SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
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Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa Huckaby's surprise guilty
plea in the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu brought the criminal
case close to an end, but left many unanswered questions for the people
of Tracy, Calif.
"My child lost his innocence because a friend of his, at a young
age, was done so wrong, and now you have to explain what happened,"
says Kelsey Hall, whose son was Cantu's classmate at Melville S.
Jacobson Elementary School. "They aren't dumb and they want to know."
On Monday, media attorneys will ask the judge to lift a
wide-reaching gag order and unseal court documents, including the
transcript of the secret grand jury hearings – the only time witnesses
have testified in the case.
Cantu family members say
the documents should remain sealed because their release would be too
painful.
"We cannot carry any more weight in our lives and if the
photographs and forensic examinations of my daughter are disclosed, I do
not know how we would be able to cope," Sandra's mother Maria Chavez
says in a document filed by her attorney, Archer Bakerink.
If the judge refuses to release the documents, the matter will
likely again come up at Huckaby's sentencing on June 14, where at the
very least the gag order would likely be lifted.
Huckaby, a 29-year-old Sunday school teacher, is expected to be
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As part
of her plea deal, she won't get the death penalty, and all other charges
– including rape, lewd acts with a child and poisoning another child
and a man – have been dropped.
The Cantu family backed the plea deal because it avoided a
trial and because they oppose capital punishment. "We're happy that the
judgment came down like this," Joe Chavez, Sandra's uncle, tells PEOPLE.
So far, even the most basic information about the case has been
kept under wraps. Community members say they're still baffled by the
murder – and angry.
"We're all pretty sad all the time, thinking about what
happened. It's not right," says Brandon Harris, 10, who stays with his
grandmother after school at the mobile home park from which Sandra was
abducted. "What grudge did Melissa Huckaby have on [Sandra] anyway? Why
would she do something like this? We don't know."
plea in the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu brought the criminal
case close to an end, but left many unanswered questions for the people
of Tracy, Calif.
"My child lost his innocence because a friend of his, at a young
age, was done so wrong, and now you have to explain what happened,"
says Kelsey Hall, whose son was Cantu's classmate at Melville S.
Jacobson Elementary School. "They aren't dumb and they want to know."
On Monday, media attorneys will ask the judge to lift a
wide-reaching gag order and unseal court documents, including the
transcript of the secret grand jury hearings – the only time witnesses
have testified in the case.
Cantu family members say
the documents should remain sealed because their release would be too
painful.
"We cannot carry any more weight in our lives and if the
photographs and forensic examinations of my daughter are disclosed, I do
not know how we would be able to cope," Sandra's mother Maria Chavez
says in a document filed by her attorney, Archer Bakerink.
If the judge refuses to release the documents, the matter will
likely again come up at Huckaby's sentencing on June 14, where at the
very least the gag order would likely be lifted.
Huckaby, a 29-year-old Sunday school teacher, is expected to be
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As part
of her plea deal, she won't get the death penalty, and all other charges
– including rape, lewd acts with a child and poisoning another child
and a man – have been dropped.
The Cantu family backed the plea deal because it avoided a
trial and because they oppose capital punishment. "We're happy that the
judgment came down like this," Joe Chavez, Sandra's uncle, tells PEOPLE.
So far, even the most basic information about the case has been
kept under wraps. Community members say they're still baffled by the
murder – and angry.
"We're all pretty sad all the time, thinking about what
happened. It's not right," says Brandon Harris, 10, who stays with his
grandmother after school at the mobile home park from which Sandra was
abducted. "What grudge did Melissa Huckaby have on [Sandra] anyway? Why
would she do something like this? We don't know."
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
A judge has denied media requests to release details of the murder of
an 8-year-old Northern California girl whose body was found in a
suitcase.San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus on
Monday denied requests from several news organizations. Lofthus said
she wanted to "preserve the integrity of the case."Defendant
Melissa Huckaby has pleaded guilty to killing her daughter's playmate,
Sandra Cantu, last year. A gag order in the case prevents court records
from being unsealed.
Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, argue
that Huckaby's guilty plea removes the need for a gag order. They argue
that court records may help the public understand the plea agreement.Cantu's
family opposes the request, which Lofthus says will be revisited after
Huckaby is sentenced on June 14.
an 8-year-old Northern California girl whose body was found in a
suitcase.San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus on
Monday denied requests from several news organizations. Lofthus said
she wanted to "preserve the integrity of the case."Defendant
Melissa Huckaby has pleaded guilty to killing her daughter's playmate,
Sandra Cantu, last year. A gag order in the case prevents court records
from being unsealed.
Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, argue
that Huckaby's guilty plea removes the need for a gag order. They argue
that court records may help the public understand the plea agreement.Cantu's
family opposes the request, which Lofthus says will be revisited after
Huckaby is sentenced on June 14.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa Huckaby, a 29 year old former Sunday school teacher from
Tracy, is facing sentencing in the murder of 8 year old Sandra Cantu.
Cantu disappeared from her Tracy mobile home park in March of 2009.
She was sexually abused and murdered. Her body was later found in a
suitcase in an irrigation pond.
Huckaby later pleaded guilty to murdering Cantu, avoiding a possible
death sentence, and facing a term of life in prison without parole.
Several media organizations have asked for the gag order, issued by
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Loftus, to be lifted, so
details of the case and the plea bargain can become public.
Attorneys for the Cantu family have argued that Marsy's Law, passed
by California voters in 2008, should protect the family from having the
grisly details of the case made public. "The victim extends to Sandra's
whole family. All the people that we represented there today, they are
all victims of what happened to Sandra," said attorney Stewart Tayback.
Attorneys for three media outlets have argued the information belongs
in the public domain. News10 legal analyst and former federal
prosecutor Bill Portanova said the gag order is likely to be lifted.
"The problem is, the United States constitution has as its primary
right, a free press, and that means the public has a right to know. And
it takes a lot to overcome that," Portanova said.
The gag order was originally issued to prevent too much gruesome
publicity before the trial from making it too hard to find an impartial
jury.
San Joaquin County Judge Linda Lofthus has said she will reconsider
the gag request after tomorrow's sentencing.
Tracy, is facing sentencing in the murder of 8 year old Sandra Cantu.
Cantu disappeared from her Tracy mobile home park in March of 2009.
She was sexually abused and murdered. Her body was later found in a
suitcase in an irrigation pond.
Huckaby later pleaded guilty to murdering Cantu, avoiding a possible
death sentence, and facing a term of life in prison without parole.
Several media organizations have asked for the gag order, issued by
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Loftus, to be lifted, so
details of the case and the plea bargain can become public.
Attorneys for the Cantu family have argued that Marsy's Law, passed
by California voters in 2008, should protect the family from having the
grisly details of the case made public. "The victim extends to Sandra's
whole family. All the people that we represented there today, they are
all victims of what happened to Sandra," said attorney Stewart Tayback.
Attorneys for three media outlets have argued the information belongs
in the public domain. News10 legal analyst and former federal
prosecutor Bill Portanova said the gag order is likely to be lifted.
"The problem is, the United States constitution has as its primary
right, a free press, and that means the public has a right to know. And
it takes a lot to overcome that," Portanova said.
The gag order was originally issued to prevent too much gruesome
publicity before the trial from making it too hard to find an impartial
jury.
San Joaquin County Judge Linda Lofthus has said she will reconsider
the gag request after tomorrow's sentencing.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa Huckaby was sentenced to life in prison without parole
Monday. Huckaby, who pleaded guilty to the kidnap and murder of
8-year-old Sandra Cantu, expressed remorse in the courtroom. She told
Cantu's mother, "I should not have taken her from you."
The former Tracy Sunday School teacher went on to say, "I owe you an
explanation. But I still cannot understand why I did what I did."
Huckaby originally faced an additional charge of rape. But the
sexual abuse charge was dropped as part of a plea deal. Huckaby told
the court Cantu was not molested, and she claimed the child did not
suffer.
Cantu's remarks were contradicted by San Joaquin County Deputy
District Attorney Tom Testa. He described the discovery of Cantu's
body, which had been stuffed into a suitcase, dumped in an irrigation
ditch and found a week and a half after her disappearance.
Testa said a piece of torn cloth had been tied around Cantu's head.
Quoting from a pathologist's report, Testa said the cloth was soiled
with blood and knotted into "a noose." He said the cause of death was
determined to be "homicidal asphyxiation."
According to the pathologist's report, Cantu also suffered a cut to
her lip, an abrasion to her elbow and injuries to her genitals.
Testa said toxicology tests also found the drug alprazolam, which is
used to treat anxiety disorders, in Cantu's body. Bottles of
alprazolam were found in Huckaby's home and purse, Testa said.
In a surprise move, Huckaby, 29, pleaded guilty in May as part of a
deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.
Huckaby and Cantu lived at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in
Tracy where Cantu and Huckaby's daughter were friends. Cantu was
reported missing from her home on March 27, 2009.
Inside the Investigation
The prosecutor issued a statement Monday that revealed details of the
investigation for the first time.
Testa said a surveillance tape from the mobile home park showed Cantu
skipping toward her home on March 27 when something caught her eye.
Testa said Cantu "looks over in the direction of Melissa Huckaby's
residence. Then she drops off the face of the earth."
