Most Wanted: Ramon Ruiz

From Kansas City police:
The Fugitive Apprehension and Arraignment Section has requested the public's assistance in locating Ramon Ruiz, Hispanic male, 07/07/1979 of KCMO. He is 5'-9" and weighs 175 lbs , he has black hair and brown eyes and is wanted on a $25,000 cash only bond issued from Lincoln County, Missouri for a Probation Violation Warrant (bad checks). Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts are asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 474-TIPS (8477).

OxyContin doctor loses medical license

Associated Press

BOSTON - A doctor facing criminal drug charges lost his medical license after a state board concluded he was a public threat because he wrote so many OxyContin prescriptions.

Prescriptions written by Cape Cod Dr. Michael R. Brown accounted for nearly a third of the 923,000 OxyContin tablets that pharmacies in the state sold last year, a board investigator found.

"Clearly, this pattern is such an extreme deviation from his peers that it raised grave concerns for the board," Nancy Achin Audesse, executive director of the Board of Registration, said after the hearing Thursday.

She said Brown had been required in 2001 to take courses in pain management, but his pattern of prescribing painkillers continued. "It appears to be willful," Audesse said.

In the emergency license suspension, the board declared Brown "an immediate and serious threat to the public safety and welfare." The suspension remains in effect indefinitely, but the doctor can appeal.

On Tuesday, Brown, 52, pleaded innocent to 13 counts of illegal drug possession within intent to distribute. Sandwich police accused the doctor of buying back painkillers he had prescribed to a patient.

Brown's attorney Russell Redgate said the drug charges appeared to be based on small amounts of drugs that doctor routinely carry. However, Redgate said, "there are so many allegations, I don't want to go out on a limb and say there's nothing to any of them."

OxyContin was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration to treat chronic pain sufferers such as cancer patients, but abusers can alter the tablets to get a quick, heroin-like high.

Mayor resigns after pleading guilty to theft

Associated Press

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Mo. - The mayor of Country Club Hills in St. Louis County has resigned after pleading guilty to stealing $73,000 from his private employer.

In a two-paragraph resignation Wednesday, Felton Flagg said he had enjoyed serving as mayor since 1997.

Flagg pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of felony theft and 15 counts of forgery. Flagg, 44, was human resources coordinator at Zip Mail Service Inc. in Brentwood from September 2002 to July 2004. He admitted stealing $73,000 from the company by forging the name of a former employee and cashing checks under that name.

He faces up to three years in prison unless he repays the money by Oct. 6, his sentencing date. If Flagg makes restitution, he will be sentenced to 90 to 120 days in jail.

Annette Mosby, who was president of the board of aldermen, will replace Flagg as mayor. She said she plans to run in April to keep the mayor's post.
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

Inmates hopes for parole dashed

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Convicted murderers and domestic abuse victims Shirley Lute and Lynda Branch went before the state parole board hoping for a quick release after then-Gov. Bob Holden commuted their life sentences in late 2004.

The women's sentences had been life in prison without parole for 50 years, but Holden's action meant they could seek parole earlier.

Instead, the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole recently told Lute she must wait at least two more years before the board will consider a request for release. Branch was given a three-year extension.

"They had been granted an act of mercy by the governor of Missouri," said Colleen Coble, executive director of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "And now that's been taken away."

Branch, 52, has been in prison for nearly two decades following her conviction for shooting her husband in 1986 at the their Cole County home. Lute, 74, has been imprisoned since 1981, convicted of aiding her son in the Monroe County murder of her husband.

The cases of both women were among 11 clemency requests filed by the Missouri Battered Women's Clemency Coalition, a group created in 2000 by Coble's Jefferson City-based group and professors and students at the state's four law schools - at Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Missouri's Kansas City and Columbia campuses.

Of those 11 requests, Holden, a Democrat, commuted the sentences of Branch, Lute and Betty Coleman, another domestic abuse victim who was convicted in 1981 for the Jefferson City murder of a potential witness in her boyfriend's burglary case.

The parole board subsequently set a 2008 release date for Coleman, said Coble. But after Lute and Branch appeared separately before the board in June, each was later told she was ineligible for release for several years.

State law forbids the parole board from publicly discussing its cases, said John Fougere, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections. But according to both Coble and Jane Aiken, a Washington University law professor representing Lute, the board's rejection letters cited the excessive level of violence and the seriousness of the crimes.

