tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152938862024-03-13T12:35:52.227-04:00NIKTO NE ZABYT -- NICHTO NE ZABYTONobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten.
A memoriam for Russian adoptees abused and murdered by their forever families.Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-75093999695688264922014-03-20T04:07:00.000-04:002014-03-20T04:07:59.789-04:00Azerbaijan Shuts Down Cross Country Adoption; CHIFF weeps<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ah, the White Woman's burden! Will it never cease!<br />
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Today CHIFF mouthpiece Katy Jay posted a short blog with the provocative title, <a href="http://childrendeservefamilies.com/russia-closing-adoptions-entire-region-azerbaijan-closes/">Russia Closing Adoptions in Entire Region? Azerbaijan Closes</a>. Her rant is based on an article that appeared in the March 18 <a href="http://en.trend.az/news/society/2254346.html">Trend.</a>regarding amendments to the country's adoption law that halts the adoption of Azeri children by foreigners and stateless individuals.<br />
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Rules regarding accrediting bodies providing legal assistance to those potential adopters were also amended..<br />
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Jay complains that since 2007 when Azerbaijan signed on to The Hague. that the flow of Azeri children into the US has dropped, accusing the State Department of having "no idea how to use the Convention for its intended purpose, which is to get orphans into adoptive families."<br />
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Surprise!<br />
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According to the The English language <a href="http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/65405.html">AzeriNews</a>, the State Department and Azerbaijan, are using the Hague exactly as it is supposed to be used by keeping children in their own family, culture and country whenever possible.<br />
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Azeri children are only available for cross country adoption if an Azeri adoptive family cannot be found to adopt them.<br />
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<em>A child can be adopted by a foreign citizen after numerous suggestions to Azerbaijani families, and only if no Azerbaijani family claims him or her.</em><br />
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<em> After receiving an application from a foreigner, the state committee requires their background information from the institution dealing with adoptions in the home country.</em>
<em>The State Committee tries to give children to Azerbaijani families living in their country or Azerbaijani families living abroad, assuming that kids will be more comfortable with their fellow countrymen.</em><br />
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And, as for all those Azeri children being barred from US happy homes and citizenship?
Last year only 8 Azeri children were adopted internationally, and all of them by <strong>Azeri families in other countries:</strong> 4 in Russia and 1 each in Turkey, Iran, France, and the US.<br />
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Why aren't Ms. Jay and her child catchers concerned about US children <a href="http://www.dailybastardette.com/us-adoptions-dirty-little-secret-us-babies-exported-worldwide/">bleeding into the international adoption market? </a> I haven't looked at the latest report, but according to the <i>2011 FY 2001 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption.</i> 73 little Americans had been exported around the world that year via the US adoption industry with a total of 142 shipped out since 2009. (The number is probably under-reported). It is hard to believe that nobody in the US wanted them<br />
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Where is the outrage?<br />
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As for the amendments to the rules governing accreditation, it appears they are an attempt to tighten up on internal reporting problems. Why would any ethical adoption advocate object to that?<br />
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When I first saw Ms. Jay's latest propaganda piece, I planned to limit my comments to the inflammatory implication-by-title that the Putin government somehow controls FSU adoption policy and we'll soon see a stampede of 'stahn's shutting off the baby funnel. (Unlike Ms Jay, I have actulaly been to Azerbiajan, and I can assure her it is not part of Russia.) If Putin will steal Crimea and Sevestapol, why wouldn't he he steal Azerbiajan, Why wouldn't he steal children from their forever American homes? I'm surprised Ms. Jay hasn't joined the call to mount a military action to save the children from their own countries? . But then I saw that the entire diatribe had too many holes that needed filled up.
I have yet to hear a good explanation of why the US has a mandate to expropriate other people's children.<br />
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<b><i> A</i></b><em><strong>ddenda:</strong></em> I was just about to send this when I thought I'd check in on <a href="http://theeckerthouse.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/azer-by-wha/">Azer-by-what</a>, whom I wrote about a few months ago. She's now shilling for money to adopt in Ethiopia.
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<em><strong><em><strong>Join me on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/DBastardette"> DBastardette</a></strong></em></strong></em></div>
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Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-5546356943505194162013-12-31T15:25:00.001-05:002013-12-31T15:43:13.710-05:00С Новым годом 2014 - Putin on the Ritz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Only in Moscow would Taco have a New Year's Eve special shown in 20 countries. (Can't post video directly(here)<br />
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Только в Москве может Taco есть телевизионное шоу в канун Нового Года, что транслируется в 20 странах.<br />
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Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-64965933459683913212013-11-27T05:06:00.002-05:002013-11-27T05:06:46.027-05:00Dead Russian Adoptees: The White Book-- Russian resource on murdered Russian adoptees in the US<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://victimchild.ru/">White Pqper (Book):Victims of Foreign Adoption </a>is a Russian web source on the abuse and deaths of Russian adoptees in the United States and elsewhere. It includes an English language translation The English, though, seems to be done by bot and it's not totally reliable, (ex. White Book translates as White Paper) but gives a good idea of what is in the original.<br />
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I was unaware of this site until tonight. It appears to have gone up in February 2013 and is operated by childvictim.ru. . Click the <a href="http://victimchild.ru/childrens/">Persons </a> tab and you'll find documentation of each Russian adoptee death in the US. I have documented these cases on Bastardette and collected them on my<a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/"> Nikto Ne Zabyt</a> webpage but the White Book includes some information about original names, birthplaces and regions of adoption that I don't have. I'll be fixing my data shortly.<br />
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I learned about this page through a video posted on the English language version of Monday's <em>Pravda</em> accompanying an article entitled <a href="http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/25-11-2013/126234-child_protection_services-0/">Western child protection destroys children's s lives</a>, for once not about the US. The video is, though.. It reminds me that the Cold War is back on wrapped in the the Russian flag.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7i3zPuUBlrY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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The video includes an interview d Irina Bergset, the chief editor at childvictim.ru and founder of Russian Mothers. Bergseth says there's a secret a conspiracy afoot in the West to "appropriate" Russian children. (Berget, a Russian national, gained <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/tag_54120495/">quite a reputation </a>in Russia after a Norwegian court removed her children from her custody and turned them over to her ex-husband in Norway who she claimed is a pedophile. She's made some pretty strange accusations about child welfare and Russian adoptions I'm not sure what to make of her and I don't have time to delve into it.)<br />
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Another woman, Svetlana Smetania, identified as a "observer of Pravda" whom I've also located as a reporter for <a href="http://rbth.ru/author/Svetlana+Smetanina">Russia Beyond the Headlines,</a> (who doesn't like the US so much) claims:<br />
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T<em>he principles of the American way of education include all children from Russia should be treated, in a very specific way. They should be rolled up in a carpet and adults should sit on top of them crushing them with their weight. In America this is a very common way to treat foster children.</em><br />
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Other therapies include forcing "foster children" to live in dog houses and dig their own graves in the backyard "on the advice of experts." I suspect she's referring to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pearl">Michael Pearl</a> (or some iteration of him) who is only considered n "experts" his knuckle dragging christo-fascist fans, The Pearl manifesto "How to Raise Up a Child" and other attachment therapy books have been found in the homes of three four forever parents of murdered children, but to say that these "therapies" are common is misleading. (.See my <a href="http://www.dailybastardette.com/the-therapeutic-murders-of-candace-newmaker-david-polreis-viktor-matthey-and-jessica-albina-bennett/">The Therapeutic Murders of Candace Newmaker, David Polreis, Viktor Matthey, and Jessica Albina Bennett.</a><br />
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No one. of course, can deny the gross mental and physical abuse inherent in attachment therapy It has come under close scrutiny lately, and extreme "treatments." such as rug rolling are widely condemned. After the death of Candace Newmaker during a "therapy session" in Colorado, the state outlawed the practice and sent the therapists to prison.<br />
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The video reeks of propaganda due to it's informants, Bergset and Smetania who have their own battles going, but that doesn't negate the truth of it either or the usefulness of White Book, Russia, however, is not the paragon of child welfare that it pretends to be, and it would be most helpful to shine a light on itself while shining the light on us. Both countries are leaders in child abuse.<br />
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Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-59043426194853886512013-11-26T20:02:00.002-05:002013-11-26T20:02:25.178-05:00Yana and Toli Kolenda: Two Murdered Russian Adoptees You Don't Hear About<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Lately I've seen claims that 20 Russian adoptees have been killed by their forever families. That sounded a little high to me so I went back and looked in the extensive files I keep for Nikto Ne Zabyt-Nichto Ne Zabyto--Nobody is Forgotten-Nothing is Forgotten There are indeed 20 Russian adoptees that we know of who have been murdered by abuse or neglect. in the US, but the "official" count is 17 (though that can be disputed due to a couple of acquittals, even if the evidence showed otherwise) because the deaths of the other three do not follow the pattern of Russian adoptee murders. Their deaths had nothing to do with their adoptive status, nor were they abused, neglected, or isolated from the community.<br />
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On October 20, 2002, Yana and Toli Kolenda, more than five years after their adoption, and their adoptive mother Gienia, were murdered by their depressed out-of-work adoptive father Richard Kolenda who then committed. suicide. In 2010 Kirill Kazankov, (adopted name Jackson Atusso,) 8 was brutally murdered by a teenage stranger during a family outing. Neither the Russian government nor media has cited these cases in their condemnation of the American adoption system.
I am writing about the Kolendas tonight and Kirill Kazankov in a day or so. They are not footnotes and deserve their own separate entries.. I will also add them to In Memoriam.
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Yana Kolenda was born December 31, 1990 in Russia (unknown location). Her brother, Anatoli, was born May 20, 1991 in Russia (unknown location). Their birth names are unknown. They were not biologically related but, it appears they were adopted together from the same orphanage (unknown location).They lived in Westfield, Massachusetts when they died.</div>
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<a href="http://http//firtionadams.com/obitdisp.cfm?command=popup&id=3895">Yana</a> was a 5th grade student at Holy Trinity School in Westfield, where she was a member of the school choir. She attended Daggett Gold Medal Gymnastics of Agawam.</div>
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<a href="http://firtionadams.com/obitdisp.cfm?command=popup&id=3896">Toli </a>was also a 5th grade student at Holy Trinity and an altar server at the church. He was a member of the Westfield Youth Soccer team.</div>
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Their adoptive parents <a href="http://firtionadams.com/obitdisp.cfm?command=popup&id=3897">Gienia Baczek Kolenda </a>and <a href="http://firtionadams.com/obitdisp.cfm?command=popup&id=3894">Richard Kolenda, </a> a retired Air Force major, were both born in Poland. Richard came to the US in 1964 and attended college in Western Massachusetts. He had a Master's Degree, but his discipline isn't published. The Kolendas had been married 23 years at the time of the adoptions and lived in Jacksonville, Florida.</div>
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I<a href="http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/112898/nes_bbbadopt.html">Florida Times-Union </a>about National Adoption Awareness Month, Richard Kolenda, described the adoption as a "tremendously positive experience" for everyone" Gienia said, I think our life is a lot more happy,'' It is complete.''</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oX6uibYf-XN3G50Zl0QwYieA-pkz4HLade0bjnX7zqfAld8ideJjhQdrHxW3_J46mEmLjOPWPOkRevsMGoOAjTdUKUjY34MrWFMMv1jOv2zgyfcqsK7x_irb40_8GBCHZ0pI/s1600/Kolenda+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oX6uibYf-XN3G50Zl0QwYieA-pkz4HLade0bjnX7zqfAld8ideJjhQdrHxW3_J46mEmLjOPWPOkRevsMGoOAjTdUKUjY34MrWFMMv1jOv2zgyfcqsK7x_irb40_8GBCHZ0pI/s320/Kolenda+2.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gienia Baczek Kolenda</td></tr>
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In a November 25, 1994 article in the <br />
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The article continues:</div>
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<em>Knowing the condition of the Russian economy and the limited resources to help orphaned children, the couple said they decided to adopt two children who desperately needed a home and a chance for a future.</em>
<em>''In other countries it is terrible; there is no hope,'' he said.</em>
<em>The couple had to choose the children, who were not related to one another, from photos and videotapes. They described the task as being the hardest thing they had ever done.</em>
<em>''You want them all, and you know you can't; you have to choose two,'' he said.</em><br />
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The Kolendas were well known as cat rescuers. A July 9, 2001 article in the <a href="http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070901/met_6634623.html">Florida Times Union </a> covered their work in saving and adopting out 150 stray cats on the Mayport Naval Station at that time over-run with an estimated 800 abandoned and feral cats. They reportedly spent $5000 of their own money on the project.<br />
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The motive for the killings was not "officially" determined but it's clear that finances were the issue.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfsAY_tbAWZhqsiNKM7C_OEgaCSBhoYZbWwtpX8Pnxib1KnOcd4vgDqG0-swRju3MFsEEn6glfC2K0gGarxA0foB8xEVs25AyOSGVJvu9IPxRLEEfF-jOn0Y3arPfkpCS-9kA/s1600/Kolenda+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfsAY_tbAWZhqsiNKM7C_OEgaCSBhoYZbWwtpX8Pnxib1KnOcd4vgDqG0-swRju3MFsEEn6glfC2K0gGarxA0foB8xEVs25AyOSGVJvu9IPxRLEEfF-jOn0Y3arPfkpCS-9kA/s1600/Kolenda+4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kolendas at the GNC store</td></tr>
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After retiring from the Air Force, Kolenda invested his life savings in a General Nutrition Center franchise in Jacksonville, which he operated for 4 1/2 years. In December 1999, he closed the store and with other disenchanted GNC franchisers <a href="http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/013101/bus_5270742.html">sued</a> GNC, in a very public dispute over what they claimed were unfair business practices that favored company owned-stores over franchisers. Kolenda, described as obsessing over his treatment by GNC and the suit,. must have lost about everything because he ended up working in an <a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/26022">autoparts store while Gienia cleaned houses</a>.<br />
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Around 2001 they moved to Westfield where Kolenda's famliy lived. He remained unemployed, but must have been trying to get into the real estate business. Shortly before the murders he joined the Massachusetts Board of Realtors. The GNC lawsuit had not been settled yet.<br />
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Family members said that they had no idea why Kolenda snapped.<br />
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Kolenda's father Wladyslow told <em>Boston Globe</em> reporter Jessica Van Sack in a <a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/20772">phone interview </a>that he had seen his son for the last time only 12 hours before the murders and that everything seemed normal.<br />
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<em>Saturday night, Richard Kolenda stopped by his parents' house in Westfield, as he had every day since his mother's recent stroke. He showed off pictures of his 11-year-old son, Anatoli, playing football in their backyard.</em>
<em>"He told me how proud he was of his son and said that his two children are his joy," his father,... "He just was very happy, and that was the last time I saw him."</em><br />
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Friends. however, had a different story. They told police that Gienia Kolenda was suffering from an unnamed chronic debilitating illness and that Richard, unemployed and supporting his family on a $2000/mo USAF pension was depressed and distraught over how he would take care of her.
On October 20, only 12 hours after visiting his parents<br />
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Richard Kolenda murdered his family, stabbing his wife and children repeatedly then dragging their bodies out of the kitchen and into the basement. Police said that although the family died quickly, evidence indicated that they each put up a struggle. Kolenda called 911 and reported the murders, then walked a few blocks to the front of City Hall and shot himself in the head with a small gauge pistol. He left no note.<br />
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The Kolendas have not been forgotten. Just last month, on the 21nd anniversary of their deaths, members of Geinia's family placed the following memorial in the <a href="http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/masslive/obituary.aspx?pid=167591672#sthash.PjGulDj2.dpuf">Springfield (MA) Republican</a>. Richard is not listed:<br />
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Gienia and Yana and Toli
Kolenda
6/7/1952 - 10/20/2002
12/31/90 - 10/20/02 - 5/20/91 - 10/20/02
Sadly missed by
Sophie, Don, Tania, John, & Krystyna -</div>
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I'll try not to not play pop psychologist here, but it appears that the Kolenda deaths fall under the heading of altruistic murder and suicide; that is, intended to relieve or avoid suffering.</div>
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Police said that Kolenda had no record of abuse, violence, arrest. or psychiatric disorder. From all accounts he took great pride in Yana and Toli and found adoption a satisfying experience. He'd even learned to speak Russian, rstudied Russian history and culture, and learned Russian songs to help the kids transition in the US. He was depressed over money the protracted lawsuit, and Giena's illness.He probably felt humiliated at the treatment he received from GNC. Kolenda may have have been suicidal and took the family with him to keep them from suffering not only from his suicide, but everything that would go with it. He was afraid what would happen to them when he was gone.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Patrick Ewing</td></tr>
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The Boston area experienced two other altruistic-type family killings between 2001-2003. <em>Boston Globe</em> reporter Farah Stockman <a href="http://http//poundpuplegacy.org/node/26022">interviewed</a> <a href="http://http//www.law.buffalo.edu/faculty/facultyDirectory/EwingCharlesP.html">Charles Patrick Ewing</a>, a forensic psychologist and attorney who teaches at SUNY Buffalo Law school and had researched "familicide" cases for (then) 20 years. Ewing, discussing all three cases explained:</div>
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<em>Unlike men who kill their wives or girlfriends, men who commit familicide rarely have a history of battering, Ewing said. They are known as doting, controlling fathers who see themselves as the center of a family that can't survive without them.</em>
<em>"It has to do with the perpetrator perceiving himself as essential to the lives and well-being of the people he's killing," Ewing said. "It is kind of a narcissistic, grandiose belief. . . . `You couldn't possibly survive without me. You're better off dead without me.' ....Men who commit familicide "seem like family men, generally overly concerned with their families," Ewing said.</em><br />
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We don't know how controlling Kolenda was, but he fits Ewing's profile. He felt responsible for his wife and children--whom he had adopted from a dis-repaired orphanage in Russia, I think he had a savouir complex and could have felt guilt for them over his failed circumstances. If Gienia was indeed seriously ill, he must have worried about what would happen to her, once he put the bullet in his head.
