ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 (UPI) — The acceptance of bullying in U.S. culture contributes to sexual assault in the armed forces, experts say.
Mary Ellen O’Toole, editor-in-chief of Violence and Gender and retired FBI profiler and criminal investigator analyst led a roundtable discussion with Christopher Kilmartin of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Col. Jeffery Peterson of Center for Naval Analyses in Alexandria, Va., discussed specific factors that likely contribute to the sexual assault problem.
“The evidence is that the population of people who come into the U.S. military have more experience with sexual assault than the general population, both as offenders and as survivors. Survivors are at statistically increased risk of being revictimized, and offenders are at an increased risk for reoffending,” Kilmartin said at the roundtable.
When 22 year-old Micki Filmore is found raped and murder in her apartment, detective Kenda focuses his investigation on her activities the previous night. Micki was seen dancing with a man who then paid a late night call to her door. -A Killer Always Rings Twice, Homicide Hunter (S1, E3)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
On August 11, 2008, Marc Patrick O’Leary raped an eighteen year old at knife point in Lynnwood, Washington. The 18 year old woman reported the rape to her local police department but they accused her of lying and she was charged with false reporting. In 2011, Marc O’Leary was arrested in Colorado for rape and consequently admitted to raping several women in Washington and Colorado. DNA, digital evidence, and O’Leary’s vehicle linked him physically to several rapes. As it turns out, there was evidence on a camera corroborating the 18 year old’s report of rape in 2008. Investigators learned the Lynnwood, Washington police didn’t believe the alleged victim of rape and she was indeed found guilty of false reporting and fined $500.
The victim sued the City of Lynnwood who refunded her $500 fine and settled out of court for $150,000. Marc O’Leary pleaded guilty to the rapes in Colorado and was sentenced to over 300 years in prison. ProPublica covered the story and highlighted the dangers of mishandling rape cases and not using the FBI national database created to help catch repeat offenders. ProPublica won a Pulitzer prize for their coverage of “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” with The Marshall Project. Maureen Maher of 48 Hours also did an investigation titled the “Hunted” and she went inside the mind of a serial rapist who was hunting his victims while two detectives were hunting him.
Cops can be protective about their cases, fearing that information could be leaked that would jeopardize their investigations. They often don’t know about, or fail to use, an FBI database created years ago to help catch repeat offenders. Between one-fourth to two-thirds of rapists are serial attackers, studies show. -ProPublica
True Crime:
“48 Hours” goes inside the mind of a serial rapist hunting his victims while two detectives were hunting him. -48 Hours (November 17, 2016)
Inspired by real events, a teen reports and eventually recants her reported rape, while two female detectives, states away, investigate evidence that could reveal the truth. Based on The Marshall Project & ProPublica Pulitzer Prize-winning article, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape,” written by T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong, “Unbelievable” is a story of unspeakable trauma, unwavering tenacity, & astounding resilience. -Netflix (July 18, 2019)
Brianna Denison, 19, was abducted by former Marine James Biela in Reno, Nevada on January 20th, 2008. She was subsequently found raped and murdered. According to Joe Biela, James Biela once wore the uniform of a Marine but was kicked out of the service. James Biela was convicted of raping and strangling Brianna and sentenced to death in 2010. Brianna’s family fought for ‘Brianna’s Law’ in Nevada and it passed:
The bill mandates a DNA cheek-swab whenever a person is booked for a felony arrest. If the arrest is deemed legitimate, the DNA would be cross-referenced with DNA from other crime scenes to see if the arrestee was involved. The proposal is named after Brianna Denison who was raped and murdered by James Biela in Reno in 2008. Proponents believe such a law may have saved Denison because Biela had a prior felony arrest.
