The Schoolhouse Children's Blizzard

 

The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard, hit the U.S. Great Plains on January 12, 1888. With an estimated 235 deaths, it is the world's 10th deadliest winter storm on record.

Description

The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.

The weather prediction for the day was issued by the Weather Bureau, which at the time was managed by Brigadier General Adolphus Greely. The indications officer (forecaster), Lieutenant Thomas Mayhew Woodruff in St. Paul, Minnesota, said: "A cold wave is indicated for Dakota and Nebraska tonight and tomorrow; the snow will drift heavily today and tomorrow in Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin."

On January 11, a strengthening surface low dropped south-southeastward out of the Alberta District in Canada's North-West Territories into central Montana Territory and then into northeastern Colorado by the morning of January 12. The temperatures in advance of the low increased some 20 to 40 °F (11–22 °C) in the central plains (for example, Omaha, Nebraska, recorded a temperature of −6 °F (−21 °C) at 7 a.m. on January 11, while the temperature had increased to 28 °F (−2 °C) by 7 a.m. on January 12). The strong surface low rapidly moved into southeastern Nebraska by 3 p.m. on January 12 and finally into southwestern Wisconsin by 11 p.m. that same day. On January 11, the massive cold air mass that had formed around January 8 around Medicine Hat and Qu'Appelle, Assiniboia District, had reached a spread of over 780 miles (1,255 km).

The blizzard was precipitated by the collision of an immense Arctic cold front with warm moisture-laden air from the Gulf of Mexico. Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a temperature drop from a few degrees above freezing to −20 °F (−29 °C) [−40 °F (−40 °C) in some places]. This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy snow. The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory from midmorning to early afternoon, and reached Lincoln, Nebraska, at 3 p.m.

Many who were caught unaware misjudged the weather due to a warm spell. Carl Saltee, a teenage Norwegian immigrant in Fortier, Minnesota, remembered that "... on the 12th of January 1888 around noontime, it was so warm it melted snow and ice from the window until after 1 p.m." This changed rapidly for the teenager who continued that by 3:30 p.m. "A dark and heavy wall built up around the northwest coming fast, coming like those heavy thunderstorms, like a shot. In a few moments, we had the severest snowstorm I ever saw in my life with a terrible hard wind, like a Hurricane, snow so thick we could not see more than 3 steps from the door at times." The Boston Daily Advertiser reported under the headline "Midnight at Noon" that "At Fargo ... mercury 47° below zero and a hurricane blowing ... At Neche, Dak. The thermometer is 58° below zero.”

What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness of the storm, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people — including many schoolchildren — got caught in the blizzard. The death toll was 235, though some estimate 1,000. Teachers generally kept children in their schoolrooms. Exceptions nearly always resulted in disaster.

This cold front was so self-reinforced that it dropped temperatures as far south as Veracruz, Mexico, before dissipating.

Travel was severely impeded in the days following.

Two months later, yet another severe blizzard hit the East Coast states: This blizzard was known as the Great Blizzard of 1888. It severely affected the east coast, in states like New York and Massachusetts.

The stories

Plainview, Nebraska: Lois Royce found herself trapped with three of her students in her schoolhouse. By 3 p.m., they had run out of heating fuel. Her boarding house was only 82 yards (75 m) away, so she attempted to lead the children there. However, visibility was so poor that they became lost. The children, two 9-year-old boys and a 6-year-old girl froze to death. The teacher survived, but her feet were frostbitten and had to be amputated.

Seward County, Nebraska: Etta Shattuck, a 19-year-old schoolteacher, got lost on her way home and sought shelter in a haystack. She remained trapped there until her rescue 78 hours later by Daniel D. Murphy and his hired men. She died on February 6 or 7 due to complications from surgery to remove her frostbitten feet and legs.

Near Zeona, Dakota Territory: The children at the local school were rescued. Two men tied a rope to the closest house and headed for the school. There, they tied off the other end of the rope and led the children to safety.

Mira Valley, Nebraska: Minnie Freeman safely led 13 children from her schoolhouse to her home, one and a half miles (2.4 km) away. A rumor that she used a rope to keep the children together during the blinding storm is widely circulated, but one of the children claimed it was not true. That year, "Song of the Great Blizzard: Thirteen Were Saved" or "Nebraska's Fearless Maid", was written and recorded in her honor by William Vincent and published by Lyon & Healy.

In 1967, for Nebraska's Centennial Celebration, a Venetian glass mural of the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888 by Jeanne Reynal was installed on the west wall of the North Bay in the Nebraska State Capitol building. The mural, in a semi-abstract style, portrays Freeman leading the children through the storm to safety.

Ted Kooser, a Nebraska poet, has recorded many of the stories of the Schoolhouse Blizzard in his book of poetry The Blizzard Voices.

Ron Hansen, a Nebraska-born author, follows the experience of the blizzard from a variety of perspectives in his short story "Wickedness," featured in the collections Nebraska and She Loves Me Not.

A 36-year-old Scottish immigrant farmer, James Jackson, just outside of Woodstock, Minnesota, discovered his cattle herd frozen to death in a 10-mile (16 km) stretch.

Newspaperman Charles Morse, founder of the Lake Benton News, recounted, "My sleeping quarters were on the second floor leading off a hallway at the head of the stairs ... On arriving home I found the wind had forced open the door and the stairway was packed with snow, and when I reached my room I found my bed covered with several inches of snow which had filtered over the threshold and through my keyhole."

