Ohio Governor Refuses to Execute Vicious Killers

 Siera Joughin

A Moratorium on Justice

By Robert A. Waters

Sierah Joughin, 20, had known mostly good things in her life. That summer, she lived with her parents before heading back to the University of Toledo for her senior year. She was pretty, with naturally blonde hair and a personality that drew people to her. On the afternoon of July 19, 2016, near Metamora, Ohio, Sierah pedaled her bicycle down a rural road through mazes of seven-foot high corn rows. She'd been visiting her boyfriend, whom she'd known since grade school, and was headed home.

Her parents lived six miles from Josh Kolasinski's home. When she left, he cranked up his motorcycle and rode alongside her to make sure she got home safely. The Supreme Court of Ohio reported that "Kolasinski recorded two videos of Joughin on her bike during the ride. She was wearing sunglasses, athletic shoes, shorts, a tank top, and she sat on a checkered dishtowel draped over her bike seat." About half-way to Sierah's home, the lovers stopped for a moment and kissed. Then Sierah insisted that Kolasinski turn back. She said she'd call when she made it to her parents' residence.

That call never came.

James Worley (pictured), 57, had spent all day viewing porn, including many films portraying women being kidnapped and sexually assaulted. He also loved bondage movies and anything showing sexual violence. That afternoon, he climbed on his motorcycle and drove the same route as Sierah. As he passed the pretty cyclist riding alone, Worley became overwhelmed with the urge to play out his fantasies in living color. He stopped his motorcycle less than a mile from the Joughin residence and waited.

As Sierah rode by, Worley smashed her head with his motorcycle helmet. The blow knocked her cold. He then dragged the bloodied girl into the corn maze, using handcuffs to immobilize her. After checking to make sure she couldn't be seen from the road, he turned his bike around and raced home.

Worley could barely wait for nightfall. As soon as darkness fell, he drove his pickup truck back to where he'd left Sierah. She was barely conscious as he loaded her into the cargo bed. In his panic to flee, Worley dropped several items. These were located by searchers. Included were a box of motorcycle fuses, a pair of men's sunglasses, and an orange screwdriver, as well as the blood-soaked checkered dishtowel. In addition, he'd forgotten to pick up his motorcycle helmet. It lay by the side of the road until a farmer found it and turned it over to police.

It took Worley less than five minutes to drive back to his farm. Behind his house, he had a barn where he stored hay. In the barn, he'd hidden many secrets, including a plastic bin filled with ladies lingerie. Worley stripped the injured girl and dressed her in panties and a bra. (DNA on the panties matched that of Sierah.) Worley likely sexually assaulted her at the time, but covered the evidence by pouring bleach and other cleaning products on her body. Once he was sated, he killed her. An appeals court document states that Worley "bound her, and shoved a rubber dog toy into her mouth and tied it in place, causing her death by suffocation." He rammed it in so hard it broke one of her teeth.

Within hours after her disappearance, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office began a full-scale search. Early the next morning, a cop found Sierah's bike hidden among the corn. 

Two days after her disappearance, searchers found Sierah's remains, buried in a separate area of the corn field. Court documents state that "Joughin's body was covered in dirt with her wrists handcuffed behind her back, her ankles bound together with duct tape, and her feet bound to her hands with a rope. She was lying on her stomach with her head turned to the side. A rubber cone-shaped dog toy, which was secured with a shoelace tied at the back of her head, had been used to gag her and there was straw in her hair." She also wore an adult diaper, similar to ones found in Worley's barn. 

The items left by her abductor were collected and sent to the lab for testing. The motorcycle helmet had Sierah's DNA on it, as did several of the other items. Both Sierah and Worley's DNA were inside a rubber glove found near the murder scene.

Twenty years earlier, Worley had been convicted of a similar crime. Robin Gardner, 26, was riding her bicycle near Whitehouse, Ohio when a pickup truck knocked her into a ditch. Placing a screwdriver to her throat, he threatened to kill her if she didn't get in the truck. Robin, however, was able to escape. Worley only served two years in prison for that crime.