This is a sad ugly story. I am uncomfortable putting the Kolenda murders in with David Polreis Viktor Matthey, Nina Hilt, and Jacob Lindorf--all Rtussian children adopted tortured, and killed by their forever families.. If Kolenda were indeed an altrusitic killer (and I believe he was) , he was the polar opposite of the monster adopters His family was his forever family and he couldn't see them any other way. <br />
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Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-79483781564337293592013-09-25T20:03:00.000-04:002013-09-25T20:03:16.305-04:00Kemerovo outlaws all international adoption from region; urges Russian Duma to follow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The legislature of the Russian region of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemerovo"> Kemerovo</a> (Kuzbass) has voted unanimously to ban all adoptions by foreigners of local children. Galina Solovyova, Kemerovo lawmaker and co-chair of the regional educational committee, said in an official statement, quoted in <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/kemerovo-authorities-ban-all-foreign-adoptions/486627.html">The Moscow Times</a> and elsewhere, "We think that the adoption of young citizens is an internal affair of Russia, an internal affair of Kuzbass"<br />
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Solovyova, says that the new legislation was drafted due to local complaints over adoptee abuse in the US. <br />
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Solovyova also cited the recent re-homing investigation by <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1">Reuters</a>, which documented the transfer of unwanted adoptees to non-biological and non-adoptive individuals and couples--including pedophiles- often outside the parameters of child welfare and adoption regulations. She particularity slammed social network cites in the US and Europe that "<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Georgia, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">exchange and sell children adopted from Russia." </span></span></span>(Here's a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/secondchanceadoptions">example</a> of an ostensibly "legal" exchange.) Adoption should only be permitted domestically.<br />
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Last week the Russian Foreign Ministry <a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130919/183594532.html">demanded investigation and prosecution </a>in the cases of at least 26 Russia-to US re-homed adoptees. The origins of these adoptees has not been released.<br />
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Kemerovo has, however, been a popular sending point. According to<a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130925/183721863/Russian-Region-First-to-Pass-Ban-on-All-Foreign-Adoptions.html"> RIA Novisti </a> 77 children from the region this year alone have been disbursed worldwide. When looking for details on this story today I found several Kemerovo adopter blogs some dating back five years.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kemerovo is in SW Siberia, ENE of Novosibirsk</td></tr>
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Banning international adoption is nothing new to Kemerovo. Last year the legislature banned the adoption of Kemerovo Region children by US citizens. A few months later the Russian Duma, following suit, shut down all adoption trade between the two countries. Solovyova hopes the Russian Duma takes notice of this new measure which needs only the governor's signature to take effect..<br />
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<i>A special thanks to my friend in Moscow Kyle Keaton for alerting me to this story early this morning. If you want to know more about Russian culture and society--well everything about Russia-- check out his <a href="http://windowstorussia.com/">Windows on Russia. </a> It's almost as good as being there. </i><br />
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<i>******</i></div>
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<b><i>TWITTER: </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">I had to start a new Twitter account. Join me there! Daily Bastardette @DBastardette.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #565656; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Cross-posted from <a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/">The Daily Bastardette</a></span></div>
Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-68468041032873178352013-09-23T22:19:00.001-04:002013-09-23T22:19:28.477-04:00Life Imitates Art: Mary Landrieu calls Pavel Astakhov an ass; Then files bill to speed up adoption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two weeks ago<i> New Yorker</i> satirist Andy Borowitz wrote <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/09/g20-ends-abruptly-as-obama-calls-putin-a-jackass.html">G20 Ends Abruptly when Obama calls Putin a Jackass. </a></span><br />
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Last week, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) , in an interview with R<a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/us-russia-adoptions-landrieu/25112556.html">adio Free Europe/Radio Liberty</a> called Russian Children's Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, who supports Russia's refusal to re-open its child coffers to needy American paps, an ass. And it wasn't satire. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To make sure RFE/RL knew this just wasn't a slip of her sloppy political tongue, Landrieu reiterated:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><i>"He doesn't want to hear the truth," the senator says. "He's an ass. You can write that: He's an ass!</i>"</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">And RFE/RL did just that.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 22px;">Despite the impeccable US news source , no other US media picked up </span>Landrieu's <span style="line-height: 22px;"> insult to a high ranking member of the Putin government, and so far only the English language edition of <a href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20130921/183623138/US-Senator-Landrieu-Calls-Russias-Astakhov-An-Ass.html"> </a></span><i style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20130921/183623138/US-Senator-Landrieu-Calls-Russias-Astakhov-An-Ass.html">RIA Novisti </a></i><span style="line-height: 22px;"> has published the account (though it may appear in the Russian language press.) Astakhov's</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Russian or </span>English language<span style="line-height: 22px;"> tweets make no note of the outburst. Does Bastardette have to do Drudge's work?</span></span><br />
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To add insult to injury Landrieu claimed during the interview that Russian officials are wrong when they say that American adopters who abuse and kill their Russian acquisitions aren't punished. Obviously Landrieu is the one who's mistaken. My blog <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/">Nikto Ne Zabyt--Nichto Ne Zabyto</a>, routinely accessed by the US State Department, the Russian government, and the press, <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/12/update-russian-adopted-dead-review-of.html">documents the cases </a>of Russian adoptees murdered by their forever American adoptive parents. Very few killers have received heavy sentences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Landrieu's<span style="line-height: 22px;"> remarks were published only one day after the Russian Foreign </span>Ministry<span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span> <a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130919/183594532.html">called for the US to investigate and prosecute </a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130919/183594532.html">the cases </a>of at least 26 Russian children who have been re-homed to non-biological and non-adoptive families -including pedophiles--outside of the already suspect adoption industry.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbYo72YTLW5uJxIMFQYJcdaDpDCVSYMy-T6vcWtitT8cdEyq_xteM_YbS1UnhyphenhyphendhE-m8halCrl2BA4689bSWtH3Ggm-UqoNJiGohqFyeXS-K11WPflIq6CVwTHoET1Mdyo0p5/s1600/cow+bar+code.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbYo72YTLW5uJxIMFQYJcdaDpDCVSYMy-T6vcWtitT8cdEyq_xteM_YbS1UnhyphenhyphendhE-m8halCrl2BA4689bSWtH3Ggm-UqoNJiGohqFyeXS-K11WPflIq6CVwTHoET1Mdyo0p5/s320/cow+bar+code.jpg" width="284" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Moreover, while Landrieu was busy comparing Astakhov to donkey parts, she was also busy introducing an industrial-size piece of busybody but very dangerous legislation: the </span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/CHIFFBill.pdf" style="line-height: 22px;">Children in Families First of 2013 bill.</a><span style="line-height: 22px;"> (CHIFF) Though pimped with nice-nice terms such as "family preservation," and "kinship adoption" the bill is clearly an attempt to refocus US foreign policy to ramp up and speed up foreign placement in the US. You know. Make it easier for Americans to adopt other people's children. The bill is backed by </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/6569" style="background-color: white; color: #3b54ba; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">, </span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/45494" style="background-color: white; color: #3b54ba; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">Both Ends Burning </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">, </span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/6663" style="background-color: white; color: #3b54ba; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">the Center for Adoption Policy (CAP)</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">, </span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/12615" style="background-color: white; color: #1232b3; line-height: 22px;">the Christian Alliance for Orphans</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">, </span>t<a href="http://www.ccainstitute.org/">he Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute</a> (CCAI) (the misnamed) <a href="http://www.equalityforadoptedchildren.org/">Equality for Adopted Children</a> (EACH), <a href="http://www.kidsave.org/">Kidsave International</a>, <a href="https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/">the National Council for Adoption</a>(NCFA), <a href="http://www.jointcouncil.org/">the Joint Council for International Children's Services </a>( JCICS), <span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;"> and Rick Warren's </span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/22178" style="background-color: white; color: #3b54ba; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">Saddleback Church</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">. A serious, well-funded <a href="http://childreninfamiliesfirst.org/get-involved/">PR campaign</a> to whisk this monster through is already in in place. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #292334; line-height: 22px;">Note that no adoptee rights and adoption reform groups were asked to weigh in. Of course these shut-up-and-be-grateful industry hotshots don't care what we think. Unfortunately for them, they're about to find out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">I haven't had the time to read the full 77-page bill yet, but I'll be writing about it soon. In the meantime read Pound Pup's extensive analysis of the bill</span><a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/59424" style="line-height: 22px;"> here</a><span style="line-height: 22px;">. Then c</span><a href="http://www.landrieu.senate.gov/" style="line-height: 22px;">ontact Landrieu's office </a><span style="line-height: 22px;">and tell her what you think of her latest attempt to disfranchise the children of the world.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">I had to start a new Twitter account. Join me there! Daily Bastardette @DBastardette. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Crossposted from <a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/">The Daily Bastardette</a></span></span></div>
Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-76157783624938582002013-02-18T18:42:00.000-05:002013-02-18T18:42:50.547-05:00Maksim Kuzmin/Max Alan Shatto, January 9, 2010, January 21, 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCUwEBzeMmNaYmG9EE1-RsCpeAyPTlrrjl60SdlDZLpy3cV6k7jAXp9Po1qQSO7gUEbPUKNAFl3E3ppfBDejAtvMG9RrNWFc4zmpOOQy_7zA7-dm783vHpft2pkmXOH62YZ_f/s1600/Maksin+Kuzmin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCUwEBzeMmNaYmG9EE1-RsCpeAyPTlrrjl60SdlDZLpy3cV6k7jAXp9Po1qQSO7gUEbPUKNAFl3E3ppfBDejAtvMG9RrNWFc4zmpOOQy_7zA7-dm783vHpft2pkmXOH62YZ_f/s1600/Maksin+Kuzmin.jpg" /></a></div>
Russian media reports that another Russian adoptee has been murdered by his forever family.<br />
<br />
Best coverage so far comes from<i> RT </i>(Russian Television) and the <i>Siberian Times</i>. A few minutes ago, <i>The</i> <i>Dallas Observer's </i>Eric Nicholson picked up the story in his blog. Although I'm seeing accounts from the Australian , British, and Israeli press, US media is so far silent, but I suspect that will change in a few hours.<br />
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<a href="http://rt.com/news/russian-child-killed-texas-496/">RT </a>reports that on January 21, a Russian adoptee identified as Maksim Kuzmin, 3, living in Texas, died after a brutal beating at the hands of his adoptive mother. An autopsy showed that he suffered from severe trauma to his head, limbs, abdomen, and internal organs. The autopsy also indicated that he was full of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risperidone">Risperdal,</a> a controversial anti psychotic drug approved by the USDA for treatment for schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder in children <i>over the age of 10, </i> but it has recently been used in the treatment of autism.<br />
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The English-language <a href="http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/russia-alleges-grotesque-abuse-of-three-year-old-orphan-adopted-and-murdered-in-usa/">Siberian Times</a> identifies the boy by his adoptive name Max Alan Shatto. The article (no byline) says that Maksim was born in the Komi Republic in the far north of Russia, west of the Urals. Natalya Vishnevskaya, chief doctor at the Pechor Orphanage, identified the boy as coming from her children's home, but did not cite the adoption agency. This is the same orphanage that sent Dima Yakolev (Chase Harrison to the US--see sidebar.) The adoptive parents are identified as Laura and Alan Shatto of. Ector County, Texas (county seat: Odessa).<br />
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<a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/02/the_russian_government_is_accu.php">The Texas Observer's </a>Eric Nicholson contacted the Ector County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, and reports:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><i>The child was sent for autopsy. No arrest made, this is an ongoing investigation," sheriff's department spokesman Gary Duesler wrote in an email this afternoon. "Waiting on results of autopsy."</i></span><br />
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<i>Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins says in an email that the agency is also investigating the death of the child, whom he identified as 3-year-old Max Shatto.</i><br />
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<i>"In this particular case, the allegations reported to CPS were physical abuse and neglectful supervision, or simply, neglect," he wrote. "At the conclusion of an investigation, CPS will either confirm a finding, rule out a finding, or it will classify it as undetermined. So, there are two allegations in this case, and there will be two findings."</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Not surprisingly,</span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, says that Ector County authorities not the US State Department, which has made no comment on the case, has assisted the Russian government in investigating the death. </span></span><br />
Maksim's obituary is posted on the Owens Memorial Chapel <a href="http://www.owensmemorialfuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1926368&fh_id=10188">webpage</a><br />
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His Russian birth and Russian family aren't mentioned..<br />
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******</div>
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I'll make a memorial page for Maksim tomorrow and will keep on this case. Russian authorities are discussing further legal action.<br />
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Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-69547322669151751062011-12-31T22:52:00.000-05:002011-12-31T22:52:59.115-05:00С Новым годом<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-64252490945894952272011-12-24T20:10:00.000-05:002011-12-24T20:10:08.534-05:00Дед Мороз и Снегурочка<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-72733027436379662302011-12-23T22:28:00.000-05:002011-12-23T22:32:51.438-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov: Cravers Lose Appeal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9CJwCvMg5s60jpSiUNMSuB_Cl4cTNSwNTr0xXaMNMeOlU8Su4-isycr68syB0TAIJaFNe13Av_Gzuc6qqA8qvdc89z5xCRucf9HMhr1USnB3UR-QSHUVduDNOisKNTnmTC1l/s1600/craver+couple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9CJwCvMg5s60jpSiUNMSuB_Cl4cTNSwNTr0xXaMNMeOlU8Su4-isycr68syB0TAIJaFNe13Av_Gzuc6qqA8qvdc89z5xCRucf9HMhr1USnB3UR-QSHUVduDNOisKNTnmTC1l/s200/craver+couple.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The Cravaers were back on court this week . Both courts. The results were as expected.<br />
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Wednesday morning, York County Common Pleas Court Judge John S Kennedy, who presided at their trial, denied separate appeals from the Cravers for retrials. The couple, who earlier escaped death penalty specs, was tried for murder, but convicted on lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of child endangerment, and conspiracy. They appealed their case on the flimsy grounds that their convictions were "against the weight of the evidence." The Cravers were charged in the death of their adoptive son Vanya Skorobogatov who died of severe beatings and malnutrition in 2009. In their appeals, the couple argued that with their convictions and probations hanging over their heads, they can't find work and have been forced to move in with friends. Michael Craver is reportedly an Air Force veteran and an engineer by profession..<br />
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Thrown into the pot (which I'd not seen published before) was the couple's request that their court costs of nearly $100,000 be cut half.<br />
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Some people just don't' know when to quit.when they're ahead.<br />
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I disagreed with the flop to involuntary manslaughter and the wrist-slap sentence. I thought Judge Kennedy equivocated when he said the verdict was <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/12/vanya-skoorbogatov-cravers-ask-for-new.html">appropriate and just.</a> But he stuck it to the Cravers this time. It's too bad there's no online transcript. .From the <i>York Dispatch</i>, <a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_19591996">Cravers' manslaugahter convictions stand, judge won't reduce $98K court costs,</a>"<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3mMf87HKJ6cShU_ykAhwGmcFmsK1R1x_RjPvZrUIAfsd8yYNXQq_O7pWNlmrE1uWkzf0_7pW8lRILy5SCdvhmx2JRqVI2nAxdzF00X5k5g_OgKA4EOWavvw4lnWKJPusWrk3/s1600/Craver+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3mMf87HKJ6cShU_ykAhwGmcFmsK1R1x_RjPvZrUIAfsd8yYNXQq_O7pWNlmrE1uWkzf0_7pW8lRILy5SCdvhmx2JRqVI2nAxdzF00X5k5g_OgKA4EOWavvw4lnWKJPusWrk3/s200/Craver+house.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cravers' former home where Vanya was killed</td></tr>
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<i>Kennedy said he wished state law would allow him to order the Cravers to pay the costs of their defense as well. </i><br />
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<i>But because the Cravers were represented by public defenders and
court-appointed counsel, they cannot be billed for defense fees, chief
deputy prosecutor Tim Barker said. </i><br />
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<i>"The taxpayers of York County should be reimbursed" for defense
costs, as well as prosecution costs, Kennedy said. He noted the Cravers
have earning potential, unlike many other defendants who will never be
able to pay off their court costs. </i><br />
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<i>Defense attorneys declined to say how much defense fees totaled, and that information is not available to the public. </i><br />
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I'm surprised that the public defender costs aren't public information. They should be. After all, the public paid the bill. Over 30 years ago I was part of a defense team in a successful capital murder appeal in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Our costs were around $100,000 in 1978 money. It should have twice that, but a good part of the work was <i>pro bono</i> and the defendant went <i>pro se</i>. The state's cost was over $200,000 and came close to busting the county prosecutor's bank account. Of course, if the Cravers had been able to hire their own lawyers the costs would have taken them on a trip to Mars, and they might have gotten a worse.deal. . They got off cheap and lucky and should be happy.<br />
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The <i>Dispatch</i> doesn't mention what the Cravers plan to do now, but the next step, if they pursue it, would be to take their appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.<br />
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Hours before the Cravers were in York County Common Pleas Court crying innocent, and poor, the Moscow City Court was busy upholding an <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/ivan-skorobogatov-investigative.html">earlier ruling</a> refusing to issue an Interpol arrest warrant on the couple to haul them back to Moscow for a show trial. The article which appears in different forms from <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20111221/170407965.html">RIA Novosti</a> and <a href="http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20111221/259065065.htm">the Russian Legal Inforamtion Agency</a> (scroll down and hit link) is awkwardly translated in English, and leaves a big hole in the story. According to both sources, though, the court also dismissed an appeal filed by Vanya's aunt. This is the first time we've heard of an aunt trying to bring charges. <br />
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-82884361718264377382011-12-13T12:23:00.000-05:002011-12-13T12:23:14.290-05:00Masha Allen Discussion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For those interested in the Masha Allen case, a discussion has developed on it at my main blog <i>The Daily Bastardette,</i> <a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/2011/12/santorum-called-out-on-sandusky-during.html">Santorum called out on Sandusky During Iowa Speech</a>. The discussion involves her second "Forever Family: Faith Allen and her continued abandonment by "friends.". <br /><br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-33142016286891124932011-12-12T23:11:00.000-05:002011-12-13T00:26:51.831-05:00Russian Adoptee Reported Murdered in Canada<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/12/10/61983647.html">Voice of Russia</a>
says that a 4-year old Russian-Canadian adoptee named Sasha, has been
beaten to death by the live-in boyfriend of his Forever Mother.<br />
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Saturday, Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov sent a tweet about the death which I've read, but offered no other details, and as of this writing there are no additional messages. No statement has been published by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science in either Russian or English or by TAR-Tass News Agency or any other Russian online source. . <br />
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I'll be watching this story.<br />
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<b>UPDATE: </b>One of my readers, Andraya<b> </b>Charette<b> </b>has pointed out to me that this is an old case from 2002--but that the Russian government has only now has become aware of it. The little boy's name was Sacha Valee. I have some more information on the case, but it's late, so I'll put it up tomorrow probably.. <br />
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Andraya pointed me to an article published today by the Russian Legal Information Agency (l'l be linking that publication permanently in my sidebar on <i>Niko</i>) article, <a href="http://rapsinews.com/news/20111212/258821370.html">Children's Ombudsman reports death of Russian-born child adopted in Canada</a>.. The article quotes<i> RIA Novisti,</i> which wasn't listed when I googled earlier this evening:<br />
<br />
"I<i>t is an old case. It happened in 2002, but it became known only now," Astakhov told RIA Novosti.</i><br />
<br />
<i>According to him this case was uncovered by a group set up to monitor the status of the adopted children.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>On Saturday Astakhov said he did not rule out imposing a moratorium
on children's adoption and relocation to the United States before the US
- Russian adoption agreement is ratified.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>He said a dangerous situation has developed abroad when a huge number
of violations of Russian-born children's rights keeps on growing. He
also emphasized the gravest situation over children's rights violations
can be seen in the United States.</i><br />
<br />
The haphazard way in which the murders of Russian adoptees is reported to the Russian government is alarming to say the least. Just how many murders have occurred that we don't know about (even if they are reported locally) in the US, Canada, or other countries? .Since the Russians have formed a monitoring group, we may be hearing of more soon. <br />
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Astakhov also brought up a case of sexual abuse which boggles the mind. I'll be looking for more on this:<br />
<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>According to his information there is an American family which adopted
21 girls from Russia with the purpose of sexually abusing them. "We have
found out dozens of such case now," the ombudsman said.</i><br />
<br />
If this is true, the Russian courts fall down on the job, too. <i></i><br />
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<i>Much thanks to Andraya Charette! </i><br />
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-38779932253224979322011-12-07T14:38:00.001-05:002011-12-07T20:22:21.895-05:00UPDATE: THE RUSSIAN ADOPTED DEAD: A REVIEW OF KILLERS AND SENTENCES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b> UPDATED POST:</b><br />
Since 1996, 7 Russian children have died at the hands of their forever families. Except for Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison, all were victims of physical abuse, starvation, and systematic torture by adults who were judged by the US adoption industry and the US and Russian governments to be fit to adopt someone else's children. The Polreis case attracted national attention, but most cases, until recently, have rarely gotten more than a few lines. The Russian press has covered some, but not all of the cases, and covered the Harrison case extensively. Lately it has covered the Dykstra and Craver classes. The Russian Investigate Committee is now looking into some if not all of the cases, and threatening to take action on its own. Though it is highly unlike that Russian courts will accede to the wishes of the IC, the investigations and threats are indicative of the anger and frustration the Russian government has with Russian-US cross-country adoption. <br />
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Below is a summary of the legal outcomes of the 17 cases on record. . These summaries are taken from the larger account of each case found at my Forever Family, Forever Dead blog entry. There are also many links to these cases in the larger summary. Outside of Peggy Sue Hilt and Gary and Amy Thompson, the sentences have been relatively short and most of the forever parents are now on the street. I have no idea what the average sentence is for killing your child. I do know there is great disparity not only amongst states but amongst jurisdiction for killing children, so I can't say that these bad sentences reflect a general trend or are just what they are. Whatever, it is shocking to see that monsters like Robert and Brenda Matthey and Heather Lindorff out and about. Her husband, however, checked into the Gray Bar Hotel himself after he was convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill a witness in the family's earlier trial.<br />
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This entry is a backgrounder for my own future writings and is also intended as a guide to domestic and international media t and scholars who check in here.
