Special Appearance Announcement: S. Christina Stoy, Editor In Chief,  www.blinkoncrime.com,  investigative journalist and criminal analyst will be a guest on this evenings THE DANA PRETZER SHOW- Host Dana Pretzer, discussing the Arias case LIVE.  Click Here To Listen To The Podcast

  ...” Why does most human violence occur between those who are emotionally involved, or more technically, within an attachment paradigm?

Dr. J. Reid Meloy from Violent Attachments

Phoenix,  AZ- Arguably the best psychological witness presented at trial, Dr. Janeen DeMarte, clinical psychologist, took the stand last week as the first witness in the State of Arizona’s rebuttal case in the trial of Jodi Arias for the murder of Travis Alexander.

In stark contrast to her previous behavior in court, Jodi Arias refused to look at Dr. DeMarte on the stand, and feverishly took notes or whispered to her attorney Jennifer Wilmott through the State’s direct examination of their witness.

With one exception.  When Dr. DeMarte was asked by Prosecutor Juan Martinez if Jodi Arias was a victim of domestic violence resulting in battered woman syndrome,  Ms. Arias looked up for DeMarte’s answer.  “No.”

After a battery of psychological tests were completed and scored, and approximately  12 hours of clinical interview with defendant Arias- Dr. DeMarte diagnosed Jodi Arias with Borderline Personality Disorder.  Dr. DeMarte had the added luxury of having her home vandalized and her laptop stolen following the start of the trial.  That information was not shared in open court.

Significant from a psychological evaluation perspective, Jodi Arias’ expert witnesses Alyce LaViolette and Dr. Samuels felt Arias was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the killing of Travis Alexander on June 4, 2008 at his home in Mesa, Arizona.  Only Samuels was licensed to test Arias similarly to DeMarte, and it appears the results were very different.   Samuels testified that he never re-tested Arias after he learned her accounts of June 4 were fabrications and that was an error on his part in his finding Arias suffered from PTSD.

Cross examination of Dr. DeMarte induced a migraine headache suffered by Arias (her 3^rd since trial) although she is taking Imitrex for the condition.   Earlier in the day, Wilmott began her cross by repeatedly stating that DeMarte was practicing therapy without a license prior to her licensing exam, to which DeMarte responded “That is not correct, it is permitted under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, which I was.”

Wilmott went on to question DeMarte’s credentials specifically related to expertise in domestic violence and her current knowledge of the practices of Dr. Lenore Walker- largely considered the pioneer of domestic violence research and testing.  Walker’s work is novel within the psychological community in the area of the battered woman syndrome diagnosis.

Wilmott unsuccessfully tried to trip up DeMarte by suggesting that Walker no longer uses her own 6 point scale to include the possibility of battered woman syndrome to which DeMarte replied, “I would say that you are being inaccurate.”

DeMarte completed her testimony with very limited juror questions, although it was clear that a juror or two was not sold that Arias’ only disorder is BPD.

While DeMarte represented the State well in my opinion; Jodi Arias remains the round peg in the jello rhomboid to me.  Too many unanswered behavioral observations from a criminal profiling perspective to fit into the BPD mold.

Prior to the start of the State’s rebuttal case, defense counsel Kirk Nurmi recalled a witness for the defense who never made it into the witness list for trial, Mr. Bryan Neumiester.

In previous hearings where Neumiester appeared as an expert for the defense in the authentication of the May 10, 2008 phone sex recording made by Arias, the State agreed to a stipulation that it was indeed Travis Alexander’s voice on the tape, and that it was made on May 10.

In earlier testimony Juan Martinez elicited from Jodi Arias, Martinez accused her of recording the tape without Alexander’s permission or knowledge.  Arias was forced to admit that at no time is the fact that the conversation is being recorded heard mentioned by either party during the recording.  More on that recording in a bit.

Neumiester was able to magnify the very haunting last image of a live Travis Alexander’s face in the shower, specifically his iris, and gain agreement via stipulation that the reflective image contained therein is that of Jodi Arias.  She was not holding a gun or knife and the image was time-stamped correctly.

This was the second time Juan Martinez agreed to a stipulation from the same expert witness regarding the recorded media, both digital and audio in this case- outside the presence of the jury.

Mr. Neumiester is an expert witness for colleagues in Mr. Martinez’s own office as well as the Mesa Police Department.  Might suggest offsite meetings going forward.

The final witness listed for the State’s rebuttal case is an investigator for the Mesa County Police who specializes in computer forensics, Detective Robert Brown.    Detective Brown describes himself as a Computer Forensics Detective:

As a Digital Forensics expert, I possess attention to detail in my forensic capability, as well as the ability to explain complex technical concepts in a non-technical manner.

