Sherri Papini Missing

Amber Alert for Kayla Gomez

Kayla Gomez

Amber Alert for Kayla Gomez

On Tuesday, November 1, 10-year-old Kayla Gomez vanished from the First Assembly of God Church in Bullard, Texas. A massive search for the missing girl is currently underway by local, state, and federal law enforcement officials.

There is a reward of $13,000.

Gomez is four-feet tall, and weighs 90 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a peach-colored skirt and black "Racquet and Jog" T-shirt.

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Kayla Gomez, please call the FBI Tip Line at (972) 559-5711; the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at (903) 683-2271; Bullard Police Department at (903) 894-7788; or Cherokee County Crime Stoppers at (903) 586-7867 (STOP).

Who Murdered Terri Bevers?

By Robert A. Waters

It's been six months since an intruder broke into the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas and murdered 45-year-old Terri “Missy” Bevers. No arrests have been made, and no clear motive has been established.

At 4:18 A.M. on April 18, 2016, Bevers arrived at the church to prepare for the boot camp-style workout class she had scheduled for five o'clock that morning. Little did the pretty blonde-haired wife and mother know that she wasn't the only person inside the church. Camera footage captured a frightening sequence just before Bevers was found dead.

For nearly a half-hour, an individual dressed in a fake police SWAT Team uniform wandered through the church, smashing windows with a hammer-like object. Video seemed to indicate the intruder may also have carried a screwdriver or ice-pick. Midlothian police announced that the unknown vandal stood between five-feet-two and five-feet-seven inches tall and seemed to have a burly build. Surveillance video showed that the trespasser walked with an unusual “duck-like” gait.

Asked whether the intruder was male or female, Midlothian Assistant Police Chief Kevin Johnson said, “Man, I'd love to be able to answer that question.” In this age of Internet, social media, cell phones, and instantaneous news, many have speculated that the killer may have been a woman. Once police confirmed that Bevers had sent “flirtatious and familiar” messages on her cell phone to someone other than her husband, the blogs and crime websites exploded. Online bloggers focused almost exclusively on this alleged affair as a possible motive for the killing. But Chief Johnson recently told reporters that “the love-triangle thing is really not panning out so far.”

Johnson also indicated that all family members have been eliminated as suspects. Her husband, Brandon Bevers, was in Mississippi during the time the murder took place, but that didn't stop the armchair detectives from blaming him. One respondent to a news article on the case wrote: “Obviously she was killed by her father-in-law, with planning from her husband. This is clear as day; a domestic, family murder, in cold blood. 'Husband off on a fishing trip,' the oldest cover-up story in the book!”

The reason this correspondent included Missy's father-in-law, Randy Bevers, in on the murder plot seemed to be because he had taken a blood-stained shirt to the dry-cleaners. Randy informed reporters and police that his chihuahua dog had been killed in a fight with another dog, and that he got blood on his shirt taking his dog to the veternarian. Police later confirmed the story, but not before the online detectives had tried and convicted him of Missy's murder.

Other armchair crime devotees blamed social media. Bevers had posted her agenda on Facebook, with the admonition that even if it rained, the fitness session would be held inside the church, rather than outside, as scheduled. “Echoing other comments,” wrote another respondent, “Facebook is the best gift that thieves and others that are up to no-good have ever been given.” There is a lot of truth to that statement, but there is no proof that Missy's killer even knew about her Facebook page.

Investigators now seem to be concentrating their investigation on a stranger. They released video of the intruder in hopes that someone would recognize the attire he wore, as well as his (or her) walk. So far, no one has come forward to identify the intruder.

If you have information about this case, please call Midlothian Police at 972-775-3333 or Ellis County Crime Stoppers at 972-937-7297. There is a $10,000 reward.

The 11 Saddest Country Songs of All Time

by Robert A. Waters

Rolling Stone magazine recently released what it called the “40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time.” On the premise that “even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while,” they found a few good ones. Unfortunately, there were too many modern-day songs and not enough older and alternative tunes. Those who have read my blog for very long know that one of my passions is old-time hillbilly music. It's what I grew up hearing and what I still listen to. So here are 11 songs the Rolling Stone article left out.

