Charles Manson Follower Susan Atkins Dies
Friday, September 25, 2009
LOS ANGELES — Susan Atkins, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson whose remorseless witness stand confession to killing pregnant actress Sharon Tate in 1969 shocked the world, has died. She was 61 and had been suffering from brain cancer.
Atkins' death comes less than a month after a parole board turned down the terminally ill woman's last chance at freedom on Sept. 2. She was brought to the hearing on a gurney and slept through most of it.
California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said that Atkins died late Thursday night. She had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008, had a leg amputated and was given only a few months to live.
She underwent brain surgery, and in her last months was paralyzed and had difficulty speaking. But she managed to speak briefly at the Sept. 2 hearing, reciting religious verse with the help of her husband, attorney James Whitehouse.
Click for photos of the Manson Murders.
She had been transferred to a skilled nursing facility at the California Central Women's Facility at Chowchilla exactly one year before she died.
Tate, the 26-year-old actress who appeared in the movie "Valley of the Dolls" and was the wife of famed director Roman Polanski, was one of six murdered in two Los Angeles homes during the Manson cult's bloody rampage in August 1969.
Atkins was the first of the convicted killers to die. Manson and three others involved in the murders — Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten and Charles "Tex" Watson — remain imprisoned under life sentences. Thornton said that at the time of Atkins death she had been in prison longer than any woman currently incarcerated in California.
Atkins, who confessed from the witness stand during her trial, had apologized for her acts numerous times over the years. But 40 years after the murders, she learned that few had forgotten or forgiven what she and other members of the cult had done.
Debra Tate, the slain actress's younger sister, told the parole commissioners Sept. 2 that she "will pray for (Atkins') soul when she draws her last breath, but until then I think she should remain in this controlled situation." Debra Tate noted that she would have a 40-year-old nephew if her sister had lived.
Atkins' prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, had spoken out earlier in favor of release, saying the mercy requested was "minuscule" because Atkins was on her deathbed.
Atkins and her co-defendants were originally sentenced to death but their sentences were reduced to life in prison when capital punishment was briefly outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1970s.
During the sensational 10-month trial, Atkins, Manson and co-defendants Krenwinkel and Van Houten maintained their innocence. But once they were convicted, the so-called "Manson girls" confessed in graphic detail.
They tried to absolve Manson, the ex-convict who had gathered a "family" of dropouts and runaways to a ranch outside Los Angeles, where he cast himself as the Messiah and led them in an aberrant lifestyle fueled by drugs and communal sex.
Watson had a separate trial and was convicted.
One night in August 1969, Matson dispatched Atkins and others to a wealthy residential section of Los Angeles, telling them, as they recalled, to "do something witchy."
They went to the home of Tate and her husband. He was not home, but Tate, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, and four others were killed. "Pigs" was scrawled on a door in blood.
The next night, a wealthy grocer and his wife were found stabbed to death in their home across town. "Helter Skelter" was written in blood on the refrigerator.
"I was stoned, man, stoned on acid," Atkins testified during the trial's penalty phase.
"I don't know how many times I stabbed (Tate) and I don't know why I stabbed her," she said. "She kept begging and pleading and begging and pleading and I got sick of listening to it, so I stabbed her."
She said she felt "no guilt for what I've done. It was right then and I still believe it was right." Asked how it could be right to kill, she replied in a dreamy voice, "How can it not be right when it's done with love?"
The matronly, gray-haired Atkins who appeared before a parole board in 2000 cut a far different figure than that of the cocky young defendant some 30 years earlier.
"I don't have to just make amends to the victims and families," she said softly. "I have to make amends to society. I sinned against God and everything this country stands for." She said she had found redemption in Christianity.
The last words she spoke in public at the September hearing were to say in unison with her husband: "My God is an amazing God."
She spent 37 years in the California Institution for Women at Frontera. When she fell ill, she was moved to a medical unit at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. She died there.
