MICHAEL BELITZ - 12 yo (2009) - Omaha NE

A month ago, Bev White drove to the small white house at 2857 Ida
St. to pick up her son's best friend, 12-year-old Michael Belitz. The
two boys had plans to spend part of a summer weekend together, which
they had done countless times during the past six years.But Angela Manns, Michael's mother, answered the door. She was angry.“She looked very, very upset,” White said. “All I could remember her saying was ‘Michael was very, very bad.' ”White and her family didn't see Michael that day, and they haven't heard from him since.
Police were called to the house Sunday
morning to check on the well-being of Manns and her child, and they
discovered a severely decayed body inside.Manns was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and is expected to be formally charged Wednesday morning.Authorities
wouldn't officially comment on the investigation and said it could be a
week until the body is positively identified. But authorities were
almost certain that the remains were those of the 12-year-old who
recently began using his biological father's last name."Everything leads us to believe it's him," Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said.Interviews
and court documents paint a disjointed picture of what life was like at
the house on Ida Street — Michael was a bright, happy boy with a mother
beset by financial troubles and a rocky home life.Matthew
Piechota, principal of Minne Lusa Elementary School, described Michael
as a “genius” — an academic whiz who hit it off with teachers and
fellow students.White said she thought of Michael as part of her family; a small boy with a big appetite and an even bigger reserve of energy.The thought of losing Michael has haunted White since Monday, she said.“He called me ‘Mom.' ”In June, White's son, Jacob, talked with Michael, and they made plans to go to a College World Series game on June 14.When Jacob and his mother arrived at Michael's door to pick him up, Michael's mother said, “No, Michael's not going nowhere.”Jacob tried to call Michael a few days later. His mother said he wasn't home.Michael never called back.Piechota
said Michael was at Minne Lusa as much as much as he could be — before
and after school — participating in Boy Scouts, safety patrol and Youth
Congress, a leadership and anti-drug program.He served as captain of the safety patrol — helping to lead the school's crossing guards — for the past year and a half.A “very outgoing” kid, he was the first to volunteer to help mentor younger students, Piechota said.And,
Piechota said, Michael was a voracious reader who often was immersed in
a book and could be seen walking between school and the Florence
Library.Still, court documents indicate that Michael might not
have been as well off at home as he was at school. Both the stepfather
whom Michael lived with, Donald Manns, and Michael's father, Leonard
Belitz, have been accused of using methamphetamine, according to court
records.Belitz and other relatives declined to comment.In November 2006, when Michael was 9, Angela Manns took out a protection order against Donald Manns.At the time, she accused her husband of making threats that terrified her and Michael.Angela Manns said she and her estranged husband had been arguing over a car.“I had my youngest son with me, and he was even able to hear the threats on the phone and he got terribly scared,” Manns wrote.Minutes
later, she said, her husband screamed threats at her — “loud enough and
ANGRY enough that my son got physically sick (puked),” Manns wrote.Angela
Manns was also a defendant in several civil cases involving collection
agencies, credit adjusters and the city's housing authority, according
to court records. Records show that she declared bankruptcy in 1996 and
2009.Her daughter, Desiree, left the house in 2007, according to
court records, and eventually went to live with another family member.
She is currently in foster care.Michael never suggested that his mother was violent, White said.Michael's
mother worked long hours and occasionally would get angry with him, but
Michael would always check in with her before going to White's home,
White said. And Manns would call the Whites' home to check up on
Michael.White remembered Michael as an on-the-go, happy boy.“He always had a smile on his face.”

A relative of a missing 12-year-old Omaha boy says investigators
have confirmed that it was his body that was found in his mother's
north Omaha home early Sunday.Police investigators contacted
family members Wednesday morning to confirm that Michael Belitz was
found dead inside the home of his mother, Angela Manns. Authorities
have said the body had been there for some time, possibly weeks.Angela Manns was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder."We
are very saddened to hear that Michael is no longer with us," said a
tearful Carrie Leclair, half-sister of the boy. "We hope that all who
loved him can find peace, even with the news of his death."
"We're also awaiting the future of our mother, as does everyone else in the community," she said.Douglas
County Attorney Don Kleine earlier in the day filed the charges against
Manns, charging her “with the death of Michael Belitz, also known as
Michael Manns.”Kleine declined to release details of the continuing investigation.Manns, 46, will make her first court appearance on Thursday.Family and friends said they hadn't spoken to or seen Michael since mid-June.

