Mom: 'Carol Sue Would Be Alive Today' If Not for Huckabee

ABC News ^ | December 04, 2007 | Brian Ross and Anna Schecter

[KarinG1]

I’m not a Huckleberry fan myself, but the only guy who never made a mistake isn’t running. I’m just planning to vote against Hillary. I don’t really care that much who her competition is, she’s the only candidate who inspires me.

[jdm]

This post needs more background. For example, it doesn't say when the rape occurred - I did some googling and found it occurred in 1984, 15 years before he was set free in 1999.

In 1992, former Lieutenant Governor Jim Guy Tucker reduced DuMond's sentence to 39 years, which made him eligible for parole, David Lieb said in an AP Online article. In 1996, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee planned to release DuMond from prison based on a lack of sufficient DNA evidence related to the rape investigation. However, he "abandoned his plan" after a public outcry and denied DuMond clemency, Stearns said. In 1999, DuMond was released from prison on parole but his freedom was short-lived.

Source.

I'm not a big fan of Huckabee, but what is the average time served for a first offender rapist in Arkansas? If it's not more than 15 years, then it's no surprise he was released.

And here's an FR thread from 2005 when DuMond was found dead in prison.

[Freedom2specul8]

What about this?

"...in case those who were asking about gov huckabee earlier today are reading this --- huckabee felt really sorry for this pos and let him out on parole against all recommendations..."

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

There’s more to that than a lot of folks know.

After that first Arkansas Bozo in the Oval Office, do we really want another?

I use the Bozo reference on purpose...President Bush the First called him that, IIRC.

Semper Fi,

[Egg]

Shortly after taking office in 1996, Gov. Mike Huckabee said he intended to reduce DuMond's sentence to time served - about 11 years at the time. The governor ended up rejecting DuMond's parole request, which would have freed DuMond without conditions. He signed the decision moments after the Arkansas parole board granted DuMond a parole on condition that another state take him.

I have a REAL problem with this. If Huckabee was so certain that Dumond needed a second chance, why did he export him to Missouri? Why did the people of Missouri need to take all the risk for Huckabee's gamble?

[SatinDoll]

You’re already paying the equivalent of 23% tax, in hidden fees and taxes added onto all kinds of things.

Read the Fair Tax book. It is eye-opening.

[trane250]

Question. Who will collect the tax? The county tax office or the state revenue department? I know of businesses that collect state tax and don’t report most of it. How about when you hire a cleaning lady who wants to be paid in cash. Does she add tax to her bill? If you are hospitalized with a $50,000 bill does the hospital add an additional $12,500 services tax? Don’t forget that this 23% tax is on top of state and local sales taxes.

No this scheme is nutty. It won’t bring back industries that have shut down. Once the last manufacturer of a product has closed shop, that industry never comes back.

This scheme will merely hasten the day when our government declares itself bankrupt.

[AzNASCARfan]

Everybody that sells a good or service will collect the tax. There are already tax cheats and still probably will be, what can I say. The book said Dr visits would be taxed so I assume hospital stay would be too.

What you dont account for though is the 22% average embedded tax you already pay on everything you currently buy which the book explains way better than I can. The fairtax would eliminate the embedded taxes you already pay so goods and services will end up the same place they already are, since the fairtax is also going to be included in the price you see on the shelf there will be a minimal change.

The reason it would work is because it increases who is paying tax. Drug dealers, prostitutes, illegals, tourists etc. would all be footing the tax burden when they spent their money here.

Since there is no income tax on labor the cleaning lady probably would not be collecting tax the way I understand it. It eliminates everything except state and local taxes including individual income, payroll income, estate, gift, capitol gains, Alternative minimum tax, self employment and corportate

The current IRS system is the nutty scheme... you can take all my info to 20 different places and get 20 different results... then when the IRS says you underpaid by $200 10 years ago and now with penaties and interest you owe $26,000 well that is just INSANE!