In both cases, attorneys and supporters of the women submitted detailed dossiers explaining the mitigating circumstance surrounding their spouses' deaths, which in Lute's case included an extensive history of abuse, Aiken said.

"What worries me here is we have a case of a woman who was convicted long before we had an understanding of domestic violence," she said. "Clemency is exactly what is appropriate in circumstances like this."

Lute's advancing age has left her with serious medical problems, Aiken said, including vision loss and chronic pain in her joints, a result of her former husband's repeated twisting of her hands.

Mary Beck, a University of Missouri-Columbia law professor who represents Branch, declined to comment, citing concerns that publicly discussing the case could jeopardize her client's chances of reversing the parole board's decision.

Although the board's decision can't be directly appealed to the board, supporters of the two imprisoned women said they are considering an outside legal challenge. They are also soliciting support from legislators in Jefferson City and the office of Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican who succeeded Holden earlier this year.

Those appeals could be negligible. Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson said that while the administration is considering the arguments on behalf of Lute and Branch, "we have no plans to attempt to go around (the parole board) in any way." The board is independent of the executive branch, he noted.

"In our analysis of these cases, it appears to us that what these women really want is to commute to time served and let them walk out of jail," Jackson said.

"If (former Gov. Holden) had intended for them to get out of prison, he would have simply pardoned them," he added. "I don't believe there's any correlation between them getting a parole hearing and them being guaranteed they would be released from prison."

Coble said the cases have caught the attention of domestic violence workers nationwide.

"It's an aberration of the tradition of clemency," she said.

Judge to hear request by killer's ex-wife join civil lawsuits

ROXANA HEGEMAN

Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. - With the criminal trial now behind him, BTK serial killer Dennis Rader now faces lawsuits from the families of his victims.

District Judge Timothy Lahey is scheduled to hear a request Friday by Rader's former wife, Paula, to intervene in the lawsuits in a move designed to protect proceeds from the sale of the couple's Park City house and other property. At least six lawsuits have been filed by the families of Rader's victims.

Also on Friday, the judge will hear a separate motion asking for a default judgment in the first lawsuit against Rader that was filed by Carolyn Hook for the 1985 death of her mother, Marine Hedge. He will also hear arguments in a motion seeking a lien on Rader's personal property in the lawsuit filed by the family of Kathryn Bright.

Rader, who called himself BTK for "bind, torture and kill," was sentenced last week to 10 consecutive life sentences for 10 murders from 1974 to 1991. Since his arrest in February, his wife has won an emergency divorce and ended up with his retirement savings and the family home.

Attorney James Thompson, who represents victims' families in three of those lawsuits, said they do not want Rader or any of his representatives to benefit from the killings. Thompson represents the families of BTK victims Vicki Wegerle, Nancy Fox and Shirley Vian.

Thompson has already agreed to Rader's ex-wife intervening in his three cases. But he plans to fight her moves to get a title to the couple's house, which he said sold for $30,000 more than it was worth because of BTK's notoriety.

"We believe that $30,000 is blood money," Thompson said. "Paula Rader should not receive a financial windfall based on the death of these individuals."

The Raders' house sold for $90,000 at a July auction, although the home's assessed value was just $56,700. Michelle Borin, well-known in the region through late night TV commercials for her exotic dance club, has said she knew she overbid but she wants the proceeds to help Rader's family.

Paula Rader's attorney, James Walker, did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

While the court has scheduled to hear jointly all of Paula Rader's motions to intervene, the cases themselves have not been consolidated, Thompson said.

Rader is representing himself in the lawsuits, but it was unclear just how he planned to do that from the El Dorado prison.

Thompson said Rader missed filing datelines in all the civil cases, and he expects more default judgment hearings to be scheduled in the other remaining lawsuits.

"The main goal of our lawsuits is to prevent him, or any of his representatives, from benefiting off the deaths of these individuals," Thompson said.

Kansas has a "Son of Sam" law that prohibits Rader from profiting from the telling of his story, but similar laws in other states have been held to be unconstitutional. Kansas does not have a so-called murderabilia law that bands him from making money from the sale of his memorabilia.

Law enforcement officer, groups honored for BTK work

Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. - A Wichita police detective and two law enforcement computer labs will be honored for their work on the BTK murder case.