When pictures of the dead children are available, I have included them here. Pictures of the forever parents, whenever available are placed below "Outcome."<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>DAVID POLREIS, JR,/KONSTANTIN SHLEPIN </b></span></div>
age 2, Greeley, Colorado. Died February 9, 1996; beaten and cut over 90% of his body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT174lbJATJi8VpVTNyaPm8rhlvC6HD5l7zx8NvqSG-b362e37CFfRh7TZhUmUHbBfkYT7rkn9SH6pXoqvwGRKbnYxDoSXVyaI6s0OVW0UDrHQ2sBZFpasip42Czr57ZVpAnl1/s1600/Ploreis%252C+Renee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT174lbJATJi8VpVTNyaPm8rhlvC6HD5l7zx8NvqSG-b362e37CFfRh7TZhUmUHbBfkYT7rkn9SH6pXoqvwGRKbnYxDoSXVyaI6s0OVW0UDrHQ2sBZFpasip42Czr57ZVpAnl1/s200/Ploreis%252C+Renee.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>
<b>OUTCOME</b>: Adoptive mother Renee Polreis was convicted of child abuse resulting in death and sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 2000 her sentence was reduced; she was paroled in 2005.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> LOGAN HIGGINBOTHAM</b></span> (birth name unknown) </div>
age 3, Shelburne, Vermont. Died November 25, 1998 of massive head injuries. The medical examiner was unable to determine if death was an accident or homicide. Three years later police reopened the case with other medical experts and concluded that Logan's head had been intentionally slammed into a wall.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> In 2004, Laura Higginbotham pled no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 year in prison. She will remain on parole until her older daughter, Layne also adopted from Russia is 18. Higginbotham has divorced, remarried, and has a biological child.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">VIKTOR MATTHEY/ VIKTOR SERGIVICH TULIMOV</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyJCDaM8QPJ5PjW4hVZPrifRJJzgh1diWYZhRhAfSRVCkm0DykvAf5MvvHqWeokdcb3NamtWc0fiEiNEPJS1zbbCKyqmfq8hJkmne8ipeVcfbyBkW9OFhYEFPdKTrLi1aNLFq/s1600/matthey+victor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyJCDaM8QPJ5PjW4hVZPrifRJJzgh1diWYZhRhAfSRVCkm0DykvAf5MvvHqWeokdcb3NamtWc0fiEiNEPJS1zbbCKyqmfq8hJkmne8ipeVcfbyBkW9OFhYEFPdKTrLi1aNLFq/s1600/matthey+victor.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b>ge 6, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Died October 31, 2000 of cardiac arrest due to hypothermia after adoptive parents Robert and Brenda Matthey locked him overnight in a damp unheated pump room; also suffered over 40 cuts, scrapes, bruises and untreated fractures. Robert Matthey admitted beating Viktor with an aluminum baseball bat, a belt, 2 whips, and his open hand<br />
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> Jury acquitted the couple on evidence tampering charges; deadlocked on manslaughter charges, but convicted them of lesser abuse. Both sentenced to 10 years in prison for confining Viktor to the pump room, 10 years for inflicting excessive corporal punishment and 7 years for failing to provide medical care. The sentences were to run concurrently. Brenda Matthey was released from prison on November 1, 2008. Robert Matthey was released on November 7, 2008. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">LUKE EVANS</span></b>, (birth name unknown) </div>
age 1.5, Lowell, Indiana. Died November 30, 2001 of massive head injuries, shaken baby syndrome, and poor nutrition.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME</b>: On June 30, 2006 Natalie Fabian Evans was found not guilty of murder, battery and neglect of a dependent after a doctor for the defense convinced a jury that Luke could have had "bleeding in his brain for days prior to the day" he was found unresponsive in his crib.Evans and her husband divorced during the proceedings.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>JACOB LINDORFF, </b></span>(birth name unknown)</div>
age 5, Gloucester Twp., New Jersey. Died December 14, 2001 of blunt force trauma to head. Also suffered from 2nd degree burns on feet, hemorrhaging in 1 eye; bruises, and seizures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW7GAYetgQ6GSQEnzml8WqbXxu0YCGPuPI4X_1mODktaW26eTsx666y7L589DAcXhXvk2yEJgstqvpT5M1xlbPns27Pq8I45dtLoQwcE2bINYjxe9LHDEAOhi0h2_deUaYnOv/s1600/lindorff+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW7GAYetgQ6GSQEnzml8WqbXxu0YCGPuPI4X_1mODktaW26eTsx666y7L589DAcXhXvk2yEJgstqvpT5M1xlbPns27Pq8I45dtLoQwcE2bINYjxe9LHDEAOhi0h2_deUaYnOv/s200/lindorff+2.jpeg" width="159" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4icj4qGsJlqP-fEuU4zNQMmRF5hAKB9rbagKAwWOwmVBqb756uLglKDDK20TZ0lOn0H6dZt2XZMYubQBhRiiGF8iWDnTOyyZHV-ZgKzS0qTy1llJXw-J87vey6XNt12XR8Db/s1600/lindorff+heather+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4icj4qGsJlqP-fEuU4zNQMmRF5hAKB9rbagKAwWOwmVBqb756uLglKDDK20TZ0lOn0H6dZt2XZMYubQBhRiiGF8iWDnTOyyZHV-ZgKzS0qTy1llJXw-J87vey6XNt12XR8Db/s200/lindorff+heather+2.jpeg" width="150" /></a><b>OUTCOME:</b> Adoptive mother Heather Lindorff, 36, was found guilty
of 2nd degree endangering, aggravated assault. She was sentenced to 6
years. She claimed the injuries were accidents and begged judge not to
separate her from her family. Adoptive father, James, 54, sentenced to 4
years probation and 400 hours of community service for child abuse. In
May 2004, Heather Lindorff was released on appeal bond and ordered not
to visit her children without supervision. That same month DYFS learned
that children were back living with the Lindorffs. Medical examinations
found four children were malnourished, abused, and neglected. Heather
Lindorff was released from prison on November `6, 2009. In September
2007, James Lindorff and Mildred Cullinan were charged in a
murder-for-hire plot to kill a witness at the Lindorff trial. On August
7, 2008 James Lindorff was convicted and sentenced to a maximum of 7
years with a minimum term of 5 years 11 months and 12 days. He will be
eligible for parole on April 16, 201. His mother-in-law Mildred
Cullinan pled down to a charge of hindering an investigation and was
sentenced to 90 days in jail<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>JESSICA ALBINA HAGMANN </b></span>(birth name unknown) </div>
age 2 years, 7 months, Prince William County, Virginia. Died August 11, 2003 of mechanical asphyxia due to compression against an adult: lack of blood and oxygen possibly due to "holding therapy"performed by her adoptive mother Patrice Lynne Hagmann.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> In December 2003 Patrice Hagmann took an Alford plea ( pleading no contest, without acknowledging guilt). Prosecutors recommended 14 years in prison, In January 2004 the court sentenced her to five years for each charge, suspended dependent on five years probation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ZACHARY HIGIER /NIKITA KHORYAKOVONT,</b></span> </div>
age 2, Braintree, Massachusetts. Died August 15, 2002 of severe trauma to the head. Jacob had a bilateral skull fracture, a massive stroke on the right side of his brain, a smaller stroke on left side, brain swelling and detached retinas.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> Adoptive mother Natalya Higier pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail, with 18 months balance of sentence suspended for 4 years; also required to attend anger management classes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>MARIA ANASTASIA BENNETT,</b></span> (birth name unknown)</div>
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age 2, Lancaster, Ohio. Died October 23, 2002 of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Medical evidence indicated fatal head wounds and eye injuries could not be caused by such a drop.</div>
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> Bennett pled no contest to 1 count of reckless homicide. She originally faced 8 years in prison. Prosecutors recommended 4 years, but said they would not oppose probation after 2 years served. Bennett was sentenced to 3 years.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>LIAM DMITRY THOMPSON/ DMITRY SERGEVICH ISHLANKULOV</b></span></div>
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age 3, Galloway, Ohio. Died October 16, 2003 at Columbus Doctors Hospital West of scalding and neglect. Five days earlier, adoptive father, Gary Allen Thompson, put Liam in a bathtub of 140 degree water causing 2nd and 3rd degree burns; skin peeled off legs. Instead of seeking treatment Thompson put him on a crib mattress in an unheated basement. Adoptive mother, LPN Amy Lynn Thompson, whose diary revealed she didn't like Liam or his adopted sister, failed to notice the seriousness of burns for 2 days, then treated him with Tylenol and Vaseline. Liam was taken to the hospital only when he went into respiratory failure. Autopsy revealed severe burns on both legs, right arm, back, and buttocks; bruises on neck, right side of upper lip, right eye, both cheeks and forehead. The official cause of death is listed as "thermal injuries."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkzNskrMt8Ai3ViDCbFVH9Xuvg1dHoR_5vbMcui24bcbfvWKtuBoZS-FaxStnRHQ2j7gWy3F1sEviHtilRwT91N2neWYEVJw4QpCKyEv9UeoH32KcLfJDJVWQa14DmECzXisU/s1600/Thompson+amy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkzNskrMt8Ai3ViDCbFVH9Xuvg1dHoR_5vbMcui24bcbfvWKtuBoZS-FaxStnRHQ2j7gWy3F1sEviHtilRwT91N2neWYEVJw4QpCKyEv9UeoH32KcLfJDJVWQa14DmECzXisU/s200/Thompson+amy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGZMchIgwvpMq7feFflnSdzlQc6k-cWZ1BkwsZbYQxJyQgRsH0bGBv4lvMi24g6lW7c5OpWIIVkNit25Ygzt1jl7t8XCCwFMthE1nQQCUxCn_0DyF5COv4YHqNrnwDOuwkigc/s1600/thompson+gary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGZMchIgwvpMq7feFflnSdzlQc6k-cWZ1BkwsZbYQxJyQgRsH0bGBv4lvMi24g6lW7c5OpWIIVkNit25Ygzt1jl7t8XCCwFMthE1nQQCUxCn_0DyF5COv4YHqNrnwDOuwkigc/s1600/thompson+gary.jpg" /></a><b>OUTCOME:</b> Amy Thompson pled guilty to child endangering and involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She is currently incarcerated in the Marysville Reformatory for Women and is scheduled for release on October 9, 2017..
Gary Thompson pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to 15-life. His first parole hearing will be in August 2018.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ALEX PAVLIS/ ALEX GEIKO</b></span><br />
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age 6, Schaumburg, Illinois. Died December 19, 2003 of severe beating. Adoptive mother Irma Pavlis admitted to punching Alex hard in the stomach and slapping him.</div>
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<b>OUTCOME: </b>Irma Pavlis sentenced to 12 years for involuntary manslaughter. She was paroled on March 28, 2008 and resides out of state. She was released from released from parole on March 29, 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>DENNIS GENE MERRYMAN/ DENIS URITSKY </b></span></div>
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age 8, Harford County, Maryland. Died January 22, 2005 of cardiac arrest brought on by starvation; weighed 37 pounds, 2 pounds less than when doctors examined him in October 2000. Medical examiner could find no underlying conditions and ruled death a homicide.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME</b>: On April 17, 2008, adoptive parents Samuel and Donna Merryman On April 17, 2008 they were each sentenced to 22 years in prison. Samuel is currently incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown; Donna is at Patuxent Correctional Mental Health Center in Jessup.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">NINA HILT/ VIKTORIA BAZHENOVA</span></b></div>
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age 2.5, Wake Forest, North Carolina. Died July 2, 2005 on A visit to Manassas, Virginia, from blows to the abdominal area. Adoptive mother, Peggy Sue Hilt, 33, told investigators she was "enraged and angered" at Nina, shook her, dropped her on floor, kicked her in the stomach, then picked her up, put her in bed and continued to strike her with a closed right fist on her back and stomach<br />
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> On May 25, 2006, Hilt was sentenced to 35 years in prison with 10 years suspended; will serve 21-22 years due to time served awaiting trial.She is currently incarcerated at the Fluvanna Correction Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. Her expected release date is October 6, 2022.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ISAAC JONATHAN DYKSTRA/ILYA KARGYNTSEV</b></span></div>
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age 21 months, Iowa City. Died August 14, 2005 , the day after he was hospitalized for injuries reportedly incurred from an accidental fall a few days earlier. On August 7, 2008, after a nearly 3-year investigation, adoptive father, Brian Dykstra, 31, was charged with 2nd degree murder.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME: </b>Dykstra released on bond. Due to the complexity of the case the prosecution and defense asked for several postponements over the next three years. As a result, Dykstra didn't go to trial until the end of October 2011. On November 3, 2011, despite a preponderance of evidence from doctors, nurses, police, and pathologists that in their opinion he killed Ilya, Dykstra was acquitted of all charges. Judging from news reports, the jury appeared to prefer the testimony of character witnesses.over scientific evidence. Dykstra and his wife, Dr. Lisa DeWaard Dykstra are now divorced, but she testified for the defense. Nearly a month after the verdict, on December 3, 2011. the Russian Investigative Committee, announced it was opening a case file on Dykstra and doing its own investigation. According to numerous Russian sources, the US State Department, contrary to agreement, had never informed Russian authorities about Ilya's death.and they heard about it only after the trial was over.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NICOLI (KOLYA) EMELYANTSEV</b></span></div>
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age 14 months, Tooele, Utah. Died March 7, 2008 from a "significant skull fracture" caused by blunt force trauma. Adoptive mother, Kimberly Emelyantsev 33, charged with murder. Charles against her husband, Fyodor, a Russian national, were dropped. During her post-conviction psychiatric evaluation she admitted grabbing Kolya by an arm and leg and repeatedly slamming him in the floor. Kolya suffered from Down Syndrome.</div>
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<b>OUTCOME:</b> Kimberley Emelyantsev, pled guilty to a lowered charge of 2nd degree felony child abuse homicide. On October 10, 2008 she was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. I can find no current information on Emelyantsev's whereabouts (she should still be in prison), but according to his Facebook page, husband Fyodor Emelyantsev has returned to Russia and is living in Novosibirsk.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>CHASE HARRISON/</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>DMITRY ALEXANDRIVCH YAKOLEV</b></span></div>
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age 21 months, Purcellville, Virgina. Died July 8, 2008 in Herndon, Virginia after adoptive father Miles Harrison, 49, left him in SUV for nine hours in up to 91 degree heat. Temperature inside anywhere between 131-172,.</div>
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<b>Outcome:</b> On December 18, 2008 Miles Harrison was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in a bench trial.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NATHANIEL MICHAEL CRAVER/ IVAN "VANYA" SKOROBOGATOV </b></span></div>
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age 7. Dillsburg/Carroll Township, Pennsylvania. Died August 25, 2009 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center after being taken off life support. The autopsy revealed Vanya suffered 80 external injuries, including 20 to the head. Old injuries, including fractures to his forehead and old blood beneath his scalp were found. The coroner also found evidence of malnourishment and "severe failure to thrive." Adopters Michael 45 and Nanette Craver, 54, say that Vanya caused injuries to himself.<br />
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<b>OUTCOME: </b>On February 26, 2010 Michael and Nanette Craver were
arrested and charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy, and child
endangerment. The prosecutor considered seeking indictments with death penalty specifications, claiming that Vanya's death constitution torture, but later took that option off the table. The couple were held in the York County Prison without
bond until their trial in September 2011. Like the Dykstracase, despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary, the Cravers were acquitted of first degree murder, but unlike Dykstra were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, and conspiracy. In November they were sentenced to five years in prison with time served. They are currently on parole and attempting to regain custody of Vanya's twin sister, Dasha. After the sentencing hearing, the Russian Investigative Committee, outraged at the outcome of the trial announced it would seek to extradite the Cravers and try them on murder charges in Moscow. A Russian court ruled against the CI, but it is still investigating the case. On December 2, the Cravers filed separate appeals of their sentences and demanded new trials. If they win their appeals, which is doubtful, they can only be retried on the involuntary manslaughter charge, and if found guilty again, be sent to prison for up to10 years. <br />
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<b>UPDATED DECEMBER 7, 2011</b></div>
</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-88494873164249170652011-12-06T00:18:00.000-05:002011-12-07T00:22:53.337-05:00Vanya Skorbogatov. Cravers ask for new trial; want custody of Dasha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Russian Investigative Committee (IC) isn't the only one <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/ivan-skorobogatov-investigative.html">demanding that the Cravers get a new trial.</a><br />
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Last week Michael and Nanette Craver, convicted last month of involuntary manslaughter in the death of their adopted Russian son Vanya Skorobogatov filed separate post-sentencing appeals with Judge John S. Kennedy, the presiding judge of their trial. They argue that the verdicts were "against the weight of the evidence." The appeals are not online, but according to the<i> York Dispatch</i>,<a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_19457202"> Cravers ask judge to overturn their convictions and grant them new trials</a>,:the couple argues: <br />
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<i> prosecutors presented no<span class="articleImage"><a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=4109474" target="_new"></a></span> evidence
to show either parent physically abused Nathaniel, other than testimony
from a forensic pathologist who said he believed the injuries were
intentionally inflicted.... </i><br />
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<i> ...The forensic pathologist testifying for the defense told jurors
there was no evidence the injuries were intentionally inflicted, and a
number of medical experts testified to Nathaniel's "numerous and serious
medical and mental-health conditions," including self-injury, according
to Michael Craver's motion</i><br />
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The jury didn't buy that argument and found the couple guilty of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and conspiracy. The couple was originally charged with first degree murder, with an option of death penalty specifications..<br />
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If the Cravers' appeal is granted, they can be re-tried only on the charges of which they were convicted, . BUT if they lose again, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, rather than their current cushy time-served awaiting trial.<br />
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The Cravers obviously don't' know when to quit, especially since their case is edging into international incident territory due to the IC's attempt to extradite them to Moscow for a taste of Russian justice--and to take custody of Vanya's twin sister Dasha Skorobogatova in the process. Dasha, still a Russian citizen, as was Vanya, is currently, in the care of an adoptive aunt..<br />
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My educated guess is that Judge Kennedy will not grant the appeal motions since he, agreed with the verdict:<br />
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<i>"It was an appropriate and just verdict," he said. "The physical
evidence ... did not establish there was intentional infliction of
injuries on Nathaniel. ... Certainly there was reasonable doubt
presented."</i><br />
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If Kennedy doesn't grant the motions, the next step will be to take the case to the Pennsylvania Superior Court for consideration.<br />
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The Cravers legal team says the couple maintains their innocence and want to prove it, but also need an acquittal to re-gain custody of Dasha, whom they haven't seen since their arrest in February. 2010. Rick Robinson, one of Nanette Craver's lawyers. who said last month that the sentence was fair and reasonable, now backpedaling. He says he clients are concerned that their convictions:<span id="MNGi Section"> </span><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<span id="MNGi Section"><i>establish the ability for Children and Youth
(caseworkers) to attempt to terminate their parental rights for (the
girl)," "They want to have contact with their daughter."</i> </span><br />
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<span id="MNGi Section">To add to the Craver's woes, they are currently unemployed and unemployable due to their conviction. They are now living with friends, which might mean they lost their home.</span><br />
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<span id="MNGi Section"> </span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section">In so many words, the Cravers still insist that Vanya killed himself.</span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section"><br /></span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section">Let's stop right now! </span><br />
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<span id="MNGi Section">I'm not going to go through all the trial testimony, most of it damming for the Cravers, but let's just take the autopsy alone. This is how pathologist Wayne K Ross, who performed the post-mortem on Vanya, described his condition durung the Craver's preliminary hearing, as reported in the April 29, 2010 <a href="http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43318">York Daily Record.</a></span><br />
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<span id="MNGi Section"><b>WARNING: Graphic language ahead </b></span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section"><b> </b> </span><br />
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<i>Ross said the injuries to Nathaniel's swollen head were caused by
repetitive blunt force trauma. He made the same observation as to the
numerous bruises on the boy's arms, legs, chest, abdomen and torso.</i><br />
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</i><i>The only part of the boy's body the pathologist did not take note of was the bottom of his feet.</i><br />
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</i><i>Pictures taken at Hershey Medical Center by Carroll Township Police
Sgt. John Schreiner reportedly showed an emaciated boy with gauze
covering his head where surgeons had removed a piece of his skull to
relieve the pressure on his swollen brain.</i><br />
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</i><i>The exhibits - 18 hospital and autopsy photos and a cat scan - were
passed by Barker to the defense attorneys and the district justice. They
were not visible to onlookers in the courtroom.</i><br />
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</i><i>Ross said the boy "looked like he was starved to death" and had "less than a millimeter" of body fat at the time of his death.</i><br />
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The pathologist said the boy's face and head were distorted by swelling
and looked "like a balloon." </i><br />
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<i>Nathaniel also had a "classic cauliflower
