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Kane man to stand trial for overdose homicide
July 7, 2007
By David Gialanella Staff Writer
An Elburn man who authorities say left his
friend for dead after a narcotics overdose last
year is expected to stand trial Monday in Kane
County Court.
Clinton S. Eash, 31, of the 41W800 block
of Campton Hills Drive, and codefendant Joseph
M. Estok, 29, of the 1600 block of Forrest Boulevard,
St. Charles, each are charged with one count
of drug-induced homicide and one count of involuntary
manslaughter.
The two men are the first in Kane County
to be charged with drug-induced homicide. Estok
will be tried separately at a later date.
Prosecutors allege Eash and Estok facilitated
the heroin and cocaine binge that left 27-year-old
Matthew Thies of St. Charles dead, and neglected
to seek medical attention for Thies when he
showed signs of an overdose.
According to authorities, Thies, Eash and
Estok drove to Chicago to buy drugs on June
15, 2006, after attending the funeral for Estok's
mother.
The three began taking the heroin and cocaine
on the drive back, and continued using at a
home in St. Charles, authorities said. When
Thies became ill and unresponsive, Eash and
Estok made several futile attempts to revive
him, then took him to a nearby park and left
him on a bench, thinking that he would eventually
wake up and find his own way home, the state's
attorney's office said.
The next day, three young girls discovered
him deceased on the bench -- which was near
a school playground -- sitting mostly upright
and still in the clothes he wore to Estok's
mother's funeral the day before.
Eash faces 15 to 30 years in prison if convicted
of the charge.
The state law on drug-induced homicide is
broad enough to implicate any drug dealer in
an overdose death. The law has been criticized
because it not only covers dealers and traffickers,
but any user who may provide drugs to another
user, even if they are taking the drugs together.
Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti
said previously that he is concerned that the
statute provides a disincentive for drug users
to seek medical aid for Overdose victims. Some
have suggested that the law should be amended
for those who elect to seek help for such a
victim.
Suspect May Face Murder Charges in Overdose
Deaths
By Ed Pruneau, Missourian Managing Editor
11/06/2007
A man arrested last week in a drug trafficking
case may face murder charges in connection with
the deaths of a 16-year-old Pacific girl and
two men, authorities said.
The man is suspected of supplying possible tainted
heroin to all three people who died from apparent
drug overdoses over the last year.
Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner, commander of
the Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit
(FCNEU), said investigators plan to seek felony
murder charges against Michael S. Ellison, 22,
in connection with the deaths.
Under Missouri law, if a person commits a crime
and someone dies as a result, the suspect may
be charged with murder. Pacific Police Chief
Jim Brune said he's very pleased with the investigation
and arrest of Ellison.
"This arrest will hopefully stem the flow of
tainted heroin into Franklin County," Brune
said.
FCNEU officers along with members of the Jefferson
County Drug Task Force arrested Ellison Friday,
Nov. 2, at his apartment in High Ridge. The
arrest stemmed from the September 2006 search
of a Pacific home where Ellison had been staying.
Ellison is being held in the county jail on
a $150,000 cash-only bond.
Grellner said Ellison, formerly of Pacific,
has been under investigation for suspected heroin
trafficking for the last 18 months.
During an investigation of the girl's apparent
overdose death at a Pacific home Oct. 20, FCNEU
officers working with Pacific police interviewed
"numerous witnesses and tracked multiple leads"
in an effort to find the source of the heroin,
Grellner said.
The trail led to Ellison, according to Grellner,
who is suspected of supplying heroin used by
the girl.
Ellison also has been linked to the death of
Carl Zerna III, 19, Villa Ridge, in September
2006, and the May 2007 death of Billy Rippee
Jr. 23, Labadie, according to Grellner.
"Investigators continue to investigate all three
deaths and hope to present cases for felony
murder in the future," Grellner said.
Brune said the suspect had been under investigation
for a long time. "It all started breaking loose
last Thursday and Friday," the chief remarked.
"I'm sorry there had to be additional victims
but sometimes it takes awhile to connect all
the dots," Brune said.
Beginning in 2006, the entire St. Louis area,
including eastern Franklin County, experienced
a spike in heroin overdoses and in many of those
cases, investigators suspected that the drug
Fentanyl, synthetic morphine, was involved,
either mixed in with heroin or other drugs.
It is said to be about 80 times more potent
than morphine.
In August 2006, Franklin County authorities
reported more than 15 drug overdose cases including
one that resulted in the death of a 41-year-old
Labadie area man.