Pioneers William and Kate Kampen, who lived in a small sod house in Marion, Dakota Territory, were caught ill-prepared for the blizzard. They ran out of coal for their fire, so William was forced to leave for the town of Parker, some 23 miles (37 km) away to buy more coal and supplies. He took two of his horses with him. While William was gone, 19-year-old Kate gave birth alone to their first son, Henry Royal Kampen, on January 8. While William was in town, the blizzard hit. Several of William's friends tried to persuade him to stay in town, but he knew he had to get back home to Kate, not knowing she had given birth. The storm raged on as he tried to make his way back home. He stayed with his horses, but eventually, both of them died because the wind was so strong that both the horses suffocated. William was able to find a barn with pigs in it and crawled in with them to try to keep warm. Meanwhile, Kate kept herself and the baby warm by staying in bed. William finally made it back home to Kate and the baby after spending three days and nights out on the prairie alone.

Lauren Tarshis published a book in February 2018 about the Children's Blizzard in her I Survived book series, focusing on a character named John.

Memorial book

In the 1940s a group organized the Greater Nebraska Blizzard Club to write a book about the storm. The resulting book, In All Its Fury: A History of the Blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888, With Stories and Reminiscences, was edited by W.H. O'Gara.

The Ajka Alumina Plant Accident

 

The Ajka alumina plant accident in October 2010 was a caustic waste reservoir chain collapse at the Ajkai Timföldgyár alumina plant in Ajka, Veszprém County, in western Hungary.

On 4 October 2010, at 12:25 CEST (10:25 UTC), the northwestern corner of the dam of reservoir number 10 collapsed, releasing approximately one million cubic meters (35 million cubic feet) of liquid waste from red mud lakes. The mud was released as a 1–2 m (3–7 ft) wave, flooding several nearby localities, including the village of Kolontár and Devecser. Ten people died, and 150 people were injured. About 40 square kilometers (15 sq. mi) of land were initially affected. The spill reached the Danube on 7 October 2010.

It initially needed to be made clear how the containment at the reservoir had been breached. However, the accident came after a particularly wet summer in Hungary, as in other parts of central Europe. Police have seized documents from the Ajkai Timföldgyár plant. However, a spokesman for MAL Hungarian Aluminium (MAL Magyar Alumínium Termelő és Kereskedelmi Zrt.), the company that operates the plant, said the last inspection of the pond had shown "nothing untoward". Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that the cause of the spill was presumably human error.

Origin of the mud

The red mud in the accident is a waste product of the Bayer process, which refines bauxite into a form of aluminum oxide called alumina. The mud primarily contains non-aluminium compounds present in the bauxite ore and left as residues after its refining along with sodium hydroxide used to dissolve aluminium oxide. Iron (III) oxide, the compound from which the red color originates, is the main component, but it also contains other compounds. The mud, which is highly alkaline when it is first produced, is stored in large open-air ponds; it is thought that there are about 30 million tonnes of red mud stored around the Ajkai Timföldgyár plant. According to a press release by MAL, the mud had the following chemical percentage make-up (which expresses the amounts of different elements, not necessarily the actual solids).

Fe2O3 (iron (III) oxide) 40–45% Gives the red color of the mud

Al2O3 (aluminium oxide) 10–15% Unextracted aluminium oxide

SiO2 (silicon dioxide) 10–15% Present as sodium- or calcium-alumino-silicate

CaO (calcium oxide) 6–10 % See also portlandite

TiO2 (titanium dioxide) 4–5 % Impurity present in bauxite

Na2O (bound sodium oxide) 5–6 % Responsible for the high (alkaline) pH and the chemical burns

Unlike many other mine tailings, red mud does not contain very high levels of heavy metals, although still about seven times the levels in normal soil. Analyses of the mud at Kolontár on behalf of Greenpeace showed levels of chromium 660 mg/kg, arsenic 110 mg/kg and mercury 1.2 mg/kg. The Hungarian government has stated that the mud is "not poisonous", and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences noted that the heavy metal concentrations were not considered dangerous for the environment. In a different news article, the task force established to sample the red mud reported high levels of heavy metals in certain samples, but concluded no locations were "dangerously high." The main damage caused by the accident first arose from the high pH of the mud, which was responsible for both severe chemical burns to humans and animals and killing specimens in the rivers and in the contaminated soils. However, after the dissipation of acute effects by dilution and progressive carbonation of the sodium hydroxide by CO2 from the air, the chronic toxicity of heavy metal traces is expected to be limited by their low solubility and high sorption under slightly alkaline conditions.

Effects

The wave of mud flooded streets in Kolontár, where seven people were confirmed dead, and Devecser, where the flow was powerful enough to move cars and vans. The cause of death of the Kolontár victims has not been formally confirmed; a spokesman for the National Directorate General for Disaster Management (NDGDM, Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság) said that they had probably drowned. A further six people were still missing 24 hours after the accident.

The NDGDM said that the high-pH mud was considered hazardous and would cause an alkaline reaction on contact if not washed off with clean water. The mayor of Devecser noted that 80–90 people had been taken to hospital with chemical burns. Péter Jakabos, a doctor in the hospital in Győr where many of the injured had been taken, said on Magyar Televízió that it might take days for the full extent of any burns to be realized. Magyar Alumínium (MAL) said that the mud was not considered to contain toxic elements according to EU standards. Initial measurements by the NDGDM showed the sludge to be extremely basic, with a pH value of 13.

The waste initially resulted in the massive death of wildlife in and around the Marcal River. The spill reached the Danube on 7 October, prompting countries located further down the river (Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria) to develop emergency plans. The long-term effects on sediments in the Tornar and Marcal rivers are considered minor.

On 11 October, the Hungarian government announced that the managing director of MAL had been arrested, to be charged with "criminal negligence leading to a public catastrophe". Also on the 11th, the government took control of MAL, appointing a commissioner to manage the company. The government planned to focus on compensation for the incident, job security, and identifying further locations at risk of accidents.