The Sun Comes Up

Hank Williams III

Hank III does his best to live up to his grandfather's name. Hard living, hard drugging, and hard drinking seems to be the norm of the Williams clan, but they have country music embedded in their DNA. This song is straight country, and straight-out sad. No wonder it never made a blip on the modern CMT charts.

Lost Highway

Hank Williams

Written by the blind country songwriter, Leon Payne, this song is the defining statement about Hank's life. It's ironic since Hank wrote most of his own songs. In many religious songs, there is redemption for sin, but in this song, there is no redemption—the singer is going straight to Hell. This is real country music written by real country people who had, fortunately, never heard “Imagine” by the Beatles.

After the Fire Is Gone

Amber Digby and Justin Trevino

These Texas-based singers nail this old “cheating” song. Their version has the feel of, shall we say, authenticity. In other words, it sounds like they've been there, done that (not saying they have, just saying the song has that “feel”). Written by L. E. White, numerous country stars have recorded it, including Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson, and Tanya Tucker. But their versions are too commercial. I like the Digby and Trevino raw, gritty version best.

Born to Lose

Johnny Cash

Ted Daffan, a honky-tonk singer and songwriter, penned this song in the 1940s. It's been recorded by more than 100 country singers, including this version by Johnny Cash. “Born to lose, I've lived my life in vain/Every dream has only caused me pain...” Any song with those opening lines has to be sad and has to be country.

Leona

Stonewall Jackson

Rolling Stone would NEVER admit that a descendant of the great Southern General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson could be a great country singer. But that he is. “Leona” is written from the perspective of a cuckolded husband and the tragic conclusion is right out of today's headlines. Stonewall Jackson, the singer, had many hit songs, including “Waterloo,” which crossed to the pop charts. Written by the well-known Nashville songwriter, Cindy Walker, “Leona” never became a hit, but is still one of my favorites.

Down Where the River Bends

Dwight Yoakam and Ralph Stanley

Penned by country songwriters Jack Anglin, Johnny Wright, and George Peck, this song is about a soldier going off to war. If he comes back, he is reminded to meet his sweetheart “down where the river bends.” Dwight Yoakam and Ralph Stanley perform this bluegrass version of the song, and Stanley's high tenor is guaranteed to send chills down your spine.

Cold Cold Heart

Hank Williams

Written by Hank, this song became a number one country hit for him, then crossed into the pop charts to become Tony Bennett's first number one song. Hundreds of singers have recorded it, and the song has become a standard, usually delivered with minimal feeling.  Not so, Hank's version.  The pain of his loss is raw and vicious and we know there'll be no happy endings here.  (How Rolling Stone could miss this song, I don't know.)

Lord, I've Tried Everything But You

Vernon Oxford

This song is a lament about a life gone wrong by the singer who was called “too country for country music.” While modern “country” singers listen to the Beatles, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and rap, Oxford cut his teeth on real hillbilly music—mostly Hank. God is the last resort for many a former reprobate, and the title of this song says it all.

San Francisco Mabel Joy
Mickey Newberry

Any songwriter who can come up with a title like “She Even Woke Me up to Say Goodbye,” has to be good. Add to that “San Francisco Mabel Joy,” about a Georgia boy who falls for a prostitute, kills her lover, and ends up doing 99 years in prison, and you've got the makings of real country music. It's a long, rambling song that could never make it onto the country music charts.

That Old Time Feeling
Guy Clark

Texas singer/songwriter Clark begins this song with these lines: “That old time feeling goes sneaking down the hall/like an old gray cat in winter keeping close to the wall...” Need I say more?

Your Cheatin' Heart

Hank Williams

This is arguably the greatest country song of all time. Hank allegedly wrote it about his cheating wife, Aubrey. Of course, the cheating was mutual, but... This song has been recorded by almost every country singer in history. The pain is palpable as Hank sings, “Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.” Hank, who grew up dirt-poor in Alabama, achieved fame and fortune beyond his wildest imaginings, but was tormented by physical and emotional pain all his life. His songs have been recorded by almost all country singers, and many pop crooners. Going barefoot while selling peanuts during the Depression, he could never have imagined the musical influence he would exert. The writer of the Rolling Stone article should be canned for not including this song.

