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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by TomTerrific0420 Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:09 pm

CLEARWATER — On the day Craig Alan Wall Sr.'s infant son died,
Clearwater police obtained a search warrant for a red Nikon digital
camera that police say contained a video of the father saying he "was
sorry he did something to the baby."The warrant also says that
two doctors examined the baby, who died at a hospital on Feb. 6, and
found fractured ribs and swelling on the left side of the baby's brain.
And Wall Sr., 34, left a suicide note on a computer in the apartment
where the baby was found injured.Despite
those factors, police have not charged Wall in connection with the
infant's death. Eleven days after the baby, Craig Wall Jr., died, his
mother, Laura Taft, was found fatally stabbed at her Clearwater
apartment. Wall Sr. is in custody in Sumter County, where police say he
fled after killing Taft, who was his girlfriend.Police spokeswoman
Beth Watts said the department is awaiting a final
cause-of-death report from the Medical Examiner's Office."It's
a death investigation," Watts said. "It hasn't been classified as a
homicide. We can't say what caused that child's death."In the
warrant, the medical director for the Child Protection Team in Pinellas
County, an arm of the state Department of Health, said she "suspected
that the baby was either shaken or thrown onto a soft-type surface to
cause injury to the brain."Watts said that was considered
speculative. "Every time we have a suspicious death, it's not always
ruled a homicide. You have to look at other factors," she said.Watts
said the language in the search warrant about Wall's statement on the
video clip was "very vague and does not constitute a confession."Taft's
other child, Connor Taft, is not related to Wall. He was with his
father when Taft was stabbed to death early Wednesday morning.
Wall will be extradited to Pinellas County to face a murder charge, Watts said.


Last edited by TomTerrific0420 on Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:33 pm

Clearwater man admitted he killed girlfriend, records say

CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL 34622_craigwallwalk
Deputies remove Craig Wall from a sheriff's van Sunday morning at the Pinellas County Jail.

By MARK DOUGLAS | News Channel 8
and STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2010

Updated: 02/22/2010 02:36 pm

CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL 33887_craig-alan-wall

CLEARWATER - Craig Wall, the ex-convict accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend – and suspected in the death of their 5-week-old son – told his mother he stabbed the girlfriend, according to court documents released this morning.

Wall, 34, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Sunday on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Laura Taft. He is also suspected in, but has not been charged with, killing the couple's son Craig Wall Jr.

County Judge Donald Horrox this afternoon ordered that Wall be held without bail on the murder charge. When Wall was asked if he had enough money for an attorney, Wall replied, "No sir, she took everything."

The infant was taken off life support Feb. 6, the day after the child experienced medical problems while in Wall's care, court documents say. On the first day she could, Taft, who believed Wall responsible for their child's death, applied for a temporary restraining order against Wall and was granted it.

But Wall violated the order by driving a 1995 red-and-tan Chrysler convertible to the church where funeral services were being held for his son, court documents say. He was arrested on charges he violated the order, and was released on $1,000 bail, authorities say. Two days later, killed Taft, Clearwater police say.

At the first appearance today, Judge Horrox also ordered Wall be held without bond on the domestic violence injunction violation.

According to the court documents made available this morning, a neighbor of Taft's saw a man matching Wall's description get out of a car at 470 Fairwood Ave. The neighbor, Christopher Thompson, who lived above Taft's apartment, heard a disturbance and went to Taft's apartment, the documents say.

Thompson pushed open the door and found Taft in the doorway, the documents say. He checked for a pulse but there was none. It was later determined Taft had been stabbed twice – once in the shoulder and once in the chest, documents say.

Thompson also saw the same man walking quickly from underneath a balcony, getting into the red car and driving away, the documents say. Thompson called to neighbors to call 911.

The red Chrysler Lebaron was found within a couple of hours in Sumter County, documents say.

Wall was in the car. He had blood on his pants and there was blood on the steering wheel, even though Wall himself did not appear to have any external wounds.

He had apparently overdosed, however, and was taken to an area hospital before he was transferred to the Sumter County Detention Center on Saturday and then to the Pinellas County Jail on Sunday.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336. Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 451-2333.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/22/221436/clearwater-man-admitted-he-killed-girlfriend-recor/
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:52 pm

Prosecutor reassigned over bail hearing for murder suspect Craig Wall

By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, February 23, 2010




A Pinellas-Pasco assistant state attorney has been assigned to new duties because of the way he handled a bail hearing for Craig Wall, who is now accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death.

