SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – On October 18, 2006 Michael Lugo and his mother, Cynthia Brandon drove to Nadine Teter’s house. The exact intent for the visit was not clear but this mother and son team were up to no good. Brandon stayed in the car as Michael Lugo forced entry into Nadine Teter’s home. Teter was prepared to be anything but a victim of homicide, rape or other violence. Teter had a loaded handgun available and ready. As Lugo crashed through the front door Teter fled to her back yard. Lugo lunged at Teter and in an instant Lugo was wounded by three gunshots. The attack ended as the profusely bleeding Lugo vaulted the fence fleeing to his mother’s waiting getaway car. Both Lugo and Brandon were convicted of charges related to the home invasion and are now awaiting sentencing for their crimes. Nadine Teter is alive today because: 1. She kept a gun and knew how to use it. 2. She overcame her fear and maintained focus on simple survival. 3. She was self-reliant. Today Nadin...

When you’re a cop you can get fired over any allegation. The truth of an allegations is really meaningless in police internal investigations. It boils down to politics, behind the scenes deals, intrigue and even dirty tricks orchestrated by a host of provocateurs. Dubious motives such as making an end run to avoid or get criminal charges dismissed as favors are called in. The world of police discipline and internal investigations is far from perfect as the guilty go unpunished and the innocent and their families are victimized. Fired Minneapolis Police officer Jeanne Assam suffered the extreme penalty for an offense far less than that committed by former President Bill Clinton. Clinton lied under oath about committing sex acts with Whitehouse Intern, Monica Lewinsky. Assam was fired and disgraced while Clinton went on to collect millions in speaking fees. I guess that does not say much for equality in America. The incident that cost Assam, a four year police veteran, her job in...

I'm not sure where this tape came from other than I suspect it's for training purposes. They did not have this stuff in my academy class but did they really need it?

New Life Evangelical Church, Colorado Springs, CO--42 year-old, Jeanne Assam is an angel and a genuine hero that may have saved as many as 100 lives. Assam volunteered to perform security duties during services when 24 year-old Matthew Murray began his murderous Sunday assault on worshipers. The plain clothed, security angel immediately sprang into action drawing her personal handgun, pursued and engaged the gunman killing him. Assam's heroic act ended any further injury or death. Jeanne Assam is my candidate for Woman of The Year. I hope organizations such as The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission recognize our angel for her extraordinary courage and heroism. As more information becomes available you will see it here at Crimefile News.

Over 7,000 people came to worship here Sunday and the unthinkable happened. A heavily armed maniac with guns and explosives attacked people as they left the church. Four people were wounded when an alert female, armed civilian volunteer security guard quickly returned fire killing the gunman before more victims could be shot. Two of the wounded victims died later. With thousands of potential victims in a seemingly soft target of this church the amount of lives saved is staggering. Thankfully this church was not operating with a Gun Free Zone mentality, as they made sure their parishioners were protected. This clearly shows that armed resistance to armed criminals really works. I expect our lame national media to not make the comparison to similar tragedies like we had at Westroads Mall, Virginia Tech and Trolley Square. The New Life Evangelical Church assault investigation will unfold and perhaps others may learn that soft targets need not be so soft by simply recognizing that gun...

We have had three mass shootings in the last year in established Gun Free Zones. Deadly and deranged gunmen invaded Westroads Mall, Virginia Tech and Trolley Square with mass murder on their minds. In those three cases our gun laws only made sure the killers met no resistance from the victims. In the aftermath, talking heads for the gun control movement had little to say except for some level-headed requests for mental health agencies to make their records available for screening gun purchases. The amount of shrill demands for more gun laws and bringing back the expired assault weapons ban were heard barely above a whisper. Of course the folly of the Gun Free Zone concept has been up for renewed debate. I suspect that more shopping mall gun prohibition signs will be coming down rather than being put up in the near future as our retailers come to their senses. Americans seem to be learning that it’s better that the good folks have access to training and the tools of self-defense. L...

Today’s graphic is from an emotionally charged courtroom during the turbulent times of Salem’s infamous Witch Trials. Has American’s right to Due Process and fair trials improved since those sad days? Perhaps we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we do this stuff better today. The embattled legendary record producer still maintains his innocence as he prepares again to fight prosecutor’s unlikely theory that the troubled Lana Clarkson was murdered. The case has not gotten any better as all the government’s resources and raw power has set out to convict Phil Spector. For the government this is a no win situation since the overwhelming physical and scientific evidence reasonable shows that Clarkson’s fatal wound was self-inflicted. All of the tales from women Phil Spector spurned during his 67 years on earth can’t alter the real evidence. We may find out today if Phil Spector has a new legal team in place to spend the next year preparing for and defending an innocent man at yet...

