“Hate Crime” at North Carolina State University

November 14, 2008

After the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, four unidentified students at North Carolina State University spray painted racist comments in the “Free Expression Tunnel.”  The students admitted to doing it and the university police, state and federal authorities have not charged the students with any crimes at this time.

However, students at the university are calling for a “Free Expression Tunnel Hate Crime Act” in order to prevent/punish actions of this kind in the future.  The NAACP are also calling for “Hate Crime” legislation.

I find this entire incident disturbing on several levels:

1. Does anyone else find it screamingly ridiculous for them to want to censor comments made in the “Free Expression Tunnel”? Name it the “Free Expression, But Only If You Agree With The Majority , Tunnel.”  What kind of idiot thought bitching about what was written in a tunnel with that name was a good idea?  If the tunnel is NOT for free expression, don’t name it that.

2. No one reporting on, commenting about, or involved with this stupidity has yet mentioned that elephant standing in the big, fat middle of the “Free Expression Tunnel.”

3. I dislike the entire idea of a “hate crime” being legislated differently than any other crime.  What this boils down to is that people want to legislate thought and feeling.  When a citizen of this country can be prosecuted for what they think, we have ceased to live in America. 

 What ever happened to agreeing to disagree?  Every time someone with a different point of view speaks out, people want to run to the legislature to have a law passed against it.  We have come to the point that we believe we have a right NOT to be offended by what we consider wrong thought. 

 Now, let me just say that I totally think that what was written was reprehensible.  It shows the ignorance, intolerance, and stupidity of the individuals involved.  That’s my personal opinion.  They wrote their personal opinion.  I, for one, don’t want to limit they’re ability to express their opinion because when I’m successful at doing that it opens the door for someone else to limit MY ability to express my opinion. I feel that I have that right because I still live in America (for now, anyway).  One of the foundations our country was built on was that of free speech for every citizen. 

I do like the NAACP’s idea of diversity training.  But, again, that’s just me.  If I choose to become an informed, educated, sensible human being then that’s my right.  If you choose to remain an ignorant ass, that’s your right.

I have a very personal reason for not wanting this kind of hatred to spread.  I wish people could get over the idea that the melanin levels in our skin mean something about our character.  That’s my own personal little pipe dream.  As long as we have people who’s self esteem is only raised by lowering someone else, we’ll have people who dog out others for whatever reason they can find.

I think we need to lose the Law Mongering mentality and grab a clue here.  Our new President-elect is a man of mixed race!  The majority of this nation elected him.  People will grouse and fuss and argue and bitch about him just like they have every other president we’ve ever had.  The Bush’s were dogged out because they were Texans.  President-elect Obama will get dogged out because he’s mixed.  Learn to live with it. 

One last thing:  Be careful what you wish for.  All of these laws that people want to make up concerning “hate crimes” can’t be implemented to cover only what YOU want them to mean.  Eventually each and every one of you who want them will be subject to them yourselves.  Then YOU will be the one who can’t say what you think or believe or feel. 

At that point you will no longer live in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”.

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*UPDATE* Spc. Megan Touma Murder ** News Conference Held *UPDATE*

July 30, 2008

An arrest has been made in the murder of Spc. Megan Touma, the pregnant Fort Bragg soldier who was found dead in the bathtub of a Fayetteville, North Carolina motel in June. 

At about 6:00 PM Tuesday July 29, 2008 Fayetteville Police took Edgar Patino, 27, into custody at the home he shares with his wife in Hope Mills, NC.  Patino is a soldier studying psychological warfare at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School, which is part of Army Special Operations at Fort Bragg.  He is being held in the Cumberland County Jail under charges of first degree murder in the death of Megan Touma.

Police stated previously that someone had been questioned at the Special Warfare School.  It has now been confirmed that Patino was that person.

*********************************************************************************************************************

Police have now confirmed that Edgar Patino is the father of Megan Touma’s unborn baby.  The two served in Germany together until Patino was returned to Fort Bragg. 

The press conference that was held this morning will be re-broadcast at 2:00 pm on WRAL-TV’s website: http://wraltv.com

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Holley Lynn Wimunc – Charred Remains Found**UPDATE**

July 14, 2008

According to WRAL-TV this morning – Forrestry crews fighting a brushfire on Sunday July 13, 2008, found a shallow grave containing charred human remains near Sneads Ferry, NC.  Holley Lynn Wimunc’s family issued a statement confirming that the remains belonged to Holley.

You can read the statement issued this morning by Holley’s father, Jesse James, here:  http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3201023/  .

Holley’s husband, John Wimunc, has been charged with first degree arson for setting fire to her apartment.  Another marine, Kyle Alden, has also been charged.

