Hidden victim of the Titanic?

Thousands of people were dockside on the morning of July 24 1915 when warehouse workers along the Chicago River began shouting "Look out, she's tipping."  That began the slow roll and sinking of the SS Eastland and America's largest loss of life in a shipwreck even though she had not even set sail.



The 265' long passenger steamship was commissioned in 1902 by the Michigan Steamship Company and was built by the Jenks Ship Building Company of Port Huron MI.  She was launched in May 1903 and she was quickly found to have design flaws while working her route from South Haven MI to Chicago IL.  The ship was found to have the center of gravity too high and she was top heavy, both of which made her susceptible to listing, especially when passengers grouped together on the top decks.

In July 1903, one case over-crowding aboard the SS Eastland caused the ship to list so much that water ran up one of the gangplanks.  Later in that same month, the stern was damaged when she backed into a tugboat.  In 1905 she was sold to the Michigan Transportation Company and then in 1906, she was sold to the Lake Shore Navigation Company of Cleveland OH to work the Cleveland - Cedar Point route.  In 1906 she suffered another episode of serious listing and complaints were filed against the company she had been purchased from.

The SS Eastland was sold again in 1909 to the Eastland Navigation Company and again in 1914 to the St Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company of St Joseph MI.  While the ship was changing hands through the numerous purchases, she was kept on the same passenger routes between Cleveland and Cedar Point.  On June 24 1915, The SS Eastland was chartered along with the Petosky, the Maywood, the Racine and the Theodore Roosevelt were chartered to take employees of Western Electric's Hawthorne Works in Cicero IL to a picnic in Michigan City IN.  The Western Electric Employee Association planned the annual company picnics and had held one at the same location the previous year which had been a huge success.

The first telegraph company was begun by Samuel F B Morse in 1844 and companies sprang up all over the nation to run their own telegraph systems.  By 1856, many of those small companies had been consolidated in one company, Western Union Company and they operated two facilities in Cleveland OH and Ottawa IL.  In 1872 the company was reorganized after investing in a Chicago manufacturing plant and was renamed Western Electric and it still had strong ties financially with Western Union.  They produced alarms, mimeograph pens and telegraph equipment and in 1882, after years of legal wrangling, Western Electric signed a deal to become the exclusive manufacturer of Bell telephones in the United States.  In 1913, Western Electric had developed the high vacuum tube and the Chicago plant was moved from Chicago to a rural 110 acres on the outskirts of Chicago.

The plant was self sufficient and boasted of 100 buildings, it's own power plant, fire department, laundry, hospital, greenhouses, annual beauty pageant and brass band.  The company also had it's own staff of trained nurses who made house calls as well as the "biggest little railway in the world" that transported raw materials and finished products around the plant.  It became the only plant by 1914 and produced telephones, cable, every major telephone switching system and the equipment needed to operate it.  The employees of Western Electric were a cross section of the ethnic cultures of the time and were either Eastern European immigrants or first generation Americans.  The company picnic was not something many of the employees would have dreamed of planning since most did not even have vacations from work but a company as large and rich as Western Electric could plan it as a diversion for them.

The company had distributed seven thousand tickets to the company workers and their families which were free for children and seventy five cents for adults.  There were no assignments for which ship people had to board but the Eastland and the Theodore Roosevelt were the newest, most elegant and first scheduled to leave that morning so they were expected to be full to capacity.  The Eastland was known as the "Speed Queen of the Lakes" because of her 22 mile per hour cruising speed which was probably helped by her narrow, 36 foot width.

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 had brought about significant changes in maritime law, one of which was the requirement that ships carry enough lifeboats and rafts for at least 75% of the passengers on board.  This change had forced the owners of the Eastland to add three lifeboats and six rafts to the top deck of the already unstable ship on July 2 1915.  The addition to the fourth deck added 14 to 15 tons of extra weight of the ship and the steamboat inspectors had been persuaded to increase the passenger capacity just before the picnic trip.

There were already about 5,000 people waiting dockside by 6:30 am and boarding on the Eastland began at 6:40 am.  Within a minute, the ship began to list on the starboard side, which was dockside but that could easily be explained by the large number of people boarding.  Chief Engineer Joseph Erickson ordered the port ballast tanks filled and the ship leveled out by 6:51.  It was only a few minutes later when the ship began to list again but this time towards the port side and Erickson ordered the starboard ballast tanks to be partially filled.  At 7:10 am the ship again began to list towards port at about 15 degrees, the port ballast tanks were emptied and the ship once again straightened out by 7:16 am.  Within four minutes the ship was again listing towards port and water began to pour in through the lower deck openings.

