03/11/2008 Donna Blanton retrial news roundup — Jury recommends life.

Roundup: The Free Lance–Star: Jury finds Blanton guilty

and: The Free Lance–Star: Jury recommends life sentence for Blanton:

A jury here recommended this morning that Donna Blanton serve life in prison in the death of her husband Taylor.

[…]

“He’ll never know my grandchildren. He’ll never be at my wedding,” said Katy Blanton, 20. “He was stolen from me.”

Joel Blanton was 14 when his dad was killed.

“The chance to have a man-to-man conversation with my father was ripped away from me,” said Joel, now 18. “The last memory I have is just standing over his lifeless body, and it’s horrible.”

[…]

Defense attorney Mark Murphy asked the jurors to “consider this entire picture.”

I have a feeling that Mark Murphy wishes he had the previous jury this week…

The following is a parody…

Prologue: The following is written in the vein of a recent news story from WFLS that stated:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski.

Anyway, to the feature attraction:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski. Sure, the child was described as being taken while he was “kicking and screaming”, but that’s what the po-po and the child’s grandparents said, but you can’t trust the fuzz, and old people can’t remember stuff from five minutes ago. It’s also possible those old folks couldn’t remember the appearance of their own daughter while said daughter abducted their grandchild. For all we know it’s was a practical joke gone bad. Perhaps an early April Fools’ Day joke or something?

In other local news, it is believed that Donna Blanton was found guilty. We sent a reporter down there to cover the story but he must have gotten lost on those nice sandy beaches or something. It’s a negligible point anyway.

Rascally

Also, the Caroline County Board of Supervisors is believed to be holding a meeting tomorrow where it is believed that Superintendent Stanley Jones will present the School Board’s proposed budget. Sure, that’s what the agenda says but we can’t be a 100 percent sure at this point. It may all be a trick by that rascally County Administrator Percy Ashcraft (if that is in fact his real name) to mess with us.

The General Assembly is believed to be misusing your tax money in ways too numerous to count. Right now we’re investigating that, but we haven’t found enough evidence to draw a conclusion. Ditto for Congress.

It is believed that the General Assembly did manage to repeal the “abusive driver fees” but we weren’t there, so we can’t be a 100 percent sure right now.

It is believed that several Republicans voted to keep the “abusive driver fees” and sure enough that’s what the roll call votes say, but we can’t be sure at this point.

Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

WFLS News: Mother returns missing Stafford child:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski. Monday afternoon Stafford County deputies were called to the office of an attorney representing McHale. She turned herself in and turned Jacob over. He appears to be in good condition and is being returned to his grandparents who have custody.

What the ****? “[B]elieved to have been abducted”? Way to nail down the facts there. Here’s what The Free Lance–Star said:

According to police, the three suspects showed up at the grandparents’ home unannounced about 11 p.m. Thursday. Carianne McHale grabbed the child while one of the men knocked the grandfather to the ground and the other held the grandmother.

Jacob was “kicking and screaming” when the group left in the 2004 black Infiniti G-35 with Virginia tags KMU8121, officials said.

This useless WFLS story continued:

A second man in the case, Varun Sethi turned himself in Sunday night and is charged with conspiracy to commit abduction. He remains in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. Carianne McHale faces charges of abduction, assault and battery, felony child neglect and conspiracy to commit abduction. Borowski still remains at large and faces the same charges as McHale. The car believed to be used in the abduction was located in northern Virginia by the FBI and impounded. Authorities believe it was nearby a residence where Borwski may have been staying

Donna Blanton guilty.

Yeah, I know, big surprise.

The Free Lance–Star: Jury convicts Blanton in husband’s death:

Donna Blanton was convicted this evening of first-degree murder in the death of her state trooper husband in Caroline. She was also convicted of use of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Sentencing proceedings will start tomorrow. She showed no emotion as the verdict was announced.

The jury returned its decision after about two hours of deliberations.

Check tomorrow’s Free Lance-Star for the full report.

UPDATED: One of the s-bags that abducted Stafford boy turns himself in.

UPDATE: Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

The Free Lance–Star: UPDATE: Suspect charged in child’s abduction:

One of three suspects in the abduction of an 8-year-old Stafford boy turned himself in last night.

Varun Sethi, 24, is charged with abduction, assault and battery and conspiracy to commit abduction. He’s being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Police are still searching for Jacob and the two other people authorities believe are responsible for his disappearance.

03/10/2008 Donna Blanton retrial news #2

The Free Lance–Star: Blanton verdict may come today:

The jury could reach a verdict this afternoon in the case of the Caroline County woman charged with murder in the shooting death of her state trooper husband.

[…]

Donna Blanton has said since her husband’s death that an intruder broke into the home about 6 a.m. while she was in the bathroom. She told police that intruder then grabbed the gun and shot Taylor Blanton four times, killing him, before fleeing. Blanton said she then grabbed the gun the intruder had dropped on the ground and fired shots at him as he ran away.

Spencer, though, in his closing arguments, pointed out pieces of evidence testified to by witnesses throughout last week that he thought disproved that theory: a towel, found in the bathroom, with an imprint that matched that of the murder weapon; that there was no sign of forced entry into the home; no footprints found in the dew-covered grass; and the lack of dogs barking when everyone who knew the family said dogs barked when someone came into the home.

[…]

Spencer also addressed the motive for about half of his remarks, focusing on why he thought Blanton would have felt compelled to kill her husband. He said she had surmounting financial debt and a fear that her husband would leave her poor and homeless if he found out.

Spencer throughout the trial has said that Donna Blanton had not only her own high credit payments, but also that she took out credit cards in her husband’s name as well. Blanton’s daughters testified last week that they would hide the statements for those bills at their mother’s request.

[…]

This afternoon, Spencer will give a rebuttal to Murphy’s closing remarks and the jury will begin deliberations.

Why you should support Delegate Bob Marshall for United States Senate…

This is what Delegate Bob Marshall, a Republican, had to say about the Republican leadership (or lack thereof) in the House of Delegates:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJgV1um1b0]

“[…] given the mere courtesy of even having a hearing in one of these secret subcommittees where they kill bills without a record of votes.”

Oh, that’s priceless.

H/t: Assembly Access

UPDATED: FBI called in for abducted Stafford boy.

UPDATE #3: Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

UPDATE #2: One of the s-bags that abducted Stafford boy turns himself in.

9News Now: Police Looking For Abducted Stafford Boy:

The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have been called into the case of Jacob McHale. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office says the 8-year-old boy was abducted Thursday night from his granparents’ home.

Bill and Freida McHale have had custody of Jacob since shortly after he was born. They say the boy’s mother, Carianne McHale, was at their home for a regular visit Thursday night when she grabbed Jacob and ran. The McHale’s say Carianne was assisted by her boyfriend Matthew Borowski and his friend Varun Sethi. The two men are accused of holding and assaulting the couple.

Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy says it is possible the boy is still in the area. Kennedy asked that anyone who sees the boy or the people who took him to call 540-658-4400.

UPDATE #1: The Free Lance–Star: Police seek third suspect in case of missing child:

A third suspect has been identified in the Thursday night kidnapping of an 8-year-old Stafford County boy who is still missing.

Varun Sethi, 24, of no fixed address, is accused of assisting the child’s mother and her boyfriend in forcibly abducting Jacob McHale from his home on Fence Post Road.

[…]

Stafford Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy said authorities are becoming increasingly concerned in part because Jacob has chronic asthma and his abductors took neither his medication nor his nebulizer.