ID Go: When a young college student is abducted from a friend’s home in the middle of the night, the city of Reno lives in fear of who might be next. Dogged investigation leads detectives to a serial rapist who’s just escalated to murder. -Vanished in Reno, Unusual Suspects (S6,E1)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Offender: Troy Graves, 29, US Air Force service member Victims: Shannon Schieber, 23, University of Pennsylvania student (rape/homicide), multiple rape victims in Pennsylvania & Colorado
Circumstances: Shannon Schieber was enrolled as a Phd. student at the Wharton School of Business, on May 7, 1998, Shannon was studying for exams when a neighbor heard what sounded like cries for help, he called 911 to report that his neighbor was asking for help, the police arrived but no one answered the door and the neighbor backed off his statement, they searched the property and the neighbor said it could have been outside so they left, Shannon’s brother showed up the next day and Shannon didn’t answer the door, the neighbor told her brother what he heard the night before, they broke into the apartment and found Shannon naked on her bed, Shannon was strangled to death and it appeared she tried to fight off her attacker, police found DNA at the scene, DNA ruled out those close to Shannon, Shannon’s parents were outraged that the man who killed their daughter was in the apartment when the police knocked on her door, but the police did their job right and by the book, a few days before the murder, Shannon reported being followed home one night, she was scared, so police started investigating the stranger angle, perhaps this is a serial rapist, they look into sex crimes in the area, they want to match the DNA to other sex crimes in the area.
In February 1999, they got a DNA match, 2 other sexual assaults had occurred but they were coded as misdemeanors, the assaults occurred just a few blocks from Shannon’s apartment, in June and July 1997, two more sexual assaults were connected to the offender bringing the total to 5, the PPD coded these sexual assaults as misdemeanors as well, they downgraded the offenses because it lessoned the load for the police, and made the arrest rate look better than it was, Shannon’s case helped enact change in Philadelphia, if they had investigated these cases, everyone would have known there was a serial rapist, Shannon would not be dead if she knew what was going on, the DNA still didn’t have a match to the offender, in 1997, a sketch was drawn from the recollections of the first victim, they got a new composite, this offender would enter the home, hold the victim down on the bed, rape them or make them perform oral sex, it was about control and domination for this guy and he was also somewhat of a romantic, once they acquiesced, he would treat them like a date, he would get comfortable with the victims, they determined he was a light skinned black male based on information he shared with one victim about his life growing up with bi-racial parents.
He was dubbed the Center City rapist, in August 1999, no other cases were reported since Shannon’s murder, the case went cold, the police got a bulletin in 2001 from Fort Collins, Colorado, the offenders modus operandi sounded familiar to the Philadelphia PD, on June 13, 2001, one victim was home when she was attacked from behind and raped, after she acquiesced, the rapist became gentle as if he was a boyfriend, after he left, she called 911, she was his third victim in Fort Collins, they were all blitz attacked, FC police were investigating a serial rapist, a fourth & fifth rapes were reported, he made a mistake and left behind a ball cap at the fifth victims home, Fort Collins DNA was matched to the rapes in Philadelphia, PPD gave FCPD the composite drawing, police received a letter in the mail from the suspect, he was taunting them, in the fall of 2001, the attacks in Fort Collins stopped, meanwhile the PPD started focusing on cross referencing names of suspects with the two geographic locations, they got a match for Air Force service member Troy Graves, he was in Philadelphia, Fort Collins, and now at Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2002, the police had the new suspect in their sites.
The police learned that Troy was also investigated by the Office of Special Investigations, it was over charges of harassing a female colleague, the charges were dropped but there was still something suspicious there, Graves has a clean criminal record and no finger prints on file, the case was circumstantial, they reached out to Graves to come to the police department and do an interview, Troy Graves and his wife showed up to the Fort Collins PD, the police immediately separated the couple, his wife admitted that he had insomnia and went for walks and drives at night and that honestly she thought he was having an affair, meanwhile Troy denied knowing anything about the crimes, the police confronted him about the rapes in Fort Collins, he denied being arrested for any sex crimes, he denied being investigated by the Air Force, he did not want to provide his fingerprints but a warrant was issued to compel him, the fingerprints were a match, Troy Graves was arrested and booked into custody on April 23, 2002, this case changed the PPD policies on sexual assault to include how evidence is handled and how the victims are treated and interviewed.
