Wife kills "suicidal" husband. An example of good police work
Reported by Court TV - June 1996
Della Sutorius was the marrying type. Four of the marriages ended in divorce. The fifth ended with her husband's death. His body was found in the couple's suburban Symmes Township home. He had a gunshot wound to the head. A 38-caliber handgun that Della Sutorius had bought just two days earlier was found near the body.
Della was charged with aggravated murder in the February 19, 1996, shooting death of her husband, Dr. Darryl Sutorius, 55, a prominent heart surgeon. During the trial, the prosecution contended that Sutorius killed her husband because he planned to divorce her. She knew of his plans and shot him in order to inherit his estate and to collect on a $1 million life insurance policy.
The defense theory of the case was that Dr. Sutorius committed suicide. The jury heard from two psychiatrists who concluded that he suffered from major depression and exhibited other signs that could lead him to take his own life.
On June 7, 1996, a jury found Sutorius guilty of aggravated murder. She was sentenced to life in prison.
Do police only care about finding the right killer?
Reported by CBS News - April 6, 1999
Grange County? N.Y.? - Rolondo Cruz was convicted of killing a young girl based on a confession that he claimed he never gave. As a result, he served 10 years on death row. A different man was later arrested for another crime. While in custody, this other man confessed to killing the girl Rolondo Cruz had been convicted of murdering. DNA evidence later confirmed the other man was, in fact, the killer of the young girl.
The police and district attorney's office refused to concede, claiming they were still convinced that Rolondo Cruz was the killer.
Several police officers and Deputy District Attorneys are now being charged with falsifying evidence in the Cruz case.
Medical experts disagree. Army investigators stand firm. Another miraculous "suicide"- - Death by stabbing . . . 26 times!!
Reported by 60 Minutes - Nov 28, 1999
March 1998, Gordon Hess, a firefighter and Captain in the National Guard, and commander of the Armory in Jamestown New York, went off for military training in Fort Knox Kentucky. Ten days into the military exercises, his body was found in a culvert not far from his barracks. He had been stabbed 26 times. Four of the wounds punctured his lung, one penetrated his liver and two penetrated his heart.
The Army investigated Hess's death and concluded the stab wounds were self-inflicted. "Gordon Hess," they claimed, "had taken his own life."
John Burris was Captain Hess's Executive Officer in the National Guard and one of Hess's best friends. In real life, Burris is a police officer. They shared a bunk at Fort Knox and Burris was one of the last people to see Hess alive.
Hess woke Burris up at 4:45 AM as he "jumped out of bed." Hess opened his locker, got out his shower kit, combed his hair, and told Burris, "You've got 15 more minutes to sleep Johnny. Go back to sleep."
When asked if Burris thought Hess would be coming right back, Burris is quoted as saying, "I was sure he was coming back, [I thought] that he ran out somewhere and would be back, take a shower and it would just be like a regular day. He had his pressed uniform hung out at the bottom of the bed.
Hess didn't come back. It took 24 hours before they found his body. He was dressed in a sweat suit and running shoes, lying face down in a drainage ditch in a wooded area a few hundred yards from his barracks.
Nearby was a leatherman tool that Hess had purchased the night before. It had his blood on it but no identifiable finger prints. The Army claimed he used it to take his own life.
"There's no way Gordon Hess would take his own life," Burris says.
Captain Hess's widow, Doreen doesn't believe her husband committed suicide either. "It doesn't fit, it won't fit and they can't make it fit," she says. Doreen says her husband was a dedicated family man and had an excellent record with the military. His last evaluation called him an officer with unquestionable integrity and an outstanding example to his men.
When she asked the Army investigators how her husband could have stabbed himself 26 times, they simply replied, "It's possible." Doreen Hess remains convinced it was not possible.
Doreen Hess had a medical examiner in Buffalo conduct another autopsy. This medical examiner concluded Captain Hess's death was a homicide.
Colonel Dan Quinn oversaw the Army investigation. Quinn says, "I am convinced of the quality of our investigation, the agents that conducted it and the medical examiner personnel and that this was a suicide."
Colonel Quinn also said there was no physical evidence that anyone else was present at the scene when Captain Hess died. There were no defensive wounds on his body indicating he put up a struggle, he hadn't been robbed, and there was no apparent motive for murder. Colonel Quinn also could not come up with a motive for suicide. After interviewing 130 people close to Hess, Quinn was asked if any of them thought Hess had committed suicide. Quinn replied, "I believe there was one."
Vernon Geberth, a former commander of the Bronx homicide task force, asked Doreen Hess's attorney to send him the reports. Geberth says, "I took a look, I read the reports and I immediately knew that this was a problem."