By 7:23 the list had gotten so bad that the crew began requesting that the passengers move to the starboard side of the upper decks but by 7:27 the list had reached 25 to 30 degrees.  Water was still pouring into the lower decks and loose items were being washed across the decks and a minute later the list had reached 45 degrees.  The passengers began to panic then when furniture and appliances began to tear loose and slid across the decks.  The SS Eastland continued to roll onto her port side and by 7:30 she lay on her side in 20 feet of water, still tied to the dock.

The Eastland had rolled over slowly enough that many passengers just climbed over the starboard railing and walked along the hull to safety.  Those who were on the upper decks though were flung into the water and many others were trapped below decks or had been trampled in the panic.  The thousands of people along the dockside sprung into action helping to pull people from the water, leading them to safety or tossed anything that would float into the water for those who were struggling to stay afloat in the water.  People all along the dockside and in town turned out to help in whatever way they could.

One such person was 17 year old Reggie Bowles, the son of a Western Union wire chief.  When he heard about the disaster in the Chicago River, he jumped on his motorbike and raced to the scene.  Reggie had always been a strong swimmer since early childhood and he volunteered to swim into the wreck with an oxy-acetylene torch looking for victims that were trapped within.  He brought more than 40 victims to the surface while diving the entire day and finally had to be forced to stop diving that night.

He had earned the nickname "Human Frog" from his diving that day but it forever changed his life.  He contracted typhoid afterwards from all of the dirty water he had ingested during the dives.  He enlisted in the National Guard during WWI and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during WWII.  He led a scattered life and by 1929, had been married four times and fathered several children.  He died on April 28 1990.

David Bowles, Reggie's grandson & M Cheatham

By 8 am all of the survivors had been pulled from the river and the grim task of searching the ship for victims had begun.  Passengers could be heard screaming within the ship and crews began cutting holes in the hull to try and reach them but sadly, most had drowned by the time the holes had been cut.  The majority of victims that were pulled from the ship were women and children.  Those victims that were not injured badly were sent home in an effort to try and clear the human congestion along the dockside that morning.

Borghild Bobbie" Aanstad had boarded the Eastland with her uncle Olaf, mother Marianne and her younger sister Solveig that morning.  They boarded the ship and despite Marianne's concern about the stability of the ship, they settled in chairs on the cabin deck.  The Aanstad family became trapped there as many others did when the Eastland overturned and managed to stay together for the eleven hours it took before they were rescued.

clockwise: Olaf, Bobbie, Solveig & Marianne

Solveig was separated from the other three accidently once they were pulled from the wreck and it was hours before they were able to find her.  Marianne rarely spoke about the accident and continued to work as a cleaning lady afterwards, remarried in 1919 and died in 1966.  Solveig never spoke of the accident while quietly raising a family in the Chicago area and died in 1989.  Olaf had stayed on the site of the Eastland wreck, helping where ever he could until late in the evening.  He received a medal of honor for saving numerous passengers that day.  Afterwards he married and moved to the West Coast where he lived until his death in the 1960's.

Bobbie with Susan & Barbara

Bobbie Aanstad and her granddaughter's Susan Decker and Barbara Decker Wachholz formed the Eastland Historical Society in the hopes of preserving the memories of the thousands of people who were affected by the sinking of the Eastland that day.  Bobbie seemed to be the only one of her family that bounced back from the tragedy that day and readily spoke about the events that transpired.  The Historical Society hopes to expand people's interest and understanding of an event that was huge when it happened and has not been equalled fortunately to this day.  Bobbie died on August 2 1991 and was believed to be one of the last people alive who had survived the sinking of the Eastland.

The Second Regiment Armory was established as a temporary morgue by that afternoon when the numbers of victims grew past a few hundred.  The bodies were set out in rows of 85 and by midnight families who believed that they may have lost loved ones were admitted to make identifications.  It took several days for all of the victims to be identified since 21 families had perished together and there was no one left in the immediate area to identify them.

Divers spent hours cutting holes into the hull of the ship and slowly making their way into the various decks looking for survivors and recovering bodies.  The nation was stunned by the loss of life in a shipwreck that occurred while the ship was still tied up and sitting in about twenty feet of water.

Harry Halverson

The Eastland had 2,573 passengers and crew aboard her when she capsized dockside that day.  She had been originally designed to carry 500 passengers and six lifeboats in 1902 but had been repeatedly modified in the later years.  After the sinking of the Titanic, maritime laws changed and when she was loading that day to head off to the company picnic, she carried 11 lifeboats, 37 liferafts (about 1,100 lbs each) and enough life vests ( at six pounds apiece ) for every passenger aboard.  Unfortunately these were mostly on the upper decks of a ship that was narrow, top heavy and had no keel.