The bodies from the Omaha mall shooting are not yet cold and already the shills from security companies are out telling us hiring millions of new low wattage and poorly paid security workers are needed to screen all the shoppers of America’s shopping malls. Thee frisking advocates say America has accepted the metal detectors as part of our culture and really won’t mind. I say these clowns are consuming way too much white powder up their noses. I just don’t see Americans lining up to be searched like criminals as they do their Christmas shopping. They only mall I would visit under those circumstances is a virtual one located in cyberspace. The malls have already lost more than enough business with the advent of the Internet and I suspect will not warm up to the idea of losing more needed profits. I avoid all possible commercial air travel and attending any public event where I have to deal with the un-American concept of waiving my Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searc...

How many must die first? We have another horrible story of mass murder. This time it was 20 year-old Robert A. Harkins , a convicted felon, deranged and suicidal gunman attacking a soft target rich with unarmed people to kill. No armed security or armed civilians with concealed weapons permits are allowed on the property. Any gunman or terrorist is reasonably guaranteed that no one could or would be able to fight back or provide any challenge at all. Nebraska was one of the last states to allow law abiding residents to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Of course when that provision passed places like the Omaha, NE Westroads Mall rushed to bar the permit holders through posted signs. The Westroads mall management had in every way facilitated and abetted Hawkins during his violent rampage by making sure everyone was helpless and unprotected. The armed 20 year-old whack-job was wearing camouflage clothing while armed with a stolen SKS .30 cal rifle. Hawkins was unstoppabl...

WEST BEND, WI – The Long Arm Of The Law (West Bend police) grabbed a school teacher who’s nonsensical and politically incorrect remark was deemed to be a crime. James Buss, 46 of Cudahy was arrested for his Internet posting on a Conservative blog. Police said a writer using the name, "Observer" wrote in to say the West Bend teachers' salaries made him sick, and said the killers in the 1999 Columbine shootings had the right idea. "They knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs. One shot at a time! Too bad the Liberal rip them; they were heroes and should be remembered that way," was the posting that led to the arrest. Okay this posting was stupid, showed incredibly bad taste, was grossly insensitivity to the Columbine victims and their families but this is just another goofy opinion, not a crime! I’m surprised to learn that Wisconsin has enough prison space for all the clowns who say silly, insensitive and disturbing things as they vent everyday fr...

The polls in Iowa are showing Barack Obama is slightly ahead of Hilary Clinton in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. That says a whole lot about Clinton’s chances being over-rated. Hilary may be popular with some Democrats as she rides on her part-time husband’s coattails. America has come a long way in race relations but never far enough that we will elect a Black as President no matter how well qualified. Obama is hardly qualified to take charge of the USA and his being Black has ended this election before it began. A Black president is not going to happen because it’s impossible. I’m enjoying watching Obama spin his wheels, as he goes nowhere fast. Hilary Clinton is absolutely loathed by Conservatives and Libertarians. Clinton is not really that popular with the Left leaning Democrats either. She changes her position to suit the weather and has supported the Iraq war. Seeing Obama ahead in Middle America is a clear message that Clinton is doomed to fail. Of co...

Chicago-Retired Special Agent In Charge of the Philadelphia FBI office, JP "Jody" Weis is Daley’s choice for the new Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Although Weis has solid investigative credentials he was never a street cop and does not know the job. He will fly by the seat of his pants while he collects $300,000.00 a year as a South Michigan Avenue desk pilot. Weis is a civilian and an outsider as was the late, great Orlando W. Wilson who had experience as a street cop in his youth. Under Wilson police salaries tripled within two years. The police communications hardware was reinvented. Other changes included new blue and white color schemes for the beat cars, the trademark blue overhead light/s and that great mechanical siren with the baffle in it that made a really unique and identifiable sound. Most Chicago cops today have never heard that siren wail. Wilson brought us that trademark checkerboard field hat that instantly made cops identifiable from ...

Thankfully our courts forbid most kinds of hearsay evidence. We don’t convict people basis of he said, she said. Now we have sensational double hearsay that will never be repeated in any courtroom. There are some exceptions to the hearsay rule but they don't apply here. You can add this to the growing list of non-evidence against retired Bollingbrook, IL police sergeant Drew Peterson. Micheal Sneed of the Chicago Sun Times reported that an unnamed source claimed that an unnamed clergyman alleged that the missing woman, Stacy Peterson in an August 2007 conversation said her husband, Drew Peterson bragged to her and unspecified others that he killed former wife Kathleen Savio and made it look like an accident. If this assertion was really true why weren’t authorities contacted in August? It sounds like someone needs attention as a national newsmaker perhaps for promotion of a possible book deal. As this case progresses don’t be surprised to hear from a variety of freaks and flak...

