Help get Justice for Louisa

URGENT- the squeaky wheel gets the oil! I’m Louisa’s Mom and I need your help.

Updates to her story are available please follow the enclosed links. While there please leave comments and find information on how you can help with fair sentencing.  WE are urging concerned citizens to write to the judge requesting George Hartwig be sentenced to the full extent of the law.

PLEASE within the comments at the record, direct readers to the family blog where they can find updated pictures of Louisa and her condition now! http://freemenow.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/george-hartwig-admits-to-firing-shotgun-into-sister-in-law%e2%80%99s-face/

 We need hi visibility and we hope we can get it at the newspaper http://www.northjersey.com/news/HARTWIG.html  big-time! The higher the interest in this cases the better the chances we will get results of fair sentences.

It is URGENT our Comments and letter to the judge are respectful and support of full and consecutive sentencing rather than the plea deal offered by the prosecutor and rejected by the defendant in lieu of lesser sentence because George says ” He was very intoxicated”.

Copies of your letters will be appreciated in the comments section below.

Elisa Marie Lopez: Slaughtered and cremated

Contributed by: Liz Baca

A prosecutor this morning began presenting the case against a man accused of murdering his 41-year-old girlfriend in their Murrieta home, dumping her body and setting it on fire.

Pictures of the body, shown in court Tuesday, depicted a blackened face and pelvis area. Most of her arms and legs appeared untouched by the flames.

“Based upon burn patterns, I determined the origin of the fire was on her pelvic area,” Gilbert testified.

Her face was unrecognizable because it was covered by black plastic from trash container lids that melted, Gilbert said.

This 2007 case is coming to trial this week and we need to closely monitor this one. The evidence is overwhelming, indeed this one will probably pay for his crime but it will be interesting to listen to the defense on this one. I will bet you this is another one of those cases where the women gets the blame for getting herself killed. How much ya wanna bet? Buy wait till you hear the defendants defense!

when investigators combed the house, they found signs of a struggle and a sloppy cleanup effort, Smith said. Traces of blood from high-impact blows were spattered all over the bathroom and a towel bar and trim had been recently removed.

There were clumps of Lopez’s long hair around the house and remnants of a blood trail leading to the back of her SUV in the garage. Inside the SUV, they found more traces of blood, Smith said.

It appears this animal drunk and in a jealous rage feared she was about to leave him for an ex-boyfriend.

Investigators discovered that Lopez had been trading text messages throughout the day with an ex-boyfriend, with whom she had recently separated.

Melvin Louis Shaw, 45, pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Shaw killed his girlfriend of a few months on July 20, 2007 after they got into an argument when he came home late and drunk on their date night.

They say he then dragged her by her feet through her Murrieta house, put her in the trunk of her SUV, dumped her body behind a building off Winchester Road, doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, Smith said.

If the jury buys his defense- they the jury should plead insanity—here it is: his defense!

A Murrieta man told authorities he was driving his live-in girlfriend to the hospital in 2007 but believing she was dead, he took her body to an enclosed area behind a Temecula gym and set her body on fire, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Melvin Louis Shaw Jr. recalled a conversation he had with Elisa Marie Lopez during their three-month long relationship, Deputy District Attorney Brandon Smith said.

“Elisa told him she wants to be cremated,” Smith said. “He finds a place and in his words, ‘I tried to cremate her.’

Sarah Coit 23 decapicated by Raul Barrera 33

BettyJean Downing Kling

She screamed for her life – but he savagely stabbed her to death. We can document and be the news team boldly advertizing a minimum of 4 of these a day- and we should. Perhaps if we did sensationalize these atrocities all in one place – we could start to make a dent in the horrifying truth that there is an epidemic, of men slaughtering their women.

Moreover, this would be a bigger story –and Al Sharpton himself would be out in the streets if this murderer was white- but he is just another black man slaughtering just another black sister so no one raises a spectacle about her senseless murder – Perhaps if they were super stars… but alas no one will begin to care about this domestic murder unless of course there was a matter of racism involved in which case it would immediately escalate in its importance.