Susan Denise Atkins was born May 7, 1948, in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel. Her mother was stricken with cancer and died when she was 15. Her father, reportedly an alcoholic, sent her and her brother to live with relatives.
While still in her teens, she ran away to San Francisco where she wound up dancing in a topless bar and using drugs. She moved into a commune in the Haight Ashbury district and it was there that she met Manson.
He gave her a cult name, Sadie Mae Glutz, and, when she became pregnant by a "family" member, he helped deliver the baby boy, naming it Zezozoze Zadfrack. His whereabouts are unknown.
The Manson slayings remained unsolved for three months, until Atkins confessed to a cellmate following her arrest on an unrelated charge. Police found Manson and other cult members living in a ranch commune in Death Valley, outside Los Angeles.
Besides Tate, their other victims were celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, filmmaker Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent, a friend of Tate's caretaker; and grocery owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Atkins also was convicted with Manson of still another murder, of musician Gary Hinman, in July 1969.
Atkins married twice while in prison. Her first husband, Donald Lee Laisure, purported to be an eccentric Texas millionaire. They quickly divorced. Whitehouse, her second husband, is a Harvard Law School graduate and had recently served as one of her attorneys.
Caught on camera: The chilling moment a bus passenger repeatedly stabbed a man in front of shocked commuters
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:11 PM on 25th September 2009
A bus passenger who repeatedly stabbed a 'volatile and violent' stranger after a row was jailed today.
Marcus Ball, who said he was carrying a knife to protect himself, plunged the blade into unarmed Derek Spaulding in front of shocked passengers after an argument.
Today a judge found that the 22-year-old had used 'grossly excessive force' when fending off Spaulding, who had threatened him and chased him down the stairs of the bus.
'Grossly excessive force': CCTV image of Marcus Ball stabbing Derek Spaulding on a bus in Streatham after a row
Ball was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Then aged 20, Ball fled the scene leaving his victim bleeding heavily from five stab wounds, by the door of the packed double-decker in Streatham High Road, Streatham, south-west London.
Mr Spaulding, who was taken to nearby St George's Hospital in Tooting, received emergency surgery to life-threatening injuries including a 5cm deep wound in his groin, and was kept in the high dependency unit for a week.
Ball, who was traced weeks after the late morning attack on November 23, 2007, on the number 250 bus was initially charged with attempted murder.
But he pleaded guilty to an alternative count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at Inner London Crown Court.
The court heard after the stabbing Ball went home and got changed before leaving the area through the police cordon.
Passing sentence the judge said the case was a 'classic example' of the danger of carrying knives.
He told Ball: 'If they are carried, the danger is they will be used and if they are used this is exactly the kind of case that results.
'If this man had died you would have been facing a charge of murder.
'You stabbed the complainant repeatedly, using grossly excessive force.'
There was an incident at the top of the bus on which you and the complainant were travelling.
'Rightly or wrongly the complainant thought you had touched him.
'The complainant, who was a volatile person with a violent past, undoubtedly became annoyed with you.
'You wanted to get off the bus and undoubtedly he got up and deliberately followed you down to the lower deck.
'You shouted to the bus driver to open the doors so you could get off but the driver couldn't do that immediately, so he didn't.
'So there was a time when both you and the complainant were on the lower deck by the doors.
'Having heard the evidence I was quite satisfied you had been threatened by the complainant.
'You took out a knife that you were deliberately carrying in case you thought that it was necessary to use it.
'And you did use it. The result was that the complainant suffered five separate stab wounds - one was 5cm deep.
'Three were to the area of his back. He was taken to hospital having collapsed in the street.
'This is a very serious case, not least because you were deliberately carrying a knife, which you used when you thought you were under pressure.
'His injuries were caused when he wasn't in a position to resist.
'There is clear CCTV from the bus, which shows you standing over him, when he was lying on the floor and you are still holding that knife.'
