Fascinating update on Russell Ellwood,facing trial for 2 murders,suspected of being LA serial killer of 26 gals
Joe1orbit
Does the name Russell Ellwood ring any bells, folks? It most certainly
should, if you follow the serial murder scene. In March of this year, 48 year
old Russell, who was working as a cabdriver in the city of New Orleans, was
arrested on suspicion of murder. Police quickly decided that Russell was not
just a murderer, but a SERIAL murderer. Not just a serial murderer, but very
possibly one of the absolute most PROLIFIC and ACTIVE serial murderers of the
1990's.
You see, folks, in case you are unaware, a serial killer has been at work in
the New Orleans area. ONE man is believed to have serially killed at least
TWENTY-SIX women, between 1991 and 1996. This is without a doubt one of the
premier serial killing strings to have occured in the 1990's, anywhere in the
world. We have HIGH volume, and obvious cunning and brilliance on the part of
this killer. Also an impressive degree of ongoing rage and hate. 26 victims in
6 years. That works out to about one victim every 4 months. Impressively torrid
pace!
The 26 victims are all female. One or two may have been tranvestites dressed
up as females. They were found nude or partially clothed. Most were known
prostitutes. They were either strangled OR fed a fatal overdose of drugs. In
March, despite VERY little solid evidence, police seized upon the claim of a
woman that 48 year old Russell had "shown" her several dead bodies out in the
swampy areas of LA, as an excuse to arrest him and charge him with TWO of the
26 unsolved murders. They quickly named him as a suspect in 15 or more of the
26 killings. But Russell was and is a SMART fellow. He kept his mouth shut. He
WISELY has tried to FORCE police, detectives, and prosecutors to LINK him to
the killings, and as we learn in the fascinating update below, these cops have
come up with almost NOTHING that could stand up at trial, in terms of obtaining
a Guilty verdict against Russell.
In a FASCINATING development, the #1 LEAD detective who headed up the special
task force set up to try and capture this serial killer, a FEMALE named Sue
Rushing, has taken and FAILED a lie detector test, in which she was asked
whether she DESTROYED exculpatory evidence that would have placed Russell in a
different state at the time when some of the 26 murders were committed! Sue,
leader of the serial killer task force, was asked whether she DESTROYED or lost
receipts that placed Russell in the state of OH back in 1993, when some of the
killings occured. She said NO. The lie detector test indicates that she is
LYING!
In another piece of VERY good news for Russell, the woman who initially got
Russell arrested by claiming that he had shown her the dead bodies of several
women in swampland, was COACHED by this very same female leader of the serial
killer task force, on what to say to police. This same lie detector test shows
Sue was LYING again when she denied having coached this female tattletale.
IMO, this case should now be THROWN OUT immediately! It is a fact that there
is NO DNA or forensic evidence linking Russell to ANY of these 26 killings.
When you add in the fact that the HEAD of the SK task force is now a
DEMONSTRATED LIAR, via a polygraph, and that her lies involve the destruction
of exculpatory evidence and the coaching of the PRIME witness against Russell,
there is simply NO justifiable reason for keeping Russell behind bars OR for
putting him on trial for even one murder, much less all 26.
Russell, still in jail and still facing a murder trial, has now filed a
federal civil rights lawsuit against the serial killer task force, charging
that they also LIED when they say that Russell CONFESSED to some of the
killings, and the lawsuit also details how brutally he was interrogated by the
Task Force, with no attorney present to represent him.
Wouldn't it be COOL if Russell IS indeed the serial killer, gets freed due to
this police misconduct, AND wins a multi-million dollar judgement in his civil
rights lawsuit?? Ha! That would be puuurfect! The money would help him to
relocate and come up with an even better and more undetectable way of
committing ADDITIONAL serial killings, if his True Reality dictates that he
resume his killing spree. Or, he can just RETIRE at age 48, and savor the glory
of his 26 killings AND the glory of how he outsmarted the police AND won a
million+ dollar cash judgement in the process!
Of course I THINK it is quite possible that Russell is indeed an innocent
man. In which case the REAL killer is probably not very happy that Russell
might get off the hook, because then the SK Task Force will resume it's active
investigation to try and snare the real killer.
The fact is, there is circumstantial evidence pointing to the likelihood that
Russell IS the serial killer. But I think it would be an OUTRAGE if any judge
allowed this circumstantial evidence to be used against Russell at trial, given
the fact that there is NO concrete, forensic, or DNA evidence, AND there is
VERY strong reason to believe that the TOP LEADER of the entire SK Task Force
is a LIAR and a DESTROYER of exculpatory evidence, and that the prime
prosecution witness was COACHED on what to tell police, by the head of the SK
Task Force.
Obviously Russell's "confession" should also not be allowed into evidence,
because there is VERY solid evidence that the confession, IF indeed a
confession was even given, was obtained via a TORTUROUS interrogation session
undertaken by top members of this SAME serial killer task force.
