Anastacia - Everything Burns

Facinating story from Fellow Investigator.

Thanks to Lloyd Weatherford for sharing a fascinating and important case with his fellow investigators. And thanks to Fox news for telling the story in a way frank described in his email as "a local news story that mostly got it right."
I pass the story onto you now in the opes that you will remain ever vigilent.
It is wise to consider hiring a licensed investigator to check someone out... before handing out a large sum of money.

 

12:43pm | January 17, 2011

Business Owner Accused Of Racketeering, Theft

Investigators Say Records Forged

POSTED: 11:10 pm PST January 13, 2011

UPDATED: 11:36 pm PST January 13, 2011

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HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Stephen G. Nagy’s business, S&S Drywall Assemblies, is closed after investigators executed a search warrant in October.The search warrant came after a year-long investigation in which prosecutors say Nagy, the owner, failed to pay fair wages.Nagy kept his head low in a Washington County courtroom Thursday afternoon as he was arraigned on charges of racketeering, theft, money laundry and forgery.Investigators accused Nagy of not paying proper wages to his carpenters.Last year, several local unions started protesting S&S Drywall and the company became wrapped up in a labor dispute.“They're a company that pays way below area standard wages,” says Jason Sheckler, who last year protested a job site of S&S Drywall in Beaverton.Jack Gamboa works for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and says his organization was very concerned after hearing Nagy’s company failed to pay standard wages."It’s good to see justice finally come to this individual who has been cheating the people in the state of Oregon,” Gamboa says.Nagy has been under investigation by the state for more than a year. Prosecutors claim he also engaged in money laundering. Court documents say Nagy destroyed vital records the state had subpoenaed.In January 2009, the FOX 12 investigators team sat down with Nagy and he defended his business practices.“We are paying above the state average wage for carpenters,” Nagy said.Prosecutors have also charged Nagy with 20 counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.After his arraignment, Nagy and an unidentified woman both declined to comment.Investigators say there could be more charges filed in the case. A judge set Nagy’s bail at $280,000.Nagy's family members declined to comment, but off-camera they say they stand by Nagy and say the allegations against him are unfounded.

Copyright 2011 by KPTV.com. All rights reserved.

Under Pressure?

And the Facebook Murder Beat Goes On...

The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — Six students have been suspended from an Edmonton high school for posting threats on social network sites after the fatal stabbing of a teen.
The suspensions at St. Joseph High School follow the death of Niko Arlia, a 17-year-old who was killed at a weekend party.
The messages on Facebook and other sites threaten retaliation for Arlia's death, but police warn that such postings could lead to criminal charges.
Sgt. Kelly Rosnau, a school resource officer, says the messages can escalate quickly and could hamper the police investigation.
Two of the students are suspended with a recommendation for expulsion, but their parents have five days to appeal.
Kevin Moffett, a 19-year-old Edmonton man, has been charged with second-degree murder and weapons offences in the teen's death.

Wife Murdered for Facebook Status!

Re: Kate Nash's Skeleton Song Below

Please be forewarned.
Do not play this You Tube cut when there are minors, or any  people who are offended by violent language.
This is one dark tune.
Don't get me wrong. I think Kate Nash has a great deal of talent.
And this song fits my Facebook "Skeleton In Your Closet" status theme tonight perfectly.
However, the song gets quite violent.
Which is precisely why I am posting it below.
Though admittedly, I am debating whether...or how long... it will stay up.

I think the young people of today are desensitized to violence because there seems to be no-holds- barred attitude in the media when it comes to the horrific, horrendous and hideous on  films, TV, news stories, music and you-tube videos. The darker the better,

Kate Nash, the singer/songwriter below is a  beautiful, sweet looking  young woman.
The fact that she's got these words in her head and they come out of her mouth raises a big red flag to this investigator.
Our young ones are hurting. Big-time.
And when they hurt....  sometimes, they want to make others hurt too.
This song takes the concept to an extreme.
In my opinion, the song is both seductive.... repulsive... and revealing.
It demonstrates what every good P.I. learns.
We all have skeletons in our closet.
Some dance.
Some are murder.

Kate Nash - Skeleton song x

Randy and Amy Loughner’s Statement

This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel.  We wish that there were so we could make you feel better.  We don't understand why this happened.  It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday.  We care very deeply about the victims and their families.  We are so very sorry for their loss.
Thank you,
The Loughner Family

Jared Lee Loughner's parents blame themselves for deadly shooting in Tucson

Was it nature or nurture that caused him to snap?

Could he have a genetic predisposition to this madness?

Did he take a fall that damaged the frontal load of his brain.

Was he a sociopath in the womb?

These are things I wonder.

The story that follows is from the New York Daily news.