In the course of my regular duties, I also perform the following:

-Support ongoing internal investigations and litigation matters
-Utilize a variety of forensic tools (Encase, FTK, Helix, Cellebrite, Wireshark, etc.)
-Perform storage forensics (for example, hard drives, phones, USB storage)
-Perform network captures for traffic analysis
-File-system analysis and file carving (for example, to extract email, documents, and other trace evidence)
-Identifying , collection and analyzing electronic information, relevant to a case, incident or event of interest
-Establish timelines and patterns of activity of individuals and electronic devices and software
-Following forensically sound practices, including preserving chain of custody
-Efficiently and effectively report progress, risks and issues associated with assignments to varying levels of management

Following sound practices including preservation of chain of custody is looking like a welcome addition to this case.

In testimony from Detective Michael Melendez where the images allegedly taken by Travis’s camera were recovered from the deleted or unallocated portions of the memory stick via Encase software we learned that the infamous afternoon of highly graphic sex images of both Travis and Jodi that were dated and time-stamped on June 4^th took place that afternoon prior to Travis’s murder.

Thus, making Jodi Arias an invited guest.

As an invited guest spending the day indelicato delicto, it certainly makes it difficult to prove the felony murder charge she is facing- and does not help the pre-meditation or murder in the first degree allegation because the basic motive is that Jodi went there to murder Travis because he was not going to take her to Cancun.   While certainly a possibility, I would offer that just about every psychological professional who sat across from Arias missed the fact that she literally saw her old boyfriends more than once along her trek that ended up with her last breakup.  Weird, yes.

Otherwise known as a raging sign of dependent personality disorder.

…” You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me…”

-Travis Alexander

 According to the text messages back and forth between Jodi and Travis the weeks prior to his murder, it was patently clear that Alexander wanted Arias out of his life for good.

Has what the state since learned after having Jodi on the stand under oath and repeated in cross examination opened the door to further investigation of the electronic media in this case in preparation for rebuttal?  Looks that way.

Keeping in mind that the phone sex recording was May 10^th.  About a week later, Arias testified, she thought the phone was stolen.  She alleges it was found by her Aunt in 2010 in her grandfather’s car.  This would be the same aunt that she pointed out in court, and who has not been seen in court in weeks although she had attended daily.

Arias writes in her journal entry May 22, 2008 that there are several explicit photos on her stolen phone, and 2 recorded sex tapes.   In 2010, Arias though her attorneys, deliver this phone into evidence with no chain of custody information in a then 2 year old case.   Miraculously, this occurs just as Arias is moving from the “maybe not the ninja’s” defense.  From the defense perspective it has some statements from Alexander on it that they feel support’s their defense.  From the State’s perspective it proves that Arias was certainly very open to the sexual practices of the couple and never felt abused, nor was she put off by the comments by Alexander.

A win-win for both sides so why not agree to its stipulation, right?

Is this why Juan Martinez was hammering home the journal entry written about the “fruitful imaginations” the two explored, causing Arias to miss Lonnie’s christening?

The infamous sugar fest that takes place just before Arias allegedly walks in on Alexander in masturbatory behavior where some image of a boy lands at her feet on January 21^st?  I note that one of the pictures allegedly from the June 4^th date seems to show Alexander engaged in some self-satisfaction that ended with a surprise photo taken from the point of view of the chair next to him.

You’ll see where I am going with this momentarily. (more…)

*Blink  AND Pat Brown discussing this review and Powell and Sandusky cases tonight at 9PM on The Dana Pretzer Show click here to listen *

Perched atop a steep hill at the end of Makin Road, Billy Ray led a quiet existence with his furry friend and aptly-named Big Dog.   He was simple like the syrup in sweet tea you could imagine him drinking on his shabby back porch every evening come sundown.

With no proper schooling or family to speak of since his MommaAunt died and left him his house in the woods, he could not read , worked odd jobs and street sweeping for weekly groceries and beer.

Billy Ray was the John Coffey of Whitfield Glen.    Like the drink, ‘cept not spelled the same, not spelt the same at all.

That all changed when the girl with the red suitcase crossed his path.

Can I Go With You, Billy Ray?

Charlene was the first woman Billy Ray had ever made love to.  She made fluffy biscuits and Billy Ray realized what lonely was like when they was apart even for a few hours for his work or a trip into town for supplies.  He knew he would need to put some money into that ole beater pick up now.

It did not go fast enough up that hill for him anymore; Charlene was waiting on him.

When Charlene hung garlic from the porch to keep the vampires away, he should have left it right up there like she set it in the first place.  He thought it was silly.  Silly is as silly does I reckon, or more like simple.

