News 8/31/10

PANTALEON DIES IN PRISON JKB 8/31/10

· A FORMER SANTA ROSA MAN CONVICTED OF STABBING THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN 68 TIMES AND STUFFING HER BODY INSIDE A TOY BOX HAS DIED FROM INJURIES HE SUFFERED WHEN HE HUNG HIMSELF AND CUT HIS OWN THROAT IN SAN QUENTIN PRISON LAST WEEK.

33 YEAR OLD HONORIO PANTALEON WAS FOUND HANGING IN HIS CELL LAST MONDAY. HE WAS TAKEN OFF LIFE SUPPORT ON FRIDAY. DOCTORS KEPT HIS ORGANS FUNCTIONING AFTER HE WAS DEAD IN ORDER TO HARVEST THEM FOR DONATION. PANTALEON WAS SERVING 2 CONSECUTIVE LIFE TERMS FOR THE MOTHERS DAY 2008 MURDER OF 25 YEAR OLD PATRICIA BARRALES, AND FOR THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF HER MOTHER IN UKIAH THE NEXT DAY. THE MOTHER SURVIVED WHEN THE GUN PANTALEON WAS USING MISFIRED. HE WAS CAPTURED AFTER A DAY LONG MANHUNT IN UKIAH.

FATAL HOUSE FIRE JKB 8/31/10

· A HOUSE FIRE EAST OF CLEARLAKE OAKS CLAIMED THE LIFE A RETIRED FIREFIGHTER ON SUNDAY.

THE HOME LOCATED OFF LONG VALLEY ROAD WAS FULLY ENGULFED IN FLAMES BY THE TIME FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVED AT AROUND 6:30 AM. ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS, 83 YEAR OLD EUGENE THROOP AND EX-WIFE WHO LIVED WITH HIM WERE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE SAFELY, BUT THROOP WENT BACK INTO THE BURNING HOUSE TO SEARCH FOR THE FAMILY DOG AND WAS OVERCOME BY THE FLAMES AND SMOKE. THE DOG ESCAPED WITH MINOR INJURIES. FIRE OFFICIALS SAY THROOP SUFFERED FROM ALZHEIMERS DISEASE, AND THE BLAZE MAY HAVE TRIGGERED OLD MEMORIES AND FIREFIGHTING INSTINCTS, LEADING HIM TO RISK HIS LIFE FOR THE DOG. THROOP SERVED WITH THE CDF FROM 1966 UNTIL HE RETIRED IN 1992. THE CAUSE OF THE BLAZE IS BELIEVED TO BE ACCIDENTAL.

UKIAH MAN HELD ON $1 MILLION BAIL JKB 8/31/10

· A FORMER UKIAH MAN ACCUSED OF FATALLY SHOOTING ONE MAN AND INJURING ANOTHER IN A HUMBOLDT COUNTY POT GARDEN OVER A DISPUTE ABOUT MARIJUANA, HAD HIS BAIL SET AT $1 MILLION DOLLARS YESTERDAY.

28 YEAR OLD MYKAL XYLONE WILDE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF MARIO ROBERTO JUAREZ MADRID OF SANTA ROSA GUATEMALA AND THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ANOTHER MAN WHO ESCAPED AFTER BEING SHOT. A THIRD MAN ESCAPED UNHARMED. INVESTIGATORS FOUND MORE THAN 1500 MARIJUANA PLANTS WHERE THE SHOOTING TOOK PLACE. WILDE WILL BE OFFICIALLY ARRAIGNED ON WEDNESDAY.

MARIJUANA ERADICATION JKB 8/31/10

· MENDOCINO COUNTY AUTHORITIES HAVE SEIZED MORE THAN 56,000 MARIJUANA PLANTS FROM A NUMBER OF GARDENS OVER THE PAST 10 DAYS.

THE RAIDS WERE CONDUCTED ON GARDENS NEAR YORKVILLE, COMPTCHE, RED MOUNTAIN, COW MOUNTAIN AND THE FISH ROCK ROAD AREA NEAR GUALALA. EVIDENCE THAT GROWERS HAD BEEN LIVING AT THE SITES WAS FOUND, BUT NO ARRESTS WERE MADE. SO FAR IN MENDOCINO COUNTY IN 2010, 542,388 PLANTS HAVE BEEN ERADICATED, 594 POUNDS OF PROCESSED MARIJUANA AND 66 WEAPONS HAVE BEEN SEIZED AND 50 ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE.

MOTORIST DIED BY FIRE IN CRASH JKB 8/31/10

· CHP INVESTIGATORS CONFIRMED YESTERDAY THAT A DRIVER WHO WAS KILLED IN A SINGLE VEHICLE ACCIDENT ON HIGHWAY 29 NEAR KELSEYVILLE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT, DIED AFTER THE VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE AND NOT FROM INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE CRASH.

