DEAN SPRINGSTUBE - 10 months (2006) - San Diego CA

A San Diego County man has been convicted of first-degree murder for
strangling his 10-month-old son and the baby's mother because she was
pressuring him to take a paternity test.

A Superior Court jury deliberated for two days before convicting
Dennis Potts of killing 22-year-old Tori Vinneau and their child, Dean
in 2006.

Prosecutors argued that Potts had a secret relationship with Vinneau
and strangled her because he did not want anyone to know that he was
the baby's biological father. Two weeks before she was killed, Potts
agreed to take a mail-in paternity test but submitted another man's DNA
sample instead.

The 25-year-old Bonita resident faces life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Nov. 6.

A Bonita man was convicted today of two counts
of first-degree murder for strangling the mother of his child and
killing his 10-month-old son after the woman threatened to take him to
court over the child's paternity. Dennis Potts, 25, faces life
in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Nov. 6
by San Diego Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak. Jurors
deliberated for about three days before convicting Potts of killing
22-year-old Tori Vienneau and their child, Dean Springstube. Deputy
District Attorney Per Hellstrom told jurors in his closing argument
Tuesday that Vienneau was killed July 26, 2006, on a night she and
Potts had dinner plans. Potts lied to police when he told them
he called off dinner with Vienneau, Hellstrom said, because it was the
victim who canceled the meeting. That was the night Vienneau
planned to tell Potts she was taking him to court over the paternity of
their baby, according to Hellstrom. "This was clearly the
catalyst that caused Mr. Potts to kill her," the prosecutor said,
telling the jury the suggestion that a stranger broke into Vienneau's
apartment and killed her and her baby was an "absurd conclusion." A
"ping" from a cell phone tower at 6:44 p.m. put the defendant near the
victim's apartment in south San Diego around the time she was killed,
the prosecutor said. ` The man who the defense claimed is the
real killer, Daniel Moen, couldn't have committed the crimes because he
was at work, the prosecutor said. Besides, Moen cared for Vienneau and loved her baby, Hellstrom said. By contrast, Potts had no relationship with his son and lied "up and down" about his role in the murders, Hellstrom said. Potts
erased all of his text messages from that night, then ordered his cell
phone records and altered them, the prosecutor said. The defendant said he was at friend Max Corn's home working on a project when Vienneau was killed. Hellstrom
labeled as "chilling" the Internet searches done by Potts a month
before the murders, in which he researched such topics as "how to cheat
a swab paternity test," "the best way to kill someone," "getting away
with murder" and "getting out of child support." Defense
attorney Kerry Armstrong told the jury that Potts did the searches in
connection with a school paper on euthanasia. He also had some
fascination with death, was interested in mixed martial arts and was
worried about his father's failing health, his lawyer said. Potts'
palm print on the door jam of the room where the baby was hanged in his
crib could have been put there weeks before because the defendant had
been to Vienneau's apartment three or four times, Armstrong argued. Potts
made changes to his cell phone records because he was "scared," but
never showed the altered records to anyone, his attorney said. Just because Potts lied to police doesn't mean he's guilty of murder, Armstrong said. There is no direct evidence linking Potts to the murders, the defense attorney said. "This is a 100 percent circumstantial case," Armstrong told the jury. Hellstrom
told the jury that Potts surprised Vienneau in her apartment, knocking
her unconscious and then strangling her with the cord from a
hair-straightening iron. Potts ripped the victim's blouse to try to
make it look like she was sexually assaulted, the prosecutor said. The
defendant then proceeded to the baby's room and hanged the child in his
crib with a cord from a cell phone charger, Hellstrom said. Hellstrom
said Potts lied to police when he said a paternity test he took was
legitimate, when in fact he had used his friend Corn's DNA to submit
for the test. Corn, who faces a conspiracy charge, will be tried following Potts' case.