Simple like the sugar the old guy with the same skin color as Charlene came to borrow the day everything went sideways and Billy Ray got a visit from Sheriff Hathaway.

The story of Billy Ray and Charlene, whose last name he never asked, begins like a lazy afternoon sitting next to the soft babbles of a field creek in bare feet.

As the layers of Charlene’s past begin to peel like that ominous hanging garlic, Pat Brown’s ONLY THE TRUTH has us looking up at the sky for a funnel cloud only to see that as the reader, we are already in its eye.

In Pat Brown’s freshman fiction ekindle effort, the journey of Billy Ray, Charlene and the lives one gives as well as takes away are not the simple outcomes of good versus evil.

Brown does a masterful job engaging the reader while weaving the psychological tapestry of love, loss, brutality and shame that challenges us to think we know what it will look like when completed, only to learn our lenses may need a cleaning.

Only The Truth eKindle Book is offered by Amazon for under $3, however, you do need a Kindle to read it.  You can download the Kindle reader cloud for your PC or download the Kindle reader app for your smartphone.   It is a quick and riveting read, told in Billy Ray vernacular.  4.5 out of 5 winks from Blink.

Pat Brown is the author of non-fiction titles The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths by Pat Brown and Bob Andelman, Me, Abe, and Greyhound U , Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, Interview with a Cannibal: The Secret Life of the Monster of Rotenburg by Gunter Stampf and Pat Brown

Princeton, NJ-  Taking a break in observance of The Easter Holiday,  www.blinkoncrime.com previews next weeks featured articles.   Comments always open;  joyous and safe celebrations to all.

The Joshua Powell Backstory Even Susan Did Not Know

Part 2 of the backstory on Josh Powell.  Blink analyzes the analysis that should have prevented the horrific murders of Charlie and Braden Powell.  Part I featured Here.

Sandusky Pretrial Begins- Curley and Schultz To Plead The 5th.

At a pretrial hearing Thursday afternoon, defense attorney Joseph Amendola told the court if called, former Penn State Administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, currently facing perjury charges, will invoke their fifth amendment rights.

Sandusky, through Amendola expects to refile a motion to dismiss all charges against him when prosecutors add to the thousands of discovery documents they have already been given.   Follow the Nittany Nightmare Series Here.

Blink Reviews Criminal Profiler and Psychological Mystery Author Pat Brown’s New eKindle Book: Only The Truth

Pat Brown,  criminal profiler,  true crime author and frequent national guest expert releases her first fiction work.

Blink reviews Only The Truth,  eKindle version of Pat Brown’s latest release.

Orlando, FL- Jennifer Kesse, the newly promoted mortgage process engineering manager for Central Florida Investments, parent company of Westgate Resorts was an upstart.

Recent BOC article coverage can be found here, here and here.

After interviewing with upper management for other advancement roles within the company- her new position was actually created For Her.

Was this a forward and prophetic corporate strategy based on mortgage industry trending data?

Was her promotion a result of Jennifer’s own market analysis and efficiencies recommendations to the suits on the top floor?

Yes and Yes.

At 24 Jennifer Kesse was the youngest new manager among her peers in their respective management roles at CFI.

While she did not have the subordinates they did reporting to her directly, the initiative she was leading and launching was going to save the firm almost $900,000 annually.  The installation and rollout of a new debit system interface allowing timeshare owners to pay fees, mortgages and incidentals by ACH automatically was a corporate priority for Westgate Resorts.

Which is why on the morning of Tuesday January 24, 2006, the day after she returned from a brief trip with her boyfriend Robert Allen- when Jenn did not show up to her office in Ocoee, there appeared to be immediate concern.

According to Jennifer’s outlook scheduling calendar she did not have an interoffice meeting until the afternoon.

By 11:15 her parents living two hours away in Bradenton were called to see if she had some sort of family emergency.

The exact escalation of events within CFI leading up to the phone call and who made it are being withheld for investigative reasons.

By noon, a trifecta of calamitous and simultaneous events takes place.

Drew, Joyce and Logan Kesse, speeding from Bradenton to Orlando in a respite from paralytic panic reach the property manager of Jenn’s new condo at Mosaic On Millenia and learn her car is not parked in her spot.  She is not inside.

A self-confessed admirer and now CFI lateral management peer, Johnny Campos arrives 4 hours late to the Ocoee office.

The only suspect ever declared to date in Jennifer Kesse’s disappearance is parking her vehicle while captured on 3 separate closed circuit cameras at the Huntingdon Tavern On The Green Condominiums and apartments.  It is less than a few blocks from two large CFI warehouses and within a mile of  several CFI owned properties.