Containment and cleanup

Apart from the immediate effects of the wave of red mud, there was also concern for a possible contamination of Hungary's waterways. The Torna (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈtornɒ]) river runs through the affected area, and emergency workers were pouring tonnes of plaster into the waterway to try to bind the sludge and prevent it from continuing downstream. The Torna joins the Marcal (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈmɒrt͡sɒl]) river at Karakó, in Vas County; the Marcal joins the Rába River just above Győr, in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, while the Rába itself joins the Danube at Győr.

The day after the accident, Environmental State Secretary Zoltán Illés ordered the suspension of the alumina production at the plant and the reconstruction of the dam. The following day, the chairman of the company said in a radio interview that he would like to restart production over the weekend (5–6 days after the Monday accident); the plant reopened on 15 October, with full production expected to resume by the 19th.

The Hungarian government initially estimated that cleanup would take at least a year and cost tens of millions of dollars.

The Hungarian Government activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for urgent international assistance at 7:36 PM on 7 October. The European Union Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) communicated the request for expert assistance to the 30 participating countries (27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).

The former director of the MAL plant, Zoltán Bakonyi, and 14 other employees was arrested over charges of negligence, violations of waste management, and environmental pollution on 11 October 2010, but was acquitted of all charges in January 2016.

By 12 October 2010, a secondary dam beyond the remainder of the original had been almost entirely completed, after being built to contain additional sludge expected to overflow after another portion of the original dam collapsed.

On 13 October, the government nationalized the company, the bill making this possible having been passed by the Parliament one day earlier.

In 2019, a criminal negligence case closed with the conviction of 10 people - managerial staff and employees - who were found guilty of security protocol infractions relating to waste storage and processing.

Jackson State Killings

 

The Jackson State killings occurred on May 15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi. On May 14, 1970, city and state police confronted a group of students outside a campus dormitory. Shortly after midnight, the police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve. The event happened 11 days after the Kent State shootings, in which National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a protest against the Vietnam War. The Kent State event had first captured national attention.

Timeline

On the evening of Thursday, May 14, a group of around 100 black students had gathered on Lynch Street (named after the black Reconstruction era US Representative John R. Lynch), which bisected the campus. African-American youths were reportedly pelting rocks at white motorists driving down this road—frequently the site of confrontations between white and black Jackson residents.

Tensions rose higher when a rumor spread around campus that Charles Evers—a local politician, civil rights leader, and the brother of slain activist Medgar Evers—and his wife had been killed, according to Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College. The situation escalated when a non-Jackson State student set a dump truck on fire.

The police responded in force. At least 75 police officers from Jackson and the Mississippi Highway Patrol attempted to control the crowd while firemen extinguished the fires. After firefighters left the scene shortly before midnight, the police moved to disperse the crowd gathered in front of Alexander Hall, a women's dormitory.

Advancing to within 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) of the crowd, officers at roughly 12:05 a.m. opened fire on the dormitory.

The exact cause of the shooting and the moments leading up to it are unclear. Authorities say they saw a sniper on one of the building's upper floors and were being shot at from all directions. Later, two city policemen and one state patrolman reported minor injuries from flying glass. An FBI search for evidence of sniper fire found none. Students later claimed that they had not provoked the officers. The gunfire lasted for 30 seconds. More than 460 shots were fired by a reported 40 state highway patrolmen, who used shotguns from a distance of 30 to 50 feet. Every window was shattered by gunfire on the narrow side of the building facing Lynch Street.

The crowd scattered, and several people were trampled, or cut by falling glass. Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, 21, a junior, and James Earl Green, 17, a senior and miler at nearby Jim Hill High School, were killed, and twelve others were wounded. Gibbs was fatally shot near Alexander Hall by buckshot, and Green was killed and the police line in front of B. F. Roberts Hall, also by shotgun.

Aftermath

President Richard Nixon established the President's Commission on Campus Unrest to investigate the Jackson State and Kent State events. Public hearings were held in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Kent State. No arrests were made in connection with the deaths at Jackson State, but the Commission concluded "that the 28-second fusillade from police officers was an unreasonable, unjustified overreaction... A broad barrage of gunfire in response to reported and unconfirmed sniper fire is never warranted."

The university has memorialized the occurrence by naming the area of the shootings the Gibbs-Green Plaza after the two young men kwere illed. The plaza is a large, multi-level brick and concrete patio and mall on the eastern side of the school's campus; it borders J. R. Lynch Street and links Alexander Hall to the University Green. A large stone monument in front of Alexander Hall near the plaza also honors the two victims. Damage is still visible on the façade of Alexander Hall; it wathe rounds fired by the police caused it. On December 1970, a federal grand jury was discharged after it had failed to produce an indictment or written findings in a five-month recess. It had summoned about 40 state patrolmen and 26 city police officers.

A long-awaited formal public apology was granted at Jackson State University's 2021 commencement. The apology reflected 51 years of contemplation regarding the event, now historically known as “The Jackson State Killings.” Gibbs and Green were awarded posthumous honorary doctorate degrees at the ceremony, which were family members accepted on their behalf.

Commencement sThe commencement speakers were Mississippi leaders: Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba of Jackson and State Seator Hillman Terome Frazier. The leaders said that the formal apology was to "…publicly atone for the sins of our past and proclaim a new identity of dignity, equity and justice."

The Murder of Erica Parsons

 

Erica Lynn Parsons (February 24, 1998 – c. December 17, 2011) was a 13-year-old girl from Salisbury, North Carolina, who disappeared mysteriously in 2011.