The videotape then shows Huckaby, eight minutes later, driving out of
the mobile home park in the direction of her grandfather's church,
Clover Road Baptist Church.
Testa said about the time Huckaby was leaving, she phoned the trailer
park manager to report her black suitcase stolen in front of her
trailer.
The prosecutor said another surveillance tape showed Huckaby driving
away from the church and then returning to the church 30 minutes. Testa
said during that 30-minute window, a retired marine and his wife saw
Huckaby and her SUV at an irrigation pond at Bacchetti and Whitehall
roads in Tracy.
When she was questioned by police, Huckaby said she stopped at the
pond in order to urinate.
Gag order lifted
In another development on Monday, San Joaquin County Judge Linda
Loftus lifted a gag order in the case, to the distress of Cantu's
family.
Cantu's family says they've been traumatized by the murder, and they
did not want additional details, including autopsy reports and search
warrants, made public.
With the gag order lifted, the Tracy Police Department plans to hold a
news conference one hour after the sentencing hearing concludes.
Monday. Huckaby, who pleaded guilty to the kidnap and murder of
8-year-old Sandra Cantu, expressed remorse in the courtroom. She told
Cantu's mother, "I should not have taken her from you."
The former Tracy Sunday School teacher went on to say, "I owe you an
explanation. But I still cannot understand why I did what I did."
Huckaby originally faced an additional charge of rape. But the
sexual abuse charge was dropped as part of a plea deal. Huckaby told
the court Cantu was not molested, and she claimed the child did not
suffer.
Cantu's remarks were contradicted by San Joaquin County Deputy
District Attorney Tom Testa. He described the discovery of Cantu's
body, which had been stuffed into a suitcase, dumped in an irrigation
ditch and found a week and a half after her disappearance.
Testa said a piece of torn cloth had been tied around Cantu's head.
Quoting from a pathologist's report, Testa said the cloth was soiled
with blood and knotted into "a noose." He said the cause of death was
determined to be "homicidal asphyxiation."
According to the pathologist's report, Cantu also suffered a cut to
her lip, an abrasion to her elbow and injuries to her genitals.
Testa said toxicology tests also found the drug alprazolam, which is
used to treat anxiety disorders, in Cantu's body. Bottles of
alprazolam were found in Huckaby's home and purse, Testa said.
In a surprise move, Huckaby, 29, pleaded guilty in May as part of a
deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.
Huckaby and Cantu lived at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in
Tracy where Cantu and Huckaby's daughter were friends. Cantu was
reported missing from her home on March 27, 2009.
Inside the Investigation
The prosecutor issued a statement Monday that revealed details of the
investigation for the first time.
Testa said a surveillance tape from the mobile home park showed Cantu
skipping toward her home on March 27 when something caught her eye.
Testa said Cantu "looks over in the direction of Melissa Huckaby's
residence. Then she drops off the face of the earth."
The videotape then shows Huckaby, eight minutes later, driving out of
the mobile home park in the direction of her grandfather's church,
Clover Road Baptist Church.
Testa said about the time Huckaby was leaving, she phoned the trailer
park manager to report her black suitcase stolen in front of her
trailer.
The prosecutor said another surveillance tape showed Huckaby driving
away from the church and then returning to the church 30 minutes. Testa
said during that 30-minute window, a retired marine and his wife saw
Huckaby and her SUV at an irrigation pond at Bacchetti and Whitehall
roads in Tracy.
When she was questioned by police, Huckaby said she stopped at the
pond in order to urinate.
Gag order lifted
In another development on Monday, San Joaquin County Judge Linda
Loftus lifted a gag order in the case, to the distress of Cantu's
family.
Cantu's family says they've been traumatized by the murder, and they
did not want additional details, including autopsy reports and search
warrants, made public.
With the gag order lifted, the Tracy Police Department plans to hold a
news conference one hour after the sentencing hearing concludes.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
A judge agreed Monday to
unseal files in the case of a Sunday school teacher who was sentenced to
life in prison for murdering a young girl whose body was found in a
suitcase. The files were not immediately made available, however,
because the family of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was considering whether
to appeal the ruling. If no appeal is pursued, the documents
will likely be released later this week. The Associated
Press, Bay Area News Group and The Record newspaper of Stockton sought
to have the material unsealed in the case against Melissa Huckaby. The
29-year-old single mother pleaded guilty last month to murdering the
Tracy girl in 2009. San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge
Linda Lofthus sentenced Huckaby Monday o life without the possibility of
parole then ruled the court would unseal search warrant affidavits and a
grand jury transcript. Earlier in the day, Loftus lifted a
gag order in the case, and authorities released their investigative
report. Loftus said autopsy photos introduced into the court
record would remain under seal. She cited the California crime victims'
bill of rights in making that decision. Lofthus expressed
concern that Sandra's younger siblings might see the photos if they
appeared on the Internet. The content of the photos was detailed in
grand jury transcripts, she said.
unseal files in the case of a Sunday school teacher who was sentenced to
life in prison for murdering a young girl whose body was found in a
suitcase. The files were not immediately made available, however,
because the family of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was considering whether
to appeal the ruling. If no appeal is pursued, the documents
will likely be released later this week. The Associated
Press, Bay Area News Group and The Record newspaper of Stockton sought
to have the material unsealed in the case against Melissa Huckaby. The
29-year-old single mother pleaded guilty last month to murdering the
Tracy girl in 2009. San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge
Linda Lofthus sentenced Huckaby Monday o life without the possibility of
parole then ruled the court would unseal search warrant affidavits and a
grand jury transcript. Earlier in the day, Loftus lifted a
gag order in the case, and authorities released their investigative
report. Loftus said autopsy photos introduced into the court
record would remain under seal. She cited the California crime victims'
bill of rights in making that decision. Lofthus expressed
concern that Sandra's younger siblings might see the photos if they
appeared on the Internet. The content of the photos was detailed in
grand jury transcripts, she said.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Following today’s sentencing of Melissa Huckaby to life in prison
without parole for the murder of Sandra Cantu, the prosecutor in the
case released a timeline and details about Sandra’s kidnapping and
death.
San Joaquin County pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu reported
that Sandra died between 4 and 6 p.m. the day she first went missing by
“homicidal asphyxiation,” and was found with a cut on her lower inner
lip, an abrasion on her left elbow and other injuries, according to a
release issued by prosecutor Thomas Testa. Omalu also noted that Sandra
was found with a torn cloth that had been “knotted into a ‘noose.’”
Testa's
timeline points to Clover Road Baptist Church, just a few addresses to
the west of Orchard Estates, as the likely scene of the murder.
Huckaby’s grandfather was a pastor there, and Huckaby had also taught
Sunday school at the house of worship.
According to prosecutors,
by the time Sandra’s mother, Maria Chavez, called police to report
Sandra missing at 7:53 p.m. March 27, 2009, the 8-year-old girl had
already been killed and her body disposed of by Huckaby.
The
documents released by Testa state that the last evidence Sandra was
alive — captured in a surveillance video at 3:54 p.m. March 27, 2009 —
came just eight minutes before Huckaby was seen driving her Kia
sports-utility vehicle out of Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where
both Huckaby and Sandra lived, and toward Clover Road Baptist Church.
The
media release states that at about this time, Huckaby reported to
mobile home park management that her Eddie Bauer suitcase had been
stolen.
Eighty-five minutes after driving away from Orchard
Estates, the release says, Huckaby was seen driving away from the
vicinity of the church before she returned about 30 minutes later.
During
that 30 minutes, the prosecutor’s report says, Huckaby was seen by a
former U.S. Marine and his wife near an irrigation pond at Bacchetti and
Whitehall roads north of Tracy. The report says Sandra’s body, which
was stuffed inside a black Eddie Bauer suitcase, was pulled 10 days
later from the same irrigation pond where the man and his wife reported
seeing Huckaby.
According to the timeline, Sandra’s body had been
dumped by 6 p.m. March 27 — no more than two hours after she first went
missing.
On March 28, police received a handwritten note that
read: “Cantu locked in stolin suitcase thrown in water onn Bacchetti Rd.
& Whitehall Rd witness” (sic). Prosecutors say that the handwriting
matched samples of Huckaby’s writing, even though the writing in the
“witness” note was disguised.
When Clover Road Baptist Church was
searched on April 6, 2009, police found a rolling pin with blood on it
that contained Sandra’s DNA, according to Testa's report. Investigators
also found that one of the church’s window blinds was missing a draw
cord, and the cord that was used to tie shut the Eddie Bauer suitcase
was later determined to be a match for the cords on the other church
blinds.
Alprazolam, a form of the muscle relaxant anti-anxiety
drug benzodiazepine, was found in Sandra’s body. Bottles of alprazolam
were also found in Huckaby’s purse and home, the prosecutor's report
stated.
Prosecutors had accused Huckaby of drugging a 7-year-old
girl in January 2009 and a 37-year-old man in March 2009 with
benzodiazepine, though those charges were dropped as part of Huckaby’s
plea bargain.
without parole for the murder of Sandra Cantu, the prosecutor in the
case released a timeline and details about Sandra’s kidnapping and
death.