I really hate it when these murder mysteries are turned into entertainment for the dopes watching Greta Van Susteren or that really caustic harpy, Nancy Grace. The public has nothing to offer these stories but deception and confusion. Of course the credibility of these kinds of “news investigations” are hardly enhanced when media organizations use disgraced, former LAPD cop and felon, Mark Fuhrman as their “expert”. Drew Peterson and his missing wife, 23 year-old, Stacy Peterson are the focus of an intense and media driven possible homicide investigation. Peterson is no more or no less a suspect in this disappearance than any other spouse in a similar situation. This investigation has not even brought forth the bare minimal evidence to establish probable cause for Drew Peterson’s arrest. Unfortunately, that does not prevent or slow the public’s seething hatred; presumption of guilt that surrounds this career policeman like a cheap suit. As always happens in these high-profile cases...

Here you see a pretty woman, no less than that hot, A-list celebrity who starred in a movie by that title. Manning this aircraft Mini-Gun is Vanessa Dobbs, a member of the 66th Rescue Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Dobbs is a gunner for the HH-60 Pave Hawk. That’s a serious and deadly business that she is both strong enough and smart enough to handle. She is the first such woman to fill this role ever. Vanessa Dobbs is a pioneer for sure. Call me a sexist dinosaur or anything you want, I just don’t care. I’m the first to say women don’t belong on routine police patrols or military combat. As a man I view my role as a protector of the weaker sex. I hold doors for women and surrender my seat on public transportation so they are more comfortable. I don’t for a second ever think special treatment for women is not deserved. Our women have many legitimate roles in both the military and police forces, just not in patrol or combat. Women in such auxiliary roles as nurses a...

Poor Little Tom (seen here in this photo). Tom just did not have any fun since he was unable to receive a Presidential Pardon. Poor Little Tom's appeals ran out and he was executed without so much as having a Padre standing by to help him in his ride to the hereafter. Soon Poor Little Tom was in Paul’s oven and is now part of the reason Paul needs to shed some Thanksgiving pounds (or was that really because of all the potatoes, pie and ice cream?). We all know Tom and millions of his cousins had a really tough time, but we hope our friends and Crimefile's readers had a great Thanksgiving. Note: PETA members are invited to send generous cash donations for Tom's Memorial Service to Crimefile.

Washington, D.C. -- The high court said it will take up a case against the District of Columbia’s Draconian handgun ban. Yes folks, this is the first time case has come to this court in 70 years. A portion of the 1934 National Firearms Act was upheld in that deeply flawed 1939, Miller case where there was no attorney representing anyone but the government that sought to infringe on Miller’s rights to keep and bear arms. There are two heavy factors that weigh in favor of ending the gun ban. One is that the law is abundantly clear on this issue and the other is that all but a handful of places in America don’t support such bans. The Second Amendment is in our Bill of Rights and most Americans are comfortable keeping that right. The high court also knows full well that these bans have only disarmed the law-abiding and have facilitated Armed Robbery, Rape and Murder everywhere they exist. The gun-rights haters claim that the 2nd Amendment only gives state governments the right to bea...

The murder of Bob Crane occurred on a hot June night in Scottsdale, Arizona. Crane was bludgeoned to death as he slept The year was 1978 and Crane’s career was on the decent after scandal and two failed marriages. There is a rule in homicide, you only hurt the one you love. The spouses and love interests of a murder victim are always the usual suspects. Crane’s murder is no different. I have my own ideas after conducting an investigation before the trial of Bob Crane’s friend, John Carpenter who was arrested and tried for the murder two decades later. I had several extensive conversations with both Carpenter and his lovely wife before he went to trial. When Carpenter posted bail in Phoenix, I drove him to the airport so he could go home to California and prepare for the fight for his life. Carpenter had no money left to pay for lawyers or investigators and his case was handled by the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. The investigation by Scottsdale Police had l...

The excuse that various Chicago politicians use to demand Chicago police officers live inside the city limits is that they should vote and pay taxes where they work. Is that a real or bogus need for cops to live in the city? I say it's all bogus and may well be for a much more nefarious reason. As part of my work as a private investigator I have to find witnesses, suspects and deadbeats that don’t want to be found. Local news reporters use similar tools as private eyes to find newsmakers or people to interview about newsmakers. These are also many of the same techniques police investigators use to do their job. Thugs and hit-men also know how to locate their victims. It’s not enough to just not want to be found, you must also know how to hide. Finding people is not nearly as difficult as you may think. Government and utility records makes finding people a breeze. That includes cops who work undercover or those who have put many criminals in prison. The requirement for Chicago...

We all know there’s never a cop around when you need one. We also know that criminals exploit every law enforcement weakness they can. Most burglaries are never solved and valuable property is rarely recovered. Burglary is a horrible violation of our personal and private space. The invasion of our homes by criminals is both frightening and leaves us with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Burglary too often leads to Armed Robbery, Rape, Kidnapping and Homicide as the perpetrators find that victims are present in the homes under attack. The ivory tower politicians that make our laws live in the safest neighborhoods with the best locks and security systems. They are the least likely people to become crime victims. Decades of criminal coddling and massive efforts to disarm law-abiding Americans have made America a far safer place for violent criminals than hard working and God fearing taxpayers. That pendulum is now swinging the other way with Right To Carry (firearms) and s...