Wichita police Detective Randy Stone, whose computer work provided a key clue in the case, will receive an award for "forensics investigation case of the year" from the International High Technology Crime Investigation Association next week at its conference in Monterey, Calif.

The association also will honor the Wichita police department's computer crimes lab and the FBI's regional computer forensic laboratory in Kansas City, Mo., for their work on the case.

Just hours after police received a computer disk from BTK in February, Stone determined it had been used at Christ Lutheran Church, where Dennis Rader was president of the church council and had used the computer at least once.

Authorities quickly focused on Rader, and spotted a truck at his home that BTK used to leave a package at a Home Depot store.

"All that happened in, like, a day's time," said Capt. Randy Landen. "You work on something that many years, and all of a sudden you get that one piece of the puzzle that pulls it all together."

Rader, 60, was arrested nine days later. He pleaded guilty in June to killing 10 people and has been sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences.

Missouri strings cable barriers along I-70 median

‘Fatalities happen when crossover accidents occur’

By KEVIN MURPHY

The Kansas City Star

Once Cheryl Treasure lost control of her car, nothing could stop it from skidding through the Interstate 70 median and into the path of a tractor-trailer near Boonville, Mo.

Treasure, a Columbia area resident who recently had moved from Kansas City, died two weeks ago after veering off a stretch of road that did not have barriers in the median.

Missouri, hoping to reduce such accidents, is stringing steel cables on 165 miles of I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis in one of the most extensive uses of such barriers nationwide.

“I definitely think it would have made a difference,” said Joy McBee, sister of Treasure, whose 10-year-old daughter, Jennifer Alspaugh, also died in the crash. “It probably would have saved their lives.”

The Missouri Department of Transportation is spending some $50 million on barrier installations that will be finished on I-70 and some other highways statewide by the end of next year. Barriers have previously had limited use, such as on Interstate 435 in east Kansas City.

“We are working very hard to try to stop fatalities,” said Tom Evans, traffic engineer for the department’s Kansas City district office. “Fatalities happen when crossover accidents occur.”

The barriers already are producing results, state officials said. Deaths and injuries from crossover accidents dropped the past two years on I-70 and declined on I-435 after barriers were installed there several years ago, data show.

Nearly all rural stretches of I-70 that have medians of less than 60 feet — the large majority of the interstate — will have cable barriers. About 54 miles, mostly between Sweet Springs and Columbia, are still to be done. Most urban parts of I-70 have concrete barriers.

In addition to I-70, cable barriers are planned for Interstate 44, Interstate 29 from Kansas City to St. Joseph and perhaps parts of Interstate 35 and other interstates in the Kansas City region, Evans said.

Missouri is among only a handful of states to invest significantly in cable barriers, according to Evans and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in Washington. Other states include Oklahoma, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and North Carolina.

“The experience has been considered good — especially from a public safety perspective — where they have been used,” said Jennifer Gavin, spokeswoman for the association.

Kansas uses concrete barriers on urban interstates and on the turnpike. Most rural interstate stretches in Kansas have medians at least 60 feet wide, so cable barriers are not used, officials said.

Barrier drawbacks

The cable barriers are not without drawbacks and critics. The barriers are expensive to maintain and repair, do not always prevent crossovers, damage vehicles that slide into them in relatively minor incidents and limit the ability of police and emergency vehicles to cross medians.

The cables are strung between metal posts about 33 inches high. They are designed to snag vehicles in their front wheel wells and restrain an SUV or a smaller vehicle, Evans said. They are flexible, therefore less dangerous to strike, than a concrete barrier, he said.

“It doesn’t guarantee no crashes, but it does greatly reduce them,” said Jeff Briggs, a Missouri transportation department spokesman.

The department did a study of barriers used on I-435 in Kansas City and on I-44 in St. Louis, comparing three years of accident data before the barriers were installed to two years afterward — 2001 and 2002.

Briggs said the study found that fatalities from crossover wrecks dropped by two-thirds to three-fourths, although wrecks doubled because of collisions with the barriers.

“While crash rates have gone up, the severity of those crashes has gone way, way down,” Briggs said.

There also has been a downward trend in fatal accidents on I-70 since 2003, when the barrier construction project began in earnest. Last year, 14 persons died in crossover accidents and 109 were injured, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. In 2002, 24 died and 200 were injured.

