in question,
> as much as who's their sponsor.
>
There's no doubt in my mind that their "sponsor" is Matt Hale.
He may not have directly ordered a hit but he previously had
a hit out for the judge. He's had one of his followers go
out on a shooting rampage once before while he was incarcerated
so I think it's credible that one or more decided to do likewise
either on their own (most likely scenario) or from Matt's
request.
edi...@netpath.net
>Your wish to cast guilt on the wife and daughter of 2 murder victims
is
>despicable, beneath contempt and highly offensive, which I'm sure is
your
>chief purpose.
BS. What is it that makes a federal official so exalted that she
just couldn't have committed a felony? After all, it's easy to find
WEEKLY examples of fedcops or other federal officials in positions of
trust arrested, convicted, or sentenced for on-the-job felonies -
ranging from bribery to stealing at work!
Remember the O.J. case? Early in it, one of the first things said
by a detective was that the first suspect is always the spouse? WHY
NOT HERE? (Is it because she's a federal official - or because she's
not black?)
Kris Baker
"EnEss" <star...@global.net> wrote in message
news:DyIVd.5583$DW....@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com...
Nah,.....that "editor" is just here to spam us. Why else would they
be posting the same identical responses so many times?
Kris
Kris Baker
Looks like eBay shut down the "Internet Gun Show" a long, long time ago.
Did you know that Matt Hale was a Junior Nazi at age 12? Who would
he have learned that from? Good old Mom and Dad?
I heard Mom whining on the radio news yesterday, that her son would
*NEVER* do anything like that.
There was an older (around 60 years old) man in the car waiting outside.
I wonder where Daddy Hale was when the Lefkow family got wiped?
Kris
edi...@netpath.net
>Looks like eBay shut down the "Internet Gun Show" a long, long time
ago.
Dream on - it's been selling, and shipping, stuff all this week!
Just click on the link for a full line of gun and hunting parts, tools,
and accessories.
ronniecat
swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,
but instead wrote:
>But precedence doesn't necessarily guarantee sequence, isn't there some
>logical fallacy (can't remember the name) that addresses that?
Are you thinking of "post hoc, ergo proctor hoc" (after the thing,
therefore because of the thing)?