As the trial for Sierah's murder approached, there was no doubt as to Worley's guilt. He was convicted of aggravated murder and kidnapping, and sentenced to death. Over the years, all his appeals have been denied. 

When his appeals are exhausted, will Sierah find justice? Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine has placed a moratorium on executions in the state. Three killers, Quisi Brown, a cop-killer, Charles Lorraine, a double murderer, and Melvin Bonnell, currently sit on death row awaiting execution since their appeals have run out. One of DeWine's stated reasons for ditching capital punishment is that Ohio cannot "secure the drugs used in lethal injections." (It seems amazing that other states, such as Florida and Texas, can purchase those drugs and yet Ohio cannot.)

Ohio has an election for governor coming up next year and DeWine can't run again due to term limits. Since the majority of Ohioans favor the death penalty in certain instances, this might be a good campaign issue for a gubernatorial candidate to run on.    

Will Those Accused of Firebombing Tesla Cars Really Pay?

 Paul Hyon Kim

Man charged with destroying Tesla electric vehicles

Robert A. Waters

A federal grand jury recently indicted Paul Hyon Kim, charging him with arson and the unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm. The affidavit states that on the night of March 18, 2025, Kim used Molotov cocktails to firebomb a Tesla dealership in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, he is accused of shooting several rounds into the windows of the business lobby.

Several other suspects around the country have been charged with similar crimes. Department of Justice Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed to prosecute these individuals as terrorists. If they are found guilty, sentencing could run into decades.

But is that likely to happen? Unfortunately, in the past, many leftists have served minimal sentences or even no sentences for much worse crimes.

I've written about a couple of these cases. 

Do you remember Reginald Denny and the Rodney King riots? Denny, an innocent truck driver, was dragged from his cab and beaten so horrifically that every bone in his body was fractured. Read his story and learn how much time the assailants served.

How about the cold-blooded murder of Myrna Opsahl by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army? For decades, the Feds refused to charge the known killers. Once they did, these terrorists served little to no time. You can read about this case of little to no justice being served.

Another Riot, Another Time

The Unquiet Death of Myrna Opsahl

Unsolved Murder of North Carolina Store Clerk

25 Years Later, Who Murdered Colleeen Blackburn?

By Robert A. Waters

At 8:30 P.M., on June 17, 2000, the Wake County Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 call from the community of Garner, North Carolina. 

Caller: We just pulled into a convenience store. This lady's been shot. We're at Ray's Grocery on White Oak Road.

Dispatcher: On White Oak Road? She's been shot?

Caller: Yes, she's bleeding everywhere.

Dispatcher: Did you see the person that shot her?

Caller: Yes. Well, I didn't see the person shooting, but he sped off.

Dispatcher: Okay. Can you tell me where she's been shot?

Caller: It looks like she's got a hole coming through the back of her right shoulder blade...I'm afraid she's gone.

Dispatcher: Okay. Are you still by her?

Caller: Yes, I'm right here looking at her back, looking for breathing.

Dispatcher: Okay.

Caller: I don't feel anything.

From my research, it appears that Ray's Grocery did not have surveillance video. Cops never developed any solid leads, except for a vague description given by the caller.

Captain T. S. Matthews of the Wake County Sheriff's Office spoke to reporters. "I'm sure somebody has seen something and not realized it," he said. "Hopefully, as much as this is in the news, it's going to jog their memory. And that's all we can count on at the moment. Everything else is coming to a dead end that we've been working on."

Except  for the fact that she was murdered, Colleen Blackburn would likely have never made the headlines. She lived in a house trailer near Ray's Grocery until her mother, who lived with her, passed away. Colleen was 37-years-old and working two other jobs when she was shot to death. 

Colleen never complained about the long, dangerous hours she worked. But it was obvious she hoped to improve her standard of living. She had recently graduated from Wake Technical College, gaining a medical transcriptionist degree. She was friendly and liked country music. She sometimes attended local square dances. 

So for two and a half decades, a killer has gone free. The 50 bucks he got in the robbery are long gone, but he may still be lurking around, unless he's in prison for another crime or dead. Meanwhile, Colleen has long since been forgotten, except by family or friends.

