Butt Grab Ends Up With Double Homicide

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 8, 2009

Jefferson, WI -Andrew J. Wirth, 24, was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide on Monday in connection with the deaths of Gregg T. Peters, 40, and Jennifer K. Luick, 37. Wirth is facing two life terms without parole, if convicted. He remains at the Jefferson County jail and is being held in a $1 million cash bond.
On Monday, Wirth made an outburst while making some obscene remarks as he pushed a deputy during a court hearing. He was tased twice and immediately restrained by deputies.
The criminal complaint states that on late Saturday night, Luick an off-duty Town of Oconomowoc Police Officer had grabbed Wirth in the butt while he had a date. Wirth responded to Luick's pinch and said something to offend her. She went back to Peters, her boyfriend and complained. Peters confronted Wirth inside Vinnie's Rock Bottom tavern, but they calmed down. Their altercation resumed after Peters decided to go back inside and confront Wirth again.
Witnesses say Wirth then pulled out a .380 handgun and fatally shot both Peters and Luick. They died later.
The complaint says that Peters and Luick had walked out of the tavern, when patrons heard Luick tell Peters "what a jerk" referring to Wirth. Peters then turned around and went inside to pick a fight with Wirth just after 1:00 a.m. Sunday.

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DNA From Victims Required By Franklin Police To Recover Stolen Vehicles

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 7, 2009

Franklin - Over the weekend, a 36-year-old man and a 38-year- old woman who reported an SUV stolen to Franklin police in late October received an unusual request by a traffic officer. Officer Steven Horn working under authority of his supervisor requested the couple to submit to a DNA cotton cheek swab in order to recover the SUV and for use to identify ownership of items found in the vehicle.
The SUV was found last week in the North side on N. 16th St. in Milwaukee, after it had been reported stolen a month and a half ago. Someone spotted the SUV parked on the street with several parking citations and notified Milwaukee police who then had it towed to the Franklin police lot for recovered vehicles.
The 36-year-old man said, that he met a woman in late October at a local bar, and afterwards both had gone to a motel in Franklin. When he woke up, the woman, keys and the SUV were gone. He called Franklin police to make a stolen vehicle report.
Both victims say that they felt like suspects when Officer Horn requested their DNA after the SUV Lexus 2000 was recovered. The SUV is worth about $10,000, according to the male victim.
The female victim who the SUV is registered to says she reluctantly submitted to the DNA cheek swab by Horn, but the male victim refused to take one. Although, Officer Horn confiscated a sports cap from the male victim found in the SUV for DNA testing.
When Franklin Police Chief Richard Oliva was contacted by electronic email concerning their unusual process to require victims of stolen vehicles to submit DNA, he wrote the following, "When testing for DNA which might come from a suspect, it is necessary to have DNA samples of people known to have been in the vehicle in order to eliminate them as suspects. Unidentified DNA is then compared to the database of subjects who have their DNA on file. The unidentified DNA Will also be compared to any future identified suspect believed to be responsible for the crime. Both victims (names withheld by request) DNA samples will not be entered into the state or national DNA database. This is not an unusual practice.
We use the State Crime Lab and only submit for more serious offenses. If a victim refuses to give DNA we are not taking advantage of the state of the art way of establishing a suspects presence at the scene of a crime. Consequently, we have to go back to other traditional methods of investigation," Chief Oliva said on Monday.
When asked if other police departments in the area have similar DNA policy to require victims to submit DNA samples? Also, if Franklin Police Department kept statistics of people prosecuted for vehicle thefts using their DNA process?
"I do not comment on other police departments, and sorry, I have no statistics," Chief Oliva responded.
With the lack of DNA prosecution statistics for vehicle thefts by Franklin police, taxpayers are left without any justification to spend city funds to process specimen analysis from victims. The DNA analysis from victims won't be entered into the DNA database as felons are, according to Oliva. Chief Oliva didn't explained where the victims' DNA would actually end up after the case is closed. Will the DNA be kept on file or discarded?
In Wisconsin, the average cost for DNA testing is $390.00 per case. The State Crime Laboratory received 2,226 DNA cases in 2006, and was only able to process 1,152 cases, compared to an expected backlog of more than 3,000 cases by 2010, according to a report by the State Crime Lab Resources for DNA Analysis. 
The state crime lab is required to analyze specimens of DNA from suspects submitted by Police Chiefs and other law enforcement entities in regards to felony investigations. The law fails to authorize law enforcement officials to require victims of a felony (stolen vehicles) to submit DNA for analysis.
In September, the DNA controversy erupted when Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen discovered some 12,000 convicts in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and other entities like the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department failed to collect DNA cheek swab's from inmates convicted and sentenced before transferring them to state prisons. 
"Felons are required to submit a DNA sample for entry in the Combined DNA Index System or CODIS, when convicted. The collection of the samples and development of the profiles has led to arrests and convictions in other cases. What it means at worst, is that there are offenses that have been committed for which we have DNA evidence and we don’t have a known offender in the data bank to tie that offense to," Van Hollen said.
The arrest of suspected serial killer Walter Ellis in Franklin led to the discovery of the absent DNA profiles. Ellis apparently had another inmate submit his sample. When crime lab technicians realized the profile was a duplicate, it was discarded.
In 21 states, similar laws require county sheriffs to collect a cheek swab from adults arrested on suspicion of felony crimes and juveniles found delinquent for certain sexual offenses at the time they're booked into jail, according to the New Mexico-based group DNA Saves. But, not from victims of stolen vehicles or other crimes perpetrated on them by suspects. Unless, the victim is killed, raped or seriously injured and their DNA is believed transferred to the suspects body, clothing and other items.