Disposition: Troy Graves feared a trial would not go in his favor in Fort Collins, Colorado, he pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of parole; Pennsylvania wanted to seek the death penalty but Shannon’s family did not want that because Shannon wouldn’t have wanted that, Graves entered into a plea agreement and got life in prison plus sixty years
Notable Quotes: “We have to change the system but not put people to death.” -Vicki Schieber (Shannon’s mom)
In 1998, a gifted Philadelphia graduate student is found murdered in her bed. The hunt for her killer forces police to reevaluate a series of unsolved crimes, turning the city upside down. Will her killer be caught or will he strike again? -Terror in Philadelphia, People Magazine Investigates (S3,E2)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Marine veteran Andrew Urdiales is accused of murdering eight women from 1986 to 1996, five in California and three in Illinois, and raping and abducting 19 year old Jennifer Asbenson who escaped and survived. Urdiales was indicted for three murders in Illinois and was sentenced to death but the death sentence was commuted after Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011. Instead he received three life sentences for the murders of Laura Uylaki, Cassandra Corum, and Lynn Huber. A gun confiscated in a separate incident linked the three murders in Illinois together and during an interrogation, Urdiales admitted in detail to five cold case murders in California too.
After years of legal wrangling, Urdiales was eventually extradited to California and indicted in 2009 on five counts of first degree murder. He was accused of killing Robbin Brandley, Julie McGhee, Mary Ann Wells, Tammie Erwin, and Denise Maney while stationed at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. On May 23, 2018, Andrew Urdiales was convicted of five murders by a jury that deliberated for about a day before recommending in June 2018 that he be sentenced to death for each of the five murders. On November 2, 2018, corrections officials said they found Urdiales unresponsive during a security check at San Quentin State Prison; former Marine and serial killer Andrew Urdiales died by suicide.
In the News:
The murders occurred when Andrew Urdiales was stationed at various Marine Corps facilities in Southern California. -CBS Los Angeles (October 5, 2018)
July 14, 1996: Cassandra Corum, 21, Pontiac, Illinois
Marine veteran Andrew Urdiales is accused of murdering eight women from 1986 to 1996, five in California and three in Illinois, and raping and abducting 19 year old Jennifer Asbenson who escaped and survived. Urdiales was indicted for three murders in Illinois and was sentenced to death but the death sentence was commuted after Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011. Instead he received three life sentences for the murders of Laura Uylaki, Cassandra Corum, and Lynn Huber. A gun confiscated in a separate incident linked the three murders in Illinois together and during an interrogation, Urdiales admitted in detail to five cold case murders in California too.
After years of legal wrangling, Urdiales was eventually extradited to California and indicted in 2009 on five counts of first degree murder. He was accused of killing Robbin Brandley, Julie McGhee, Mary Ann Wells, Tammie Erwin, and Denise Maney while stationed at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. On May 23, 2018, Andrew Urdiales was convicted of five murders by a jury that deliberated for about a day before recommending in June 2018 that he be sentenced to death for each of the five murders. On November 2, 2018, corrections officials said they found Urdiales unresponsive during a security check at San Quentin State Prison; former Marine and serial killer Andrew Urdiales died by suicide.
In the News:
The murders occurred when Andrew Urdiales was stationed at various Marine Corps facilities in Southern California. -CBS Los Angeles (October 5, 2018)
March 11, 1995: Denise Maney, 32, Palm Springs, California
Marine veteran Andrew Urdiales is accused of murdering eight women from 1986 to 1996, five in California and three in Illinois, and raping and abducting 19 year old Jennifer Asbenson who escaped and survived. Urdiales was indicted for three murders in Illinois and was sentenced to death but the death sentence was commuted after Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011. Instead he received three life sentences for the murders of Laura Uylaki, Cassandra Corum, and Lynn Huber. A gun confiscated in a separate incident linked the three murders in Illinois together and during an interrogation, Urdiales admitted in detail to five cold case murders in California too.
After years of legal wrangling, Urdiales was eventually extradited to California and indicted in 2009 on five counts of first degree murder. He was accused of killing Robbin Brandley, Julie McGhee, Mary Ann Wells, Tammie Erwin, and Denise Maney while stationed at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. On May 23, 2018, Andrew Urdiales was convicted of five murders by a jury that deliberated for about a day before recommending in June 2018 that he be sentenced to death for each of the five murders. On November 2, 2018, corrections officials said they found Urdiales unresponsive during a security check at San Quentin State Prison; former Marine and serial killer Andrew Urdiales died by suicide.