The suspect (or possibly two suspects) drove away in a mid-1980s light-blue Oldsmobile. The car was missing part of its back bumper and was last seen heading east on Highway 70 toward Clayton.

It is galling to think this woman's murder may never be solved.   

If you know someone who may have committed this killing, contact the Wake County sheriff's office at 919-768-5100.

"Why Eddie, Why?"

Eddie James Scheduled for Execution

By Robert A. Waters

The television show "America's Most Wanted" was a national treasure. From 1988 to 2011 (24 seasons), AMW was one of Fox News's highest rated shows. Host John Walsh, whose son Adam had been kidnapped from a Miami mall and murdered, was the face of the show. AMW recreated hundreds of crimes, giving its audience information as to where suspects might be hiding. The show was responsible for the capture of 1,190 criminals, including hundreds of killers and rapists.

Edward Thomas James was one of those murderers caught after being featured on AMW. A California woman recognized his face and contacted police. James was soon arrested and extradited back to Florida to stand trial for the slayings of eight-year-old Toni Neuner (pictured) and fifty-eight-year-old Elizabeth (Betty) Dick.

WARNING: The details of this case are graphic and disturbing.

On the night of  September 20, 1993, James, who rented a room in Betty's house trailer, had just returned from a party. He'd been drinking hard, but, according to witnesses, was still "sober." As he entered the home, he noticed Betty's four grandchildren sleeping in the living room. (It was not unusual for Betty to keep the children.)

James picked up Toni by the neck and dragged her into his room. He choked her, then attempted to have sex with her. (In his confession, James described the sex acts he attempted to commit on the child, but said he was not "having fun." The autopsy clearly showed extensive damage to Toni's vagina and anus.) Toni's death was due to strangulation.

James then decided he wanted to rape an adult woman. He went into Betty's bedroom and attacked her. She began to scream and Toni's nine-year-old sister, Wendi, woke up and went to check on Betty. The child saw James choking and stabbing the older woman. Betty kept asking "Why Eddie, why?" At some point in the attack, James yelled, "If you're not dead by the time I count to three, I'm going to stab you some more."

When he saw Wendi, James grabbed her and placed her in the bathroom. He tied her hands and went back to stabbing Betty. Investigators found that she was nude from the waist down.

Court documents describe what happened next. "Wendi could not communicate with her aunt because she was gagged. She finally freed herself, looked around to see if anybody was there, and exited through the back door. She climbed over a fence in the backyard, and hid from a few cars that drove by, fearing they might contain James. Finally, she ran to her Uncle Tim's house...Wendi still had the pillow case she had been gagged with around her neck."

By the time cops arrived, James had stolen Betty's car and fled. He took a few items of jewelry and a small amount of cash. 

Investigators found it hard to believe the extreme violence they encountered. Toni's body lay in James's bedroom and Betty's body lay near her own bed. Police found the bloody butcher knife used in the attack near her body. 

James drove to Oklahoma, pawning some of Betty's jewelry along the way. He continued to California where he ran out of money and jewelry. 

James was tried and sentenced to death for capital murder.

His execution is scheduled for March 20, 2025.

Of course, the usual anti-deathers are out in force. But most Floridians hope the magic needle will do its job. Such brutal acts cry out for justice. 

   

The Execution of Ronald Dale Yeatts

"The Last of Her Generation"

By Robert A. Waters

Seventy-year-old Ruby Meeks Dodson lived life on her own terms. She stayed alone, in her remote country home near Ringgold, Virginia. An avid reader and introvert, she retired after working many decades as a sales clerk at Belk-Leggett, a department store. Her husband, Alexander, had died five years earlier. She had no children and the local newspaper called her "the last of her generation." Her poodle, Benji, kept her company.

Although she was not one to join clubs or just call and chat, Ruby had a small circle of friends and relatives. Because of arthritis, she could barely walk so friends would often drive her to the grocery store or to run errands. According to the Danville Register and Bee, the teenagers at the "Ringgold Baptist Church sort of adopted Dodson. The Sunday before Dodson died, the group brought her a sunshine basket." The teens also regularly mowed her lawn.