Wall had his first court appearance Monday, by video from the medical wing of the Pinellas County Jail. He told a judge he could not afford to hire his own attorney because "she took everything," presumably referring to the girlfriend he is accused of killing, Laura Taft. But he did not explain the comment further.

Also on Monday, new court documents indicated Wall admitted to his mother that he stabbed Taft.

Wall's case has generated controversy because only two days after he posted $1,000 bail, on a charge of violating a domestic violence injunction, he was arrested and accused of killing the woman who was seeking protection from him.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe has said he was dumbfounded by how the bail hearing was handled on the injunction case. He said his assistant failed to let a judge know Wall had spent 14 years in prison and also was considered a suspect in the recent death of his and Taft's 5-week-old son. McCabe said his prosecutor also should not have offered to settle the case during the initial court hearing.

The assistant state attorney, James Flynn, had previously been assigned to a division of the courts that specializes in domestic violence cases. He has been transferred to a division that handles general misdemeanor cases, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett.

Flynn was removed Friday from the domestic violence court so he would not be "in the position where he would be exposed to those type of cases." If he had continued in that area, it might have "eroded public confidence," Bartlett said.

Bartlett did not want to discuss the personnel action in detail, but said he spoke directly to Flynn and "Mr. Flynn knows exactly what he did wrong." He also said Flynn acknowledged he erred, "and is genuinely remorseful."

Flynn could not be reached for comment.

Although McCabe and Bartlett have criticized the actions of the junior prosecutor, it's not clear if doing things properly would have saved Taft's life. They said Flynn should not have offered to settle the charge of violating the injunction at the initial hearing — but Wall turned down the offer anyway, asserting, "I didn't do anything wrong."

Because Wall turned down the offer, the discussion during the hearing turned to his bail. Although Flynn failed to mention the pending homicide investigation and Wall's prison record, attorneys say it's unlikely the courts would have set an exceptionally high bail anyway, because at that time Wall was charged with a misdemeanor that often generates bail of $500 or less.

As it was, Flynn asked for bail of $2,500, and an assistant public defender suggested $500. Circuit Judge George Jirotka set it at $1,000. Wall posted bail through a bonding agency that night.

The new court records say a Clearwater detective spoke to Wall's mother the day Taft was killed. "He admitted to stabbing Laura Taft" during a conversation she had with her son earlier that day.

The documents also quote a neighbor of Wall's who said he had heard a disturbance in Taft's apartment early that morning. When he went to see what happened, he found Taft "unresponsive" in the doorway.

The neighbor checked for a pulse and couldn't find one. And then "he observed Craig Wall walking quickly from underneath the balcony," and saw Wall get into his car and drive away, the records state.

Neighbors called 911, and emergency workers discovered Taft had been stabbed in the shoulder and chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wall was transferred this weekend to the Pinellas County Jail after being arrested in Sumter County, where deputies found him passed out in a car on the side of a road. He was placed on a suicide watch Sunday.

A MySpace page in the name of Craig Wall says: "my son died at 5wks. old. i am dying.i lost everythig."

Times staff writer Drew Harwell contributed to this report.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/prosecutor-reassigned-over-bail-hearing-for-murder-suspect-craig-wall/1074987
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:56 pm

Clearwater hospital sued over releasing man later accused of murder

By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, April 9, 2010


CLEARWATER — Controversy has dogged the case of Craig Wall, the man charged with murdering his baby son, and then stabbing the boy's mother to death.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office has admitted it erred in the way it handled a court hearing in which Wall's bail was set at $1,000. Less than two days after he was released from the Pinellas County Jail in February, his ex-girlfriend, Laura Taft, was dead.

Now a lawsuit has been filed in the case, but it's not against the court system that allowed him to be released from jail.

It's against Morton Plant Hospital, which had released Wall from its psychiatric care before he ever got to jail. The lawsuit says the hospital should have known better than to release Wall, because he was a prime suspect in the death of his son, and he had threatened to kill Taft if she ever left him.