San Joaquin County pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu reported
that Sandra died between 4 and 6 p.m. the day she first went missing by
“homicidal asphyxiation,” and was found with a cut on her lower inner
lip, an abrasion on her left elbow and other injuries, according to a
release issued by prosecutor Thomas Testa. Omalu also noted that Sandra
was found with a torn cloth that had been “knotted into a ‘noose.’”
Testa's
timeline points to Clover Road Baptist Church, just a few addresses to
the west of Orchard Estates, as the likely scene of the murder.
Huckaby’s grandfather was a pastor there, and Huckaby had also taught
Sunday school at the house of worship.
According to prosecutors,
by the time Sandra’s mother, Maria Chavez, called police to report
Sandra missing at 7:53 p.m. March 27, 2009, the 8-year-old girl had
already been killed and her body disposed of by Huckaby.
The
documents released by Testa state that the last evidence Sandra was
alive — captured in a surveillance video at 3:54 p.m. March 27, 2009 —
came just eight minutes before Huckaby was seen driving her Kia
sports-utility vehicle out of Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where
both Huckaby and Sandra lived, and toward Clover Road Baptist Church.
The
media release states that at about this time, Huckaby reported to
mobile home park management that her Eddie Bauer suitcase had been
stolen.
Eighty-five minutes after driving away from Orchard
Estates, the release says, Huckaby was seen driving away from the
vicinity of the church before she returned about 30 minutes later.
During
that 30 minutes, the prosecutor’s report says, Huckaby was seen by a
former U.S. Marine and his wife near an irrigation pond at Bacchetti and
Whitehall roads north of Tracy. The report says Sandra’s body, which
was stuffed inside a black Eddie Bauer suitcase, was pulled 10 days
later from the same irrigation pond where the man and his wife reported
seeing Huckaby.
According to the timeline, Sandra’s body had been
dumped by 6 p.m. March 27 — no more than two hours after she first went
missing.
On March 28, police received a handwritten note that
read: “Cantu locked in stolin suitcase thrown in water onn Bacchetti Rd.
& Whitehall Rd witness” (sic). Prosecutors say that the handwriting
matched samples of Huckaby’s writing, even though the writing in the
“witness” note was disguised.
When Clover Road Baptist Church was
searched on April 6, 2009, police found a rolling pin with blood on it
that contained Sandra’s DNA, according to Testa's report. Investigators
also found that one of the church’s window blinds was missing a draw
cord, and the cord that was used to tie shut the Eddie Bauer suitcase
was later determined to be a match for the cords on the other church
blinds.
Alprazolam, a form of the muscle relaxant anti-anxiety
drug benzodiazepine, was found in Sandra’s body. Bottles of alprazolam
were also found in Huckaby’s purse and home, the prosecutor's report
stated.
Prosecutors had accused Huckaby of drugging a 7-year-old
girl in January 2009 and a 37-year-old man in March 2009 with
benzodiazepine, though those charges were dropped as part of Huckaby’s
plea bargain.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
mom_in_il- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The mother of 8-year-old murder victim Sandra Cantu, whose body was
found in a suitcase one year ago, says she agrees with the life prison
sentence for Melissa Huckaby, the Sunday school teacher who pleaded
guilty to kidnapping and murdering her daughter. But Maria Chavez, of
Tracy, in northern California, said there is no forgiveness.
Chavez says it's "difficult to understand" why she Huckaby killed
Sandra. On Tuesday, Chavez told NBC's "Today" show that she "can't
forgive somebody that took my little girl from me." Huckaby, 29,
sobbed in court Monday as she apologized. "I still cannot understand
why I did what I did. This is a question I will struggle with for the
rest of my life," she said, before before being sentenced to life
without the possibility of parole. Details of Sandra Cantu's's
murder were slim until a judge lifted a gag order Monday. An
investigative summary disclosed by authorities said investigators found
contusions on Sandra's head and body. Injuries to the outside of her
genitals were congruent with a bloodstained rolling pin that
investigators found inside the church where Huckaby taught. On
April 6, 2009, in an irrigation pond, police found Sandra Cantu's body
stuffed in a black suitcase. Video surveillance had captured the girl's
last known whereabouts in the Orchard Estate Mobile Home Park on March
29. Approximately eight minutes later the video shows Huckaby driving
her SUV away from the mobile home park in the direction of her
grandfather's church, where police say the bloodstained rolling pin was
found. Huckaby pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. As part of
the plea deal, prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty, and
dropped charges accusing Huckaby of sexually abusing the victim. Angie
Chavez, Sandra Cantu's aunt, told Judge Linda Lofthus, "The only solace
we have as a family is to know that she [Huckaby] will never do this
again."
found in a suitcase one year ago, says she agrees with the life prison
sentence for Melissa Huckaby, the Sunday school teacher who pleaded
guilty to kidnapping and murdering her daughter. But Maria Chavez, of
Tracy, in northern California, said there is no forgiveness.
Chavez says it's "difficult to understand" why she Huckaby killed
Sandra. On Tuesday, Chavez told NBC's "Today" show that she "can't
forgive somebody that took my little girl from me." Huckaby, 29,
sobbed in court Monday as she apologized. "I still cannot understand
why I did what I did. This is a question I will struggle with for the
rest of my life," she said, before before being sentenced to life
without the possibility of parole. Details of Sandra Cantu's's
murder were slim until a judge lifted a gag order Monday. An
investigative summary disclosed by authorities said investigators found
contusions on Sandra's head and body. Injuries to the outside of her
genitals were congruent with a bloodstained rolling pin that
investigators found inside the church where Huckaby taught. On
April 6, 2009, in an irrigation pond, police found Sandra Cantu's body
stuffed in a black suitcase. Video surveillance had captured the girl's
last known whereabouts in the Orchard Estate Mobile Home Park on March
29. Approximately eight minutes later the video shows Huckaby driving
her SUV away from the mobile home park in the direction of her
grandfather's church, where police say the bloodstained rolling pin was
found. Huckaby pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. As part of
the plea deal, prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty, and
dropped charges accusing Huckaby of sexually abusing the victim. Angie
Chavez, Sandra Cantu's aunt, told Judge Linda Lofthus, "The only solace
we have as a family is to know that she [Huckaby] will never do this
again."
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa Huckaby And All The Questions
6/16/2010 donchais
Excerpt:
A barely recognizable Melissa Huckaby was sentenced to LWOP on Monday morning and was already transferred yesterday to the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla.
I have followed the sad story of Sandra Cantu from the day she went missing and although a gag order was issued and court records were sealed I had read some pretty disturbing stuff about Melissa Huckaby and what might have happened to Sandra.
http://callsforjustice.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/melissa-huckaby-and-all-the-questions/
6/16/2010 donchais
Excerpt:
A barely recognizable Melissa Huckaby was sentenced to LWOP on Monday morning and was already transferred yesterday to the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla.
I have followed the sad story of Sandra Cantu from the day she went missing and although a gag order was issued and court records were sealed I had read some pretty disturbing stuff about Melissa Huckaby and what might have happened to Sandra.
http://callsforjustice.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/melissa-huckaby-and-all-the-questions/
mom_in_il- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Well, the court records and other investigatory info has been unsealed and what I have read is just plain sick.
I may never use a rolling pin again without thinking about this little girl.
I did see the footage from the sentencing and was aghast at how much weight Ol' Razor Blade gained. Stuck in her cell and eating Ding-Dongs all day is not doing much for her already portly figure.
Then I thought, maybe she's trying to provoke some sort of medical issue that will send her to a hospital.
I may never use a rolling pin again without thinking about this little girl.
I did see the footage from the sentencing and was aghast at how much weight Ol' Razor Blade gained. Stuck in her cell and eating Ding-Dongs all day is not doing much for her already portly figure.
Then I thought, maybe she's trying to provoke some sort of medical issue that will send her to a hospital.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Heaven forbid Tom! This is strange strange strange. She has got off very lightly for such an evil heinous crime and seems to have flown under the radar and now tucked away in prison to be forgotten about. The plea deal absolutely mystifies me as they had so much evidence I don't see why one was offered at all. I wonder if there are people who have done some terrible things to Huckaby herself in the past and maybe she has given evidence about it as part of a plea deal and now her case is over there may be other arrests. Something made her into this awful creature and the church connections make my hair stand on end.TomTerrific0420 wrote:Well, the court records and other investigatory info has been unsealed and what I have read is just plain sick.
I may never use a rolling pin again without thinking about this little girl.
I did see the footage from the sentencing and was aghast at how much weight Ol' Razor Blade gained. Stuck in her cell and eating Ding-Dongs all day is not doing much for her already portly figure.
Then I thought, maybe she's trying to provoke some sort of medical issue that will send her to a hospital.