Two middle-aged men, Charles Michael Vernon and Ronnie Dale Yeatts, lived vastly different lives than Ruby. They existed only for the next high. They'd both been arrested numerous times on charges including illegal drug possession, burglary, writing bad checks, and other such crimes. Yeatts had recently been accused of at least one rape, although he hadn't yet been charged.

September 23, 1989 was a typical day for the friends. Court documents state that they spent the morning drinking beer and smoking marijuana and crack cocaine. In the afternoon, Yeatts noticed their stash was quickly becoming depleted and asked Vernon if he knew anybody who had money.

Vernon never hesitated. He said he and his father had once installed a water filter for an old lady named Ruby. He noticed she paid them in cash. "She's got lots of money in her home," he said. 

They wasted no time driving there. During the trip, Vernon handed Yeatts a pocketknife with a three-inch blade. Pulling into Ruby's driveway, they raised the hood of Vernon's 1981 Plymouth. It took a few minutes, but Ruby hobbled outside.

Court documents describe what happened next: "Ms. Dodson 'stepped out' and asked what the two men wanted. Yeatts told her they were having car trouble and asked 'something about the phone.' Yeatts then requested a glass of water, and when Ms. Dodson brought it to him, he handed it to Vernon, who poured it out. Yeatts asked for another glass of water, and, as Ms. Dodson stepped inside to get it, Yeatts followed her into the house. Vernon also entered the house and went directly to the bedroom, where he 'assumed [Ms. Dodson] kept her money,' and began searching through drawers but found nothing."

As Vernon searched the bedroom, Yeatts guided Ruth into the kitchen. Vernon, who later  claimed he didn't know Yeatts had murdered the widow, grabbed Ruth's purse. After a short time, he and Yeatts left. Vernon told investigators that "when we got in the car, I noticed that there was blood on Ronnie. And I said, 'Did you kill her?' He said, 'She's dead. Don't worry about it.'"

For the two losers, it was a huge score--$1400 in cash. The thieves casually split the money, then threw away the purse and bloody knife. Vernon later said Yeatts told her he had to kill Ruby because she could identify him. 

In typical fashion, they immediately drove to the "projects" and spent all the money buying more drugs.

Jean Wright, a friend, discovered Ruby's body. The Bee and Register reported that "Wright had come over to give Dodson her mail that Saturday." After discovering her friend's bloody remains on the kitchen floor, Wright called police.

An autopsy established that Ruth had been stabbed 13 times and her throat cut.  

It didn't take cops long to figure out who committed the murder.

Yeatts (pictured) eventually confessed. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Because Vernon testified against his cohort, he received a life sentence with the possibility of being released after twenty years.

On April 19, 1999, Yeatts received a cocktail of drugs and casually drifted off to his eternal sleep. It was certainly not as painful as the torture he inflicted on Ruby Meeks Dodson. 

Was justice served?

Career Burglar Taken Down in Overbrook

 Ashley Mundy

Machete-carrying Home Invader Shot

By Robert A. Waters

The weather in Overbrook, Kansas was mild on October 8, 2015, in the 40s that night. Shortly after midnight, Ashley Mundy lay asleep in her bedroom when she heard glass breaking. She later testified in court, saying, "Oh my gosh. There's someone in my house. Like, I could hear shuffling in the basement. I sat up listening. Then I jumped up and grabbed my phone and my gun."

Her four-year-old son, Braedyn, lay sleeping on the bed next to her.

Mundy owned a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. She loaded it and "went down the hallway to see if I could see anything. I got my gun ready to shoot and then saw a stranger walking from the dining room to the living room."

At first, he had his back to her and was fumbling with her home security system. She said she thought he was trying to disable it.

Then, about four feet away, he turned toward her. As soon as she saw his face, she fired. She knew she had hit him. "When I shot...blood's going everywhere [and] he threw his hands in the air," she testified. She yelled at the stranger to leave and "he ran screaming through my house. Once he was out of the house, I secured the door and called 9-1-1."