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Café Tacuba Packs Concert In Milwaukee

Full house at the Rave/Eagles for Café Tacuba, a Spanish rock band

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 5, 2009

Milwaukee - The popular Mexican rock band Café Tacuba brought a full house within an hour on Friday. At about 7:30 p.m., the early arrival of about 50 fans at the Rave/Eagles made the ballroom look extremely empty. An hour later, a huge wave of Spanish rock fanatics took over the entire ballroom.
Most were teenagers, and secondly they shared the concert with older age groups. They chanted "culero...culero..." sending a massage directly to Tacuba, for them to come on stage.
People came to the concert from Chicago, Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha, and as far away as Sheboygan with one thing in common, and that was to rock in Spanish and to party hard. "El concierto estuvo espectacular anoche, Last night, the concert was spectacular," Rosa Barber said of the Café Tacuba's concert. No doubt it was a spectacular event, the Café Tacuba Spanish rock fanatics who were mostly Latinos ruled last night in Milwaukee.
Before the live concert, the fans were asked by a DJ, would you like hear a duranguense, or a cumbia, the crowd shouted in unison "No!" and more Spanish rock was played by a popular local DJ with Sonido Galerías from Milwaukee before Tacuba went on stage.
Café Tacuba began the concert at about 9:40 p.m., and they electrified the crowd. "Tonight, we are one family and we are all like pebbles from roses and one bouquet of roses, so let's rock. Mí gente (my people), let loose the pressure, take your frustration into the dance floor and enjoy tonight's concert. Afterwards, take your energy home and continue to party," Rubén Albarrán, the bands lead singer said.
The attendees sway from side to side causing a massive human Tsunami throughout the floor. Then the fans began to jump up and down along with Tacuba's lyrics shaking the floor into a simulated earthquake.
Tacuba gave an excellent performance, especially for a Spanish rock band today. Despite, some of the fans throwing their full beer cups with ice into the crowd. Within the crowd, one guy pulled out a joint and lit it. The smoke from the joint seemed to smell like Marijuana. He smoked it with three other guys. It looked like no one really seemed to mine. 
About the band, this year they have been celebrating their 20th Anniversary. Café Tacuba (often spelled Café Tacvba) is a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-winning musical group from Naucalpan, Mexico. They were founded in 1989, and since then have had the same musical lineup.
The event on Friday was sponsored by Promociones Fiesta and their MC Alex Preciado said, "We keep our word about bringing pop music to Milwaukee." Preciado also wanted to thank everyone for their support, especially www.hispanicnewsnetwork.blogspot.com for exclusively posting the Milwaukee, Wisconsin coverage of the Café Tacuba concert on the Internet.
On Saturday, Café Tacuba will be performing in Chicago's Congress Theater.

The following two photos were provided by courtesy of Rosa Barber,

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Police Sting Operation Nets 1,200 Items In Stolen Jewelry

Jewelry stores fined more than $41,000 for buying suspected stolen items and not keeping records

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 4, 2009

Milwaukee - Second District police officers recovered more than 1,200 pieces of stolen gold jewelry from four South side jewelry stores after serving search warrants. Police cited the stores involved with 85 citations totaling over $41,000 in fines.
Captain Donald Gaglione said, the jewelry was stolen in burglaries between Oct. 1 and Nov. 24 throughout the Milwaukee area and then illegally purchased by gold and precious metal stores.
Gaglione credited an undercover police sting for the recovery of the stolen jewelry worth over $75,000. A tip from a suspect led officers to neighborhood stores that were buying suspected stolen jewelry. They weren't asking for identification or recording buys from individual sellers as required by law. Police went back to the jewelry stores and executed search warrants. Officers seized jewelry from Star Jewelers at 1212 W. Lincoln Ave., Cash N Gold at 1214 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., John's Jewelry at 1119 W. Historic Mitchell St,, and Reflections Jewelry at 1306 W. Forest Home Ave.