Forresty service crews were fighting a brushfire near Sneads Ferry, NC when they stumbled across the shallow grave containing the remains of Holley Lynn Wimunc.  Sneads Ferry is near Camp Lejeune.

You can visit: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3200960/ to read the entire story on WRAL-TV, as well as watch video of the news coverage of this sad story.

Our thoughts are with the Wimunc family today.

 

UPDATE

As of 5:00 PM this afternoon, John P. Wimunc has been charged with the murder of his estranged wife, Holley Lynn Wimunc.  Another marine, Kyle Alden, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

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Another Female In Military In North Carolina Missing*UPDATE*

July 11, 2008

What is it, open season on female military personnel in North Carolina?  After Cesar Laurean murdered Maria Lauterbach and Christina Laurean helped him escape, you’d think that would be enough, but noooo. 

Next comes some nut job claiming to be a serial killer who murders another pregnant marine, Megan Touma.  Megan was found dead in a hotel room after failing to report to her unit.  Now mind you, the people at Fort Bragg did not immediately go looking for her.  She had been missing for nine days before being found…..by a maintenance worker at the hotel she was staying at!   She was not declared AWOL by her unit commanders at Bragg.  Because, for some strange reason, each unit commander has the discretion of when to declare a soldier AWOL!  How bout that?  In the military, the most regimented place you can be, (pun intended) and they have no set rules about when to declare someone AWOL.  By declaring her AWOL they would have begun the paperwork,  therefore allowing both military and civil authorities to search for her.  That might have been the difference between life and death for Megan Touma.  There had only been a “Do Not Disturb” sign on her door for four days when she was found.  She might have been found alive if they had looked for her.

One more little side note here: The killer wrote a letter to the police admitting to her killing.  They have a “person of interest”, but have not put that person in custody.  Wanna know what they said about him?  “He’s not considered a flight risk.  And anyway, if he runs, we’ll just go pick him up.”  Um….WTF did they say?  Is there an echo in here?  Didn’t they say the same thing about our old friend Cesar Laurean?  And they STILL haven’t gone to pick HIM up!  My advice for them is this:  GET THE MAN IN CUSTODY NOW BEFORE YOU LOSE ANOTHER ONE.  Everyone is a flight risk when it comes to a murder charge.

 

NOW we have a third military female missing, Holly Lynn Wimunc, an army officer working as a nurse at Fort Bragg.  The apartment she shared with her husband had been set on fire but had burned itself out before anyone noticed it.  (I am stunned at this.  I wish MY house fire had burned itself out before anyone noticed it!)   Holly Lynn had filed for an order of protection against her husband, John Patrick Wimunc a marine from Fort Bragg, on May 17th, 2008 stating that he had thrown her around their apartment, thrown her to the floor, choked her, held a loaded 9mm to her head and threatened to kill her, then held it to his own head and threatened to kill himself.  Holly Lynn failed to show up at her job so people from her unit came to check on her.  I guess the folks at Bragg have learned something from the first two.  STOP WAITING FOR WEEKS BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING!

 Someone needs to send a battalion of psychiatrists down to Fort Bragg and make everyone take a mental physical.

 

 

UPDATE

Holley Lynn Wimunc’s charred remains were found in a shallow grave near Sneads Ferry, NC on Sunday July 13, 2008.  Her husband John P. Wimunc has been charged with her murder and another marine has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with her death.  They are both charged with arson as well.  Both are in custody at this time.

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Maria Lauterbach, Cesar Laurean, Christina Laurean Part 2

April 12, 2008

They caught Cesar Laurean in Mexico.  It’s been three months since he fled the U.S.  But here’s the thing:  This whole time his wife has been slithering over to a relative’s house to use a computer to contact him.  Big surprise, right?  Not exactly.  Especially when you consider that she was kind enough to give him a twenty-four hour head start on his escape to begin with. 

Unfortunately, in the state of North Carolina, it isn’t against the law to communicate with a fugitive.  It’s not against the law to know the whereabouts of a fugitive and refuse to reveal that information.  So, Christina Laurean once again gets away with helping out her husband. 

Cesar had 10 pesos in his pocket when he was apprehended.  He was living in a two room wooden house outside of Tacambaro, Michoacan, Mexico.  Locals stated that he frequented an internet cafe there.  It will be interesting to hear what all they find on the computer they confiscated, which contained the email contacts between Christina and Cesar Laurean.  I will be glued to truTV when this one comes to trial.  I might just see if I can get down there to the courthouse and watch a little bit of it in person.  