Missouri hires private contractors to install and maintain the cable barriers. They cost about $110,000 per mile to install and $12,000 per mile annually to maintain and repair, Briggs said.

Construction costs are covered by federal funds the state must use on safety-related issues because Missouri has not outlawed open liquor containers in vehicles. If it had such a law, the money could be used on general highway expenses, Briggs said.

“We were trying to make the best possible use of this money by putting it into the cable project,” Briggs said.

A St. Louis area group called Citizens for Safe Medians has raised more than $50,000 to help the state pay for the barriers. The founder of the group, Lou Holtmann, lost his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and nephew in a 1996 crossover accident on I-44.

“If a cable barrier had been there, we would not have lost four members of the family,” Holtmann said Wednesday.

Upkeep required

An official from one highway safety group said he was not sold on the cable barriers. Gerald Donaldson, senior researcher for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, in Washington, said the barriers lose their effectiveness when cable tension is not monitored and maintained.

“Even if you do that, you don’t necessarily get a barrier system that will accommodate all vehicles that are going to strike it,” Donaldson said.

The relatively low barrier may cause vehicles with high centers of gravity, such as SUVs and pickups, to flip over when they strike it, Donaldson said. Without a barrier, those vehicles may have avoided any type of accident or damage by stopping in the median, he said.

Evans said he had not heard of any vehicles in Missouri flipping over after striking the cable barriers. He said any vehicle going fast enough to do that probably would have continued through the median and into oncoming traffic if the barrier had not been there.

Mike Right, spokesman for AAA Auto Club of Missouri in St. Louis, said the barriers prevent serious accidents, even if they may cause relatively minor ones.

“I’ll trade a bunch of dented fenders and scratched doors and skinned roofs anytime to prevent a head-on crash at 70 miles per hour,” Right said.

As for concern that vehicles may pass through the cables, Evans said that had happened only twice on I-435. In one case, a pickup sailed over the cable barrier, and in another case a Pontiac Grand Am hit the barrier head-on. The barriers are designed to best stop vehicles approaching at angles of from 22 to 25 degrees, he said.

Cable barriers have been controversial in other states.

Seven vehicles crashed through cable barriers on Interstate 5 in the state of Washington in the past two years, with one crash killing three persons, T he Seattle Times reported in June. One man filed a $15 million claim against the state’s Department of Transportation, which contends that barriers have stopped 91 percent of vehicles that have struck them.

In West Virginia, transportation officials are reconsidering their decision to install cable rather than the more expensive concrete barriers on Interstate 81, because cable barriers did not prevent several recent collisions, The Associated Press reported this month.

While meant to prevent crossover accidents, the barriers also reduce the mobility of emergency vehicles, such as patrol cars, because of fewer median breaks to make U-turns. There are crossover roadways on the interstates, but they can be several miles apart.

“Obviously, we can’t cross over the medians with those barriers,” said Lt. Tim Hull, spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol. “It will force us to use a different type of enforcement for speeders.”

For example, officers could radio nearby patrol cars going in the direction of the speeder, he said. The patrol also makes regular use of air patrols.

Hull said the patrol supports the barriers, “and anything that makes the highways safer.”

To reach Kevin Murphy, call (816) 234-4464 or send e-mail to kmurphy@kcstar.com .

For KU athletics, another headache

Football player charged in brawl

By BENITA Y. WILLIAMS and JASON KING

The Kansas City Star

When Terry and Kathy Hendren went to dinner and a concert at Kemper Arena on Sunday, they never thought they would also do battle with a college football player.

But that’s what they say happened, and University of Kansas fullback Bruce Ringwood has been charged with assaulting the Shawnee couple at the Kenny Chesney concert on Sunday.

The incident caps a turbulent spring and summer for the Kansas athletic department. The school placed itself on probation in July, and three other athletes have been caught up in criminal investigations.

Ringwood, 20, a 2003 graduate of Blue Springs High School, could not be reached for comment Thursday. He is charged with violations of two municipal assault ordinances and is to appear in Municipal Court in October. If convicted, he could face $1,000 in fines and up to a year in jail on each count.

Lew Perkins, KU athletic director, said the school was aware of the incident and gathering information.

