Powder left in apartment leads to arrest

Houston Chronicle ^ | November 6, 2001 | S. K. Bardwell

[Illbay]

Here's the rub on this one:

I know this kid. He was a member of my church and he and his wife were very close to my daughter and son-in-law. This doesn't sound anything like him. He was a nice, soft-spoken well-mannered Mormon kid who got married "too early" to his wife, when they were both 16 years old, but seemed to have a very good marriage. They had one baby daughter and another on the way.

Could this be a frame-up? Much evil in this world. It is very discouraging sometime.

[wideawake]

Question: why in the world would they single out Jeremiah B. Tinker for a frame job?

[wideawake]

Unless you mean the apartment manager was behind it, and not the police. That I could buy . . .

[AppyPappy]

How do they know it was on purpose?

[justshutupandtakeit]

Frame job, not likely would one be directed at such an insignificant target.

Maybe he has gone whacky due to too much responsibility at too young an age.

[HaveGunWillTravel]

My opinion is that he should be punished but not get life. It's more like a bad prank than a "chemical attack". Is macing someone now a "chemical attack" punishable with life in prison? What does this say about police who brutally spray mace in people's eyes at point blank range?

[Illbay]

Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant. The fact is that our community has become sort of a nesting grounds for the most unsavory and despicable characters, because they have really "overbuilt" apartment complexes here. "Not that there's anything wrong with that" but such complexes tend to harbor a proportionally higher number of "transient" types.

Apartment managers in these places seem to be the same type. I have NO IDEA what the nature of his altercation with the management was.

But could it have been bad enough that the management might want to frame this kid? I'm saying this based SOLELY on the fact that I know Jeremiah, but not the apartment managers. They had only moved their in the last few months after living in their previous place for a year. The kid had a good job with a decent future and seemed to be taking good care of his family. His wife was my niece's Sunday School teacher.

I'm just baffled by this whole thing. If Jeremiah really did this, then he had everyone fooled.

[Mr. K]

As a landlord with many years experience, it never ceases to amaze me how many 'nice people' think is OK to destroy my property or skip out on hundreds of dollars of rent, and think nothing of it.

And then they are actually surprised when I take them to court and garnish their wages for back rent. They don't seem to understand that when they don't pay their bill, it comes out of my pocket...*sigh*

Honor is a very rare trait among today's youth

[Eddeche]

found white powder on the apartment floor and a note taped to an interior door that read, "Life's to (sic) short.

Lime on the floor and a note = life in prison.

The authorities have truly gone insane.

Next up: A man yelling "F**k You !" at a woman will be charged with rape.

[KSCITYBOY]

That is the critical factor. Was the powder left there to intentionally hurt someone. Did the tennant know the harmfull properties of the powder.

[Illbay]

Well, the problem is this was a VERY dangerous "prank," if that's what it was. Calcium Hydroxide is a powerful caustic chemical. I'm sure if you huffed enough of this stuff you could wind up dead or with permanent pulmonary damage.

This was NOT funny. But I can't figure out how this same kid that our family knew quite well, could have committed such a thing!

[Illbay]

The problem is that this is a bit bigger than mere malicious destruction of property. This was an attempt to seriously injure someone.

[lavaroise]

The clue is that he was in a fight with the complex and the complex had the keys to his appartment. I know maintenance people who have the keys to appartments can do the dirtiest of things. Moreover they are of the type that can get their hands on various chemicals.

The FBI did not frame him up, they are taking their precautions. Targetting the FBI in this case is very much misleading. Unfortunately, the way things work, is that if someone frames you, you can blame all you can people framing you, but usualy authorities will not listen.

This is why we should declare war and not ask for justice, because for justice to work, authorities need to take a side, however wrong. In war, you do not take a side, you investigate every one. Hence we are wide open for terrorists out there framing regular AMericans into domestic terrorists the way Clinton did it in Waco. In times of war, traitors like Clinton would have not remained in power. But our congress has no guts.

[muggs]

As a landlord with many years experience, it never ceases to amaze me how many 'nice people' think is OK to destroy my property or skip out on hundreds of dollars of rent, and think nothing of it.

I have to agree with you, I have been an apartment manager for 17 years. But never in those 17 years would I even consider framing a resident, no matter what they did. I sure hope no other apartment manager would either (I'm not talking about you).

[Illbay]

My wife talked to our daughter last night about this (this is before it became public). My daughter had just gotten off the phone with Jeremiah's wife, Haley. Haley told my daughter that the powder was "Ajax Cleanser" which they were told was a way to get rid of ants (which we always have an abundance of as soon as the weather turns dry as it does in the Fall here).

She said the note "Lifes to(o) short" was left up on the door because they hadn't seen it before they left. Haley put it there, as she was in the habit of putting "affirmations" up on the walls all around their apartment.

[1rudeboy]

What does this say about police who brutally spray mace in people's eyes at point blank range?

Please, tell us.

[Illbay]

I'm sorry, I left the impression I was talking about the FBI, but I meant the apartment management.

FWIW, Haley Tinker, Jeremiah's wife, had told my daughter that Haley's mother hated Jeremiah, and she (the mother) worked for the state police in Las Vegas. She wondered if her mother might have been behind this.

[FR_addict]

A note that says "Life's too short" may just have meant he didn't feel like cleaning up the rest of the apartment and the landlord could keep his deposit.

Lime is probably in some cleaning supplies. It is possible the landlord overreacted.

[spunkets]

What the kid left in the apartment is unslaked lime, the bonding agent for cement/concrete. I mixed 4 wheelbarrows full of the stuff this weekend w/o a mask. No breathing difficulties, or hospitalization required. Of course I didn't stick my face in it and inhale. I'd wait to here what the kids got to say. I would bet the maintenance man had something to do with this.

[spunkets]

"Calcium Hydroxide is a powerful caustic chemical. I'm sure if you huffed enough of this stuff you could wind up dead or with permanent pulmonary damage."

You're talking about cement dust here. Dust from cured cement.