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The family of an 8-year-old Northern California girl who was
kidnapped, murdered and stuffed in a suitcase is trying to block the
release of her autopsy report.The mother and sister of Sandra
Cantu filed a request for a temporary restraining order citing the
graphic content of the report, lawyer Stewart Tabak said Thursday."I
am absolutely baffled that the media still wants more ... more details,
more misery, more disgustingly graphic details," Tabak said. "What else
do they possibly need, since we know the public does not want nor need
to know any more."The move came after San Joaquin County Judge
Linda Lofthus lifted a protective order Monday on search warrants and
grand jury transcripts in the case.Tabak said the family was
still considering whether to challenge Friday's expected release of
those documents.The records were sought by The Associated Press,
Bay Area News Group and the Record of Stockton in a motion citing public
interest.Melissa Huckaby, 29, was sentenced Monday to life in
prison without the possibility of parole after she pleaded guilty to
murdering Sandra — the playmate of Huckaby's daughter — in 2009.Lofthus
said then she could not rule on releasing Sandra's autopsy report
because it had never been entered into the court record and remained
under the control of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.A
hearing on the request for the restraining order is scheduled Friday.The
crime drew national attention after a 10-day search for Sandra ended
with her body being found stuffed in a black suitcase that was pulled
from an irrigation pond on April 6, 2009, a few miles from the Tracy
mobile home park where her family lived.Sandra died from
"homicidal asphyxiation." Prosecutors believe she was drugged then
smothered with a cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol.Their
investigative summary said the girl had injuries to her external
genitalia that were consistent with a bent, bloodstained rolling pin
found inside a church where Huckaby had taught.
kidnapped, murdered and stuffed in a suitcase is trying to block the
release of her autopsy report.The mother and sister of Sandra
Cantu filed a request for a temporary restraining order citing the
graphic content of the report, lawyer Stewart Tabak said Thursday."I
am absolutely baffled that the media still wants more ... more details,
more misery, more disgustingly graphic details," Tabak said. "What else
do they possibly need, since we know the public does not want nor need
to know any more."The move came after San Joaquin County Judge
Linda Lofthus lifted a protective order Monday on search warrants and
grand jury transcripts in the case.Tabak said the family was
still considering whether to challenge Friday's expected release of
those documents.The records were sought by The Associated Press,
Bay Area News Group and the Record of Stockton in a motion citing public
interest.Melissa Huckaby, 29, was sentenced Monday to life in
prison without the possibility of parole after she pleaded guilty to
murdering Sandra — the playmate of Huckaby's daughter — in 2009.Lofthus
said then she could not rule on releasing Sandra's autopsy report
because it had never been entered into the court record and remained
under the control of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.A
hearing on the request for the restraining order is scheduled Friday.The
crime drew national attention after a 10-day search for Sandra ended
with her body being found stuffed in a black suitcase that was pulled
from an irrigation pond on April 6, 2009, a few miles from the Tracy
mobile home park where her family lived.Sandra died from
"homicidal asphyxiation." Prosecutors believe she was drugged then
smothered with a cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol.Their
investigative summary said the girl had injuries to her external
genitalia that were consistent with a bent, bloodstained rolling pin
found inside a church where Huckaby had taught.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The
stuffed suitcase lay on a metal autopsy table in French Camp, recovered
that day from a lagoon of cow manure and waste as media helicopters
jockeyed for air space above. Bennet Omalu stood facing it. The
forensic pathologist clipped a neatly knotted cord from the soaked bag
and unzipped it. Sliding his arms inside, he gently scooped out a small
corpse curled up like a baby in a womb. "Speak to me, Sandra.
Speak to me," Omalu whispered. "Tell me who killed you." Perhaps
some divine voice could help unriddle what he now held: the remains of
Sandra Cantu, whose disappearance from her Tracy mobile home park 10
days earlier spurred a frantic search that ended with the most feared
outcome for the little girl with a blithe spirit and cheeky grin. Prosecutors
would credit Omalu's work over the next six hours as pivotal in a case
that last week put Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby in prison for
life.At that moment, about 6:45 p.m. April 6, 2009, the wearying
search for a missing girl stopped cold, and detectives focused only on
murder and the likely owner of the black Eddie Bauer suitcase. As
police held a press conference downtown that night, FBI agents locked
down Clover Road Baptist Church. They searched the mobile home where
Huckaby lived with her grandparents, Pastor Lane Lawless and his wife,
Connie, and Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter. They searched her Kia
Sportage with the tinted back windows.Huckaby tracked the news from her bed
at Sutter Tracy Community Hospital. She had checked herself in two days
earlier, claiming she accidentally swallowed an X-Acto knife blade
while sleepwalking. Police watched her room. She had called
the mobile home park office shortly after Sandra's disappearance to
report her suitcase missing. She seemed to tell everybody about the
theft — police, her grandparents, nurses, and even Sandra's mother, in a
text message. That night, she sent other texts to her grandmother:"They
are having an 8:15 news briefing on the suitcase. That was fast. I hope
they didn't find anything."Later, another text to Connie
Lawless: "I hope she wasn't sexually assaulted."Tracy police
Detective Timothy Bauer, who led the investigation, watched Omalu open
the bag on the autopsy table. Then he drove to the Orchard Estates
mobile home park to notify Sandra's family. About 1 a.m., he and another
detective visited Huckaby. The suitcase, she said, "kinda looked
like mine," according to Bauer. "Man, it kinda looks like I had
something to do with it." But she stuck to her story."I asked
her, 'Why would someone take her?' " the detective told the grand jury."And
she responded, 'Why do people hurt other people? Because they are sick
in their head, disgusting.' "
A new beginning
Huckaby was an event planner in Southern California
and had studied criminology at a community college. She loved a good TV
crime drama, especially "Law and Order."In June 2008 her
grandparents asked her to come help them pack for a move south. Plans
changed. Huckaby had lived in the area years before and she decided to
stay in Tracy, moving into their mobile home with her young daughter.Connie
Lawless described Huckaby, now 29, as a loner who suffered depression
and had a history of cutting herself on her ankles. Diagnosed bipolar
and schizophrenic, she kept a bottle of prescribed benzodiazepine, the
highly potent anti-anxiety drug known by the brand name Xanax. She kept
other drugs, too: Adderall for energy; Paroxetine to combat depression;
Furosemide, a diuretic used for heart problems and hypertension.In
January 2009, a nearby parent accused Huckaby of taking her child
without permission and drugging her. The girl came home loopy. Tests
found benzodiazepine in her blood. A Tracy officer questioned Huckaby,
but the girl's mother had drug issues, and Huckaby acted indignant.
There was no proof.In a notebook, Huckaby kept a phone number for
a wedding dress service. She had told her sometimes boyfriend, Daniel
Plowman, that she was pregnant, and Plowman said he wanted to marry her.
On March 2 they met in the church. He told the grand jury she gave him a
drink, saying it tasted strange. Try it, she told him. That evening,
police found Plowman passed out in a McDonald's drive-through lane. He
awoke in jail, but never reported her.Divorced and unemployed,
Huckaby spent her days mostly in the mobile home park and taught Sunday
school at the church a half-block away. At home, she took care of her
daughter. Sandra would drop by to play, sometimes 10 to 15 times a day,
Huckaby told police."I don't know if you know this, but Sandra
was my daughter's best friend," Huckaby told them. Sandra was a
neighborhood sprite and the mobile home park was her playground. She
felt at ease within its gates, but under home rules she would only leave
with an adult she trusted. Sandra trusted Huckaby.At 2:45 p.m.
March 27, Sandra showed up to play, but Huckaby turned her away. Sandra
went to play on swings at another girl's house. At 3:54 p.m., a
video shows Sandra skipping down the street, then turning. Then —
nothing.
Strange behavior
At
the Tracy Police Department, a half-dozen names were scrawled on a
dry-erase board. Huckaby's name appeared at the bottom of the list, the
only female. It was April 5, the day before a farm worker noticed the
suitcase in the irrigation pond and drew it to the bank with a
pitchfork. "She was a person to re-interview, to look at her
previous statements, verify her alibi, verify the timeline," Bauer said
in an interview last week. "She wasn't really a top priority."She
also didn't match the profile. FBI experts pegged a white male, 25 to
40, with a criminal history of sexual assault or child pornography.
Someone who abducts for sexual purposes, then kills. We were
"focusing on all these guys in the trailer park," Bauer said.Huckaby
helped steer them to a few men in the neighborhood. The night
Sandra went missing, Huckaby told police she went to the church about
4:50 or 5 p.m., came back about 6:30 and stayed home all night. The next
day, during a vigil for Sandra, she rushed up to police and FBI agents
"very agitated, crying, hyperventilating." She said she kicked over a
note on the ground: "Cantu locked in stolin suitcase thrown in water onn
Bacchetti Rd. & Whitehall Rd witness," it read, with numerous
misspellings.Suddenly, she became calm, completely relaxed. That
was odd, thought FBI Special Agent Michael Conrad, a child abduction
expert."We also commented on "... the unusual fact that a woman
who reported losing a suitcase should be the one woman out of everyone
in this complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the
stolen suitcase was used to hide the child's body," he told the grand
jury.Even Lane Lawless, Huckaby's grandfather, was leery. "I
don't know about being suspicious. It looked "... very strange," he
testified.The next day, a Sunday, police conducted their first
major search — 250 officers from 13 agencies. They concentrated on the
irrigation ponds in the area and sent divers into the nearby Delta
waters. "You can't dive those ponds. Those ponds are cow manure and
(urine). There's no visibility," Bauer said. They would interview
Huckaby on April 1, then again April 3. But men remained the focus. "In
a case like this, you can't lock it in, because she might be trying to
get attention. She's an attention seeker."