Twelve-year-old Michael Belitz's wrists were bound together, tightly, with duct tape.His legs, too — just below the knees.Those
details, along with allegations of a cover-up of the death, were part
of the reason that Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine filed
first-degree murder charges Wednesday. Kleine said the binding of
Michael's hands and legs shows that his death was a deliberate,
premeditated act.“It's horrific,” Kleine said. “You think of
what that child went through in the last few hours of life — it's
extremely disturbing.”
Perhaps no detail is more disturbing than
the allegation of who did this to the bright, blond-haired boy: his
mother, 46-year-old Angela Manns.Kleine said he will weigh later
whether enough aggravating factors exist to file for the death penalty.
Manns is scheduled to make her first court appearance this afternoon.Manns'
attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, declined to comment
except to say that he plans to have his client “examined for competence
so we can get a handle on her mental state.”While Kleine
released some information on the ongoing investigation, he said he
didn't have an answer for two major aspects of the case — the reason
for Angela Manns' alleged actions and Michael's cause of death. Kleine
said coroner's physicians are awaiting toxicology reports and other
test results.Kleine said the body was so far decomposed that it might not yield evidence of a specific cause of death.“All
of the circumstances of how he's found, the manner in which he's found,
the fact that his hands and legs were bound, shows that this was not a
natural death,” Kleine said.Kleine said Michael suffered no
broken bones. However, he said, the body's decomposition has made it
difficult to determine whether he suffered bruises or cuts.Decomposition experts determined that Michael had been dead for at least two weeks, Kleine said.Friends said they had not heard from, or seen, Michael since mid-June.On
Sunday, Omaha police responded to a 911 call and found a severely
decomposed body in the tub of the family's first-floor bathroom,
located between the bedrooms of Michael and his mother.There, Kleine said, investigators found evidence of a planned cover-up.Kitty litter had been spread over the child's body to try to mask the smell.A
garbage bag covered part of the body, and other garbage bags were in
the bathroom. A shower curtain was found on the floor in front of the
bathtub.“There was evidence that she was going to try do something with the body — move it or hide it,” Kleine said.Manns pulled up to the house Sunday to find police there, Kleine said.She then tried to drive away, but Omaha police caught up to her and took her into custody.Kleine
said Omaha police did not test Manns for alcohol or drugs. Authorities
rarely order such tests in murder cases — partly out of fear that the
defendant will try to use intoxication as a defense.Officers said Manns did not appear to be under the influence when she was arrested, Kleine said.Michael's
father, Leonard Belitz, said he had been hoping against hope that the
body wasn't that of Michael. But late Wednesday, friends and relatives
were beginning to mourn and to contemplate memorial ceremonies for
Michael.Michael, who had just completed the sixth grade, was
remembered as a sweet, smart and outgoing child who mentored other
students and loved to read.“Now it's time to face reality,” Leonard Belitz said. “It's very grim.“He was a special kid.”