Brune said while authorities suspect a heroin
overdose, they still don't know the exact cause
of the girl's death because results of toxicology
tests won't be completed for six to eight weeks.
He declined to release the juvenile girl's name.
Sheriff Gary Toelke said the cases point up
the danger of illegal drug use, and how users
don't know what they are buying off the street.
"This stuff is extremely dangerous," he said.
"It's a shame people feel they have to use this
stuff," Toelke remarked. "The people who sell
it need to be held responsible."
Ohio
Two Charged With Reckless
Homicide In Overdose
Deathhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21997798/
NBC 4
updated
10:15 p.m. PT,
Tues., Nov. 27, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio--
When James Baisden died September 2, police considered
his death suspicious. Yesterday, police arrested
his two friends and now consider them his killers,
NBC 4’sTacoma Newsome
reported.
Chad Foster, 32, and Anthony Moore,
28, appeared in court today for the first time.
Both men are being charged with reckless homicide
and corrupting another with drugs after a two-month
investigation by Westerville Police.
Both Foster and Moore evoked their
right not to speak. The judge ordered the men to
remain jailed on $100,000 bond and not reach out
to their former friend’s family.
Foster and Moore are due back in court
December 1, according to Newsome.
Stay tuned to NBC 4
and refresh nbc4i.com for
more information.
Grafton man might have been
present for 3 heroin-related deaths
Village sought ‘Len Bias' charge in ‘03
for man with Raettig last week
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OZAUKEE COUNTY - Ben Stibbe
was there, that much at least is clear. He was there
the night Angela Raettig died of a suspected heroin-related
overdose. He was there a 21-year-old Grafton man
died of a likely heroin-related overdose.
What’s also clear is that both
of those deaths might have been avoided if the District
Attorney’s office had charged Stibbe for being there
- and more - the night 43-year-old Lynn Smaxwill
died almost exactly three years ago.
On Dec. 12, 2002, Stibbe, now
23, went over to Smaxwill’s house following an argument
with his parents. What happened between the time
he and a friend who was staying with Smaxwill at
the time returned to the home with a mixture of
cocaine and heroin is unclear, but that night the
three did the drugs in a bedroom in the home.
The next morning Smaxwill’s 12-year-old
son found her dead in her room.
The investigation that followed
led the Grafton Police Department to forward its
report to the District Attorney’s office inquiring
about whether a first-degree reckless homicide charge
for Stibbe was appropriate. The state law, also
known as the Len Bias law, allows for the prosecution
for homicide of the person who supplies an individual
with the drugs they die from.
"There’s a couple different versions
of where she got it from," Chief Charles Wenten
said, "a lot of finger pointing going on. ... We
were asking for guidance in a possible first-degree
reckless homicide. There was nothing written back
from the DA, but it was not charged at that time."
And Stibbe, who by some accounts
was the dealer who provided the Smaxwill with the
lethal combination of cocaine and heroin, walked
away clean - or at least free.
Spent year in jail
Fast forward three years. Stibbe
had spent about a year or so in jail for minor misdemeanor
charges involving theft, drug paraphernalia and
violating his probation. Court records indicate
he was released in April 2005.
Overall, though, he managed to
keep a very low profile.
"I had never heard his name before
this whole thing happened, so there was no association
I knew of," according to the mother of the 21-year-old
who died Oct. 16, 2005, who asked not to have her
identity revealed. "Now his name is just coming
up way too often."
While she knew many of Angela’s
friends, Bonnie Raettig also had never heard of
Stibbe.
"I still had not heard his name,"
Raettig said, "and (Lynn Smaxwill’s sister Ann Smaxwill)
mentioned his name from three years ago and then
that same day one of Angela’s friends who went to
Milwaukee that evening (Angela died), she had mentioned
his name. I was astounded, thinking three years
ago he was dealing and he’s still out."
Both mothers said they’ve been
told by the friends of their children that Stibbe
was at least present the night they died.
"I understand she was with him
that night," Raettig said. "They picked him up in
Grafton and he was the one who probably directed
them where to go in Milwaukee. I’m not sure how
instrumental he was in consummating the deal. I
don’t know if Angela and Ryan (Hinkle) knew the
drug dealer in Milwaukee well enough to go down
there themselves without somebody else letting them
know these kids were OK."
The Grafton man’s mother was also
told by her son’s friends that Stibbe was along
the night her son died. "The only thing I know about
Ben Stibbe is what I’ve heard through the grapevine,"
she said. "I don’t know for a fact, but I heard
that he was there that night."
