Kystie's Law

 

Woman Sued After Using Firearm to Save Cop

By Robert A. Waters

Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Halbig wrote the following synopsis about the circumstances that led to a lawsuit against Kystie Jaehnen: "On January 20, 2017, a suspicious person prompted a call to 9-1-1 in Ohio County, Indiana. The suspicious person was parked in an elderly person’s yard for an extended period of time, blocking her driveway and creating a road hazard.

"Shortly after, a police officer (Michael Powell) arrived in response to the call. The man began resisting and both the officer and the man went to the ground. A young woman (Kystie) standing nearby on her property ran to help the officer. Kystie could see the officer was losing the fight as this man reached for the officer’s gun. Fortunately for the officer, Kystie was armed and shot the man one time which ended the fight."

The assailant, Justin Holland, 25, received immediate on-scene medical attention but died from his wound. Some newspapers reported he was shot once in the shoulder, others that he was shot in the abdomen. An autopsy determined Holland had the following drugs in his system: methadone, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, marijuana, and dextromethorphan.

The Dearborn County Register reported Holland (pictured above) "was facing charges of fraud of a financial institution, theft and forgery at the time of the incident and had previously been arrested for one count of battery resulting in bodily injury."

Indiana State Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said that "it was obvious the officer was not winning the confrontation." Because of this, the Dearborn/Ohio County prosecutor refused to charge Kystie. In fact, he praised her actions.

Then the family of Holland sued Kystie Jaehnen.

Eagle Country Online reported "an Ohio County woman facing a wrongful death lawsuit for fatally shooting a drugged-up man as he attacked a police officer is asking Indiana lawmakers to enact new legal protections for people in her situation." Kystie told prosecutors when she went to Powell’s defense, she felt she was protected under Indiana’s self-defense law.

That was not the case.

The complaint alleges that "Kystie L. Jaehnen used excessive and unjustified deadly force in shooting and killing Plaintiff’s decedent, Justin Holland. [She] acted willfully, wantonly and with reckless disregard for the welfare of [Holland]." Eagle Country Online reported that "the Hollands are seeking unspecified damages, relief, and legal fees from Jaehnen, Powell and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. They demand a jury trial."

Officer Powell's legal defense is covered by his department and the Fraternal Order of Police Legal Defense Fund. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is also covered.

Halbig wrote: "It is tragic how one person's irrational and unlawful actions can destroy the peaceful lives of others. This case is about more than the right or wrong of one party suing another. Imagine not being able to come to the aid of another person for fear of being sued, possibly to the point of bankruptcy. This case is about a person having the basic God-given right and the 2nd Amendment right to defend both yourself and others without the fear of civil retribution."

Halbig started a GoFundMe page that raised nearly $100,000 to cover Kystie's legal expenses.

After Kystie (now married and called Kystie Phillips), testified, the state of Indiana passed Act 1284, also referred to as Kystie's  Law. According to WKRC television, "the new law gives those cleared of wrongdoing immunity from civil lawsuits. The change is being praised by police groups, but the group Moms Demand Action says it encourages armed vigilantism."

In 2019, the Holland family dropped its lawsuit. No reason was given.

NOTE: Michael Powell is a "conservation officer" for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Can You Help Solve This Mystery?

Do you remember seeing any of these items years ago?

Ten-year-old Amy Renee Mihaljevic went missing 34 years ago, on October 27, 1989, in Bay Village, Ohio. Her body was discovered on February 8, 1990, in Ruggles Township, Ashland County, Ohio. She had been stabbed to death and likely raped.

Amy's abductor, a stranger, called and arranged for her to meet him so they could buy a present for her mother. The man seemed familiar with Amy and her family, stating that Amy's mother was getting a promotion at work. The child fell for the ruse and was abducted from a nearby shopping plaza when she went to meet the man. 

Several items she had taken with her were missing when she was discovered. I am posting these pictures from the FBI website. If you have seen shoes similar to those pictured above, or earrings that look like the one pictured, please contact the FBI.

A few hundred yards from her body, investigators found a blanket that had been fashioned into a curtain. Amy's hair and her dog's hairs were found embedded in the blanket. It is believed the killer rolled her body into the blanket to transport her to the place where she was found. The blanket is distinctive. If you remember going to a house and seeing a blanket like this being used as a curtain, please call the FBI.

Someone has gotten away with murder for more than three decades. If any of these items bring back a memory, please call the FBI at 202-324-3000. 

Please check out the following FBI video for more information about the case:

(22) Seeking Information in Amy Mihaljevic Murder - YouTube

 

"...In the prime of his predatory years"

The Murder of Kristin Lodge-Miller

By Robert A. Waters

The Crime

At 6:00, on the morning of July 15, 1993, Kristin Ann Lodge-Miller, 26, headed out for a jog in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She had no idea she would never come home.

The (Raleigh) News and Observer reported that Kristin “slipped on an old T-shirt and a pair of orange and pink jogging shorts, grabbed her keychain with a small can of mace, and headed out the door for her morning run.” The tree-lined running trail on Estes Drive near her home seemed especially peaceful. After a three-mile run, she planned to drive to her job as a speech therapist for children and elderly stroke victims.