By late afternoon The Kesse’s, Rob Allen and Jennifer’s closest friends were using her condo as a command center to develop immediate and organized searches for her.

Detectives Julius Glenn Gause II and Joel Wright of the Orlando Police Department respond to the scene.

Detective Gause assures the Kesse’s that Jennifer had a fight with her boyfriend Rob Allen, who is now standing in her living room vehemently disagreeing with his investigative assessment.  Who can blame the guy?

Gause’s opinion was reached without ever interviewing a single person who was  not on-scene, and was sure she would be back by tomorrow.

In a mandatory meeting called at the request of Central Florida Investments CEO David Siegel and conducted by Chief Financial Officer Tom Dugan, it was announced that Jennifer Kesse, a respected and valued member of the management team had been reported missing.

Dugan adamantly assured all that the company would encourage  employees to join any organized search efforts to find her.

Jennifer did not return as Gause predicted.

Her car did however, and on January 26^th   her case  was declared a criminal investigation.

The First 48… Months

Upon the classification of Jennifer’s case as a criminal investigation,  J. Glenn Gause told the Kesse’s that his partner  Detective Joel Wright asked what he considered a dumb question during a briefing.

As a result, Gause informed- he kicked him off the case and requested new partner Det. Emmett Browning.

While such a move would  obviously be outside of Det. Gause’s authority, it is more likely the pair were reeling from the Internal Affairs investigation that ensued after they knowingly interviewed John Evander Couey after his arrest for the murder of Jessica Lunsford.

Shortly after Couey’s confession to Citrus county detectives was thrown out of court because it violated Couey’s Miranda rights,  Gause and Wright decided to inform their Orlando PD sergeant that they interviewed Couey following his arrest in Citrus County on the chance he might be a suspect in the Regina Armstrong murder because he grew up in Orange County.   They claimed he actually confessed to the Lunsford murder.

The confession was not recorded and at no time did either detective inform the Citrus investigators or their OPD supervisor of the visit itself- let alone  Couey’s statements made to them.

That is, until they learned his original confession in the Lunsford case was inadmissible.

Interviewing an incarcerated man who is represented by an attorney with charges pending in a potentially related case without permission, notes, or a recording by veteran detectives is outrageous.

John Cuoey was 5’4”, 125 lbs with a flag tattoo.  The suspect composite from direct witnesses in the Armstrong case was a man around 40, 6 ft tall with medium build and a mermaid tattoo on the opposite arm.

They were lucky their actions did not derail the prosecution of both cases.  The second alleged confession was also thrown out and reprimands to both detectives remain private in their respective employee records.  Regina Armstrong’s murder in 1985 remains unsolved.

John Evander Couey died of natural causes on death row awaiting execution for the rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford. (more…)

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LISTEN TO THE DANA PRETZER SHOW TONIGHT LIVE AT 9 PM ET ON SCARED MONKEYS RADIO

Tonight Dana welcomes special guests:

• Crime Blogger Blink from Blink on Crime -  She will be discussing the recent developments with the West Memphis 3 and what’s been happening in Aruba in the case of missing American Robyn Gardner and suspect, travel companion Gary Giordano.
• Diane Dimond -  discussing the Re Composer Frank Bender and her thoughts on the latest missing persons case Aruba
• Pat Brown -  Criminal Profiler provides her thoughts on West Memphis Three decision and the case of missing Robyn Gardner in Aruba.

LISTEN TONIGHT LIVE AT 9PM ET

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LISTEN TONIGHT LIVE AT 9 PM ET TO DANA PRETZER ON SCARED MONKEYS RADIO

Dana welcomes special guests:

• Crime blogger Blink from Blink on Crime will be discussing the shocking jury verdict of “not guilty” in the murder trial of Casey Anthony. In a head spinning decision, the jury in Orlando, FL took 10 hours of deliberations and came back with a “not guilty” verdict which begs the questions, is it “reasonable” that a jury could have watched the same trial everyone else did and let the tot mom skate on all major accounts … where is the Justice for Caylee? Blink will add her analysis and insight as to what occurred.

Pat Brown - Criminal profiler will be discussing the murder trial of Casey Anthony and yesterdays shocking verdict. Pat will provide her expert opinion as to Casey Anthony. The jury found her not guilty, but if not Casey, then who? What will Pat’s reaction be to Casey Anthony skating on all major charges. How did Casey Anthony walk?

Tim Miller – the founder of Texas Eqqusearch (TES) joins Dana to discuss his reaction to the Casey Anthony verdict, was it much different from the wild goose chase and runaround that TES received when conducted the searches for Caylee Anthony.

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