As Ashley waited, police and paramedics arrived. Overbrook Police chief Terry Hollingsworth testified that he "saw a male subject laying in the road and EMS was working on him." The wounded man, whom the chief recognized as Bruce Jolly (pictured), a forty-nine-year-old frequent visitor to the local courts, had wounds to his left wrist and abdomen.

Jolly had also called 9-1-1, reporting that he had been shot. He was transported to Stormont Vail Hospital and released two weeks later.

Jolly lived near Mundy, and police quickly obtained a search warrant for his home. Officers testified that they found large quantities of blood in the residence. "The safe had blood all over it," Investigator Bryan Johnson told the court. A bloody knife was also found in the safe.

The Osage County News reported that "Johnson testified that Mundy had told him the intruder was holding a red object when he was at her house and had a handled object his his waistband. The investigator said he collected a machete from Jolly's home, which matched the victim's description of the object in his waistband. He said a weed-eater that matched the description of Mundy's was also recovered from the Jolly's garage."

Investigators learned that Jolly had run home after being shot and attempted to hide the objects he was carrying. Then he ran out to the street and called for assistance.

Jolly was tried a year later and sentenced to four years and nine months in the state prison.

Before breaking into Mundy's home, he'd had numerous convictions for offenses such as aggravated burglary, narcotics possession, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of a financial card, 11 convictions for vehicle burglary, and others.

"I was there alone with my child," Ashley said. "My dad encouraged me to get a conceal and carry, and I just felt that was the right thing to do at that moment."

"[Jolly] had meth in his system," Ashley said. "At the time, everyone was like, how did he survive that? I think, at the time, the drugs were what allowed him to survive the shot because [the bullet] was a hollow tip."

Ashley said, "I think when something like this happens, you think the worst. I worry about Braedyn every day and with that situation, I can't imagine what he could have witnessed."

Ashley, who felt unable to continue living in her home, packed up and moved to a new place.

Armed Homeowner Saved Lives of Numerous Cops

Ambush Designed to Commit Mass Murder of Lawmen

By Robert A. Waters

NOTE: Had this massacre actually occurred, it would have made national and international headlines. Because it was stopped before it began, it received little coverage. 

The trailer in the backwoods of Dixie County, Florida was a haven for Wayne Pert (pictured above) and his long-time girlfriend, Kaye Murr. They used it to get away from the city, and as a hunting and fishing cabin. Jared Blohm, of U. S. Concealed Carry Association, wrote that "the two-track driveway to the mobile home stretches about 120 yards between fenced cow pastures, and the aluminum-sided, off-white trailer sits another 100 feet from the end of the lime-rock lane."

In the early morning of February 23, 2022, the couple began to stir. Ryder, their 55 pound blue heeler, suddenly made a beeline to the front door and began growling. Kaye cracked it open to let him out when she spotted a strange man inside the screen door on their porch. The man, dressed for somewhere north of Florida, wore thick gloves and a heavy army coat.

Kaye screamed.

Still wearing his shorts, Pert raced to the door. "Can I help you?" he asked the stranger.

The man said he'd run out of gas on the main highway and coasted to the trailer. Pert knew that was impossible. It was a quarter mile away. He saw the man's gold Chrysler Sebring convertible parked next to his own truck. "I didn't like the way he was acting, moving around or talking," Pert said. "And I didn't like his attire, the way he was dressed. Nothing added up with him."

Pert told the stranger to wait while he went back inside and dressed. He told Kaye to keep Ryder inside. As he dressed, Pert holstered his Taurus semiautomatic 9mm pistol. It contained six rounds in the magazine, but none in the chamber. He opened the front door again, and indicated that the man should step back, to give Pert some space.

As the stranger moved away, he turned back toward Pert. In a surprise move, the man pulled a handgun from beneath his coat and fired four quick shots at the homeowner. Blohm writes: "The stranger (later identified as Gregory Ryan Miedema) fired the handgun four times from barely out of arm's reach. He hit Pert twice: once in the left shoulder above his collarbone and once in the left wrist. Pert, who says time seemed to slip into slow motion around this point, fell forward--down the steps about 3 feet--and onto the concrete porch. The final two shots whizzed past his head."