Disturbing new details are revealed regarding the murder of 12 year-old Michael Belitz. His
mother, Angela Manns was arrested Sunday, the day police discovered the
boy's body. Manns was denied bond Thursday.
Investigators said the victim had been in the bathtub of Mann’s house at least two
weeks, wrists and legs bound by duct tape. It was only Wednesday that
the boy’s body could be identified through dental records. The exact
cause of his death is still unknown.');
“I'm still kind of in shock. I held out for as long as I could, hoping that
it wasn't him," his father, Lenny Belitz said Thursday. Belitz was
estranged from Michael until the last three or four years, citing an
alcohol problem.
“I got my act together and everything, and went and hunted him down. Him and I got real, real, real tight,” he said.
He said Michael’s death has been hard to comprehend. More difficult, is learning what the investigation has revealed.
"It appeared that there were attempts to mask or hide the odor. There was
quite a bit of kitty litter that was placed over the body and then bags
covering the body," Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said.
Nearby, he said, five gallon buckets, which prosecutors believe were among the
tools planned to be used to dispose of Michael's body.
"There was a hatchet, boning knife, goggles, that kind of thing that were on the counter there."
Kleine says Michael's older sister, who lived with her father, had called authorities in the past concerned for his welfare.
In court Thursday, the court-appointed defense attorney stated that Manns
herself had contacted Child Protective Services, saying, “She’s afraid
something bad would happen to her or her child if she didn't receive
help."
Belitz admitted he didn’t know Manns very well, but he claimed she has a
drinking problem and a temper. Due to his health problems, he said he
stayed with Manns briefly this past January.
He recalled, “I walked in the kitchen and I tickled Michael, just playing
around in the morning, and she got angry, because he was laughing."
Still Belitz said, “I never dreamed. If I had an inkling she would ever to this far with him, I would have done something."
Now, he said, all that's left is justice. "There’ll be a day where she has
to answer to this, one way or the other, whether it's through the
courts or what have you."
Kleine said his office is investigating the complaints to Child Protective Services, exactly what was said, and what was done.
Manns preliminary hearing is set for August 12. She faces a maximum of life in prison or the death penalty.

With stories, songs and prayers, about 150 people gathered tonight
outside Omaha's Minne Lusa Elementary to remember 12-year-old Michael
Belitz.Family, classmates and teachers lit red and white candles
and shared stories of the sixth-grader who was found dead inside his
home on Sunday."He was one of those kids who as soon as you knew
him, you loved him," said his fifth-grade teacher Dana Barker. "He had
unlimited energy. He loved to make people smile."Belitz's mother, Angela Manns, 46, is charged with first-degree murder in his death.

The death of a 12-year-old Omaha boy, allegedly at the hands of his
mother, is a dramatic example of the need to broaden the state's
criteria for investigating a child's welfare, a child advocate says.The
call that Michael Belitz's mother, Angela Manns, made to a Nebraska
Health and Human Services worker didn't indicate she was abusing or
neglecting the boy. But the fact that she was thinking about putting
him in foster care should have prompted an investigation, said Kathy
Bigsby Moore, executive director of Voices for Children in Nebraska.HHS
workers analyze whether a child is in impending danger before
recommending to law enforcement that the child be removed from a home.
The department defines such danger as “threats to child/youth safety
that may not be occurring in the present, but are likely to occur in
the immediate to near future.”Moore said children shouldn't have
to be in imminent danger before officials intervene. “If any of us
tried to define imminent danger, what does that word conjure up in your
mind?” Moore asked. “It actually conjures up for me standing on a
ledge, about to fall.”
When cases are filed in Juvenile Court or
when parental rights are terminated, “you always need to look back to
the ‘best interests' of the child,” Moore said. “I think if we have a
standard that ties more to the best interests than it does to physical
evidence of harm, then we will begin to move in the right direction,”
she said.Manns, 46, was charged last week with first-degree
murder in the death of her son, whose severely decayed body was found
July 12 in a bathtub in the family home near 28th and Ida Streets. His
wrists and legs had been tightly bound with duct tape.On March
27, Manns left a voice mail message for a Health and Human Services
caseworker, inquiring about placing Michael in foster care. HHS
officials say the caseworker tried to return the call, but voice mail
wasn't available.Manns made a second call on April 8 and left
another voice mail message. The worker called back and left a message
instructing Manns to contact the HHS hot line.Manns never called, and the caseworker never checked back.State
Sen. Gwen Howard of Omaha, a former HHS caseworker herself, said Manns'
calls about foster care indicate the woman thought she was in trouble.
Had Howard been the caseworker, she said, she probably would have
contacted an agency such as the Nebraska Children's Home Society, which
allows parents to relinquish a child to its care. Or, she said, she
would have asked the Visiting Nurse Association to check on the child.She said a VNA nurse would be less threatening than an HHS worker or a police officer.“In
retrospect,” she said, Manns' calls “probably should have generated an
investigation,” adding that it's easy to say after the fact what should
have been done.Police or sheriff's deputies can conduct
well-being checks if someone suspects a problem in a home. The Douglas
County 911 center has taken more than 5,000 “check well-being” calls so
far this year.In Omaha, patrol officers who find evidence to
back up allegations of child abuse — such as bruising, signs of
neglect, or a lack of food, water or heat — immediately contact the
department's child victim/sexual assault unit, said Officer Jake
Bettin, a police spokesman. Police take photos, write down what they
have observed and, if the evidence warrants it, fill out affidavits to
remove the children, he said.Research shows that only about a
third of people with suspicions of child abuse report them, “because
they don't want to damage the relationship with the family member or
the neighbor” they suspect of abuse, said Gene Klein, executive
director of Project Harmony, an Omaha child advocacy center. “Or they
think that what they see or are experiencing isn't enough to cause a
case to be investigated.”But the information they have, he said, may be the final piece that investigators need to make a case.Besides, he said, it's the law.“The
statute is simple: If you have reason to suspect a child is being
abused, you're required to report that,” Klein said. “We're all
responsible.”