Double murderer gets 2 life terms


Bonita man sentenced for strangling infant son, baby’s mother



Nov. 7, 2009


Dennis Potts knew a lot about computers and cell phones, but it may have been his technological savvy that led to his undoing, a San Diego judge said yesterday before sentencing the double murderer to life in prison.
The 25-year-old Bonita man was linked to the 2006 deaths of his infant son and the baby’s mother through text messages, computer searches and information from cell phone towers.
Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak said yesterday that Potts was skilled with electronics, but it wasn’t enough to fool investigators.
“Borrowing a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Mr. Potts was hoist with his own petard,” Revak said. “He was injured by his own devices he had used to injure others, specifically his computer and his telephone.”
Beforesentencing Potts to two consecutive terms of life without parole, Revak said he imagined the infant’s last moments, staring up from his playpen and possibly recognizing his father’s face.
“(It) raises the hair on the back of my neck,” Revak said. “I can only ask of Mr. Potts, ‘What were you thinking?’”
Neither Potts nor his family members made statements to the judge in court.
Potts was convicted in September of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice, stemming from the deaths of Tori Vienneau, 22, and her 10-month-old son, Dean. The bodies were found July 26, 2006, in a San Diego apartment where the mother and childwere staying.
Vienneau’s family members and friends clapped loudly in court yesterday after the judge ordered the prison sentence. Moments earlier, her parents had tried to describe the emotional pain they had endured since the murders.
Her mother, Dayna Herroz, said grief caused her and her husband, Roy, to lose their jobs and their home. Herroz said she now takes medication to help her function throughout the day and sleep at night.
“We not only lost Tori and Dean, we lost everything we worked our entire lives for,” Herroz said, her body trembling as she spoke.
During the trial, prosecutors said Potts killed Vienneau and the baby to protect his lifestyle and avoid paying child support. At the time of the murders, he had not told his parents or fiancee he had a son.
“Dean was what? An inconvenience? A secret to be kept?” Deputy District Attorney Per Hellstrom said yesterday.
The prosecutor said Potts manipulated the results of a mail-in paternity test by substituting a friend’s DNA for his own.
When the tests showed — incorrectly — that Potts was not the baby’s father, Vienneau decided she wanted a court-ordered test.
Potts and Vienneau had plans to go out to dinner and talk the night of the killings, the prosecutor said.
Her body was foundin the living room of the South 45th Street apartment, the cord of a hair-straightening iron wrapped around her neck.
The baby was found in a nearby bedroom, hanging from the cord of a cell phone charger.
Later, investigators recovered text messages from Potts on Vienneau’s cell phone. Prosecutors said Potts deleted the messages to distance himself from the crimes.
Authorities also learned that in the weeks before the killings, Potts conducted several Internet searches on his computer on topics including “getting away with murder” and “getting out of child support.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/07/double-murderer-gets-2-life-terms/

Friend Sentenced for Covering for Double Murderer



3/26/2010



SAN DIEGO - A man who lied to police about the whereabouts of a friend, who was ultimately convicted of strangling a woman and her 10-month-old son to avoid paying child support, was sentenced Friday to probation and a year in jail.

Maxwell Corn, 26, was convicted last October of conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case of his friend Dennis Potts, who was convicted in a separate trial of murdering Tori Vienneau and her son, Dean Springstube.

In December, Judge Bernard Revak sent Corn to prison for a 90-day psychological study to determine if he was suitable for probation or should be sentenced to prison.

The judge today sentenced the defendant to three years probation and a year in jail, and also suspended a three-year prison sentence should Corn fail on probation.

Revak said he was "disgusted" by the way Corn conducted himself after the murders, misdirecting police to cover for his friend.

"I'm convinced you knew ... almost immediately, that Mr. Potts killed (that mother and baby)," the judge said.

About a month before the murders, Corn helped Potts fake a DNA test by substituting his own DNA to hide the baby's paternity, according to the evidence presented at trial.

Corn told police that Potts was with him continuously from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. the day of the murders. Cell phone records and a security camera at a fast-food restaurant showed that was not the case.

It's believed that the woman's request for a re-test under court supervision provided the motive for the murder, and Potts was eventually proved to be the father.

Deputy District Attorney Per Hellstrom argued unsuccessfully that Corn should be sent to prison.

"All of us feel outrage at the crime -- all of us except Mr. Corn," the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Allen Bloom said Corn feels "enormous remorse" for the victims and their family but doesn't feel responsible for the murders.

Bloom urged Revak not to hold Corn responsible for the tragic deaths.

"This is a case that cries out for vengeance," the defense attorney said.

Hellstrom criticized Corn for thinking it was more important to protect his friend than call police to report a "child killer."

"This is about as egregious a case as one could possibly imagine," the prosecutor told the judge, calling Corn's actions "despicable."

Revak, in sentencing Corn, noted the defendant had no prior record and strong community support.

Hellstrom told jurors during Potts' trial that the defendant deleted his text messages and altered his cell phone records. He had dinner plans with Vienneau the night she was killed, he said.

The prosecutor told the jury that Potts surprised Vienneau in her apartment, knocked her unconscious, strangled her with the cord of a hair- straightening iron and ripped her blouse to make it appear to be a sexual assault.

Potts then hung his son in his crib with a cell phone charger cord, the prosecutor said.

Potts was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.



http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Friend-Sentenced-for-Covering-for-Double-Murderer/nnkbjcx1d0KAN8LSZ7IHfw.cspx