Kristin, a stunningly beautiful mid-western girl, had earned her undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology, and later obtained her master’s degree in the same field.  She and her husband, Erik, moved to Chapel Hill when he was accepted into the graduate business school at the University of North Carolina.

As the sun rose, citizens of the college town began milling about. On the sidewalk that runs parallel to Estes Boulevard (pictured), Kristin passed walkers and other joggers. She must have felt safe. Who would attack someone with so many people around?

From a stand of trees beside the walkway, a teenaged boy jumped Kristin. He attempted to drag her into some bushes, but she fought back. Spraying her assailant with mace, she broke away and fled. Her attacker, who later told cops Kristin made him angry by fighting back, chased her. As he closed the gap, he pulled a .32-caliber handgun from his pocket and fired six shots. Three bullets pierced her back. Staggering, Kristin dropped to the ground. Her assailant then ran up to her, placed the gun to the back of her head and pulled the trigger.

According to The Chapel Hill Herald, “Police found four spent shell casings on the road—two located within three feet of her body…A fifth spent shell was found about 11 feet away and a sixth forty-five feet away, indicating that the assailant fired the gun while chasing her, then shot her at close range as she fell, police said.” They located Kristin’s mace cannister near her body. It was half-empty, with sticky residue still on it.

The crime happened so fast onlookers couldn’t help. Numerous calls from horrified witnesses crackled into the 9-1-1 system and within a couple of minutes, cops and paramedics arrived. EMTs raced Kristin to a nearby hospital where she was officially pronounced dead.

Observers provided investigators a detailed description of the shooter. In less than an hour, cops arrested 18-year-old Anthony Georg Simpson. The killer was riding his bicycle through the heart of the city, seemingly without a care in the world.

In November of 1992, the teen had moved with his mother, Karen, into a new condominium. Coventry, on Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was high-end, owned by Ethan Horton, a cousin of Karen. Horton, who had been a football star at the University of North Carolina, now played for the Los Angeles Raiders.

The News and Observer reported that in his home state of Virginia, Simpson “had been suspended from school 23 times for insubordination, fistfights, and disrespect. He appeared in juvenile court three times and was labeled ‘beyond parental control.’”

The Daily Tar Hill reported that he had served time in two Virginia facilities. “When [Simpson] was 14,” the article read, “he spent about three months in the Norfolk Detention Home for smacking an enemy classmate on the head with a shovel during a home economics project. In early 1992, Simpson served nine months in the Beaumont Learning Center for shooting into a moving car during a drug deal.”

In Chapel Hill, his crimes continued. Less than a month before murdering Kristin, police arrested Simpson for stealing a Honda. Instead of jail time, a judge released Simpson and ordered him to perform a few hours of community service.

Just like that—voila—he was back on the streets. A below-average student, he dropped out of summer school. The few acquaintances he made in school described him as a loner and wannabe gangster. He bragged about raping women and being a hitman. (Police later investigated those claims and said they never happened.) At some point, violent fantasies had become hardwired into Simpson’s psyche. Kristin’s murder was just a step up the ladder of rage.

Once caught, the teenager quickly confessed. Police were surprised he didn’t come from the “poor side of the tracks.” In fact, his mother was an officer in the United States Air Force. However, his father was long-gone and Simpson spent lots of time alone since his mother’s job took her away from home at times.

Four witnesses identified Simpson as the shooter. The Chapel Hill Herald reported “Simpson led police to an abandoned shed off Estes Road where he tossed the gun. [Cops] made the case stronger when [they] matched Simpson’s fingerprints with fingerprints on the six-shot ammunition clip found in the weapon used to kill the jogger.”

Trial

“The sign Thursday at an impromptu memorial for slain jogger Kristin Lodge-Miller asked ‘Where is the justice?’’’ So wrote the editors of the News and Observer after Anthony Georg Simpson’s trial ended with a verdict of second-degree murder. Citizens of Chapel Hill were outraged to learn Simpson could be eligible for parole after only ten years. Prosecutors had asked the jury to find him guilty of first-degree murder—he would have had to serve twenty years before being considered for parole if he had been convicted of the higher charge.

For weeks, newspapers had a hard time finding room to print the deluge of letters to the editors that complained about the verdict. One letter protested Simpson's sentence because he was “in the prime of his predatory years.” Women’s groups, rape crisis organizations, even high school students held vigils lamenting the decision. And letters from ordinary citizens kept coming. Even years later, an occasional letter arrived at some local newspaper denouncing the verdict.

Kristin’s murder had struck a chord.

One juror spoke anonymously to the press. He stated three jurors refused to vote for first-degree murder, thereby causing the group to go with the lesser charge. The three stated they were not convinced that Simpson’s intent was to rape Kristin. They also considered the fact that the victim pepper-sprayed her attacker. That, in the killer’s own words, angered him. The News and Observer wrote that “apparently, jurors agreed with the argument that Simpson became enraged after Lodge-Miller attempted to spray him with Mace when he approached during her early morning jog last July.” That, some of the jury seemed to believe, mitigated his crime.