[Joya]

BTTT

[OB1kNOb]

BTTT - Dumond case revisited - Huckabee's role in his freedom

[AmericanExceptionalist]

How much research have you done on the fairtax?? The only people I personally know, that think it is not a good idea are the ones that listen to what others have to say about it instead of doing their own reading... All it takes to get on board it read the book, pretty much common sense takes over from there

I, myself, have only a cursory knowlege of the "Fair Tax"; my guess is that you know much more about it than I do. Even so, it is my impression that (even with the promised "prebates"--which might or might not continue indefinitely), the system would probably make retirees net losers.

Think about it. Employees, who would no longer have to shell out payroll taxes, Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes--and whose respective employers would also be freed of this burden, and could therefore afford to pay their employees a bit more--would (presumably) be net winners.

But what of retirees, who no longer pay these taxes, but would suddenly have a new 23 percent charge (or 30 percent, depending upon the method of calculation) imposed upon them? Would they not become net losers?

Again, I profess no expertise on this subject. So if I am mistaken in my analysis, please feel free to disabuse me of my beliefs. But this is the way it seems to me.

[stevio]

Then why are they supporting “another” guy who wants our borders wide open to invaders? I will be going third party if any of these traitors win the primary.

[50sDad]

Some local radio yahoo was going on about the pooooooooooooooor sexual predadors who now had "nowhere to live" because they couldn't be within 100 feet of a school. Whaaaa!

[AzNASCARfan]

Well the main premise is that we already pay a 22% embedded tax on everything we consume. The theory is that due to typical business competition that under the fairtax the price would drop 22% and then have the 23% fairtax added back in and you will only see a 1% increase in prices. But I think initially they would have to be higher by 23% and eventually drop. The business model the book used was when some airline tax was dropped a few years back, one airline reduced prices and within 6 hours all the other airlines followed suit...

That said, Your concern was primarily the one drawback that I see in it myself, I figure retirees living on savings and even others that have managed to save money would both be against it, thinking they have already paid tax on it once and will have to pay taxes again if they spend it now. I am hoping these retirees see the benefit there offspring will reap. I also hope the younger savers realize under the fairtax they can invest and grow that money with no penalty and then spend their new profits and keep the money they paid taxes on squirrled away to keep earning for them.

Anyway I went to fairtax.org and tried to find their answer, Here is what I found.

What about senior citizens, retired people, and anyone on a fixed income?

As a group, seniors do very well under the FairTax. Low-income seniors are much better off under the FairTax than under the current income tax system.

Some erroneously believe that people who live exclusively on Social Security pay no taxes. They may not know it, but they are paying hidden corporate income taxes and employer payroll taxes whenever they buy anything. Under the FairTax, seniors pay $0.23 out of every dollar they choose to spend on new goods and services.

Plus, seniors, like everyone else, receive a monthly prebate, in advance of purchases, for taxes paid on the cost of necessities which more than pays for all of the taxes they would pay if they received the average Social Security benefit amount and spent it all. If seniors choose to work, they are freed from regressive payroll taxes, the federal income tax on wages, and the compliance burdens associated with each. They pay no more hidden taxes on goods or services, and used goods are tax free. There is no income tax on their Social Security benefits.

The income tax imposed on investment income and pension benefits or IRA withdrawals is repealed. Pension funds, IRAs, and 401(k) plans had assets of $12 trillion in 2004. An income tax deduction was taken for contributions to most of these plans. All beneficiaries and owners of these plans expected to pay income tax on them upon withdrawal, but are not required to do so under the FairTax.

All owners of existing homes experience large capital gains due to the repeal of the income tax and implementation of the FairTax Plan. Seniors have dramatically higher home ownership rates than other age groups (81 percent for seniors compared to 65 percent on average). Homes are often a family’s largest asset. Gains are likely to be in the range of 20 percent.

The FairTax makes the economy much more dynamic and prosperous. Consequently, federal tax revenues grow. This makes it less likely that federal budget pressures require Medicare or Social Security benefit cuts.

How does the FairTax help seniors who have paid taxes on their retirement savings or invested in Roth IRAs?

Simply put, the FairTax is a revenue-neutral proposal, raising no more money than does the current system. The FairTax only changes where the money is raised, not the amount.