The DNA test on Maria’s baby hasn’t been done yet.  According to NCIS, they are waiting until Laurean is returned to the U.S.  They want a reliable DNA sample from him when he is returned.   

Mary Lauterbach talked today about the last conversation she had with Maria.  It was only a few hours before she went missing.  Maria never said anything about leaving.  As a matter of fact Maria spoke to her about a get together they had planned in the near future.  She thinks it’s possible that Maria wrote the letter found in her apartment under duress.  She said the wording was awkward.  We talked about that before. 

They haven’t charged Christina Laurean with anything yet, however charges could be brought in the future depending on what they find on the computer.  I still have a hinky feeling about Christina Laurean’s involvement.  I think at minimum she knew a lot more than she admits to.  She certainly has been in contact with Cesar and I believe that they were making plans for him to come back to the states to visit. 

I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next!

How about you?

 

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Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

January 25, 2008

So, thanks to you all for my 15 minutes of fame.  It’s been heady stuff.  Now I’ll be all into the news looking for some more famous mysteries to solve.  I’ll have to get a Sherlock Holmes hat (I look really good in a hat), one of those ever so cool curvy pipes, and start talking all intelligent and stuff.  It’ll be great.

Then we’ll all sit around here talking about what’s not right with the latest case in the news.  We’ll sip brandy or sherry or port or whatever it is that mystery solvers sip while mystery solving.  We’ll smoke our pipes……….or we’ll light them and then let them go out and light them again which is what it seems to me that pipe smokers do.  Do we need smoking jackets?  Do they even make those anymore?  Yall rich folks can let me know this one.  What are smoking jackets for, anyway?  I never really understood the purpose of that particular garment.

I don’t have any wing-back chairs anymore.  I used to have one but it got burned up in the fire.  It would have been uncomfortable for more that a few of us to try to use it at one time anyway.  It was a fairly small wing back chair and a second hand one at that.  But it wasa wing-back so that counts. 

Maybe someone can invent a blowup wing-back for us.  Then it will be BYOWbC.  I think the blowup part would be implied.  We’ll solve the Black Dahlia case.  That should get us started out good.  Then we’ll be able to pick and choose our cases from there. 

I was listening to Starr Jones on truTV today, formerly known as Court TV, talking about a case in which two attorneys had a client whom they knew to be guilty of a murder.  Another man had been tried and convicted of that crime and was in prison for years on that conviction.  Due to the laws governing attorney/client confidentiality, they were not at liberty to say that this man was in fact NOT guilty of the crime he was in prison for.  The best they were allowed to do was secure from their guilty client a waiver saying that, in the event of his death, they had his permission to divulge his guilt of the murder and secure the release of the innocent man!  Their client eventually did die and they were allowed to release the information.  The innocent man is in the process of getting out of prison now. 

If the two attorneys had said anything at all about the innocent man being innocent before their client had died, they would have been disbarred and probably faced charges for it.  Isn’t that sad?  That doing the right thing to keep an innocent man out of jail would cost people their jobs and possibly send them to jail in the process?   Seems to me like they could have at least been released to say to the investigators or a judge or someone that the man being tried was not the man who committed the crime and that they needed to investigate further. 

However, I can see how that would be like telling on him.  It’s a catch 22 isn’t it?  I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the position of the two attorneys. 

Intyways, as The Buddha says, I just wanted to say thanks for the participation! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch………

Rocky and I picked the heathens up from the bus stop the other day and took them with us to go shopping.  As we were riding back home we passed the house of one of Bella’s friends.  She calls out, “Hiiiiii Madison!!!!”   Rocky asks, “Does she live in the place with the lighthouse out front?”  Bella has her MP3 player in her ears and probably jacked up to the max, so she only hears part of what Rocky said.  Bella asks, “The lighthouse?” To which I answer, “Yes, the lighthouse out in the yard.”  Bella replies, “Um, NO, Gramma Toe, she doesn’t live in that little lighthouse, she lives in the great big house behind it!”  Then she proceeds to roll her eyes like Rocky has lost her ever lovin mind. 

Now, Rocky and I have possibly the lowest humor threshold on record.  We can be found laughing at almost anything.  The idea that Bella thought that WE thought that her friend was small enough to live in a decorative, four foot high light house that sits on the lawn just had us tickled to no end.  We giggled and snickered and laughed.  We couldn’t even look at each other for hours because every time we did we would collapse in giggles and we couldn’t function. 

And it didn’t help that earlier, after Bella had gotten off her bus but while we were waiting for The Buddha’s bus to get home, she had caught us with another unexpected visual. 