In hindsight, citizens need not have worried about Simpson cheating the system and being released early. He seemed unable to comply with prison rules. Throughout his imprisonment, Simpson has racked up an amazing 47 infractions. These included such offenses as sexual crimes, drug infractions, fighting, possession of a weapon, disobeying orders, assault on an officer, assaulting staff with a weapon, and countless other violations. Because of this, Simpson has not been seriously considered for release.

After the verdict, Erik Miller wrote a letter to the people of Chapel Hill. In the note, he stated, “Our loss has been total and final. We know we cannot have Kristin back, and neither can this society. Kristin Ann Lodge-Miller was one of the few people who I can truly say positively affected society. She certainly had a positive effect on myself and my family. Her beauty was far beyond the physical and it is, indeed, a severe blow to all now that she is gone.” 

Random crimes always frighten people. They shatter what people perceive as order in the universe. Such cases always generate more publicity than most other crimes. This case was a prime example. 

The Octogenarian Murders

 

Did a Fourteen-Year-Old Boy Get Away with Two Cold-Blooded Slayings?

By Robert A. Waters

The Murders

On October 20, 1941, in Media, Pennsylvania, two elderly women suffered a brutal attack that would ultimately kill them.

In late afternoon, Elizabeth Watson, 83, and her sister, Belle Geary, 80, walked toward home after dining at a local restaurant. Elizabeth had long been widowed and Belle never married. As they made their way through a secluded alley toward their residence, the sisters realized someone was following them. Suddenly, the stalker blitzed the women. Using a rock, he beat Elizabeth to the ground, then pummeled Belle. As the octogenarians lay bleeding, the assailant flung the stone at Belle’s head, knocking her cold. Then he fled. He took nothing.

Someone heard screams and called police.

Elizabeth suffered a skull fracture while Belle’s lacerated face and head bled profusely. An ambulance crew raced them to Chester Hospital. Three days later, Elizabeth died. Belle lingered for nearly four months before she passed away. The coroner said her death was a direct result of the assault.

Investigators quickly identified a suspect, 14-year-old John “Jackie” Leeds. On the day of the murder, he had escaped from Glen Mills Reformatory, a nearby reform school for juvenile delinquents. Another inmate, who had also escaped that day, ratted him out to authorities. The Republican and Herald quoted District Attorney William B. McClenachen: “Leeds has made a complete confession and admitted the murder of Mrs. Watson and severely beating her sister. He told us he did the job by himself.” In fact, he wrote out one confession, and signed two others written by officers. In addition, the other teenager who fled the reformatory at the same time as Leeds told detectives his friend had bragged about killing Elizabeth and showed off a “roll of bills.”

The next day, investigators took Leeds from the jail intending to participate in a reenactment of the crime. However, before he could lead them to the crime scene, cops ended the walk-through after local media descended en masse.

Prosecutors thought they had a slam dunk case and held Jackie Leeds without bond on a first-degree murder charge. In fact, the District Attorney was so confident in his case he went on vacation.

But the local justice system had never reckoned with a mom like Margaret Leeds Braden. Immediately after her son’s arrest, she spoke with reporters. Sobbing, she said, “He didn’t do it. I know he didn’t do it.” And with those words hanging in the air, she hired E. Leroy van Roden, one of the finest attorneys in Pennsylvania.

Before leaving, McClenachen released one of Jackie Leeds’ confessions to reporters. It read: “I was broke and hungry and I saw one of [the sisters] carrying a pocketbook. I grabbed at it and the ladies resisted. One of them hit at me with her cane. I got mad and hit her with my fist. Then I picked up a rock and beat the one lady (i.e., Elizabeth Watson) over the head until she fell down. Then I threw the rock at the other one and hit her in the head. Then I kept on beating them. It was horrible the way I beat them. They were both unconscious. I got frightened and ran away.”   

His mother responded: “If they got a confession from Johnny, they beat it out of him. They beat him at Glen Mills although he is just a boy. After he left Glen Mills, he walked all the way to the home of my brother, a few blocks from ours, and slept in my brother’s car. We found him there…He still had on the uniform that he had on when he left school. There was not a scratch on him except the black and blue spots from the beating school attendants gave him that caused him to leave.”

A persistent truant, Leeds had been examined by psychiatrists at Allentown State Hospital, referred to in the media as an “insane asylum.” Over the years, he had been arrested numerous times for truancy, loitering, theft, and trespassing. Try as she might, John’s mother could not control his rebellious behavior. As a last resort, on the recommendation of psychiatrists at Allentown State, she admitted Jackie to Glen Mills Reformatory. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Mrs. Braden sent her intelligent but wayward son [to Glen Mills] in an effort to rehabilitate him.” She later said she thought it was a “school.”

The Trials

On January 19, 1942, just three months after the crimes, Leeds stood trial for the murder of Elizabeth Watson. The prosecution relied heavily on his written confessions, as well the testimony of Charles Mitchell, the boy who escaped the same day John did. Mitchell told the court he saw John at Broad Street Railroad Station in Philadelphia and John had flashed a wad of cash. After allegedly revealing to Mitchell that he’d killed an old “broad,” John supposedly gave his friend one dollar.

The defense tackled the written confessions first. John took the stand and said he did indeed write the confessions, but only because interrogating detectives threatened to arrest his mother if he didn’t confess. He said they told him his mother was already in custody and could be given life in prison or even the death penalty. John, who did not look like a “hardened” criminal, made a good impression on the jurors. Cops, suddenly placed on the defensive, denied they’d coerced the teenager.