On July 30, 2013, Erica's brother Jamie reported to police she was missing and that he had not seen her since November 2011, stating their parents "killed Erica and buried her in our back yard", but later retracted this. Erica had been adopted at birth and raised by Sandy and Casey Parsons, relatives of her biological mother. When questioned by police Parsons claimed that Erica went to live with her biological paternal grandmother. Further investigation revealed Erica had not been seen alive since her disappearance in 2011, and police could not find evidence to support the existence of the grandmother, who relatives claimed was already deceased. In 2014, Casey and Sandy Parsons were convicted of fraudulently accepting federal benefits for Erica when she was not living with them.

In September 2016, Sandy Parsons led authorities to Erica's remains in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Coroners were unable to determine the exact cause of death, but ruled the manner of death "homicidal violence of undetermined means".

On February 19, 2018, a grand jury indicted Sandy and Casey Parsons in the case.

Casey Parsons pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on August 2, 2019, in Rowan County Superior Court. She was sentenced to life without parole.

Sandy Parsons also pleaded guilty, on December 17, 2019, to "second-degree murder, child abuse, concealment of death, and obstruction" and was sentenced to at least 33 years.

Background

Erica Lynn Parsons was born on February 24, 1998, to Carolyn Parsons. Carolyn separated from her husband, Steve, who was not the biological father before Erica was born. Carolyn, who had three other children, felt she couldn't afford to care for Erica and sought alternative placement for her, stating she didn't want the child to grow up in foster care or homeless shelters as she had. Erica was taken in by Sandy and Casey Parsons, the brother and sister-in-law, respectively, of Carolyn Parsons' husband. The adoption was finalized in 2000. Carolyn Parsons had occasional visits with Erica and last saw her in January 2011. Erica's biological father, Billy Dean Goodman, died of natural causes in 2016.

Erica had a slight hearing impairment. She was homeschooled for most of her school years.

Investigation

On July 30, 2013, Erica's then 19-year-old brother, Jamie Parsons, had a fight with his parents, whereupon he reported Erica missing. He said he had not seen his adoptive sister in almost two years. He told police that Erica had been abused and that he believed his parents had killed Erica, burying her in their backyard. He later retracted those statements, although he later testified at his parents' trial that there had been ongoing abuse. Jamie testified that the last time he saw Erica was November 19, 2011. She was standing in a corner, which was a common punishment Erica endured. "She didn't look too good – she looked like a zombie", he said. "She said she did not feel good. She said she could not breathe too well." Casey Parsons heard this and told her "to shut the fuck up". When he awoke the next morning, his parents had left early, which was unusual, and Erica was gone. His parents returned to the home without Erica and he felt something wasn't right; "Mama looked normal", he said. "Daddy looked sick like he was about to throw up", James Parsons testified. "Mama went on her recliner with the computer. Daddy, it was a blank stare." When asked where Erica was, they told Jamie that Erica had gone to live with her biological grandmother.

Police began an investigation into Erica's disappearance. Casey and Sandy Parsons claimed that Erica was with her biological paternal grandmother Irene "Nan" Goodman in Asheville, North Carolina, a woman they claim to have first made contact with in July 2011 after Goodman wanted to forge a relationship with her granddaughter. Investigators have found no evidence of her existence. Billy Goodman's mother, Cloie Goodman, died in 2005. Before his death, Billy said that there was no Irene Goodman in his family. Casey Parsons described Erica and Goodman meeting at a McDonald's in Mooresville, North Carolina, in September 2011, followed by several further visits. On one of those visits in December 2011, Casey Parsons said, Erica asked to stay with her grandmother permanently. In February 2012, shortly before Erica's 14th birthday, Casey Parsons says, she talked with Erica by telephone for the last time, as further calls reached a disconnected number. Casey told Dr. Phil McGraw on his show that she has since lost the phone number she used.

Sandy and Casey Parsons appeared on the Dr. Phil show on August 20 and 21, 2013. Casey Parsons told Dr. Phil that Erica took none of her personal belongings with her because when she went to stay with Goodman, they had purchased all new clothing for her to wear. When Goodman picked her up, a woman who goes by the nickname "Strawberry" was also there and showed them a stash of clothing with tags in the back of their van. The house where she was reportedly staying had a stable with horses. The Parsons claimed that they also took their other daughter, Brook, along with them, to take Erica to Asheville. Brook disputed the claim in her own interviews with police, saying she never rode to Asheville to take Erica to live there.

Abuse allegations

Several witnesses testified at the Parsons' trial that Erica was routinely abused by the Parsons family, in particular by her adoptive mom, Casey. Casey Parsons's sister, Robin Ashley, testified that Casey beat Erica, often making her stand in the corner. Photographs of Erica standing in the corner on five occasions were presented to the court. Ashley testified that she saw bruises and marks on Erica and that Casey relinquished the child to Ashley's custody for several months so that Casey "wouldn't kill her". Parsons took her back fearing she would get in trouble for receiving money for a child who was not in her home. Warrants showed the couple continued to cash checks when Erica was not living with them.

Jamie Parsons testified that nearly everyone in the family had abused Erica routinely, something that Casey encouraged. According to Jamie, Casey would often bend Erica's fingers backwards to break them, but deny her medical assistance, instead making homemade casts. Jamie also testified that Erica was forced to live in a closet and would be locked inside for hours at a time and was beaten when she relieved herself in the closet. She was also reportedly forced to eat canned dog food. Jamie testified that Erica's adoptive father, Sandy, would often get mad and punch Erica on her head. Soon after Erica was reported missing, Sandy and Casey Parsons hired an attorney, believing they were suspects. Investigators found red stains in the house but have not said what tests showed about them.