Gaglione said, "The items that were purchased illegally were confiscated. We have several items that we've already connected to crimes within the City of Milwaukee, and we believe some of these items may be connected to crimes in surrounding jurisdictions. We will be working to identify items taken in their jurisdictions and in surrounding suburbs."
Wisconsin law and city ordinances require stores that buy gold as scrap, to keep records of people selling them each piece of jewelry.
Officers confiscated crosses, watches, chains, rings, and bracelets, when they discovered none were legally recorded. "When these stores don't follow the rules they only encourage criminals to steal jewelry to make some quick cash. I hope that similar businesses will be more attentive to discourage criminal activity," Capt. Gaglione said.
Some people who filed a stolen report and gave a description of the stolen items have already recovered their jewelry. If victims believe that stolen jewelry could be identified in the confiscated items, they should call 414.235.6633 to make arrangements to identify it and recover it.
Recently, the Milwaukee Police Department received a grant from the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance of $187,724 and it will be used to fund foot beat police patrols over time in Police District 2. "Foot beat officers work closely with the communities they police to help residents gain control of their streets," said Edward A. Flynn, Milwaukee Police Chief.

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Facebook Sets Record For 350 Million Users Worldwide

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 2, 2009

California - In an open letter on Tuesday to Facebook users, founder Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, 25, confirmed that Facebook has reached more than 350 million users worldwide and changes are coming within the next two weeks. The Facebook administrators will add more privacy settings for users to control who sees their content, information or uploads. Regional networks will be eliminated and replaced with a simpler network, Zuckerberg said.
Will the new changes include for Facebook to go public in 2010? Not now, according to executives at Facebook. Zuckerberg did not address or mentioned the public issue to users.
Facebook shares presently are valued at $10 billion, 1/3 lower compared to $15 billion in 2007.
Zuckerberg wrote the following statements in the Facebook blog and also posted it on every users home page, "Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.
The plan we've come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your contacts.
We're adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who see each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we'll also be fulfilling request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings."

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Man Suspected Of Killing Four Lakewood Police Officers Is Killed

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 1, 2009

Washington -Maurice Clemmons. 37, wanted in connection with killing four Lakewood police officers early last Sunday in Parkland while they drank coffee has been fatally shot. Clemmons died during a confrontation with police in Seattle on Monday.
A police officer working alone, was investigating a stolen vehicle report when he spotted Clemmons and gunfire erupted between each other. The Seattle police officer then shot and killed Clemmons in the shootout.
Police found a gun belonging to one of the officers killed next to Clemmons' body.
Four other suspects who helped Clemmons evade police since last Sunday have been also arrested, including the driver of the get away vehicle, according to Seattle police.
Clemmons had told friends that he planned to kill police officers before he actually committed the homicides, investigators said.

(Clockwise from top left) Lakewood Police officers Greg Richards, 42,; Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; Tina Griswold, 40; and Ronald Owens, 37; are pictured above in this handout released by the Pierce County Sheriff's Department on November 29, 2009.

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Identifican Policías de Lakewood asesinados

(De izquerda a la derecha) Los cuatro policías asesinados de Lakewood fueron identicados el pasado 29 de noviembre como: Greg Richards, 42; Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; (abajo) Ronald Owens, 37; y Tina Griswold, 40.

Por H. Nelson Goodson
1 de diciembre de 2009

Washington -La policía de Lakewood estan buscando a Maurice Clemmons, 37, en conexión con el asesinato de cuatro policías de Lakewood el pasado domingo por la mañana. Los policías estavan tomando un café y trabajando en sus computadoras portátil dentro del establecimiento Forza donde se sirve café en la ciudad de Parkland cuando el sospechoso entro y les disparo varias veces mortalmente. El sospechoso también fue herido por uno de los policías antes de morir.
El lunes, la policía especial de SWAT entro a una residencia en Seattle buscando a Clemmons, pero el sospechoso huyo antes. Se ofrece una recompensa de $15,000 dolares por la captura de Clemmons, según el Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Pierce.


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