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U.S. NEWSSaturday 13 January 2018
Texas: Man who escaped
Hawaii hospital had
Father charged with murder in death of orphan fake IDs, cells, cash
By DAVID WARREN County with abandoning law enforcement agencies that his daughter disap- By JENNIFER KELLEHER
Associated Press a child and tampering with before her body was found peared after he punished Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — The father evidence. Prosecutors said later that month. her by sending her out in HONOLULU (AP) — A man
of a 3-year-old girl whose the capital murder charge, District Attorney Faith John- the night to stand by a tree who escaped from a Ha-
body was found in a culvert which could carry the son said evidence in the near their home. He later waii psychiatric hospital
near their suburban Dallas death penalty, was filed af- case was still unfolding Fri- told investigators the girl and flew to California was
home about a year after ter an autopsy determined day, but that there was had developmental dis- caught with two high-qual-
she was adopted from an his daughter died from no indication anyone else abilities and was malnour- ity fake IDs, two cellphones
Indian orphanage was in- “homicidal violence.” was involved in the death. ished. He described a spe- and more than $6,000 in
dicted Friday on capital The child, Sherin Mathews, Mathews had already cial diet regimen in which cash, according to court
murder. disappeared in early Oc- been charged with felony she had to eat whenever documents.
Wesley Mathews, 37, was tober, sparking a broad injury to a child. she was awake in order to Randall Saito’s escape
also charged in Dallas search involving numerous Mathews initially told police gain weight.q from Hawaii State Hospital
in November “was not a
Police: matter of happenstance or
a crime of opportunity, but
‘Dignitaries’ disrupted Sandy Hook massacre scene required detailed planning
and considerable financial
By DAVE COLLINS In this Dec. 14, 2012 photo, officials stand outside of Sandy Hook Elementary School after a resources,” Hawaii Depu-
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — ty Attorney General Kory
After the 2012 school mas- shooting in Newtown, Conn. Connecticut State Police are planning to release a report assessing Young said in a motion to
sacre in Newtown, Con- keep him behind bars.
necticut, police officials not the agency’s response to the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The after-action If Saito posts bail now set
involved in the investigation at $500,000, he will be re-
and “dignitaries” were al- report is expected Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. turned to Hawaii State Hos-
lowed into the building and pital, where he was com-
potentially contaminated (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) mitted after being acquit-
the crime scene by step- ted by reason of insanity
ping on bullet casings and and units alike. ... Had it not be processed and properly assigned to each victim’s for a woman’s 1979 killing.
glass shards that had yet to Officials are still investigat-
be processed as evidence, been for the heroic actions documented,” the report family and were critically ing how he was able to es-
according to a report state cape, including where he
police released Friday on of the teachers, school staff says. important to coordinating got the money and other
their response to the mass supplies.
shooting. and the response force, the The report also recom- resources to the families, If he returned to the hospi-
The long-awaited report tal, it would be impossible
concludes state police number of victims could mends training and devel- the report says. to keep him away from
handled the response ef- potential witnesses, hos-
fectively, but it recom- have been higher.” oping a checklist for notify- Michele Gay, whose pital Administrator William
mends improvements to May wrote in a letter to the
protecting crime scene One recommendation is to ing families of the deaths daughter, Josephine, was court.
integrity, dealing with vic- After walking out of the
tims’ families and other is- limit crime scene access to of their loved ones. In one of the 20 children killed, hospital, he called a taxi
sues. A 2013 report on the that took him to the airport,
response by Newtown po- authorized personnel. The Newtown, troopers notified said she hopes state po- where he caught a char-
lice said that department tered flight to Maui. He
responded rapidly and fol- report says “uninvolved” the families of the victims lice learn from both what used an alias to arrange
lowed policy. the flight and paid $1,445
Gunman Adam Lanza killed state police command “professionally and with they did well and what cash for it, the motion said.
his mother at their New- He then took a commer-
town home before shoot- staff, members of outside compassion,” but some they were not prepared to cial flight to San Jose, Cali-
ing his way into Sandy Hook fornia.
Elementary School on Dec. agencies and “dignitar- mistakes were made, the handle in the aftermath of When he was arrested in
14, 2012, and killing 20 first- nearby Stockton three days
graders, six educators and ies” were allowed into the report says. In one case, a the tragedy. She said her after his escape, he had
himself. Investigators never more than $6,000 in cash
found a clear motive but school in the hours and trooper did not know the family and others appre- and fake Washington state
said Lanza suffered mental and Illinois driver’s licenses
health problems and was days after the shooting, po- correct relationship be- ciated being assigned a bearing his photos with dif-
obsessed with mass shoot- ferent names, prosecutors
ings. tentially contaminating the tween a victim and the trooper to act as a liaison said. The fake licenses con-
“The unprecedented na- tained convincing-looking
ture of this incident posed crime scene and “unnec- family member he was no- who kept them informed holograms that are difficult
numerous challenges,” the to reproduce.
state police report says. essarily exposing personnel tifying, it says. and relayed their needs to “We do not know if defen-
“The unique dynamics of dant Saito has a cache of
this tragedy tasked the to the disturbing scene.” Establishment of a state- authorities. But, she said, it other fake IDs at his dispos-
agency’s resources and al,” Young wrote. “We do
tested the capacity and “Relevant evidence was wide family liaison program was clear there were no not know if there are other
capabilities of individuals secret sources of money
stepped on, including also is recommended. Af- protocols or procedures in he can tap into.”q
bullet casings and glass ter the school shooting, place for handling this type
shards, which had yet to family liaison officers were of situation. q