The problem as I see it–  women are not working together to solve the problem as a single group. Instead women split off into sub groups and are treated as minorities. Why do women act and feel better classed in small groups fighting alone as minorities. As separate groups we are all subject to be unimportant statistics ather than a strong enough lobby to end this pandemic.

When will we, our sisters of color and of different religions and nationalities be convinced that we are all women first and working as  women first we are a stronger lobby, together we comprise the a 52%  majority of the world’s population.

As the majority we can effect the change needed to overcome the challenges we face and change the laws to our advantage and stop the slaughter of women and children here and worldwide. We can and we must- but this can only be achieved but those of us who are at risk and only if we stand together and rise to the challengeas  The Majority United!

A man has confessed to nearly decapitating his 23-year-old girlfriend early on the morning of April 10, in a bloody knife attack after a loud argument inside their apartment at 63 Clinton St. on NYC’s Lower East Side, cops said. Raul Barrera, 33, was charged with murder in the grisly domestic attack on gal pal Sarah Coit, 23, who was breaking up with him.

“She was yelling ‘No, no, stop, stop, don’t hurt me!’ “said Brianna Andalore, 20, who was staying with a friend in the building. “My friend who lives her told me this has been going on for a while, they’ve been fighting like that for months. We were watching from our front window, when she was brought out. The cops were yelling, ‘Don’t look, don’t look!’ Her head was almost off, her neck was wide open.”

Read More:  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/10/nyc-man-nearly-decapites-girlfriend-fight-police-say/?test=latestnews

Julie Mitchell Murdered

BJ Downing Kling

OKLAHOMA CITY – Friends of Julie Mitchell, an Oklahoma City mother who was murdered on November 2, 2010 are offering a $50,000 reward in hopes of catching her killer.

Julie Mitchell not only left behind a husband and one-year-old daughter, but a large group of friends who are heartbroken over her sudden death.

The man who is heading up the reward is a local attorney and close friend of Julie Mitchell. We spoke with him about the reward and he said Mitchell didn’t deserve to die and he hopes money will make someone talk. 

The 34-year-old was found beaten in her northwest Oklahoma City home. Police have not named a suspect or person of interest, but have questioned a number of people and taken DNA samples.

Julie’s husband, Teddy, is a well known gambler and bookie  and may have had lots of contact with “Undesirables” capable of this type of crime.

Chief Bill Citty with the OKC Police said, “You have a case here where an individual has been involved in illegal activity for quite some time as a gambler. It’s common knowledge that he was involved in bookmaking. So, the type of people he’s associated with don’t want to be known.”

Mitchell’s friends are serious about finding the murderer. They pooled their cash and came up with a hefty $50,000. “Fifty thousand dollars is a significant amount of money and we are not aware of any cases in recent memory that had that much put up as a reward,” said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Patrick Stewart. Rewards are a common tool police use to solve crimes.

Oklahoma City police offer a reward through Crime Stoppers. It has been one of the most successful programs in the country in getting citizens with information about a crime to come forward.

Police think Crime Stoppers, along with the reward money could help the Julie Mitchell case. “If there is someone out there who has been hesitant to come forward with info that is critical to this case, this is something that helps motivate them to do so,” said Capt. Stewart.

The other motivation for people to call or text in their tips is they can they stay anonymous. Along with the $50,000 reward, and additional $1,000 is being offered through Crime Stoppers. If you have information call (405) 235-7300.

 VISIT US AT CrimePAY$

Tougher Laws for Violence Against Women

Louisa’s Law is proposed to honor my daughter, Louisa Richardson Rodas, who was caring for her dying sister Denise Richardson on the day she was shot in the head and permanently disabled by George Hartwig, Denise’s abusive husband.  Had the following proposed measures been in place on December 15, 2008, my daughter Louisa would not be lying in a nursing home, unable to sit or stand, unable to communicate, unable to eat or drink, unable to raise her children or recognize them. 

George Hartwig had viciously bludgeoned his dying wife Denise in the head with a hammer months earlier. He pled guilty to an attack on a dying woman for her pain medication as a result of drug abuse yet he was denied treatment. He was a repeat offender yet he was set free without bail and released without a restraining order. The only protection Denise had was her family taking turns to protect her. It was Louisa’s turn when George Hartwig returned with a shotgun and callously blew the right side of her head off.

