Morgan Harrington Murder: A Security Check On Security- Why Did It Fail?
Charlottesville, VA-
On the afternoon of October 17, 2009, Morgan Harrington and three of her friends drove to John Paul Jones Arena, located on the University of Virginia campus, to attend a long-anticipated Metallica concert. Following an apparent fall and chin injury occurring around the time she was visiting the ladies room, Morgan ended up outside the arena and attempted to gain re-entry to the venue.
How and why she got there comes in at a baffling second only compared to what happened to her next.
Nine months ago Dr. Dan and Gil Harrington, Morgan’s parents were notified their daughter was missing which is when their nightmare began.
On November 5, 2009, the day before a search which was organized at the request of the Harrington’s was to commence, a vintage black Pantera t-shirt placed on a bush in front of an apartment complex at the intersection near 15th Street and Grady Ave. was located by a nearby resident.
While this discovery was not released publicly, Charlottesville PD knew immediately it belonged to Morgan Harrington. Sara Snead, one of the friends that accompanied Morgan to the concert, immediately confirmed the distinct vintage design that compelled Morgan to borrow the t-shirt from her a week before the show.
Subsequently, DNA analysis confirmed the t-shirt was indeed the same one Morgan was wearing the night she disappeared.
On January 26, 2010 the remains of Morgan Harrington were discovered by David Bass, owner of Anchorage Farm, located in Albemarle County. Although her cause of death has not been released, her manner of death has been classified as a homicide by the Virginia State Police.
Dan and Gil Harrington marked the nine-month anniversary of Morgan’s disappearance from her memorial on Copeley Bridge 4 days ago.
Gil Harrington’s impassioned statement made it clear that her family’s mission is to prevent what happened to Morgan from happening to another victim and their goal is to educate young women about safety and personal security.
On July 1st, based upon an article posted on blinkoncrime.com inside sources confirmed a forensic link between Morgan’s homicide and a Fairfax County Case. Research on this case indicates it was a violent sexual assault that happened in 2005. The victim assisted in the sketch of a man police wish to interview in connection with both the Fairfax assault as well as the apparent abduction and murder of Morgan Harrington. .
What did it mean to the investigation and to the parents of young women in Charlottesville? We have a serial offender on the loose in multiple jurisdictions and an immediate need to beef up personal security.
As our very vulnerable student body returns to campus next month, blinkoncrime.com provides a glimpse at current conditions.
Unregulated Regulations In Security
The 2004 General Assembly, through House Joint Resolution (HJR122), requested the Virginia State Crime Commission to study safety at Virginia’s institutions of higher education. As a result, DCJS created the Office of Campus Policing and Security (OCPS) to address the law requiring minimum training and employment standards for campus security officers.
Campus Security Regulations for Institutions of Higher Education in the State of Virginia, fall under the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Private Security Services Advisory Board. Below is an excerpt of the unapproved draft meeting notes of their quarterly meeting held December 8, 2009; the first and only since Morgan’s disappearance from JPJ.
The issue of safety and security on college campuses was addressed in a 2006 Crime Commission Study on Campus Safety. This study resulted in the statutory requirements under Code of Virginia (Code) §9.1-102 (49).
College populations represent a large concentration of students between the ages of 18-25 years with limited supervision and life experience. In terms of homeland security, campuses are identified as “soft targets” and are frequently targeted by domestic and foreign terrorists. Campuses also house volatile materials and research facilities that are also targeted by radical elements in society. Campuses host large stadium events and concerts that are potential targets for terrorism and riots. Most campuses also have facilities that are open to the public and are relatively difficult to secure and lockdown. Campus Security Officers are primary first responders to incidents of crime and violence on campus.
Although UVA campus security officers require a certification provided by DCJS, there are ZERO regulatory standards for certification. It was NOT until Morgan Harrington disappeared from the grounds of the JPJ Arena that emergency regulations were sought from Governor Bob McDonnell.
How does a woman on the campus of a University that provides it’s very own Police Department in addition to event security simply vanish without a trace?
By the time Morgan ends up in a hay field 7 miles away, she has passed through 3 different law enforcement jurisdictions and a slew of private campus and event security agencies and personnel. While private security regulations fall under the umbrella of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, they also require a judicial amendment only if and when they are approved via “emergency” status by the Governor.
Who’s Looking Out For The Kids, Exactly?
As the safety on campus study showed, our college age kids are at their most vulnerable in the University setting. Out from under the watchful eye of Mom and Dad and wading through the rich culture and nightlife of downtown Charlottesville, students face a host of potential safety risks.
In fact, during the very development of this article, I received an alert from UVA security that a UVA student was sexually assaulted in the area of Roosevelt Boulevard. While I commend the swift response and warning from UVA PD chief Michael Gibson, I can’t help but wonder if a similar alert upon learning Morgan disappeared from the UVA/JPJ campus would have made a difference for her.
A simple Google of “Charlottesville security” produces the front page for HH Security Services, Inc, a local private security and bail bonding firm. I am no expert but isn’t it a bit odd to claim to protect one’s security and then bond out someone that may threaten it in the first place?
Who is vetting the security that is responsible for ensuring safety?
While HH Security or it’s employees have no known ties whatsoever to the Harrington case, it is a prime example of the weakness of current security regulations, involving students and private events, 6 years in the making.
At H & H Security Services, Inc. we specialize in Private Investigation, Private Security both armed and unarmed as well as fast efficient Civil Process Service. Our full-time professional agents are well trained, well equipped, well informed, and discreet.? Owner Rod Howard is a native of Charlottesville and central Virginia, where he’s been a well respected business owner for over twenty years. H & H Security Services, Inc. is his vehicle in his effort to help serve and protect the community he grew up in. Over the years he’s assembled a team of certified and experienced personnel who share his commitment to the safety of the community.