Geberth then called his mentor, Dr. Dominic Dimayo. Dimayo is a former New York City medical examiner and is considered to be one of America's top forensic pathologists. Dimayo said that in his 50 year career, he'd never seen a "suicide" case with so many deep stab wounds."
Six potentially fatal wounds, to be exact. Any one of which could have killed or incapacitated Captain Hess. Four penetrated the lungs with hemorrhage and two perforated the left ventricle of the heart.
"Normally, if you put a knife into the left ventricle of the heart, you're not going to be able to do another one, right?" Dr. Dimayo was asked?
"Yeah," he replied, "You'd be incapacitated at that point. . . You would be incapacitated."
Dimayo displayed a diagram of Hess's wounds and said the pattern of stab wounds was much more typical of murder than suicide. He pointed out four L shaped wounds and said these usually occur when a victim moves while being stabbed or when an attacker twists the knife.
When asked if was possible that you could see four of these L shaped wounds in a suicide, Dr. Dimayo replied, "I would say, 'Never. I haven't seen it. Never.' "
Homicide expert Vernon Geberth says, "It just defies common sense. The bottom line is, in the military, they have a suicide. In the world of public opinion they look pretty dopey." When asked if he thinks Hess's death was a homicide, Geberth replied, "I think it's more consistent with homicide than suicide. . . absolutely!"
"Is it possible that he just snapped?" the interviewer asked. "That there was some cumulative factor. That he'd been well adjusted his entire life and then for some unknown reason he just snapped?"
Geberth replied, "Anything is possible. Now let's get to probable. In how many cases can you stab yourself twice in the heart; and where do you find these cases? So possibility, yes. But probability, no! It was a rush to judgment. Somebody early on in that investigation decided it was gonna be a suicide and that's the way it's been going since."
Sound familiar?
"Suicide" by fire-- Later ruled homicide!
Reported by NBC's Dateline - Jan 8, 1999
Arthur Bennett was a marine who was court marshaled for rape and molestation. He was facing a possible 25 year prison term when he was granted a leave by his commanding officer. He went to Las Vegas.
A few days later, on Feb 3, 1994, a body was found, burnt beyond recognition, in Bennett's trailer outside Yuma Arizona. The police, the County Coroner and a U.S. Marine dentist identified the body as Arthur Bennett.
Even though suicide by fire is extremely rare, Bennett's death was ruled a suicide by the County Coroner and the Marine Corps homicide investigators.
The body was cremated.
Gene Davis, a Sgt. in the Marine Corps and father of one of Bennett's victims, was suspicious. He began his own investigation and discovered Arthur Bennett's dental records had been missing and that the Marine Corps dentist had identified Bennett from a visual examination based on the dentist's memory, not from actual dental records. Davis then realized there was no actual proof that the body found was Bennett's and began a campaign to have the case of Bennett's so-called "suicide" reopened.
Sgt. Davis was accused of being obsessed and mentally unbalanced. His commander said he should see a psychiatrist.
In 1997, a man named Joe Benson was doing volunteer work at a high school in Hurricane Utah, where he was soon accused of molesting several high school girls. "Benson" was eventually arrested when his 16 year old daughter finally filed a police report accusing him of molesting and raping her.
The police detective assigned to this case suspected there was more to the story and had "Benson's" fingerprints sent to the FBI for positive identification.
Fingerprints and subsequent photographs later revealed "Benson's" true identity as Arthur Bennett! Yes, the same Arthur Bennett who the U.S. Marine investigators and the Yuma County Coroner had declared to be the victim of "suicide by fire."
Bennett had been living in the small town of Hurricane Utah, two hours from Lake Meade, under the assumed name of Joe Benson. His formerly "widowed" wife Amelia and their two daughters were living with him.
Amelia later claimed she actually thought Arthur was dead. She said she was shocked when he called her about three months after his funeral and told her to come to Hurricane to live with him or he'd kill her.
During his interview from prison on NBC's Dateline, Bennett claimed he never molested, raped or killed anyone. Later, however, he plead "no contest" to the sex crimes. In November of 1998, Arthur Bennett was indicted for murdering the person found in his trailer in Yuma Arizona.
Unfortunately the police and Coroner, in all their vast experience and wisdom, allowed all of the physical evidence to be destroyed. Gene Davis was laughed off. He could do nothing to motivate the authorities to have a closer look at Bennett's death. Now they have no clues and may never know the identity of the man found dead in Bennett's trailer. If Arthur Bennett is ever convicted of murder, his conviction will be based entirely on "circumstantial" evidence.
Ironically, if Arthur Bennett had not molested his own daughter, he'd still be "deceased"! Just one more victim of "suicide."