ear" normally seen on a wrestler, he said...</i><br />
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<i>...Ross's other findings included anemia, brain scarring, indications
that the boy's shoulders and hips had been dislocated and that he had
been bound at the wrists and ankles. He said the time of the injuries
ranged from the 24 hours before being taken to the hospital to up to two
months earlier.</i><br />
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under cross,<br />
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<i>Nanette Craver's attorney David Hershey asked
Ross if Nathaniel being diagnosed with reattachment disorder, the lack
of a nurturing environment in a Russian orphanage and whether the boy
was self-destructive and taking anti-psychotic medications would affect
his findings.</i><br />
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</i><i>Ross suggested deferring the psychological questions to an expert in
that field. He then explained that anyone seeing Nathaniel over a period
of time would have noticed the drastic change in his appearance and
health.</i><br />
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</i><i>Ross said the final injury to Nathaniel's head that necessitated
taking him to the hospital required "hundreds of pounds of force."</i><br />
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</i><i>He added the bruising patterns on the boy's head, back and abdomen "were inconsistent with self-abuse."</i><br />
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Dr. Ross also testified at the trial.. From the <i>Harrisburg Patriot-News/ Penn.Live.com </i> <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/09/doctor_describes_cravers_injur.html">Doctor describes Craver's injuries to York County jury:</a><br />
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<i>After nearly two hours on the witness stand, Dr. Wayne K. Ross circled his main point. <br /><br />
The Dauphin County forensic pathologist had performed the autopsy on
Nathaniel Craver in 2009. He had spent Wednesday morning detailing the
injuries he found on the 7-year-old’s body. </i>
<i><br /><br />
Nathaniel’s head: “I don’t just mean a little bit of swelling. I mean
the entire skull and head looked to me like a watermelon or an alien.” </i>
<i><br /><br />
Nathaniel’s brain: “The bottom line is, it was soft as anything. When
you look at the pictures of the brain we took at autopsy, it was purple
and dead ... it was flat and mushy. It was horrible.” </i>
<i><br /><br />
He found evidence that muscles had torn near Nathaniel’s shoulder and
hip joints from being pulled. He found marks indicating the boy had been
bound at his feet and wrists. </i>
<i><br /><br />
He found bruising on Nathaniel’s torso and back showing the boy had been
struck with a “tool type” device over a period of weeks. He found an
untreated broken rib. He found “lakes of blood” under Nathaniel’s skull.
To get there, Nathaniel’s head must have been struck repeatedly. </i>
<i><br /><br />
In the weeks before his death, Ross testified, Nathaniel was starving.... </i>
<i><br />
<br />
...Was it possible, Barker asked, for Nathaniel to have done this to himself? </i>
<i><br /><br />
It went to the heart of the defense case. Michael and Nanette Craver
have maintained their adopted Russian son constantly abused himself. It
was a manifestation of deep physical and psychological issues stemming
from a harsh early life in Russia, conditions the Cravers have said they
could not stop. </i>
<i><br /><br />
Ross did not hesitate. </i>
<i><br /><br />
“The abuse I see is due to the direct action of another,” Ross said, “not self-abuse.” </i><br />
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Other medical, police, and family backed up Ross on various points..
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I really don't see how this evidence can be refuted, despite the defense's expert witness who claimed it was impossible to tell how Vanya was injured. Pathologists do make mistakes, but Vanya's injuries are so massive and extended they cannot be dismissed as self-inflicted. Especially by a 7-year old.<br />
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Clearly the jury, though flawed with its involuntary manslaughter verdict, believed that the Cravers were responsible for Vanya/s death through abuse or negligence.. A re-trial won't change that. Whatever happened Michael and Nanette Craver were lousy parents who either caused Vanya's death directly or indirectly. I believe directly.<br />
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I haven't yet, found an IC reaction to the Craver's demand for a new trial. The appeals have been reported by the Russian press so we know the IC and Russian Children's Rights Commission director Pavel Askakov know--just in case the US State Deparmtnet <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/12/more-problems-for-russian-us-adoption.html">didn't know about it</a>.<br />
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This is a wrap-up video of the sentencing. <br />
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-59745037459380520952011-12-04T17:25:00.001-05:002011-12-07T14:01:38.459-05:00More Problems for Russian-US Adoption Relations: Russians claim they only learned of Dkystra case after the trial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The other day I wondered why the Russian government hadn't commented on last month's <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/brian-dykstra-acquitted-in-death-of.html">acquittal </a>of Brian Dykstra, charged with murdering his adoptive Russian son, Isaac Jonathan Dykstra. Now we know why.</div>
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The Russian government didn't know about the case!</div>
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I almost find this too fantastic to believe.</div>
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Isaac (whose birth name has now been revealed in the Russia press as <i>Ilya Kargyntsev</i>), died in 2005 after being in the US for only three months.. Under Russian-US adoption agreements, the US government is required to report the death of any Russian adoptee immediately to appropriate Russian Federation authorities. Remember that's how back in 2008, European Adoption Consultants <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/07/kak-dela-whats-up-with-european.html">got in trouble </a> (see other EAC posts in right sidiebar for more) after the accidental death of Dmitri Yakolev/Chase Harrison. The agency failed to report the death in a timely manner that satisfied the Russians. 'm not sure if that agreement was in force at the time of Ilya's death, but it's been negotiated since and more safeguards (for what they're worth) are waiting to be ratified by the State Duma, Common sense tells us the death should have been reported, even late, if for no other reason than to try to look honest and to smooth out Russian-US adoption relations.Certainly if adoption "officials" on either side didn't know about Illya's death and the six year long investigation and trial, the unnamed adoption agency that handled the placement did, and had a duty to report it to the Education Ministry. What's the name of the agency, and where does it stand in all this?</div>
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I have been writing about the Dkystra case since 2008 when Brian Dkystra was charged and the story burst out of its Iowa City news ghetto,<i> Nikto</i> and the <i>Daily Bastardette</i> get frequent hits from the US State Department and Russian government sites (though it's not possible to tell which sites) and I find it hard to believe that one or both didn't stumble on the Dykstra case in their surf.. (Not to be facetious (but I will be anyway) perhaps the State Department and the Ministry pf Education and Science should put me on the payroll. I'll be happy to report any abuse of Russian adoptees I find.)<br />
. <span class="" id="result_box" lang="ru"><span class="hps"></span></span><br />
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Whatever, the cat is out now. </div>
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On December 2, Russian Federation Children's Rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakov sent several tweets about the Dykstra case, which he reportedly learned about by accident. </div>
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For expediencey, I am using the <a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/287376.html">ITAR-Tass translation</a>. of those tweets. You can read all of Astakov's tweets on the case in Russian at his<a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/RFdeti"> Twitter account</a> (in Russian) Here's a couple of them as reported by the news agency, with my emphasis:</div>
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<i> The boy died on August 14, 2005, and
the investigation had been going on ever since. However, the U.S.
authorities did not inform of it the Russian diplomatic mission, the
consulate or the Ministry of Education and Science, which handles
the adoption of Russian children by foreigners,” </i><br />
<br />
<i>Astakhov reported.
The U.S. officials found it possible to make the case public only
after the jury passed the verdict of not guilty.</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
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<i> <b>“</b><b>The Americans expressed regret over
their inability to organize the timely information of the Russian
authorities about the death of our little citizen </b>(all the children,
adopted in Russia, continue to be Russian citizens until they come
of age), or the proper protection of the rights of the children, who
fall victim to the offences,”</i><br />
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What can we even say about that last statement? "...inability to organize timely information?" This was information I've been writing about for three years and that adoption reform advocates were quite familiar with. It's been posted on Facebook for pete's sake! Yet the State department knew nothing? This simply is not acceptabale.<br />
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And if it's not true...<br />
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Either way, State has some big explaining to do<i>. </i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="ru"><span class="hps">Для</span> <span class="hps">Павел </span></span><span class="st">Алексе́евич</span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="ru"><span class="hps">:</span> <span class="hps">Не доверяйте</span> <span class="hps">Государственного департамента США.</span> <span class="hps">Прочитано</span> <span class="hps">Никто не забыт</span> <span class="hps">-</span> <span class="hps">ничто не забыто</span>. <span class="hps">Мы говорим правду</span><span class="">!</span></span><br />
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Astakov's official statement (in Russian) appears on the Russian-lanauge page of the <a href="http://www.rfdeti.ru/display.php?id=4394">Ministry of Education and Science</a>, the agency that oversees Russian adoptions . Unfortunatley, it does not appear yet on the <a href="http://english.rfdeti.ru/">English lanauge page.</a> (I'll keep looking)<i> </i>In the meantime, I'll use English lanauge versions of Itar-Tass and Russian publications.<br />
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Astakov told <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/us-russia-usa-adoption-idUSTRE7B12FF20111202">Reuters</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>The American authorities have only now
informed us (of this case). For almost six years they were silent and
said nothing. It is inexcusabl,"...Nineteen
of our children have died," Astakhov said referring to all deaths of
Russian-born children in the U.S. since 1991. "This situation is a
permanent fiasco."</i><br />
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In the past, Astakov has seemed willing
to negotiate terms of adoption with the State Department, indicating that
he wanted to see Russia-US adoption continue, but demanding
regulations and enforcement tightened up. His latest statement from the
Ministry indicates a harder, and for me, welcome stance. It's nice to find a masculine voice in otherwise weepy AdoptionLand: <br />
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<i>“the dangerous trend of the acquittal (this is not
the first such case) and of keeping away from criminal responsibility
of the American foster parents, who permitted the death of adopted
Russian children deliberately or unintentionally, puts up
insurmountable obstacles on the way of further adoption of Russian
children by Americans and may result in its banning altogether.</i>” (<a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/287376.html">ITAR-Tass translation)</a><br />
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The Russian Investigative Committee, already running an investigation of the Craver debacle, has announced that it is opening a case file on Bian Dykstra. The IC press release is available in <a href="http://sledcom.ru/actual/76525/">Russian only</a>. It says in rough translation:<br />
<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="При этом позиция Следственного комитета остаётся неизменной относительно места совершения преступления: где и кем бы оно ни было совершено – наша задача защитить интересы, жизнь и здоровье российского гражданина и принять исчерпывающие меры к привлечению виновных к установленной нормами российского и международного права ответственности."> </span></span><br />
<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="При этом позиция Следственного комитета остаётся неизменной относительно места совершения преступления: где и кем бы оно ни было совершено – наша задача защитить интересы, жизнь и здоровье российского гражданина и принять исчерпывающие меры к привлечению виновных к установленной нормами российского и международного права ответственности.">.<i>..our job is to protect
the interests, life and health of Russian citizens and take
comprehensive measures to bring the perpetrators to the established
norms of the Russian and international law of responsibility.</i></span><i><span title="Кроме того, руководством Следственного комитета достигнута договоренность с Уполномоченным при Президенте Российской Федерации по правам ребёнка Павлом Астаховым в целях предотвращения преступлений в отношении российских детей, усыновленных американскими родителями, разработать механизм отслеживания их дальнейшей судьбы."> In
addition, the leadership of the Investigative Committee agreed with the
Commissioner of the President of the Russian Federation for Children's
Rights Pavel Astakhov for the prevention of crimes against Russian
children adopted by American parents, to develop a mechanism to track
their fate.</span></i></span><br />
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<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Кроме того, руководством Следственного комитета достигнута договоренность с Уполномоченным при Президенте Российской Федерации по правам ребёнка Павлом Астаховым в целях предотвращения преступлений в отношении российских детей, усыновленных американскими родителями, разработать механизм отслеживания их дальнейшей судьбы."><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/us-russia-usa-adoption-idUSTRE7B12FF20111202">Reuters</a> reports that the US State Department is preparing a response to Astakov's statement We can't wait. </span></span><br />
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<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Кроме того, руководством Следственного комитета достигнута договоренность с Уполномоченным при Президенте Российской Федерации по правам ребёнка Павлом Астаховым в целях предотвращения преступлений в отношении российских детей, усыновленных американскими родителями, разработать механизм отслеживания их дальнейшей судьбы.">Also see<a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20111202/169243111.html"> RIA Novosti</a> </span></span><br />
<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Кроме того, руководством Следственного комитета достигнута договоренность с Уполномоченным при Президенте Российской Федерации по правам ребёнка Павлом Астаховым в целях предотвращения преступлений в отношении российских детей, усыновленных американскими родителями, разработать механизм отслеживания их дальнейшей судьбы."><br /></span></span><br />
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******<span class="long_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Кроме того, руководством Следственного комитета достигнута договоренность с Уполномоченным при Президенте Российской Федерации по правам ребёнка Павлом Астаховым в целях предотвращения преступлений в отношении российских детей, усыновленных американскими родителями, разработать механизм отслеживания их дальнейшей судьбы."> </span></span></div>
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Michael and Nanette Craver are up to some new shenanigans, but I'm saving that for a separate blog post.that will be out shortly.</div>
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I'm having some technical problems updating the Memoriam and summary of cases/killers. I hope to have that fixed in the next day or so.</div>
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-4282720440002421692011-11-30T00:50:00.001-05:002011-11-30T00:56:44.888-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov: Investigative Committee Rejects Court Ruling; Intends to Continue Craver and Possibly Other Prosecutions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Russian Investigative Committee (IC), undetered by yesterday's decision by Moscow's Basmanny Court and the Russian General Prosecutor, to dismiss IC's petition to extradite Michael and Nanette Craver, has declared its intent to continue its prosecution of the couple even if the prosecution has been ruled "illegal.."(see blog directly below this for details)<br />
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According to <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20111129/169138366.html">RIA Novisti</a>, Vladimir Markin, spokesperson for the IC said the investigation in to the Cravers will continue no matter what the court rules:<br />
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<i><span lang="EN-US">"The refusal of a Russian court to arrest the
Cravers in absentia will not hinder further investigation of the
criminal case in Russia, as well as the international efforts to find
the suspects, detain and extradite them,” </span></i><br />
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<i>
</i><i><span lang="EN-US">He said that though international laws prohibit a
second sentence for the same crime, it applies only to legal procedures
in one state, within the national jurisdiction.</span></i><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">I have no idea what this second paragraph means. It appears to be a deliberate misreading of US and international law, and the Basammy and General Prosecutor's office's interpretation of both.. There is simply no way for the Cravers to be retried here. Unless there was unique jurisdaictional stipulation in the adoption agreement that gave Russian authorities some kind of authority in legal matters concerning Vanya and his twin sister Dasha, </span><span lang="EN-US">which is I highly doubt,</span><span lang="EN-US"> they can't be tried by Russian courts <i>in absentia</i> or in person. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">The IC is also taking up Dasha's status:</span><br />
<br />
<i>RIC chief Alexander Bastrykin sent letters to Russian presidential
human rights council head Mikhail Fedotov and human rights ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin to initiate proceedings to strip the Cravers of parental
rights with respect to Ivan’s sister, Dasha.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>It is important to ensure Dasha’s early return to Russia, Bastrykin wrote.</i><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Again, it's unclear what the IC thinks it can accomplish, if indeed it wants to accomplish anything. (see last section). Here are some of the hard fact whether people like them or not:</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Dasha came
to the US in 2003 at the age of 18 months. </span><span lang="EN-US">She has no parents in Russia to return to, only an understaffed, ill-equipped and abusive orphan system.. By Russian standards she is damaged from her American experience and
unadoptable </span><span lang="EN-US">. </span><span lang="EN-US">The adoption was finalized years ago and Dasha holds dual citizenship until she is 18.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Dasha is currently in foster care. (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/world/europe/russia-angry-at-penalty-against-dead-adopted-boys-parents.html">The New York Times</a> says she's living with an adoptive aunt). York County prosecutors asked the judge in the Craver trial to order the couple to have no contact with Dasha until she is 18, but the judge said he would leave the decision up to child welfare officials. </span><span lang="EN-US">
Earlier reports suggest that Children's Services has no enthusiasm
for returning her to the Cravers custody, though there is no
indication at this time it will seek to terminate their rights, either. The only contact Dasha has had with the Cravers since their arrest in February 2010 has been through supervised correspondence</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">.. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">.If rights were terminated here--which I think they should be--Dasha would probably remain with the aunt in a foster or adoptive situation or be re-homed in a second stranger adoption. If she is returned (she won't be), she'll most likely in a few years end up in the sex trade or sweatshop where huge numbers of orphanage girls end up. </span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">******</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>W</b><b>ithout getting too Russian...</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Clearly something else is going on here. I'll suggest that Vanya, Dasha, the Cravers and we are being bumbled through the fetid labyrinth that passes for Russian politics.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"> The <a href="http://en.sledcom.ru/">Investigation Committee </a>is the </span>main federal investigating authority in
the Russian Federation. It was<a href="http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/1661"> formed</a> in January 2011 an an "independent" body to replace the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor of the
Russian Federation which like its predecessors,the KGB and NKVD, investigated and prosecuted cases in whatever way it pleased. <span lang="EN-US">In theory, then, the IC was set up to streamline criminal justice by separating investigation from prosecution and to dilute the immense authority the Prosecutor General's office had accumulated. </span>It has been compared to the FBI, but it's not.</div>
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<br />
<span lang="EN-US">I 'd like a better source, but for now I'll let <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1078611.html">Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty</a> pick it up from there to show you the mess::</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><i>The prosecutor-general, meanwhile, has been stripped of his authority to
direct investigations, seize property, and initiate criminal cases. [Prosecutor General Yuriy} Chaika, for example, cannot launch criminal proceedings against
Bastrykin -- although Bastrykin can launch proceedings against him. </i><br />
<br />
Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Moscow-based Panorama think tank told <i>RFE.R</i>L:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"<i>Formally
this organization (IC) is part of the Prosecutor-General's Office, but in
fact, if you look at the amount of power he has, [IC Director Aleksandr Ivanovich] Bastrykin, is in fact
another prosecutor-general," Pribylovsky said. "And his role can get
even stronger. If [the Investigative Committee] takes over all the other
investigative agencies and creates a truly unified Investigative