Circling
a suspect
Omalu finished his autopsy report at
home, at 5 a.m. April 7. Sandra had been beaten, sexually assaulted,
smothered to death, redressed and carefully crammed into the case, in a
"perfect fetal position." The brutal sexual assault gave no evidence of
semen or another body. No sign of a man."Look for a cylindrical
object at the scene," he told investigators.In a kitchen drawer
at the church, investigators found a metal rolling pin with a bent
handle and a red-brown smudge. Church members used the rolling pin to
make unleavened bread for the Lord's Supper. It would test positive for
Sandra's DNA.An ex-Marine who lives on Whitehall Road spoke to
police at the pond April 6. He told them he recognized Huckaby from TV
as the woman he saw by the pond between 5:30 and 6 p.m. the day Sandra
went missing. " 'I just had to pee real quick,' " she told him. He
described her as "distracted and hurried."A search of a computer
at Huckaby's trailer found a Web story in September 2008 reporting
Israeli divers finding a suitcase with the remains of a missing
4-year-old girl. Later tests matched a cord on the suitcase with
one missing from the school room. Investigators analyzed video
from the mobile home park, from a nearby hotel and an AM/PM market.
Huckaby's alibi didn't wash.A receipt from her purse showed that
Huckaby went to McDonald's just after 8 p.m. the night of Sandra's
abduction, Bauer said."The night when she killed Sandra, she went
out for fast food."
Elaborate story
Huckaby left the hospital at 7 a.m. April 9, a
Thursday. An hour later she called police, who had asked her to meet
with them. Investigators questioned her for an hour at the station. The
next day, they asked her to return. For three hours, Bauer said,
detectives described their evidence. They showed her handwriting samples
linking her to the note. Huckaby broke down and admitted causing
Sandra's death. She wove an elaborate story of an accidental
death and panic. "She said she was loading up the suitcase, taking it to
the church. Sandra goes over there and Melissa says, 'Let's play a game
of hide and seek. You get in the suitcase, I'll zip it up.' " Bauer
said."Melissa says she forgets her keys and cell phone and went
in, came back out, got in the car, went to the church and completely
forgot about Sandra. She decorates the church, goes out — 'Oh, crap' —
opens it up in the church and sees Sandra lifeless. "... She's freaking
out, 'Oh my God, I killed her,' panicking."One thought, Huckaby
told them, was to pack Sandra back in the suitcase and leave her on her
family's porch. Instead, she told detectives, she rolled out the
suitcase with Sandra's body inside and drove, then found the irrigation
pond.The story had no credibility. "Her body didn't fit in there.
She was stuffed in there," Bauer said. "There's no physical way."
Motive still elusive
Clearly,
Bauer said, Huckaby carefully planned the crime."I think the girl
who got drugged in January was practice. I think Daniel Plowman was
practice. If you send a child away that comes over 10, 15 times a day,
what do you think is going to happen? She's going to come back," he
said. "Melissa knew how Sandra operated.But why Sandra?"I
don't know," Bauer said. "Melissa's world was her daughter. Sandra was
like the little flower child of the trailer park. Everybody liked her.
Melissa's daughter is not like that. I don't know if there's some
jealousy going on."In a plea deal, Huckaby took life in prison
without parole. No death penalty, and no sex charges that could mean the
end of contact with her daughter. At her sentencing, she apologized to
Sandra's family and said she did not understand why she murdered. Prosecutor
Thomas Testa doesn't buy it. A piece of him wishes there had been a
trial to tease out her motivation."She's a smart person," he
said. "She writes well. She speaks well. She's in full possession of her
faculties."
stuffed suitcase lay on a metal autopsy table in French Camp, recovered
that day from a lagoon of cow manure and waste as media helicopters
jockeyed for air space above. Bennet Omalu stood facing it. The
forensic pathologist clipped a neatly knotted cord from the soaked bag
and unzipped it. Sliding his arms inside, he gently scooped out a small
corpse curled up like a baby in a womb. "Speak to me, Sandra.
Speak to me," Omalu whispered. "Tell me who killed you." Perhaps
some divine voice could help unriddle what he now held: the remains of
Sandra Cantu, whose disappearance from her Tracy mobile home park 10
days earlier spurred a frantic search that ended with the most feared
outcome for the little girl with a blithe spirit and cheeky grin. Prosecutors
would credit Omalu's work over the next six hours as pivotal in a case
that last week put Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby in prison for
life.At that moment, about 6:45 p.m. April 6, 2009, the wearying
search for a missing girl stopped cold, and detectives focused only on
murder and the likely owner of the black Eddie Bauer suitcase. As
police held a press conference downtown that night, FBI agents locked
down Clover Road Baptist Church. They searched the mobile home where
Huckaby lived with her grandparents, Pastor Lane Lawless and his wife,
Connie, and Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter. They searched her Kia
Sportage with the tinted back windows.Huckaby tracked the news from her bed
at Sutter Tracy Community Hospital. She had checked herself in two days
earlier, claiming she accidentally swallowed an X-Acto knife blade
while sleepwalking. Police watched her room. She had called
the mobile home park office shortly after Sandra's disappearance to
report her suitcase missing. She seemed to tell everybody about the
theft — police, her grandparents, nurses, and even Sandra's mother, in a
text message. That night, she sent other texts to her grandmother:"They
are having an 8:15 news briefing on the suitcase. That was fast. I hope
they didn't find anything."Later, another text to Connie
Lawless: "I hope she wasn't sexually assaulted."Tracy police
Detective Timothy Bauer, who led the investigation, watched Omalu open
the bag on the autopsy table. Then he drove to the Orchard Estates
mobile home park to notify Sandra's family. About 1 a.m., he and another
detective visited Huckaby. The suitcase, she said, "kinda looked
like mine," according to Bauer. "Man, it kinda looks like I had
something to do with it." But she stuck to her story."I asked
her, 'Why would someone take her?' " the detective told the grand jury."And
she responded, 'Why do people hurt other people? Because they are sick
in their head, disgusting.' "
A new beginning
Huckaby was an event planner in Southern California
and had studied criminology at a community college. She loved a good TV
crime drama, especially "Law and Order."In June 2008 her
grandparents asked her to come help them pack for a move south. Plans
changed. Huckaby had lived in the area years before and she decided to
stay in Tracy, moving into their mobile home with her young daughter.Connie
Lawless described Huckaby, now 29, as a loner who suffered depression
and had a history of cutting herself on her ankles. Diagnosed bipolar
and schizophrenic, she kept a bottle of prescribed benzodiazepine, the
highly potent anti-anxiety drug known by the brand name Xanax. She kept
other drugs, too: Adderall for energy; Paroxetine to combat depression;
Furosemide, a diuretic used for heart problems and hypertension.In
January 2009, a nearby parent accused Huckaby of taking her child
without permission and drugging her. The girl came home loopy. Tests
found benzodiazepine in her blood. A Tracy officer questioned Huckaby,
but the girl's mother had drug issues, and Huckaby acted indignant.
There was no proof.In a notebook, Huckaby kept a phone number for
a wedding dress service. She had told her sometimes boyfriend, Daniel
Plowman, that she was pregnant, and Plowman said he wanted to marry her.
On March 2 they met in the church. He told the grand jury she gave him a
drink, saying it tasted strange. Try it, she told him. That evening,
police found Plowman passed out in a McDonald's drive-through lane. He
awoke in jail, but never reported her.Divorced and unemployed,
Huckaby spent her days mostly in the mobile home park and taught Sunday
school at the church a half-block away. At home, she took care of her
daughter. Sandra would drop by to play, sometimes 10 to 15 times a day,
Huckaby told police."I don't know if you know this, but Sandra
was my daughter's best friend," Huckaby told them. Sandra was a
neighborhood sprite and the mobile home park was her playground. She
felt at ease within its gates, but under home rules she would only leave
with an adult she trusted. Sandra trusted Huckaby.At 2:45 p.m.
March 27, Sandra showed up to play, but Huckaby turned her away. Sandra
went to play on swings at another girl's house. At 3:54 p.m., a
video shows Sandra skipping down the street, then turning. Then —
nothing.
Strange behavior
At
the Tracy Police Department, a half-dozen names were scrawled on a
dry-erase board. Huckaby's name appeared at the bottom of the list, the
only female. It was April 5, the day before a farm worker noticed the
suitcase in the irrigation pond and drew it to the bank with a
pitchfork. "She was a person to re-interview, to look at her
previous statements, verify her alibi, verify the timeline," Bauer said
in an interview last week. "She wasn't really a top priority."She
also didn't match the profile. FBI experts pegged a white male, 25 to
40, with a criminal history of sexual assault or child pornography.
Someone who abducts for sexual purposes, then kills. We were
"focusing on all these guys in the trailer park," Bauer said.Huckaby
helped steer them to a few men in the neighborhood. The night
Sandra went missing, Huckaby told police she went to the church about
4:50 or 5 p.m., came back about 6:30 and stayed home all night. The next
day, during a vigil for Sandra, she rushed up to police and FBI agents
"very agitated, crying, hyperventilating." She said she kicked over a
note on the ground: "Cantu locked in stolin suitcase thrown in water onn
Bacchetti Rd. & Whitehall Rd witness," it read, with numerous
misspellings.Suddenly, she became calm, completely relaxed. That
was odd, thought FBI Special Agent Michael Conrad, a child abduction
expert."We also commented on "... the unusual fact that a woman
who reported losing a suitcase should be the one woman out of everyone
in this complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the
stolen suitcase was used to hide the child's body," he told the grand
jury.Even Lane Lawless, Huckaby's grandfather, was leery. "I
don't know about being suspicious. It looked "... very strange," he
testified.The next day, a Sunday, police conducted their first
major search — 250 officers from 13 agencies. They concentrated on the
irrigation ponds in the area and sent divers into the nearby Delta
waters. "You can't dive those ponds. Those ponds are cow manure and
(urine). There's no visibility," Bauer said. They would interview
Huckaby on April 1, then again April 3. But men remained the focus. "In
a case like this, you can't lock it in, because she might be trying to
get attention. She's an attention seeker."