Related federal charges

On July 30, 2014, Sandy and Casey Parsons were arrested in Fayetteville on federal fraud charges. The couple had been receiving monthly checks of $634 for adoption assistance and continued cashing those checks after Erica was no longer living with them. They also continued to claim Erica on their taxes. Casey Parsons pleaded guilty to 15 charges, while Sandy opted for a trial. A jury found Sandy Parsons guilty of most of the charges in October 2014. At a sentencing hearing in federal court on February 18, 2015, Jamie Parsons and Robin Ashley testified about the abuse Erica received at the hands of the Parsons family. Federal prosecutor Anand Ramaswamy said there was no record of Erica during the time her adoptive parents illegally accepted money, claiming, "The reason is she's no longer alive." The hearing was continued until March 27.

Prosecutors also presented evidence of a series of scams allegedly perpetuated by Casey Parsons. In 2000, Casey was hired to be a surrogate mother. She became pregnant and took a payment of $10,000 for her services. Weeks later, she called the biological mother, Amy Miller, to say that she had miscarried. Miller says she believed Casey was still pregnant as Casey refused to turn over medical records, changed her phone number, and sent her "nasty emails". Casey then offered to sell the baby to her sister, Robin, who in turn searched for Miller online to tell her Casey was indeed still pregnant and that Casey had taken money from two other couples who wanted to adopt the baby. Miller was able to take custody of her child at birth after getting law enforcement involved. Evidence was also presented of an eBay scam where Casey accepted money for items listed on eBay, but never sent the items. Judge Schroeder called Casey a "serial swindler".

On March 27, 2015, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder sentenced Casey Parsons to 10 years and her husband to 8 years for fraud. Schroeder "believes Casey was the brains behind what happened" and said Erica "endured horrific abuse", saying that the fraud distracted investigators from the other problems. The judge also said there was no evidence Erica was living. Federal records showed that as of July, Casey Parsons, whose release date as per her plea deal is December 11, 2023, was sent to Carswell Federal Medical Center in Texas. Sandy Parsons, whose release date is March 14, 2022, was sent to Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina. Casey Parsons was later sent to Federal Correctional Center Tallahassee.

Both parents have appealed their sentences. The United States Supreme Court rejected Sandy Parsons's appeal in June 2016.

Additional information

Sandy and Casey Parsons appeared on the Dr. Phil talk show. As part of the show, Sandy Parsons took a polygraph and was considered "strongly deceptive" by the former FBI agent who administered the test.

Casey Parsons claimed to be experiencing a high level of pain, which could invalidate a polygraph and never completed it.

On August 27, 2013, Sandy and Casey Parsons moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Their two youngest biological children were removed from the home by the Department of Social Services shortly after the criminal case against them began.

On January 30, 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation offered a $25,000 reward, in addition to the $10,000 offered by the sheriff, for information leading to the location of the girl. Six months later, the total reward increased to $50,000.

In September 2015, an Illinois tracker dog company called K-9 Specialties came to Salisbury after being hired by local residents.

On September 29, 2016, after another round of searches and questioning, Sandy Parsons led investigators to Erica's skeletal remains. They were buried in a small grave near the home of Sandy's mother on Blair Hendrick Road, between the towns of Pageland and Mount Croghan, South Carolina. Before the discovery, detectives recovered items in the search of a shed on property belonging to Sandy, including a videotape, a hammer, teeth, and school records.

Discovery of remains

After talking to investigators on numerous occasions, Sandy Parsons led authorities to the remains of Erica Parsons who had been buried in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

Investigators conducted several interviews with Sandy Parsons by the warrant.

According to the warrant, Sandy Parsons admitted his "harsh treatment" of Erica.

"The treatment included, but was not limited to, locking Erica in a closet, beating her with a belt buckle, bending her fingers back, and choking her", the warrant states.

Dr. Cynthia Brown of the University Of North Carolina School Of Medicine characterized the treatment of Erica as "child torture."

The warrant also lays out exactly how investigators from Rowan County were able to locate Erica's remains in South Carolina.

The warrant states that in August, Sandy Parsons acknowledged to Rowan County Sheriff's investigator Chad Moose that Erica was dead. Sandy Parsons described the treatment Erica received, and the disposal of her body.

Sandy Parsons said that the body was discarded on December 19, 2011 and that it could be found off Taylor Chapel Road in Pageland, South Carolina, near the home of his mother.

Investigators worked with Rowan County District Attorney Brandy Cook to obtain a release for Sandy Parsons to leave his prison campus so that he could lead investigators to Erica's remains.

On September 20, an Order for Custody of a Federal Inmate was issued by a judge, allowing an Escort Team to take custody of Sandy Parsons and bring him from the Butner prison to Pageland so that he could "show the location of Erica Parsons' clandestine grave".

The body was recovered in that location, and Sandy Parsons was returned to the prison at Butner.

Autopsy results

The North Carolina Office of the Medical Examiner reported that Erica died of "homicidal violence of undetermined means". According to the autopsy, Erica had many fractures in various stages of healing. Fractures were found in her nose, jaw, upper right arm, nine ribs, and several vertebrae. The state of her bones also showed evidence of malnourishment. The Rowan County Sheriff received the report on January 9, 2018, and began the process of determining criminal charges.

Charges and sentencing

On February 19, 2018, a grand jury indicted both Sandy and Casey Parsons on counts of "first-degree murder, felony child abuse inflicting serious injury, felony concealment of death, and felony obstruction of justice". Casey Parsons was brought to Rowan County for a court appearance on March 14, 2018, while Sandy Parsons was brought back for a court hearing on March 15. Prosecutors announced in April 2018 that they were seeking the death penalty for both Casey and Sandy Parsons.

As of February 2019, defense attorneys agreed to separate trials.

Casey Parsons pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on August 2, 2019, in Rowan County Superior Court and was sentenced to life without parole.

The trial date for Sandy Parsons was set for April 6, 2020, and his attorney requested a change of venue. Sandy Parsons pleaded guilty to "second-degree murder, child abuse, concealment of death and obstruction" on December 17, 2019, and was sentenced to at least 33 years, to be served after his federal sentence.

