Grace Millane was just shy of 22 years old when she met Jesse Kempson on Tinder. The pair hit it off, with Millane texting a Continue Reading »
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A child freed themselves from a Johnson City man’s choking grip by biting him, according to a release from the Continue Reading »
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A child freed themselves from a Johnson City man’s choking grip by biting him, according to a release from the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD).
Authorities revealed they responded to a domestic disturbance in the 300 block of Woodlyn Drive at 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, and an investigation led to the arrest of Matthew Hartley on multiple charges.
Police accused Hartley of choking a juvenile to the point the child could not breathe; however, the child escaped after biting Hartley and then calling family members to contact 911. Officers arrested Hartley for aggravated domestic assault and child abuse.
The JCPD release stated the child did not need medical attention after the alleged assault.
Hartley remains in the Washington County Detention Center on a $7,500 bond, and his arraignment is scheduled on April 27 at 1:30 p.m. in general sessions court.
Source Credit, Mackenzie Moore, WJHL. Link to Original Article.
DENVER — A Denver jury needed less than three hours Tuesday to find Robert Feldman guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 death of his wife, Continue Reading »
DENVER — A Denver jury needed less than three hours Tuesday to find Robert Feldman guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 death of his wife, Stacy — a death that came just hours after she learned he’d cheated on her.
The verdict came shortly before 5 p.m.
Denver District Judge Edward Bronfin immediately held a sentencing hearing despite the fact his only option under Colorado law was to send Feldman to prison for the rest of his life with no possibility of parole.
“This is all because you couldn’t keep your pants zipped and agree to the divorce Stacy wanted,” her mother, Dorothy Malman, said during the sentencing hearing. “You are evil.”
“I have been fighting for this for seven years, because my sister deserves to rest in peace,” Susan Malman Altman said. “This man has taken seven years from my life, seven years of me being able to live, seven years of being able to be mother to my children, and he’s not taking one more second.”
When Judge Bronfin asked Robert Feldman if he wanted to say anything, he said, simply, “No.”
Then the judge turned to Stacy Feldman’s family and friends, who filled the benches in one side of the courtroom.
“I can’t turn back time,” he said, “and, unfortunately, there’s never any way the legal system or an individual judge can turn back the clock and undo something that has been done. I just want to say to you that you’re in my thoughts and prayers.”
With that, the judge sentenced Robert Feldman, and sheriff’s deputies placed him in handcuffs and led him out of the courtroom.
Stacy Feldman’s death came under mysterious circumstances. Robert Feldman told authorities he returned home to find her unresponsive in the shower, and two forensic pathologists in Denver’s Office of the Medical Examiner were unable to determine the cause of death.
Then in 2017, an outside expert who reviewed evidence in the case concluded that Stacy Feldman was beaten and either strangled or suffocated.
Over nine days of trial, the jurors heard testimony about Stacy Feldman’s injuries — including testimony from three pathologists who said they were not convinced she was murdered — and about Robert Feldman’s infidelities and statements he made that they questioned. For instanced, he did not show up to pick up his children from a carnival and until nearly an hour after one of them called him and asked him to come and get them.
The jury needed about as much time to reach the verdict as they’d spent earlier in the day listening to their instructions and two competing narratives: that Feldman beat and killed his wife hours after she learned he’d cheated on her – or she died after an unexplained medical episode following months of failing health and her injuries can be explained by the efforts to revive her. The jury ultimately sided with prosecutors — and with the outside expert who testified for a full day about Stacy Feldman’s injuries.
That expert, Dr. Bill Smock, was mocked by defense attorney Jeff Pagliuca as a “hired gun” paid to say whatever prosecutors wanted him to.
The jury got the case at 1:50 p.m.
But after the ruling that the cause of Stacy Feldman’s death could not be determined, the investigation of the case languished.
Then police learned that Bob Feldman had cheated on his wife – and that the woman had contacted Stacy Feldman the day she died to tell her.
In a short phone conversation, Stacy Feldman told the woman she was “done with” her husband.
Then, in 2017, Denver investigators and prosecutors shared the case with Smock, who has testified extensively about strangulation and in-custody deaths. He concluded that Stacy Feldman was murdered.
The key is in the many injuries on her body – abrasions and contusions and small hemorrhages in the eyes that are a sign of strangulation, Assistant District Attorney Maggie Conboy asserted.
“Stacy Feldman can’t tell you what happened that day, but her body can,” Conboy said as she began her closing argument late Tuesday morning. “And what it tells you is that she suffered a long, protracted, and horrific beating. This was not from CPR. This is not from pulling her from the tub. This is not from a simple collapse in a shower. What this is, is evidence of a vicious beat-down.”
Conboy accused Robert Feldman of working hard to throw the investigation off – claiming, falsely, that his wife had missed work two days earlier, had been sick for months, and took numerous medications. Conboy accused him of refusing to provide information to the paramedics and firefighters who responded to his 911 call and tried to revive Stacy Feldman – and of being unable to explain what he was doing for long periods of time on the day she died.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Feldman almost got away with murder,” she said. “Almost.”