The Songbirds Stopped Singing at Shiloh

by Robert A. Waters

On a gloomy spring morning in southern Tennessee, the songbirds stopped singing. It was April 6, 1862. Scattered gunfire erupted, quickly becoming a continual roar as two armies slammed into each other. The weather was cool and the rain unrelenting as the thunder of war drowned out thunder from the skies.

Soldiers fell by the hundreds, then thousands, on muddy battlefields, their screams, their dying gasps overwhelmed by the din of fighting. A blog entitled Oddly Historical described the scene: “The bloodiest battle up to that point in the war, two days of fighting produced 23,000 casualties on both sides. The battlefield itself was a boggy, mud soaked hellhole. Medical services on both Confederate and Union sides were woefully unprepared for the scale of the slaughter, and many wounded were left to fend for themselves among the watery morass.”

Primitive medical methods consisted mainly of amputation. There were no antibiotics and no anesthesia. Before their limbs were sawed off, soldiers would take a swig of whiskey, then “bite the bullet.” Shock killed thousands, and infection even more.

But as the Battle of Shiloh ebbed, a medical mystery began to play itself out. Overnight, hundreds of soldiers from both sides, lying in those marshy pools, miraculously began to heal. These soldiers noticed that their wounds would glow green, and then the healing would begin. The grateful men called the strange-colored healing agent “Angel's Glow,” attributing their miraculous cures to divine intervention.

Historians and medical researchers of later years discounted these claims as legend. But a grain of doubt always clouded any assertions that the healings were false. Why did hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers suddenly recover from their wounds at Shiloh when less severely wounded men died?

Enter microbiologist Phyllis Martin. When her teenage son visited Shiloh Battlefield, his curiosity was piqued. At the time, Martin was researching the healing properties of a bacteria called P. luminescens. With the help of her son, Bill, and his friend, John Curtis, Martin made a remarkable discovery that might explain the historical mystery. P. luminescens lives inside nematodes of the soil. These nematodes eat insect larva and P. luminescens releases toxins that kill the larva. The toxins of P. luminscens also inhibit the growth of deadly bacteria. And P. luminescens glows green as it does its work. Martin theorized that this “glowing bacteria entered soldiers' wounds when nematodes attacked the insect larva [that] are naturally attracted to such injuries. The resulting infestation would wipe out any of the normal, disease causing bacteria found in wounds.”

On the battlefield, wounded soldiers likely cursed the mud-soaked misery of impending death. What they didn't know was that the very conditions they found abominable may have been the conditions that healed them.

Some of these soldiers survived the war and told their families about “Angel's Glow,” and how it saved their lives. While scientists scoffed, the stories became part of the folklore of war. Now there seems to have been a basis of truth to the bizarre assertions.

Army Veteran John Hendricks Stopped a Mass Shooting

Victims' Lives Matter

by Robert A. Waters

The lives of innocent victims matter. That's why almost 13 million Americans now have permits to carry concealed weapons. Many would-be victims, going about their day-to-day activities, have used guns to successfully defend their own lives as well as the lives of others. Here a few of their stories.

In Chicago, an Uber driver with a permit to carry a concealed weapon stopped a mass shooting. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Everardo Custodio opened fire into a crowd of pedestrians. John Hendricks, the Uber driver, who just happened to be at the scene where the shooting took place, pulled out his own gun and fired six rounds at Custodio. Hit in the shin, thigh, and abdomen, the shooter collapsed on the street. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening wounds. No one in the crowd was hit by gunfire. Hendricks, an army veteran who has a concealed carry permit and valid firearms identification card, was not charged. Custodio, however, will be indicted on numerous counts, including attempted murder.

In Augusta, Georgia, two long-time crooks attempted to hold up the Subway restaurant on Gordon Highway. Howard Maurice Harris and Cornelius Lamar Harrison allegedly entered the sandwich shop armed with crow bars. One of the suspects ordered a 14-year-old customer to go to the back of the business. The suspect then struck the teen in the back of the head with the metal bar, injuring him. The boy's mother, an employee, retrieved a handgun from her purse and fired at the assailant. The robbers fled, but the employee ran outside and fired again. At some point, Harrison was struck in the abdomen. He died a few hours later. Police were soon summoned to a local hospital where they found Harris and arrested him. The injured teen received numerous stitches to close his wounds. Both suspects were wanted in North Carolina for various crimes. Police told reporters that the employee, who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, will not be charged.