On January 14, 2022, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Sandy Parsons was released from federal custody after completing his sentence for tax and mail fraud in connection with benefits received on behalf of Erica. That same day he began serving a state sentence in Central Prison.

Federal Bureau of Prisons records show Casey Parsons was released from federal custody on November 25, 2023, to begin serving her state sentence. At that time her husband was listed as a prisoner at Alexander Correctional Institution.

The Disappearance of Kyron Horman

 

Kyron Richard Horman (born September 9, 2002) is an American boy who disappeared from Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010, after attending a science fair. Local and state police, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), conducted an exhaustive search and launched a criminal investigation, but have not uncovered any significant information regarding the child's whereabouts. Horman's disappearance sparked the largest criminal investigation in Oregon history. To this day, his whereabouts remain unknown.

Background

Kyron Richard Horman was born September 9, 2002, in Portland, Oregon, to Desiree Young and Kaine Horman, an engineer for Intel. The couple divorced eight months into Young's pregnancy with Kyron, with Young citing irreconcilable differences. The two had been granted shared custody of Kyron until 2004, but when Young was diagnosed with kidney failure that required extensive medical intervention, Kaine took over full custody; notwithstanding this fact, Young remained an active part of the child's upbringing.

In 2007, Kaine married Terri Moulton (born March 14, 1970), a substitute teacher originally from Roseburg. Kaine became romantically involved with Moulton around 2001 when he and Young were divorcing. They married in 2007 while visiting Kauai, Hawaii. In December 2008, Moulton gave birth to a daughter, Kiara. Meanwhile, Kyron was a student at Skyline Elementary School near Forest Park.

Disappearance

On June 4, 2010, Kyron was taken to Skyline Elementary School by his stepmother Terri Horman (Moulton), who then stayed with him while he attended a science fair. Terri Horman stated that she left the school at around 8:45 a.m. and that she last remembered seeing Kyron walking down the hall to his class. However, Kyron was never seen in his first class and was instead marked as absent that day.

Terri's statements to the police indicate that, after leaving the school at 8:45 a.m., she ran errands at two different Fred Meyer grocery stores until about 10:10 a.m. Between then and 11:39 a.m., she stated that she was driving her daughter around town in an attempt to use the motion of the vehicle to soothe the toddler's earache. Terri said that she then went to a local gym and exercised until about 12:40 p.m. By 1:21 p.m., she had arrived home and posted photos of Kyron at the science fair on Facebook.

At 3:30 p.m., Terri and her husband, Kaine, walked with their daughter, Kiara, to the bus stop to meet Kyron. The bus driver told them that the boy had not boarded the bus, and to call the school to ask his whereabouts. Terri did so, only to be informed by the school secretary that, as far as anyone there knew, Kyron had not been at school since early that day and that he had accordingly been marked absent. Realizing then that the boy was missing, the secretary called 9-1-1.

Initial search efforts

Search efforts for Kyron were extensive and primarily focused on a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius around Skyline Elementary and Sauvie Island, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Law enforcement did not disclose their reasons for searching the area where they did, which included a search of the Sauvie Island Bridge.

On June 9, 2010, the Horman family, who had initially refused to speak with the media, released a statement:

Kyron's family would like to thank people for their support and interest in finding their son. The outpouring of support and continued effort strengthens their hope. We need folks to continue to assist us in our goal. Please search your properties — cars, outbuildings, sheds, etc. Also, check with neighbors and friends who may be on vacation or may need assistance in searching. There are a lot of resources here to help you search, so please don't stop. It is a difficult time and they want to speak to the public so you can hear it from Kyron's family as they come together to share their message. Their objective is to keep the focus on Kyron and not on anything else.

On June 12, around 300 trained rescuers were on the ground searching wooded areas near the school. The search for Kyron, which spanned ten days, was the largest in Oregon history and included over 1,300 searchers from Oregon, Washington, and California. A reward posted for information leading to the discovery of Kyron, which was initially $25,000, expanded to $50,000 in late July 2010.

Legal proceedings

In late June 2010, amid the search, Kaine was reportedly told by investigators that Terri had offered their landscaper, Rodolfo Sanchez, "a lot of money" to kill her husband. Sanchez testified in a deposition that Terri approached him to help kill her husband in January 2010, five months before Kyron's disappearance; in her deposition, Terri denied the charge. Investigators convinced Sanchez to confront Terri while wearing an audio surveillance device, but they were unable to obtain any evidence and could not make an arrest. On June 28, Kaine filed for divorce and obtained a restraining order against Terri. The divorce was granted and Terri was eventually granted supervised visitation with her daughter.

During this time, Terri failed two separate polygraph examinations regarding Kyron's disappearance. In August 2010, it was announced that law enforcement was searching for an individual allegedly seen by two witnesses sitting inside Terri's truck outside Skyline Elementary on the day of the disappearance. Bruce McCain, a former sheriff for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, told CBS News: "The identity of that second person, if he or she existed, could be critical in determining what happened to Kyron after 9 a.m. on June 4."

Meanwhile, in July 2010, a Multnomah County grand jury subpoenaed several friends of Terri, including DeDe Spicher, whom Young and Kaine described as having "been in close communication with Terri" and "providing Terri with support and advice that is not in the best interests of our son." According to law enforcement, Spicher was "extremely cooperative" and allowed a search of her property and car, as well as enduring three hours of questioning from detectives. On the day of Kyron's disappearance, Spicher was gardening for a homeowner on Germantown Road in Northwest Portland and was allegedly unaccounted for for three hours, though Spicher claimed she had never left the property. She also helped Terri purchase an untraceable cell phone after Kaine had moved out of the house. During this time, Spicher told journalists: "There's this horror that my friend is going through. If I thought for a second that she was capable of [foul play], I would not have been there. She would not have been my friend in the first place."