Louisa’s Law seeks to require significant and effective sentences, eliminate or reduce plea deals and strictly enforce laws for violence against women. 

a)      Enter an automatic and enforceable order of protection with a minimum term of ten years;

b)      Violator must enter an approved batter/anger management program with monitoring;

c)       Violators who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the violation against a woman or who have any drug-related offenses within three years of the violence incident must enter a rehabilitation program and/or be tested periodically for continued drug or alcohol abuse;

d)      A GPS monitor should be installed if the violator is released from police custody using a system with victim notification;

e)   Full cash bail and full cash surety bonding must be implemented with domestic violence screening as part of the bonding process.  For repeat offenders or violators of restraining orders, offenders are not given the opportunity for bail but should remain incarcerated pending trial because of the documented risk of death to the victim and victim’s family members upon release of repeat offenders and those who have violated restraining orders; 

f)      Require a compliance conference before the judge for accountability;

g)   Require judges to consider a variety of aggravating factors to ensure safety and punishment consistent with the risks for repeat violence, death, and permanent disability associated with VAW;

h)  Sentences must be served rather than suspended so that the victims and their families are safe.

100 Women Battered Daily, 5 Die

By:  BettyJean Kling

How many of us remember the names of the Ted Bundy’s victim’s? You don’t – but you remember Ted Bundy’s name. It’s high time that we remember the names and the lives of the VICTIMS and not the serial murderers like Gary Ridgeway!

Moreover it is high time you remember all the victims names including those of those not murdered by serial killers or the result of major scandals like; OJ Simpson, Drew Peterson, Scott Peterson and Steve Nodine.

CNN presents Easy Prey: Vulnerable women targeted by serial killers.  The premise behind this and a few books currently making the scene is on filmmakers and authors making money on the sensationalizing of serial killings of vulnerable women. CNN focused on drug addicted hookers of color from a very poor rural S. Carolina neighborhood where local enforcement wasn’t inclined to pay much attention until forced to do so by the sheer number of missing women.

Until 2002, California had a “Son of Sam” law that prevented convicts from profiting from their crimes, but the state’s Supreme Court determined the law violated the First Amendment and wiped it from the books.  O.J. Simpson got $33 million for “If I did it”, A spokesman at San Quentin State Prison, Lt. Vernell Crittendon, said that, since Scott Peterson arrived on death row, he has received several solicitations to pen his story.

When my daughter was shot in the head 12/15/2008 and facing death – I immediately began to draft legislation and Heather Lindsay Esq.  began compiling a database of women fallen at the hands of their partners since we proposed Louisa’s Law.

Louisa’s Law seeks to require significant, effective sentences and strictly enforce VAW laws to reduce violence against women, using a three pronged approach of Prevention, Services and Accountability.

 Perhaps when we start documenting the names and faces of the 5 women a day who are murdered, and perhaps when we start showing the faces of the women who are battered every 15 seconds – that is 4 an hour or 96 a day. Yes no less than 100 Faces a day  are those of women that go harmed and remain unseen names un known faces. If you see these faces and hear their story — would that impact you to stand up and to help us? We need you to join TMU, we need members from 50 states so that we can strengthen the violence laws in every state. Let’s pass Louisa’s Law in all 50 states! Stop the slaughter of Women! Not one of us should fall. Not One. If you are battered or know someone battered or killed list their story here Louisa’s law blog. We are going to be sure they will not be forgotten. 

Let’s not forget the women whose lives were destroyed! They have stories too – these guys pay with a few years some women pay with their lives some for the rest of their lives.

Women to Woman

How long must we go on,
Why is our path so hard and long ?
Women’s rights are human rights,
What the hell is wrong?

Women are dying and maimed from violence each day
 All of these years to pass the ERA
 Who said women aren’t equal – who made that choice
 For 52 % of our nations voice, Oh what the hell is wrong?

 The Majority United is taking a stand
 reaching out woman to woman, hand to hand
 All for one and one for all
 Not one of us could fall -not one of us should ever fall –Not one.

Song: “Woman to Woman” Copyright © 2009 Danielle Verot.  All rights reserved.