The Lusitania had been torpedoed about two months before the Eastland accident with a loss of 785 passengers and the Titanic which had sunk in 1912 lost 829 passengers and 694 crewmembers.  The Eastland saw the loss of 844 lives, not on the high seas but less than 30 feet from shore.  It would take 52 gravediggers working 12 hour shifts to dig all of the graves that were needed to bury the dead.

The SS Eastland was repaired and raised on August 14 1915 and was sold to the Illinois Naval Reserve.  After extensive work she was renamed the USS Wilmette, converted to a gunboat and stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station.  She was used primarily as a training ship for reservists and stayed active until her decommissioning in 1945.  In 1946 she was offered up for sale but there were no takers so she was sold for scrap which was completed in 1947.

Within three days of the accident, there were seven inquiries underway investigating the accident.  Erickson took the brunt of the blame for the sinking for mismanaging the ballast tanks.  Captain Pederson and the officers of the steamship company who had purchased the Eastland for a bargain of $150,00 were never prosecuted even though evidence seems to show that Pederson was negligent that day.  The 800 civil lawsuits dragged on for almost two decades and in the end the victims and families received little or nothing.  Maritime laws then limited the liability to the value of the ship which was placed at $46,000 and the claims from the salvage company hired to raise and tow the ship along with the coal company that supplied the fuel took precedence.  In the end though, it seems that the laws that were put into practice following the sinking of the Titanic had led to the severe overloading of a ship that already had a questionable ability to stay level in the water.

There has always been a large amount of photographs and reports from the sinking of the Eastland but it was not until this year that film footage had been found of the accident.  Jeff Nichols, a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago was searching a website containing WWI memorabilia and personal stories when he discovered the small film clip of the Eastland while it was being refloated.  The EDHS had been searching for years for related materials to the sinking of the Eastland and this is the first time in 100 years since the sinking that anyone had known that a film clip even existed.  A marker dedicated to the memory of the Eastland disaster was finally erected in 1998 and just this past November, Marion Eichholtz, the last known survivor of the sinking died at the age of 102.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/?no-ist

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-eastlanddisaster-story-story.html

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/ss-eastland-sinking-captured-film-28919568

http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,12

http://www.chicagonow.com/everyday-eastland/2014/08/human-frog-eastlands-real-life-hero/

http://www.tavernhistory.com/uncategorized/remembering-the-eastland/

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/michigan-city/tragedy-of-ss-eastland-was-chicago-s-own-titanic/article_a73a9410-dea7-5fc5-a734-cfea88bc403b.html

http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/welectric.shtml

http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/passengers.shtml

http://www.ghostresearch.org/sites/eastland.html

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140811/news/140819850/

https://books.google.com/books?id=uDCyf49mQS8C&pg=PA241&lpg=PA241&dq=bobbie+aanstad,+eastland,+how+did+she+survive&source=bl&ots=bgcIuJK-17&sig=HYVTZhESN9QVZ-_cur8lmxQj3lo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=44DuVKSgMqqKsQScvIKwBA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=bobbie%20aanstad%2C%20eastland%2C%20how%20did%20she%20survive&f=false

Fallen star........

Mirjana Puhar was born July 27 1995 in Smreska Mitorvica, Serbia, moved to the US when she was five years old and had appeared on the reality program "America's Next Top Model."  On Feb 25 2015, she was found dead in a home on Norris Ave in Charlotte NC along with two other people.



The Puhar family fled their home after the Kosovo War and ended up in New York City with about $50 to their name.  They moved to North Carolina about 11 years ago where her father is working as an electrician, her mother works in a restaurant and her younger brother attends East Mecklenburg High School.  Mirjana had been modeling off and on since she was 12 years old with Barbizon and John Casablancas as well as runway shows during the Charlotte Fashion week.

She described herself as a wild child who skipped school, partied, fought and hung out with the wrong crowd.  She attended East Mecklenburg High School and Queen's Grant High School in Mint Hill before dropping out halfway through the 10th grade at age sixteen.  She did decide to ditch the wild crowd and get her GED at Central Piedmont Community College right before she learned that she had been picked for the 21st season of ANTM.  She was the youngest member of the cast at 18 and among the shortest at 5' 91/2" as well as being the first from NC since 2006.

It has been reported that a friend of Puhar and her boyfriend Jonathon Cosme Alvarado, 23, had heard the gunshots at around 5 pm and called police after they had entered the home and found the three bodies.  Puhar, 19, Alvarado and Jusmar Isiah Gonzaga-Garcia, 21, Alvarado's best friend and roommate were found dead within the residence.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested Emmanuel Jesus Rangel, 19, this morning after he had been identified as a suspect in the shooting.  He has been charged with three counts of first degree murder relating to that incident.  He has also been charged with a shooting that happened on Feb 22 2015.