HH Security, in a business journal ad, claims to hire members of law enforcement and be very well connected with various police departments and security agencies for nightclubs, special events and home security checks as well in 2007.
HH Security is the security firm of choice for Club 216, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Rivals, which are bars frequently visited by UVA students and athletes.
Roderick M Howard, owner of HH Security and H&H Car detailing maintains active licenses issued through the VA Dept of Criminal Justice Services for private security and as a bailbondsman.
While blinkoncrime editors were researching this piece, a review of Albemarle County Court records show Roderick Howard was arrested for felony rape in 1993, subsequently indicted for same and a year later on the first day of trial, pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery whereby he was sentenced to 12 months, 11 of which were suspended and two years unsupervised probation.
Howard was also arrested a few times for felony bad checks; both cases ended nolle prosequi.
How can an accused rapist and convicted sexual batterer hold a dual license in the private security sector as well as two classifications of firearms, all of which is monitored by the VADCJS? It is specifically stated in the regulations regarding moral turpitude AND sexual battery that the VADCJS MAY DENY an applicant on those grounds.
According to Mr. Howard’s own advertisement, he has been in the security industry since 1989. Would that mean he was employed in the security field when he was arrested for rape?
Shockingly, It may be perfectly legal. Although the administrative statute for licensure prohibits granting a license to someone with a misdemeanor sexual battery conviction, if Howard divulged the crime in his application and requested a waiver from the director at the time, it is possible one was granted.
Blinkoncrime.com spoke to Lisa McGee, Regulatory Program Manager for DCJS, private security advisory committee:
“…there is a code in the statute that allows the potential for both an individual convicted of a felony and the outlined misdemeanors exceptions contained therein to obtain a director’s waiver. Two felonies we would never even consider are rape and murder, but dependent upon the criminal offense, the circumstances and the length of time that has transpired with a clean record, the verbiage in the statute would allow an applicant to at least request a waiver for our consideration…” Lisa McGee
Ms. McGee was not able to address Mr. Howard’s file specifically, citing privacy laws, but she was able to verify that Mr. Howard’s registration with the agency is current.
There are however, some discrepancies in the press release written to announce the “restructuring” of both companies, announced October 19th.
For starters, there was only a name change to Mr. Howard’s business, which actually took place prior to the October 19 release date, in May, 2009.
These are not two separate businesses. In fact, the bailbondsman license issued to Mr. Howard’s agent, Anthony Halstead, leads back to Accelerated Bail Bonds, which is not a listed entity in the state of Virginia or listed as a fictitious name for H&H Security Services.
I would be willing to wager that the police departments that allow off duty security employment with this firm would appreciate some clarification on both the personnel and licensing issues.
There has been no arrest in the homicide of Morgan Harrington. In a statement released by Corrine Geller, PR manager for the Virginia State Police, VSP has received approximately 100 significant leads from the release of the sketch of the alleged perpetrator of the 2005 Fairfax County sex assault.
Dan and Gil Harrington will be meeting with new University of Virginia President, Teresa Sullivan, next month to address safety and security issues on campus.
“..People think it cannot happen to them, IT CAN– Dan Harrington.”
Editors Note: I am not a resident of Virginia. However, I think the interest of the safety of our children is a National one. Any person that is placed in a position of public trust, most especially those that come into contact with our vulnerable students, should be REQUIRED to disclose past convictions that would negate them that position without some sort of subjective “pass”. How can we know-TRULY KNOW the level of presumed safety if we really aren’t aware of the backgrounds of those in charge of it?
Blinkoncrime.com editors Jason Mateos, Elizabeth Morton and Madeline Tanner contributed to this report
Images by Klaasend
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MARY…
My husband thinks I’m obsessed with this case also. I think we all are. There is just something about Morgan that reaches to all of our hearts and we can’t let it go. You are not alone, my friend
Sorry, not the best proofreader in the world, the young man in my fiction found a ladder, not a letter.
I could be wrong, but I believe there have always been announcements on the screens around the arena about the location of first aid. I do not think, and I certainly believe it should be added, that there is a consistent policy on announcements about no re-entry at non-sporting events. The information is posted on the arena’s website and on some tickets, but not all. Even though it is very common practice in this day and age not to allow re-entry at major venues, patrons should be reminded of the policy.
@C’ville Native Away: Yes. The bridge as last sighting is a very convenient device for the State, the State Police, the UVA Police, concert security, and all of those who did not help. It is also a convenient device to say to the students, “see you are safe here as long as you do not get into a car with someone not on our property.”
For this reason, as well as the pocketbook, cellphone finding, and the witness sightings at the same time, I am highly suspicious of “the bridge as last sighting”, and have come around to Blink’s view that the parking lot was likely the abduction scene. (I hope I am not mistating your view Blink.)
You will likely not find the VSP and others promoting an idea that parking lot safety at UVA was lax.
@ MsL: I think your well researched safety information is invaluable, but you are making me sigh with the idea that you can program the little ones with security info and something like this will never happen, or the idea that a 16-20 year old will make the same decisions alone which we as parents would have made for them when they were younger.
Sorry, I’m reading from the newest post back as usual. Apparently Dr. and Mrs. Harrington do believe Morgan disappeared from the bridge.I think that is the reason they are so drawn to her memorial. I don’t really see that where her disappearance occurred matters other than providing clues to what happened. Someone took her and I don’t think quibbling over whether it was on UVA grounds or on public property just a few yards away makes any difference. Maybe if UVAPD was the only investigative agency, it could be argued that someone is trying to protect “hallowed” ground. I just don’t believe the Virginia State Police have any interest in protecting any person or entity. I think they want to find a killer. If any evidence was destroyed as has been alleged by some because there’s no video sightings of Morgan, I don’t think members of VSP are so dumb or naive that they haven’t recognized what I would think would be a criminal act, tampering with evidence. I will be sorely disappointed in their professional integrity if I learn differently.