Many serial killers like to return to the site of their crime, to relive the
glory of their killing act. Russell WAS indeed found with his cab parked right
near a dump site where one of the bodies of his victims had been found, about a
year earlier, in the middle of the night. He told police that he only parked in
this isolated spot because he needed to "change the oil in my cab and didn't
want to get caught dumping the dirty oil from my cab illegally." Interesting.
it is NOT clear whether a new can of oil was in fact found in the cab during
this police stop. Even if a new can of oil WAS found, that wouldn't necessarily
prove his innocence with regard to the killings. But of course it is NOT
Russell's job to PROVE his iNNOCENCE. It is the job of prosecuitors to prove
his GUILT, BEYOND a reasonable doubt. And IMO, there is just NO WAY that this
murder trial should be allowed to go forward. We have NO EVIDENCE of any kind
that Russell is guilty. We DO have a LOT of evidence that top leaders of the
serial killer task force deliberately tried to railroad Russell, by destroying
exculpatory evidence and coaching the State's prime witness.
The case should be thrown out. Russell should be released immediately. And
this serial killer task force should be DISBANDED, and the female head of the
task force STRIPPED of her badge, based upon her failing of the lie detector
test, among other things. There is IMDEPEDENT evidence, given by HONEST members
of this SAME SK task force, that commander Sue did indeed LIE, destroy
evidence, & coach the prime witness, so it's NOT only a question of the lie
detector test indicating commander Sue to be a ROTTEN, corrupt, malevolent cop.
This certainly is a happy news item for my Sunday. I only hope that these new
developments do result in Russell winning his freedom very soon, and no murder
trial being held.
Take care, JOE
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of today's Associated
Press news wire:
Case Against Cabbie May Crumble
By ALAN CLENDENNING
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The 26 nude or partially clothed bodies were found floating
in swamps and canals, lying under highway overpasses, decomposing in thick
woods.
Most were prostitutes strangled or overdosed with drugs and left to die by a
serial killer stalking the city from 1991 to 1996.
A big break came in March when a 48-year-old taxi driver and loner was charged
with two 1993 murders and named a suspect in as many as 15 more.
But the case against Russell Ellwood, accused of dumping his victims from his
cab after drugging them so they would be unconscious during sex, may be falling
apart.
Last month, sheriff's Lt. Sue Rushing, the leader of the serial killer task
force that targeted Ellwood, failed a lie detector test asking if she destroyed
or lost receipts that could place Ellwood in Ohio with relatives when the 1993
murders happened.
The test also indicated Rushing was ``not telling the truth'' when she denied
coaching a witness who claimed Ellwood showed her the two bodies in a canal 20
miles west of New Orleans.
The allegations were made by other task force members, prompting the FBI to
investigate Rushing and the task force. Ellwood has filed a federal civil
rights lawsuit against task force investigators, asserting that police lied
when they said he confessed under relentless interrogation.
At a hearing Wednesday, Ellwood's lawyers will question Rushing and other
detectives in court, trying to put the task force on trial to persuade a judge
to throw out two second-degree murder charges, which carry automatic life
sentences.
``It's clear they have deprived him of his right to a fair trial,'' said Maria
Chaisson, one of Ellwood's lawyers.
Prosecutors admit they have no physical evidence to put Ellwood where the
bodies of Cheryl Lewis and Delores Mack were found Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, 1993.
But they say Ellwood's own statements and other evidence they won't describe
points to him as the killer.
Lewis drowned in the canal while under the influence of cocaine and
amphetamines. Mack was found strangled and suffocated one-fifth of a mile away.
Cocaine was in her blood.
A year later, Ellwood was at the remote crime scene in the middle of the night,
hanging out in his taxi cab alongside the deserted state highway next to the
canal. Questioned by two off-duty sheriff's deputies, Ellwood said he wanted to
change the oil in his cab in a place where he wouldn't be caught dumping the
dirty oil outside.
Because serial killers often return to the sites of their crimes, Ellwood
became a suspect in 1997, two years after the task force was formed and a year
after the last known victim was killed. When detectives first approached
Ellwood in Florida last year, he was cooperative and told them he had
``dreamed'' the serial killer task force wanted to interview him.
Then an inmate in a Florida jail where Ellwood spent time on a cocaine
conviction told investigators Ellwood had told him he enjoyed sex with people
on drugs who were not in control of their bodies.
Months later, after Ellwood went to Ohio to stay with relatives, he was
questioned for days by police. It was then that Ellwood allegedly told Rushing
and a former Cincinnati homicide detective that he dumped the body of a woman
in water off a rural road.
Court documents quoted him as saying, ``I'm willing to confess to two cases and
give you all the details when I return to Louisiana.''
Ellwood, in a telephone interview from the St. Charles Parish jail, at first
denied his admission, then said anything he may have told police came only
after he was badgered and promised a flight to New Orleans so he could meet
with his longtime lawyer, Ross Scaccia.