How reliable are medical experts?
Reported by 60 Minutes, March 7, 1999
Louise Woodward was an English nanny who was convicted by a jury of second degree murder. The prosecution claimed Woodward shook baby Matthew Ethan for up to a minute. Her actions allegedly caused the child's death.
During the trial a child abuse expert by the name of Dr. Newburg testified that the evidence indicated the baby had been violently shaken and that's what caused the brain injury which led to his death. Dr. Gillis, another child abuse expert, Schect and says the child was strangled within 48 hrs.
Autopsy evidence revealed damage to the babies ribs and indicated these rib injuries may have been caused weeks earlier. Other medical experts also found multiple injuries indicating the baby had been assaulted a number of times in the past. The baby had two separate blood clots indicating two separate injuries, one occurring at an earlier time than the other, and a wrist fracture that had occurred from two weeks to two months before the baby died.
This additional evidence meant the baby may have been the victim of child abuse for quite some time, possibly by the child's own parents.
Dr. Newberg agrees all these things may be true but stands by his original conclusion of death by shaking.
The lead prosecutor seemed unaware of these other injuries but still refused to admit she made a mistake! She appeared visibly disturbed that the 60 Minutes reporter was questioning the medical research she had done prior to the trial.
Another rush to judgment?
Reported by NBC's Dateline - Feb. 24, 1999
Rita married Stanley Kress in October of 1992. As their 2 year anniversary was approaching, Rita filed for divorce claiming her husband, Stanley, was physically and verbally abusive.
A few weeks later, police were called to the Kress home. Rita told the police Stanley had slapped her, pushed her head into the kitchen wall and tried to strangle her.
Sue Romer, friend of Rita's since 10th grade, said the marriage was very rocky, even scary at times.
On the day the divorce trial was about to begin, Stanley attempted to commit suicide and Rita decided not to pursue the divorce. Eight months later, police were again called to the home and Stanley was arrested for domestic violence.
Rita filed for divorce again and obtained a restraining order instructing Stanley to stay at least 1/4 mile from the home.
On January 8, 1996, Rita was found dead of a gunshot to the head. A 38 caliber revolver was in her hand which was laying on her stomach. Police found no signs of forced entry or of a struggle.
Although no suicide note was found at the scene, the next day, Medical Examiner Dr. Verner Smits declared Rita's death a suicide. The police agreed.
Rita's family and friends do not believe she committed suicide. They said she sounded fine during recent phone conversations and was not suicidal. Rita's brother says she was looking forward to getting on with her life. In fact, Rita had just purchased a weeks worth of groceries and appeared to be planning her future by buying new furniture and other household items.
But Rita did tell her family, on several occasions, that Stanley had threatened to kill her and that he was blatantly violating the restraining order. Others close to Rita claimed Stanley had been following her and just before she was found dead, Stanley had seen her in a restaurant with another man.
When Rita's body was found, a small gremlin doll was missing off the bed. She slept with it every night. It was not in the police photos, but Stanley later produced the doll and said he took it off the bed after the body was removed by the Coroner and washed the blood off of it.
Stanley's attorney will not allow him to speak to the media.
Rita's family is convinced the police botched the case and that the Medical Examiner rushed to judgment. But they finally convinced a local prosecutor, Carl Marlinga, to take a second look at Rita's death.
Marlinga says, "There are a number of troubling issues, especially the position of Rita's arm. More often than not, the gun would have been flung off the right side of the bed." And there was no gunshot residue on her hand. "The tests aren't always accurate," says Marlinga, "but more often than not, there would be residue on the hand."
Police photos also show that fingers on Rita's right hand appear to be bruised and swollen. Marlinga said this indicates a possible struggle and added, "People don't shot themselves with a wounded hand."
The Medical Examiner stands by his ruling of suicide . . . of course.
How good is "circumstantial" evidence?
From a report by Associated Press
Kenneth McDuff was charged with murdering a young woman. The strongest piece of evidence in the case was the fact that his car was found near the place the woman was abducted and his hair was found in her car. Her body was never found.
No body . . .
No victim . . .
No eyewitnesses claiming to have seen McDuff with the woman . . .
No physical evidence proving a murder even occurred!
The evidence in this case was entirely circumstantial.
McDuff was convicted of murder by a jury of 12 in a Texas courtroom and sentenced to death.
Now I'm not necessarily saying I agree with the verdict in this case. I'd have to watch this entire trial to have a valid opinion as to whether this case was proven "beyond a reasonable doubt." But when discussing the Cobain murder investigation, don't be fooled by those who say, "All they have is circumstantial evidence." First, that's not true. But if it were, anyone familiar with our legal system knows - that's all we need.