As for UVA backing up to a low income area, I posted earlier that colleges and universities are not fenced enclaves. The University could be located in the center of Farmington, one of the most affluent and exclusive areas in Albemarle County, and there would still be the possibility of robberies, assaults and even murders. Bad guys don’t recognize neighborhood boundaries. The University, as with most colleges, is surrounded by lower income neighborhoods, higher income neighborhoods, mixed income neighborhoods and businesses. Should a university community keep their students confined to campus? Should all campuses be off limits to the public? Very unrealistic. Where can parents send their children for a higher education that does not have a diversity of neighbors?
Mary said, “My husband told some new friends the other night that I was “obsessed” with this case. I told him I would run it by you guys. Y’all don’t think that. Do you?”
Why of course not Mary!…and you asked just the right people…we’re not obsessed at all and we are all in good company. LOL
“lizzy says:
August 16, 2010 at 11:17 pm
anotherB, i have no idea which missing epileptic woman you mean.”
*************************
I believe that anotherB is referring to the woman on the Cue flyer which was posted. She is this year’s “poster child” for the Cue events. Her name is Patricia Viola and she is missing from Bogota, NJ.
Agree with anotherB that it is a very strange story.
dew
Observer … I want this to find you well. Then I want all to know that I think Blink “knows” what happened to Morgan. It is just a matter of time til we all do. PS, GOSH – I love ‘that’ FISH!
As for UVA backing up to a low income area, I posted earlier that colleges and universities are not fenced enclaves. The University could be located in the center of Farmington, one of the most affluent and exclusive areas in Albemarle County, and there would still be the possibility of robberies, assaults and even murders. Bad guys don’t recognize neighborhood boundaries. The University, as with most colleges, is surrounded by lower income neighborhoods, higher income neighborhoods, mixed income neighborhoods and businesses. Should a university community keep their students confined to campus? Should all campuses be off limits to the public? Very unrealistic. Where can parents send their children for a higher education that does not have a diversity of neighbors?
______________________________________________________
I actually don’t think UVA does back up to a bad area. The student dorms are in the middle of the grounds and nowhere near anything but school buildings. On one side of the overall grounds, they are pretty much surrounded by the Corner area and then mostly fraternities and student rented housing. If you don’t want to live in this area, you of course don’t have to — its just one of the funner areas. This housing after many several blocks eventually meets ups with a largely african american neighborhood (and lets face it — this is what is apparently scaring someone). This is an area I lived on the cusp of and it was a little shady but not crazy. There would be no reason for a student to walk through this area as it is too far to the downtown mall and there is nothing else on the other side of it worth going to. The other side of grounds is surrounded by vastly overpriced middle income housing. The only part of the university area that immediately hits the lower income, african american area is the hospital area. JPJ is really off the grounds of the undergraduate school and is near the law school and business grad school. That area is mostly surrounded by commercial areas — and some student housing. Despite what one may think from ggogle earth, it is nothing like chicago or really any major city.
I see most of us are still thinking about Morgan and her family and hope for answers for them. For myself, I’ve been preoccupied with the preparations for sending my own fledgling out of the nest this coming weekend. She’ll be moving into an apartment in another state – at a very large university and she’s 18. Am I terrified? Yes I most definately am. Have I tried to parent by example? Yes I have. Have I overtly tried to just out and out scare her into understanding life’s many dangers? Yes I have. Has she turned me off and tuned me out? Yep again. Will she make stupid mistakes and use poor judgment. I’m very certain of it. I read so much I can relate to with Mom3.0, Fish, MsL, Texas Grandfather and Hummingbird. Thank you for making this tragedy into something from which we can learn to protect other young women. Thank you BOC for keeping this and the other victim’s search for justice alive.
I have nothing constructive to add – but a loud cheer from the sidelines.
dolce
I have been rereading and rereading and rereading. I can’t get the phrase “remote location” out of mind.
WHO would know about the remote location on Anchorage Farm? Is it someone from the past 30 years, during which time the Bass Family has owned this property? Is it someone who knew the land well prior to this? Was there ever a stable of any kind on Anchorage Farm. Were horses ridden around the property? The
location has to be the biggest clue that we have. I hope that every square inch of that farm was searched! And the nearby surrounding area.
I read above that Sketch-head does have a direct tie to North Garden! This is B I G ! Getting closer?
Private
Hi Blink
I posted a comment on 8/13/10 at 2:33pm. It says still awaiting moderation. I did post as private so maybe you saw it and it’s just showing me that’s it’s in moderation.
Nope, got it thanks
B
Just read in my local online paper (dailyPress) that there is a missing 18 year old freshman at Va Tech. He is from Chesapeake, VA.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-missing-tech-student,0,6897632.story
I don’t think we are obsessed- I think we are determined.
Thanks for the clarification Blink.
18.mojo23 says:
August 17, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Just read in my local online paper (dailyPress) that there is a missing 18 year old freshman at Va Tech. He is from Chesapeake, VA.
*******
O/T
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1512856651&ref=search
Is there any security check at the arena you pass thru other than large bag checks? I mean, if someone had a concealed weapon of sorts, they could concievably get it in? ie: knife, taser etc.
MARY: My husband, children and friends acuse me of the same obsession with Morgan. My answer? Why yes, yes I am.
Got a problem with that?
Thanks everybody! I knew you all had my back lol! One thing I noticed last night — he read the safety article i brought from MsL and was very interested in the Silent Bodyguard iPhone app — and we wouldn’t have known about it if I wasn’t “obsessed” with BOC now would we? I encourage everyone to check into this — it can be activated silently and alerts up to 4 people you’re in a dangerous situation and GPS tracks your location — excellent!