We have a little saying around here when someone passes gas:  Oops!  I stepped on a frog!  Over time we have expanded on this theme with: Oops!  I swallowed a frog!  for when someone burps. 

Well, the kids love this!  And of course being MY grand-kids, they just ain’t right to begin with, so they’ve thought about this a lot.  And Bella is a very visual child.  She comes by this honestly. 

So, we’re waiting for The Buddha’s bus to come rolling down the road and someone who shall remain nameless, but who isn’t me and isn’t Bella, burped.  Bella pipes up with, “Dang Gramma Toe!  That frog crawled right up your butt and out your mouth!”

Rocky couldn’t even catch her breath enough to laugh.  She just kept squeaking.  The impact kept hitting her in waves.  I was half falling out of the truck laughing my ever loving ass right the hell off.  Because all I could see was these two little frog legs just a wiggling, trying to get up in there so they could make that long journey in order to get out Rocky’s mouth.  I haven’t been brave enough to ask Rocky yet just what visual it brought to mind for her, but judging from those squeaks she was making, I can only guess.  I’m going to rest up real good before I ask her.  Maybe take some vitamins.  Because I’m going to get one hell of a workout laughing when she finally tells me.

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Maria Lauterbach, Cesar Laurean, Christina Laurean

January 20, 2008

Living in North Carolina gives me a front row seat to the circus on this one.  Amid the incessant round of repeat information today I suddenly had a thought.  I think Christina Laurean is lying about when Cesar Laurean told her about what happened to Maria Lauterbach in their house. 

She claims that it was during a drive to see lawyers about the rape.  I don’t think that’s true at all.  I think he told Christina the story about Maria cutting her own throat with a knife on the same day he beat her to death in his home.  I believe that Christina came home from where ever she had been and walked into a slaughter house.  The explanation that Maria cut her own throat with a knife was the only thing he could think of at the time that would explain the blood all over the ceiling and walls of the house without implicating himself in her death. 

It makes no sense that he could beat Maria Lauterbach to death, wash down the scene, grab a friend, go to Lowe’s, buy a bunch of stuff, then paint the walls and ceilings of several rooms in his house, all while his wife is at a party. 

And that is IF he told her that story at all.  You have to keep in mind that Maria Lauterbach had accused Christina’s husband and the father of her 17 month old child of rape.  There is some question as to whether or not the child Maria was carrying was Cesar’s.  It’s entirely possible that Christina didn’t need an explanation about what happened.  She might have been there when it happened.  That might be why she took an entire 24 hours to go to authorities with her information after Cesar left town. 

Maria Lauterbach’s rape accusation had put Christina’s life and the life of her child in jeopardy.  It’s possible that Christina went to her husband’s Christmas party without him in order to make his excuses and give him time to do what he had to do with Maria’s body and the house.  She could have been covering for him.  She had no reason to like Maria Lauterbach.  In her mind, Maria could very well have been the enemy.  If that was the case, she could very well have aided her husband knowingly in every part of what he did.  He obviously had help from at least one person if not several people along the way. 

He wasn’t alone in Lowe’s, he wasn’t alone at the ATM machine.  He probably wasn’t alone at the Microtel near the airport.  Who is the person he was with at Lowe’s?  Who was he with at the ATM?  Why haven’t we heard anything about these people or what they have to say?

Another thought that gives me a hinky feeling about this whole thing is this:  In the note he wrote to his wife, Cesar Laurean puts himself at the train station with Maria Lauterbach when she bought her ticket to El Paso, TX.  As far as I know, HE is the ONLY source of this particular bit of information.  The question is WHY did he put himself there with her?  Did he see someone he knew there?  Did he think he was seen BY someone who knew him?  Did he think there were cameras there?  Did he take Maria Lauterbach FROM the train station? 

He put himself AT the train station with Maria for some reason.  So far I’ve heard no explanation for why he did it, but he had to have had a very good reason for putting himself WITH her at the last place she was KNOWN to be alive on the day she disappeared.  I’m still waiting to hear about this one too.  Could it be that he kidnapped her from the train station?  Could he have taken her to the train station and somehow forced her to buy the ticket to El Paso? 

And for that matter, no one actually SAW her leave her residence.  All they have is a note supposedly from her.  He could have kidnapped her from her home.  He could have forced her to write the note she left.  He could have taken her to the train station and had her buy the ticket then taken her to his home.  It’s not as far fetched as it sounds.  You have to remember this is the man who beat her to death in his house then took her out in his back yard, burned her body up and then buried her there.  Then calmly proceeded to paint over the blood stains in the house his child would soon be walking around in.

I think when this one’s finally over it’s going to be a stomach turner.  What do you think?

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