DONNA JOU - 19 yo (2007)/ Convicted: John Burgess - Los Angeles CA

Donna Jou's family to protest early release of convicted sex offender


The family of a deceased San Diego State student is speaking out over the release of the man who pleaded guilty in connection with her death. The family was outraged at the time of the investigation, and that continues with the release of John Burgess, scheduled for this Friday.

When San Diego State student Donna Jou disappeared in June of 2007, little did her family know that their torment was just beginning.

Reza Jou, Donna's father, said he worries that Friday's release will allow a dangerous man back on the streets. Back in 2007, the family knew he was the last person to see Donna, but Burgess, whom Jou had met on Craigslist, wasn't talking.

The pair were last seen getting on the back of Burgess' motorcycle outside Jou's home in Orange County.

After suspicion of involvement in Jou's disappearance, Burgess went to Florida but he failed to register as a sex offender and was sent to prison.

Then, in May of 2009, Burgess pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jou's disappearance.

He admitted giving her cocaine and heroin at a party in L.A., claiming Donna Jou overdosed. Burgess said he panicked and dumped her body in the ocean.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, but this Friday, he's being released after serving only two years.

Jou said he believes Burgess will definitely prey on somebody else, saying, "He's got three previous convictions, he's been charged and convicted of crimes for the past 25 years."

Jou says the family is outraged at Burgess' early release, just as they were outraged by a plea deal when they insist he's directly responsible for Donna's disappearance.

This week, Jou's mother is in Sacramento as part of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Friday, she will join Reza and other family members and supporters outside the Los Angeles courthouse, where the L.A. District Attorney is headquartered, to protest Burgess' release.

Jou also said the family believes Donna could still be alive because her body was never found.

"We believe that there's a lot going on behind the scenes, that my daughter has been trafficked to other countries by this con man," said Reza. "There is no DNA evidence, no credible witnesses, there is nothing. All they use is what Burgess said."

http://www.kusi.com/story/14425910/lenderman-pkg

Man convicted in SDSU student's death will remain locked up, for now


SAN DIEGO (CBS - A sex offender about to be released after serving only two years in the death of San Diego State Univ. student Donna Jou will stay locked up, for the time being.

John Burgess will be released from state prison Friday, but the L.A. County Sheriff's Department confirms he will then be placed into county custody for up to a year.

Jou's family says they will stage a protest rally Friday morning, saying the punishment for their daughter's disappearance does not fit the crime.

"This is a pure case of injustice," Reza Jou, Donna Jou's father told News 8 Thursday evening. "Justice has not been served."

The parents of Donna Jou, the 19-year-old SDSU student who went missing almost four years ago, will take to the streets Friday to demand their daughter's case be re-opened.

"Almost four years," said Nili Jou, Donna Jou's mother, "our life is miserable, not knowing what happened to her."

John Burgess confessed to Jou's death, pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, concealing Jou's body and concealing an accidental death.

On Friday, he'll be released from state custody in Chico after serving two years of his five-year sentence. Burgess will then be taken into the custody of Los Angeles County for up to one year for failing to report Jou's death to authorities.

"Even if they said one year, that means in a couple of months, two or three months, they will let him go," Reza Jou told News 8.

Jou's family believes Burgess, a three-time convicted sex offender, should never be freed from prison again.

"He is going to do it to someone else," said Nili Jou. "Another family is going to go through what we are going through."

Burgess told authorities that he had taken Jou - whom he'd met through Craigslist - to his Los Angeles home, injected her with heroin and cocaine, and found her dead the following morning. He said he then dumped her body in the ocean, although it has never been found.

Jou's father believes his daughter could still be alive, possibly sold to human traffickers.

"They have not shown us any proof, any proof that she is not," Reza Jou said.

He vows to never stop looking and says he wants Donna's case re-opened.

"I'm never going to give up on my child," he told News 8.

Friday's rally by Donna Jou's family will be held in front of the Los Angeles County Criminal Justice Court building on West Temple Street at 10 a.m., and is open to the public.@



http://www.cbs8.com/story/14451474/man