I’m still hanging out at the apartment. Daughter has a friend who we helped move in today. Everybody I see looks either like Sketch or EMH.
Blink, is kickee in the clear?
Eloise, it’s been several months since I’ve been to an arena event. If I remember correctly, there are apparatuses similar in appearance to what is seen at department stores. I’ve always assumed that they were metal detectors. Don’t know for sure. Attendees are also asked to open coats during cold weather. My brother in-law is rather heavy (read that as bulgy) so he has had to lift his loose shirt. Guess the attendant wanted to be sure his natural bulges weren’t some type of weapon.
@ Fish: “Sketch’s connection to AF is through his friend, whom he shares much in common with…..family in North Garden”…
Boy I am hoping that this is the info that this case needs to be solved. I am hoping that LE has got these two in hard questioning right now.
Could the ‘friend’ be a RSO? Or someone who works there?
Sorry, doing it again, reading backward. Redly, excellent description of the neighborhoods surrounding UVA. I do take a bit of offense to anyone who equates lower income neighborhoods with high crime. I was raised just on the periphery of what many consider a lower income area and I think I turned out just great. Poor doesn’t mean lowlife, just as wealthy doesn’t mean fine and upstanding. I did not attend UVA but consider it an excellent school. Would have no hesitation at all if my own children decide it is their school of choice. I’m not saying this because they would be able to remain in the nest. I believe it is a requirement that first-years live on grounds. After the first and second year, several of my friends have suffered a blow both to their parental pride and wallet when their children make the decision to live in one of the “funner” areas rather than returning home.
If the perpetrator is still in the Charlottesville area, he poses just as much of a threat to the general population as the student community. I don’t think he/they was/were looking for a student specifically on the night Morgan disappeared. If she did not know her abductor, I believe she had the horrible misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We can argue back and forth about whether or not the arena is responsible because she was not granted re-entry, we can argue about whether or not she was on UVA property, but the fact is, someone was looking for or made a snap decision to make her a target. Had that target not been found at the concert, it could have just as easily happened at Barracks Road Shopping Center, on the downtown mall, or at Fashion Square Mall. For all we know, the concert could have been a 2nd or 3rd choice if an abduction was on the mind of the perpetrator from the beginning of the evening. After all, it was mid-October and rainy so dark arrived earlier than normal. If someone was on the troll for a victim, it was a perfect night not to be observed, probably not so perfect for a hoped for target because of the weather conditions.
Susan, I am realistic enough not to live with the illusion that my children will remember or practice everything we have taught them by example or tried to drill into their young brains. I certainly wasn’t the model young adult my parents hoped for when I was 20. Even today, with children of my own, there are some secrets my parents will never know. I only hope that some of what my children have seen and learned at home is in there, so deeply ingrained that it will come as second nature when they are on their own.
People are often afraid of the poor. I live on the border between a middle income and a poor area, which is also ethnically diverse (big understatement), and I am still alive. It can actually be quite fun.
In the past, I lived in a middle income area which was surrounded by a criminal area, and that was not fun at all, and it was b***** dangerous.
TX Grandfather, I’ve attended events that drew a much larger audience than Metallica. From what I understand, it was several thousand tickets from sold-out. The University has hosted the Rolling Stones and U-2 at the football stadium, our own hometown heroes, The Dave Matthews Band at both the stadium and the arena. Except for horrendous traffic conditions, the required drunks, and a bomb threat interruption during the Stones by someone who probably thought he/she was oh so funny, I do not believe there was ever a major security issue before Morgan’s disappearance. I want argue that perhaps the audience for Metallica was a bit different than my entertainment of choice, loud, rocking country bands. The security I’ve observed at the doors, manning the parking lots and the arena concourses have never been provided by the acts. JPJ uses RMC Events Security and the local police departments, Charlottesville, UVAPD and Albemarle. All private security I have seen have been in a position to protect the acts from over zealous fans near the stage area, and not policing the arena. Just my observation. There have been questions raised here as to whether or not private security members for the acts could have been in the parking lots when Morgan disappeared. Hopefully, these individuals would have been easy for the acts to identify and they have been completely investigated. Because we have not been told specifically who has and has not been cleared of any involvement does not mean they have not been checked out to the nth degree by authorities.
I guess all can tell, I haven’t had kids in the house much for the past two days so I’ve been able check in and comment frequently. They’ll soon be arriving so my free time is quickly coming to an end. Hopefully, there will be breaking news soon.
7.Houston Mom says:
August 17, 2010 at 11:15 am
Observer … I want this to find you well. Then I want all to know that I think Blink “knows” what happened to Morgan. It is just a matter of time til we all do. PS, GOSH – I love ‘that’ FISH!
————————————————–
Blink?
Blink
I want to appologize for the miriad of questions I posed regarding DNA. This is the method I use when trying to get at the facts of a situation. You graciously answered in a general manner and the answer you gave was not very comforting.
So I decided to continue with the research and found some interesting things.
1) In a report prepared for a magazine, the State of Virginia spokesperson stated that there was no DNA process backlog in 2009.
My conclusion here was this was pure hogwash in an attempt to make them appear to be far more compentent than other states.
2)In 2007 a Phd. candidate at UVA by the Name of Norris made a big breakthrough in seperating male and female DNA in rape kits. What formally would take 24 to 36 hours could be accomplished in as little as 45 minutes. However, it would need to be proven and accepted in the forensic community as an approved protocal. No further information was found.
3)In early 2009, two gentlemen designed and made a robotic control chip that could take clean DNA from a cheek swab and process it in four hours to the point it would be ready to placed in the CODIS
database. They were working on getting the process down to two hours or less.