Additionally, some erroneously believe that people who have invested in Roth IRAs will never pay taxes on this money again. They may not know it, but they are paying corporate income taxes, employer payroll taxes, plus the associated compliance costs that are hidden in the price of every retail purchase they make. Under the FairTax, these hidden taxes are driven out of retail prices. And note, they can determine the amount of tax they pay through their own lifestyle choices.

Furthermore, used goods are not taxed because they have already been taxed once -- when they were new. Therefore senior citizens, like all Americans, do not lose purchasing power, but gain it instead. Moreover, the FairTax preserves the purchasing power of Social Security benefits, and seniors receive a monthly prebate so they don’t pay taxes on the purchase of necessities. Tax-deferred investments get a one-time windfall. Savings invested in any long-term, income-generating asset such as a stock, real estate, or a long-term bond that can’t be called, increase substantially in value. Finally, complex estate planning is an artifact of an earlier age.

[AmericanExceptionalist]

The income tax imposed on investment income and pension benefits or IRA withdrawals is repealed. Pension funds, IRAs, and 401(k) plans had assets of $12 trillion in 2004. An income tax deduction was taken for contributions to most of these plans. All beneficiaries and owners of these plans expected to pay income tax on them upon withdrawal, but are not required to do so under the FairTax.

First, let me thank you for taking the time to post that very informative article. The paragraph above, which I lifted from the article, was the one that really caught my eye.

I am still not certain that my wife and I would do better under the Fair Tax plan. For one thing, I am not convinced that retailers would reduce their prices on a dollar-for-dollar basis if the "embedded tax" were suddenly removed; and I worry about additional healthcare costs (specifically, that either insurance would not cover these additional expenses, or, if it did, that insurance premiums would rise astronomically to cover the tab). Even so, the information you provided is tantalizing--especially the part about 401(k) and traditional IRA savings. This alone has prompted me to want to research this a bit more.

Again, thanks.

[UCANSEE2]

“Doesn’t matter if there were legitimate questions regarding Dumond’s guilt in the first crime. It’s political now and all reason goes out the window.”

Ain’t that the everlovin’ truth!

[fweingart]

If only something bad would pop up on Rudy!

[phil_t]

And now, the rest of the story -

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
March, 19, 1997

Dumond’s Prospects for Parole ‘Bleak’
EMMETT GEORGE

The prospects of a parole for convicted rapist Wayne Dumond appear “bleak” at this time, the director of the state Post Prison Transfer Board said recently.

“We are pretty much where we were when Texas turned him down,” board Chairman Leroy Brownlee said Friday. “He has not applied for any other state. As far as we are concerned, he will just come back up in the regular rotation in August.”

Brownlee noted that on Jan. 16, the board approved Dumond’s parole “for Texas only.” On Jan. 22, Texas prison officials announced that Dumond would not be paroled to Texas despite promises of employment and a place to stay in the Houston area.

“Legally, he will have to come up with another plan and resubmit it to us,” Brownlee said. “People were really concerned about that case. It looks pretty bleak.”

Dumond, 47, formerly of Forrest City, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1984 rape of Ashley Stevens, also of Forrest City. She is a third cousin to President Clinton.

While he was awaiting trial, Dumond said two masked men castrated him at his residence. No one was ever arrested for the attack on Dumond.

The late Coolidge Conlee, former sheriff of St. Francis County, kept Dumond’s testicles in a jar in his office. Dumond sued Conlee and was awarded $110,000.

Dumond continues to be housed at the Modular Unit of the Tucker Maximum Security Unit. He works in a prison factory which refurbishes buses.

Although Dumond gained much notoriety from the rape conviction, he has a long criminal history.

On Aug. 8, 1972, Dumond and two men used the 17-year-old daughter of one of the men to lure a man into a park in Lawton, Okla., where he was beaten to death with wrenches and a claw hammer, according to records from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

Dumond admitted beating the victim with the wrench but claimed that he refused the demands of his accomplices to “finish him off.” Dumond received immunity for testifying against the accomplices, who received life prison terms.