The second strategy for the defense was to show that John was nowhere near the location where the octogenarians were attacked. The Republican and Herald reported John’s mother “denied that he was in the Media area at the time. She contended that he had walked 20 miles from the reformatory to the home of her brother in Germantown.” Her brother, a respected businessman, told the court he found John sleeping in his car the following morning. In addition, John Dickinson, a truck driver, testified he gave Leeds a ride from Westtown, 16 miles from Media, to Philadelphia the night of the slayings.

On January 26, the jury acquitted Leeds.

The decision stunned Judge Albert Dutton McDade. The Delaware County Daily Times reported that Dutton “denounced the verdict from the bench and told the jurors they were guilty of a ‘miscarriage of justice.’” He said he’d heard that Leeds had molested a nurse at Glen Mills Reformatory and was a danger to the community.

On the same day he was found not guilty of Elizabeth Watson’s murder, Miss Belle Geary died. The coroner told reporters her death was a direct result of the beating.

In June, 1942, the court committed John to Fairview State Hospital where he was diagnosed as “mentally ill with criminal tendencies.” The hospital released him a few months later.

Immediately after leaving the hospital, prosecutors ordered Leeds to stand trial for the murder of Belle Geary. This time, the prosecution’s case was even weaker than before. Charles Mitchell, the reformatory inmate who claimed Leeds confessed to him, could not testify since he was fighting with the United States Marines in the South Pacific.

And this time, the defense’s case was stronger than at the first trial. The lawyers had located additional witnesses who claimed to have seen Leeds in Philadelphia at the time of the attack.

Once again, the “bad boy” was acquitted.

His mother celebrated with her son, telling the press, “I told you so.”

Aftermath

John “Jackie” Leeds had accomplished something few people have. He’d been acquitted of two murders in separate trials. Now all he had to do was live a clean life. Alas, he seemed to not be able to do that.

After his acquittal, Leeds joined the United States Army.

On December 4, 1945, Mrs. Anna E. Reiker had just returned to her home in Germantown. Her husband was overseas in the military. The Delaware County Daily Times reported “John J. (Jackie) Leeds, now in Army uniform, who was acquitted of a charge of murdering the aged Geary sisters in Media four years ago, was arrested in Germantown Monday on charges of attacking a soldier’s wife.”

The victim told investigators that before she removed her coat, she heard a knock on the door. “As I opened the door,” she said, “a man in uniform grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the floor. I struggled and he broke my glasses and I started to scream.” She told investigators the stranger punched her in the face several times, then attempted to pull her to him and kiss her.

Fortunately for Mrs. Reiker, her two sisters were visiting and ran to her aid. When he saw them, Leeds fled as one of her sisters called police.

As responding officers spoke to Mrs. Reiker, Leeds arrived back at the house. He said he wanted to “apologize” to his victim. Cops, noticing Mrs. Reiker's bruised and battered face, quickly arrested Leeds and charged him “with aggravated assault and battery and attempt to ravish.”

On December 12, 1945, Leeds went on trial. Although he was acquitted of “attempt to ravish,” the jury convicted him of “aggravated assault and battery.” The judge sentenced Leeds to three years in prison.

On November 26, 1947, the Philadelphia Times-Tribune reported the following: “John (Jackie) Leeds, twenty-two, who as a teenager was acquitted in the slayings of two Media sisters, was sentenced to fifteen to thirty years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary charges. Burglaries of a private house, two churches and a parked car netted $4.35 in cash and a chalice. A lunacy commission which examined the youth said he was not insane but had a ‘psychic illness.’”

At this point, John Leeds disappeared from history.

Missouri Killer was Never Caught

Death of a Miser

By Robert A. Waters

Jack Pyle lived a small life in a small community. He never rated an article in the local newspapers—until neighbors found him shot to death in his hoarded-up cabin. Even then, media of the day found it hard to peg him into a neat little basket. There wasn’t even a picture of him in the stories about his slaying. But I think what drew me to him was his fiddle. The one he made.

In 1908, Jack Pyle, 56, lived in Holt County, Missouri. A widower, his only living relatives were a brother and a daughter who resided in Kansas. Pyle rented a “shack” and five acres from Emmit Haer, about three miles outside the village of Craig. The Corning Mirror reported that he “raised chickens and pigs and worked by day for nearby neighbors.” Living within yards of the Missouri River, Pyle often sold fish to augment his income.

The Mirror stated that “on Saturday morning, August 23, at 11:30 o’clock, Jack Pyle was found dead on his kitchen floor in the Lake Shore district. On Monday and Tues. the 17^th and 18^th he had been helping Jim Allan make hay. He took supper at Mr. Allan’s Tuesday evening. This was the last seen of him.” Allan had paid Pyle $60.00 for his services.

Pyle, described variously as a “recluse,” a “miser,” or a “hermit,” lived in a small, cluttered cabin. For years, rumors circulated in town that he had a stash of gold coins secreted in his home. He was said to be irritable at times, and somewhat “daffy.” But he was a good worker, so neighbors put up with his quirky habits.