4) Two Swedish scientists have developed a process of cleaning up very dirty/contaminated DNA so that normal processing can be used.
5) There are currently hearings concerning DNA in solving crimes being conducted in the House of represenatives. Their goal is to have LE never have over a 30 day backlog and less if possible. It was estimated that over 50,000 crimes could be solved if equipment and funding were made available.
It appears that with new robotic equipment, the costs for DNA testing have come down drastically. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is
reporting in house costs of 25 to 30 dollars a test.
This is quite off the subject, so if you choose you can place it somewhere else.
TexGrand-
Quite relative and fascinating, thank you.
B
Fish — Very simply: Thank you very much for sticking up for dear Morgan.
Poor kid. She certainly didn’t deserve her fate and good on you for speaking up for her.
Double good on you for picking up their lunch tab. File under: How It Is Done.
Charges of Destruction of Property and Assault and Battery against EMH
were dismissed today, in Albemarle County General District Court.
EMH’s charge of A&B against BM was dismissed as well.
All charges stem from some kind of run in between EMH and BM on 5/14 to
5/15/2010. Both parties paid court costs.
Here’s the rundown:
1. Case Number: GC10010937-00 File Date: 06/23/2010
Complainant: BM Locality: COMMONWEALTH OF VA
Defendant: EMH Defense Attorney: GOODMAN
Address: NORTH GARDEN, VA 22959
Sex: Male Race: White Caucasian(Non-Hispanic) DOB: 05/29/****
Charge: DESTROY PROPERTY Code Section: 18.2-137
Case Type: Misdemeanor Class: 1
Offense Date: 05/15/2010 Arrest Date: 06/22/2010
Hearings:
NumberDate Time Result Hearing Type Courtroom Plea
Min Continuance Code
01 07/02/2010 09:00 AM Continued 000
02 07/27/2010 09:30 AM Continued 000
03 08/17/2010 10:30 AM Finalized 000
Final Disposition: Dismissed
Cost: $71.00 Costs Due: 08/17/2010
—
2. Case Number: GC10011639-00 File Date: 07/12/2010
Complainant: BM Locality: COMMONWEALTH OF VA
Defendant: EMH Defense Attorney: GOODMAN
Address: NORTH GARDEN, VA 22959
Sex: Male Race: White Caucasian(Non-Hispanic) DOB: 05/29/****
Charge: A & B Code Section: 18.2-57
Case Type: Misdemeanor Class: 1
Offense Date: 05/14/2010 Arrest Date: 07/11/2010
Hearings:
NumberDate Time Result Hearing Type Courtroom Plea
Min Continuance Code
01 07/13/2010 09:00 AM Continued 000
02 08/17/2010 10:30 AM Finalized 000
Final Disposition: Dismissed
Cost: $20.00 Fine/Costs Due: 08/17/2010
—
3. Case Number: GC10011496-00 File Date: 07/08/2010
Complainant: EMH Locality: COMMONWEALTH OF VA
Defendant: BM Defense Attorney:
Address: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22911
Sex: Male Race: White Caucasian(Non-Hispanic) DOB:
Charge: A & B Code Section: 18.2-57
Case Type: Misdemeanor Class: 1
Offense Date: 05/14/2010 Arrest Date: 07/07/2010
Hearings:
NumberDate Time Result Hearing Type Courtroom Plea
Min Continuance Code
01 07/13/2010 09:00 AM Continued 000
02 08/17/2010 10:30 AM Finalized 000
Final Disposition: Dismissed
Cost: $71.00 Costs Due: 08/17/2010
Court info located at: http://courts.state.va.us/
Choose Case Status Indo/ General Court info. Login and type the captcha
code. Choose Albemarle General District Court and enter case # or name.
http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/100899154.html
The take-away here: the accused helped in the initial search for the victim.
so we are looking for a black suspect with ties to a farm in Virginia…
@ diana h. August 17, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Why does this specific person always have problems with the law? He is fairly young, but he has been charged with a variety of offenses insofar. Fish coined the expression “trouble follows him around”, regarding someone else, a while ago. I believe it is very suitable in this context as well.
anotherB:
Suitable because he has no help, no guidance, extreme denial, massive emo problems, inner rage, blinding hate, and the only support that ever has been as from an over-worked, under-paid PO.
I feel not one iotta of sorry for him.
“Get out, pick yourself up, seek help, search for guidance, pray to God; any God, take your medication, and leave those around you”.
As long as he keeps the company he keeps; trouble will follow him.
Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes family and the friends one chooses are just not that good for you. But seems Counselor Goodman did help.
All Above In My Opinion.
Texas Grand:
The campus of UVA may have many issues. I don’t pretend to know them all. I don’t even find the surrounding areas, scary or bad or whatever one wants to say.
The only one that most stands out in my mind, is plain and simple;
THE LIGHTING!
It is dark there.
Especially on a moonless night.
One has to know their way around here too!
Not just AF.
A commonality.
Ten good reasons why the parking lot
was the point of abduction.
1. Most of the security and police
were inside the arena where the crowd
was. Probably the only police outside
were traffic control – and – since the
concert was half over, there was little
moving traffic in/out of the lot. So most
security outside were inactive.
2. The lot/s were reasonably dark as
compared to a public street or a lighted
arena at 9:00. From what I have read here,
the lot lighting wasn’t that bright.
3. Lot of cars, trucks and vans to provide
cover for an assault without being seen.
4. It’s a lot party atmosphere, and so people
standing beside a vehicle talking to someone,
or even entering a van or camper is common
to see, thus Morgan approaching someone in
a car in the lot would not be as noticeable
as say, at a McDonald’s parking lot. It would
blend in.
However, if it was in the deserted and very dark
other lot (name??) the BG could also make this
work to his advantage.