Imagine, if you can, being this man's parents....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BY Matthew Lysiak In Tucson AND Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, January 11th 2011, 12:43 PM

Popat/AP

The anguished parents of accused Arizona assassin Jared Lee Loughner blame themselves for the Tucson tragedy.
Randy and Amy Loughner, are devastated "and they feel guilty for what happened," neighbor Wayne Smith, 70, told KPHO-TV.
"They want to know, where did they fail?" he said. "I told them they didn't fail. They taught him everything about right and wrong. We all know you can teach someone everything and have no control how it works out."
Loughner's mom has been in bed and crying nonstop since Saturday's slaughter, Smith said.
Neither parent has said anything publicly about the massacre, which left six dead and badly wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life.
While Loughner lived with his parents, it was a bad relationship, added Roxanne Osler of Tucson, whose son had been friends with the suspected shooter.
"What Jared did was wrong," she told The Washington Post. "But people need to know about him. I wish people would have taken a better notice of him and gotten him help. ... He had nobody, and that's not a nice place to be."
Loughner's parents were not in the Phoenix courtroom Monday when their disturbed 22-year-old son was ordered held without bail.
Meanwhile, Giffords' doctors reported more good news Tuesday - she is able to breathe on her own.
Giffords, who was shot in the head, also continues to respond to simple commands, which doctors take as a sign that her brain is less damaged than might be expected.
Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has been a constant presence at her bedside.
Authorities released a chilling mug shot of Loughner - sporting a shaved head and little smirk - that was taken shortly after shooting 20 innocent people in cold blood.
Loughner - whose rampage killed six - was hit with federal charges for trying to assassinate Giffords, a 40-year-old Democrat, murdering Federal Judge John Roll and Giffords' aide Gabe Zimmerman, and wounding two other congressional staffers.
State charges are pending.
Federal Magistrate Judge Lawrence Anderson ordered Loughner back to court Jan. 24, when a new judge will be appointed to hear the case.
No Arizona judge would take the case because all of them knew Roll.
Loughner was assigned one of the best public defenders in the land: San Diego lawyer Judy Clarke, who specializes in federal death penalty cases.
She helped defend Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph.
The Justice Department has not said if it will seek the death penalty for Loughner.
He has not revealed his motive.
President Obama, who along with the First Lady led the nation in a moment of silence Monday, plans to travel to Tucson on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the victims.
"I think it's important for us to also focus ... on the extraordinary courage that was shown" by the Arizonans who tackled Loughner, Obama said.
He singled out Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern who ran into the line of fire to comfort Giffords; the three men who tackled the gunman, and 61-year-old Patricia Maisch, "who helped secure the ammunition that might have caused even more damage."
With Corky Siemaszko
hkennedy@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/11/2011-01-11_jared_lee_loughners_parents_blame_themselves_for_deadly_shooting_in_tucson.html#ixzz1An7lM2yl

Take a dip in the gene pool with Benjamin Zephaniah

Jared Lee Loughner's FOX News-inspired Manifesto

Local Blogger Posts Arizona Shooter Jared Loughner’s MySpace Rants

10:03 AM January 10th, 2011 by James Pitkin

A Portland blogger has posted what appears to be a collection of deranged MySpace status updates in 2010 from Jared Loughner, the alleged gunman in an Arizona shooting spree Saturday that injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
The blogger who goes by the name Trey Starrs normally writes insulting pieces about local jail inmates on his website ThePotShot.com. He pulls photos and personal information from inmates’ Facebook and MySpace pages, then uses that material as fodder for offensive humor.
Starrs appears to have scored a minor coup on Saturday by accessing Loughner’s MySpace page before law enforcement shut the page down. Photos and brief excerpts from Loughner’s MySpace page have turned up elsewhere on the web, but our quickie Google search could find no more complete record of Loughner’s MySpace material than the one Starrs posted.
Loughner’s status updates—if Starrs’ material is accurate—reveal a paranoid mind quickly coming unraveled over the past six months. We’re pasting all of Loughner’s status updates from Starrs’ page below. Kudos to Starrs for the quick reflexes in grabbing them.

Jul 11, 2010 – I keep hearing voices in my head!

