Innocent Georgia man released after murder conviction

Man charged with killing girlfriend released from jail when police find new suspect by chance

WSBTV.com
By: Rikki Klaus
Oct 18, 2018

CLARKSON, Ga. - A Georgia man accused of murdering his girlfriend two years ago is now out of jail after a shell casing led police to a very different suspect.

Kendra Roberts was found shot to death on the side of the road in Macon, Georgia, in 2016. Authorities thought her boyfriend did it but discovered that shell casings found near the crime scene matched a gun belonging to the suspect in another crime.

Daniel Hall, then 22, was arrested in the 2016 shooting death of Kendra Roberts, 27, in Bibb County. Police say Roberts was found shot to death on the side of the road near Macon.

Hall spent two years in jail accused of Roberts’ murder.

A man arrested in Clarkson days after the killing has now been charged with her murder.

According to federal documents, Bell has been treated by Veteran's Affairs and has a history of PTSD and homicidal and suicidal thoughts. He was charged with firing a gun in Pine Lake in 2015 and for shoplifting this year.
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Vin Diesel "Bloodshot" film based on reality of PTSD

'Bloodshot': Vin Diesel's new movie deals with PTSD

International Business Times
Sachin Trivedi
October 19, 2018

“The script was one of the most interesting scripts I've ever read. It plays with your mind in a way you can't...that you don't normally see in movies. It's so complex. It's so well written and so well developed,” Diesel said.

Actor Vin Diesel poses backstage at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles, California, United States August 16, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok

With superhero movies ruling the box office these past few years, Vin Diesel too is getting into the game. His new movie “Bloodshot” is based on a character by Valiant Comics. However, in a recent interview, the actor explained how this character and the story of the upcoming movie is very different from what the fans are used to.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Diesel explained that choice of the character Bloodshot was a no-brainer because it was a New York Times bestseller. What the actor found particularly interesting about the character is that the superhero doesn’t abandon his humanity.

What further sets the upcoming movie apart from the other superhero flicks is the subject matter it deals with. The film deals with subjects like PTSD, and the tone is not “heightened reality, it's based in reality,” Diesel explained.

Diesel also loved the script of the movie. “The script was one of the most interesting scripts I've ever read. It plays with your mind in a way you can't...that you don't normally see in movies. It's so complex. It's so well written and so well developed,” Diesel said.
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Some meds became the ties that bind veterans to suffering

What have we done to our veterans?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 20, 2018


In 2004, the US Department of Veterans Affairs issued a warning on Lariam following a warning from the FDA the year before. VA Dr. Jonathan Perlin wrote it "may rarely be associated with certain long-term chronic health problems that persist for weeks, months, and even years after the drug is stopped."

There were suspected links to suicides, including Spec. Adam Kuligowski, Afghanistan veteran from Fort Campbell 101st Airborne Division. His father said that the drug was found in his system.

It was suspected in the case of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, convicted of killing 16 Afghans. He had PTSD and TBI. He was on his third tour when it happened. His case caused the military to stop using it in 2009.

Dr. Remington Nevin, epidemiologist and Army Major said "Melfoquine is a zombie drug. It's dangerous, and should have been killed off years ago. He added it was "toxic to the brain."

It is possible that this drug had something to do with crimes committed in Canada as well. The thing is, the veteran should have to pay for what he did, but should not be further punished with incarceration without psychological treatment.

This drug was given to many NATO forces. We should all be asking, "What have we done to our veterans?"

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Controversial anti-malaria drug an element in Mark Donlevy's actions, says defence lawyer

CBC
Dan Zakreski
October 19, 2018

Donlevy is also scheduled to stand trial later this fall on 11 other sexual assault charges related to when he worked as a massage therapist in the city.

The lawyer for a former Saskatoon massage therapist guilty of sexual assault said Friday that his client was given a controversial anti-malaria drug in 1992, and the effects haunt him still.