Circling
a suspect
Omalu finished his autopsy report at
home, at 5 a.m. April 7. Sandra had been beaten, sexually assaulted,
smothered to death, redressed and carefully crammed into the case, in a
"perfect fetal position." The brutal sexual assault gave no evidence of
semen or another body. No sign of a man."Look for a cylindrical
object at the scene," he told investigators.In a kitchen drawer
at the church, investigators found a metal rolling pin with a bent
handle and a red-brown smudge. Church members used the rolling pin to
make unleavened bread for the Lord's Supper. It would test positive for
Sandra's DNA.An ex-Marine who lives on Whitehall Road spoke to
police at the pond April 6. He told them he recognized Huckaby from TV
as the woman he saw by the pond between 5:30 and 6 p.m. the day Sandra
went missing. " 'I just had to pee real quick,' " she told him. He
described her as "distracted and hurried."A search of a computer
at Huckaby's trailer found a Web story in September 2008 reporting
Israeli divers finding a suitcase with the remains of a missing
4-year-old girl. Later tests matched a cord on the suitcase with
one missing from the school room. Investigators analyzed video
from the mobile home park, from a nearby hotel and an AM/PM market.
Huckaby's alibi didn't wash.A receipt from her purse showed that
Huckaby went to McDonald's just after 8 p.m. the night of Sandra's
abduction, Bauer said."The night when she killed Sandra, she went
out for fast food."
Elaborate story
Huckaby left the hospital at 7 a.m. April 9, a
Thursday. An hour later she called police, who had asked her to meet
with them. Investigators questioned her for an hour at the station. The
next day, they asked her to return. For three hours, Bauer said,
detectives described their evidence. They showed her handwriting samples
linking her to the note. Huckaby broke down and admitted causing
Sandra's death. She wove an elaborate story of an accidental
death and panic. "She said she was loading up the suitcase, taking it to
the church. Sandra goes over there and Melissa says, 'Let's play a game
of hide and seek. You get in the suitcase, I'll zip it up.' " Bauer
said."Melissa says she forgets her keys and cell phone and went
in, came back out, got in the car, went to the church and completely
forgot about Sandra. She decorates the church, goes out — 'Oh, crap' —
opens it up in the church and sees Sandra lifeless. "... She's freaking
out, 'Oh my God, I killed her,' panicking."One thought, Huckaby
told them, was to pack Sandra back in the suitcase and leave her on her
family's porch. Instead, she told detectives, she rolled out the
suitcase with Sandra's body inside and drove, then found the irrigation
pond.The story had no credibility. "Her body didn't fit in there.
She was stuffed in there," Bauer said. "There's no physical way."
Motive still elusive
Clearly,
Bauer said, Huckaby carefully planned the crime."I think the girl
who got drugged in January was practice. I think Daniel Plowman was
practice. If you send a child away that comes over 10, 15 times a day,
what do you think is going to happen? She's going to come back," he
said. "Melissa knew how Sandra operated.But why Sandra?"I
don't know," Bauer said. "Melissa's world was her daughter. Sandra was
like the little flower child of the trailer park. Everybody liked her.
Melissa's daughter is not like that. I don't know if there's some
jealousy going on."In a plea deal, Huckaby took life in prison
without parole. No death penalty, and no sex charges that could mean the
end of contact with her daughter. At her sentencing, she apologized to
Sandra's family and said she did not understand why she murdered. Prosecutor
Thomas Testa doesn't buy it. A piece of him wishes there had been a
trial to tease out her motivation."She's a smart person," he
said. "She writes well. She speaks well. She's in full possession of her
faculties."
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Monday, June 21, 2010
Melissa Huckaby: The Grand Jury Transcripts
Sandra Cantu ~ murdered by Melissa Huckaby
http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2010/06/melissa-huckaby-grand-jury-transcripts.html
Melissa Huckaby: The Grand Jury Transcripts
Sandra Cantu ~ murdered by Melissa Huckaby
http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2010/06/melissa-huckaby-grand-jury-transcripts.html
mom_in_il- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
My heart and eyes are bleeding after reading the entire 1,923 pages of the Grand jury Transcripts. I have never read anything either fiction or non fiction as harrowing as that. Poor Sandra. She went through an agonizing death and I'm mad as hell at the plea deal. To drop the charge of rape by a foreign object is WRONG. That allowed Huckaby, the most despicable, cruel woman I've ever heard of to say in court that she didn't sexually abuse Sandra and that she didn't suffer. That totally denied the abuse and agony that Sandra suffered. Sandra's death was as agonizing as a death could be. I don't know how her parents, or anyone there in that court could sit there and listen to Huckaby lie....but I guess they didn't know what she had done to Sandra because the details were not known until the GJ transcript was released. Huckaby committed perjury when she made that statement and I think that statement should negate any prior plea deal and she should now be charged with rape with a foreign object and all the other counts that were dropped and be given the death penalty.
After all the TERRIBLE things she made Sandra suffer, Huckaby has been convicted of kidnapping and murder which in no way tells anyone what she actually did. Sandra suffered drugging and mutilation and bashing but it's as though that never happened.
Until I read the GJ transcript I couldn't understand the plea deal but now I think I see why. Nate Cogburn stuffed up in a MAJOR way. After Huckaby asked for a lawyer and said she didn't want to say anymore, Det. Cogburn placed her under arrest and took her away. Huckably kept saying she didn't do it and he threatened her, saying id she didn't talk to them about what happened she would rot in jail. Huckaby agreed to go back into the interview without a lawyer.
Det. Cogburn had recorded his conversation with her but he deleted it knowing it would be incriminating against him. His superior asked him what he said to her to make her go back and he admitted to what he said. Huckaby's subsequent interview(where I think she confessed) was not included in the GJ because it would not have been admissible at the trial. I wonder if it could even be cause for a mistrial, or a winnable appeal had they not done a plea deal.
I hope Det. Cogburn has been sacked. I'd like to beat the *** out of him. Because of him all Sandra's suffering and agony has been denied and Huckaby will live out her days denying she hurt Sandra. Makes me sick. I don't feel that Sandra received proper justice.
After all the TERRIBLE things she made Sandra suffer, Huckaby has been convicted of kidnapping and murder which in no way tells anyone what she actually did. Sandra suffered drugging and mutilation and bashing but it's as though that never happened.
Until I read the GJ transcript I couldn't understand the plea deal but now I think I see why. Nate Cogburn stuffed up in a MAJOR way. After Huckaby asked for a lawyer and said she didn't want to say anymore, Det. Cogburn placed her under arrest and took her away. Huckably kept saying she didn't do it and he threatened her, saying id she didn't talk to them about what happened she would rot in jail. Huckaby agreed to go back into the interview without a lawyer.
Det. Cogburn had recorded his conversation with her but he deleted it knowing it would be incriminating against him. His superior asked him what he said to her to make her go back and he admitted to what he said. Huckaby's subsequent interview(where I think she confessed) was not included in the GJ because it would not have been admissible at the trial. I wonder if it could even be cause for a mistrial, or a winnable appeal had they not done a plea deal.
I hope Det. Cogburn has been sacked. I'd like to beat the *** out of him. Because of him all Sandra's suffering and agony has been denied and Huckaby will live out her days denying she hurt Sandra. Makes me sick. I don't feel that Sandra received proper justice.
Last edited by kiwimom on Wed Jun 23, 2010 1:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa Huckaby Grand Jury Transcript:
http://static.cbslocal.com/station/kovr/docs/2010/6/People_vs_Melissa_Huckaby_transcript_06_18_10.pdf
1923 pages!!
http://static.cbslocal.com/station/kovr/docs/2010/6/People_vs_Melissa_Huckaby_transcript_06_18_10.pdf
1923 pages!!
mom_in_il- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
http://www.kcra.com/download/2010/0618/23958026.pdf
another link to the grand jury testimony
another link to the grand jury testimony
oviedo45- Admin
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
I was shocked when I saw that Huckaby had written a note with Leonard Padilla on it and his website and Nancy Grace. Huckaby moved to the park in June 2008 when Caylee went missing. No doubt she was following the case. In September 08 Huckaby googled a case about a child who was found in a suitcase in water. Next she's practicing drugging her boyfriend and then the other child. A couple of months later she kills Sandra. Could the motive be she wanted fame? Maybe she fancied LP and expected him to come riding into town to bail her out. I wonder if Huckaby was blogging somewhere about Caylee. For all we know we've talked to this *$%&*#
If anyone's talking to LP could you ask him if Huckaby ever contacted him?