Informant led to arrest
Whether the police were biding
their time and building their case, or whether it
took three related deaths in the last 1 1/2 months
for them to pick up Stibbe’s trail is unclear, but
the chain of events from the last two weeks indicate
they have definitely caught the scent.
Angela Raettig came home last
Tuesday night after shooting up at Ryan Hinkle’s
home. That same night the Ozaukee County Drug Unit
executed a search warrant at the home of Hinkle,
who on Nov. 8 was caught doing heroin with another
girl in a public bathroom at the Cedarburg Community
Center gym. They found two drug pipes in that search.
Raettig was found dead in her
room Wednesday morning.
Thursday, only a day after Raettig
died, a confidential informant working with the
drug unit called Stibbe asking to buy $120 worth
of heroin. Stibbe, the informant, another unidentified
person and a Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy
drove to a Walgreens on Hopkins Avenue in Milwaukee
where Stibbe allegedly conducted a transaction with
his drug dealer and brought back to the car six
foil packets of heroin, giving five to the other
occupants and almost immediately snorting from the
remaining packet.
Almost as if bragging, Stibbe
told the officers after he was arrested that "no
amount of heroin that he could snort would actually
get him high because his tolerance is so high,"
the criminal complaint states.
More charges coming?
The delivery of heroin charges
are that Stibbe was slapped with on Monday - he’s
facing up to 25 years in prison and $50,000 in fines
- might end up being the least of his problems.
In an uncharacteristic foreshadowing,
District Attorney Sandy Williams hinted at Stibbe’s
Dec. 5 initial appearance that more serious charges
may be filed in the near future.
"We forwarded this information
to the DA’s office back in ‘03, but it didn’t make
it," Wenten said. "But in light of some other information
that’s come forward at this time we’re working with
Cedarburg and possible similarities to any investigations
they may have. We’re trying to wrap this up into
a total package."
Currently being held on $30,000
bail, Stibbe will also be there, in jail, when that
happens.
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What is the ‘Len Bias Law?'
The law attaches a first-degree reckless
homicide charge to persons who supply others
with controlled substances leading to death.
Here is the actual statute:
940.02(2)
(2) Whoever causes the death of another
human being under any of the following circumstances
is guilty of a Class C felony:
940.02(2)(a)
(a) By manufacture, distribution or delivery,
in violation of s. 961.41, of a controlled
substance included in schedule I or II under
ch. 961, of a controlled substance analog
of a controlled substance included in schedule
I or II under ch. 961 or of ketamine or
flunitrazepam, if another human being uses
the controlled substance or controlled substance
analog and dies as a result of that use.
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This story appeared in the
Ozaukee County News Graphic on December 8, 2005.
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DEALER SENTENCED
IN DRUG OVERDOSE
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The 84-Month Jail Term Is Due to a Law
That Allows Drug Dealers to Be Punished
When Their Clients Die.
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Shane Jesmer was an expert snowboarder
who dreamed of someday competing in
the Olympics.
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When he broke a collarbone in 2004,
he made the mistake of seeking out a
drug dealer to help him cope with the
pain.
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The dealer, Raoul Mahon Keith, sold
him a lethal amount of methadone and
on Wednesday was sentenced to 84 months
in prison under a seldom- used state
charge, "controlled substance homicide."
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Keith sold the drug to Jesmer, 19, who
had a fatal overdose.
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Keith, 38, of Everett, told the sentencing
judge he doesn't want to be labeled
as a drug dealer. Snohomish County
Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry
responded, "I don't know what a drug
dealer is if he is not."
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Jesmer, of Monroe, drove with some friends
to Everett and bought the methadone
from Keith on Oct. 31, 2004, according
to court papers filed by deputy prosecutor
Janice Albert.
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According to charging papers, Jesmer
consumed most of a small bottle of methadone
and went to sleep. He wasn't breathing
when companions woke up, and aid personnel
couldn't revive him.
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The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's
office ruled that Jesmer died of an
overdose of methadone and diazepam,
a drug used to relieve anxiety, muscle
spasms and seizures, documents said.
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| Pubdate:
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Thu,
23 Nov 2006 |
| Source:
|
Herald,
The (Everett, WA) |
| Copyright:
|
2006
The Daily Herald Co. |
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(1) DEALER SENTENCED IN DRUG OVERDOSE
(Top)
The 84-Month Jail Term Is Due to a Law That Allows
Drug Dealers to Be Punished When Their Clients Die.
Shane Jesmer was an expert snowboarder who dreamed
of someday competing in the Olympics.
When he broke a collarbone in 2004, he made the
mistake of seeking out a drug dealer to help him
cope with the pain.