Mark Donlevy at Court of Queen's Bench. (CBC)

Alan McIntyre raised the point during sentencing arguments for Mark Donlevy, at the Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon.

Donlevy was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a woman he met through an online dating site. McIntyre argued for a three-year sentence, while prosecutor Cory Bliss said three-and-a-half years is more appropriate.

McIntyre raised the issue of the impact of the anti-malaria drug, while providing Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown with personal details about Donlevy's life.

McIntyre said that Donlevy took the anti-malarial drug while he was in Somalia serving with the Canadian military, and that it has affected him since then.
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Consider this the Veterans in Other News for today.

Florida and Texas tied for first place...in a very bad way
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 19, 2018

Consider this the Veterans in Other News for today.

Last week I got into a conversation about one of the "22" a day charities that I constantly complain about. I had to apologize about one group called Mission 22. The person I was talking to is heavily involved with them. He informed me that they are doing more than using the number. They are taking a personal interest in the veterans all by themselves.

One veteran was suicidal and they formed a chain to get someone to him. His life was saved. So yes, I was wrong and I am happy to admit that. I thought they were all the same, but they are not. Just goes to show how important it is to actually believe something is important enough to invest the time to discover what you need to know.

That got me thinking about how all of us need to do a better job when it comes to assuming anything. While trying to digest the crow I had to eat, I looked up Mission 22. I did not notice anything about this being only for post-9 11 veterans. That was a huge plus, as you will discover further down.

For the most part, too many hacks just saw the number, did no research other than how to set up their 501 c 3, and they ran with that. And that was the biggest reason of all contributing to the results you will now read.
The worst thing is, that for all the groups here in Florida, doing the "awareness" stunts, we have the highest total of known suicides, right along side of Texas. 

Actually both states have more known suicides than California. Florida and Texas had 530 while California had 490. Click the link and then see how your state did.

Florida has 1.5 million veterans, with about 76,000 OEF and OIF. Meaning the largest group of veterans are over the age of 50, which happen to be the majority of the known veterans dying by suicide.

And as for Florida and Texas, when the VA said they used the CDC numbers for veterans, the CDC said they have incomplete data for both states in the civilian population. Meaning they do not have a complete idea of how many veterans committed suicide.

7.1 million veterans used some services from the VA, so we know they are in their system. We do not know how many have not been included in any research. 


We also know that as of 2016, the year the data stops, there were 300,000 with other than honorable discharges, as reported by The New York Times and later by several other sources.

Since 2001, more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops, have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges. Congress has recognized in recent years that some of these discharges were the fault of dysfunctional screening for PTSD and other combat injuries, and it has put safeguards in place to prevent more — including requirements for mental health professionals to review all discharges

From Military Times

VVA officials estimate as many as 300,000 veterans nationwide may have been improperly dismissed from the service, leaving them more vulnerable to depression and suicide because of a lack of veterans health services.

Yet again, that is from OEF and OIF veterans, but not Vietnam veterans. This is what Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran, was trying to correct back in 2014, as reported on Army Times.

The suit estimated that about one-third of the 250,000 other-than-honorable discharges issued to Vietnam era veterans may have been PTSD-related. 

So, there you have the facts and the results with the virtual elimination of over half a million veterans from all the "facts" that the press has avoided mentioning within the big story of "22" or "20" veterans taking their own lives.

Still with all of that, this is the most telling thing of all. When you look at the data from the VA, it clearly shows the most alarming thing of all. The daily "reported" total of suicides in the veterans population has remained unchanged, yet the number of living veterans has dropped by over 4 million.
  
Known veteran suicides from 2005 to 2016

And as for current military members, it is as bad as it was back in 2012 with an average of 500 per year. This is as of the second quarter of 2018 from the Department of Defense.

No longer homeless veteran painted powerful mural

Former homeless veteran's mural highlights the journey of a soldier

WEAU 13 News

By Jessica Bringe
Oct 18, 2018

Zimmerman explained, “Here what we see is really celebrating the individual, the uniqueness of the individual, and then helping that individual overcome whatever challenges they may have faced in life.