Pagliuca, the defense attorney, accused prosecutors of dropping the ball by failing to investigate thoroughly and then weaving together a conspiracy without solid evidence.
“We can’t accept gossip and rumor instead of truth,” Pagliuca said in his closing argument. “We can’t engage in speculation instead of examination. We can’t rush to conclusions. We can’t take shortcuts in an investigation. And we can’t put our faith, our faith, in charlatans instead of real doctors who practice real medicine. So, this is a tragedy and not a homicide.”
The last comment was aimed at Smock, who he described as “an opportunist, a narcissist, a person who came into this courtroom with a traveling circus show.”
At the same time, the two doctors entrusted by the City of Denver to investigate the cause of Stacy Feldman’s death classified it as “undetermined” – and have not changed their opinions more than seven years later.
“These injuries are from somebody dragged out of the tub,” he said of Stacy Feldman’s wounds. “These are injuries that aren’t from a beating.”
As for what Robert Feldman told authorities on the day of the death, Pagliuca said he did the best he could in the midst of the worst situation he’d ever faced – the sudden loss of his wife.
The jurors sided with the prosecution’s version of events, and after the verdict at least two stopped outside the courthouse to hug members of Stacy Feldman’s family.
Source Credit: Kevin Vaughan, 9 News Denver. Link to original article.
MISSOULA – Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst calls it a historic day as a countywide strangulation protocol was signed by the multiple agencies tasked with Continue Reading »
MISSOULA – Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst calls it a historic day as a countywide strangulation protocol was signed by the multiple agencies tasked with protecting victims of domestic violent crime.
This protocol — the first of its kind in the state — took a year of training and planning, but now there are clear steps to respond, investigate and prosecute cases where someone is strangled.
The Missoula County Attorney’s Office charged 191 cases involving interpersonal or family violence in 2021 and 25% of those involved strangulation, marking a 50% increase from 2019.
Pabst told MTN News strangulation should be considered one of the most serious forms of domestic violence because the victim is only seconds away from death at any time.
“Strangulation should be considered one of the most serious forms of domestic violence because we’ve learned the victim is only seconds away from death at any time.”
With the signing of this document, there is now a clear path on how all the agencies respond to a crime that for years was minimized. Strangulation is called the last warning shot before someone is murdered.
Montana lawmakers made it a felony to strangle a family member or intimate partner in 2017. This document assures victims they will be heard — and helped.
“Strangulation occurs in approximately 68% of domestic violence abusive relationships. If strangulation occurs just one time, that individual has a 750% chance of being murdered by their abuser. That increases to 1,100% if that abuser has access to firearms.” – Missoula Police Detective Nathan Griesse
“Since strangulation is one of the most violent forms of domestic violence, this county-wide protocol will now give strangulation victims a better chance of survival by accessing and treating their life-threatening injuries,” noted forensic nurse examiner Cat Otway.
The protocol was developed and approved by the Missoula “Just Response,” an organization that connects members of the justice system to respond to relationship violence, sexual violence and child abuse. The next step is training for first responders and medical personnel with the goal of preventing future homicides and empowering survivors to leave abusive relationships.
A person convicted of a first offense of strangulation of a partner or family member faces a fine up to a $50,000 fine and five years in prison. The penalties also increase the more times it happens.
Source Credit, Jill Valley. 8KPAX, Link to original article.
BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — It’s estimated that nearly 10 million people are affected by domestic violence in the United States each year. Co-founder of Continue Reading »
BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — It’s estimated that nearly 10 million people are affected by domestic violence in the United States each year. Co-founder of Alliance for HOPE International Gael Strack said most cases are related to strangulation.
“When it comes to domestic violence most of our high-risk victims are strangled,” said Strack. “It’s the type of crime you don’t think much about because most victims do not have external visible injuries.
That’s why Strack and the president of the organization, Casey Gwinn, have teamed up with the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office for strangulation training, an intense informative session on what Gwinn calls the last red flag.
“Challenging cops, prosecutors, nurses, doctors, therapists, to listen to survivors, to understand how we’re failing survivors, to just plain to better to save them,” said Gwinn.
In their research, over the years Strack and Gwinn have found that a woman who has been strangled by her partner is 750% more likely to be killed by the same partner with a gun.
“A woman goes to a hospital even here in East Baton Rouge Parish, if the hospital is not trained in strangulation, they’re going to miss it,” said Gwinn.
It’s a mistake that can lead to sending someone home who may have brain damage, reasons why Gwinn said this is a topic every agency should be well informed on.
“If you all work together, you can save her life by stopping him, and keeping him accountable,” said Gwinn.
“We want everyone to be trained just to be well aware of what the situation is,” said EBR District Attorney Hillar Moore.
With the rise in domestic violence cases, Moore said this training should be provided in every city.
“This is about shining a spotlight and hoping that we can stop it much earlier before stopping a homicide,” said Strack.
Source Credit: Vannia Joseph, brproud. Link to original article.