Committee, then it will have enormous power," Pribylovsky added. </i><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">I've been puzzled by the interest the IC has taken in the Craver case, and this layout of the IC clears up some of my puzzlement.. Not that the case isn't worthy of scrutiny, but by US and international law standards the attempt to haul the Cravers off to Moscow (or just try them <i>in absentia</i>) is headline inducing, but pointless unless the IC plans to make an international incident and kidnap the couple. The likelihood, of that happening, of course, is nil, since the IC falls under the direct authority of the President of Russia, which in a few more months will again be (as if he isn't now in all but name) Vladimir Putin.who just happens to be IC Director </span>Bastrykin old law school classmate.<span lang="EN-US"> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">I think two things (and probably more) are going on here.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">(1) The IC is acting in response to pressure from State Duma members, nationalists, and probably some IC bigwigs, who desperately want to ban cross-country adoption--or at least adoption to the US. The Ministry of Education and Pavel </span>Astakhov <span lang="EN-US">have made it clear, however, that they do not want US adoption shut down--just tightened to Russia's advantage. Squeezing every drop they can out of the Cravers can't hurt. They deserve it.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">(2) The Craver prosecution is just another cog in the power struggle between the IC and the Prosecutor General.'s office. Although in theory the IC and the Prosecutor General work side-by-side, they are at opposite ends in the Craver case (and mostly likely a lot of other cases) with the Prosecutor telling the IC to take a hike and the IC standing its ground.. I don't see this changing the near future. Too much power is a stake.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">As if to make my point, the IC <a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/284298.html">announced today</a> that it plans to investigate more cases of Russian adoptee abuse in the United States:</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><i>The Russian Investigation Committee (IC) is going to institute
criminal proceedings on several more facts of the encroachment on
the life of Russian children, adopted by American nationals, </i><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Specificaly cited was <a href="http://reformtalk.blogspot.com/2011/06/special-needs-15-year-old-russian.html">Michael Grismor</a>, accused of raping his 15-year old stepdaughter Kseneia., a case I haven't written about, but need to. And I have to wonder why there is not a peep about the <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/brian-dykstra-acquitted-in-death-of.html">Dykstra</a> verdict. Sure that is a heinous as the Craver walk-away. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Vanya, Dasha, Ksenia, and other Russian orphans killed and abused by their Forever Families are a sympathetic front for inside- the- ring-power players.. That doesn't mean that those involved are cold-hearted creeps, though they might be, only that these kids are a cat's paw for something bigger.</span></div>
</div>
</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-44437438841151307932011-11-28T22:02:00.001-05:002011-11-28T22:06:56.141-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov. Russian Court and Prosecutors Refuse to Issue Warrant for Michael and Nanette Craver; Vanya Victim of "RAD" Quackery?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Russian media reports tonight that the Moscow Bassamy District Court, backed by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office. has refused to issue a warrant for the<i> in abstensia</i> arrest and trial of Michael and Nannette Craver in the death of their Forever Son, Vanya Skorobogatov. (Nathaniel Craver) Citing double jeopardy, the court said any prosecution of the Cravers by Russian authorities would be "illegal;."<br />
<br />
The Cravers, originally charged with homicide (with aborted death penalty specifications), conspiracy and child endangerment, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in September, and in mid-November were sentenced to time served and 3/1 years probation.. An autopy revealed 80 injuries to the boy including 20 to his head.<br />
<br />
The Russian Investigative Committee placed the couple on INTERPOL's wanted list (they have never appeared on the online INTERPOL list) and called for their arrest and trial <i>in absentia.</i> <br />
<br />
From IT<a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/283581.html">AR-TASS</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>The prosecutor explained that the U.S. citizens had already been
convicted on this case in their native country, "which means that they
cannot be prosecuted for the same crime in Russia". Therefore, the
prosecutor’s representative (Vanya said that he objects to the arrest of the
U.S. citizens in absentia. In connection with the verdict earlier passed
to the Craver couple in Pennsylvania and in accordance with Article 12
of the Russian Criminal Code the couple are not subject to prosecution
on the territory of the Russian Federation, and their arrest in the
status of defendants is illegal, the source said.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>The
investigation’s appeal to arrest the Cravers contains neither necessary
data about their personality nor confirms that they are in hiding, the
prosecutor said. "There are no grounds to put them into custody as a
remand sanction," he stressed.</i><br />
<br />
There is nothing yet in the online version of the Craver's hometown newspaper, the<i> York Daily Record</i>. <br />
<br />
This decision comes as no surprise. As I wrote earlier, I didn't see how double jeopardy and the fact that the death occurred on US soil would be prosecutable in Russia. So, as much as we'd like to see justice for Vanya, legally the case is now closed.<br />
<br />
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******</div>
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In a related matter, one of my readers, sent a comment to <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/ivan-skorobogatov-update-cravers-arent.html">Nikto</a> regarding Vanya and "attachment therapy." As longtime readers may know, some (and I suspect all or nearly all) Russian adoptees killed by their Forever Families were either "officially" diagnosed with "RAD" or adopter-diagnosed and treated on the fly.. I wrote about this in <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/08/lthough-this-entry-is-about-murdered.html">The Therapeutic Murders of Candace Newmaker, David Polreis, Viktor Matthey, and Jessica Albina Hagmann</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Below is the comment I received regarding Vanya.. I haven't had the time to look into this more yet, but will. In the meantime:. <br />
<br />
<i> LindaRosaRN has left a new comment on your post "<a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2011/11/ivan-skorobogatov-update-cravers-arent.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ivan Skorobogatov Update: Cravers Aren't Talking; ...</a>":
<br /><br />
Thank you for writing about this case. <br /><br />I might add that Nathaniel was caught up in the infamous Attachment Therapy. As long time readers know, many of the Russian adoptees killed by their Forever Families, were eithre diagnosted officialy with "RAD" or adopteres took it upon themselves to self-diagnose an self-treat. I wrote about this in </i><br />
<i><br />Attachment
Therapist Lark Eshleman (certified school psychologist) was recommended
to the Cravers by a prestigious Philadelpia hospital. In her book,
Eshleman uses Attachment Therapy's unofficial, catch-all definition of
"Reactive Attachment Therapy," which demonizes adoptees. At the
Craver's trial, Eshleman claimed the boy not only had "RAD," but was
self-injuring because of it. <br /><br />According to Eshleman, "RAD"
children are "aggressive," "destructive," prey on others, are
oppositional liars, etc. However, RAD, as defined in the DSM-IV, has no
aggressive or violent features associated with it -- and no
self-injuring behaviors. RAD children may possibly tend to be
risk-takers but that it not the same thing. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.childrenintherapy.org/attachmentdisorder.html" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322532757_0">http://www.childrenintherapy.org/attachmentdisorder.html</span></a><br /><br />So
if Nathaniel was self-injurious, which appears unlikely considering the
autopsy results, he was either misdiagnosed and not treated
appropriately, or he was, as so many adopted children have been,
diagnosed with the bogus "RAD" disorder simply because he walked into
the office of an Attachment Therapist.<br /><br />There was another bizarre
claim made by a so-called adoption specialist in connection with this
case that the press swallowed whole. This nonsense claim is discussed
here:<br /><br /><a href="http://childmyths.blogspot.com/2010/10/chewing-off-hand-demonizing-nathaniel.html" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322532757_1">http://childmyths.blogspot.com/2010/10/chewing-off-hand-demonizing-nathaniel.html</span></a><br /><br />Advocates
for Children in Therapy has found links to numerous adopted child abuse
and death cases to Attachment Therapy and its parenting methods. Here
are cases they know about:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/victims.html" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322532757_2">http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/victims.html</span></a><br /><br />It
is not unusual to find government agencies and government-funded
agencies recommending Attachment Therapy/Parenting. Since a case could
reasonably be made that this unvalidated practice is actual torture,
public funding of the practice in the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322532757_3">USA</span> should be considered a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture.
</i><br />
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<br /></div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-71132277151180598462011-11-23T17:14:00.001-05:002011-11-23T17:16:38.009-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov Update: Cravers Aren't Talking; But Lawyer Is<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Cravers aren't talking about Russia's attempt to extradite them for the murder of their Forever Son, Vanya Skorobogatov, but one of their lawyers is.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_19383207">York Dispatch</a> reports:<br />
<br />
<i>I don't think (Russia) can have any
jurisdiction over them," said Suzanne Smith, who represented Michael
Craver. "I don't think any court in the United States would honor (such)
an extradition warrant."</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>U.S. citizens are protected from double jeopardy laws, and the
Cravers were already legally tried here, Smith said. Also, the Russians
don't have jurisdiction in the case, despite the fact they appear to be
arguing Nathaniel was a Russian citizen, she said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>"(Russian officials) are just saying, 'We're not happy with the
result. We want to do it our way,'" Smith said. "Well, you don't get to
do that. I don't know anyone who would recognize Russians' authority in
this particular case. They don't really have any."</i><br />
<br />
District Attorney Tom Kearney, agrees, saying that any attempt to retry the Cravers would run into double jeopardy issues<br />
<br />
<i><span id="MNGi Section">The question of whether one was properly tried
... is in the eyes of the beholder," he said. "We certainly believe they
were. We devoted substantial resources into the prosecution, and the
jury made the call. ... And the judge seemed to think it was the right
call."</span></i><br />
<br />
<span id="MNGi Section">I found it strange that no one commented that the crime happened on US soil, and the citizenship of the victim (which could be a matter of debate anyway) doesn't play in to it--giving the Russian government no jurisdiction to prosecute. American justice, in my opinion, failed dismally in this case, but there's nothing to be done about that now outside of working to keep Dasha away from the Cravers, socially shunning the couple, and perhaps some kind of civil action..</span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section"><br /></span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section">The Cravers are still not on the INTERPOL online database. If they do appear, I suspect it won't be until next week's show trial starts up in Moscow. I've got some questions about how that will operate myself and am still digging around. </span><br />
<span id="MNGi Section"></span><br />
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<span id="MNGi Section">*****</span></div>
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<span id="MNGi Section"><br /></span></div>
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<span id="MNGi Section">Someone on FB has created a </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/NathanielCraver?sk=info">Justice for Nathaniel Craver (Ivan Skorobogatov)</a> page. Three are some pictures of him and Dasha I'd not seen before. </div>
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-91489968859190897832011-11-23T10:06:00.000-05:002011-11-23T12:46:30.259-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov Update: Russians Say Cravers Placed on INTERPOL Wanted List; Couple Will Be Tried In Absentia Next Week<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Russian media reports that the Russian government is ready to charge US citizens Michael and Nanette Craver with murder in the death of their adopted son, Ivan Skorobogatov, (Nathaniel Craver) 7. Two months ago, the couple, originally charged with homicide (with aborted death penalty specifications), conspiracy and child endangerment, was found guilty by a jury in York County, Pennsylvania, of involuntary murder Last Friday, they were sentenced to 19 months time- served while awaiting trial, and placed on five years probation. An autopsy revealed Vanya had80 external injuries, including 20 to his head and suffered from malnutrition. He died after being taken off life support. Incredibly, a jury bought the Cravers' defense that Vanya died of repeated self-inflicted injuries and mutilations.due to FAS, See, the Forever Couple simply neglected to care for him correctly! <br />
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According to an <a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/277614.html">ITAR-TASS</a> story filed on November 21 the Cravers have been (or will be) placed on the INTERPOL Wanted List. As of this writing they are not on the INTERPOL online database, but I'll keep checking.<br />
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<i>The Russian Investigative Committee charged </i>in absentia<i> the Craver spouses with murder accusations of Vanya Skorobogatov in the US and puts them on the international wanted list through the Interpol.</i><br />
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<i>“Today the main investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee accused the spouses Michael John and Nannette Louise Cravers under Article 105 Part 2 points v and zh for murder of an underage child, which was in the hopeless position, by a criminal group,” spokesman for the Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said. “The detectives found that the spouses, which adopted a Russian citizen Vanya Skorobogatov, killed him.”</i></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanya before he got his Forever Famil</td></tr>
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<i>“The relevant documents were submitted in the Interpol National Central Bureau under the Russian Interior Ministry, on the basis of which the accused were put on the international wanted list in all Interpol member-countries seeking to </i><br />
<i>find the place, where they are staying, detain and extradite them for the investigation in Russia,” he said.</i></div>
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<i>“The investigation continues,” Markin said.</i></div>
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<b>Even more interesting, the Cravers are scheduled to be tried<i> </i></b><b> in the Basmanny District Court of Moscow the afternoon of November 28.</b><b><i> </i>for Vayna's murder </b><b><i>in absentia</i> </b></div>
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Neither the INTERPOL request or the trial <i>in abstenia</i> comes as a surprise As soon as the Craver verdict came down, Russian officials threatened to "take action." The day before the Investigation Commission filed charges against the Cravers, Russian Foreign Minister Alexander<i> </i>Lukashevish blasted the verdict and the US justice system:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-es3e8qNJfhuMnx8iFpjnTQ2ktLC4fcHL7JBQQFY5fqKNyEJXGTM4fzvEbXiBJSBR4JdAVxQottv0Yn8i7TpmNSRsX_iFRIoA__FA3KAcqpqCSVj3urqqHxycL1llbkf0t6F/s1600/Lukashevish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-es3e8qNJfhuMnx8iFpjnTQ2ktLC4fcHL7JBQQFY5fqKNyEJXGTM4fzvEbXiBJSBR4JdAVxQottv0Yn8i7TpmNSRsX_iFRIoA__FA3KAcqpqCSVj3urqqHxycL1llbkf0t6F/s320/Lukashevish.jpg" width="320" /></a><i>“The Cravers who tortured to death the <br />seven-year-old boy were released after having spent only 18 months under arrest. The court sentence is amazingly and flagrantly <br />irresponsible,” he said.</i></div>
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<i>“The attorney insisted on the capital punishment. He said that Vanya’s death was the fault of his adoptive parents. They brutalized the child, brought him to exhaustion and inflicted a heavy head injury on him that proved to be fatal,” Lukashevish said.</i></div>
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<i>“Much more severe sentences are passed on Russian citizens who stand trial in the U.S. on the suspicion of criminal intents. This fact does not create assuredness that U.S. court hearings of other humanitarian cases will be unbiased. That does not help the development of the bilateral human rights dialog,” he said.</i></div>
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<i>“Hopefully, the entry into force of the bilateral agreement on cooperation in inter-country adoptions, which is ready for ratification, will drastically change the position of Russian children adopted by U.S. families and make such outrageous situations impossible,” Lukashevich said.</i></div>
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(The Russian Foreign Ministry website, (from which this quote it taken, isn't downloading, in either its English or Russian version) so I'm using the English-language <a href="http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/276827.html">ITAR-TASS </a>version.) </div>
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Duma members were also outraged. Foreign Affairs Committee chair Konstantin Kosachev said the verdict was politically biased..</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWxCIxq79aN7mLz5xZ0uIFs0AZiQCfIulMxjInrTO8He3iQcqKstlhLEbAL18hnilylAGjQscZBYxDxLqlNtyTl4v-YB4KT58hyphenhyphen948nENLHTr1tk9w5EdIpXqJbN01-EWB5N8/s1600/Pavel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWxCIxq79aN7mLz5xZ0uIFs0AZiQCfIulMxjInrTO8He3iQcqKstlhLEbAL18hnilylAGjQscZBYxDxLqlNtyTl4v-YB4KT58hyphenhyphen948nENLHTr1tk9w5EdIpXqJbN01-EWB5N8/s320/Pavel.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/22-11-2011/119704-cravers_russian_boy-0/">Prvada,</a> in a follow-up report to the November 21, ITAR-TASS release says that Russia's Ombudsman for Children's Rights, Pavel Astakhov, has discussed (at what length goes unreported) the case with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Attorney General Eric Holder. Astakhov reportedly tweeted, ( I can't find Astakhov's Twitter account to verify) "I believe Clinton must take Ivan's case under special control and attain justice."</div>
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<i>Pravda</i> also reports that Astakhov told Holder that "prosecutors must appeal the sentence."</div>
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Of course, that won't happen, and Astakhov. who holds a doctorate in law from Pitt, knows it. He is very good at what he does and never says or does anything without a good reason, He knows there is no way the Russians or INTERPOL can execute a warrant on the Cravers since the murder--and it was murder--occurred on US soil. .The show trial next week in Moscow--we know how it will turn out-- is the only trick the Russians have to show any kind of justice, real or otherwise, for Vanya. It also makes a point to the US that murder has consequences, even if they may turn out empty.--but not as empty as the farce in York.Ultimately, as all adoption politics, it's just kubuki. This play is just on the grander scale of the international stage. The good part, though, in my opinion, is that this play, while dirtying America's adoption's nose in its own shit, will also make it impossible for the Cravers to ever adopt again (if they would dare try) and gives Vanya's twin sister Dasha, now in care, a good shot at staying out of the Cravers' clutches. Forever.</div>
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Go to the righthand sidebar here for more on Vanya. </div>
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-30470390140846366622011-11-22T10:20:00.000-05:002011-11-22T11:45:41.281-05:00Artyom Savelyev Update: Trial Open to the Public; Artyom Added as Plaintiff!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Monday, Bedford County, Tennessee Common Pleas Court Judge Franklin Lee Russell ruled against child abandoner Torry Hansen's request that the public be barred from court in upcoming child support hearings No date has been set.<br />
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Hansen made international headlines last year when she put her adopted son Artyom Savelyev, 7 (now 9) on a plane by himself with orders to return him to the Russian Ministry of Education, the ministry that oversees adoptions from Russia. The little boy wasn't a good fit for her and her overbearing mother. <br />
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The World Association of Children and Parents ((WACAP) the agency that placed Atryom with Hansen has brought suit for child support arguing that putting the
boy on a plane to Moscow is not a "legitimate way to annul an adoption." Hansen, the agency contends, is still the legal parent,
and liable for child support payments to WACAP. Russian courts have
also reportedly requested child support from Hansen. According to Monday's news, WACAP is asking for a standard 27% of her salary as a nurse, plus back payments. <br />
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Hansen's (third) attorney, Sandra Smith, had asked the court to exclude the media from
hearings because of the Artyom's juvenile status. According to Monday's <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111121/NEWS03/311210055/Russian-adoption-trial-will-be-public">Tennessean</a> Smith argued:<br />
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<i>There will be discussion of the boy himself (during the trial). Quite a
bit,” Smith said, noting that issues such as psychiatric records and
other confidential information will come up in court.</i><br />
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Since that kind of information on juveniles is barred from public access under Tennessee privacy laws, it's highly unlikely the public would be given a full-blown report of Artyom's "condition." As a layperson I fail to understand how Atyom's mental condition should affect child support in Hansen's extra-legal adoption annulment scam. <br />
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According to the <a href="http://www.dnj.com/article/20111121/NEWS01/111121020/Judge-rules-Russian-adoption-case-will-open">Shelbyville Daily New Journal</a>, Russell's ruling permits media access, but will still bar confidential documents, presumably regarding Artom's psychiatric and medical records. from public access. That is, some documents will remain sealed. <br />
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<i>Circuit Judge Lee Russell today ruled in favor of the media request
presented by attorney Robb Harvey but said some records about the boy’s
family and adoption history would remain sealed. The judge said privacy
laws related to such disputes are intended to protect the child involved
and do not govern records related to contract disputes between adults.