In early August 2010, Young, Kaine, and the Skyline Elementary School principal were subpoenaed and testified during the grand jury hearing. In December 2010, it was reported by The Oregonian that the grand jury had yet to provide compelling evidence yielding a potential indictment. By November 29, 2010, search efforts in Kyron's case had cost an estimated $1.4 million, according to county commissioners, and yielded 4,257 tips.

In May 2017, it was reported by Portland station KGW that a secret grand jury panel continued to hear evidence in Kyron's disappearance and had convened on multiple occasions. During the report, Kyron's case was described as still "active and ongoing." Two months later, in July 2017, law enforcement conducted further searches along Skyline Boulevard, but the searches yielded no results.

Lawsuit against Terri Horman

On June 1, 2012, Young filed a civil lawsuit against Terri, claiming that she was "responsible for the disappearance of Kyron." The lawsuit attempted to prove that Terri had kidnapped Kyron on the day he disappeared. Young sought $10 million in damages. On August 15, 2012, a federal court judge denied a motion by Terri to delay the lawsuit.

On July 30, 2013, it was announced that Young had dropped the lawsuit against Terri so as not to interfere with the ongoing police investigation.

Depiction in media

Memorial for Horman, 2015

Terri appeared as a guest on Dr. Phil in 2016, during which she told Phil McGraw: "I was advised from the beginning by law enforcement, by my husband at the time, by attorneys in the beginning, not to say anything. I've always wanted to. I've asked multiple times to speak out and have not been allowed." She denied having any involvement in Kyron's disappearance, and also stated her belief that he was kidnapped, adding: "There was a man in a white pickup truck, Ford, parked on Highway 30 at the 7-Eleven, which is not near the school. He was acting very strangely and he was addressed by one of the employees because he had been pacing back and forth in front of the 7-Eleven for about an hour."

Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Horman, written by Rebecca Morris, was released in May 2020.

"Vanished from School," season 2, episode 2, of the television show Real Life Nightmare on Discov,ery ID explores the case. The episode aired on November 15, 2020.

Jock Delves Broughton

 

Sir Henry John Delves Broughton, 11th Baronet, DL (10 September 1883 – 5 December 1942), was a British baronet who is chiefly known for standing trial for the murder of the 22nd Earl of Erroll. The event was the basis of the film White Mischief and the British television drama The Happy Valley, both from 1987.

Early life

Born at Doddington Hall in Doddington, Cheshire, 'Jock' Delves Broughton attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Irish Guards on 10 December 1902. He came into the baronetcy upon the death of his father in April 1914. He had married Vera Edyth Griffith-Boscawen on 8 July 1913; their daughter, Rosamond, married The 15th Lord Lovat in 1938.

At the outbreak of the First World War, as a captain in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, he was due to sail with his men but was taken ill and had to be replaced. He was forced to sell off most of the 34,000 acres (140 km2) of the family estate in the 1930s to pay gambling debts. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was part of a consortium that owned the Ensbury Park Race Course in Kinson, Dorset, now a part of Bournemouth. In 1939, he was suspected of insurance fraud after the theft of his wife's pearls and some paintings, on which he claimed the insurance. Months after he and Vera divorced, Delves Broughton married Diana Caldwell in Durban, Natal, Union of South Africa, on 5 November 1940, and the couple moved to the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya.

Murder trial

Lord Erroll was found shot in the head in his car at a crossroads outside Nairobi on 24 January 1941. He and the Delves Broughtons were part of the so-called Happy Valley set living in Happy Valley, Kenya.

Erroll's former lover, Alice de Janzé, was initially viewed by the Happy Valley set as a suspect, but Sir Jock Delves Broughton – whose wife was very publicly carrying on with Erroll – was arrested. He was acquitted at trial for lack of evidence, a conclusion that hinged on the identification of the murder weapon. Delves Broughton's pistol was a Colt with 6 grooves, and Erroll was killed by a bullet with 5 grooves. No pistol was produced by the Crown or by the defense. Delves Broughton claimed that two of his pistols, a silver cigarette case, and 10 or 20 shillings were stolen days before Erroll's death (Superintendent Arthur Poppy, a senior officer in the Kenya Police, claimed that Delves Broughton had stolen the guns from himself to give the impression that he had no .32 pistol at the time).

Additionally, the bullet that killed Erroll was fired by a pistol with clockwise rifling; Colts use anti-clockwise rifling. Another bullet fired at Erroll also had 5 grooves and clockwise turning. On 11 May 2007, The Daily Telegraph writer Christine Nicholls described taped evidence she claimed was definitive proof that Delves Broughton killed Erroll.

Aftermath

Delves Broughton was never accepted back into the Happy Valley set and returned to England alone, his wife having already taken another lover. In December 1942, a few days after his arrival, 59-year-old Delves Broughton was found dying from a morphine overdose at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool. The inquest recorded a verdict of suicide while the balance of his mind was disturbed, about illness following a back injury from a fall, the official reason for his return to England. The baronetcy passed to his son, Sir Evelyn Delves Broughton. After his death, his widow Diana remarried twice, the first time to the Happy Valley's wealthiest settler, Gilbert Colvile, and the second time to the 4th Baron Delamere.

The Case of JonBenet Ramsey

 

The Case of JonBenét Ramsey is a 2016 documentary miniseries about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado on December 25, 1996. The miniseries aired on CBS on September 18, and 19, 2016.

Investigative team

The investigative team said they reviewed the case, including the 911 call, ransom note, and other aspects of the case in re-created rooms of the Ramsey house. The documentary mixed past investigative footage with re-enactments of what they believe happened, along with that of this investigative team, which included former FBI agent Jim Clemente, forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, former Boulder Police Department officer, and Telluride Marshal's Department Chief Marshal Albert James Kolar, forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, former FBI agent James R. Fitzgerald, former Scotland Yard criminal behavior analyst Laura Richards, and former FBI agent Stan Burke.