5. I’m going to assume that the lot scene got
more active in the break between groups. I may
be wrong, since people once inside couldn’t go
back out and reenter (as with Grateful Dead shows)
But I’m also guessing there
were many there who only went to hear their local
fave – The LOG band and left after that show to go
party elsewhere (after all, Metallica are old geezers
to these young 20 year olds and may not be that COOL
in their mind as compared with newer groups).
Point – a scream may not be noticeable if there were
lots of people milling around in the lot during the
break, yelling and being drunk, etc.
Morgan may have only gotten out one scream, and it would
have blended in likely with the lot melee.
6. I am of the opinion that Morgan was specifically lured
out of the arena by someone, but I can’t give you
supportive reasons why at this time, it’s just my instinct.
This person may have sent a text or called her,
it may have been pre-arranged beforehand (doubtful)
or he may have met her in the arena first and led her
outside, with a promise of something (party? drugs? to
connect with a friend?) waiting outside.
But he knew he couldn’t abduct her inside the arena.
7. The parking lot is a quick getaway location.
8. A car or van can blend into a large group of
vehicles, versus in a small lot, or a lone car
on a street.
9. Strange behavior or noise, even a struggle would
not stand out in a party lot. People might see it and
say it was a drunk couple fighting. This is why Granny’s
witness statement is so valuable. If Granny is right,
and I tend to believe her, then more than one person
was involved (as Blink has long thought).
10. Finally, it’s the simplest obvious facts which are
often overlooked in cases like these. Morgan simply had
no good reason to leave the arena on her own, and no one
has yet to my knowledge provided a valid reason why she
did so on her own accord.
She was coerced, conned or even forcibly led outside
by someone else.
She was never on that bridge. To those who have said
they saw her there, also give us the make and model
or license plate of the vehicle, since you logically
saw both – and I’ll believe you. Until then, no way.
I think the biggest pieces of this puzzle lie in the
beginning and end of this crime –
1. The abduction scene at the lot.
2. Disposal of the body at AF.
One more thing, and I hesitate to bring this up because
I mean no disrespect or suspicion whatsoever on the
Harringtons. But I am sure I am not the first person
on this site to privately think this, and you can bet
your bottom dollar that the police have done their
homework on this – question -
Would anyone have a grudge against the Harringtons
personally to want to do harm to their daughter
as revenge? Maybe that is a dead end question, and
I dearly hope so. But with all the speculation about
AF farm and Bass and land development and LOCATION,
I think my question is a valid and related one.
Let’s all pray that anniversary of this crime will
find us closer to an arrest, and not a cold case.
Sherlock
Sherlock-
I feel comfortable answering the query you pose about Morgan’s murder being a revenge of some kind toward the family.
I know that they have examined this possibility as well as LE and it is a valid question in any investigation of this nature.
Not the scenario, imo.
B
Some things that all you moms and dads can consider to equip your college student (high school too) with an extra bit of protection against an assualt.
A police whistle or a drum major’s whistle available at most music supply stores. Prices vary, but five or six dollars.
A steel or aluminum pen with a hardened point on one end and a real pen in the other. Smith & Wesson, the arms company, makes one that lists at fifty dollars. They are available at discount for as little as twenty-five dollars. This is a real functional pen that could be used in a classroom and carried on the person without notice. There is a knurled area in the middle for increased grip. The sharpened end is made from T-6 aluminum that is very hard. It can penetrate clothing and stop an assailant with a jab in the leg, neck or eye.
One of the very bright LED flashlights. These are called tacticle lights by the military and LE. They are made in plastic and aluminum . They produce from 100 to 500 lumins in a very small package. I gave one to my wife several years ago. Hers is a 120 lumin light that can make the pupil in the eye contract even in daylight to the point of effecting blindness for up to three minutes. This is also very effective in stopping a threatning dog that may be defending its territory. The costs run from thirty to six hundred dollars and are available from sporting goods stores such as Cabellas, Bass and others. I spent thirty-five dollars for hers including a flexible sleeve that provides a finger slot and a swivel connector for attaching to a belt loop or a purse or other bag.
These are all devices that can be taken anywhere and require no special training for their use.
MsL: “I just don’t believe the Virginia State Police have any interest in protecting any person or entity. I think they want to find a killer.”
Yes, I’m placing all my chips on this.
They want and need justice too.
I don’t think for one minute those men and women of The Virginia State Police get into this line of work so that they can cover up a myriad of cases.
That’s a whole lotta LE and here in VA, seems to be a whole lotta cases.
NO, of course, I do not believe that.
I believe that they live, breathe, eat, sleep, and yes, even smoke and drink these cases.
They have looked in the eyes that no longer look back.
Eyes that are begging to tell them the story of an afternoon or the evening it all happened.
Then having to look into the eyes of the loved ones left behind.
Begging for help, guidance, and the justice that our laws provide.
They want justice because of their little ones and even their big ones, they tuck in at night.
The children of LE.
This is a calling.
No, that doesn’t mean that I agree 100% with all of their choices, decisions, and judgment calls but this is what we got…
The drive and dedication of a Lt. Rader.
Oh, cripe, I know he doesn’t do it alone!
I think that we have someone who because HE couldn’t succeed in a chosen profession, HE abused the power HE did have.
Morgan paid the price, indeed.
Or maybe Sketch called him because remember Sketch is a coward.
Sketch assaults, runs, and hides.
Sketch really isn’t even that smart.
Oh, before you all say,
“Well he’s outsmarted us to this point”.
Well no, technically, I believe his friend has covered and bailed him out.
Not because Sketch, himself is a brainiac.
I believe MsL, that there is a family sitting in North Garden, as we speak, that will be looking to their left and right and even over their shoulder a little more frequently than they already do.
