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| Welcome to our newest member, zellafraneso614 |
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02-13-2003, 12:25 PM
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Super Moderator
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Posts: 18,669
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Quote:
Originally posted by zntke711
yeah! Women can't get away with running over their husbands. Claire Harris the woman now famous for running over her husband just got convicted on the most serious charges for running over her husband in her Mercedes.
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I'll sleep a lot better now that I know my chances of being "accidently" run over by my wife will be significantly lessened.
__________________
SN -SINCE 1869-
"EXCELLING WITH HONOR"
S N E T T
Mu Tau 5, Central Oklahoma
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02-13-2003, 02:05 PM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 611
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man found guilty in murder of alpha phi
Man guilty in rape, death of EIU student
Jury reaches verdict in less than 3 hours
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By Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Ted Gregory contributed to this report
Published February 13, 2003
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- A former Eastern Illinois University student was found guilty Wednesday in the rape and murder of a 21-year-old Rolling Meadows woman who also attended the school.
The jury took less than three hours to convict Anthony Mertz for the 2001 slaying of Shannon McNamara, a former track-and-field star at Rolling Meadows High School and Harper College in Palatine, in the first capital murder case in Coles County since 1983.
With the conviction, the jury now must decide whether to sentence Mertz, 26, to death. A hearing is scheduled to begin Friday in which the jury will be asked to decide whether he is eligible for the death penalty. A sentencing hearing will follow.
Family and friends of McNamara packed the courtroom for the verdict as they had during the previous seven days of the trial. Many sobbed as Judge Dale Cini announced that the jury had found Mertz guilty of aggravated sexual assault, home invasion and first-degree murder.
"Shannon won," an emotional Cindy McNamara, the victim's mother, said as she left the courthouse with her family.
John Deutinger, the victim's uncle, said the trial had been grueling for the family. "For me personally, this does help, but it doesn't bring Shannon back," he said.
Paula Phillips, Mertz's court-appointed attorney, said that when the bailiff informed her the jury had reached a verdict, she immediately went to Mertz to tell him it was likely the news would be unfavorable.
"He was very emotional," Phillips said.
Mertz entered the courtroom with a rolled-up wad of tissue in one hand but was composed. When Cini read the first verdict, Mertz shut his eyes briefly and then stared blankly for the remainder of the proceedings.
County prosecutor Steve Ferguson theorized before the panel of seven men and five women that Mertz had tried to break into McNamara's apartment June 12, 2001, using a credit card but was thwarted by the deadbolt. He then used a box-cutter to slice open a window screen to gain entry. He raped McNamara, beat her and strangled her, Ferguson said. McNamara had also been stabbed.
McNamara's body was found on the floor of her apartment clad only in a bra and a T-shirt that had been pulled over her head. A washcloth was stuffed in her mouth.
Ferguson told the jury that Mertz, who lived in a nearby apartment building, had watched McNamara and her friends sunbathe in front of their apartment not long before the attack.
McNamara had completed coursework for her physical education degree weeks before her murder. She had decided to remain at school through the summer working at a college bar and completing classes to earn a minor in health.
DNA pointing to Mertz was found under McNamara's fingernails and in her underwear. A bent credit card bearing Mertz's name was found in her apartment, and a bloody kitchen knife used in the slaying was found in a trash bin near Mertz's apartment soon after the killing.
Authorities also found a sack of latex gloves in Mertz's apartment that were identical to one found near McNamara's body, and the blade of a box-cutter found at the scene matched one missing from Mertz's workplace.
Michael D. Jordan, an inmate with Mertz in the Coles County Jail, testified that Mertz told him he killed McNamara and would confess to her family and friends after a jury exonerated him.
Phillips told reporters at the trial's outset that she planned to establish an alibi for Mertz, but that never materialized. In her closing arguments, she indicated to the jury that a friend he was drinking with the night before the murder might have stolen his credit card. Outside court, she said that friend was given immunity by the Coles County state's attorney's office for his cooperation but was never called to testify.
Ferguson confirmed immunity was given to the friend but said the infraction he committed had no connection to the McNamara case.
Phillips contended that police botched the investigation because they had "tunnel vision" once they found Mertz's credit card. She attempted to cast doubt on the DNA results, claiming the state's forensic biologist did not properly process the genetic samples.
"They had their guy, and they weren't interested in any evidence that might point them any other way," Phillips argued.
In his rebuttal, Ferguson said the defense was grasping at air.
"Ms. Phillips implies that [Mertz's friend] borrowed Anthony Mertz's credit card to break into her apartment," Ferguson said. "Well, did he also borrow his DNA?"
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
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02-17-2003, 01:01 PM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 3,342
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- District of Columbia police have released a videotape showing witnesses doing nothing to help a man after he was fatally shot at a gas station.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/02/....ap/index.html
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02-23-2003, 01:18 AM
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Re: Free Speech Under Siege at aTm
ktsnake,
You'll be happy to know that the RV"s have been reinstated on campus with full approval to continue their routine.
apparantly the protester's "flower power" was no match for the RV's "glower power" 
Freakin hippies, if they want to do that crap, they need to go to Austin.
Kitso
KS 361 times i'm glad i go to a conservative school, where there were only 30 peaceniks protesting, instead of t.u.
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02-25-2003, 05:08 PM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Georgia Bulldog Country
Posts: 7,632
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Senator Zell Miller of Georgia defend rednecks and hillbillys everywhere agaisnt cbs's new show making fun of them....
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/...eut/index.html
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02-27-2003, 07:59 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta
Posts: 469
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02-27-2003, 08:04 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,682
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Eh, the only reason she is sorry is because the comment was heard and published. "I didn't intend for the comment to be published" or something to that extent? LOL, why did you say it.
If she said it, she said it, but don't try to sugarcoat it after, she needs to hold true to her words. She said what was on her mind, she is sorry she got busted out. I love politicians, no matter what country they are from they are still a riot!
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03-04-2003, 07:02 PM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Free and nearly 53 in San Diego and Lake Forest, CA
Posts: 7,331
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Today sponge back
The Today contraceptive sponge, which was famously lampooned on Seinfeld, is back on the mark:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...onge_returns_8
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03-06-2003, 01:17 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 546
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03-07-2003, 01:37 AM
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Super Moderator
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Posts: 18,669
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Goodbye BCS, Hello Playoffs?
Committee to discuss playoffs, other possible changes
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Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Bowl Championship Series formed an oversight committee Thursday to discuss the possibility of a college football playoff and any other changes to the bowl system.
One university president or chancellor from each of the six BCS conferences will be on the committee. They are Marye Anne Fox of North Carolina State; Donna Shalala of Miami; Graham Spanier of Penn State; Harvey Perlman of Nebraska; Robert Khayat of Mississippi; and David Frohnmayer of Oregon.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, the chair of the BCS, said there will also be an advisory committee of athletic directors from the conferences.
The current BCS agreement with the bowls and ABC Sports concludes with the playing of the 2005-06 bowl games.
ABC, which has a $525 million, seven-year contract to televise the BCS games -- the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowls -- has an exclusive negotiating period in the second half of 2005 to keep the games on the network.
The BCS was formed in 1998 in an effort to match the top two teams in a national title game. The system is not problem-proof and some people would prefer a playoff system.
__________________
SN -SINCE 1869-
"EXCELLING WITH HONOR"
S N E T T
Mu Tau 5, Central Oklahoma
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03-10-2003, 10:56 PM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: chicago, il
Posts: 5,115
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03-11-2003, 01:09 AM
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GreekChat Member
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Georgia Bulldog Country
Posts: 7,632
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