Miedema calmly walked into the house. Seeing Kaye, he placed his gun against her face. Pert said, "I was just so afraid that he was fixing to pull that trigger when he had that pistol between her eyes." 

Still lying on the concrete, Pert rolled onto his back and drew his own weapon. Then he remembered there was no bullet in the chamber. But even with his shattered left hand, he racked a round into the barrel. 

Before Miedema had a chance to shoot Kaye, Ryder confronted the intruder. Growling and biting at his feet and ankles, the dog distracted him. Miedema looked down and aimed his gun at Ryder, giving Kaye the opportunity to escape. She ran into the bedroom. Locking the door, she grabbed a shotgun and began trying to load it.

Pert said, "I just emptied my gun right there. I wasn't going to stop until he fell." Hit five times in the back, Miedema collapsed onto the floor. He then attempted to stand up, but dropped his gun in the process. Pert climbed to his feet and staggered inside. With his own weapon out of ammunition, Pert picked up Miedema's gun and placed the barrel against the stranger's head. A final shot killed the intruder.

The bloody scene looked surreal. Moments before, Pert and Murr had been planning a fishing trip. Now they had barely survived a nightmare. Kaye called a nephew who lived close by and he called 9-1-1.

An ambulance transported Pert to Shands Hospital in Gainesville. Blohm wrote that "at the hospital, doctors discovered that the bones in Pert's left wrist were badly shattered and that the bullet that entered his left shoulder had lodged near his neck after hitting an artery and shattering his fifth vertebrae." 

Eventually, doctors decided to "leave both bullets in his body because they feared removing them would do additional damage."

A few hours earlier, at about 9:30 P.M., in nearby Taylor County, another nightmare had unfolded. Deputy Troy Anderson made a routine traffic stop of a Chrysler Sebring convertible. He called in the license tag number, then approached the vehicle. Suddenly, a barrage of gunshots rang out. Anderson went down, hit in the hand, jaw, and neck. He managed to notify dispatchers that he'd been shot. 

As lawmen from various agencies raced toward the scene, Taylor County Sheriff's Office released a "Florida Blue Alert," designed to apprise Floridians that a law enforcement officer had been shot. It was broadcast on cell phones, local television and radio stations, and the internet.

Neither Wayne Pert nor Kaye Murr had heard the alert.

The suspect, Gregory Miedema, was a registered sex offender from Lee County, Florida.  He had served a Federal sentence of six years for raping a 15-year-old girl. Now he had more warrants on him for several violent crimes. Cops knew he had nothing to lose. But after the shooting of Deputy Anderson, searchers lost track of their suspect.

Then they received the call they had been waiting for.

When lawmen from Dixie County, Taylor County, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrived at the Pert residence, they made a chilling find. 

On the hood of Miedema's car, hidden beneath a blue blanket, cops found the following weapons: three 9mm handguns; a 5.56X45 NATO handgun; a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun; a .30-30 lever-action rifle; a .22 rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition. They also found two tactical vests, a leg holster and a wooden bat with metal spikes along with a machete.

An FDLE spokesperson stated that she believed Miedema had scouted out the Pert property earlier when the couple was not there. Law officers said he planned to hide there and set up an ambush of law enforcement personnel. 

With the fenced pastures, cops had one way in and one way out. It acted as a funnel and would have been easy for a sniper to kill anyone who came onto the property. Dixie County Sheriff Darby Butler told reporters that Miedema's "thought process was to kill and destroy innocent people and, fortunately, he did not succeed in that.

Pert and Murr survived the shooting, but not without consequences. Murr, suffering from PTSD, has been unable to return to work. "This was my safe haven," she said. "This is where nothing was supposed to happen. Now I can't even stay there. In a split second--I'm alive, thank God--but I lost where it was safe."

Pert is still recovering from his injuries. "The wounds, they heal, but the inside stuff takes a little longer," he said. "You lose trust in people."