"They had reason to believe that he was a danger," attorney Barry Cohen said.

Cohen said even though the hospital knew Wall had threatened Taft, the staff did not let her know when they released him in February.

"Don't you at least notify the woman that you let him out of the hospital?" Cohen said.

"If she had known that maybe she would not have stayed home in that apartment."

A Morton Plant spokeswoman said the hospital had not yet reviewed the lawsuit, and could not comment on it. John Bredeson, who is Taft's father and the personal representative for her estate, referred questions to Cohen.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Pinellas County by Taft's estate and on behalf of Taft's older son (who is not biologically related to Wall).

The suit says that on Feb. 6, Wall was admitted into the hospital under the Baker Act, which allows people to be detained for up to 72 hours if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. They can be held longer in some circumstances, such as when a hospital files a petition to do so in court. It is not clear if Morton Plant took that step.

Wall went into the hospital because he had threatened suicide, bought a bottle of sleeping pills, and was acting irrationally. Police were aware of this because they had just been interviewing him as a suspect in the death of his and Taft's infant son, Craig Wall Jr.

While Wall was being held in the hospital, Taft went to court and got a domestic violence injunction against him. She described how she tried to leave him with the two children, "telling me if I leave he would kill me. I fear for my life and my sons."

A copy of the injunction order was delivered to Wall in the hospital, letting him know he could not come near her.

The lawsuit says Morton Plant should not have released Wall when its staff knew he "had made specific threats against Laura Taft and was a prime suspect in the killing of Laura's child."

Under the circumstances, "it was reasonably foreseeable that, if released from Baker Act custody without restriction, notice or warning, Craig Alan Wall would seek to carry out his threats and cause injury or death" to Taft, her older son, or both. He was released from the hospital on Feb. 9. Five days later he was arrested, charged with violating the injunction after he showed up at the memorial for his 5-week-old son. The next day he was released on bail and two days after that, Taft was stabbed to death.

After the hearing in which Wall's bail was set at $1,000, Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe said one of his assistants should have pointed out that Wall was a suspect in the baby's death, among other problems. However, the misdemeanor crime he was charged with often carries a low bail.

Wall is now being held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail, charged with two first-degree murders.

Curtis Krueger can be reached at (727) 893-8232 or ckrueger@sptimes.com.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/civil/clearwater-hospital-sued-over-releasing-man-later-accused-of-murder/1086062
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:07 pm

Signs of trouble appeared at early age in man charged with two murders

By Rita Farlow and Katie Sanders, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Sunday, July 25, 2010

CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Flo_wall072510_z_132240c
Craig Wall is charged with murdering his 5-week-old son and then his girlfriend less than two weeks later.

CLEARWATER

Before he reached the second grade, Craig Wall had drowned the family kitten in the toilet, hanged his baby brother from a bunk bed, set fire to the kitchen and placed a booby trap designed to drop heavy toys onto his mother's head.

By the time he was 9, a psychiatrist confirmed what his family already knew: that Wall was "a seriously disturbed and dangerous child . . . (who) presents a serious danger to his family."

In a report dated March 5, 1985, the doctor recommended psychotherapy and offered a chilling warning: Failure to give Wall the help he needed "could, conceivably, make the difference between a treatable individual and one we may read about in the newspapers one day."

The doctor was right. In February, Wall was charged with killing his infant son, then his girlfriend. But that wasn't the first time he appeared in the paper.

His life of violence is traced in headlines.

Wall's first article in the St. Petersburg Times came just three years after the doctor made his prediction.

• • •

Parents wage fruitless battle to tame son's violence/Meet Steven, 12, a boy out of control — March 13, 1988

Steven was a pseudonym, as the article noted, to protect the identities of Wall and his family.

Published a week before Wall turned 13, the article chronicled a decade of violent outbursts and his parents' struggle to get him help.

In February 1988, Wall threatened his seventh-grade teacher with a knife after, he said, the teacher pointed it at him and another student.

"The knife was lying on the table so I went around the desk, picked up the knife and pointed it at (the teacher) and said, 'Now you did this to us and I don't like it so why don't you take your own medicine,' " Wall told a Times reporter in 1988.

Things were no better at home.

"I live in fear for the safety of my other . . . children,'' said Wall's mother, Candy Zilich. "If I ground him," she told the Times, "I might not wake up."