The court heard Ball has no previous convictions for violence or carrying weapons and the judge added: 'It does seem there is very real hope you will put this behind you and make something of your life.'
Dressed smartly in a suit he showed no reaction as he heard his fate and will serve half his sentence less 307 days he has spent both on remand and on bail on an electronic tag.
Ball admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He denied attempted murder, and the charge was allowed to lie on the court file.
Man Found Census Worker Naked, Gagged Hanging From Tree
Friday, September 25, 2009
BIG CREEK, Ky. — A part-time census worker found hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery was naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape, said an Ohio man who discovered the body two weeks ago.
Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was among a group of relatives who discovered the body of 51-year-old Bill Sparkman on Sept. 12.
"The only thing he had on was a pair of socks," Weaver said. "And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.
"And they even had duct tape around his neck. And they had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder."
Weaver said he couldn't tell if the tag was a Census Bureau I.D. He said he didn't get close enough to read it.
State police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski would not confirm Weaver's description of the crime scene. Two people briefed on the investigation said various details of Weaver's account matched the details of the crime scene, though both people said they were not informed who found the body. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
Both of the people briefed on the investigation said, for instance, that a Census identification badge, which Census workers are instructed to wear when they go on door to door work, was found taped to his head and shoulder area.
Authorities have released very few details on the death. Coroner Jim Trosper has said the word "fed" was written on Sparkman's chest with what was likely a felt-tip pen. Weaver said he was not close enough to see anything written on the body's chest.
State police had announced the cause of death was asphyxiation, then clarified Friday that was a preliminary determination pending a full medical examination of the body. Rudzinsky said investigators hadn't yet determined whether the death was a homicide, suicide or accidental.
Weaver, who works for a family topsoil business in Fairfield, said he was in town for a family reunion and was visiting family gravesites at the cemetery when he and relatives came across the body.
The scene left Weaver without a doubt how Sparkman died.
"He was murdered," he said. "There's no doubt."
Weaver said the body was about 50 years from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. He said Sparkman's clothes were in the bed of the truck.
"His tailgate was down," Weaver said. "I thought he could have been killed somewhere else and brought there and hanged up for display, or they actually could have killed him right there. It was a bad, bad scene."
"It took me three or four good nights to sleep. My 20-year-old daughter ended up sleeping in the floor in our bedroom." he said.
Clay County Sheriff Kevin Johnson declined to comment on the investigation because the department is only playing a supporting role but said patrols have increased in the Daniel Boone National Forest since the body was found.
The Census Bureau has suspended door-to-door interviews in the rural county pending the investigation.
Trooper Trosper said it was clear this wasn't a natural death but said all other possibilities were being considered.
"This case has many facets," he said. "To investigate cases, you have to rule out different scenarios. We are not able to rule out many scenarios at this time, and that's what makes this a difficult case."
This will make your eyes water: Indonesian woman gives birth to 19.2lb baby boy
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 10:57 AM on 25th September 2009
Dwarfing the infant next to him, his mouth open in an angry roar, this is the heaviest newborn ever recorded in Indonesia.
An Indonesian woman named only as Ani gave birth to the 19.2lb baby boy in Medan, North Sumatra yesterday.
Big baby: The heaviest newborn ever recorded in Indonesa (right) was born yesterday
That's my boy: The child's mother Ani smiles as she caresses him in the hospital yesterday
She named him Muhammad Akbar Risuddin after the local district chief. 'Akbar' means 'big' in Indonesian.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was delivered by Caesarean section.
Britain's heaviest newborn was delivered in Cumbria in 1992 weighing 15lb 8oz.
The heaviest baby ever born was produced by Anna Bates of Canada in 1879, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It weighed 23.12lb and died 11 hours after birth.
The record for a baby which survived, according to the Guinness record keepers, is held by a boy born weighing 22lb 8oz at Aversa, Italy in 1955.
