Please excuse the hiatus

The Keyboard Detective will resume later in the year.

UPDATE: "Man's Perfection Before God" by Dannie R. Baker

I've finished reading the book, and there's not much more to it than what I have already posted. The 235-page book consists mainly of quoted Scriptures, interspersed with Baker's vague generalizations about accepting God's love and avoiding sin. He has little to say about specific sins, other than fornication, and offers no political commentary at all.

Some passages are logical and coherent, others less so. He does mention several times that God speaks to him directly. While this is a common sentiment among the devout, usually referring to a sense that God is guiding their thoughts, I get the feeling that Baker means it in a more literal way – that he actually hears the voice of God.

The following are a few pages from the book. (Click the images to enlarge them for reading.)

Here he mentions having been an Eagle Scout and on the dean's list in college.



I'm not sure what soda shop robbery he is talking about in this passage. Note that he does not call it a killing, or say directly that the robber killed the men, although he does later call the man "the killer." The fact that he identifies with the killer, even if only in the religious sense, is a little creepy, given recent events.





To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping the book would offer us more insight into this man. But, as the case makes its way through the system, more information will come out about his mental status and motivations.

'Not Guilty' in Mikael Cherry DUI Death Case

Mikael Cherry has been acquitted in the DUI crash that killed 62-year-old Paul Lentz in Panama City Beach last year. The way the Panama City News Herald's coverage of the trial reads, it looks like defense attorney Harry Harper went in with a strong case, leaving the jury with little choice but to find reasonable doubt.

Cherry and former boyfriend Jason Reid left the Applebee's on Middle Beach Road after a night of drinking in February '08. Employees did not see who was driving Reid's Volvo, but called Panama City Beach police because both were drunk. When an officer got the behind the car on Beckrich Road, it accelerated away and turned west onto Back Beach.

The officer pursued briefly, then was warned off by a supervisor. The Volvo crashed into the car that Lenz was driving, killing him, and continued on. By the time police got to the Volvo, it was empty.

Reid ended up striking a deal with cops, putting Cherry in the driver's seat of the car at the time of the crash, in exchange for immunity. Panama City Beach police came up with little other evidence that Cherry was the driver.

Harper had testimony from a witness who saw Reid grab the keys as the two were leaving the restaurant, and the defense attorney emphasized that Cherry's fingerprints were not found anywhere but the passenger window, according to the News Herald.

I was working as a newspaper reporter when this crash happened and spoke to Cherry's mother. She told me then that he had a blackout from the alcohol and the crash, and did not remember who was driving the car.

At trial, he testified that Reid was driving while he was curled up in the fetal position in the passenger seat, and that he did not see the crash.

But whoever was driving, Reid's self-serving testimony was just not enough. There's no way a jury could rightfully have convicted Cherry based only on that.

New Details about Randall Holcombe, Sabra Thornton

I'm a day late getting this up, but for those who haven't seen it, the Northwest Florida Daily News has more details on the firing of two senior staff at the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner appointed a captain to look into the job duties of Maj. Sabra Thornton and Randall Holcombe, the assistant director of administrative services, and the paper got the resulting memos that led to their dismissals. I've also added a little additional info on Holcombe.

Turns out, this is the second time Maj. Sabra Thornton was let go. She started out as the head of homeland security for the sheriff's office, then became chief of staff because Morris felt she needed a more impressive title. She told the captain that she was dismissed without cause in October 2008, but, after talking with the sheriff, was reinstated in December. Thornton said she was to serve as Morris' liasion to the legislature during the 'o9 session, then return to Okaloosa to work on policy and accreditation, according to the paper.

The Daily News reported that Holcombe said his job was running a room/vehicle sterilizer, scheduling carpet cleanings for the sheriff's office, and protecting the deputies against MRSA, a form of staph infection. For that, he was paid $73,000 a year. He had been with the sheriff's office since Morris took office in 1997.

One of the oddest aspects of his job was that Holcombe, who did not hold a sworn law enforcement position, was issued a firearm, badge and and ID card which the captain reported "would have been recognized as official deputy sheriff credentials," according to the paper.

Holcombe reportedly said that he was a "special deputy." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement – which oversees law enforcement certification – has no record of Holcombe completing the required 770-plus hour Basic Recruit training to become an officer. He did, however, complete a 96-hour auxilliary law enforcement core course in 1997.