If anyone's talking to LP could you ask him if Huckaby ever contacted him?
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The day 8-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared from a Tracy, Calif.,
mobile-home park, Melissa Huckaby sent a text message to the child's mother.
"Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4
p.m.," Huckaby texted to Maria Chavez on March 27, 2009. "I don't know
if that makes a difference or not."
That stolen item turned out to be an Eddie Bauer suitcase that
contained Cantu’s body, the victim of a brutal sexual assault and murder.
The case horrified the Central California community, but even
after Huckaby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison,
residents were at loss as to why the Sunday school teacher committed
such a heinous crime against her own daughter's playmate.
Now, with thousands of pages of previously sealed
documents released and the lifting of a gag order, authorities are
offering a theory: The bizarre text message and Huckaby's subsequent
strange behavior suggested she killed the child in an attempt to attract attention to herself.
A Theory for Motive
Such behavior has a name: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, a form of child abuse, in which a person harms
somebody else, often children, for attention. The prosecutor in the case
noted that Huckaby's daughter may also have fallen victim: the child
had a history of being sick and in need of hospital care way too often.
"There were 20 or so times that Melissa cut herself, set fires, or verbally or psychologically attacked
someone else, such as a roommate," says Deputy District Attorney Thomas
Tesla. "And there was something like that going on here (after the
murder), where she wanted to be the center of attention."
The text message was just one clue. Also, the day after Sandra
disappeared, Huckaby was hysterical and hyperventilating as she went to
police to say she had found a note on lined notebook paper.
Newly Revealed Evidence
The misspelled message stated Sandra's body was locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in water at
Bacchetti and Whitehall roads. "I wonder if she wanted to be the one who
solved the case by finding the note," Tesla suggests.
Investigators thought it unusual that a woman who reported
losing a suitcase "should be the one woman out of everyone in this
complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the stolen
suitcase was used to hide the child's body," FBI Special Agent Michael
Conrad would testify in the grand jury, according to transcripts.
During an April 6 search of Huckaby's home after the suitcase
was recovered, FBI agents found a notebook with "Cute but psycho. Things
will even out" printed on the cover. On the pages they found
indentations matching the letters from the note.
"It didn’t take an FBI expert to figure this out," Tesla says.
"She has a distinctive way of writing certain letters. You can compare
it to her known handwriting… and tell as a layperson that they’re written by the same person."
When confronted with the mounting evidence, court documents
show, Huckaby offered a confession of sorts, saying that Cantu hid in
the suitcase in Huckaby’s trailer as part of a game, but stayed inside
too long and suffocated. Huckaby also offered a soft version of the
events at her sentencing, saying Sandra "didn't suffer. I didn't sexually molest her."
But, Tesla contends, forensic evidence offers a grimmer version
of the crime: Huckaby took Cantu to her grandfather’s nearby church,
sexually molested her with a rolling pin, strangled her and stuffed her
into the suitcase in a snug fetal position that Cantu couldn’t have
squeezed into on her own. Huckaby then tossed the suitcase into an
agricultural ditch that stunk so badly of manure that searchers couldn’t
retrieve the suitcase until it eventually floated to the surface.
In the first few days of the investigation, detectives assumed
the killer was a man. They trailed local sex offenders and investigated
their alibis. Says Tesla: "We thought there was no way a woman would do these things."
mobile-home park, Melissa Huckaby sent a text message to the child's mother.
"Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4
p.m.," Huckaby texted to Maria Chavez on March 27, 2009. "I don't know
if that makes a difference or not."
That stolen item turned out to be an Eddie Bauer suitcase that
contained Cantu’s body, the victim of a brutal sexual assault and murder.
The case horrified the Central California community, but even
after Huckaby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison,
residents were at loss as to why the Sunday school teacher committed
such a heinous crime against her own daughter's playmate.
Now, with thousands of pages of previously sealed
documents released and the lifting of a gag order, authorities are
offering a theory: The bizarre text message and Huckaby's subsequent
strange behavior suggested she killed the child in an attempt to attract attention to herself.
A Theory for Motive
Such behavior has a name: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, a form of child abuse, in which a person harms
somebody else, often children, for attention. The prosecutor in the case
noted that Huckaby's daughter may also have fallen victim: the child
had a history of being sick and in need of hospital care way too often.
"There were 20 or so times that Melissa cut herself, set fires, or verbally or psychologically attacked
someone else, such as a roommate," says Deputy District Attorney Thomas
Tesla. "And there was something like that going on here (after the
murder), where she wanted to be the center of attention."
The text message was just one clue. Also, the day after Sandra
disappeared, Huckaby was hysterical and hyperventilating as she went to
police to say she had found a note on lined notebook paper.
Newly Revealed Evidence
The misspelled message stated Sandra's body was locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in water at
Bacchetti and Whitehall roads. "I wonder if she wanted to be the one who
solved the case by finding the note," Tesla suggests.
Investigators thought it unusual that a woman who reported
losing a suitcase "should be the one woman out of everyone in this
complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the stolen
suitcase was used to hide the child's body," FBI Special Agent Michael
Conrad would testify in the grand jury, according to transcripts.
During an April 6 search of Huckaby's home after the suitcase
was recovered, FBI agents found a notebook with "Cute but psycho. Things
will even out" printed on the cover. On the pages they found
indentations matching the letters from the note.
"It didn’t take an FBI expert to figure this out," Tesla says.
"She has a distinctive way of writing certain letters. You can compare
it to her known handwriting… and tell as a layperson that they’re written by the same person."
When confronted with the mounting evidence, court documents
show, Huckaby offered a confession of sorts, saying that Cantu hid in
the suitcase in Huckaby’s trailer as part of a game, but stayed inside
too long and suffocated. Huckaby also offered a soft version of the
events at her sentencing, saying Sandra "didn't suffer. I didn't sexually molest her."
But, Tesla contends, forensic evidence offers a grimmer version
of the crime: Huckaby took Cantu to her grandfather’s nearby church,
sexually molested her with a rolling pin, strangled her and stuffed her
into the suitcase in a snug fetal position that Cantu couldn’t have
squeezed into on her own. Huckaby then tossed the suitcase into an
agricultural ditch that stunk so badly of manure that searchers couldn’t
retrieve the suitcase until it eventually floated to the surface.
In the first few days of the investigation, detectives assumed
the killer was a man. They trailed local sex offenders and investigated
their alibis. Says Tesla: "We thought there was no way a woman would do these things."
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The above is so hard to read if Melissa had her own child in to the doctor/hospital so very many times why didn't someone a doctor, teacher, nurse question this and call the Child Services to investigate.....this is so scary, how many more potential people like this are out there.....
Tom you do such a great job on all these sites .....you are a treasure and certainly deserve the name TOM TERRIFIC!!!!
Tom you do such a great job on all these sites .....you are a treasure and certainly deserve the name TOM TERRIFIC!!!!
Annabeth- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Being a Dingbat takes all my time
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Thanks Aunty AB! It's alot of work but the kids deserve it...
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Melissa
Huckaby's parents did not see any signs that their 29-year-old daughter
could kidnap and kill a child, they said in a live interview Friday on
NBC's "Today.""We are so baffled," Huckaby's mother, Judy
Lawless, told "Today" host Matt Lauer. "There was no warning signs.
She's never, ever, you know, displayed any kind of anger issues."Huckaby,
a former Tracy Sunday school teacher, was sentenced last month to life
in prison without the possibility of parole for kidnapping and killing
her 8-year-old neighbor, Sandra Cantu.Lawless said she has since
gone through many emotions, including anger at her daughter, "for the
destruction" she caused.Huckaby has struggled with emotional
issues since reportedly being raped by a police officer when she was 19.
The details surrounding the claim remain unknown.As a result,
said Brian Lawless, Huckaby's father, she never got the mental health
treatment she needed. Whenever she was admitted into a facility, she
would tell the doctor it was "just a bad moment." The doctor would write
it off and release her."She was very good at covering things
up," he said.Huckaby has since been diagnosed bipolar
schizophrenic.Sandra disappeared March 27, 2009. A massive search
for the second-grader ensued, capturing the attention of national news
media. Ten days later, the girl's body was found stuffed in a black
suitcase in an irrigation pond about two miles from the mobile home
park where she and Huckaby
lived. An autopsy showed she had been drugged and sexually assaulted.Investigators
first noticed Huckaby the day after Sandra's disappearance, when she
told them she found a misspelled note on the ground saying Sandra was
locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in the water, and that her suitcase
had disappeared the same day as Sandra. Other circumstantial
evidence — including items found at the church where Huckaby taught
Sunday school and where her grandfather was the pastor — eventually made
her Tracy police's prime suspect. On the night of April 10, 2009, a
crying Huckaby broke down and told police Sandra death's was an
accident. She was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the
child. Her aunt, Joni Hughes, told Lauer that she spoke with her
niece after the sentencing, and that Huckaby cried "a lot.""She
feels so terrible for what she's done," Hughes said.
Huckaby's parents did not see any signs that their 29-year-old daughter
could kidnap and kill a child, they said in a live interview Friday on
NBC's "Today.""We are so baffled," Huckaby's mother, Judy
Lawless, told "Today" host Matt Lauer. "There was no warning signs.