“Until we get the facts … we don’t know what the facts are,” Perkins said. “(KU coach) Mark (Mangino) is going to talk to the kid and get his side of things. And, after that, he’ll handle it. We’ve decided that it’s going to be left up to him. Obviously I have complete trust in him to do what he feels is best for the program.”

Kathryn Hendren, 46, called the incident surreal.

“It’s just so bizarre,” she said. “My husband and I just keep looking at each other and keep asking, ‘Did this really happen?’ ”

According to Hendren, the couple had dined Sunday at the Golden Ox and walked over to Kemper to see Chesney, one of her 46-year-old husband’s favorite performers.

When the country singer was about halfway through his performance, Ringwood was standing in the row behind the couple, apparently swinging to the music, and hit Kathryn Hendren in the head, she said.

“I really do think that was accidental,” she said. “I just think he was moving to the music. … It was startling, so I turned and said,‘Hey, that hurt. Be careful.’ ”

Hendren said Ringwood gave her a belligerent look and then made an obscene gesture.

“My husband thought he (Ringwood) was being very disrespectful and demanded an apology,” Hendren said.

But Ringwood, who is listed at 6 feet 1 and 215 pounds, began punching her husband instead, she said.

“He just dove at him,” Hendren said. “My husband is strong, but when you’ve got a 220-pound guy over the top of you … I tried to knock him (Ringwood) off balance so my husband could defend himself.”

Instead, Ringwood’s fist hit her in the eye, she said.

“You know how in cartoons you just see a white blob coming at you? That’s how it was,” she said. “It staggered me; then I yelled, ‘You hit me!’ and that hand came out again and pushed me. That’s when I fell down the stairs.”

Off-duty Kansas City police working security at the concert responded and found other concert-goers trying to pull the three persons apart. According to police, Hendren’s face and right eye were red, Terry Hendren’s forehead was swollen, and both were bloody. They were treated at a Kemper Arena first-aid station.

“Nothing life-threatening,” Kathryn Hendren said. “I can be thankful for that.”

Jeremy Haney, 28, of Kansas City said he witnessed the fight. Haney said Ringwood was a few seats away from him for most of the concert, wearing a shirt with the words “Let’s Scrap” on the back. Ringwood and a friend were dancing throughout the concert, he said, often bumping into people around them.

Eventually, Haney said, Ringwood and his friend moved to another section nearby.

“Everyone in our section was so relieved when they left,” Haney said.

A few minutes later, Haney said, he noticed the two men fighting. Haney did not see how the fight started, but he said he saw Ringwood throwing punches at a man who was much smaller than he. He said the man was seated with a woman a row ahead of Ringwood.

“The blond kid (Ringwood) was throwing full-fledged punches at this guy, and his friend was pulling the guy’s shirt over his head,” Haney said. “He knocked him down and then kept hitting him some more.”

He said the woman tried to get Ringwood away from the man.

At this point, Haney’s version of events diverges slightly from Hendren’s. He said Ringwood shoved the woman away. The woman fell down a few steps but ran back up to confront Ringwood.

“At that point, he (Ringwood) pulled back his fist and punched the woman flush in the face,” Haney said.

The incident is the latest in a series of incidents involving the KU athletic department:

■ Mangino dismissed star tailback John Randle from the team on April 15 after his arrest on battery charges. It was the fourth time since 2003 that Randle had been arrested.

■ Witnesses blamed basketball star J.R. Giddens for instigating a May 19 Lawrence bar fight that left five persons with stab wounds. Giddens left KU’s program under pressure on June 30 and transferred to New Mexico. Forward C.J. Giles, who witnesses said also threw punches during the fight, remains on the team.

■ In July, Kansas self-imposed a two-year probation on its athletic department for academic and recruiting improprieties in its football and basketball programs.

“When you have that many kids — hundreds of kids — and you’re talking about three incidents (Randle, Giddens, Ringwood) … no, I don’t think it’s a trend,” Perkins said. “It’s just bad judgment. We’ve had some guys make bad decisions. This isn’t good.

“Each case is different, each is separate. But to hit someone or push someone is totally unacceptable. We call them kids, but they’re adults, too. They’ve got to be held accountable, and they’ve got to make better decisions.”