``My only thought was that if I can get to Mr. Scaccia, everything would be all
right,'' Ellwood said. ``I told the task force anything, almost anything, to
get to Scaccia.''
Scaccia, who first represented Ellwood in a marijuana possession case three
decades ago, said his client is the victim of overzealous investigators. That's
partly because Ellwood is such a loser, Scaccia said.
Ellwood grew up in Massillon, Ohio, and moved to New Orleans 30 years after
high school. He worked as a free-lance photographer then turned to driving a
cab, Scaccia said. Ellwood had few friends, never had a girlfriend and
constantly thought of get-rich-quick schemes that didn't work.
He inherited $15,000 from his mother but lost it all investing in penny stocks.
He slept in his cab when he couldn't afford a boarding house, Scaccia said.
Ellwood helped police at first because he craved the attention of detectives
who told him he could help them solve the case, Scaccia said.
``He's just an unswift, lonely man who's always trying to be a success and has
never succeeded at anything,'' Scaccia said.
Police decline to discuss the case. Rushing cannot comment because of the
ongoing FBI investigation, said Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish
Sheriff's Department.
But Scaccia claims in the lawsuit that Rushing persuaded a key witness, Sharon
Jones, to make up the story that Ellwood took her to the canal to smoke crack
and see a ``surprise.''
According to a police affidavit, Ellwood showed Jones one body in the canal
with an arm and hand showing and another body that was almost submerged.
Ellwood and his lawyers maintain he was in Ohio at the time but say that
receipts which could prove it were destroyed or concealed by Rushing. Ellwood
was a meticulous record keeper; authorities tracked his activities for years
through receipts. But 1993 receipts seized by police have a mysterious two-week
gap in February, Chaisson said.
She theorizes police were desperate to prove they'd captured the serial killer.
``They wanted to get a conviction,'' Chaisson said. ``But whoever did this is
certainly still out there.''
AP-NY-12-06-98
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Jefferson Parish sheriff supports embattled task force leader
The Associated Press
12/06/98
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee is defending the
detective accused of destroying evidence that might clear a man charged with
two 1993 murders.
Lee and two of his top aides told the Times-Picayune newspaper that they stand
behind Lt. Sue Rushing's investigative work and look forward to her testimony
in a Hahnville courtroom this week.
"I respect her personally and I respect her professionally," Lee told the
newspaper. "As of now, I know of no reason to discipline her."
Lee said two former members of a serial killer task force Rushing leads may
have made complaints about Rushing to the FBI because of petty grudges related
to the investigation.
After three years of work, the task force in March booked Russell Ellwood, a
longtime New Orleans taxi driver, with two 1993 killings. Ellwood's lawyers
will question Rushing and other task force members on Wednesday, hoping to
convince a judge to drop the murder charges.
But Lee, Rodrigue and Gorman say they are standing by Rushing.
"I do not know if she did anything illegal," Gorman said. "Based on what I
know, I don't think she did."
Lee and Rodrigue said the problem is with Rushing's accusers.
"They have a different agenda," he said. "They wanted to embarrass Sue."
Detective Phillip Ramon III didn't like how Rushing handled a dispute over who
encouraged a victim's family to contact the news media, Rodrigue said. He said
St. Charles Parish District Attorney Howat Peters Jr. Peters hoped to get money
from a federal grant for the task force but didn't because the grant fell
through.
Rodrigue, the department's chief of detectives, said he spoke with Ramon about
Rushing before Ramon went to the FBI. But Ramon never mentioned any allegations
of wrongdoing, Rodrigue said.
Rodrigue said Ramon mentioned he had problems working with Rushing, but when
Rodrigue asked him to put it in writing, Ramon never did. When Rodrigue
followed up, Ramon said he "already addressed my problems with Sue," Rodrigue
recalled.
Lee, Rodrigue and Gorman would not address accusations that Rushing coached a
key prosecution witness and destroyed or concealed evidence that could place
Ellwood in Ohio when the killings happened.
Gorman acknowledged that Rushing admitted throwing away an envelope with a
Texas postmark that might contradict the task force's timeline for Ellwood's
whereabouts. But he said she later retrieved it.
Rushing was briefly hospitalized for exhaustion, but now she's back at work.
Lee said she wants to talk publicly at some point.
Ramon has been transferred from the task force to the sheriff department's vice
squad and also is not talking. Peters, who returned to regular prosecution in
St. Charles Parish months ago, also is keeping silent.
Lee said he's eager to hear what Rushing's accusers have to say under oath.
Anyone who did anything wrong -- including Rushing -- could be disciplined.
Lee would only speak generally about the case against Ellwood.
"I think we've got a very good case," he said. "If we get a conviction, I will
let the world know it's mainly because of Sue Rushing's efforts."