• • •

The psychiatrist who called Wall "disturbed and dangerous" asked his patient to draw a picture of his home and the people in it. It's a common exercise used to determine a child's intellectual maturity and detect any personality disorders.

Typically, the child places the home at the bottom of the page with some features, such as a walkway and windows. Shy children add little windows. Outgoing children add big doors.

Wall's had jail bars.

In the lower left corner of the drawing, Wall placed a head with no body labeled "Ron-Ron." That was the younger half brother he had hanged from the bunk bed and who had been saved by the last-minute intercession of their mother.

The head in the drawing was circled in light red. The face had a dark red mouth, two red teeth and black eyes with yellow centers.

• • •

Wall was born in Erie, Pa., on March 21, 1975.

His parents, who were not married, split up before he was born. When Wall was 2, his mother married Ronald Zilich Sr.

Candy Zilich said her son had a bright smile and a disposition to match, at first.

But as a toddler, he began to tense up, rocking himself back and forth.

At age 3, a new babysitter grew alarmed when Wall described sex acts he had performed with a previous sitter and asked if they would do the same.

The abuse had gone on for at least a year.

Authorities did not prosecute the first sitter after discovering she was a sexual abuse victim herself, Candy Zilich said.

The Ziliches sought help for their son. But, according to medical records provided by Wall's stepfather, they were initially rebuffed by counselors who said they needed to deal with Wall's disciplinary problems before they could begin to treat him.

Candy Zilich said she believes the sexual abuse and the subsequent lack of help from rape crisis professionals began her son's downward spiral.

By the time he was ready for elementary school, doctors had Wall on powerful medications that included lithium (to treat mania or impulse control disorders), Cylert and Ritalin (for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Valium (for anxiety) and Mellaril (an antipsychotic).

His hostility, aggression and mood swings continued.

Intelligence tests showed Wall to be a bright child, scoring above his age level. But abnormal results on a visual-motor test and an electroencephalogram hinted at possible brain dysfunction. Doctors never ordered further tests to explore that possibility, Candy Zilich said.

"(Craig) used to bump the side of his head with his hand and say, 'My mind is telling me to do bad things,' " she said.

She wonders whether the potent cocktail of drugs damaged her son's brain.

• • •

Wall's family moved to St. Petersburg in 1983, when Craig was 8.

He was enrolled in Richard L. Sanders School for severely emotionally disturbed children.

Trouble continued in his teen years, as Wall was cited with stealing at school, a gas station and a grocery store. He was arrested for pulling a false fire alarm and damaging school property.

In 1991, a judge sent Wall to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna after he set fire to the halfway house where he was living.

Soon after he was released in 1993, Wall barged into a St. Petersburg home, pointed a gun at a couple and demanded the keys to their Ford Taurus.

An inmate in a cell next to Wall's in the Pinellas County Jail testified that Wall had admitted the crime to him. Wall threatened the inmate by scrawling the message "anybody who testifies against me will be killed," according to court documents.

Wall was sentenced to 17 years in prison. While there, he was disciplined 36 times, mostly for disobeying orders, disorderly conduct and spoken threats.

By the time he was released in 2008, Wall sported numerous Aryan Nation tattoos. Family members said Wall told them he got the tattoos in prison to fit in and protect himself.

Wall spent a total of 14 years at various state prisons. During that time, not one family member came to see him.

• • •

Wall walked out of Gulf Correctional Institution in Wewahitchka on Sept. 3, 2008, and went to Tennessee, where his parents now live.

A month later, the Gallatin, Tenn., Police Department obtained a warrant for Wall's arrest, accusing him of threatening to kill his mother and his stepfather at their Gallatin home. He was not arrested.

When Wall returned to Florida is unclear, but by February 2009 he was living at Keystone Mobile Home Park in Largo.

There, he met Laura Taft, who lived down the street. She got pregnant and moved into his mobile home.

Neighbors said they often argued loudly. Marie Johnson, 56, who lived nearby, said she heard Wall tell Taft at least twice that he would kill her if she left him.

"I would slam the door," she said, "just to let him know someone was watching him."

In October 2009, the couple moved into Park Place Apartments in Clearwater.

Just after Christmas, their son was born.