The mother accused of killing her son and letting his body decompose in
her bathtub was transferred to a psychiatric evaluation Monday, being
seen in the public eye for the first time.The case against
Angela Manns will involve determine her psychological well-being. She
was taken to an office in the Regency area near 102nd and Pacific
streets.Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine would not comment on
any details from the evaluation, saying only that it was a matter of
procedure.Police were called to Manns' home on July 12 after neighbors reported an odor and flies around the house.A
body was found in the bathtub covered in cat litter. Detectives said
the legs and wrists were bound with duct tape. The extent of the
decomposition prevented identification of the body for several days.
The body was confirmed several days later to belong to Michael Belitz,
Manns' 12-year-old son.Various tools were found around the body,
including an ax and knives. Investigators believe Manns was in the
process of hiding the body.Manns will appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17.

The boy’s funeral is planned. The flowers are chosen. The church is ready.All
that’s needed is a simple signature to allow Michael Belitz to be
buried and give his grieving family a moment of solace after three
weeks of pain.But that signature must come from Angela Manns —
Michael’s mother, guardian and the woman charged with killing him. And
her lawyers say she’s not signing anything.“This little boy is
expected to suffer and still not rest because of a stupid piece of
paper?” said Michael’s half sister, Carrie, who agreed to comment if
she were identified only by her first name.
“It’s time to put closure to this,” she said. “We still can’t mourn.”Authorities
released the 12-year-old boy’s remains Tuesday, two weeks after his
severely decomposed body was found in the bathtub of his mother’s north
Omaha home. Investigators said duct tape bound Michael’s hands and
feet. A garbage bag covered part of the body, and kitty litter had been
spread over it, apparently in an effort to mask the smell.The date that Michael died and how he was killed have not been determined.Leonard Belitz, Michael’s father, once hoped to seek custody of Michael.Now
he’ll head to court to ask for custody of the body of the boy who loved
the Boy Scouts, baseball and school. The boy who earned good grades at
Minne Lusa Elementary, was captain of the school’s safety patrol and
read to kindergartners. The boy whom teachers and relatives remember as
energetic, polite, talkative and lovable.This week, Leonard
Belitz’s attorney will file for a court order granting Belitz
guardianship. If approved, the petition could clear the way for Michael
to be buried.“I would guess that even Angela probably wants
Michael to have a dignified funeral and burial and send-off,” said
Belitz’s attorney, David Wilson. “Really, this is just kind of a
formality.”State law gives surviving parents the right to plan the burials of minor children. Manns had full custody of Michael.Gary
Olson, Manns’ attorney, said she can’t sign any document pending the
results of a mental evaluation. A psychological exam began Monday.The struggle to plan a funeral adds another layer of heartbreak to the boy’s death and the complex homicide case.Police
were called to the white house at 2837 Ida St. on July 12 and found
Michael’s body. Investigators said the boy had been dead for at least
two weeks.Family members told The World-Herald they had shared
concerns about Michael’s living conditions with caseworkers at the
state’s Department of Health and Human Services but received no
substantive response from the agency.Manns, 46, had contacted a caseworker on March 27 and April 8 to ask about putting Michael in foster care.After Michael’s body was found, HHS launched an investigation into how it had handled the case.Douglas
County Attorney Don Kleine said results of some tests on Michael’s
remains are not yet complete, but the cause or time of death might
never be determined because the body was so decayed.Last Monday,
investigators told Carrie that authorities would release Michael’s
remains by the next day. She soon learned that the funeral home needed
Manns to sign a release for burial rights. The release never came.“We thought it might be a problem, but we didn’t think it was going to be this bad,” Carrie said. “Michael has rights, too.”For
now, Michael’s father, siblings and friends grow more impatient. His
remains are at the funeral home, waiting for a final resting place.Donors have stepped forward to help bear the costs of a funeral and burial for the boy.“He should be buried already,” his father said.

