Posted on 12/02/2013 9:55:51 AM PST by Uncle Chip
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. —
Michelle O’Connell, 24, the doting mother of a 4-year-old girl, was dying from a gunshot in the mouth.
Next to her was a semiautomatic pistol that belonged to her boyfriend, Jeremy Banks, a deputy sheriff for St. Johns County.
A second bullet had burrowed into the carpet by her right arm.
Ms. Maynard quickly escorted Mr. Banks, who had been drinking, out of the house.
“All of a sudden he started growling like an animal,” she said.
With his fists, Mr. Banks pounded dents in a police car....
Within minutes of the shooting on Sept. 2, 2010, Mr. Banks’s friends, family and even off-duty colleagues began showing up, offering hugs and moral support.
He huddled with his stepfather, a deputy sheriff in another county, before a detective interviewed him in a police car.....
With his off-duty sergeant listening from the front seat, Mr. Banks gave this account ...
Ms. O’Connell’s family, immediately suspicious, received a starkly different reception from the authorities....
The family’s request for an independent investigation was rebuffed, as was one sister’s attempt to tell the police that in the months before she died, Ms. O’Connell said she had been subjected to domestic abuse by Mr. Banks.
Before the sun rose the next morning over this place ... sheriff’s investigation was all but over.
Ms. O’Connell, the sheriff’s office concluded, took her own life.
Detectives were so certain in their judgment that they never tested the forensic evidence collected after the shooting.....
Over time, though, the official narrative began to change.
The sheriff asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to re-examine the case, and investigators found two neighbors who said they had heard a woman screaming for help that night, followed by gunshots....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They didn’t test the guy for gunshot residue?
I saw this on Frontline. The sheriff of St. Johns County is a disgrace, even with the low bar I set for LEOs these days.....
They supposedly did find some residue on him but miniscule amount and after he had washed his hands.
Most of the residue was on her right hand but she supposedly shot herself with her weaker left hand holding the gun upside down — according to the county’s crack ME or is that ME on crack.
The sheriff allowed a lot of forensic evidence to spoil, never tested it, and then after 4 months gave what he had left to the FDLE.
It is amazing what things this sheriff is doing to protect his boy.
Apparently county sheriffs have all kinds of power in Florida and even governors, special prosecutors, medical examiners, and the FDLE shake in their wake.
This is one long story.
I fear that the only thing that will be taken away from it by most readers of the New York Times is that this never would have happened if we just got rid of all firearms.
Unlike many states, where sheriffs and their deputies are fairly limited in their power, in Florida they are elected, and have full law enforcement and investigative powers. The people of St. Johns County need to flush this turd in the next election.
I also notice that he was just elected Vice President of the Floriduh Sheriffs Association.
His connection to the parents of this deputy need to be investigated.
I think what they will take away from it is mommas don’t let your daughters grow up to marry deputies.
One of the most disgusting aspects of this case is that of the brother of the murdered/suicide woman. Fired from the police for initially complaining about not prosecuting, it certainly appears to me that he grovelled and changed his mind regarding his sister’s suicide/homicide in order to get his job back.
It sure smells that way.
What a sham of an investigation and a travesty of justice.
However, that said, I have to commend the NY Times for making sure they hit all the hot buttons in their article.
While telling the story they managed to fit in full DIRTY shots at or about:
1. Southerners
2. Christians
3. Males
4. Guns
5. Good Ole Boy networks
And managed to touch on:
1. Feminism
2. Racism
3. Corruption
4. Cronyism
and every other Liberal hot button topic and ism there is.
That is disgusting —
I understand that he is personna non grata at family gatherings and should be.
In fairness to Frontline, the only subjects I recall them emphasizing from your list were cronyism and corruption, which are central to the story.
ping. ping.
They did mention an incident of a Peaceful black graduation party that was apparently broken up using dogs, with one of those partiers saying that all that was missing was a water hose.
Cool, I didn’t see the frontline report - just read the article.
What stood out the most to you???
It seems to me that there might be a way to test for the potential for stress induced violence.
The idea is that when stress builds up to a certain threshold, the results vary between individuals. Some individuals will lash out violently, but most will not. If you find someone who does, then they shouldn’t be in a job where they would build up so much stress that they might involuntarily lash out.
That is, put them in that job and it’s just a matter of time.
And here’s the zinger: stress levels can be chemically exaggerated. So you take this person into a rubber room, give them a shot in the arm, then quickly leave. If after a minute they are punching the walls in a blind rage, they probably need a soothing, 9 to 5 desk job.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.