The St. Joseph Press reported the obvious. “Robbery is believed to have been the motive for the killing,” the headline read. On Tuesday, after working with Allan, Pyle visited Haer. He spoke to his landlord about wanting to purchase a small farm. Pyle showed Haer his earnings and said he planned to use the cash as a down-payment.

He hadn’t been seen since leaving the Haer farm and, after a week, neighbors went to Pyle’s home to check on him.

Investigators told reporters the victim had been sitting in a chair eating supper when someone fired a shotgun through the window, hitting him in the temple. The killer then entered the residence, stole Pyle’s small wad of cash, and placed a “rust-colored and cobweb-choked shotgun” across his body. If this was intended to make Pyle’s death look like a suicide, it failed. Dust and spider-webs blocked the inside of the barrel and the coroner, who was in charge of the case, proved the gun had not been fired in months.

Pyle’s cabin sat alone in a remote area of Haer’s property, making the victim an easy target for robbers. The place had been ransacked, and news reports speculated the killer may have been searching for the fabled gold. Whether the alleged stash was found, or even existed, is still a mystery.

As investigators searched for his killer, the community laid Pyle to rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Corning. Suspicion fell on a farmhand who worked for Emmit Haer. The worker was known to have a shotgun and disappeared the day of the murder.

He was never found.

Five months after his interment, The Leader reported “an exhumation and examination of the body was made a few days ago by Doctors J. M. Davis and Edgar Miller of this place…Only the skull was exhumed and examined, all the necessities of the inquiry being answered by it.” 

Unfortunately, there were actually few answers, the main one being that the shooter had stood outside Pyle’s window. (Of course, that had already been determined by investigators.) “The load [from the shotgun shell] ranged downward at a rather sharp pitch,” editors wrote, “tearing an oblique hole in the floor of the skull and into the pharynx. Of the forty or fifty shot taken from the wound a large proportion were in the pharynx, the remainder in the skull.”

After the exhumation, the case died. 

Pyle probably never saw the shooter. The murderer did seem to have some cunning about him. Placing Pyle’s own shotgun on his body didn’t convince investigators that Pyle had committed suicide, but it showed a bit of creativity in the killer’s makeup.

Speaking of creativity, Jack Pyle seemed to have an artistic streak. Among his possessions, authorities found a hand-made violin. The box and the arm of the violin had been made of driftwood found along the banks of the river. Pyle had cut it into shape, then scraped and polished the wood to perfection. Finally, he added keys and strings to it. A local musician played the violin and told reporters it was worth at least $100 (an equivalent of $3,100 in today’s world). Homemade violins are often found, the musician stated, but few meet the quality of Pyle’s.

When I read about the violin, I wondered if the lonely laborer enjoyed attending local hoedowns. Did he take pleasure in hearing musicians play the fiddle while people danced and enjoyed themselves? Did he flirt with local women at these dances? Was he a musician himself? I'd like to know more about Jack Pyle's life.

It's been 115 years since the "hermit" died.

If any of my readers have additional information, shoot me a message.

New book review of A Wilderness of Destruction by Zack C. Waters

A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas in East and South Florida, 1861-1865. By Zack C. Waters. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2023. Hardcover, 259 pp. $39.00.

Reviewed by Patrick Kelly-Fischer

Zack C. Waters’ latest work, A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas in East and South Florida, 1861-1865, is a detailed addition to the relatively narrow body of work that has addressed Civil War Florida.

While the book’s main focus is around the state’s guerrilla war, particularly outside the Panhandle, Waters frames that discussion within an argument that Florida was more significant to the war than is traditionally recognized. He highlights the importance of blockade runners utilizing Florida’s many small ports and rivers, the thousands of Union troops tied down by relatively small Confederate forces, and the critical role the state played in supplying cattle and salt to the Armies of Tennessee and Northern Virginia, especially after mid-1863.

Structured chronologically, the book begins several days before the state had even seceded, when a company of militia received orders to seize military stores from the federal arsenal in Chattahoochee. It continues through the removal of most Confederate troops to reinforce the armies in Tennessee and Virginia, and the resulting focus by state authorities on irregular warfare with the few means still at their disposal.

Waters’ work continues the narrative through to mid-1865. While civil authority had largely broken down even in Confederate-held territory by the end of the war, fighting continued into late April of 1865. As late as that spring, standing Union orders were that no detachment under 1,000 men was to venture outside of occupied St. Augustine for fear of guerrilla attacks.

The book contains plenty of that kind of typical guerrilla warfare: ambushing small Federal patrols, or individual soldiers who strayed outside of the lines, and the resulting reprisals by Union troops. Waters provides a close-up, granular look at the more brutal realities of partisan warfare: night raids, hit lists of civilians, homes destroyed, and families torn apart.

All of this is framed within the context of the wider war in Florida, allowing Waters to delve into everything from the smallest ambush to guerrilla participation in the full-scale Battle of Olustee, and everything in between.

Waters carefully highlights the complicated dynamics of this kind of irregular warfare, as regular soldiers on both sides received support from partisan units, militia and home guards, and armed bands of deserters. He also weaves in the complicated dynamics of race in a state that was, as of the 1860 census, just barely majority White.