A 91-year-old Eastpointe, Michigan man parked his car in a Rite Aid store parking lot. As soon as he stepped out, he was approached by Richard Ashford who, according to the intended victim, was acting “erratically.” When the victim attempted to retreat back into his car, Ashford approached in a threatening manner, carrying a “piece of metal fashioned as a weapon.” After shouting several warnings, the intended victim opened fire. Prosecutor Eric Smith told reporters that “this elderly man’s self-defense is an entirely appropriate use of force. Facing imminent assault, he announced that he was armed, made attempts to withdraw, warned again that he held a weapon, and fired only when completely necessary.” The intended victim had a concealed carry permit and was not charged. “This is a textbook case for why concealed pistol licenses are issued in the first place,” Smith said. “American citizens have the right to protect themselves in the face of clear assault.” Ashford faces several charges.

In South King County, Washington, Steven Blacktongue, wearing a mask, entered a 7-11 store and attacked a customer with a hatchet. He then moved behind the counter and struck the clerk in the abdomen with the deadly weapon. The customer, who had a permit to carry a gun, shot Blacktongue dead before he could cause serious injury to the clerk. Blacktongue had a long criminal history of felonious assaults, and had served time in prison for assault and drug offenses. The customer who stopped what could have been a brutal murder will not be charged.

And so it goes. Day after day, law-abiding citizens who have permits to carry concealed weapons stop violent criminals. And day after day, the New York Times and other major news organizations refuse to carry their stories.

Help Identify the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer

Contact Information

FBI Sacramento

Public Affairs Specialist Gina Swankie

(916) 977-2285

June 15, 2016

FBI Announces $50,000 Reward and National Campaign to Identify East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department held a press conference to announce the launch of a reward and national campaign to help identify the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer, a violent serial burglar, rapist, and murderer who terrorized multiple communities in California throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The digital media campaign includes the launch of a webpage, www.fbi.gov/EastAreaRapist; digital billboards throughout the country; social media outreach on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; and audio broadcasts via podcasts and radio PSAs. The public can play an active role in helping law enforcement find the subject by sharing links to the website and official social media content.Law enforcement asks the public to consider the following information when reviewing information about the case:

• Did they live in one of the areas of criminal activity and remember someone in the area who matches the physical description of the subject or may have been known to spend a considerable amount of time in the areas?
• Have they discovered a hidden collection of items among the belongings of a friend or family member—notably coins and jewelry—as described on the FBI webpage about the crimes?

The subject, who may be 60-75 years old now, was described as a white male standing approximately 5’10” tall and having blond or light brown hair and an athletic build. He may have had an interest or training in military or law enforcement techniques, as he was familiar and proficient with firearms.

People who know the subject may not believe him capable of such crimes. He may not have exhibited violent tendencies or have a criminal history.

Detectives have DNA evidence from some of the crime scenes that can either positively link or exclude a suspect. This enables investigators to quickly exclude innocent parties, and the public should not hesitate to provide information—even if it is the name or address of an individual who resided in the areas of the crimes—as many parties will be quickly excluded by a simple, non-invasive test.

Between 1976 and 1986, this single subject committed 12 homicides, approximately 45 rapes, and multiple residential burglaries in the state of California. All the crimes have been linked by DNA and/or details of the crimes. His victims ranged in age from 13 to 41 and included women home alone, woman at home with their children, and couples.

The subject was active in the greater Sacramento area from June 1976 to February 1978.

Burglaries and rapes began occurring in the Sacramento area during the summer of 1976. During these crimes, the subject would ransack the homes of his victims and take small items such as coins, jewelry, and identification. These cases include the homes of families, couples, and single women; burglaries in a neighborhood tended to precede clusters of sexual assaults. On February 2, 1978, Rancho Cordova couple Sergeant Brian Maggiore and his wife, Katie, were on an evening walk with their dog and were chased by the subject who overcame the couple and shot at close range.