Aug 18 – I’ll tell you how to kill a pig in my bulletin! Sep 14 – I didn’t hesitate playing Russian roulette with 3 bullets!
Sep 16 – I thought about attempting suicide again…… notice the again…
Sep 27 – Be careful when you go out of body, the government can control the out of body with programming their energy.
Oct 3 – I’m suspended from school for my first freedom! The police is on myspace stalking you! Call them f**king teachers! Cons! The police are wrong.
Nov 14 – Are you single and looking for a rich boyfriend?
Nov 17 – It hurts to have been never sexually active at 22!
Nov 22 – The literacy rate is below 10% in Tuscon; you cant write or read!
Nov 24 – The FBI and CIA is watching you for rioting!
Nov 24 – The CIA is on your myspace.
Dec 09 – I know your watching me pigs!
Dec 10 – I’m done with this because the police bugged my myspace.
Dec 12 – I can’t wait for something f**kin huge!
Dec 13 – I don’t feel good: I’m ready to kill a police officer! I can say it.
Dec 14 – Wow! Im glad I didn’t kill myself. I’ll see you on National TV. This is foreshadow… Why doesn’t anyone want to talk to me?
Dec 14 – You’re going to regret not talking to me!(this message was repeated six times on this date)
Dec 20 – OK! I’m f**king dead! Im about to prove to myself something.
Dec 20 – Why are you not texting me for anal sex?
Dec 20 – I can’t stand to look at a f**kin pig without thinking about murdering that f**k!

 Here's a link to PotShot, the original blog this was drawn from. There's further social network info there.http://www.thepotshot.com/

Second Thoughts

I need to head out quickly, in the hopes of out-running the next snow storm due to hit the Northwest. As I got up the this morning, the news was already on and there was a special report on the Arizona shooting. 
Watching the stories of the victims, sipping coffee by the fire, watching the news and trying to figure out what was going on in the head of the shooter, I thought instantly of this blog and yesterday's post.... which showed a lot of graphic gun violence.
The beauty of the blog is if you post something you think is a hoot, a.k.a. "funny" one day....
and the next day you re-think that post and decide it is distasteful... you can take it down.

So given the mass shooting, and given the fact that the "Bambee" video I posted on this blog is no longer funny to me.... and no doubt, offensive to many, I am censoring myself and pulling the video off the blog after I write this.
As a P.I. you must be fast on your feet and even faster in your head.
You have to read the world around you and remain fluid, become like a shape-shifter.
It is very important to establish rapport in this business with people you interview and deal with and that's where the shape-shifting comes in.
You talk to a gang member and want info, you want them to think you respect them to elicit the info you need. You are not a police officeer, you are a P.I.... which gives you certain liberties in how you dress and act to match your subject's success.

You talk to someone who is incredibly wealthy and you're not, you need to step it up, to up-scale.
You need to acknowledge their success without showing awe.
Investigators are much like chameleons, we blend into our surroundings to make our subjects think we understand the subtle shades, colors, hues, of their lives.
As the economy continues to tank.... as people self-medicate with booze or drugs...
or, go off the meds they need because they can't afford them...
there will be more of this violence like we have seen almost everywhere.

I am not so naive as to believe we can stop it.
I am smart enough to know we can change ourselves, in the same way I am changing this blog to remove  a piece  I now feel is offensive.
So today, I leave this quote, written many years ago, in my wake.
It has been on the blog before, however, it is an inspiration to me and I hope it will inspire others.
To anyone whose path crosses this blog today, consider the following carefully.
There is truth and genius in Sir Arthur Ward's words, so many years after they were written.
Please be safe and well out there today.

"Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, Save.
Before you die, give."
                    
                             William Arthur Ward                                

The World Needs More Heroes

Real-Life Super Heroes Strike Again in Seattle

•  by Morgan Clendaniel
  

January 4, 2011 • 1:00 pm PM

We once ran a very fun slideshow of a variety of modern-day, real-life super heroes, all of whom put on costumes and go fight crime in their cities. Today, there is a news report of another hero (not pictured above) operating in Seattle. Phoenix Jones, a member of the Rain City Superheroes (no website), recently scared away a would-be car thief. Jones wears a custom suit "including bullet-proof vest and stab plates" and caries a Taser and Mace. But being a super hero without super powers can be difficult:

Phoenix said since he started his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago, he's been stabbed, and had a gun pulled on him a few times, but received no serious injuries.

Photo from the Real Life Super Hero Project, by Peter Tangen.
Link to another great story on Phoenix by Jack Ryan, go the the link below.  http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212341877.shtml

Hell's Kitchen Host Almost Set on Fire.

Ramsay held at gunpoint by Gangsters

From Yahoo News:
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was doused in petrol and held at gunpoint as he tried to uncover the dark world of illegal shark fin trading for a new TV show.

The Hell's Kitchen star was shooting scenes for Big Fish Fight when he confronted gangsters in Costa Rica who had slaughtered thousands of sharks to sell their sought-after fins.

But Ramsay was left terrified when the gang kept their guns trained on him and his TV crew before throwing fuel over him. He was later advised by local police to flee the country for his own safety.
The chef tells the Daily Mail, "It's a multi-billion-dollar industry, completely unregulated. We traced some of the biggest culprits to Costa Rica. These gangs operate from places like forts, with barbed-wire and gun towers.
"At one, I managed to shake off the people keeping us away, ran up some stairs to a rooftop and looked down to see thousands of fins, drying on rooftops for as far as the eye could see. When I got back downstairs, they tipped a barrel of petrol over me.
"Back at the wharf, there were people pointing rifles at us to stop us filming. A van pulled up and these seedy characters made us stand against a wall. The police came and advised us to leave the country. They said, 'If you set one foot in there, they'll shoot you.'"

