(MOBRIDGE) CHARGES AGAINST FOUR MOBRIDGE TEENS ORIGINALLY ACCUSED OF
MURDER HAVE BEEN REDUCED. WALWORTH COUNTY STATES ATTORNEY DAN TODD SAID
19 YEAR OLD LAYNE GISI OF MOBRIDGE NOW FACES A REDUCED CHARGE OF FIRST
DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER WITH THE ALTERNATIVE OF SECOND DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER.
GISI HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE MURDER IN THE DEATH OF ROBERT
MANY HORSES LAST MONTH. THREE OTHERS CHARGED WITH GISI ALSO HAVE HAD
CHARGES AGAINST THEM REDUCED. AMENDED CHARGES OF AIDING AND ABETTING
MANSLAUGHTER, REDUCED FROM SECOND DEGREE MURDER, HAVE BEEN FILED. THE
THREE STILL FACE THE ORIGINAL CHARGE OF MISPRISON OF A FELONY AND
ACCESSORY TO A CRIME CHARGES. ALL FOUR ACCUSED STILL FACE LIFE IN
PRISON IF FOUND GUILTY. THEY WILL MAKE THEIR NEXT COURT APPEARANCE IN
SELBY TOMORROW. THANKS TO SHARON MARTIN, KOLY MOBRIDGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additionally, the man found murdered in Mobridge was beaten to death and his body stuffed into a trash can. The charges should NOT be reduced! This is a hate crime pure and simple. Where is the press on this? Media by and large doe snot cover the death of Natives. If this had been Byrd in TX it would be national news, IMO. Not that any death of this nature can ever truly be compared. Where are the cries of outrage? this is ONE of an ongoing series of attacks that have resulted in deaths in this area, yet the sherriff claims they have no problems..
Ishgooda
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OTHER SLAYINGS IN SD [excerpted from ICT]
Aura of racism in Rapid Creek deaths
By Jennifer Peterka
Today staff
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Eight bodies have been found in Rapid Creek within the last 14 months, three of them in the last month and a half.
All of them were males between 33 and 56 and all but two were American Indian. The county's chief deputy sheriff concedes, "There is something wrong, something dreadfully wrong."
July 8, 1999: The body of Timothy Bull Bear Sr., 47, of Allen, was pulled from the creek July 8, by the Rapid City/Pennington County Dive Rescue Team. His body was found near Orchard Lane in Rapid Valley. Investigators said that there is no apparent cause of death and they are unsure of how his body got in the creek.
In 1997 there was a single death along the creek. In just the past 14 months there were five in 1998 and so far this year three more.
June 7, 1999: The bodies of Arthur Chamberlain, 45, from Lake Andes, and Dirk Bartling, 44, of Gregory, were found less than two weeks apart, in close proximity near downtown Rapid City.
Chamberlain's body was found June 7 near Steele Street off of East Omaha by a passerby on the city's bike path. Glassgow said this death was ruled as a drowning and Chamberlain's blood-alcohol level was .26 percent.
May 29, the body of Bartling, a white male, was found in the creek at Roosevelt Park. Investigators said they are still uncertain how his body got in the creek. His death was ruled as a drowning as a result of severe intoxication. His blood alcohol level was .288 percent, almost three times the limit for drunk driving charges.
Officials are increasingly concerned about the deaths and are now thinking it is more than coincidence that this many people have died in the creek. Unlike the first five deaths, foul play has not been so easily ruled out. in the deaths of Bull Bear, Chamberlain and Bartling
"We think maybe somebody is doing it, although we don't have any conclusive evidence. It's now a little more than coincidental," said Doug Austin director of the City/County Alcohol and Drug Program.
May 21, 1998 The first death in the more recent series in Rapid Creek was that of Benjamin Paul Long Wolf, 36, of Martin. His body was found May 21, 1998, under the Sixth Street bridge. Even though - according to his death certificate - Long Wolf was found with moderate swelling in his head, his death was ruled an accident.
May 31,1998 : Ten days later, on May 31, the body of George Hatten Jr., 56, a transient was found in the creek near a drainage ditch on the north side of the West Boulevard bridge. His death also was ruled an accident even though marks were found around his neck, according to the death certificate
Both death certificates attributed the deaths to being "extremely intoxicated and fell or passed out in Rapid Creek." Cause of death - drowning due to severe intoxication.
Members of Long Wolf's family question the manner of his death. "I don't think he drowned. I think someone killed him and threw him in the water. He was a pretty good swimmer and the creek isn't that deep,Ó said Ruth Janis-Salway, Long Wolf's mother.
W July 4, 1998: Allen Hough, a 42 year old, white male from Rapid City, was found dead in Rapid Creek on July 4, 1998. Rapid City Police Department Captain Craig Tieszen said there was no evidence of foul play in Hough's death and his cause of death also was listed as drowning.
Dec. 8, 1998: Randelle Two Crow, 48, from White Horse was the third American Indian male to be found dead at Rapid Creek. Two Crow, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, was found Dec. 8, 1998, in a pool of water near the creek bank under the East Boulevard bridge, near downtown Rapid City.
Investigators of the Rapid City Police Department and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, believe Two Crow died some time the night before, while sleeping under the bridge. An autopsy determined his cause of death was an extremely high blood alcohol level of .515 percent. His death was also ruled an accident.
Dec. 9, 1998: Loren Two Bulls, 33, from Rapid City was a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a well-known artist. His body was found Dec. 9, 1998, between East Boulevard and Maple Avenue, about a half-block from where Two Crow was found the day before. His cause of death was also listed as severe alcohol toxicity with a blood alcohol level of .531 percent.
After Two Crow's and Two Bulls' deaths, the Rapid City Police Department and the Pennington County Sheriff's Department opened a probe of the first five deaths.
The month-long investigation found no new evidence casting doubt on the original causes of death or tying the first five deaths together. Tieszen said that the investigations did not indicate any foul play.
Other than the location, investigation has not demonstrated that any of the five deaths are in anyway connected, Tieszen said. In the 23 years he has been with the Rapid City Police Department, he has never seen this many deaths in the creek in one year.
Still, many members of the city's American Indian community and the transient population are left wondering if the deaths are murder and, if so, who is doing it.
Many transients, who often sleep under the bridges along Rapid Creek, believe a racist group of young adult or teen-age white males are responsible and say they harass American Indians they find along the creek.
Howard Pretends Eagle said he is afraid to sleep near the creek because of the deaths. Instead, he now finds shelter with friends, relatives or in other nonconspicuous places within the city.
Pretends Eagle said he has been harassed by a carload of teen-age white males who tried to chase him down with their car. He reported the incident to the police department with surprising results. "They tried to arrest me. It doesn't do any good to report crimes against the homeless."
This seems to be the attitude of many other homeless American Indians interviewed. They are afraid to report incidents to police because they may be intoxicated or have outstanding warrants for their arrests. They do not want to be arrested or taken to detox. They also feel that when they make reports to the police department, their complaints are note treated fairly.
"When I've made reports to the police department, they tell me it didn't happen," Rick Afraid of Hawk said.
"I have never been harassed by police as much in any other city, as I have been here in Rapid City," said a transient passing through Rapid City.
According to assistant U.S. Attorney Ted McBride, three hate crimes have been reported in the state this year - an assault and two vandalism crimes that were racially motivated. "Many crimes may not be reported as hate crimes, but it doesn't appear to be a big problem in South Dakota."
Reprinted under the Fair Use
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
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