The couple named him Craig Wall Jr. and called him "C.J."

• • •

Month-old infant stops breathing — Feb. 6, 2010

On Feb. 5, an ambulance responded to Park Place Apartments and raced C.J. to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Detectives spent the afternoon removing evidence from the apartment. As Taft rushed to be by her son's side, Wall was questioned by Clearwater police.

Wall told a detective he didn't know how C.J. was injured, but acknowledged it happened while he was watching him.

"Whether or not he has a brain injury, then it's my fault . . . I don't know what happened. I told you what happened. I don't know. I don't know what happened," he told the detective.

"I f------ killed my son," he said.

The statements, Clearwater police said, did not amount to a confession.

On Feb. 6, Wall updated his MySpace page, username "kriegaryan:

"my son died at 5wks. old. i am dying," he said. "i lost everythig."

The headlines now came in quick succession.

• • •

Infant dies, police continue investigation — Feb. 9, 2010

An autopsy report showed that Craig Wall Jr. suffered broken ribs and swelling to his brain, injuries consistent with being thrown hard onto a soft surface.

On Feb. 8, two days after C.J.'s death, Taft got a restraining order against Wall, saying he had threatened to kill her if she left him.

The order required Wall to stay away from Taft. He started sleeping in his pickup in a Walmart parking lot.

On Feb. 14, Taft gathered with family and friends at a church in Largo to say goodbye to C.J. Wall showed up and was jailed for violating the restraining order.

At a hearing the next morning, the assistant state attorney assigned to the case never mentioned that Wall was a suspect in the death of his son, even though police had noted that fact in the arrest affidavit.

He was released later that day.

• • •

Father a suspect in death — Feb. 17, 2010

As that story came off the press, Wall was at Taft's new apartment.

Police say about 3:20 that morning, he kicked in a sliding glass door and plunged a knife 4 inches into her chest.

A neighbor found Taft, 29, just outside her front door, a broken blade protruding from her shoulder.

Brutal death for baby, then mom

That headline ran Feb. 18, followed eight days later by:

Man indicted in double killing

A grand jury indicted Wall on two counts of first-degree murder. The state will seek the death penalty.

For Wall, the next headlines will likely report the legal maneuvering leading up to his trial.

That proceeding may, or may not, address the question of what turned Wall from a happy, bright-faced toddler into a man accused of murder. Wall, now 35, would not address that issue, or anything else, with the Times.

Candy Zilich said she thinks his problems began with the babysitter's assault all those years ago, a lack of prompt treatment for the sexual abuse and the effects of strong prescription drugs.

The Times asked the chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of South Florida to review Wall's medical history.

Dr. Michael Bengtson doesn't necessarily agree with Wall's childhood psychotherapists, who thought his problems began with the babysitter.

"To say all this is because of sexual abuse is not correct," Bengtson said. Intensive psychotherapy or medication would not have worked for Wall, though he received "reasonable care."

"We don't have any kind of treatments for this," he said. "Even though we know the diagnosis it doesn't mean we can cure it."

Wall, Bengtson said, exhibits traits of a psychopath. It appears, he said, as though he does not have remorse."I think he probably didn't have it when he was born."

Wall is "a little bit of a bad seed," Bengtson concluded.

Ron Zilich, the half brother Wall tried to kill three decades ago, offers much the same interpretation.

"He's psycho," Zilich said. "He's a bad person. He's just a person who no matter what could never be right.''

Times researchers Caryn Baird, Carolyn Edds and Shirl Kennedy and Times staff writer Mimi Andelman contributed to this report.


About this story
This story was based on court, police and medical records, interviews with Wall's family and medical professionals, and newspaper reports. Craig Wall refused to comment.

[Last modified: Jul 25, 2010 12:25 PM]

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/signs-of-trouble-appeared-at-early-age-in-man-charged-with-two-murders/1110802
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:13 pm

May 25th, 2010, 05:53 AM
Craig Wall told a judge Friday he is willing to plead guilty to murdering the mother of his child.

During his first pretrial hearing, Wall asked Circuit Judge Richard Luce to separate the two first-degree murder charges he faces — one for the death of his 5-week-old son, Craig Jr., and one for the death of his 29-year-old girlfriend, Laura Taft.

