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dyllbrad
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Toe is in the water |
Registered: December 2006
Messages: 34
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UNION, Mo. (AP) — A pizzeria worker pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy who was found four days later in the man's apartment with another boy who had been missing for more than four years.
Michael Devlin, 41, is charged with abducting Ben Ownby after the boy stepped off a school bus earlier this month.
Devlin, also a part-time funeral home employee, remained in the Franklin County Jail during the arraignment, appearing through a video hookup. He is jailed on $1 million bond.
Devlin stood with his hands folded in front of his stomach, wearing orange jail-issued clothing. He mostly responded to the judge's questions with yes or no answers and did not make a statement.
Associate Circuit Judge David Tobben scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 15. But after the arraignment, prosecutor Robert Parks said he would take the case to a grand jury in February, negating the need for a preliminary hearing.
Devlin's defense attorneys told reporters they wanted the case moved from Franklin County.
"There's no way we can get a fair trial in this county with the amount of attention it's gotten," defense attorney Michael Kielty said.
Ben had just returned home from a day at middle school Jan. 8 when he was abducted soon after getting off his school bus. Another student who got off at the same stop, Mitchell Hults, saw a white Nissan pickup speeding away.
Devlin's pickup, spotted Thursday at his apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, matched the description. Police entered Devlin's apartment Friday and found Ben and, astonishingly, Shawn Hornbeck, now 15, who had been missing more than four years.
Sheriff Gary Toelke on Thursday offered some insight into Devlin's demeanor inside the jail. He said Devlin has been quiet and mostly keeps to himself.
"He's being kept in a holding cell," Toelke said. "He's not being kept in suicide watch for now, but due to the magnitude and circumstances of this case we're keeping a closer eye on him. We'll just have to watch his demeanor and behavior."
Devlin has diabetes and reportedly had a toe amputated. Toelke said the medical issue was requiring no special needs at the jail.
Defense attorney Ethan Corlija said Devlin was being held in isolation as a "preventative measure."
On Wednesday, prosecutors in nearby Washington County filed kidnapping and armed criminal action charges against Devlin in the Shawn Hornbeck abduction.
Prosecutor John Rupp said the then-11-year-old boy was terrorized with a handgun into cooperating with his abductor when he was taken Oct. 6, 2002, from near his home in Richwoods.
"Shawn was abducted against his will," Washington County prosecutor John Rupp said. "Period. End of story."
A probable cause statement released by Rupp said Devlin "abducted SDH utilizing force for the purpose of terrorizing the victim. After securing SDH, Michael Devlin flourished a handgun in order to gain compliance of the minor child. Michael Devlin then transported him out of the county and concealed his whereabouts for four years and three months."
Washington County Sheriff Kevin Schroeder called Shawn "very strong" and "very articulate," but said investigators are being careful not to push him too hard because of his age.
"Give Shawn some time and proceed through this thing slowly," Schroeder said. "He's been away from his family four-and-a-half years. We've got to give him some time to rejoin that family unit.
"This is something so bizarre that the normal individual cannot grasp what this then-11-year-old boy went through."
BOY TALKS: Teen says he prayed for reunion
Kielty told reporters he wanted the case moved from Franklin County.
"There's no way we can get a fair trial in this county with the amount of attention it's gotten," he said.
Devlin also is under investigation in the 1991 disappearance of another Missouri boy who still has not been found. Investigators in Lincoln County called him the "most viable lead" in the case of Charles Arlin Henderson, who was 11 when he disappeared in 1991. He was never found.
Arlin, like Ben and Shawn, weighed about 100 pounds and was abducted from a rural area about an hour's drive from St. Louis. Both Shawn and Arlin vanished at age 11 while riding their bikes.
"If you were to take a photo of Arlin Henderson and you place it next to Shawn's picture, there is a striking resemblance," Lincoln County sheriff's Lt. Rick Harrell said.
Investigators began re-examining the 1991 case after Devlin's arrest. Detective Chris Bartlett said a witness saw a man snapping photos of Arlin before the Moscow Mills boy vanished.
Arlin's uncle, James McWilliams, said the boy came home from school a few months before he disappeared and told his mother a "tall, thin man" had been taking pictures of him.
Asked whether the man's description fit that of Devlin, who stands about 6-foot-4 and weighs around 300 pounds, Bartlett said: "It matched the description enough that we have to pursue him as the most viable lead."
"We've got other indications that cause us to be concerned with this," he added.
Lincoln County deputies have sent their leads to the Franklin County task force that spearheaded the hunt for Ben.
Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said his office and the FBI were investigating whether Devlin might have been involved in other abductions. FBI spokesman Pete Krusing would not discuss whether the agency was investigating a link between Devlin and the 1991 case.
as a kid i stand here to say two words
BULL SH*T
sorry if you're offended anyone but i am at his plea
dyll's jac's cousin brad is my boyfriend...
so wat if i kissed another boy in class and got caught
(THIS MAY WELL BE OUR LAST POST)
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Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: dyllbrad on Thu, 18 January 2007 22:21 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Fri, 19 January 2007 07:16 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: tickie on Fri, 19 January 2007 22:12 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Sat, 20 January 2007 00:42 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Sat, 20 January 2007 09:36 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: E.J. on Sun, 21 January 2007 00:20 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Sat, 20 January 2007 17:03 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: E.J. on Sun, 21 January 2007 00:24 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: tBP on Sat, 20 January 2007 17:18 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Sat, 20 January 2007 18:11 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: marc on Sun, 21 January 2007 12:14 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: tBP on Sun, 21 January 2007 13:26 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
By: timmy on Wed, 07 February 2007 07:07 |
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Re: Man pleads not guilty to kidnap of teen
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