The importance of the blockade to the war effort in Florida, the number of small ports, and the narrow navigable rivers through the interior of the state mean that there’s plenty for naval enthusiasts to enjoy here.

In order to go into this level of depth on a relatively understudied topic, Waters has had to dig deep in his research efforts. Traditional sources like the Official Records are layered on top of the work other Florida Civil War scholars have published and woven together with much more obscure primary source documents and unpublished manuscripts.

With a couple of small exceptions, Waters largely avoids the trap of overstating the importance of an understudied theater. He convincingly makes the case that Florida mattered without trying to sell the reader on the idea that these events singularly defined the course of the war, or that they were as significant to the outcome as better-known theaters.

In short, Waters has succeeded in writing a book that, while an in-depth study of a niche subject in a relatively obscure theater of the war, is also highly readable and a valuable resource.

Review of Zack Waters' book A Wilderness of Destruction

Murder at the QuikTrip

Oklahoma Executes Brutal Killers of Store Manager

By Robert A. Waters

“How sad that to Billy Don Alverson, a life is only worth a new pair of Nikes.”  Chester Cadieux III, president and CEO of QuikTrip Corporation.

On January 7, 2011, CBS News reported that the "Oklahoma Department of Corrections says 39-year-old Billy Don Alverson was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal dose of drugs while strapped to a hospital gurney. Alverson was among four men convicted in the February 1995 killing of 30-year-old Richard Yost, who was the night manager of a convenience store in Tulsa. His body was found bound and beaten on the blood-soaked floor of the store's cooler."

The brutality of the crime and indifference shown by the killers certainly made death the only just punishment.

Yost, married with two children, managed the night shift of the QuikTrip convenience store on 251 North Garnett Road. Yost clocked in at 11:00 p.m. on February 25, 1995. He replaced clerk Michael Wilson, who left the store.

At around 4:00 a.m., Wilson returned to the store with three other men: Billy Don Alverson, Darwin D. Brown, and Richard Harjo, 17. They chatted for a few minutes until Yost left the counter area and began cleaning the windows of the coolers. (It's likely Yost felt uncomfortable around the men and attempted to move away from them.)

Within seconds, all four men surrounded the manager. According to court documents, the "defendants attacked [Yost] and dragged him to the back room. One of the defendants, Billy Alverson, came back out and picked up some items that were knocked from the shelves and kept watch for customers. A few moments later, Alverson and Harjo walked out the front of the store. While they were going out, Yost was yelling and screaming for help, possibly thinking that a customer had entered the store."

The men duct-taped Yost's legs and placed handcuffs on his wrists.

The court wrote that "Alverson and Harjo re-entered the store with Harjo carrying a black aluminum baseball bat. He carried the bat to where Yost had been taken. The surveillance camera picked up the sounds of the bat striking Yost. Circumstantial evidence showed that the baseball bat struck the handcuffs on Yost's wrists which Yost was holding above his head to ward off the blows. As the blows were being struck, Wilson walked from the back room, checked his hands, put on a QuikTrip jacket, got behind the counter and tried to move the safe. While Wilson was behind the counter, several customers came in. Wilson greeted them with a friendly greeting, sold them merchandise, then said, 'Thank you, come again,' or 'have a nice day.'"

In between serving customers, Wilson continued working to remove the safe. He also took all the cash from the register and pulled money out of the currency change machine. He and his cohorts eventually located the store's dolly and used it to roll the safe to Wilson's car where they placed it in the back seat. Before leaving the store, Wilson extracted the surveillance video and took it with him. The safe contained $30,000 in cash. When the killers got home, they pried it open and retrieved the money.

The court wrote that "Yost's body was discovered by Larry Wiseman, a customer, at about 6:00 a.m. Yost was laying on the floor in a pool of blood, milk and beer."

Yost had been struck more than 50 times with the bat. His arms and hands were bruised and broken, showing he'd attempted to resist the attack. The medical examiner found a pin from the handcuffs embedded in Yost's head.

While speaking with customers who had been at the store that night, detectives learned that Wilson was working the counter between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Investigators placed his home under surveillance. When he and the other suspects got into Wilson's car, cops pounced, arresting them. Detectives discovered large sums of cash on all the suspects except Wilson. When arrested, each suspect wore a brand-new pair of expensive Nike sneakers.

Wilson quickly confessed to being the mastermind behind the robbery and murder. He told interrogators the four had planned the crime for two weeks before carrying it out. While searching Alverson's home, cops found the drop safe, the dolly, QuikTrip glass cleaner, money tubes and the store surveillance tape. In Wilson's home, investigators discovered the blood-stained baseball bat, a bloody QuikTrip jacket with Yost's name on it, Wilson's Nike jacket matching the one seen in the surveillance video, and part of the cuff that had broken off the handcuffs. This trove of incriminating evidence proved beyond doubt that the four men had committed the murder.

Wilson, Alverson, and Brown were convicted and sentenced to death. Since Harjo was only 17 at the time of the murder, he beat the system, receiving only a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Sixteen years after the cold-blooded murder, Alverson went to that eternal sleep with a needle in his arm. Darwin Brown was executed in 2009, and Michael Wilson's appeals ran out in 2014.