On Oct. 10, 1973, Dumond was arrested in Tacoma, Wash., for accosting a teen-age girl in a parking lot. Dumond received five years’ probation. On Sept. 28, 1976, two DeWitt woman reported that Dumond broke into their homes and raped them. Dumond reportedly confessed to one rape to an Arkansas State Police investigator but refused to sign a transcript of the confession. Both women sent letters opposing Dumond’s release to the parole board in 1990.

Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long of Forrest City said Tuesday that “fragmented reporting” by the news media has prevented Dumond’s full criminal history from coming to light.

Long said Dumond’s criminal history also includes an Oct. 11, 1976, arrest by Little Rock police in a rape case that was “never pursued.” In all, Dumond’s history includes three allegations of rape, an assault and a homicide, Long said.

One of the unusual elements in the Dumond case was his castration. The theory that Dumond may have castrated himself has surfaced more than once since the incident occurred.

Long said the “self-castration theory” results from a March 7, 1985, conversation that Dumond’s wife, Dusty, had with Dr. Jeff Whitfield at the Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis, where Dumond was taken after the mutilation.

Dusty Dumond asked Whitfield if it would be possible for Dumond to have inflicted the wound himself.

“Dr. Whitfield said that he advised her that it was possible and that he had noted similar such self-mutilations in the past,” according to a report by the late Phil Ostermann, an Arkansas State Police investigator who died several years ago in a plane crash.

Brownlee said Edwene McCollum of Forrest City, Stevens’ aunt, raised the issue at a parole hearing. Long said McCollum obviously was referring to Whitfield’s statement to Dusty Dumond.

Dusty Dumond is living in Texas and could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Long said he does not believe Dumond castrated himself because of the “level of pain he would have to endure.” However, he said he does not believe Dumond’s account of the castration either.

“There’s a great deal about this that he never told us,” Long said. “I don’t think he wants the people who did this to be caught. ... I think there are some things that are embarrassing to him that he doesn’t want known.”

Several investigators at the time believed Dumond simply got drunk and castrated himself, Long said. Ostermann’s report noted that “a half-gallon Jim Beam whiskey bottle,” which was one-third full, was found at the scene of the mutilation.

Long said he never believed Dumond’s account of the night he was castrated because “he was never really tied up, there was no real sign of a struggle and there was no concrete proof to connect anyone else to it.”

Lt. David Rosegrant, commander of the Arkansas State Police criminal investigative unit in Pine Bluff, said he believes Dumond could have castrated himself.

“I know he could have done it,” Rosegrant said. “I was the one who got him to confess in the rape of the DeWitt girls. If you look back at his history, what has always got him in trouble? Rape. He felt the way to cure the problem was to cure what was causing the problem.”

Rosegrant said the amount of alcohol consumed by Dumond and the nature of his wound were consistent with self-mutilation. In a 1987 brief filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis, Dumond said he believed Forrest City police officer Stacy Dye and Stevie Stevens, Ashley Stevens’ father, were the men who castrated him. Long said Dumond had daily contact with the men during his three-day trial but did not identify them at that time. “For him to come back years later and say he recognized them is incredible,” Long said.

In his statement to Ostermann, Dumond described one of his assailants as standing 5 feet 9 inches, weighing about 150 pounds and wearing a blue and brown plaid shirt, bluejeans and high-top work shoes. The second assailant was described as standing 6 feet 2 inches, weighing about 180 to 190 pounds and having a medium build.

Both men wore stocking masks and blue-green rubber gloves, Dumond said, and one man brandished a .38-caliber blue revolver.

THIS IS THE REAL DUMOND WHO HUCKABEE ULTIMATELY PARDONED, LEADING TO ANOTHER DEATH AND DUMOND’S EVENTUAL DEMISE (IN JAIL, POSSIBLY AT HIS OWN HAND. GOOD RIDDANCE!

[devere]

“If only something bad would pop up on Rudy!”

He married his cousin for 12 years and then got an annullment; cheated on his second wife with multiple people, and then let her know he was getting a divorce through a press conference; ran up big security bills visiting his mistress out of town; and his hand-picked police chief is under indictment for numerous felonies. Aside from that, Rudy is clean as a whistle.

[trisham]

I wish her all the success in the world.