In the News:
The murders occurred when Andrew Urdiales was stationed at various Marine Corps facilities in Southern California. -CBS Los Angeles (October 5, 2018)
September 28, 1992: Jennifer Asbenson, 19 (at the time of crime), survived a rape and abduction by former Camp Pendleton Marine Andrew Urdiales in California. She was able to escape from his trunk and run into the arms of two other Marines driving in the area. She did not know who her attacker was at the time of the crime but eventually was able to identify Andrew Urdiales in a police photo line-up. She testified on behalf of three women murdered by Urdiales in Illinois and continues to await his trial in California for five more homicides and her case.
Camp Pendleton Marine veteran Andrew Urdiales is accused of murdering eight women from 1986 to 1996, five in California and three in Illinois, and raping and abducting a 19 year old, Jennifer Asbenson, who escaped and survived. Urdiales was indicted for three murders in Illinois and was sentenced to death but the death sentence was commuted after Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois abolished capital punishment in 2011. Instead he received three life sentences for the murders of Laura Uylaki, Cassandra Corum, and Lynn Huber. A gun confiscated in a separate incident linked the three murders in Illinois together and during an interrogation, Urdiales admitted in detail to five cold case murders in California too. After years of legal wrangling, Urdiales was eventually extradited to California and indicted in 2009 on five counts of first degree murder. He was accused of killing Robbin Brandley, Julie McGhee, Mary Ann Wells, Tammie Erwin, and Denise Maney. Initially California was seeking the death penalty but Proposition 62 was repealed in November 2016. Urdiales continues to await trial in California.
A woman’s story of survival is truly inspiring after she was abducted and tortured by a notorious serial killer. Jennifer Asbenson was 19 when she was abducted by Andrew Urdiales. 24 years later, she returned to California’s Desert Hot Springs to record a video explaining her daring escape to encourage others never to give up. Asbenson was walking to a bus stop near Palm Springs, California, in September 1992 when she was offered a ride by Urdiales, who is believed to have killed eight women. –Inside Edition
Earl Richmond, Jr., Army veteran, was executed in 2005.
Sgt. Earl Richmond, Jr was stationed at Fort Dix from 1988 until he was discharged for misconduct in the fall of 1990 for taking money from trainees.
On April 15, 1989, a female Air Force officer stationed at Fort Dix and her male companion were held at gunpoint and robbed at a bus stop. The Air Force officer was sexually assaulted as well. Richard Stevens was a civilian who worked at the base. He was charged, convicted of the crimes, and sentenced to fourteen years by a federal court. Eventually it was determined that he was wrongfully convicted of these crimes. He served more then three and a half years in jail before he was exonerated. Stevens resembled Earl Richmond Jr. who was identified as a suspect in this case yet never officially charged. While Stevens was getting out of jail in 1992, Richmond was awaiting trial on state charges for the rape of a 17-year-old girl at a motel near Fort Dix in April 1989. The burglary and rape case involving the Air Force officer at Fort Dix is considered unsolved.
Shortly after the rape accusations surfaced, Earl Richmond, Jr. was charged with four murders. In 1991, Richmond raped and murdered both Army Spc Lisa Nadeau in Fort Dix, New Jersey and Helisa Hayes in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He murdered Helisa Haye’s two children who were witnesses to the crime as well. DNA evidence helped solve these four cases and tied him to the 1989 rape of the 17-year-old girl at the motel near Fort Dix.
Spc. Lisa Nadeau, 24, raped & strangled on April 4, 1991 in base housing.
Helisa Hayes, 27, raped and strangled in her home in November 1991.
Phillip Hayes, 8, stabbed 60 times with a pair of scissors.
Darien Hayes, 7, strangled with an electric cord.
Earl Richmond, Jr. was sentenced to death for the four murders and executed by lethal injection in North Carolina on May 6, 2005.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 