Years later, during some of Alverson's numerous appeals, Angela Houser-Yost wrote that her husband's murder devastated her and her family. She stated that her sons were eight-years-old and two-years-old at the time he was killed. "Anxiety plays a major role in my life now," she said. "I can also sense when the anniversary of Richard's death is without looking at a calendar. I start shutting down inside and avoid talking with family and friends."  

Richard Yost

Book Review: Cuba's Eternal Revolution by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., MD

 

In this interview with the author, Dr. Miguel A. Faria, Jr. discusses his new book, Cuba's Etermal Revolution.

1 —A British publisher has released your new book, Cuba's Eternal Revolution Through the Prism of Insurgency, Socialism and Espionage. Why not an American publisher? 

Let’s face it, the publishing industry, like the ruling establishment, is controlled by the left. Politically correct “peer reviewers” and Marxist professors, who sit in the Ivory Towers of academia, decide what gets published, including medical and scientific works, and will censor most of the material that does not go along with the prevailing views. As you know, I discussed this in some detail in my 2019 book, America, Guns, and Freedom: A Journey Into Politics and the Public Health & Gun Control Movements. I had a very difficult time getting the book published. For this book and my previous book, Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Through the Prism of History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics (April, 2023), I was fortunate to have an invitation to publish from Cambridge Scholars Publishing in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It seems they had perused my published works on my website and at Surgical Neurology International (SNI), and decided they wanted my work updated, revised, and re-written for their editorial needs. Frankly, I really think that the British—who have always had a high level of civility, affinity for tradition, and learning—have gotten a bit scared seeing the U.S. turn to insane, leftward politics—such as wokeness, Critical Race Theory, trampling on freedom of expression, and political correctness bordering on censorship. I also suspect they wanted a conservative voice among the many leftist writers in academia, including their own publishing establishment that also leans left in the political establishment. And therein, I suspect, lies the invitation that I hope lasts for one or two more books.

2 – I have always felt that Cuba has more natural resources than some continents. With these resources available, why is Cuba one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere?

Simply because Cuba is restricted by the central planning and repression of a typical communist or socialist country. Remember, Lenin, Stalin, the Castro brothers, all frequently referred to socialism and communism interchangeably. In the Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn alluded to how the working Russian in the former USSR acted busy, pretended to work, but, in reality, did the least possible amount of labor; and there was also a Russian saying that, “the government pretends to pay us, and we pretend to work.” Therein lies the economic failure of socialism: People do not produce when they do not get rewarded for the fruits of their labors. Then there is also the political reason, which is that people do not produce in a climate of repression, where innovation is not rewarded and, in fact, may be dangerous, and the invisible hand of the free market is restricted, And this summarizes the Cuban situation today as well. There is no economic or political freedom on the island.

3 – Why do so many Americans, particularly celebrities, view Cuba as a tropical paradise? 

Unfortunately, celebrities are drawn to leftist politics because of the nature of insecurity of the entertainment industry. Moreover, in the case of American celebrities, their level of education is frequently wanting, so they easily conform to the prevailing views of the establishment to preserve their jobs and contracts. 

Frankly, the media propaganda, the indoctrination by Marxist academia, the popular culture—all of which began in the 1960s—has created a mythic island only 90 miles from this shore that has allured many idealistic youths as well as easily indoctrinated Americans, who are blinded to the truth. I also discussed this in the book in reference to the Venceremos Brigade and the idolization of Che Guevara and the myths about his deeds, not to mention his own death.  

4 – Why has Che Guevara become a hero to some Americans?

The mythic island I referred to includes Che Guevara, as I mentioned. The media and academia not only propagated many lies about Guevara but also romanticized his deeds, even when they were grand failures. This was possible because of Che’s good looks and the use of propaganda, which included pictures taken after his execution, in which some people saw in him another messiah. 

“Chapter 7: Che Guevara, Ernest Hemingway, and Víctor Dreke,” shows Che as the cold-blooded executioner he really was at La Cabaña prison, his blunders in the Congo war in Africa, and his lethal miscalculation in Bolivia. The chapter should be an eye-opener to the uninitiated.

5 – Your book relates the story of Cuba’s “War Against the Bandits.” Most Americans don’t know anything about that unsuccessful uprising against communism. What’s the story?

After the Revolution turned repressive and it became clear that Fidel Castro was steering the nation into the Soviet camp, hundreds of former rebels went back to the hills, especially the Escambray Mountains of my native Las Villas province, to fight against the tyranny of the Castro brothers. They were followed by hundreds of peasants (campesinos) who had lost their land to collectivization—a propaganda campaign sold as needed “agrarian reform” to end the latifundia of the rich landowners. 

Eventually 3,500 rebels referred to as alzados or “bandits” by the communist authorities, took up arms in an insurrection from 1959 to 1965, which caused more casualties than the Cuban Revolution against Fulgencio Batista. Outnumbered, outgunned, and their feat unreported by the American media, the alzados were abandoned by the U.S., which had formerly encouraged and initially assisted them. All of this is described in detail in chapters 2 and 3.

6 – Is Cuba a friend to the environment?