Holcombe also has a Florida private investigator's license, issued in 1995, which is linked to a related private investigative agency license for Pathfinder Investigations. The address of the agency is Holcombe's address and the phone number is his cell number. Law enforcement agencies typically forbid sworn officers from moonlighting as private investigators because of the serious conflict of interest.

To get his private investigator's license, Holcombe would have had to demonstrate two years of verifiable investigative experience, usually in law enforcement, military service, insurance investigation, or investigative journalism. He also could have served a 2-year internship with a PI agency. His original license application is not in the state system because it's too old.

There are no administrative complaints – which most working agencies get from time to time – on record against his license or his agency's license.

Holcombe is an owner in another business called U Scrubapup, based in Mary Esther. According to the U Scrubapup website (and Myspace page), it's an indoor self-serve dog wash. He also is listed as vice-president of the board on the website of the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society.

Another Complaint Against Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey

A Wakulla County citizens group has requested a state investigation of Sheriff David Harvey's involvement with a club that sells alcohol, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

The paper reports:

Harvey is listed as a co-owner of the limited liability company that runs the club’s golfing operation. His wife, Rhonda, is listed as co-owner of a second LLC, the one that holds the club’s alcoholic beverage license. The group notes that the sheriff has been given the owner/employee discount when buying alcohol, as the State Attorney’s Office investigation into his Feb. 20 hit-and-run crash uncovered.

Apparently, it's against Florida law for a sheriff to work for or own a business that sells alcohol.

Sounds like the group, Wakulla 411, made good use of Florida's public records law to dig up this info.

Wuertley Trial Starts This Week

The Panama City News Herald reported that the jury has been selected in Shawn Wuertley's attempted first-degree murder trial, and opening arguments are expected Thursday. Wuertley is the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort security guard accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to kill an 18-year-old hotel guest last Spring Break.

Excerpts from Dannie Roy Baker's Book

I haven't had time to read all the way through "Man's Perfection Before God," but I wanted to go ahead and post a few pages that seem interesting. So far, nothing I've seen indicates any racial prejudice, or anything other than a man who genuinely believes he has a clear understanding of God, the Bible and Christian life.

Baker wrote the book in the late '90s, while he was living at the townhome on Scenic Gulf Drive. He published it in 2001 with a first print run of 1,500 copies. His suggested retail price: $25.

In the opening of the book, he thanks his parents for helping him get his home and dedicates it to his mother, who has passed away.

(You'll have to click the pages to enlarge them enough for reading.)







Most of the book's first half is fairly generic, mostly about how God's way is love, and man can be perfect by returning God's love and trying not to sin. But then, Baker mentions some trouble he had at a former church in a passage that seems to indicate he is opposed to killing in the name of God.

This is a complete guess on my part, but from what he says about civil disobedience, police records and killing, I think he may have been part of a church that was mixed up in the extreme wings of the right-to-life movement. Again, only conjecture on my part.











I'll post more pages as soon as I get a chance.

1984 Cold Case Revisited in Okaloosa County

Give this story a read. It's about the 1984 disappearance of Linda Kay Carroll from Okaloosa County.

From the description in the article, it seems to be a homicide. Missing sheets indicate that there may have been blood, or a body to transport. And, being able to find shoes and a purse at night in a home with no electricity could mean the suspect may have known her situation and been prepared with a flashlight.

Very few killers are able to pull off something like this without at least one other person knowing some of the details. Since there's apparently no DNA, that may be the only way this one gets closed.

I hate to see these old cases go uncleared because that means there's someone out there who harmed another person and got away with it. Anyone who knows (or suspects), step up and do the right thing.

UPDATE: Maj. Sabra Thornton and Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Thanks to cardlr at the Daily News forums for pointing to this.

Sabra Thornton apparently does live on St. George Island. Her husband, Robert B. Barnes II, a retired DEA agent, ran for sheriff of Franklin County in 2008 and put this on his website:

...Barnes grew up on the Gulf Coast near St. Petersburg, Florida and has been a property owner in Franklin County since 1991. He and his wife, Sabra, have been married for 20 years...

Over the past 10 years...since we chose Franklin County as our home...

Attorney Fred Levin Profiled by Pensacola News Journal

Great story in the Pensacola News Journal about attorney Fred Levin. My favorite anecdote: He helped the state win a huge settlement from the tobacco industry, then smoked a cigarette while he did an interview about the case with "20/20."