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INDICATED DAMAGE TO THE 2004 DODGE STRATUS CAUSED THE GAS TANK RUPTURE AND IGNITE WHEN THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR AND STRUCK A TREE AT AROUND 11 PM. A PASSING MOTORIST TIRED TO HELP THE DRIVER GET OUT OF THE BURNING VEHICLE, BUT WAS PREVENTED FROM DO SO BY THE INTENSITY OF THE FIRE. THE DRIVER, WHOS NAME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED, DIED AT THE SCENE.

DOG AND CAT PERISH IN FIRE JKB 8/31/10

· A DOG AND CAT DIED IN A FIRE THAT CONSUMED A TRAILER IN THE 500 BLOCK OF MILINI DRIVE BETWEEN UKIAH AND CALPELLA YESTERDAY MORNING.

THE BLAZE WAS SPOTTED BY A UKIAH VALLEY FIRE DISTRICT VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER THAT WAS DRIVING BY AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE TRAILER JUST BEFORE 9:30 AM. IT WAS ORIGINALLY REPORTED THAT AN OCCUPANT WAS INSIDE THE TRAILER, BUT HE WAS LATER FOUND TO HAVE GONE INTO TOWN WHEN THE FIRE BROKE OUT. UNFORTUNATELY HIS DOG AND CAT WERE TRAPPED INSIDE. THE TRAILER WAS A TOTAL LOSS. THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION.

E-QUAKE JKB 8/31/10

· THE LAKE PILLSBURY AREA WAS SHAKEN BY A 3.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.

THE QUAKE OCCURRED AT 4:49 AM AND WAS CENTERED 25 MILES EAST NORTH EAST OF UKIAH, AND 25 MILES NORTH-NORTH WEST OF CLEARLAKE. THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR INJURIES.

ANTIFREEZE KILLER DIES IN PRISON JKB 8/31/10

· 41 YEAR OLD JULIA LYNN WOMACK TURNER, WHO WAS CONVICTED OF MURDER BY ANTIFREEZE POISONING IN 2007, WAS FOUND DEAD IN HER PRISON CELL AT THE METRO STATE PRISON FOR WOMEN IN ATLANTA MONDAY MORNING.

THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS UNDER INVESTIGATION. TURNER WAS FOUND GUILTY OF THE MURDER OF HER HUSBAND, POLICE OFFICER GLENN TURNER IN 1995, AND THE DEATH OF HER BOYFRIEND, FIREFIGHTER RANDY THOMPSON IN 2001. BOTH MEN WERE POISONED WITH ANTIFREEZE. TURNER WAS CONVICTED IN 2004 FOR THE MURDER OF TURNER, AND IN 2007 FOR THE MURDER OF THOMPSON. TURNER WAS SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE.

MEDICAL HELICOPTER CRASH KILLS 3 JKB 8/31/10

· A MEDICAL HELICOPTER CRASH NEAR CLINTON ARKANSAS EARLY THIS MORNING CLAIMED THE LIFE OF ALL 3 CREW MEMBERS ABOARD.

THE CRASH OCCURRED AT AROUND 3:45 AM AS POLICE AND THE AIR EVAC LIFEFLIGHT CREW WERE RESPONDING TO A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT. ACCORDING TO AUTHORITIES THE CHOPPER WENT DOWN IN A FIELD AND BURST INTO FLAMES. NO OTHER DETAILS ABOUT THE CRASH WERE RELEASED.

NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ARRIVE AT BOARDER JKB 8/31/10

· ADDITIONAL NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ASSIGNED TO THE MEXICAN BOARDER AS PART OF PRESIDENT OBAMAS BOARDER SECURITY INITIATIVE HAVE BEGUN REPORTING TO THEIR POSTS.

MORE THAN 30 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS BEGAN THEIR DEPLOYMENT THIS WEEK. TROOPS WILL CONTINUE TO ARRIVE OVER THE NEXT 2 MONTHS, WITH AN EXPECTED FORCE OF 532 MEMBERS BY THE END OF OCTOBER. TROOPS PARTICIPATING IN THE OPERATION WILL NOT HAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT POWERS, BUT WILL HELP CUSTOMS AND BOARDER PROTECTION AGENTS WITH CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE AND ENTRY IDENTIFICATIONS.

HURRICANE EARL JKB 8/31/10

· AFTER SKIPPING BY PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE IMPACT, HURRICANE EARL IS HEADED BACK OUT TO THE ATLANTIC AND IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE CAROLINAS LATER THIS WEEK.

EARL WAS MEASURED AS A CATEGORY 4 STORM YESTERDAY WITH WINDS OF 135 MILES PER HOUR. METEOROLOGISTS SAY EARL COULD STRENGTHEN AS IT HEADS OUT OVER THE ATLANTIC, BUT SHOULD WEAKEN TO A CATEGORY 3 BY THE TIME IS NEARS THE OUTER BANKS OF NORTH CAROLINA EARLY FRIDAY. EARL IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN FURTHER STILL TO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE AS IT APPROACHES CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS ON SATURDAY.