To reach Benita Y. Williams, call (816) 234-7714 or send e-mail to bwilliams@kcstar.com. To reach Jason King, call (816) 234-4386 or send e-mail to jking@kcstar.com

Floridian admits role in plot to sell fake drugs

By MARK MORRIS

The Kansas City Star

A Miami woman pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Kansas City to conspiring to sell counterfeit and illegally imported prescription drugs.

According to federal court records, Maria Eugenia Medina Milgrom, 49, led a company that sold inactive ingredients to conspirators who manufactured bogus versions of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor in Central America. Milgrom’s firm, Farma International, also sold the conspirators similar ingredients needed to manufacture counterfeit Zocor, Plavix, Viagra and Bextra. Milgrom also admitted participating in the purchase of punches and dies in St. Louis that were needed to make fake prescription drugs.

Prosecutors have said that about $13 million worth of counterfeit drugs were illegally imported and sold in the United States.

The guilty plea was the latest in a two-year investigation revolving around Albers Medical Inc. of Kansas City, which bought the drugs and resold them to pharmacies across the country, according to court records.

The wholesaler has maintained its innocence, saying it had been deceived by suppliers.

Two men charged in fatal cat abuse

By LINDA MAN

The Kansas City Star

Two Odessa, Mo., men were charged Thursday with six counts of animal abuse for allegedly killing five cats and badly injuring another that had to be euthanized.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s office alleges that Brian Kleoppel, 31, and Jeffrey Hoeppner, 29, abused the cats, which Kleoppel’s brother-in-law had left in his care.

Kleoppel and Hoeppner were being held, with bond set at $2,500 for each.

According to court documents, a neighbor heard loud banging about 12:20 a.m. July 24 at a mobile home court on U.S. 40 in Independence. When the neighbor looked out her window, court documents say, she saw, through the open trailer door, Kleoppel pick up a chair and drop it onto the floor, trying to crush a cat. The document says Hoeppner used a shovel to cut the same cat.

After police arrived, according to the document, Kleoppel told officers he was trying to cage the cats but the cats were wild and unmanageable. So they decided to kill them, Kleoppel said.

Officers found five dead cats and two still alive in a living-room trash can. Jackson County Prosecutor Michael Sanders said the case was especially brutal.

Family mourns hit-run victim

By LINDA MAN

The Kansas City Star

Marguerite Reneau was headed home for lunch about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday when a westbound pickup truck rear-ended her at Truman Road and Cedar Avenue in Independence.

Reneau, 79, of Independence, spun out of control, and her Buick Century crashed into a building. Several hours later, she died at Independence Regional Health Center. Her 46-year-old daughter, Cheryl Reneau, was not injured.

The driver of the pickup truck fled the scene.

On Thursday, Fred Reneau talked about his mother.

“She was part of my everyday life,” said Reneau, who builds race cars for a living. “I just miss her. She was my secretary, my book-keeper. I didn’t pay her. She did it out of love toward me.

“Things won’t ever be the same again.”

Fred Reneau said he knew something was wrong Wednesday when his mother didn’t return promptly from lunch.

She was so punctual that “you could set your watch by the time she got” to work, said family friend Dean Christian.

Fred Reneau said he wished the pickup driver had stopped after the crash. Now, he said, “he needs to turn himself in.”

Police are seeking the male driver. The vehicle was described as a newer model silver or gray Dodge Ram.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477) or call the Independence police at (816) 325-7292 or (816) 325-7993.

Spitting by Vietnam vet dismissed

Jane Fonda was aim of outburst

By CHRISTINE VENDEL

The Kansas City Star

A Kansas City municipal judge on Thursday dismissed a disorderly conduct case against a Vietnam veteran who spit tobacco juice on Jane Fonda’s face four months ago.

Police cited Michael Dean Smith, 54, of Gladstone after the April 19 incident at Unity Temple on the Plaza, where the actress was signing copies of her memoir.

Smith, who served as a Marine in Vietnam in 1970, said he was expressing his anger at Fonda for her actions opposing the war, particularly a 1972 visit to North Vietnam, where she was photographed at an anti-aircraft battery.

Once the judge dismissed the charge, it became a closed record, prohibiting prosecutors and court officials from commenting on why the case was thrown out. Smith’s attorney also declined to comment Thursday.

Smith said he had planned to plead guilty.

“I did it, and I was going to pay for it,” he said Thursday.

But at a court appearance last month, a judge “took the case under advisement” and told Smith he would dismiss the charge in one month if Smith stayed out of trouble.