I think that the stress of them just ‘being’ in this community is a difficult one for them.
I would even begin to wonder if a house wouldn’t “go up for sale” in the coming year. When they think the heat has died down.
Maybe a marriage will break down?
(I promise to watch for both!)
The thought that it was ‘their way-in’ that HE took to put her in North Garden will be too much for them to bear.
It’s called STRESS!
Mighty big weight to carry around for a lifetime.
I also happen to think that their family is deep into the Charlottesville community and not just Albemarle County.
If that makes sense. Business owners not just employees.
a guess.
I could even be convinced to say that I believe family already in their graves would be sickened by what they have done.
Just because you have a bad egg doesn’t make the entire family stink.
Denial is a powerful thing.
Maybe they never knew his potential or his friends of friends list potential. Hmmmmmmmm….
No, don’t know who it is or I would be calling Lt. Rader myself.
I’m just talking out loud to my own friends.
I know two things.
One, that Morgan Harrington disappeared from a place where there were hundreds of people around her and then two, found on a place that very few have been.
Why is that?
HE is around JPJA/UVA/Cville, nightly and knows the Bass property, intimately.
IMO and what do I know. Really not much.
But hook yourself up to the surrounding properties of AF and just see where this takes you.
http://gisweb.albemarle.org/Welcome.aspx
Had to be known to frequent a family property and not just Bass’s property.
I mean, his family is there…close by.
A family that should sell him down the Hardware River, North Fork for, Oh…$150,000!
But, I would be willing to start placing bets that they are feeling the pinch and when it comes time for a mass of people, supporters, loved ones, searchers, committed LE of Morgan Dana Harrington to gather on that bridge again, well, let’s just say they gonna know how serious we all are about not letting them walk free men out of Mr. Bass’s hayfield!
MsL, I do get you and never did I think that you were blaming Morgan or anyone else for that matter. Ya see, the blame needs to be on one person. (Wait, I happen to believe it’s on two people)
Perp 1 and Perp 2, we all said this so, so long ago.
This is where the blame needs to be. Front and Center.
Let them feel what it is like to be hunted.
How I wished they would have listened to
Blink On Crime’s; “Plea to You Know Who”
Let her help them so they, in return, could have helped themselves.
I guess too, too late.
Sherlock:
Thought of it and I would think that if she were my child I would have had everyone including my own family looked at. I mean, it’s a scary world out here, people pass judgement on many things; your work, your cars, your home, your lifestyle choices so I think that LE would have done a thorough job of looking into everyone in that family’s circle.
I personally knew my Mother and Father to do the same.
Racked their brains. Then nothing. Didn’t know why she ended up there.
Remember, we did not know where she was for some time. Didn’t know what had happened. Knew a phone call had happened but after that nothing.
But, unlike Dr. and Mrs. Harrington, my parents were stunned.
Unable to move for the days following, then it ran into months and then bled into years. They wanted it all to go away. Bad choices, bad breakups, bad decisions, bad everything and away it went.
Right all with the rest of us.
Life passed them by.
I know sad but that’s why there is therapy!
Understand why it is I’m here?
I’m not going to let that happen again.
What skin is it off my nose that for an hour, ok a few hours, a day to search out what I can, keep Morgan’s name in the light, and support some woman named Blink and her site? None.
Sherlock, I have questioned not about if someone wanted to seek revenge but had unrequitted love for Morgan. She didn’t even know it. The only time I thought this was standing at that search.
I looked around to see who was with me.
It was just my imagination and my fear of how it was I ended up in Charlottesville, VA, November 6, 2009, searching for a girl I had never met. Although, all it took was seeing those faces, her parents and I knew instinctively that I had gone for a reason.
A reason my own parents and in-laws needed someone to come for them…
Love.
Sherlock, one thing I have learned Love does not equal cold.
It will never be cold.
I’m going to share some of my faith with you! xo
Blink:
do you know how many minutes it would take one to go through the gate at Red Hill Road and to the spot Morgan was found?
Did TDBone ever judge that time it would take and then post?
I refer to him because that is the only mapping I had seen.
Maybe TexasGrand can figure that out?
Would LE be willing to let us know?
Just a question, never hurts to ask.
I think that question requires more variables than we know, for me, I am back to Blandemar
B
cosmo says:
August 16, 2010 at 10:47 am
“without a doubt there is law enforcement involved with this murder.”
“Cosmo- I think that accusatory statement needs some backing. Otherwise, it is a meritless accusation and you know I can’t have that. B”
Did Cosmo ever back up which branch of LE he believed took part?
no
B
Sherlock: Number 6. LE have who she texted, called and visa versa. Why do you think this?
I too, wonder how it came to be she ended up outside.
B has said that LE knows how this happened.
Blink, I apologize for not linking back to past posts/answers.
I just have temporarily lost my ability to do this. Maybe I am not remembering the dates of posting? I don’t know.
I’m back to having the same troubles after you changed your format. Plus, remember I was hit on the coconut.
I believe they do, yes. Whether that be via witness or deduction, I cannot say.
B
but you did say LE knows how she ended up outside right???
Fish
I understand your guy that manages to always get himself in trouble. Somewhere in his early life he became convinced that he was worthless and would behave accordingly. This was probably not a concious choice,but nevertheless it happened. He felt unconfortable around functioning people. Therefore, he chooses non-functional people for friends.
In todays society where illegal drugs are so prevalent, he could have been born as a drug baby. I worked with one of these ten years ago teaching music. I thought I had made a difference, as did some others. He kept himself straight, got married and had a child. One evening, when his wife went grocery shopping, the baby did something that triggered his anger. He is now serving a twenty-five to life sentence for attempted murder of the baby.
Spotted four does and three bucks feeding along the fence line of a ranch about two miles from my place when I went to town sunday evening.