The dealer, Raoul Mahon Keith, sold him a lethal
amount of methadone and on Wednesday was sentenced
to 84 months in prison under a seldom- used state
charge, "controlled substance homicide."
Keith sold the drug to Jesmer, 19, who had a fatal
overdose.
Keith, 38, of Everett, told the sentencing judge
he doesn't want to be labeled as a drug dealer.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry
responded, "I don't know what a drug dealer is if
he is not."
Jesmer, of Monroe, drove with some friends to Everett
and bought the methadone from Keith on Oct. 31,
2004, according to court papers filed by deputy
prosecutor Janice Albert.
[snip]
According to charging papers, Jesmer consumed most
of a small bottle of methadone and went to sleep.
He wasn't breathing when companions woke up, and
aid personnel couldn't revive him.
[snip]
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's office ruled
that Jesmer died of an overdose of methadone and
diazepam, a drug used to relieve anxiety, muscle
spasms and seizures, documents said.
Pubdate: Thu, 23 Nov 2006
Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)
Copyright: 2006 The Daily Herald Co.
Filed under: PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. ,
Heroin Death
Dec 4, 2007 10:08 AM (3 days ago) AP
PORT
WASHINGTON, Wis.- A 21-year-old man
has been charged with first-degree reckless
homicide in the heroin overdose death of
a Cedarburg teenager.
A criminal complaint filed Monday in
Ozaukee County Circuit Court contended Ryan
J. Hinkle of Cedarburg was one of three
people with Angela Raettig, 17, when they
purchased heroin in Milwaukee on Nov. 29,
2005, and then injected it at Hinkle's apartment.
Raettig was found dead at her home the next
day.
Hinkle is already serving a one-year
jail sentence for violating bail on a separate
heroin possession charge. Three more felony
bail-jumping charges were recently filed
against him accusing him of violating terms
of his work-release privileges.
If convicted of the new charge, Hinkle
could be imprisoned 40 years.
Two others who were accused of being
involved in Raettig's death have been convicted
and are in prison.
Caitlin Schuette, 18, of Cedarburg was
sentenced to two years in January. She was
accused of calling Benjamin Stibbe, 25,
of Grafton, to purchase the heroin that
she, Hinkle and Raettig used.
Stibbe was sentenced in September 2006
to 18 years for his role in Raettig's death.
Stibbe, and his mother, Teri Stibbe,
50, and Hinkle have also been charged in
U.S. District Court with being part of a
ring that distributed heroin from Chicago
in the Milwaukee area.
Benjamin Stibbe pleaded guilty in September
to the federal charge and is scheduled to
be sentenced in February.
Stibbe was sentenced in November to 25
years in prison, to run concurrent to other
sentences, for providing the heroin that
caused the overdose deaths of Lynn Smaxwill,
43, in December 2002; and Matt Kobiske,
21, and James Helm, 47, in October 2005.
Smaxwill, Kobiske and Helm were all Grafton
residents.
---
Information from:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
http://www.jsonline.com
Posted September 21,
2007
Drug overdose results in homicide charge
By Jeff Starck
Wausau Daily Herald
jstarck@wdhprint.com
A man who allegedly provided methadone to a 19-year-old
who later died of an apparent overdose of the drug
now faces a new charge of first-degree reckless
homicide.
Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Greg Huber ruled
at a preliminary hearing Thursday Larry Pirillo,
34, of Wausau will stand trial for the death of
Charles Tabaka of Mosinee. A forensic pathologist
testified Tabaka died of a methadone overdose.
A friend of Tabaka testified Thursday that she saw
Tabaka purchase methadone from Pirillo. She said
she later saw him swallow about six pills and crush
and snort two others.
"(The pathologist) was quite clear in his opinion
that methadone killed Mr. Tabaka," Marathon County
Assistant District Attorney Ken Heimerman said when
asked why he upgraded the charge from a drug delivery
offense.
Tabaka was found dead July 8 in a tent outside a
home at 6802 E. Butternut Road in the town of Wausau.
Police were called at about 7:15 a.m. after friends
at the residence found Tabaka foaming and bleeding
from the mouth, according to the report.
Dr. Michael Stier, a forensic pathologist from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Tabaka's lungs
were three to four times heavier than normal according
to an analysis of the autopsy results. The fluid
buildup in his lungs, which caused the excess weight,
is typical of an opiate overdose, Stier said.
Pirillo is being held in the Marathon County Jail
on a $25,000 cash bond. He will enter a plea to
the upgraded charge at a later date.
If convicted, Pirillo could serve as many as 40
years in prison.
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