Posted on 04/08/2005 5:41:40 PM PDT by TexKat
Court documents say it's possible a nine-year-old Florida girl who was abducted and killed may have been alive when officers first questioned the suspect.
HOMOSASSA, Fla. (AP) - John Couey, who is a convicted sex offender, had been staying with his half-sister near the home of Jessica Lunsford. Police went to the half-sister's home twice while looking for the child, and said no suspicions were raised.
Police say that Couey later told them he was hiding in the home during the second interview.
The court documents released Thursday say that the timeline "leaves open the possibility" that Lunsford was alive during each interview. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has said that Couey was in a "drug haze" during the abduction.
Lunsford was found sexually assaulted and buried near the mobile home.
Surgical Castration, or a straight razor with turpentine.
Which 'll it be, Mr Cooey?
Did you hear it just now at 9:26 p.m. central CNN?
Just a part of it, got a phone call. I heard the end, however, and I believe they said that the buried alive aspect has not been proven. I will keep hoping we never hear that is true. I am trying to focus on the Mass and rejoice in the Pope's place in Heaven. I will do the same for poor Jessica. Whatever happened, she is in a place where only good will come to her. With Terri and JPII - what good company.
Thats what CNN is reporting, that it is possible that Couey buried Jessica alive.
Also I noticed in all the current articles regarding this matter, they state that Couey raped her or sexually assualted Jessica and buried her. They do not state that he raped her or sexually assualted, killed her and then buried her.
Approximately 20 minutes ago, CNN reported that Couey informed the LE that thats what happened, however LE is not confirming at the present.
Exactly! They should be given the death penalty in this case IMO. Wouldn't she have known the girl was there? I mean it's not like the trailer was huge.
Florida's laws or non-laws suck once again.
Abducted Fla. Girl May Have Been Alive When Officers Questioned Suspect
UPDATED: 9:22 am EDT April 8, 2005
HOMOSASSA, Fla. -- A chronology offered by a registered sex offender who confessed to abducting and killing a 9-year-old neighbor indicates she may have been alive when officers initially visited the home where the man was staying, according to court documents.
John Evander "Couey's timeline of the events after he kidnapped Jessica Lunsford leaves open the possibility that she was alive and in the house at the time of the first and possibly the second interview," said the documents released Thursday.
Citrus County sheriff's deputies canvassed the girl's neighborhood after her father reported her missing from her bed Feb. 24 and made two stops at the home of Couey's half-sister. No suspicions were raised, but detectives say Couey later told them he was hiding in the house during the second interview.
Couey, 46, who pleaded not guilty to murder Wednesday, had been staying off and on at the mobile home visible about 150 yards from the girl's home.
He has denied "that anyone else in the house was aware that he had kidnapped the child or that she was being held in the house," according to court papers.
Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has said that Couey was in a "drug haze" during the abduction. The victim was sexually assaulted and buried near the mobile home.
Couey was arrested March 17 in Augusta, Ga., and his four Homosassa housemates were arrested the next day. Prosecutors did not pursue obstruction charges after concluding they lacked legal grounds to support charges based on the housemates' interviews during the prolonged search.
"Florida does not have a statute which makes it a crime to lie to a police officer in all situations, nor is there a law which requires a person to disclose the whereabouts of a registered sex offender," prosecutors wrote in a newly disclosed memo.
"I believe these individuals truly obstructed this agency's criminal investigation into Jessica's death," Dawsy said in a statement faxed Thursday to the St. Petersburg Times.
Couey was staying with his half-sister Dorothy Marie Dixon, her boyfriend Matthew Oley Dittrich, her daughter Madie Catherine Secord and her husband Gene Secord.
On the first stop, Dittrich gave his name but didn't say Couey was staying there because he knew Couey was wanted on a misdemeanor probation violation. On the second visit, investigators spoke to Dittrich and Dixon.
Jessica's father Mark Lunsford and Dawsy have traveled to Tallahassee to urge legislators to change state law to make it a felony to harbor a sex offender without notifying law enforcement. Other proposals would mandate life sentences or lifetime electronic monitoring for child molesters.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Check out post #46, that will knock you for a loop.
I am just going to steer clear of Florida. It is really screwed up.
O'Reilly is talking about this now.
Are you really buying his excuse?
The sick f--k!!!! If I were the father, I would be starting up a posse, dragging that worthless bitch of a sister out of her house and hanging her by her own entrails.
"Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has said that Couey was in a "drug haze" during the abduction."
You know, I'm not really pro-drugs, I'm not really anti-drugs, I've got mixed feeling about the war on drugs, and (full disclaimer) I drink too much and I smoke too much, but I just have to say, there are an AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE who are in "drug haze[s]" some of the time, a lot of the time, ALL OF THE TIME, and they do not kidnap and murder children.
"They they purchased a bus ticket for this murdering scum proves they knew"
Yes, and that makes them accomplices doesn't it? Before and after the fact, as they used to say on TV? I'd say this group should face quite as many charges as the murderer himself, maybe more, like obstruction of justice, etc.
HAVE any of these others been charged, arrested, anything? Does anybody know?
....or undocumented republican employees!
foul.
This guy should be flensed.
well, the libertarians will tell you that it was wrong for this man to use drugs and then commit a crime, and so , rightfully, according to the law, he will be punished.......
just too bad that a little innocent 9yro had to pay the price for this man to be able to be a drug maniac....
his rights = no rights for her...
This is truly evil.
I have mixed feelings about the death penalty, until it comes to hurting children. Anyone who does anything to hurt a child needs to DIE. And not by injection, They need to suffer alot, just like they made that child suffer. Sorry, just my opinion.
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