Deputy Anderson's wounds are also slowly healing.

Ryder, the blue heeler, got a steak dinner after helping to subdue Miedema.

NOTE: Much of this information came from a story Jared Blohm wrote for USCCA. In addition to that wonderful article, I used numerous local newspapers to gain additional information. This amazing story never received coverage in major news outlets.

Burglar Shot Dead--His Accomplice was an Illegal Alien

See the News Conference by Manatee County, Florida Sheriff Rick Wells

"This is Florida. If you break into someone's home, you should expect to be shot."

Prosecutors recently filed murder charges against an illegal alien who broke into a Lakewood Ranch home near Bradenton, Florida. On December 26, 2024, Michel Soto-Mella, 39, and Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, 27, allegedly used a crowbar-type instrument to pry open the window of a residence in the 6700 block of Hickory Hammock Circle at about 9:00 P.M.

Flores-Toledo, wearing a mask and gloves, entered the home first. Soto-Mello, also masked, began climbing through the broken window. 

The 57-year-old homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, was alerted by a security system. After telling his wife to hide in the bedroom, he retrieved a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Confronted by Flores-Toledo, the homeowner fired three shots. Flores-Toledo later died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Soto-Mella fled when the shots rang out, but was later tracked down by the Sheriff's Office K9 unit.

Flores-Toledo had been arrested in Illinois for residential burglary but was released on parole. At the time he died, the felon had an active arrest warrant.

Soto-Mella, originally from Chile, arrived in California several months ago and was granted a 90-day work visa. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that "he was supposed to return to his country in September but did not."

The homeowner was not charged with any crime.

Please check out the 8-minute video. Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells describes the sequence of events that led to the shooting.  

What were the differences between the French Revolution and the American Revolution?

Review of Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions by Dr. Miguel A. Faria, Jr.

Review written by Robert A. Waters

Published at the end of 2024 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in Great Britain, this book contrasts two revolutions. They each took place at about the same time in history, i.e., the American Revolution started in 1765 while the French Revolution began in 1789. However, the differences in rationale and causes of the two rebellions could not have been more different.

The genesis for the revolts against the French King, Louis XVI, and England's King George III, began with the Enlightenment (1618-1815), also known as the Age of Reason. This philosophy had its origins in Europe and "championed the ideals of Natural Law, liberty, constitutional government, and separation of church and state." In America, the founding fathers were heavily influenced by the Enlightenment.

While French intellectuals rejected religion, Americans embraced God and the church. Faria writes that "the American Revolution not only was a struggle for self-governance but also a thunderous political event that affirmed the Natural Rights of men--namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Property rights were a given that went along with the right to work, pursue good health, and the right to inherit property bequeathed by others." Since many new Americans came to the colonies to escape religious persecution, it was only natural that spiritual issues would be important.

In dramatic detail, the author recounts the American colonists' revolt against British taxation and attempts at political control. The French, recent losers of the Seven Years' war with England, allied with the Americans. Faria writes that "the French not only provided financial and material assistance but also crucial military support. French armies under the Comte de Rochambeau as well as the French volunteer, the Marquis de Lafayette, fought alongside the Americans...providing men, assistance and logistical support in the war effort."

In the end, the 13 American colonies prevailed, defeating the British. 

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress finalized the Declaration of Independence, which was signed by all 56 of the delegates. The Richard Henry Lee resolution stated "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states."

In France, in 1789, a small fire smoldered until it became a raging flame. Then it blazed into a conflagration that couldn't be put out or controlled. The Age of Reason had struck again, but in a different form.

"Unlike the American Revolution, though," Faria writes, "the French Revolution experienced a period of state-sanctioned violence that extended beyond what has been called the Reign of Terror, or simply the Terror."  

To counteract the new ideas (i.e., the Enlightenment) facing him, Louis XVI made major concessions in France, including, among other rights, "allowing the election of local and provincial assemblies." 