His activity continued primarily in the East Bay Area of Northern California in 1979, and, by October 1979, his activity escalated into rapes and homicides/attempted homicides along the California Coast with homicides in Goleta (October 10, 1979; December 3, 1979; and July 27, 1981); Ventura (March 16, 1980); Laguna Niguel (August 19, 1980); and Irvine (February 6, 1981 and May 5, 1986). During the commission of the homicides, the subject tied up both victims, raped the female victim, and then murdered the couple.

After July 1981, no associated incidents are known to have been reported for five years. In 1986, an 18-year-old woman was raped and murdered in Irvine. No additional crimes have been connected to the subject after this incident.

A graphic illustrating the general location of these crimes is available on the FBI’s webpage.

The following is a listing of local law enforcement agencies who have investigated a crime believed to have been committed by the subject and the number of crimes in their jurisdictions:

Agency	Sex Assaults	Homicides
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department	24	Two
Sacramento Police Department	Four	One assault with a deadly weapon
Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department	Five	None
Concord Police Department	Two	None
David Police Department	Three	None
Fremont Police Department	One	None
Modesto Police Department	Two	None
San Jose Police Department	Two	None
Stockton Police Department	Two	None
Walnut Creek Police Department	Two	None
Irvine Police Department	None	Two
Orange County Sheriff’s Department	None	Two
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department	None	Four, two attempted
Ventura Police Department	None	Two

  

Law enforcement is seeking any information that may help identify the subject, dubbed the East Area Rapist in Sacramento. He has also been called the Original Night Stalker, Diamond Knot Killer, and, more recently, the Golden State Killer. Individuals with information about the subject may call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Additionally, information may be submitted to the FBI’s online tip line at tips.fbi.gov.

Grand Canyon Nightmares

by Robert A. Waters

About a dozen people die each year while visiting America's most cherished natural wonder, the Grand Canyon. Steep cliffs, narrow trails, and rugged terrain can lead to fatal falls, but plane crashes, suicides, and homicides also account for many deaths. The Canyon is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and up to 6,000 feet deep. With millions of visitors each year, it is likely safer vacationing in the Grand Canyon than driving your car to get there, but don't tell that to the families of those who died.

Colleen Burns, an Orlando, Florida resident, was enjoying her visit to the famous park when she plunged off a ledge and fell 400 feet. She'd been hiking with friends, and posting pictures of her vacation on Twitter. As she moved aside on a squeeze-box narrow trail to let another hiker pass, Burns lost her footing. The coroner ruled that her death was accidental, due to “blunt trauma” caused by the fall. Burns' heartbroken family stated that she had been in a good spot in her life. She worked as a marketing director for Yelp, and was a booster of her adopted hometown. Her father, Jim Burns, spoke for many when he said: “I never realized how many deaths occur at the Grand Canyon.” Just a few weeks before, 23-year-old Californian Jamerson Whittaker also died from a fall in another section of the park.

A Japanese tourist, Tomomi Hanamure, aged 34, was brutally murdered by Randy Redtail Wescogame on an Indian Reservation just outside the Grand Canyon. The long-time ne'er-do-well saw Hanamure hiking alone and offered to guide her to a series of remote waterfalls in the Canyon. Instead, he robbed the tourist, then bludgeoned her and stabbed her to death. Wescogame had been in trouble with the law since he was eight-years-old. By age thirteen, he was addicted to methamphetamine. He had committed dozens of violent crimes by the time he murdered Hanamure, but had served almost no jail time. While Japanese media highlighted this crime, most American news organizations ignored it. Wescogame pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2009, the United States Forest Service reported that Gheorghe Chiriac committed suicide by driving over the edge of the Canyon. Park rangers reported that “a car had been driven up onto the curb of the loading area between the El Tovar Hotel and the Kachina Lodge. The tracks indicated that the car then veered left, traveling through the grass behind the Kachina Lodge until it reached the Thunderbird Lodge where it veered right and [drove] into the canyon.” Chiriac's car was located 600 feet below, and his body found nearby. After investigating, the Forest Service ruled his death a suicide. One of the most bizarre deaths on record was that of Richard Clam. While taking a helicopter tour over the Canyon, Clam unbuckled his seat belt, opened the chopper's door, and leaped into the abyss. Forest rangers found his remains 4,000 feet below. After gathering bits and pieces of Clam's body, the Forest Service ruled his death a suicide. In 2001, a cherry-red plane flown by a single pilot disappeared in the Canyon. Four years later, hikers discovered the mangled plane between two giant boulders. A skeleton sat in the cockpit, a macabre ending to someone's lonely life. After investigating, the Forest Service determined that the pilot was a lovelorn soul who intentionally killed himself.

