Decapitated researcher trial begins today
April 15, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Grand Forks Herald
The first murder trial here in more than 80 years will feature a defendant with a machine-gun tattoo on his head and reported ties to a white supremacist gang, a victim whose severed head was found in the alleged killer’s basement and the oldest working courthouse in North Dakota. Continue Reading
Since the search of the basement where the head was found is legal, I think we may be going through the motions here. Anybody think he’s got justification for shooting someone in the head and then burying it in his basement crawl space? The state pen might as well start getting his cell ready.
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They found the severed head in the basement and the courthouse? Check your copy.
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Huh? It was one complete head…How could they find it in two places? There was only one head….No body….And why would there be a head in the courthouse anyway?
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Assumed comma after the word “basement”. When you have three clauses, you are not required to use the comma before the last clause if there is an “and”. Reread the sentence to see that the subject of the sentence had 3 dependant clauses. It is correct as written, but I can see how, because of the length of the first and second clause, a person might lose track of the subject of the sentence by the time you got to the last clause.
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I guess he was asking a question…I missed the question mark myself and couldn’t understand what he meant….Non the less….I’m still not sure what he meant…
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The reference to the ‘OLDEST WORKING COURTHOUSE IN ND’ is that it’s also one of the FEATURES of this trial.
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I coubt the defendant will ever speak up, but I kind of wish he would. Nothing about this makes any sense. It’d be interesting to find out why this guy killed the other guy, and why the hell dispose of the body, but keep the head…..That’s the really weird part…..Maybe this guy is just plain bat crap crazy…..
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I was thinking the same thing. Could be that Johnson was drunk and the killer thought he made a pass at him or something. Maybe the Aryan Nation thing is right and he was just trying to make a point, but that wouldn’t make sense because if he did it to make a statement, why hide the crime? Anyway you look at it, he’s toast.
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Beheading is a Mexican drug cartel requirement for proof of the killing of someone seen as a scapegoat responsible for a loss of their revenue.
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Talk about the plot thickening…..The guy killed seemed pretty mild manner from the acounts I remeber…
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That’s right but why would the killer keep his head & dispose of the body. The victim doesn’t have to be involved in much to become a scapegoat for a bigger picture. IOW the cartels want somebody to pay & the head is evidence someone did pay however unconnected to their activity they are. It gets the killer off their hit list.
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The problem with this line of reasoning about drug cartels being involved is that the bartender asked the killer to take Johnson home. You’d think if he was out to get him, he would have done the deed on his own. This way it sounds like a impulsive action rather than something he had been planning.
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True, unless he was waiting for an opp. to arise that would make his action look innocent. With the head in possession he would be able to deliver it to interested Calif. partners where he was also in violation of probation.
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If he is innocent then someone else took advantage of the opp. for the same reasons created by cartel involvement.
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You mean someone else buried the head in his basement?
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Why not/
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And the plot thickens even more,,,,Kind of sounds like a plot from Pushing Daisies maybe…
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If I recall correctly, the bartender wanted to call the cops & Wacht said,”We don’t need any (expletive) cops” & he volunteered to give Johnson a ride.
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Cartel involvement?? LMAO! The dude was a 54 year old college researcher. You might want to stop watching Breaking Bad.
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I understand your incredulity, but what if some drug lord demanded that the killer produce a head, any head, to prove himself a player. Even though I’ve argued against this scenario above, I might buy the idea that the dead guy was totally innocent of anything and the killer was just using the opportunity presented to fulfill his obligation.
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Or the killer was framed since he had the perfect profile, i.e. Calif. felon on the lamb hiding out in the middle of nowhere.
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And was a supposed member of the AryanNation, allies of you know who.
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Use your imagination & not be so naive.
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Well this is all entertaining, but my vote still is going for him just being bat crap crazy at the time and was maybe listening to Warren Zevron’s “Excitable Boy” which gave him a stroke of brillance…
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La Opinion News Report, Claudia Núñez, Translated by Elena Shore, Posted: Nov 17, 2010
The activities of white supremacist groups in the United States could be financed by Mexican drug cartels as a result of ties between the two groups, experts say. Members of the supremacist gang Aryan Brotherhood are collaborating with organized crime groups the Mexican Mafia and the Tijuana Cartel to smuggle illegal drugs both in state and federal prisons, and on the California-Mexico market.
“The cartels are looking for partners, bridges, to connect their activities inside the United States, and the supremacists have become an important force on the streets and inside prisons,” according to Larry Gaines, gang expert and president of the criminal justice department at San Bernardino State University.
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The body of this article is not allowed to be posted at this Mickeymouse site. It talks of the alliance we were discussing.
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/11/mexican-drug-cartels-tied-to-us-white.html
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What do you know, they did actually post it. Interesting article. I wonder if whoever is prosecuting this case even knows about this? It could be of interest.
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If they don’t it’s no wonder the “war on drugs” is failing. Does the story actually appear on your screen or just the site address I posted?
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Both posting appear: the text of the article and the second post with the web address.
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Ship a guillotine over from France.
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How exactly do you put a decapitated researcher on trial? And why bother?
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The researcher is on trial? What? Explain please.
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That’s what the headline says.
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DanH: you must have been fun in grade school. The caption is similar to “kidnappped baby trial” or “murdered nun trial”. See?
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Sure, I see. And those don’t make sense, either. How about “baby kidnapping trial” or “nun murder trial”? The headline on this story is probably already on its way to the Tonight Show. It’s got Jay Leno written all over it.
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Dan: baby kidnapping trial could be a small kidnapping trial. Kidnapped baby trial is clearer. Just sayin….
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How about “accused kidnapper trial” just to make it clear? I’m talking about simple English here and people who are paid to use the written word every day, but maybe it’s more of a challenge than I thought.
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Good one Dan…I’ve been pointing out a few of these lately…..If they’re actually making these gaffs by accident then the editor isn’t up to speed yet….But that’s ok…Like you…I think they’re a blast to catch….I missed this one…Thanks for pointing it out…
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If the decapitated was guilty of something then the outcome of the trial could end up being about his involvement in a crime.
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I know we’re joking and all, but I seem to remember in ancient times were a ruler or two would pass sentence on a dead body and hang it or do some other grizzly act just for the shock value to those who might get the idea to try the same thing……Crude…But I’m guessing it was very effective…
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Wasn’t that Cheney…? Sorry, couldn’t resist
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The guy says hes Satan.
I say lets spend 50 cents on a bullet and send him back to Helll!
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