Caught In a Bad Romance

Besides having someone you love  go flat broke, get sick or die...
(yourself included),
there's nothing quite so bad as a bad romance.
They get ugly.
 Often dark, violent and deadly.
After I write this blog I am going to Facebook to post  a link a friend shared on his wall.
It too has to do with a romance so bad it's criminal.

Living as long as I have...
and being a P.I. who paid my dues on domestics...
And.... having been married a time or two...
I gotta' tell you...
there's a very thin line between love and hate.
And personally, I really don't think there is such thing as an amicable divorce.
However, I don't think they all have to be so dangerous.


I have been told what first attracts you to a person in the beginning could be what most repels you later on.
New relationships produce changes in the body that are secretions of hormones that also affect the brain.
You co-mingle and  think, instantly, you are in love.
It's the two of you against the world.
And love is all there is.
All faults are overlooked...
All mistakes easily forgiven...
as dreams appear to meld so effortlessly.
Yet once those hormonal changes wear off,
once the hunter snares the catch...
and the once the  gatherer has primed the nest...
the hormones wear off and the claws come out.

Since I'm working a couple of particularly disturbing domestic cases, I thought I might add add Lady Gaga to the mix.
In my P.I. brain, this song illustrates the insanity  I witness every time someone who is beaten, abused, degraded, demeaned  or ripped off by their alleged partner tells me they stay because they are in love.
Imho, what a crock.
It is far better to live alone happily than to live with someone miserably.

Lady Gaga haters, time to turn your heads.
This song is raw.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Two Snakes Marry

'Charmed' pythons tie the knot in Cambodia

 
Fortune-tellers said the two pythons were husband and wife and needed to live together. Hundreds of Cambodians have celebrated the unusual wedding of two snakes, in the belief the nuptials will bring those attending prosperity and peace.

Serpent bride Chamreun, a 16ft-long (4.8m) python weighing 200lb (90kg), wed her smaller mate in a village just south of the capital Phnom Penh.
Buddhist monks blessed the pair and villagers showered them with flowers during the two-hour ceremony.
Many Cambodians are superstitious, and merge animist practices with Buddhism.
Animism is the belief that spirits can inhabit living and inanimate objects.
"We organised the wedding ceremony for the pythons in order to oust bad things and bring good luck and happiness for our villages," said 41-year-old Neth Vy, who owns Chamreun.
"We were told (by fortune-tellers) that the two pythons are husband and wife and they need to live together, and if we don't marry them we will meet bad luck," he was quoted by AFP as saying.
Mr Neth said he had found the then-tiny python while fishing in 1994, and that she had become part of the family.
Since taking the snake in, he said no misfortune had befallen his family.
The python groom, named Krong Pich, was caught 12 days ago by people in a neighbouring village.
This a BBC story, link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12107716

"The Only Home We've Ever Known"

Be The Change

These are hard times for everyone except, I think, the very rich.
And even they have their problems.
In fact, I think I have yet to met a person who is problem free.
The problem with problems is they often only get worse unless you solve them.
P.I.'s are problem solvers.

I tell many clients, "In Chinese, the symbol for problem and opportunity are the same same.  So let's turn this problem into an opportunity."
So I can say, for instance, to an injured person...
 
"Yes, it so sucks you got run over by a truck in the crosswalk,  yet there is an opportunity here with the help of an attorney.
An opportunity to live (which most people hit by trucks don't, i point out)...
and heal because the police cited the trucker, and the truck has commercial insurance.
And maybe you can get some lost wages upfront if there is PIP (Personal Injury Protection)...
and with an attorney the problem of no health insurance is easier to handle because some doctors work on liens again the case.

And so it goes. problems become opportunities.
Hopelessness turns to possibilities.
Walls  can be knocked down, climbed over or walked around. If you're real clever, you can fly over a wall.

Today is a challenging day for this P.I. That's why I have posted  the pale blue dot today. I often turn to it as form of self therapy. The You Tube version above is a variation on the Carl Sagan's brilliant theme. Another version is on my Facebook Wall. His full presentation is astounding and on You Tube.

When the going gets tough and the tough get going... it also helps to keep growing.
The way you do that is to put everything in perspective.
And it all starts with a simple little blue dot.

The only universe we can change is the one that dwells within us.
Once we change, everything around us changes.
It's an amazing truth, really. Yet so few people know or embrace it.
.