In his lawsuit against CBS, Burke Ramsey's lawyers said that the CBS documentary contained no new investigation, but was a rehash of a 2012 book on the case by one of the participating investigators, Jim Kolar.

DNA evidence

The team examined the theory about an outsider depositing DNA on JonBenet's underwear and concluded that this trace amount of evidence could have been transferred when the underwear was made and packaged.

Former FBI profiler Candice Delong has stated "This is a DNA case." In an interview sampled on the Dr. Phil show she laughingly dismissed the idea that the same touch DNA could have shown up on multiple items of JonBenét's clothing stemming from the same factory worker in China.

The 911 call

The team used modern equipment and an interview with the 911 dispatcher, Kimberly Archuleta, to examine the 911 call and claimed that there were three voices on the tape: Patsy, John, and Burke. They believed one of the three voices was a boy. At the end of the call, the 911 dispatcher heard Patsy say "OK, we've called the police, now what?" By slowing down the last six seconds of the recording of the call, they heard three people talking. Patsy was deemed to have said "What did you do?" and "Help me, Jesus." John says "We're not speaking to you." A child, likely Burke, saying "What did you find?"

Twenty years before, the Secret Service and the FBI had listened to the same tape and heard nothing to indicate that Burke's voice could be heard. In 2003, NBC also sent out the recording to their experts, who agreed that nothing of substance could be made out in the seconds after Patsy finished talking.

The wording used during the call was concerning to the team: During the call, Patsy did not mention the name of her daughter. Also, she said "I'm the mother" and "we have a kidnapping".

Ransom note

Mr. Ramsey,

Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We do respect your bussiness [sic] but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession [sic]. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.

You will withdraw $118,000.00 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 am tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a [sic] earlier delivery pick-up of your daughter.

Any deviation from my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as the Police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies. You will be scanned for electronic devices and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us but be warned that we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart [sic] us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.

You and your family are under constant scrutiny as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain, John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us, John. Use that good Southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now John!

Victory!

S.B.T.C

Original text

According to E! News, "One of the strangest parts of the Ramsey case has always been the ransom note, which [...] made no sense given the fact that JonBenét's body was found in the house a few hours later". Misspellings and other mistakes were made to cover the fact that the writer was a native speaker of the English language.

The note demanded $118,000, the rounded amount of John Ramsey's bonus that year. It took the experts 21 minutes or more to copy the ransom note and it noted that it would take more time to think about what to write. The pen and paper were not left out but returned to their rightful place by the note's author. Many lines from the letter were taken from Speed, Dirty Harry, and other films.

Fitzgerald said that the note appeared to be written by a "maternal" person. A US Federal Court had ruled that Patsy had almost certainly not written the note, and that "abundant evidence" demonstrated the innocence of all the Ramseys.

The letters ‘S.B.T.C’ have also been a mystery. There have been many guesses about what the letters could stand for, but none have been confirmed.

Cause of death theory

JonBenét was determined by police to have "suffered a blow to the head and had also been strangled with a garrote."

The investigators concluded that JonBenét could have been killed, perhaps accidentally, by a blow from a flashlight by a 10-year-old boy, based upon experiments performed using a child and fake skulls with wigs. They were also able to recreate the injury that JonBenét sustained to her head by having the boy in the experiment use a flashlight, similar to one found in the kitchen of the Ramsey's home.

The Ramseys

John, Patsy, and Burke have denied involvement in the death of JonBenét. No charges have been filed in the case, as of September 2016. Several days before the airing of this mini-series, Burke Ramsey was interviewed on the Dr. Phil show in a three-episode series about the death of his sister. It was his first public interview. The Ramsey family lawyer, L. Lin Wood, threatened to sue CBS for libel (defamation) based on its conclusion that JonBenét was killed by Burke. In time lawsuits were filed on behalf of Burke Ramsey and John Ramsey against CBS, as well as against various participants in the program, seeking close to $1 billion in total. Attempts at having the suit dismissed were unsuccessful. Eventually, all the defamation lawsuits related to the show were retired outside of court in a confidential settlement.

Critical review

The review of the mini-series by Variety questioned the objectivity of the team, particularly in taking "hazy" assertions and declaring them as fact. For example, during the show, it is stated that John Ramsey called out that he had found JonBenet before he turned on the light in the dark basement room where the body lay, but the source or veracity of the statement was not clear. Rolling Stone magazine found that there were three ways in which the investigation was flawed: 1) "Confirmation bias, selective hearing, and the misleading 911 call analysis", 2) "Dismissing the DNA evidence entirely" and 3) "Overselling linguistic forensics, and behavioral analysis as conclusive". They found that since the investigation did not unearth any new evidence, the conclusions were not new but subjective, and based upon the initial "flawed" police investigation.

E! News, on the other hand, offered three "bombshells" from the series regarding: 1) The 911 call, 2) The Ransom Note, and 3) Cause of Death.

Bob Grant, former Adams County District Attorney who was brought in to advise the Boulder District Attorney's office on the case, voiced skepticism about any of the 2016 television show's abilities to unearth a new theory or solidify an existing theory in the case. He said, "The case will always be, in my mind, one where there are two likely scenarios. And to prove one, you have to disprove the other." He states that without a viable confession, it is unlikely that there will be a resolution in the case.

CNN commentator John Philips called the show "shameful", and suggested that CBS should earn a "Fake News Award" for passing on information he termed "reckless".

Attorney Dan Abrams, who is a legal commentator for ABC, called the allegation that Burke killed his sister "total BS".