Absolutely not. Year after year, Cuba’s once wondrous landscape that Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Seas, called “the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen,” was defaced and defiled by the predatory, anti-environmental polices of Fidel and Raúl Castro for the benefit of themselves and the upper echelon of the regime, namely, the privileged mayimbe class in the Cuban military and the Communist Party nomenklatura. Environmental degradation occurred alongside tourist development on the Caribbean island. But hardly anyone noticed or complained as the silent ecological tragedy unfolded, and many of Cuba’s once beautiful flora and bountiful fauna vanished. From the Sierra Club and other environmental groups there was only deafening silence. The environmental and ecological catastrophe being perpetrated has been virtually carried out in almost conspiratorial silence for over six decades of communist rule. The tourists only see the Potemkin villages that the Cuban government wants them to see. I discussed this tragedy in “Chapter 10: The Silent War Against the Environment.”

7 – What do you want readers to gain from your book?

I wish to debunk the socialist propaganda, rebut the misinformation and lies, and counter the concerted propaganda of the media, particularly the American media that repeats and augments the communist propaganda of the Cuban government. In short, I want to correct the historic record and enlighten readers about the realities of Cuba’s Eternal Revolution.

8 – It’s been reported that China is building a spy station in Cuba, primarily to eavesdrop on America. This seems frightening to me. What do you know about this and what do you think about it?

Unfortunately, it is true. China has been using Cuba, another friendly communist state and also in America’s “own backyard,” as a theater for espionage operations against its main enemy—the United States. In the last two decades, China began replacing and updating Cuba’s obsolete “non-lethal” technical equipment on the island. At a time of political or military crisis, Cuba could supply Beijing with a strategic operational base against America during any escalation or confrontation, or even war, in this increasingly perilous world. At the military base in Bejucal, China already had technicians working with Cubans in updating SIGINT equipment and gathering intelligence against the United States. The Chinese have also announced that they plan to reopen and update the old Soviet SIGINT base at Lourdes near Havana for that same purpose. Yet, the American media continues to ignore the threat that China poses to the United States—with its close ties to Latin American nations, such as China’s assistance to Panama in controlling the Panama Canal and upgrading Cuba’s intelligence gathering operations. And, the final two chapters in the book cover Cuban espionage activities against the United States, both SIGINT and HUMINT.

9 – Why is Cuba’s Eternal Revolution not offered by Amazon? Where can readers order it?

Actually, I’m hoping that it will soon be available at least via Amazon in the United States. Thank you for your interest in my book and asking the correct questions, which the mainstream media seldom do in the present age.

Book Review:

Cuba's Eternal Revolution Through the Prism of Insurgency, Socialism and Espionage

Author: Miguel A. Faria Jr., MD

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Hardback

Release date: June 22, 2023

Today Marks the 700^th Post on my Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem blog…

By Robert A. Waters

I posted my first story, The Kidnapping of Dee Scofield, on January 16, 2008. This crime happened in my hometown of Ocala, Florida, and has never been solved. It likely never will be. Cops have no body, no DNA, or any real evidence. In the middle of the day in a small city, a young girl simply vanished. Shortly after the abduction, she may have been seen with two men near the vast Ocala National Forest where there are millions of places to hide a body.

For many decades, I’ve been interested in stories of self-defense. My first book, The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves with a Firearm, was published in 1998. Many Americans have been taught that cases in which would-be victims successfully fight back are rare, but they’re not. Check out this true story, one of nearly 100 such cases I’ve written about in my blog: Firearm trumps knife and bear spray. Without a gun, Dawna Hetzler would certainly have been raped and murdered.

I love old-time country and bluegrass music, as well as folk and blues tunes. Early rock ‘n’ roll is also a favorite, as is Cajun and gospel music. So, it’s natural that I would write many blogs about music and musicians. Here’s a story I wrote about one of my favorite singers: Johnny Horton. Then there's the history of The Knoxville Girl, a murder ballad that dates back to the 16^th century.

My view of American history, particularly the so-called Civil War, is out of the mainstream. I’ve researched that conflict--many myths are taught as fact today. Here is one story that contradicts the modern view of Civil War history: Nightmare at Elmira. Lincoln's war machine murdered thousands of Rebel prisoners of war, and, after the Civil War, slew thousands of innocent Indian women and children. The 1870 Marias Massacre tells that story. (By the way, all my historical writings are supported by factual documentation.)

Artist's Picture of Indian Women and Children being Murdered by the United States Army

Of course, true crime is the mainstay of my blog. Unsolved cases intrigue me. The Short Family Murders is a sad example. Here are a few other stories I recommend:

The Man Without a Heart. The kidnappings and murders of two young boys had never been written about online until I read about the case in my research.

Reanimating the Killer. I love stories that have odd twists, and this one is a doozy. A mad doctor almost got to try to bring an executed killer back to life.

The Forgotten Victim. William Reese was one of serial killer Andrew Cunanan’s victims. A life well-lived, a death still mourned.

 

I invite any interested reader to peruse my blog. There are no ads to frustrate you, and comments are all respectful, with no profanity. (I will not post hateful, profane messages.) You'll find hundreds of intriguing cases of kidnapping, murder and mayhem.

I also ask that you check out my website: www.robertwaters.net

Any of the six books I've written will make wonderful gifts for those you love.