After attorneys agree and he reviews those records they will be
released, likely in several weeks, the judge said.</i><br />
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<i>Harvey and attorneys in the suit agreed to work together on deciding which records will be released.</i><br />
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Torry Hansen refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation that followed Arytom's return to Moscow, and has since refused to cooperate with negotiations in the civil litigation which have dragged out for about a year and a half.. From the <i>Tennesseean:</i><br />
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<i>After the hearing, [Larry] Crain </i>(WAPCO attorney)<i> said he has tried three times to get Hansen
and her mother to sit down for a deposition to tell their side of the
story. Two times, he said, she skipped the appointment and the third
time she did not respond to a request to schedule a date.</i><br />
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Incredibly Hansen, through Smith, complains that she gotten a bad deal with the media :<br />
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<i>Asked whether her client — who has moved to California and refused all
requests for interviews — got a fair hearing in the media, Smith said:
“No, I don’t think she did, and why will come out later.</i><br />
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Perhaps this note Hansen wrote to the Russian Ministry has something to do with it:<br />
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Judge Russell also ruled that Artyom and the Russian facility in which he now lives can be added as plaintiffs..<br />
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<i>C</i>ongratulations to the organizations who fought to keep this case open to the public: <i>The Tennessean</i>, the <i>Shelbyville Times-Gazette</i>, The
Associated Press, the Tennessee Press Association, The Tennessee
Coalition for Open Government, WKRN News 2, WSMV Channel 4 and the
Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.<br />
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For more information on Artyom's case, please go to the righhand sidebar on Nikto and click appropriate links.
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-9886811439871584372011-11-20T19:57:00.001-05:002011-11-20T19:58:32.894-05:00Ivan Skorobogatov/Nathniel Craver Update: Killers Walk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Once again, the dust and bone of a dead Russian adoptee has been swept under the rug. After spending 19 months in jail awaiting trial (and after trial on the street waiting sentencing) for the murder of<a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/06/cases-forever-family-forever-dead.html"> Ivan Skorobogatov, </a>7, his forever parents Michael J and Nanette L Craver <a href="http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/York-County-couple-accused-of-killing-adopted/270f49TeSUCRHRfUuk9Bag.cspx">are walking.</a><br />
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Vanya and his twin sister Dasha (now known as Elizabeth) were adopted
in 2003 from an orphanage in Troitsk, Chelyabinsk region, through
Lutheran Social Services of the South. The agency is no longer accredited in Russia.<br />
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Vanya, lasting longer (as far as we know) than the other dead Russian adoptee, died on August 25, 2009 of what York County, Pennsylvania
authorities describe as severe beating and malnourishment. The
autopsy revealed Vanya suffered
80 external injuries, including 20 to his head. After a six month
investigation, the Cravers were charged with homicide,
conspiracy and child endangerment. In May 2010, York County
Senior deputy prosecutor Jennifer Russell,
citing Vanya's age and the state's contention that his death constituted
torture, said she would <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/05/death_penalty_sought_in_adopte.html">seek the death penalty</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjpFjmjwKTyHPhLKLtaUobN8EVIK81EjlvqXXU3EwLNAoWZ9vHa5P01MfPLUNknxYktzRUWrtFWKssxLUwilQGk8ypzAifHqa_1mEIe86666sUbRd-oYUHQQQz5bfB_KFc4kc/s1600/Craver+Michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjpFjmjwKTyHPhLKLtaUobN8EVIK81EjlvqXXU3EwLNAoWZ9vHa5P01MfPLUNknxYktzRUWrtFWKssxLUwilQGk8ypzAifHqa_1mEIe86666sUbRd-oYUHQQQz5bfB_KFc4kc/s200/Craver+Michael.jpg" width="130" /></a>But the best laid plans...<br />
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Instead, in September this year, when the Cravers got
their day, a jury of their so-called peers bought the couple's claim that Vanya suffered from<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001909/"> Fetal Alcohol Syndrome</a> (FAS) and injured and abused himself repeatedly. More specifically, the night before his death, the boy "run headlong into a stove." Not to put a too sensational spin on this, but Vanya committed suicide.just like David Polreis beat himself to death with a wooden spoon.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpiMZSlqTip3Gs25Kt4ebL1pKCKjlAZvRaLhOCktBz_c9CP7Uqd_kkNT8Xon58eAKmEUeqD4HYP4wW0mr3W6qp4OTKExutdHorChWdLwjvI_gQUwjRgoJ7Dhca4ICaAFXHgMh/s1600/Craver+Nanette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpiMZSlqTip3Gs25Kt4ebL1pKCKjlAZvRaLhOCktBz_c9CP7Uqd_kkNT8Xon58eAKmEUeqD4HYP4wW0mr3W6qp4OTKExutdHorChWdLwjvI_gQUwjRgoJ7Dhca4ICaAFXHgMh/s200/Craver+Nanette.jpg" width="136" /></a><br />
I need to go through trial news reports, but from a quick scan, it appears twin Dasha did not suffer FAS and suffered no injuries or abuse.Curious.<br />
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After the verdict came down, the Cravers were sent home to to wait for their sentencing hearing held Friday.<br />
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The Cravers were sentenced to time served <br />
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After sentencing, Chief Deputy Prosecuto Tim Barker told the press: <br />
<br />
<i>We're talking here about a 7 year old killed by others. Whatever degree of homicide, it was
still homicide...“Never
once was there an ounce of emotion by the defense toward Nathaniel
Craver, or even a remote understanding of what they did
to their adopted son.</i><br />
<br />
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The Cravers are currently on probation. Dasha is in care, and visitation plans are under negotiation.. Incredible! <br />
<br />
The Russian media and government have watched the case closely, and the Russian Foreign Ministry is investigating what kind of action it can take. . The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/world/europe/russia-angry-at-penalty-against-dead-adopted-boys-parents.html">New York Times</a> reported today:<br />
<br />
<i>The Cravers, who tortured the
7-year-old child to death, were released after staying a mere year and a
half under arrest,” Alexander Lukashevich, a Foreign Ministry
spokesman, said Saturday in a statement, according to the Interfax news
service. “The court verdict is amazingly and flagrantly irresponsible." </i><br />
<br />
<i>
Russian officials said they were conducting their own investigation and might seek an arrest warrant for the couple. </i><br />
<br />
I suspect that the chance of an international arrest over the case is nil; nonetheless I'd like to see a go at it. <i> </i><br />
<br />
There's a lot to this case; some of which I've written about previously.. I have to go through several trial articles, so I'm not writing a lot about the case today. I plan to continue this blog in a day or so. In the meantime for more information, go to the righthand sidebar under "Ivan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Skorobogatov</span>." and <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/search/label/Summary%20of%20all%20cases">Summary of All Cases.</a> (on <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/">Nikto</a>)<br />
<br />
Signing off for now.,<br />
Disgusted and Sickened.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Nikto ne zabyt - Nichto ne zabyto</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-828579516939870062011-11-04T13:00:00.000-04:002011-12-07T14:08:01.696-05:00Brian Dykstra Acquitted in Death of Adopted Son Ilya KargyntsevI/saac Dyskra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Thursday, after only a few hours of deliberation a jury in Iowa City (IA) acquitted Brian Dykstra of all charges in the death of his Russian adopted son <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/10/isaac-jonathan-dykstra-another-dead.html">Ilya Kargyntsev/Isaac Jonathan Dykstra.</a> The 21-month old was admitted to the hospital on August 2005, with severe head trauma and died the next day after being taken off of life support. His injuries were reported consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Dykstra claimed that three days earlier the boy had fallen down steps head first on to a concrete floor, but had not required hospital treatment.. Doctors and police believed that while Isaac did fall a few days earlier, the injuries that caused his death happened in a separate incident the day before he died. After a prolonged police investigation, in August 2008, Dykstra was charged with 2nd degree murder. His former wife, Lisa DeWaard,. (divorce final August 1, 2011), now an assistant professor of Spanish at Stetson University, wasn't home at the time and wasn't charged. Brian Dykstra, if found guilty, could have been sentenced to as much as 50 yeas in prison. <br />
<br />
The trial opened last week with strong testimony from prosecution EMTs, hospital personnel and police witnesses who said that Ilya suffered severe head trauma, including a fractured skull, brain swelling and bruising that could not have occurred from a tumble down two steps.ad Dykstra claimed.<br />
<br />
The defense argued that Dyskra was an "eager, loving father" who would never have harmed the toddler. Based on news reports, which is my only available reference, it appears the Dykstra's defense was based on matters of "good character." <br />
<br />
The media run-up to the trial indicated that 39 witnesses--including 11 doctors would be called. News reports, however, focused on prosecution arguments and outside of coverage of Brian Dyskra and Lisa DeWaard's testimony generally either gave short shrift to defense witnesses--or there weren't many. <br />
<br />
Below are excerpts from news reports of the trial. I have put them in order of subject matter. I've tried to give a wide range of coverage and take full responsibility if I missed anything.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>OPENING ARGUMENTS </b></span><br />
<b>I</b><b>owa City Gazette, October 24, 2011:</b><br />
<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/10/24/attorneys-address-events-leading-up-to-boy%E2%80%99s-death/"><b>Attorneys address events leading up to boy's death</b></a><br />
<span class="entry-content">{Referring to the fall down the stairs} </span><i>Over the next few days, he said, Isaac
showed other “subtle but important changes,” including a “squishy” spot
on top of his head. When Isaac began crying and holding his head on Aug.
13, Dykstra panicked when he called 911 and then hung up, according to
Spies.</i><br />
<br />
<i>But prosecutors said that when paramedics responded, they
found a pale child with bluish lips, fixed pupils, bruising near his ear
and a soft spot on top of his head.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Assistant County Attorney
Beth Beglin told jurors Monday that Dykstra explained to a first
responder only that the boy had fallen a few days ago and bumped his
head. Responders asked what happened that morning but “never got an
answer as to what occurred,” Beglin said.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>The boy was rushed to
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and doctors found he had
severe head injuries, including a skull fracture, brain swelling and
bruising.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>They said the injuries were not consistent with a
days-old fall down two steps, Beglin told jurors. She said several
doctors will testify that Isaac’s injuries were consistent with being
shaken or slammed on the same day that he was hospitalized.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“This
devastating brain injury was not accidental — it was a malicious act,”
Beglin said. “And the only person who could have and did inflict that
injury was the defendant, Brian Dykstra.”</i><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrf3Nr4pMYIHryxaafO7BtyKKU9oxtK6Zsz_YYpy9U63SdDVDNGaDaayrnetf28S8ocb7dif9NLqAW0sNF3UnPjo45quxGex_eKTbEYlHwSzZFZrp_E8vlMNh4TM0Qh0XRuwX/s1600/Dykstra+Brian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrf3Nr4pMYIHryxaafO7BtyKKU9oxtK6Zsz_YYpy9U63SdDVDNGaDaayrnetf28S8ocb7dif9NLqAW0sNF3UnPjo45quxGex_eKTbEYlHwSzZFZrp_E8vlMNh4TM0Qh0XRuwX/s200/Dykstra+Brian.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian Dykstra at time of arrest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>MEDICAL AND POLICE TESTIMONY - PROSECUTION</b></span><br />
<b>Iowa City Gazette, October 25, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/10/25/testimony-begins-in-iowa-city-fathers-murder-trial/"><b>Man "detached" as son died: Witness</b></a><br />
<i><b> </b>“Brian was sitting in a chair, and he
looked at me, and locked eyes, and said, ‘Jen, tell me how something
like this can happen?’” Jennifer Evans told jurors Tuesday during
Dykstra’s second-degree murder trial in connection with the death of his
son, Isaac, on Aug. 14, 2005.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>...At
the crime scene, officers testified, Dykstra appeared to be nervous
when they found his son lying in the living room with severe injuries.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“But he was not in distress,” said Tom Lacina, who has been with the Iowa City Fire Department for 23 years.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Firefighter Paul Suedkamp said he also found Dykstra to be emotionless, but not in shock. And he didn’t try to approach his son.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Evans, a former registered nurse
for University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, testified
that she told Dykstra that only blunt force trauma — like being in a car
accident — could cause injuries of that magnitude.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“He didn’t respond to that,” Evans said...</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>...Evans said the boy’s mother, Lisa Dykstra, was “fully grieving.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“She was dry heaving — almost catatonic,” she said. “She was vomiting and crying.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Brian, on the other hand, “said very little,” according to Evans.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“For the most part, he appeared very detached,” she said.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Other
nurses, doctors and law enforcement officers also told jurors that
Dykstra seemed withdrawn as his son was dying. But the witnesses also
conceded that parents grieve differently.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“It’s not fair to say
that what Brian Dykstra exhibited that day was out of the ordinary,”
said UI Hospitals nurse Stephanie Jacobson...</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>...“I
would describe him as unconcerned,” he said. “He was farther away than I
would expect a person to be from their child at an emergency scene.”</i><br />
<br />
<b>The Daily Iowan, October 25, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/10/28/Metro/25698.html"><b>Medical officials: "non-accidental trauma"cause of death in Dykstra murder trial</b></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuf3fK7jKGDP2IF4RqyX3Grr4awEP6tDg5mFx78ZHTrnVDlu3kucBT7dkxdTVGNwtQpNC-gCqnW-9261Gup14Uz7TyxLR67EjSF7tFkaZnjgEKgXT-U5FX4LFESDYIR-qOQSwc/s1600/Michael+D%2527allesandro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuf3fK7jKGDP2IF4RqyX3Grr4awEP6tDg5mFx78ZHTrnVDlu3kucBT7dkxdTVGNwtQpNC-gCqnW-9261Gup14Uz7TyxLR67EjSF7tFkaZnjgEKgXT-U5FX4LFESDYIR-qOQSwc/s200/Michael+D%2527allesandro.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Michael D'Alessandro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Several medical officials testified Thursday in the
Brian Dykstra second-degree murder trial that the death of his
20-month-old adopted child was due to "non-accidental trauma."...Catscan photos were shown and explained to the
jury by UI radiology Professor Michael D'Alessandro. D'Alessandro was
one doctor who said he believed non-accidental trauma was the cause of
the injuries, adding it would take "massive force" to cause the injuries
to the child's brain he observed.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Iowa City Gazette, October 26, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/10/26/nurse-says-she-was-concerned-by-father%E2%80%99s-statements/"><b>Nurse says she was concerned by father's statements</b></a><br />
The next testimony gets interesting. According to Joyce Osborn, a now
retired nurse who in August 2005 was staffing Mercy on Call, a free
medical hotline, testified that Brian Dykstra called after Isaac's fall
down the stairs. While the baby's injuries did not seem critical and
would normally be treated at home, Osborn said she decided to override
the routine recommendation when Dykstra showed concern that Isaac would
have a visible bruise since the family was expecting a visit from their
adoption social worker in a few days:</div>
<div class="bodycopy">
</div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>He seemed concerned that his son would
have a (visible) bruise because a social worker was coming in a few
days,” Osborn said, adding that she “thought that the call may have
needed a doctor’s input.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>An on-call doctor was signaled to call Dykstra about the incident.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>The
next day, according to testimony, registered nurse Sue Kuntz conducted a
follow-up call with the family. After talking with Lisa Dykstra, Kuntz
testified, she did not feel there was a reason to be concerned about
Isaac’s well-being.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Former adoption specialist Hilary Condon, who
helped the Dykstras adopt the boy from Russia, also testified that she
found no reason to be concerned for his safety when she visited the
family at their home Aug. 12.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Daily Iowan, November 2, 2011</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/11/02/Metro/25776.html">Dykstra has trouble recalling the day of his son's hospitalization</a></b><br />
<b> </b><i>A</i><i>fter the defense rested, the state had a rebuttal,
which included a testimony from Wayne State University pediatric
radiologist Wilbur Smith, who said he specializes in abusive head
injuries in children.</i><br />
<br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Smith, who said he has investigated for the FBI
and U.S. Army, said the injuries he observed in the child occurred
"somewhere within an hour of his collapsing."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"[The child] may have had a short fall, but the
injuries that he suffered on the 13th were from a different trauma — a
whole unique different set of trauma," Smith said.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Spies focused his cross-examination on
discrepancies between Smith's findings and what other investigative
officials found in regard to the injuries to the brain.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>He asked Smith why he could not tell him the size
of an injury inside the child's brain called a "subdural hematoma" and
whether the other doctors' findings were inaccurate.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"I don't know how they could have been," Smith said. "I don't think anybody can tell you how large it was."</i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Spies then objected to a slide show intended to be
shown by state witness Nasreen Syed, a UI clinical associate
professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Sixth District Judge Patrick Grady believed the
complete slide show would be inappropriate and instead allowed a only a
few photographs to be shown.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>The photographs showed the child's eyes, which,
Syed said, indicated "retinal hemorrhages," and they were "most likely a
result of inflicted injury."</i><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbY02IuzrgQCoY6YC7g5hY1vQ62DNvDt2hDavUu0AjS3qqo-LraNrtaREo2MzDwiUmcOmCxNUKSGGwij4SojU7-iu42DvQ7yLrza3pg33NtXbfGA_6Y27tzpLxSRTfgpI4KcZg/s1600/Ophoven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbY02IuzrgQCoY6YC7g5hY1vQ62DNvDt2hDavUu0AjS3qqo-LraNrtaREo2MzDwiUmcOmCxNUKSGGwij4SojU7-iu42DvQ7yLrza3pg33NtXbfGA_6Y27tzpLxSRTfgpI4KcZg/s200/Ophoven.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Janice Ophoven</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">MEDICAL TESTIMONY - DEFENSE</span></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011</span></span></b></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/31/iowa-city-murder-trial-medical-expert-says-toddler-could-have-died-from-short-fall/">UPDATE: Ex-wife testifies in defense of Iowa City murder suspect</a></b></span></span></div>
<i>But Janice Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist out of
Minnesota, said Dykstra’s explanation that his son fell down two stairs
three days before he was rushed to the hospital on Aug. 13, 2005 is
plausible.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“Even though (Isaac) could walk and eat and sleep, could he do that
with all the medical problems he was having?” Dykstra’s defense attorney
Leon Spies asked Ophoven.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“Yes,” she said, adding that it’s “not possible to say (Isaac) died of inflicted injuries.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i></i></div>
<i>
</i><i>Assistant Johnson County District Attorney Anne Lahey questioned
Ophoven’s credibility, asking if she exaggerated the number of child
autopsies she performed and asking if she previously wrote in
publications signs of child abuse.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“You wrote that adults responsible will say they have no idea how the
injuries were sustained,” Lahey said. “You also wrote that an injury
might be blamed on actions of a sibling or that he fell from an
innocuous height like a bed or couch.”</i><br />
<i></i><i><br /></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>AUTOPSY PHOTOS DENIED</b></span><br />
<b>The The Daily Iowan, October 27, 2011</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/10/27/Metro/25672.html">Dykstra Trial: trial judge rules autopsy photos will not be shown </a></b><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Photos from the autopsy of a child who died while
under the care of a former Iowa City man will not be shown in court
after a 6th District judge's ruling Wednesday.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Brian Dykstra, 35, who is charged with the
second-degree murder of his adopted son, objected to having pictures of
the child's autopsy shown in court. Defense attorney Leon Spies said a
doctor testified at a previous hearing that "the autopsy photographs are
not relevant to the determination of the injuries" and are "more
prejudicial than appropriate."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian Dykstra and Leon Spies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">BRIAN DYKSTRA TESTIMONY - DEFENSE</span> </b><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<b>Eastern Iowa News Now, October 28, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/28/brian-dykstra-talks-about-events-preceding-his-toddler-sons-death-in-iowa-city-murder-trial/"><b>Brian Dykstra talks about events preceding his toddler son's death in Iowa City murder trial</b></a><br />
<b> </b><i>On Aug. 13 – the day 21-month-old Isaac Dykstra was rushed to the
hospital with severe head injuries – Brian Dykstra said his son awoke
around the same time he always does but was yawning all morning
</i><br />
<br />
<i>“You never think of these things until now,” Dykstra, now 35, told an
Iowa City police investigator in a video taped interview taken on Aug.