Smith stood before the judge for less than a minute Thursday as the charge was dismissed. Smith then filled out paperwork to get his $100 bond back.

“It’s over and that’s that,” Smith said afterward.

One day after the incident, Fonda told police she didn’t want to press charges.

Police charged Smith anyway because an off-duty officer working at the event witnessed the disorderly conduct. The officer chased Smith outside and arrested him on the sidewalk.

The spitting tapped a vein of deep emotion across the country. News of the incident sparked national media coverage. The Star received hundreds of e-mails, with supporters outnumbering those who condemned Smith’s actions about 3 to 1.

Smith was one of 900 people at the April event organized by Rainy Day Books. He purchased Fonda’s book, stood in line about 90 minutes and presented her the copy. At book signings, Rainy Day has patrons write their names on sticky notes to give to the authors.

On Smith’s note, he wrote Jodie. Fonda looked up, smiled and asked, “Are you Jodie?”

Smith faced Fonda as she signed his book. He spat at her, spraying tobacco juice on the right side of her face, neck and blouse. He then jumped off the stage and ran.

Smith said Thursday he still had no regrets.

“I still feel it was the right thing to do,” he said. “If I didn’t think it was the right thing to do, I wouldn’t have done it.”
To reach Christine Vendel, call (816) 234-4438 or send e-mail to cvendel@kcstar.com .

One-man crime spree ends in arrest

By CHRISTINE VENDEL

The Kansas City Star

A man arrested by Tennessee authorities in connection with a violent multi-state crime spree has been charged in the Aug. 3 armed robbery of a Kansas City hotel.

Jackson County prosecutors on Thursday announced first-degree robbery and armed criminal action charges against Cobey Wade Lakemper, 28, of Sedalia, Mo.

Prosecutors say Lakemper checked into the Clarion Hotel, just off Interstate 70 near the Truman Sports Complex, under his own name and later confronted a clerk about some jewelry he said was missing from his room.

Court records said Lakemper pointed a gun at the clerk, demanded money and then fled with $201.

He was charged with a similar robbery at a hotel east of Atlanta last Friday. He allegedly robbed and shot a clerk after registering as a guest using his own name.

Lakemper also is charged in Stokes County, N.C., with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of a retired mail carrier and his wife. The bodies of William Dennis Covington, 72, and Joyce Culler Covington, 65, were found in their home on Aug. 7.

Police said Lakemper has relatives in North Carolina.

Lakemper was picked up without incident Wednesday night at a grocery store in Madison County, Tenn., by county sheriff’s deputies and U.S. marshals. He was being held by Madison County authorities Thursday.
The Star’s John Shultz contributed to this report.

Spyware used on ex-wife means felony

By MARK MORRIS

The Kansas City Star

A Gladstone man learned Thursday just how illegal it is to use spyware to read your ex-wife’s e-mail.

Jason Russell, 28, pleaded guilty to intercepting interstate electronic communications, a felony.

According to court records, Russell subscribed to a computer service in September 2003 called “Lover-Spy,” which sold software allowing users to remotely monitor e-mail and other electronic communications. Russell admitted that he sent his former wife an e-mail greeting card that, when opened, installed the monitoring software on her computer.

Computer security bulletins from that period warned that the software also captured keystrokes, recorded passwords and could turn on the victim’s Web camera. Computer security software firms quickly found ways to block and delete the spyware.

Court records stated that Russell intercepted his ex-wife’s e-mail until early March 2004. While the maximum penalty for this kind of cyber-stalking is five years in federal prison, an estimate in Russell’s plea agreement suggested a sentence of up to six months.
To reach Mark Morris, call (816) 234-4310 or send e-mail to mmorris@kcstar.com.

KCK police investigate shooting

By Mike Sherry

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City, Kansas police are investigating a shooting that happened around 9:15 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of Yecker Avenue.

In the incident, a black male was shot multiple times, according to police spokesman Ryan Fincher.

Nobody is in custody, Fincher said, and the victim was taken to an area hospital in stable condition.

DUI checkpoint nets 14 arrests

From Kansas City police:

On August 25, 2005, the Kansas City Missouri Police Department conducted a Sobriety Checkpoint at 34th & Broadway. Northbound traffic was checked and a total number of 162 vehicles were stopped and 14 DUI arrests were made.