More recently Francisca do Santos gave birth to a son weighing 16lb 11oz by Caesarean section in Brazil.
Taking measure: Muhammad Akbar Risuddin drinks from a bottle at the hospital. Staff say he is constantly feeding
Missouri Mom Pleads Guilty to Selling 12-Year-Old Daughter as Dominatrix Sex Slave
Friday, September 25, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man and a woman accused of training the woman's 12-year-old daughter as a sexual dominatrix in Missouri and prostituting her online are going to prison.
Todd Barkau, 37, and the girl's 45-year-old mother pleaded guilty Thursday to sex trafficking of a child.
Officials said the two lived in a Kansas City suburb when Barkau began having sex with the girl in 2000 when she was 12, showing her how to perform sex acts with men including bondage and sadomasochism.
By the time the girl was 14, the couple had billed her as 'Mistress Alisha,' and rented her out to fulfill sadomasochistic fantasies of anyone willing to pay, the Kansas City Star reported.
She was prostituted, mainly through a Web site, from January 2002 to February 2005.
The couple was ordered to forfeit the $80,000 the girl earned for them during that time, the Kansas City Star reported.
Barkau will serve 25 years in federal prison, while the girl's mother, who isn't being named to protect her daughter's identity, will serve 15 years under a plea deal.
Prosecutors said she is first person in the U.S. to be charged with federal trafficking in a case involving her own child, the Star reported.
The judge and prosecutors agreed on the sentences after consulting the victim, who said she hopes 25 years will be a life sentence for Barkau, the paper reported.
Woman's body found in suitcase dumped in a pond
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:30 PM on 25th September 2009
The body of a woman was found stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a pond.
A dog walker discovered the body, believed to be that of an adult female, on land off Buckland Road in Cliffe, near Rochester, Kent, shortly before 1.30pm yesterday.
A spokeswoman for Kent Police said the suitcase was found in a dried up pond, known locally as the 'old pond', and a murder investigation has now been launched.
Closed: The body of a woman was found inside a suitcase on farmland near Cliffe, Rochester, yesterday afternoon
Grisly: A tarpaulin is visible where the body was found. The suitcase may have been underwater before the dry weather revealed it
It is possible the suitcase could have been underwater prior to its discovery.
Police said today the body did not appear to have been dismembered.
Chief Superintendent Steve Corbishley, Kent Police area commander for Medway, said the suitcase was found a by a woman walking her dog.
She did not open the suitcase but she decided to call the police because she thought it was 'a strange place' to find a 'bulging suitcase', he added.
Mr Corbishley said: 'We continue to investigate the suspicious death of a woman following the discovery of a body inside a suitcase.
'As yet the body has not been identified and as yet we don't know the cause of death but we believe it is that of a female adult.
'The suitcase was contained in what is known locally as the old pond which is a dried out area just off Buckland Road (in Cliffe near Rochester).
'The post mortem is taking place this afternoon to identify the body and how she died.
'We have no idea at this stage how long the body was in the pond.
'It is a very, very early stage in the investigation and officers are progressing their inquiries as we speak.
'The old pond is probably only a matter of a couple of hundred yards from the main road. This is a rural area with lots of orchards and fields either side.
'Fortunately there is nothing to suggest the removal of limbs at this stage.'
Bob Worley, 64, a farmer who lives near the Old Pond where the body was discovered, said: 'My partner was told by police that some remains were found in a suitcase in the pond, which is dried out now.
'I guess it could have been there for several weeks as the water level has fallen quite a bit in that time, it must have been dumped there.'
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she lived just two minutes away from where the body was found and described it as a quiet area with few other houses.
She said: 'This morning I left my house and there were bollards outside and police everywhere.
'I was told a body had been found, that's all I know. I'm pretty shocked, you just don't expect that to happen.'
She said she did not know of the pond where the body was found.
Inquiries are being made to establish the identity of the body and the cause of death was not known, she said.