13, 2005, and played this morning for the 14 jurors hearing his
second-degree murder trial in Johnson County.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Dykstra told the detective that Isaac had fallen down two steps three
days earlier and hit his head. He said the child suffered a bruise on
his cheek and on his ear and a bump on his head that turned “mushy” over
the next few days.</i><br />
<br />
<i>He said Isaac was a bit fussier after the fall, but he was mostly
himself, according to the videotaped interview. On the morning of Aug.
13, Dykstra told the investigator that his son was just sitting in the
hallway, feeling his head and watching TV.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“Normally he was all playing, and he was just sitting there,” Dykstra said. “He just wasn’t his normal self.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>Dykstra said later that day he was in the kitchen washing dishes when
he heard Isaac cry, according to the videotaped interview. Dykstra said
he found his son lying on the ground, crying “like he bumped his head
again” and holding his head.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Dykstra said Isaac appeared to be struggling to breathe, and at one
point he “did a little bit of CPR,” according to the interview. When
Dykstra tried to look at his son’s bruise, according to the interview,
Isaac pushed him away.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Because the child was laboring to breathe, Dykstra said he called 911 but hung up.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“He seemed to be coming out of it,” Dykstra said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>When a 911 operator called back, Dykstra said someone should probable come help.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“I thought, you know what, I don’t trust myself,” he said in the interview. “I want someone here.”</i><br />
<i>Isaac was pronounced brain dead on Aug. 14 after suffering a
hematoma, hemorrhaging, retinal bleeding and brain swelling.
Investigators immediately considered the death suspicious, but they
didn’t arrest Dykstra until three years later in August 2008.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Cedar Rapids Gazette,November 1, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/11/01/iowa-city-murder-suspect-isaac-was-the-perfect-boy/"><b>UPDATE: Testimony ends in Iowa City murder trial: Closing arguments set for Wednesday</b></a><br />
<i>We fell in love with him,” Dykstra today told the 14 jurors who are
hearing his second-degree murder trial in a Johnson County courtroom.
“You couldn’t ask for a better fit for us.”...</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
</div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>...Dykstra this morning told the jurors how much he adored his son. When
asked if he “beat up” his child, Dykstra said, “Absolutely not.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>Dykstra described for the jurors a fall on Aug. 10 that he said led
to the injuries that took his son’s life a few days later. Authorities
and doctors have testified that Isaac had to have suffered devastating
and fatal injuries on Aug. 13 – the day his dad called 911 and Isaac was
rushed to the hospital.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>But Dykstra described a slow change in behavior and small signs over a
few days that led to Isaac’s passing out in the family’s Iowa City
living room on Aug. 13.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“Looking back, I really wish we would have taken him to the hospital” on Aug. 10 after his fall, Dykstra said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“To the normal average person, he looked fine,” he said. “But,
looking back, there was a lot more going on there than just a fall.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Dykstra described a knot that his son got on his head after the Aug.
10 fall and said it turned soft over the next few days. He said Isaac
was groggy, uninterested in walking and irritable.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>But, upon cross-examination, Dykstra said he can remember few details
about Aug. 13 –when he called 911 and hung up and told an operator who
called back that his son was struggling to breathe.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Dykstra said he doesn’t remember refusing to answer responders’
questions about what happened that morning that led to his son’s passing
out with severe head injuries. He said he doesn’t remember what he told
doctors about administering CPR or being preoccupied with the dogs when
paramedics were at his house.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Daily Iowan, November 2, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/11/02/Metro/25776.html"><b></b></a><b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=15293886">Dykstra has trouble recalling the day of his son's hospitalization</a> </b><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"I went in there, and he was holding his head,"
Dykstra said. "I picked him up and was trying to comfort him, and that's
when I remember the eyes rolling back and he just passed out."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Assistant County Attorney Beth Beglin asked
whether he remembered what occurred when the first responders to his 911
call arrived at his house.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"I don't remember anything," Dykstra said. "I
remember basically [my son] passed out in my arms and then being driven
to the hospital in the back of a police car."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>He focused the rest of his testimony on his relationship with his former wife Lisa DeWaard — who defended him <a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/11/01/Metro/25750.html" target="_blank">Monday</a> in her testimony — and the child they adopted from Russia.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Dykstra, a self-described "small-town country
boy," said the time he and DeWaard had with their child was the happiest
part of their relationship.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"It was like he was the glue to our relationship … everything we did, we did together," he said. </i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>The victim's father described how they played with
cars and balls, and he said they maintained their "connection" by looks
and touch rather than speaking, because the child spoke Russian.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>While describing himself, he mentioned he played a
number of sports. When defense attorney Leon Spies asked whether he was
any good, he smiled and said, "I could play," which caused some
laughter his family.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"I always wanted to be the dad," he said. "To have
a kid and be able to do those things and to be that type of a role
model that my dad was for me."</i></div>
<br />
<i> </i><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmjQLHaRjBd4ttxR3vibYp3JkybE7y62jlYnTOUOdr_TCD-fo74Z8YiI0khTYFVtMZPXhGRqsTVH3M0xWaUzD1iHoRuRpRbzoC6mgmpGX0rEaIlXoiOkgyB4S8WaUT95mmH1o/s1600/Dykstra+Lisa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmjQLHaRjBd4ttxR3vibYp3JkybE7y62jlYnTOUOdr_TCD-fo74Z8YiI0khTYFVtMZPXhGRqsTVH3M0xWaUzD1iHoRuRpRbzoC6mgmpGX0rEaIlXoiOkgyB4S8WaUT95mmH1o/s320/Dykstra+Lisa.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lisa Dewaard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>LISA DEWAARD (DYKSTRA) TESTIMONY - DEFENSE</b></span><b> </b><br />
<b>Easter Iowa News Now, October 31 201</b></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/31/iowa-city-murder-trial-medical-expert-says-toddler-could-have-died-from-short-fall/"><b>UPDATE: Ex-wife testifies testifies in defense of IowaCity murder suspect</b></a></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<b> </b><i>Lisa DeWaard, who told the 14 jurors today that her marriage ended
with Dyktra on Aug. 1 of this year, talked in depth about their adoption
process and said her husband was excited to adopt and immediately
bonded with Isaac.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
</div>
<div class="bodycopy">
</div>
<i>The couple met their child twice in the Russian orphanage where he
lived before being adopted, and DeWaard testified that she had initial
concerns about the fact that Isaac’s birth mother was HIV-positive, even
though he had tested negative numerous times.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>After the couple’s first meeting with the child, adoption officials
wanted to know whether they were still interested, DeWaard said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“I looked at Brian and said, ‘I’m a little nervous,’” she said. “He looked at me and said, ‘This is my son.’”</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>When the couple returned to the orphanage a second time to complete
the adoption, DeWaard said her husband “kept hogging the baby.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
“It was fun to see Brian playing with him,” she testifying,
explaining that he was teaching Isaac how to make car sounds and how to
roll a ball. “They were probably the best days of my life</i><br />
<br />
<div class="bodycopy">
</div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<b>Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011</b></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/31/iowa-city-murder-trial-mother-said-her-husband-and-son-had-a-very-close-relationship/"><b>Mother said her husband and son "had a very close relationship"</b></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">A</span><span style="font-size: small;">fter Isaac Dykstra fell down two stairs on Aug. 10, DeWaard said her
son was sleepier. He also had a large bump on his head, he was fussier,
and he didn’t play or try to walk as much as he usually did, DeWaard
told the 14 jurors hearing her ex-husband’s case in Johnson County
District Court.</span></i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“Looking back, I wish we would have taken him into Mercy immediately,” she said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>The couple, who lived in Iowa City at the time, didn’t take Isaac to
the hospital after he fell Aug. 10. But they called the nurse, who told
them that if he hadn’t vomited, he hadn’t suffered a head injury.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>On Aug. 13, while DeWaard was away at a church function, Dykstra
called 911 and hung up. When an operator called back, Dykstra asked that
paramedics come because his son was struggling to breathe.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>When medical personnel arrived, they found Isaac with severe head
injuries, and rushed him to the University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics, where he was treated for brain swelling, hemorrhaging and
retinal bleeding....</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>...DeWaard initially told doctors and authorities that Isaac was his
normal self in the days after the fall on Aug. 10. But, on the stand
Monday, DeWaard said he developed bruising on his face, had more bowel
movements than normal, wanted to be held more and seemed lethargic. </i><br />
<br />
<i>“I thought he was coming down with Brian’s cold,” she said.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Dykstra’s defense attorney Leon Spies showed jurors pictures of Isaac
in the days that preceded his death. One showed him sitting on his
father’s lap with visible bruises on his ears. DeWaard said Isaac often
pinched his own ears, which she thought was the result of stress from
the adoption.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Spies also showed a photo of Isaac eating breakfast on the day before
he was rushed to the hospital – two days after the short fall. The
photo, which showed visible bruising around Isaac’s eyes, caused DeWaard
to choke up.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“That was the last picture taken of him,” she said. “And it was unusual because he’s not smiling, and he was always smiling.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>DeWaard and her mother testified that Dykstra was a loving and gentle father, who was proud and wanted to show off his son.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“(Isaac) loved Brian,” DeWaard testified. “Isaac would sit with him
and watch TV. Isaac wanted to be in the dugout with daddy. … They had a
very close relationship.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>On the day Isaac was rushed to the hospital, DeWaard said Dykstra called her crying.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“I went into the emergency room, and that’s when I saw Brian,”
DeWaard said. “He was a mess. He had been crying. The second I saw him,
he gave me this big hug and broke down crying.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Doctors and authorities previously testified that Dykstra appeared
unemotional when they arrived at the house and rushed the child to the
hospital. They also testified that the injuries that took Isaac’s life
had to have occurred on the day he was hospitalized.</i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>CHARACTER TESTIMONY - DEFENSE</b></span><br />
<b>Iowa City Gazette, October 26, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/10/26/nurse-says-she-was-concerned-by-father%E2%80%99s-statements/"><b>Nurse says she was concerned by father's statements</b></a><br />
<i>Close friend Luke Haverhals also took the stand, stating that Isaac
was a “happy kid” who showed no obvious signs of serious injury when he
saw him that Friday evening.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Haverhals said that when he went to the hospital the following day,
Dykstra’s demeanor, described as being “un-distressed” by a first
responder during Tuesday’s testimony, was one of shock and grief.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“Sometimes [Brian] was staring off and sometimes he was sobbing,” he said.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2011/10/31/iowa-city-murder-trial-mother-said-her-husband-and-son-had-a-very-close-relationship/"><b>Mother said her husband and son "had a very close relationship"</b></a><br />
<i> </i><i>Elizabeth Field, who said she knew the Dykstra’s through church,
testified Monday that the atmosphere in the hospital when she arrived
Aug. 13 was “disturbing.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>“The atmosphere was disturbing in the sense that they were accusing
Brian of purposeful injury on this child,” she said. “It was troubling
to see the staff’s demeanor</i><br />
<br />
<b>The Daily Iowan, November 4, 2011<i> </i></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/11/04/Metro/25831.html">Dyksata found not guilty in son's death</a></b><i></i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Spies said he felt the testimonies of Dykstra's
friends and neighbors made the difference in the case, calling it a
"nightmare compounded" that "prolonged the agony of [the child's]
death."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"I think it was important for the jurors to hear from the many men and women who knew Brian," Spies said. "I was moved by it."...</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Several doctors and other medical officials
testified they believed the injuries they observed on the child were
results of "inflicted injury." </i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>First responders to the 911 call described Dykstra's demeanor at his Iowa City home as unnaturally "calm."</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Dykstra's neighbors and church friends spoke positively about his character.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Next-door-neighbor Carey Norton said in her
testimony on Monday Dykstra was "very caring" and "very loving," adding
she would trust him to watch her own children.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"Brian can be very caring and very gentle, but [he's] definitely someone who's more reserved verbally," Norton said. </i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>Dykstra's character was also the main focus of Spies' closing argument Wednesday.</i></div>
<div class="bodycopy">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><br />
<div class="bodycopy">
<i>"Men and women, Brian Dykstra has been described
consistently as a caring, loving dad," Spies said. "What you see about
Brian is what you get; he is pretty plainspoken and quiet. He is not the
killer."</i></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CRb88PdFNCPXB_NRcWthBz4E7-neotXqPCeoeIHdAZN6O_BbLJVc8wm33J0D2JNhS5-x4BZjizlNv9WKTKdYEF2GCOgNiZ9cwyYF8HVUNc-sKrmel0bGLzg-o5MCyKXQ_iIg/s1600/Leon+Spies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CRb88PdFNCPXB_NRcWthBz4E7-neotXqPCeoeIHdAZN6O_BbLJVc8wm33J0D2JNhS5-x4BZjizlNv9WKTKdYEF2GCOgNiZ9cwyYF8HVUNc-sKrmel0bGLzg-o5MCyKXQ_iIg/s200/Leon+Spies.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Defense Attorney Leon Spies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i> </i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>DEFENSE ASKS FOR DISMISSAL</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I</span><span style="font-size: small;">mmediately after the prosecution rested, defense attorney</span> <span style="font-size: small;">Leon Spies as the court to dismiss all charges. </span></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">Cedar Rapids Gazette, October 30, 2011</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">J<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/10/30/brian-dykstra-said-son-fell-down-steps-three-days-before-death/">udge refuses to dismiss murder charges in Dykstra trial </a></span></b><br />
<span class="entry-content"><i>“We have nothing here but mystery,”
defense attorney Leon Spies told Judge Patrick Grady. “It cannot be said
that the fatal injuries were inflicted out of malice, as opposed to by
accident.”<br />
<br />
Assistant District Attorney Anne Lahey disagreed and
said that numerous doctors testified that Isaac Dykstra had to have
suffered the injuries that took his life on Aug. 13, 2005 – the day his
dad called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital....<br />
<br />
...“There
were devastating internal injuries in Isaac’s head caused by a
malicious act such as shaking, slamming or a combination of both,” Lahey
said.<br />
<br />
Grady declined to make an immediate ruling in the case,
finding that there is evidence that Dykstra killed his son “with malice
and forethought” due to the nature of his injuries.<br />
<br />
“A rational
juror could conclude that the injuries occurred while he was in the sole
care of the defendant,” Grady said. “And the injuries show malice, and
that there was a fixed purpose to do harm.”</i><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJSMpvYWcdUESf1r_Iu1zYGNpUtZLcPnXF4-GHVDd32PxeO0FYQUOG4-hZUu7mcUGvbCDtf_AkwwXTbOJz1UhM8-1x-h3vvuUATAInZVT3RMjrsZaXZmMhJwuAk51eKKPp1Eu/s1600/Ann+Lahey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJSMpvYWcdUESf1r_Iu1zYGNpUtZLcPnXF4-GHVDd32PxeO0FYQUOG4-hZUu7mcUGvbCDtf_AkwwXTbOJz1UhM8-1x-h3vvuUATAInZVT3RMjrsZaXZmMhJwuAk51eKKPp1Eu/s200/Ann+Lahey.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asst. County Prosecutor Anne Lahey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="entry-content"><span style="font-size: large;">CLOSING ARGUMENTS - BOTH </span><br />
<b>Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 2, 2011</b><br />
<a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/11/02/defense-attorney-calls-iowa-city-toddlers-death-a-tragedy-an-accident/"><b>Defense attorney calls Iowa City toddler's death a "tragedy, an accident"</b></a></span>Assistant Johnson County <i>Attorney Anne
Lahey told jurors hearing the second-degree murder trial of Brian
Dykstra during closing arguments today that the couple told a half dozen
people in the days preceding Isaac’s death on Aug. 14, 2005, that Isaac
was doing fine despite a short fall on Aug. 10.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“Lisa had no
concerns about Isaac’s health” on the morning after he fell down two
stairs, Lahey said. A friend who came to the house on Aug. 12 – the day
before Isaac was rushed to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
with severe head injuries – looked the toddler over and saw just a small
bruise on Isaac’s cheek, Lahey said.... </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i><span class="entry-content">...During closing arguments this morning,
Dykstra’s defense attorney, Leon Spies, told jurors that the “best
scientific minds,” including the state medical examiner, have concluded
that it’s “impossible to say that Brian Dykstra is a murder.”<br />
<br />
“There
is nothing in this case that is inconsistent with this tragedy being
exactly what it is,” Spies said. “A tragedy. An accident.”...</span></i><br />
<i><span class="entry-content"><br />
</span>...During closing arguments, Lahey reminded
jurors about earlier bruising that doctors noticed on Isaac after the
Dykstras adopted him from Russia in May 2005. And Lahey pointed out
inconsistencies in Dykstra’s stories about what happened on Aug. 13
around the time he called 911.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“We don’t know how many times he slammed his head down,” Lahey said. “We don’t know how many times he shook him.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>But
Spies talked to jurors about the quality of Dykstra’s character – about