Concerns about a child's safety and well-being should receive more
timely and skilled follow-up under a new process put in place by the
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.The change
comes after a review of what happened in the case of Michael Belitz,
the 12-year-old Omaha boy whose decomposed body was found July 12 in
the bathtub of his mother's house. Michael's mother, Angela Manns, has
been charged in his death.On March 27, Manns left a voice mail
message for a Health and Human Services caseworker, inquiring about
placing Michael in foster care. HHS officials say the caseworker tried
to return the call, but voice mail wasn't available. Manns made a
second call on April 8 and left another voice mail message. The worker
called back and left a message instructing Manns to contact the HHS hot
line.

Manns never called, and the caseworker never checked back.Under
HHS' new process, if people call child welfare caseworkers with
concerns, they will be transferred to the child abuse and neglect hot
line to talk with specialized workers trained to ask questions and
assess the child's safety and risk, HHS announced Friday. The
caseworker will stay on the line to make sure the transfer is complete.




If a caseworker receives a written or voice
mail message stating concern, the information will be documented on an
electronic “alert to hot line” form that is now part of the
department's e-mail system and will go directly to hot line staff.The
hot line's specialized workers will contact the caller for additional
information. If repeated telephone calls don't result in contact, a
department caseworker or law enforcement officer will be asked to do a
child welfare check and make personal contact with the child and family.“Our
review showed we could do a better job of getting some kinds of
information to the child abuse and neglect hot line,” said Kerry
Winterer, the CEO of the department. “Our specialized intake workers
are skilled in gathering information so a thorough assessment can be
made, and that drives our response. We need to make sure that all
appropriate calls get to the hot line.”The child abuse and neglect hot line phone number is (800) 652-1999.

New wrinkle in Manns case

By Juan Perez Jr.
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Omaha homicide detective Christopher Spencer greeted the middle-aged woman being held in an interview room on the fourth floor of Central Police Headquarters.

It was about 2:50 p.m. on July 12, 2009.

Angela Manns had been waiting inside for more than an hour.

She had agreed to answer some questions after officers spotted her car speeding from the house where the remains of her 12-year-old son, Michael Belitz, rotted in the bathtub.

“I just kind of want to give you an idea of what brings you down here today,” Spencer, a four-year veteran of the homicide unit, told her.

“We got a call out to your place. Had some individuals that were concerned about you and your son, they hadn’t seen you for awhile. So we. . .”

Manns interrupted: “Well I’ve been house-sitting and my son’s in Tennessee,” she said.

That remark is all a jury will ever hear of a police interrogation that stretched for several hours.

The Police Department’s standard operating procedure requires interviewers to read criminal suspects their rights — among them their right to speak to an attorney — before an interrogation begins. Then a standard police form must be completed.

Three hours of questioning passed before Spencer began reading Manns her rights — a few minutes before 6 p.m.

That length of time was improper, Douglas County District Judge W. Mark Ashford ruled Tuesday.
Ashford also noted that Manns was kept in the police interrogation room for nearly nine hours straight before her arrest, even after the interview ended.

He said detectives should have halted the questioning after Manns made statements indicating that she wanted a lawyer. Police also didn’t go far enough to ensure that she knew of her right to terminate the interrogation, he wrote.