More than 100 helicopter flights each day transport visitors over the Canyon for spectacular views. Since 1980, about 30 have crashed in the Canyon. In 2011, a tourist helicopter crashed near Lake Mead, killing the pilot and all four passengers. In 2001, a family from New York died when a Eurocopter AS350 crashed into a ridge-line high in the mountains.

The most infamous air crash occurred in 1956 when two jetliners collided, killing 128 people. A TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 Mainliner had both wandered off course and ended up in exactly the same air space, directly over the Canyon. At the time, air traffic control was in its infancy, so the pilots had little real direction. After crashing, both planes plunged 21,000 feet. All passengers and crew aboard both planes died. The crash fueled demands for greater air safety, and soon afterward the Federal Aviation Agency (later renamed the Federal Aviation Administration) was formed.

The Grand Canyon can be a wild, unforgiving habitat. But it is also an exhilarating natural wonder. Scientists theorize that humans roamed its trails 10,000 years ago. In this era when most people live in cities and see little of nature, Grand Canyon National Park can be an eye-opener.

The Crimes and Misdemeanors of NFL Stars

by Robert A. Waters

The 2016-17 National Football League training camps kicked off a couple of days ago just as a published study attempted to portray most players as non-violent teddy bears. The author stated that “only” 27% percent of the crimes committed by players are violent.  Listed below are just a few recent crimes, misdemeanors, and indiscretions committed by NFL stars.

Rolando McClain has been in the league for six years and been in trouble almost since day one.  Chosen number 8 in the 2010 draft, McClain, who currently plays with America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, has been arrested three times. In addition, last year he was suspended for four games because of substance abuse violations. This year, he re-offended and will sit out ten games for the same reason. Despite these offenses, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones signed McClain to a contract that gives him 40 million dollars in guaranteed money. Now Jones is squirming because he sees that money going down the drain. Due to an alleged addiction to “purple drank,” a mixture of Sprite, cough syrup and codeine, it's unlikely that McClain will play a single game this season. In fact, some pundits are comparing him to one of the NFL's biggest busts, Jamarcus Russell. The former Raiders quarterback signed a guaranteed contract worth millions and was released after bloating up to 300 pounds amid allegations of purple drank addiction.

As if the Cleveland Browns didn't have enough problems with perennial bad boy Johnny Manziel, now running back Isaiah Crowell has been forced to apologize for posting an online picture of a Jihadi John look-alike slitting the throat of a kneeling white police officer. The caption read: “They give polices (sic) all types of weapons and they choose to kill us...” Later, a lawyer-vetted apology and retraction appeared, and the offensive picture was removed. As training camp began, Crowell was said to have been welcomed back into the good graces of Cleveland fans. (Too bad he's not playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, whose partisans have been known to boo Santa Clause.) While Crowell's action was not violent and not a crime, it was despicable and he should be severely punished by the Browns and the NFL.

Montee Ball, who played for the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, was recently arrested on a non-violent charge of “bail-jumping.” Having previously been charged with domestic battery, he went to a bar and began drinking. According to a police report, this violated his bond, resulting in his arrest. In the original incident, police reported that after he and his girlfriend argued at a Madison, Wisconsin motel, Ball picked her up and threw her across the room. The woman sustained a bruise to the back of her head and a cut leg that required stitches. Soon after this incident, the Patriots released Ball.

Legal difficulties seem to follow former San Francisco 49er Ray McDonald around like the plague. The eight year veteran was first arrested in 2010 on charges of drunk driving. In 2014, he was arrested for domestic violence. His then-girlfriend, however, refused to cooperate with police and the charges were dropped. His troubles finally caused the 49ers to release him—the general manager of the 49ers said McDonald's release was due to a “pattern of poor behavior.” He quickly caught on with the Chicago Bears. But, true to form, in 2015, McDonald was arrested in San Jose, California for “misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment.” Police stated that McDonald “physically assaulted the victim while she was holding a baby.” Three days later, he was rearrested for violating a restraining order against the woman. In addition to these problems, in yet another case he has been charged with “rape by intoxication,” meaning that he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman while she was drunk. In any other profession, these arrests and controversies would spell the end of a career. But the NFL is a parallel universe with its own rules, and, like a cat with nine lives, Ray McDonald could once again take the field as his adoring fans cheer him on to victory.