his dream to be a dad and the witnesses who testified to him being a
loving father.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Spies stressed that several doctors and experts
said toddlers can die from injuries suffered in short falls that develop
over several days.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>“It’s not fair to judge Brian on the
statistics that death from a stairway fall is rare,” Spies said. “We
don’t take comfort in the mysteries of this case.”</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>But, Spies said, if there are doubts, “they have to be resolved in Brian’s favor.”</i><br />
<span class="st_facebook_buttons"><span class="stButton" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;"><span class="stMainServices st-facebook-counter" style="background-image: url("http://w.sharethis.com/images/facebook_counter.png");"><br /></span></span></span><span class="st_sharethis_buttons"><span class="stButton" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;"><span class="stButton_gradient"><span class="chicklets sharethis"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="st_facebook_buttons"><span class="stButton" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;"><span class="stMainServices st-facebook-counter" style="background-image: url("http://w.sharethis.com/images/facebook_counter.png");"><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="st_sharethis_buttons">Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 3, 2011</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_465690428"><span class="st_sharethis_buttons"><b>Deliberations resume in Iowa City murder trial </b></span></a><br />
<i>Dykstra’s defense attorney presented
medical experts who said that, although rare, children have been known
to die from short falls. The defense also hinted that Isaac, who was
adopted just a few months earlier from an orphanage in Russia, might
have had unknown medical issues that were not fully disclosed.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i><span class="entry-content">During
closing arguments in Dystra’s trial, Assistant Johnson County Attorney
Anne Lahey told jurors that prosecutors didn’t have to prove how Dykstra
killed his son – whether he slammed him or shook him – they had to
prove only that he inflicted the fatal injuries, and Lahey reminded
jurors that several University of Iowa doctors said the severe injuries
only could have occurred shortly before Isaac was hospitalized, when he
was in the sole care of his father.<br />
<br />
But Dykstra’s defense attorney
told jurors that even the Iowa Medical Examiner couldn’t say for sure
whether Isaac’s death was a murder or accident. And, he said, any doubts
had to be resolved in his client’s favor.<br />
<br />
“The evidence was clear
that Brian was not the kind of man or father who would kill a child
they worked so hard to have in their family,” Spies said after the
verdict Thursday. “It was a nightmare compounded too long.”</span></i><span class="entry-content"></span><br />
<span class="entry-content"><br />
</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the verdict</td></tr>
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<span class="entry-content"><b><span style="font-size: large;">THE VERDICT<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 3, 2011</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://thegazette.com/2011/11/03/update-iowa-city-murder-suspect-found-not-guilty/">Iowa City murder suspect found not guilty</a></span></span></b></span><i>A 12-member jury has found Brian Dykstra not guilty of killing his 21-month-old son in 2005...After
hearing the verdict, Dykstra started weeping and buried his face in the
shoulder of his attorney Leon Spies. Many of his supporters also
started sobbing when the verdict was read, including his former wife,
Lisa DeWaard</i><br />
<br />
<i><span class="entry-content">“This means we can finally grieve our son,” a
teary-eyed Lisa DeWaard said after hearing the not guilty verdict in
her ex-husband’s trial. “It’s been six very very long years.”</span></i> <br />
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******</div>
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I've posted more here than I planned to, so I'll keep my comments short.<br />
<br />
I followed this trial through press reports each day, which naturally limits our knowledge of the trial. I'm really surprised, though, at the verdict, which I thought, until today, was a slam dunk for the state..After the prolonged investigation, large numbers of witnesses questioned over that time, and numerous trial postponements, I thought the state would have had a strong enough case to convict.. In fact, I believe the state made its case. The physical evidence presented by the many prosecution witnesses-(police, EMT, and medical) is overwhelming and based in science not neighborly anecdote. <br />
<br />
It was clear though that "character" was the only real chance Brian Dykstra had.<br />
<br />
I wrote most of this entry in the early hours of Friday and made the supposition then that "character" had been the defense. Now, we see Leon Spies quoted in the <i>Daily Iowan</i>, admitting the strategy. Certainly character counts and should, but I simply can't comprehend how secondhand observations trump scientific evidence and expert testimony--especially since the Dykstra camp couldn't come up with genuine counter arguments. I wish they had. I'd feel better about the verdict. <br />
<br />
Without actually attending the trial every day, it is difficult to deconstruct testimony and reporting. We, too are only observers. Two pieces of testimony, though, described in the press, jumped out at me: the conflicting testimony between Brian Dykstra regarding Isaac's appearance the week of his death:<br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“To the normal average person,<b> he looked fine</b>,” he said. “But,
looking back, there was a lot more going on there than just a fall.”</i><br />
<br />
and Lisa DeWaard:<br />
<br />
<i>Dykstra’s defense attorney Leon Spies showed jurors pictures of Isaac
in the days that preceded his death. One showed him sitting on his
father’s lap <b>with visible bruises on his ears</b>. DeWaard said Isaac often
pinched his own ears, which she thought was the result of stress from
the adoption.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>Spies also showed a photo of Isaac eating breakfast on the day before
he was rushed to the hospital – two days after the short fall. <b>The
photo, which showed visible bruising around Isaac’s eyes,</b> caused DeWaard
to choke up.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i>“That was the last picture taken of him,” she said. “And it was unusual because he’s not smiling, and he was always smiling.”</i><br />
<br />
Something's not right in Iowa City.<br />
<br />
Only Brian Dykstra knows what happened, and too many questions<i> </i>will never be answered. <br />
<i><br /></i><br />
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So far there are no comments from the jury, and the Russian government has not made a statement. If there are additions, I'll put them up later.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">RIP ILYA/ISAAC </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">November 18, 2003, Sosnovoborsk - August 14, 2005, Iowa City Iowa</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Nikto ne zabyt - Nichto ne zabyto</span></span></span></div>
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-87124099617285850272011-10-28T17:40:00.000-04:002011-10-28T17:49:04.268-04:00Update on Artyom Saveliev: Attempt to Exclude Media Postpones Hearing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Things just got more complicated in <i>WACAP v Hansen</i>, (see entry directly below.) Bedford (TN) County Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell called a postponement in the hearing scheduled for yesterday, after Torry Hansen's lawyer, Sandra Smith, filed a last minute motion to exclude the press and public from the hearing. Smith argued that proceedings and filings in juvenile court are confidential. While this is true, the current case is filed in circuit court and not under seal.<br />
<br />
I can't find the motion online, but <i>Shelbyville Times-Gazette</i> reporter John Carney quoted <a href="http://www.t-g.com/story/1778433.html">Smith's argument: </a><br />
<br />
<i>The mere fact that the matter may be newsworthy should not override the
parties', including those of the minor child, right to confidentiality.</i> <br />
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Of course this is laughable. Torry Hansen and her mother Nancy are concerned about Artyom Saveliev's "confidentiality" after their antics plastered his story and picture around the world, turning the boy into an international incident that nearly shutdown cross-country adoption between Russia and the US? Concerned about somebody's confidentiality for sure, but not his.<br />
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WACAP;s Nashville attorney Larry Crain said it best:<br />
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<i>I</i><i>t is indeed ironic that the same parent who recklessly abandoned her child by placing him on a one-way flight to Moscow would not be concerned about protecting the same child's praviacy?</i><br />
<br />
Crain said that the adoption records filed in the case should remain under seal, quite a different matter from conducing closed-door hearings in circuit court which are open to the public and media.. <br />
<br />
Yestereday's hearing has been re-scheduled for November 21 At that time, the court will take up the question of open court proceedings with media representatives being allowed to argue their case before Judge Russell. Larry Crane says if the court approves Hansen's challenge, media outlets will probably file their own challenge. <br />
<br />
Judge Russell is also expected to rule on whether Artyom can be added as a plailntiff to the WACAP suit.<br />
.<br />
WACAP is requesting child support from Hansen, arguing that putting the boy on a plane to Moscow is not a "legitimtae way to annul an adoption.." Hansen, the agency contends, is still the legal parent, and liable for child support payments to WACAP. Russian courts have also reportedly requested child support from Hansen. <br />
<br />
<b>It's a Small World</b><br />
In 1996, WACAP attorney Larry Crane represented the American Center for Law and Justice in its unsuccessful suit to overturn Tennessee's semi-open records law.,<a href="http://www.americanadoptioncongress.org/tennessee_legislation.php"> Doe v Sundquist</a>. He is a partner in Brentwood Law Offices, and serves as <a href="http://www.brentwoodlaw.com/bio.html">ACLJ's Senior Legal Council.</a> There is no indicaiton that ACLJ is involved in this case.<br />
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This entry is cross-posted to my main blog, <a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/">The Daily Bastardette</a>. <br />
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-23148784165396314592011-10-27T07:17:00.000-04:002011-10-27T07:23:18.442-04:00Update on Artyom Savelyev: World Association of Children and Parents v Torry Hansen gets January trial date, hearing today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I need to do some backtracking on the Artyom Savelyev/Justin Hansen case The 8-year old Russian abandoned by his adopter mother, is still in care somewhere in Moscow. Here's what happening stateside.<br />
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The lawsuit filed by World Association of Children and Parents, the adoption agency that placed Artyom with his forever mother Torry Hansen, has been <a href="http://www.t-g.com/story/print/1757209.html">scheduled </a> to be heard in Bedford County (TN) Circuit Court court on January 3, 2012, a year and a half after it was filed. Two motions will be heard later today, though,, one to dismiss; the other to amend the petition. The case is under seal and there are no other details.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheriff Boyce during press conference</td></tr>
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The WAPAC suit was filed in May 2010, a month after Artyom was COD'd back to the Russian Ministry of Education, via American Airlines, when Torry Hansen and her mother Nancy decided the boy wasn't a good fit. WACAP filed asking to be appointed temporary guardian out of frustration because no one in Tennessee, the boy's "home state," was investigating claims that the Hansens had abandoned and endangered him there. Bedford County Sheriff Randall Boyce argued that there was no evidence to indicate that the boy had been abandoned in his jurisdiction so no charges could be filed; thus dropping the criminal investigation and tossing the case back to the Russian civil courts.. <br />
<br />
While the WACP case waited to be heard, a Russian court ordered the Hansens to pay the Russian government about $2500 a month in child support. saying that Torrie Hansen, incredibly was now denying she had had intended to terminate her parental rights when she sent Artyom packing! <br />
<br />
Earlier, in January, the English language <i>Moscow Times </i>(paid subscription to access archives) <i>) </i>reported--<a href="http://www.t-g.com/story/1757209.html">picked up</a> by the <i>Shelbyville Times Gazette</i>-- that Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov tweeted that Torry Hansen, under the threat of child support, was now claiming that she sent Artyom back to Russia by himself because "he asked to see his (biological) mother and she let him go. " Astakhov said that Hansen's court testimony
was "cynic slyness" that aimed to avoid making child support payments.<br />
<br />
How the note accompanying Artyom to Moscow--and the Hansen's delivery instructions to Russian tour guide Artur Lookyanov, <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2010/04/artur-lookyanov-first-person-account-of.html">the real hero</a> of this whole sordid affair--could be construed as anything other than a desire to terminate parental rights is something that only the Hansen's lawyers can explain. (The family s now on its third attorney).<br />
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It gets more headachey with the National Council for Adoption jumping in on it. .Since court documents are under seal, I'm going to let Brian Mosely, reporter for the<i> Shelbyville Times-Gazette, </i>who has diligently worked to untangle the Hansen mess from the beginning, take it from there (with some repetition of what I wrote above): . <br />
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<i><b>R</b><b>ussians want support</b></i><br />
<br />
<i>A motion was filed last week by the World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP), the National Council for Adoption (NCFA) and adoptive parent Jennifer Terhune, requesting for more time to respond to the motion to dismiss that was filed at the end of 2010 by Henegar.</i> (at that time the Hansen's lawyer) <br />
<br />
<i>Terhune is a resident of Wilson County that WACAP is asking to be appointed the guardian of the boy since she has already adopted three children from China and Korea.
Attorneys representing the adoption agencies are currently engaged in a jury trial in Chattanooga and have requested until Jan. 28 to respond to the motion and set a date for oral arguments on pending matters.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Henegar argued in her dismissal motion that Tennessee does not have jurisdiction to order child support because it is not the boy's "home state," the termination of parental rights proceeding precludes the court from exercising exclusive jurisdiction, that the court should decline jurisdiction because it is not the appropriate forum and that even if the state did have jurisdiction, it could not award child support.</i><br />
<br />
<i>
Last May, WACAP filed a petition requesting that Bedford County's Circuit Court appoint the agency as a temporary guardian for the boy. The matter was moved to juvenile court in August after an agreed order was signed by both parties.
But in October, WACAP, NCFA and Terhune filed a second amended petition that asked the court to determine child support due from the Hansens. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Henegar wrote that NCFA has alleged it had been in contact with Russian authorities and intended to provide evidence "regarding the amount necessary for Justin's care and maintenance in Russia." NCFA has also alleged that the Russians had appointed it as the "liaison" with the court. Henegar claims. </i><br />
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"In actuality, NCFA has repeatedly engaged in ex parte communications with the Judge of the Moscow City Court to persuade the Court to postpone its proceedings to terminate Respondent's (the Hansen's) parental rights due to the fact that Respondent will not have to pay child support in Tennessee once her rights are terminated and will not be held criminally liable," Henegar wrote. </i><br />
<br />
<i>On Dec. 13, 2010, the Municipality of Intra-municipal Formation in Moscow refined their claim, asking that Hansen pay for the support of the child.
Henegar pointed out that Tennessee state law defines the "home state" as where a child lived with a parent for at least six months, claiming that the boy lived with the Hansen's in Bedford County from Oct. 7, 2009, to April 6, 2010 -- less than six months.
She also states that the Moscow court has accepted jurisdiction over the proceeding since the boy has been in that country's jurisdiction for more than six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition to revoke the adoption and to seek child support.</i><br />
<br />
Artyom's case is further complicated by the confusing status of his citizenship, with both countries claiming him for themselves. As far as I know, this hasn't been clarified. <i><br /></i><br />
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<a abcnews.go.com="" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YY2VmSEasHE/Tqky1H5ncnI/AAAAAAAALZ0/hwaJkXjs--does%20he%20hold%20Russian%20or%20American%20citizenship?--%20which%20I%27ve%20not%20seen%20has%20been%20clarified%20yet,%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AShortly%20after%20this%20story%20broke,%20Russian%20authorities%20said%20that%20Artyom%20would%20be%20adopted%20domestically%20with%20no%20problem.%C2%A0%20They%20hinted%20that%20at%20least%20two%20families%20were%20interested.%20As%20if%20the%20airplane%20abandonment%20wasn%27t%20bad%20enough,%20Torry%20Hansen%27s%20post-abandonment%20antics%C2%A0%20have%20placed%20Artyom%20in%20limbo%20for%20the%20last%2018%20months.%20%3Ca%20href=" http:="" international="" returned-russian-adoptee-artyom-saveliev-celebrates-8th-birthday="" story?id="10393446"">Early reports</a> indicated a married couple described as English-speaking Russian diplomats who had reared two orphans, had been appointed his guardian and that he would not be sent to an orphanage. Several later reports indicate he is indeed in an orphanage, though government authorizes deny it.<br />
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I have written extensively on this case. Please go to the right sidebar and click on the link. This entry is cross-posted to my main blog, <a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/">The Daily Bastardette..</a></div>
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15293886.post-32165322816606721222011-10-15T00:38:00.000-04:002011-12-07T14:09:32.862-05:00Long Awaited Dykstra Trial to Start October 24<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Crossposted to the<a href="http://bastardette.blogspot.com/"> Daily Bastardette</a><br />
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According to the<a href="http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20111014/NEWS01/310140023/Father-s-trial-start-Oct-24"> Iowa City Press-Citizen </a>and the <a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/10/14/Metro/25439.html">Daily Iowan,</a> the trial of Brian Dykstra, accused of the August 2006 beating death of his adopted Russian son <a href="http://nobodyisforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/10/isaac-jonathan-dykstra-another-dead.html">Ilya Kargynysev/Isaac Jonathan Dykstra</a> will start October 24.<br />
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A pretrial was held on Thursday to discuss "specifics of how technological issues would be dealt with, especially in reference to the handling of redacted footage,which caused a mistrial in the Charles Thompson homicide trial in September." (unrelated to the Dykstra case)<br />
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Dykstra, apparently still in South Carolina, where he lives with his wife, an assistant professor of Spanish at Clemson University, listened in on the hearing by speaker phone<br />
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Earlier this year prosecutors and defense said they intended to call eleven doctors and 39 witnesses to testify.<br />
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The trial is expected to last about eight days.<br />
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To read more about the case, including In Memoriam (Summary of all cases) and Summary of Killers and Sentences, click on Isaac's name in the "Labels"sidebar at the right..
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</div>Marley Greinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15184124024369071862noreply@blogger.com0