A police cordon is in place in the area and Buckland Road remains closed. A post mortem examination is expected to take place later today.
'I'm happy to be alive,' says roadsweeper after commercial plane crash lands on top of him
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:28 AM on 26th September 2009
A roadsweeper today told of his relief at being alive - after a commercial plane crash-landed on top of him.
Abraham Mthethwa, 48, was working outside at 8am yesterday when the 29-seater jet hit difficulties after taking off from Durban International airport in South Africa.
As the stricken plane crashed it ploughed straight into the father-of-two from behind - breaking both his legs and leaving him with serious head injuries.
Destroyed: Rescuers work to free the crew of a plane - Abraham Mthethwa was working outside when the jet crashed on top of him
Lucky: Abraham Mthethwa in hospital after the crash
The Jetstream aircraft eventually came to a halt at a nearby school.
Today Mr Mthethwa described the terrifying seconds before the crash and said he could hardly believe he was alive to tell the tale.
Speaking from his bed in intensive care, he said: 'A colleague and I were sweeping the road near the school. I heard the plane but I thought it was going past.
'I'm in a lot of pain at the moment but I am going for an operation tomorrow. I can't remember much but I am so happy to be alive.' Mr Mthethwa recounted the incident during an interview with South Africa's Daily News newspaper.
The municipal cleaner has two wives, MaGasa and MaNgcobo, and two children Macebi, 16, and Mdu, 12.
The family were not informed of the accident until several hours after Mr Mthethwa had been taken to hospital because they do not have a telephone.
Ambulance spokesman Derrick Banks said paramedics were surprised to find Mr Mthethwa was still conscious when they arrived at the scene.
He added: 'He had serious injuries and advanced life support intervention was required to stabilise him before he was transported to St Augustine's Hospital.
'He suffered multiple fractures to his limbs and pelvis.' Mr Mthethwa today remained in intensive care at Durban's St Augustine's Hospital, where he was heavily sedated and receiving treatment for multiple injuries.'
He is due to go into surgery later today.
Just three people were on board the SA Airlink jet when it hit trouble yesterday.
The trio - two pilots and a crew member - also suffered serious injuries and were in hospital today.
Wreck: The plane crashed soon after take off, the three people on board - two pilots and a crew member - also suffered serious injuries and are in hospital
The Jetstream J41 hit difficulties moments after taking off for a short flight to Pietermaritzburg.
Pilot Captain Alistair Freeman has been hailed a hero after successfully steering the plane into a field near a school after it burst into flames in mid-air.
He was trapped in the wreckage for more than three hours and was today also been treated in hospital.
Officials have said thousands of people escaped possible injury in the accident because the school where the plane crashed was closed yesterday for a public holiday.
Had it been open as usual, many children could have been in the field at the time
Woman Implanted With Wrong Embryo Gives Birth
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Toledo, Ohio — A woman who had the wrong embryo implanted by a fertility clinic has given birth to a boy, her family said Friday.
Sean and Carolyn Savage released a statement Friday night saying a "healthy baby boy," whom they plan to give up to his biological parents, was delivered Thursday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo. No information about the baby or the circumstances surrounding the delivery was immediately released.
The Savages, of Sylvania, outside Toldeo, had said earlier this week the baby was to be born in the next two weeks via cesarean section.
In the statement, the Savages offered congratulations to the baby's biological parents, Paul and Shannon Morell, of suburban Detroit.
"At this time, we would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to the Morell family on the birth of their son," the Savages' statement said. "We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together."
The Savages asked for privacy in the days ahead, saying "Our family is going through a very difficult time."
The Morell family didn't immediately respond Friday to an e-mail seeking comment.
The Savages extended thanks to people around the world for their support and prayers. They thanked medical professionals for their care and treatment throughout the pregnancy and delivery.
The Savages say a fertility clinic
outside Ohio transferred the wrong frozen embryo in February. Ten days later, they got a call from a doctor at the clinic saying she was pregnant with someone else's child.