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WEAU) -- A once homeless veteran is revealing some of the struggles faced by soldiers returning to civilian life through his work as an artist.

A mural unveiling was held Thursday at Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls.

Klein hall provides housing and programming for homeless veterans and Veterans and Housing Recovery Program member James Heber said he wanted to give back to the facility by using talents he's been perfecting since he was 8-years-old.

“This to me is something to give back to help people understand that there's more than one type of person who is a veteran,” said Heber.

Heber said painting the 36-foot long and 6-foot high work of art took more than 800-hours but said each brush stoke was therapeutic.

“Spending time at night just peacefulness of painting it to help me understand where I've been and where others have been,” said Heber. “I've heard stories of people who have been here of what they've went through so it's just been an very amazing journey.”

The mural aims to really paint a story from a soldier’s enlistment to basic training to battles with homelessness and addiction to finally recovery and even home ownership.
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#MissingVeteranAlert Ashley Meiss body has been found

Riley County police say body of Ashley Meiss, missing since May, found in Ogden

Topeka Capital Journal
By Tim Hrenchir
October 18, 2018

Human remains found Saturday in the 300 block of North Park Road in Ogden in Riley County have been identified as those of Ashley Elizabeth Meiss, a resident of that community who went missing in May, the Riley County Police Department said Thursday.

The woman’s cause and manner of death remained undetermined, though Riley County Police Sgt. Daniel Bortnick said an autopsy found no indication of foul play.

“A copy of the investigation will be forwarded to the county attorney for review, which is standard procedure in such cases,” Bortnick said. “No further information regarding this case is expected to be released to the public.”

Meiss, a military veteran, was 30 when she went missing from Ogden. She had been separated from her husband, with whom she had two children.
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Veterans in other news October 18, 2018

Actors and athletes have agents to help them find work. Now vets with PTSD can too.

Staff Sgt. Robert Simonovich takes cover during a combined mission with the Iraqi army in Lutafiyah, Iraq, on April 16, 2007. Simonovich was wounded days after this photo was taken, and later spent years in therapy dealing with post-traumatic stress from the injury. (Staff Sgt. Martin Newton/Army)

WASHINGTON — After Bob Simonovich’s post-traumatic stress disorder left him anxious around large groups, loud noises and unpredictable environments, he was unsure what type of career he’d be able to handle in his post-military life.So his therapists lined up a job for him with a baseball team.“I loved baseball my whole life,” said Simonovich, a former Army staff sergeant injured in a bomb blast in Iraq 11 years ago. “But when I got back, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to go to a game again. The crowds, the fireworks, it’s just something I didn’t think I’d be able to do. read more here

Navy veteran, father of 3 killed in Norfolk shooting

NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — The Norfolk Police Department said Ernesto Crespo, a father of three children and a Navy veteran, was killed in a shooting Friday on West Ocean Avenue.Crespo's coworker and friend Ernie Santini said Crespo was with his children when he was shot. Norfolk Police tracked a suspect's car to a house 5 minutes away from the shooting. After a prolonged standoff, police officers found another man, Robert Dabney, dead inside that home. read more here

Many Families Will Never Return to Tyndall After Hurricane, Officials Say

The same cannot be said for base housing. Thomas said all 867 homes sustained damage, most of them with roofs torn off...Beginning Wednesday, and continuing through Oct. 21, Tyndall families who evacuated before Hurricane Michael came ashore as a Category 4 storm will be allowed back onto the base to survey the damage to their homes and take away valuables, the officials said. read more here

Pair of Navy Helicopters Collide on Runway in Japan

The mishap was labeled Class A, which means it resulted in at least $2 million or more in damages.
"There is an investigation ongoing, which will reveal the extent of the damage and what the crews were doing on the ramp," said Cmdr. Ron Flanders, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces. read more here