Therefore, almost everything Manns told police during the interview that preceded her arrest — with the exception of her initial comment about her son’s whereabouts — is now inadmissible.

Manns is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her son.

Though Ashford’s decision represented a partial victory for Manns’ defense team, it still cleared the way for the vast majority of prosecutors’ evidence to potentially reach a jury.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the ruling “won’t hurt our ability to prosecute the case at all.”

“I don’t disagree with his decision. We understand it’s about process,” Kleine said.

“I don’t think there was any bad intentions, by any stretch, on the part of the officer involved. I think he thought, ‘Well, I’m just really trying to find out what happened.’ Once he thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to let her go anymore,’ that’s when he Mirandized her.”

Ashford wrote in his ruling, ‘‘There is no evidence that Spencer used strong arm tactics during the interrogation.’’

Both Police Chief Alex Hayes and a police spokeswoman declined to comment on the department’s interrogation procedures and said the case would need further review.

“We would have to read the order in its entirety and sit down with the County Attorney’s Office to see if there were any shortfalls in the procedures that were carried out that day that would need to be addressed through training,” said Lt. Darci Tierney, the spokeswoman.

Kleine said his office frequently meets with authorities to ensure investigative procedures are lawful.
“I know they’ll take heed with what Judge Ashford said here and, like I said, I’m 100 percent sure there wasn’t any intentional violation here.”

Manns’ defense team argued that the discovery of Michael Belitz’s body, the statements Manns made to police and any evidence seized in subsequent search warrants were obtained without sufficient probable cause and that her arrest was unconstitutional.

But Ashford denied the defense’s petition to suppress all physical evidence police seized from Manns’ property.

This ensures that jurors will hear of the gruesome scene officers encountered when they arrived at Manns’ home, if the case goes to trial.

Plans for the trial, however, remain unclear. It is unlikely that Manns will face trial by October, as scheduled.

Ashford’s ruling included excerpts from the interview between Spencer and Manns.

The detective’s line of questioning, Ashford wrote, “changed from one of simply collecting information as to the boy’s whereabouts to one of challenging defendant’s lies,” though “the question remained the same throughout — where was the defendant’s son?”

At one point during the interrogation, Manns told Spencer how to reach her son. She first gave him a wrong number for a brother in White House, Tenn.

When Spencer corrected the number and reached Manns’ brother, the man said he hadn’t seen his sister or her youngest son for at least three years.

“Although Spencer testified that (Manns) did not become a suspect until Spencer confirmed that defendant was untruthful about her son’s whereabouts, it would appear she was a suspect the entire time,” Ashford wrote.

Spencer re-entered the interview room after that call and questioned Manns for another 20 minutes before reading her rights.

He advised her of her right to an attorney, and the fact that one would be provided if she could not afford one.

“I definitely want that option,” she replied. The questions continued.

At 6:16 p.m., Manns said she wanted a lawyer.

“So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to talk to me any more unless you have an attorney?” Spencer asked.

“Right,” Manns said. One minute later, the interview was over.

Manns remained in the interrogation room until 10:17 p.m., when she was taken to the Douglas County jail and booked in the death of her son.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100929/NEWS97/709299991/0

She told a psychiatrist she strangled Michael
with a phone cord while he was sleeping. And Wednesday morning, Angela
Manns told a judge "no contest" to the second degree murder of her
12-year-old son, Michael Belitz.
Manns was scheduled to go on trial Monday.
Now she'll have to wait a month to find out her sentence. It could be
anywhere from 20 years to life in prison.
Police were called to Manns' house in July of
2009 after neighbors worried that they hadn't seen Michael, a popular
and outgoing child. The windows of the house were covered with flies.
Inside, officers found Michael's decomposed body, covered with kitty
litter, apparently to mask the smell.
Michael's father watched as Manns entered her
plea Wednesday morning. He didn't want to go on camera, but told KMTV
Action 3 News' reporter that he was "satisfied" with the outcome.
Manns pleaded no contest to second degree murder. She originally had been charged with first degree murder.
http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=14306076