The Savages said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday they never considered terminating the pregnancy or trying to fight for custody.
They have hired attorneys who say they are working to make sure the fertility clinic accepts responsibility.
The Morells, who live in Troy, Mich., found out about the fertility clinic mistake a day after the Savages.
The two couples knew nothing about each other. Shannon Morell feared that the pregnant woman would choose abortion, ending their chance to give their 2-year-old twin girls a sibling.
A few days passed before they learned that the Savages were not only willing to continue with the pregnancy but also to hand over the baby without hesitation.
"This was someone else's child," 40-year-old Carolyn Savage told the AP on Wednesday. "We didn't know who it was. We didn't know if they didn't have children or if this was their last chance for a child."
Kids kill Panama 'Montauk monster' by lake
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
September 18, 2009 08:14am
Photos have emerged of a mutant creature which “sparked fear and confusion” by climbing out of a cave and approaching a group of children in Panama.
The photos appear to show the creature as a slimy, hairless humanoid.
Already dubbed “Gollum” by the UK tabloids, the 150cm tall creature emerged from a cave behind a waterfall on the shores of a lake near the small town of Cerro Azul and is drawing comparisons to the so-called "Montauk monster" found on the shores of a New York beach last year.
The children claim it started climbing over rocks to get to them. They defended themselves by throwing rocks and killing it.
The children told their parents they had thrown the body back in the lake.
When the parents went to investigate, it had been washed up on the shore.
One of the children told The Sun: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film."
The Metro shows pictures of it still washed on the shore several days later, having been picked apart by buzzards.
The animal is being investigated at Panama’s National Environment Authority, with one zoologist suggesting it may be some form of mutated sloth.
Internet speculation centres around whether the “monster” is actually a shaved sloth or pit bull terrier
The shaved sloth theory has emerged as the most credible, given these photos taken in 1996 of a creature found on a jungle beach between Panama and Cost Rica where was later confirmed to be a decayed sloth.
Jobless Man Uncovers Gold Hoard with Metal Detector
Thursday, September 24, 2009
An unemployed man has unearthed the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found with the help of his metal detector. Experts are now calculating its value—a process that could take more than a year because of its size.
Terry Herbert from Burntwood, Staffordshire, stumbled on the hoard in a private field with his trusty 14-year-old metal detector. Over five days in July, the 55-year-old dug up a fortune on the farmland near to his home. The find was declared as treasure by coroner Andrew Haigh, which means the cache will be offered for sale after it is valued.
More than 1,500 pieces of treasure—including around 11lbs of gold and 5.5lbs of silver—has now been uncovered. Archaeologists believe the hoard dates back to the seventh century and may have belonged to Saxon royalty. Among the riches are warfare paraphernalia, including sword pommel caps and hilt plates, often inlaid with precious stones.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said the find would "alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries."
"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells," he said.
Dr Kevin Leahy, national finds adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, added that while the quantity of gold was amazing, the craftsmanship was "consummate. Its origins are clearly the very highest-levels of Saxon aristocracy or royalty," he said. "It belonged to the elite."
Alaskan Cruise Passenger Presumed Dead After Jumping
Friday, September 25, 2009
BELLA BELLA, British Columbia — Police believe an elderly U.S. woman who disappeared from an Alaskan cruise off the coast of British Columbia jumped from the ship and drowned.
Bella Bella Royal Canadain Mounted Police Sgt. Nelson Salter said Friday that Edelgard Carney, 67, of Sutter Creek, California, was suffering from an undisclosed medical condition and had wrapped up some of her personal affairs back home before going on the cruise.
He says video surveillance from the Princess Cruise ship Sapphire Princess shows Carney jumping from the ship on Tuesday and it appears to be a suicide.
Her initial disappearance prompted a search by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards from Vancouver to Alaska, but that search has been called off.
Salter says Carney is presumed to have drowned.