A talented player, New York Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson is quickly weeding himself out of football. Although he made Rookie of the Year in 2013 and the Pro Bowl in 2014, he was suspended for four games in 2015 for failing a drug test after testing positive for marijuana. But then in July, 2015, Richardson was charged with resisting arrest along with a multitude of traffic offenses. St. Louis police stated that he was involved in a road race while driving his expensive Bentley. When police attempted to pull him over, he fled. Driving up to 143 miles per hour and blowing though a red light, Richardson finally stopped. Cops found a gun and smelled marijuana in the car. They also found three passengers, including a 12-year-old boy. Richardson plea bargained the case down to resisting arrest, speeding, and running a red light. He received two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. (I wonder what you or I would get for those offenses.) Speaking of his alleged marijuana addiction, Richardson told reporters that he will now stay off the drug because he risks losing lots of money if he continues toking and smoking.

And so it goes in the NFL. Our heroes commit crimes and misdemeanors with few consequences. And we settle back in front of the tube and cheer them on.

Self Defense Files 8

Anthony Gonzales

Victims fight back with guns -- no mention in the national press

by Robert A. Waters

A homeowner in San Bernardino, California discovered Timothy Mackay in the living room of his home. NBClosangeles.com reported that Mackay held a large hunting knife: “Police said Mackay refused to leave even after several requests by the homeowner, and then began waving the knife, advancing toward the man.” The intended victim retrieved a handgun and shot Mackay in the abdomen. When officers arrived, the wounded man was still clutching his knife. After he recovers from his injuries, Mackay will be charged with numerous offenses. Police said the homeowner acted in self-defense and will not be prosecuted.

In Sultan, Washington, Steven N. Sheppard broke into the home of an elderly couple. KGW.com reported that “the husband told deputies that he was watching TV when he saw Sheppard on the back porch of the home. Sheppard entered the home by breaking down a door and then struck the [homeowner] on the head before stabbing him.” The homeowner's son recounted what happened next: “He stabbed my stepdad with a big knife, six inches long and two inches wide, ’cause he wanted the car keys. My mom hears what’s going on, comes out and sees the guy standing over my stepdad, and there’s blood all over the floor and his guts are coming out.” The woman then ran to her bedroom and retrieved a gun. She fired, hitting Sheppard four times. The intruder died at the scene. The stabbing victim was reported to be in serious condition with abdominal wounds. The homeowner will not be charged.

Alexander Gonzales was recently charged with attempted home invasion, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, and drug trafficking. But that's the least of his worries—Gonzales was shot in the face by the homeowner. A grisly mugshot posted by police tells the story. Armed with a large knife and possibly high on methamphetamine, Gonzales forcibly entered the back door of a Las Vegas residence. There he was confronted by a homeowner who shot him twice, once in the forehead and once in the shoulder. Police later learned that the suspect had unsuccessfully attempted to break into two neighboring homes. Gonzales is recovering from his wounds at a local hospital. The homeowner will not be charged.

In Gwinnett County, Georgia, 73-year-old Hilda Douglas heard the doorbell ring followed by the sound of glass breaking. She ran to her bedroom, locked it, and called 911. She also retrieved her gun. On the 911 tape, Douglas is heard shouting at the intruder: “Get out now while you're still alive. Go. Get out now. Get out now.” As the intruder, identified as Jaime Lewis, advanced toward her, Douglas opened fire. He ended up in the hospital being treated for a gunshot wound to the chest. A police spokesperson told reporters that “everybody has a right to defend themselves from imminent physical harm or death. This lady believed that was what was going to happen to her and she acted appropriately. She hit the suspect and he fled the house after that.” Lewis, lucky to be alive, faces numerous charges related to the home invasion. Douglas will face no charges.