Luce refused to accept his plea or to separate the cases, telling Wall he needed to wait until he is assigned a new public defender next week.

Wall's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ron Eide, withdrew from the case, citing a conflict of interest. He did not elaborate.

Wall asked Luce what would happen if he represented himself. Luce said that question should also wait until he gets a new attorney. Wall's next hearing is June 11.

. . .

Taft's parents, stepparents and older brother sat behind the prosecutors during Friday morning's hearing. They chose those seats, they said, to be sure Wall knew they were there to get justice for Taft.

Wall walked in wearing a navy blue jail uniform and clutching his statement. He had grown a thick, dark beard since Taft's parents last saw him.

Her mother, Rhonda Lyon-Buttita, started to cry.

"I didn't anticipate him to say guilty," she said after the hearing. "It was a little shocking."

. . .

Cynthia Bredeson, Taft's stepmother, said she used to feel sorry for Wall. He would often visit and tell stories of an abusive childhood. She's not convinced about the charges involving his son. "I don't think he meant to kill the baby," she said. "That was an accident."

But now she's torn. Even though she believes the baby's death was accidental, she wants justice for Taft. "The thing with my stepdaughter's just been terrible," she said.

Looks like the murder of the baby is taking a backseat to the murder of the mother in the hearts of the family. But, he's pleading guilty to that. So, if there's a trial left to do, it's got to be over the murder of the baby.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:69fLt78ndToJ:www.dreamindemon.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-30729.html+Craig+Alan+Wall+Laura+Taft+Clearwater+FL+court+hearings+murder&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by MililaniGirl Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:17 pm

Man charged with murdering son, then girlfriend in Clearwater has new approach

By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jun 11, 2010 11:07 AM


LARGO — Craig Wall appeared in court Friday morning but this time he did not offer to plead guilty to murdering his girlfriend Laura Taft.

During a hearing last month, Wall said he was willing to plead guilty to murdering Taft, but wouldn't plead guilty to murdering his baby son, Craig Wall Jr.

In that hearing, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Richard Luce refused to accept the plea, saying he needed to wait until he was assigned an attorney.

At Friday's hearing, attorney William Bennett appeared with Wall, who did not make any comments. Afterward, Bennett said he could not reveal whether Wall still wished to plead guilty, but he made no moves to do so during the hearing. The next hearing was set for Aug. 27.

Wall was considered a suspect in the death of his son at the time he was released on $1,000 bail in February on a misdemeanor charge of violating a domestic violence injunction that Taft had against him. After being released from jail, he killed Taft, 29, in her Clearwater apartment, police say.

Wall, 35, has been charged with two counts of murder, and prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.


[Last modified: Jun 11, 2010 01:28 PM]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1101665.ece
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by angelm07 Sun May 06, 2012 1:14 pm

Looks like this murder trial has not yet begun, but lots of hearing, motions, depos, etc. The most recent of 4 pages: http://pubtitlet.co.pinellas.fl.us/servlet/pcg.wsclient.servlet.AdultDocketServlet



Docket Date Docket Entry Defendant
1 05/04/2012 NOTICE OF HEARING: 050112/0830 AM - NELSON HEARING A
2 05/01/2012 SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL A
3 05/01/2012 STATUS CHECK SET: 050712/0830 AM -M- STATUS CHECK ON A
4 05/01/2012 *** Counts 01-02 *** A
5 04/26/2012 NOTICE OF HEARING: 050112/0830 AM - NELSON HEARING
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Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear


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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

Post by mermaid55 Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:53 pm

Accused of murder and facing death penalty, Pinellas man acts as own attorney

Friday, April 4, 2014 7:47pm


Pinellas Case Uniform Case Entitlement Date Filed
CRC1003759CFANO 522010CF003759XXXXNO STATE VS WALL,CRAI 02/17/2010
Type Apr Cal Final Disposition Comp Division
10/20/2014 TRL M

https://public.co.pinellas.fl.us/servlet/pcg.wsclient.servlet.AdultDocketServlet?CDI=CRC&CASE=1003759CFANO&CS__RESULTS__KNT=10
mermaid55
mermaid55
Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
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CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL Empty Re: CRAIG WALL JR - 5 Weeks (2010) - Clearwater FL

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