Three Troops Wounded in Suicide Bombing at Bagram Airfield

The bomber attacked a patrol, a U.S. military spokesman with Resolute Support in Kabul said. The nationality of the three wounded service members was not provided. The Taliban in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack. read more here

Vets group calls on DOD, VA to help stop fake news targeting veterans, troops

WASHINGTON – One year ago, Vietnam Veterans of America discovered a Facebook page was using its name to spread disinformation to nearly 200,000 followers. Facebook disabled the site at VVA’s request, citing violations to intellectual property.The incident sparked an effort at VVA, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization, to find more social media pages that target veterans and servicemembers with sensationalized news and hyper-partisan political content. read more here

Oregon Firefighters targeted by armed arsonist

Oregon arsonist sets own home on fire to ambush

NBC News 
David R. Li 
October 18, 2018

Jacobs shot at firefighters as they approached, but first responders had no idea they were being targeted because crackling noises are common in house fires, McKee said.

An arsonist ambushed Oregon firefighters by torching his own house then shooting a rifle at the first responders, authorities said Thursday.

A man is dead after a structure fire turned into an active shooter situation early on Oct. 17, 2018 in Springfield, Oregon.NBC16

Lance Taylor Jacobs, 60, eventually turned the gun on himself and ended the brief standoff early Wednesday morning in Springfield, Oregon, police said.

After Jacobs sent firefighters fleeing for their lives, flames spread to three other homes in the 500 block of Oakdale Avenue, which is about four miles northeast of the University of Oregon in neighboring Eugene.

All four houses burned down but no neighbors, firefighters or police were injured, officials said. One round tore through a firefighter's pants cuff.
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Other-Than-Honorable-Discharge Vets needing help can go to the VA

VA Struggles To Reach Other-Than-Honorable-Discharge Vets In Need Of Help

WBUR News

Steve Walsh

October 18, 2018

Onan is taking advantage of the program. After years of being rejected by the VA, Onan now is getting his PTSD treatment paid for by the agency, and he hopes it helps him get back to being the person he was before the injury.

Former Marine Lance Cpl. Josh Onan was in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006 when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb.

"I remember laying down in the truck," Onan said. "Waking up, there's dust, there's debris all over me, and there's an Iraqi colonel who's sitting in the truck with us, and he's just screaming, screaming. I don't understand what he's saying."

Onan suffered a head injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. During the next year, he was in and out of trouble with military officials, mainly for small infractions, which he chalks up to the medications he was taking.

Then, while on leave, he was caught with a small amount of cocaine and kicked out of the Marines.

Onan is one of the thousands of veterans who have other-than-honorable (OTH) discharges. They don't typically qualify for VA benefits, even though many have service-related trauma. And as a group they have a high suicide rate.
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Ex-POW, Decorated Vietnam Veteran Bought a Gun...Went to Jail?

Decorated Vietnam Veteran, POW Sentenced To 7+ Years For ‘Mistake’ Made Decades Ago

CBS 21 News

JD Miles

October 17, 2018

Friends of the vet showed up to support him after he pleaded guilty in a Plano federal courtroom and was sentenced to 87 months in prison by a judge.

PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – A decorated Vietnam War hero from Plano is going to prison for a crime he committed decades ago.

Alfred Pick was sentenced by federal judge District Judge Marcia A. Crone to seven years in prison for a mistake he made nearly 40 years ago — buying a fully automatic gun that’s illegal for citizens to own. The rifle was similar to the one Pick had in the Army where he served as a lieutenant.

“This gun was very rare at that time it was rare to see one so he instantly had a connection to it,” said Pick’s attorney Ryne Sandel. “Over the course of his life he and his wife and collected about 14 weapons, many of them were collectors items.”

Pick lived in Plano’s Air Park neighborhood along with other pilots who enjoy a runway right outside their homes. The 70-year-old Vietnam veteran even served as the president of his homeowners association. Thus, when the ATF raided his home last year it came as a shock to friends like Mark Shackelford.
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