What Did Maj. Sabra Thornton Do for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office?

A story in today's Northwest Florida Daily News made me curious about former Maj. Sabra Thornton. So, I spent a few minutes poking around and turned up a few things that left me with even more questions. Like, how did she manage to draw a full-time salary working for Okaloosa County and apparently live three hours away in either Tallahassee or on St. George Island, work at the police academy near Tallahassee and run her own business at the same time?

In case you missed it, Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner eliminated Thornton's $80,000-a-year job this week, only days after he was appointed to take over for suspended Sheriff Charlie Morris, who is facing federal theft and fraud charges.

The Daily News has done a great job covering this situation. The paper reported today that it's not exactly clear what Thornton actually did for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. She reportedly has said that she functioned as a Sheriff's Office liaison with the Legislature and with the Florida Sheriffs Association, of which Morris was president until his arrest.

But according to the Daily News, state lawmakers and sheriffs association officials both denied ever dealing with her in that capacity...and some staff at the sheriff's office didn't even know she worked there. She's also apparently been working part-time at the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy, located about 14 miles east of Tallahassee. She was fired from that job this week, the paper reported.

Spooner told WEAR Channel 3 it's his understanding that Thornton lives in Tallahassee. He may be right about that. Property records in Tallahassee show that Thornton and her husband own a condo and a home there, appraised at a combined $441,000. There is a current phone listing for Thornton at one of the addresses.

However, property records also show an $800,000 dollar home in Franklin County. The St. George Island house is listed as the couple's homestead, with the accompanying $50,000 tax exemption. There is a phone listed to her husband at that address.

(I say "husband" because that's how he's described in the mortage papers at MyFloridaCounty.com.)

Whether it's Tallahassee or St. George, that's about a three-hour commute to the sheriff's office in Shalimar.

Meanwhile, Thornton is listed in Division of Corporation records as the manager, and sole officer, of a company called Homeland Security Plans and Strategies LLC. The company address is one of the Tallahassee properties. Google turned up no other information on the company.

Taken together, you have to wonder how she had enough time to do $80,000 worth of work for the sheriff's office every year. One thing I'm not sure about is whether she is a sworn law enforcement officer. I know she served as chief of staff in the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission law enforcement division, but was she an administrator or cop? Anyone know?

Clearly, this thing is just getting started, and I'll be very interested to see what more comes out about her and the rest of the situation in the sheriff's office.

Chicago Sheriff Sues Craigslist Over Prostitute Ads

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist to try to force the site to shut down its "Erotic Services" section. Craigslist already has tried to limit prostitute ads, but stopped short of removing the entire section.

The sheriff alleges that children and sex slaves are being pimped on the site, and that even gangs use it to promote prostitution. I'm just not sure I buy all of his assertions – he’s trying to make his case, so he’s playing up worst-case scenarios – but there's no doubt hookers advertise on Craigslist, as you can see by these local ads for Pensacola and Panama City (both very NSFW).

Readers, you tell me, do you really even care?

Interim Sheriff Makes Major Changes at Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Ed Spooner, appointed the interim sheriff by the governor after Charlie Morris was arrested by the feds on theft and fraud charges, is not wasting any time. He's already eliminated two jobs at the sheriff's office, started a realignment of senior staff and asked for an FDLE audit of the evidence room, as the Northwest Florida Daily News reports.

Also, look lower in the story for some interesting comments from the defense attorney for Teresa Adams. The message boards have been going nuts with speculation about her role in the thefts – she also was arrested by the FBI – and her relationship to the sheriff. Lawyer Drew Pinkerton told the Daily News that much of it has been wrong.

Unfortunately, he's not able to say much more. The local rules of the federal court (Northern District of Florida) place severe restrictions on speaking to the media (Rule 77.3).

Also, a hat tip to the Daily News for pushing to get the sheriff's office payroll records to see who got how much money and when.

It's a little premature since Spooner has just taken over and a state investigation is currently underway, but with the feds involved, it's probably a good idea to starting pressuring for the release of the records as early as possible. Otherwise, they are liable to disappear into the black hole of federal law enforcement.

Former State Attorney Steve Meadows Accused of Sex Harassment

Kudos to the News Herald for this story. A Florida Commission on Human Relations investigation turned up sleaziness aplenty, including allegations that he coerced a secretary into sex, during Meadows' term. At least one former employee plans to file suit.