I think picking up somebody in a parking lot could be a bit risky – you never know if there are potential witnesses sitting around in cars who might happen to see a pretty blonde getting in a car or being abducted. Girl walking on bridge, car stops, she gets in or is pulled in and zoom, away they go. Now, if Morgan knew the person in the car then, yeah OK. I can see that happening.
Did I miss something? Why does the friend of “Sketch” in North Garden have to be African-American? If that’s true, it certainly narrows things. There are some folks working for the NGVFD that seem to fit that description.
However, I’m not sure what brought us to that conclusion.
Nobody said the friend of sketch needed to be black- not accurate, if that was said, that is incorrect.
B
if we are to believe “the sketch” and the relation to the 2005 rape AND she (Morgan) knew the person(s), then you would have to look at … “how many black people did she know and/or was she aquainted with and/or was she friends with?” … “what black person falls into that circle?”
That is possible, but that assumes Morgan knew sketch previously, and to my knowledge, there is no evidence of that.
B
Does LE have any idea yet whatsoever who Sketch is? Have they tracked his ties to North Garden? Is LE ANY closer? Blink gave crumbs for all when I asked this before so I’m thinking that maybe they do, hoping that maybe they do.
———————————————————————-
DR AND MRS HARRINGTON: There are a lot of people here who have come to love you and your family and who have become quite dedicated to you and your family. My heart aches for you. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. God Bless.
And, I have no doubt at all that even though you can’t feel them, Morgan does indeed have her arms wrapped around you
I also wondered if the friend was black because it was implied a few pages back that he and Sketch might be connected by family to N. Garden. Where does that info come from?
34.CentVA Native Away says:
August 18, 2010 at 10:42 am
Did I miss something? Why does the friend of “Sketch” in North Garden have to be African-American? If that’s true, it certainly narrows things. There are some folks working for the NGVFD that seem to fit that description.
However, I’m not sure what brought us to that conclusion.
Nobody said the friend of sketch needed to be black- not accurate, if that was said, that is incorrect.
B
RE:FWIW (As was reported by media source)
olice released a composite sketch of the suspect in the 2005 case based on the victim’s description of her attacker, but warned that he may have changed his appearance.
The suspect is described as a 25 – 35-year-old black man, about 6 feet tall with a medium build.
At the time of the 2005 assault, the suspect had black hair with a beard and mustache.
On Sept. 24, 2005, a 26-year-old Fairfax woman was abducted while walking home from a Giant Food store on Jermantown Road.
Fairfax City Police say the suspect grabbed her as she was walking on Rock Garden Drive and forced her to a pool area of a townhouse complex, where she was sexually assaulted.
The suspect was last seen running south behind the pool toward Fairhaven Court.
Police are trying to identify the suspect, and attempting to determine what kind of contact he had with Harrington the night of her disappearance, and what his role may have been in her disappearance and death”
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1993679&nid=25
I LOVE- LOVE YOU GUYS, TRULY.
Yes, Sketch IS Black, without a doubt.
Friends of Sketch should be considered to be of any race.
Sketch- verifiably, a Black male.
Sketch Friends- Could represent each nationality in the UN for what we know.
This is the land of Thomas Jefferson folks, do y’all remember Sally Hemings?
B
B
i think a possibility could be that sketch attended the private military school in the area (if i’m not mistaken i remember reading that some teens with discipilinary and other problems attend there) and still has ties to the area/friends in the area from high school days there, which caused him to be in the area the night morgan disappeared.
Fish, I hope we are both correct about our support of VSP. There’s a grieving father in or near Blacksburg who will soon be facing an anniversary, the anniversary of his daughter’s death. That father is not Dr. Harrington. He is the father of Heidi Childs. The murder of his child and her friend, David Metzler, remains unsolved. Someone on a local blog suggested that he/she suspects a VSP cover-up in Morgan’s case and the Metzler-Childs murders because those deaths occurred so near Tech. After all, state schools do not want bad publicity and VSP is a state agency. I just cannot think that as her father first and then as a VSP officer, he would keep silent if he suspected a cover-up. He didn’t just look into the un-seeing eyes of a strange young woman, he had to look at his own daughter in death.
The youthful violent RSO was convicted of two serious crimes in 7/06 (17 years old?) and one in 6/08 (19 years old?). So that means for the two serious crimes he stayed in jail (?) (in some confinement for youth), for less than 2 years. And then he committed another crime, probably as soon as he was released from youth detention in ’08. So the question on my mind is where was he ‘incarcerated’, and WHEN did he get out from the ’08 crime?
I apolly if anyone has already posted this, I just wanted to know.
For adults, two years for rape is too little time, below is from the code of VA:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-61
Assuming he got some break for being a minor, the first term allowed him to commit another crime while he was still a minor, and get out again. Was he incarcerated in October ’09?
Perhaps sketch worked at the jail?
Is there a way to find out who handled his bail bond?
@CW
I think Blink set the record straight. I’m aware that the DNA profile for “Sketch” as well as THE Sketch itself indicate that the attacker in the Fairfax/ Jermantown assault fit that of a sub-Saharan male. There had been a post suggesting that the FRIEND of Sketch with ties to North Garden is African-American, which is not (necessarily) the case.
By the way, I posted a link yesterday (8/17) around 4:30 or so, the article about the Virginia resident on trial in PA charged with murdering the Poconos camp counselor 19 years ago. LE in that case said that the defendant participated in the search for her in the early days after her disappearance. Does this sound like anyone that we know in this case? That’s not a rhetorical; I’m just hoping that it jogs someone’s memory.
Do I remember Aunt Sally — my family has naturally curly hair and I have dark olive complexion — I believe I am related to Aunt Sally as I call her. No offense to the Mrs., but Sally was a marvelous woman!