She's never, ever, you know, displayed any kind of anger issues."Huckaby,
a former Tracy Sunday school teacher, was sentenced last month to life
in prison without the possibility of parole for kidnapping and killing
her 8-year-old neighbor, Sandra Cantu.Lawless said she has since
gone through many emotions, including anger at her daughter, "for the
destruction" she caused.Huckaby has struggled with emotional
issues since reportedly being raped by a police officer when she was 19.
The details surrounding the claim remain unknown.As a result,
said Brian Lawless, Huckaby's father, she never got the mental health
treatment she needed. Whenever she was admitted into a facility, she
would tell the doctor it was "just a bad moment." The doctor would write
it off and release her."She was very good at covering things
up," he said.Huckaby has since been diagnosed bipolar
schizophrenic.Sandra disappeared March 27, 2009. A massive search
for the second-grader ensued, capturing the attention of national news
media. Ten days later, the girl's body was found stuffed in a black
suitcase in an irrigation pond about two miles from the mobile home
park where she and Huckaby
lived. An autopsy showed she had been drugged and sexually assaulted.Investigators
first noticed Huckaby the day after Sandra's disappearance, when she
told them she found a misspelled note on the ground saying Sandra was
locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in the water, and that her suitcase
had disappeared the same day as Sandra. Other circumstantial
evidence — including items found at the church where Huckaby taught
Sunday school and where her grandfather was the pastor — eventually made
her Tracy police's prime suspect. On the night of April 10, 2009, a
crying Huckaby broke down and told police Sandra death's was an
accident. She was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the
child. Her aunt, Joni Hughes, told Lauer that she spoke with her
niece after the sentencing, and that Huckaby cried "a lot.""She
feels so terrible for what she's done," Hughes said.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
Poster's Opinion: It seems to me that it would serve a purpose to release the documentation. Perhaps if the public could visualize how heinous these crimes can be, there would be less of them.
A state Senate bill that would seal the autopsy reports of murdered
children is making its way through the Legislature with the help of
testimony from the family of slain Tracy 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
A Senate committee unanimously approved the bill Thursday, July 15, which
was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth,
R-Murrieta. The bill would allow family members to request autopsy
reports and other evidence remain sealed if their child was murdered.
Angela Chavez, Sandra’s aunt, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee
and said “No one wants to remember their loved ones in an autopsy
photo,” according to The Associated Press.
Sandra’s family has fought to keep Sandra’s autopsy report and photos sealed, although the
prosecutor and lead detective on the case said the information in the
grand jury transcript has more disturbing details than the autopsy report itself.
A judge released the grand jury transcript last
month, but decided to keep the autopsy photos sealed forever in fear
that bloggers and those on the “fringe of the media” would get their
hands on the photos and plaster them on the Internet.
The ultimate decision to release the autopsy report is up to the San Joaquin
County Sheriff, and the judge in San Joaquin Superior Court temporarily
sealed the report last month and scheduled a hearing on the issue.
The ongoing battle over Sandra’s autopsy report continues in court in
Stockton on July 23.
A state Senate bill that would seal the autopsy reports of murdered
children is making its way through the Legislature with the help of
testimony from the family of slain Tracy 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
A Senate committee unanimously approved the bill Thursday, July 15, which
was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth,
R-Murrieta. The bill would allow family members to request autopsy
reports and other evidence remain sealed if their child was murdered.
Angela Chavez, Sandra’s aunt, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee
and said “No one wants to remember their loved ones in an autopsy
photo,” according to The Associated Press.
Sandra’s family has fought to keep Sandra’s autopsy report and photos sealed, although the
prosecutor and lead detective on the case said the information in the
grand jury transcript has more disturbing details than the autopsy report itself.
A judge released the grand jury transcript last
month, but decided to keep the autopsy photos sealed forever in fear
that bloggers and those on the “fringe of the media” would get their
hands on the photos and plaster them on the Internet.
The ultimate decision to release the autopsy report is up to the San Joaquin
County Sheriff, and the judge in San Joaquin Superior Court temporarily
sealed the report last month and scheduled a hearing on the issue.
The ongoing battle over Sandra’s autopsy report continues in court in
Stockton on July 23.
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
I completely agree Tom. We all need to be forced to confront the horrible things that are happening to children even though it is very upsetting. If we are protected from it then it's easier to put it out of our minds and carry on as though nothing has happened instead of having it haunt us until we demand action to help prevent these tragedies. I completely understand the families point of view though. I wish I could talk to them and try to explain the greater good that Sandra's short life can contribute.
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA
The death of a child, especially one taken by
criminal violence, is about as cruel an act as can be visited on the
surviving family and friends.
It is understandable that we would want to shelter them from the pain, but in
the end there is no real shelter save the support of each other and the passage of time.
But now a California lawmaker is proposing one of those do-something, do-anything acts that
government officials so often take when faced with circumstances where
in truth government has few real solutions.
He wants to allow family members to request
that the autopsy reports of murdered children and other evidence in such
cases be permanently sealed. The records also would not be subject to
disclosure under the California Public Records Act.
The proposal by Republican state Sen. Dennis
Hollingsworth of Murrieta was approved unanimously by a Senate committee Thursday.
The request comes as the family of
Sandra Cantu fights to block release of autopsy reports. The 8-year-old
Tracy girl was murdered by Melissa Huckaby, who is serving a life
sentence without the possibility of parole. Another hearing on the
family's request is scheduled for Friday in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Investigative reports that the family
also wanted kept private along with grand jury transcripts already have
been released. They give the often heart-wrenching explicit details of the case.
Difficult as reading those reports
can be, their release is important so the public can understand the
case, but most importantly so the public can judge the actions of law
enforcement and courts. Without such public scrutiny, we can quickly
lose confidence in how justice is meted out. Public scrutiny also is a
way to assure that law enforcement and the courts operate within the
confines of our constitutional rights, especially rights that guarantee a fair trial.
There is another point here, though. Hollingsworth's legislation would make a child's murder a
special class of crime. What his proposal says is that the pain of the
family of a murdered child is so much greater than that of others whose
family members have been killed that they deserve special treatment.
We can't help but question the validity of what
that implies. Is the family of a father murdered during a convenience
store robbery in any less pain than a murdered child's family? Is the
family of a college student killed by a repeat drunken driver in any
less pain? What about the family of the victim of a serial killer?
Hollingsworth's proposal fails at the most basic
level because it cannot protect surviving families from pain. No law
can. What it does do is remove part of the transparency vital to
maintaining public confidence in our system of government.
Poster's Note: Bravo to "The Record" and Recordnet.com for this fine editorial on what the downsides of this law would be. BBM
criminal violence, is about as cruel an act as can be visited on the
surviving family and friends.
It is understandable that we would want to shelter them from the pain, but in
the end there is no real shelter save the support of each other and the passage of time.
But now a California lawmaker is proposing one of those do-something, do-anything acts that
government officials so often take when faced with circumstances where
in truth government has few real solutions.
He wants to allow family members to request
that the autopsy reports of murdered children and other evidence in such
cases be permanently sealed. The records also would not be subject to
disclosure under the California Public Records Act.
The proposal by Republican state Sen. Dennis
Hollingsworth of Murrieta was approved unanimously by a Senate committee Thursday.
The request comes as the family of
Sandra Cantu fights to block release of autopsy reports. The 8-year-old
Tracy girl was murdered by Melissa Huckaby, who is serving a life
sentence without the possibility of parole. Another hearing on the
family's request is scheduled for Friday in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Investigative reports that the family
also wanted kept private along with grand jury transcripts already have
been released. They give the often heart-wrenching explicit details of the case.
Difficult as reading those reports
can be, their release is important so the public can understand the
case, but most importantly so the public can judge the actions of law
enforcement and courts. Without such public scrutiny, we can quickly
lose confidence in how justice is meted out. Public scrutiny also is a
way to assure that law enforcement and the courts operate within the
confines of our constitutional rights, especially rights that guarantee a fair trial.
There is another point here, though. Hollingsworth's legislation would make a child's murder a
special class of crime. What his proposal says is that the pain of the
family of a murdered child is so much greater than that of others whose
family members have been killed that they deserve special treatment.
We can't help but question the validity of what
that implies. Is the family of a father murdered during a convenience
store robbery in any less pain than a murdered child's family? Is the
family of a college student killed by a repeat drunken driver in any
less pain? What about the family of the victim of a serial killer?
Hollingsworth's proposal fails at the most basic
level because it cannot protect surviving families from pain. No law
can. What it does do is remove part of the transparency vital to
maintaining public confidence in our system of government.
Poster's Note: Bravo to "The Record" and Recordnet.com for this fine editorial on what the downsides of this law would be. BBM
TomTerrific0420- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Searching for Truth and Justice
Page 8 of 9 • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Similar topics
» Sandra Cantu
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» LIZBETH CANTU DENOVA - 13 yo - Glendale AZ
» MARK CANTU and BRYANT YBERRA - 6 and 9 yo - Houston TX
» The Clothes Comment made to Tracy
» Toddler 'Cantu' - 3 yo - Marietta GA
» LIZBETH CANTU DENOVA - 13 yo - Glendale AZ
» MARK CANTU and BRYANT YBERRA - 6 and 9 yo - Houston TX
» The Clothes Comment made to Tracy
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