It wasn't enough. The author writes that "the Paris parlement (an advisory legal body composed of aristocratic nobles that also codified the laws of the realm) demanded a 'veto power over the decrees of the king.'" Pamphleteers, orators, and politicians lampooned the king and the rebellion quickly gained steam. "Death to the rich, death to the aristocrats" soon became a dangerous rallying cry as the country spun out of control.

For more than a year, the mobs increased in momentum. The streets of Paris were rife with political intrigue. Then, on July 14, 1789, "the mayhem reaches a climax with the storming of the Bastille by armed Parisian mobs, and the medieval fortress falls." The bloody head of the governor of Bastille, Bernard-Rene de Launay, was raised on a pike in the city.

Severe food shortages throughout the country spawned more hatred of the establishment. By now, the mobs could not be contained.

On August 10, 1792, the monarchy fell. Faria writes that "the King is deposed, and the constitutional monarchy ended. Louis XVI and his family are imprisoned in the Temple tower prison. This is followed by the persecution and arrest of royalists and priests. The Swiss guards are forbidden by the King to resist and are massacred by the rabid mobs."

On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI died on the guillotine. Nine months later, his wife, Marie Antoinette, was tried, convicted and beheaded.

One curious difference between the French and American Revolutions was their views on religion. Atheism became the order of the day for the French intelligentsia. In many instances, hardcore revolutionary fanatics demolished churches and placed signs on cemetery gates stating, "Death is but an eternal sleep." 

"At the same time," Faria writes, "the war against the Church and the brutal dechristianization campaigns were progressing throughout France. 'The Roman Catholic and all other Christian denominations were officially abolished,' and any sort of Christian celebrations were forbidden." Churches were defaced and looted and priests and nuns violated and murdered.

Like all of author Faria's books, Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions is meticulously researched. There are more than 100 photos and artist's renderings (many in color) that give a face to many of the participants.

This book should be studied in university classrooms across the country. I highly recommend it.

Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions

Dr. Miguel A. Faria, Jr.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published in 2024 

Unsolved Murder of Anita Redmon

 The Stone Mountain Murder

By Robert A. Waters

Anita Redmon (pictured above) trailblazed the way for women to become police officers at the Doraville (Georgia) Police Department. She began as a dispatcher, but soon began working a beat as the first DPD female officer. 

Melinda Duncan, Anita's daughter, told reporters that officers "would call her when they were having problems trying to arrest somebody and [the offender was] refusing to get in the back of the car. She could talk to them and for lack of a better term, sweet talk 'em into getting into the back of the police car and everything was fine."

Sergeant Anita Redmon retired after 25 years of service.

Only three months before her murder, Anita began working part-time as a gate attendant at Stone Mountain Park. The park is owned by the state of Georgia and has the largest bas-relief carving in the world. The stone carvings depict Confederate heroes Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. In addition to the historical rock sculpture, the park has 3200 acres of entertainment, including a railroad, a time-machine depicting life-size dinosaurs, a grist mill, covered bridge, hiking trails and rides.

At 12:30 A.M. on Saturday, July 16, 2005, Anita worked the West Gate of the park. Her job was to collect an $8.00 parking fee from visitors.

Suddenly, the park radio crackled to life. Officers of the Stone Mountain Police Department heard Anita shout, "44, 44, 44," which is police jargon for a robbery in progress. The first police officer arrived just 45 seconds later and found Anita lying on the floor and the suspect gone. The former cop had been shot once in the abdomen. The killer used a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

Anita died in the hospital, as surgeons worked to save her life. 

Her killer has never been identified. Pictured below is an image of a possible suspect seen leaving the scene shortly after the shooting.

A few days after the murder, detectives arrested a career criminal named Mark Anthony Woolf. An associate accused Woolf of plotting to rob a teller at the West Gate of Stone Mountain Park, but Woolf was never charged with the murder. (It's possible that his "friend" was attempting to collect the $25,000 reward posted by the governor of the state of Georgia.)

It's been nearly 20 years since Anita's murder.

No one has ever been charged.

If you have information concerning this case, please contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-597-8477 or the Stone Mountain Park Police Department at 770-498-5675. A $55,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Redmon's murder.