Police responded to a call of shots fired at the Microtel motel on 1603 Matthews Mint Hill Rd at about 1 am and found two men in a car that had been injured by gunfire.  Rosool Jaleel Harrell, 22, of Charlotte NC was dead and the other man was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries.  Rangel has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting as well as Edward Sanchez, 19.  Emily Ann Isaacs, 18 has been charged with accessory after the fact in that murder and both her and Sanchez are being held in Harris County TX where they are being held awaiting extradition back to North Carolina.

The police have not released how the three had been killed in Charlotte officially but it can be a fair guess that they had been shot to death.  They have also made no comment yet as to whether the two shootings are directly related and if others involved knew each other before the shootings.  They have stated that the shootings seem to be drug related.  It certainly a sad way for four lives to end so young but it may just be another example of the dangers of fast living and drugs.

Update Feb 27 2015:

It has been reported that Mirjana had hoped to move out of the Charlotte area soon after being on ANTM but the offers did not pour in as she had hoped.  She had kept busy by working at various part time jobs at MacDonald's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess and Hollister while waiting for a call that would have her moving to NYC or Hollywood.  She had aspirations of working in the modeling or film industry but had also expressed fears of what in depth reporting of her life might uncover.  Mirjana did not have an arrest record so it is unclear what she may have been referring to.

Rangel is scheduled for his first court appearance today.




http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/article9154106.html

http://www.crimeincharlotte.com/teen-charged-with-homicides-in-charlotte-and-matthews/#.VO46cfnF-So

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article11128754.html

http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/crime/2015/02/24/at-least-one-dead-in-ne-charlotte-shooting/23966441/

http://www.people.com/article/americas-next-top-model-mirjana-puhar-dead-killed-triple-homicide

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article11227469.html

http://www.tmz.com/2015/02/25/mirjana-puhar-dead-americas-next-top-model-murder-triple-homicide/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mirjana-puhar-antm-contestant-dead-triple-murder-article-
1.2128804


Update March 2 2015:

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has sent a letter on Feb 27 2015 to DHS Secretary Jeh johnson asking whether Rangel is an illegal immigrant who applied for amnesty under Obama's 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.  Grassley had stated that he had been informed that Rangel had applied for and was granted the deferral and is concerned that it was pushed through quickly as many others have been.  It has been reported that Rangel was known to be an active member of a gang and that should have prevented him from being granted the deferral.

More has been emerging about the shootings as well which police have suggested was an execution fueled by robbery.  The police have released a list of items that were recovered from the home and that includes several cellphones, drugs, two knives, 9mm shells and a security box.  All of the victims died from gunshots to the head and Mirjana died first since she had answered the door when Rangel approached.  Alvarado was Mirjana's boyfriend of six months and he reportedly had only been in the US for the past year.

Alvarado's stepfather, James Jackson, stated that robbery had been the motive and added that 10 pairs of Nike sneakers Alvarado owned were stolen.  He also felt that Rangel may have thought that his stepson had a lot of money because he had just paid $1,500 cash for a car at Rangel's father's car lot.

Alvarado

He went on to state that Rangel had shown up at the home with two friends and they opened fire on Mirjana when she opened the door.  The killed Alvarado and Jusmar after they entered the home and the woman who accompanied them there was the driver.  Jackson did state that Mirjana and his stepson were very much in love and had planned to get married. Jackson stated that his son wanted to show off his beautiful girlfriend and liked to dress smart.  He added that he did not even know that she was a model and that she had never mentioned it around them.

Others paint a picture of Alvarado being a regular user of drugs, was known to carry large amounts of cash and moved in circles where guns were very common.  his facebook page regularly showed pictures of marijuana, pictures of his friends with guns and he bragged on it about taking drugs often.  It is reported that Mirjana became surrounded by this lifestyle after she fell in love with Alvarado and moved into his bungalow.

Jusman

Alvarado's roommate Jusman also was known to post pictures of Marijuana and his friends smoking it but there is little stated as to how deep into that lifestyle he was.  The police seem to think that Alvarado may have been the one who was possibly dealing in drugs but there seems to be a lot more investigating needed to clear the murky reports of the victims backgrounds.

So far Rangel is the only one charged with the shooting of the three in Charlotte NC and he has been connected to the shooting of Rasool Jaleel Harrell.  That shooting in which Harrell was killed and another was injured is also believed to be drug related.  Not much has been stated yet about harrell's background but his changing mugshots and tattoos seem to lend credence to his possible involvement with a gang or drug activities.

It would seem that Mirjana may well have fallen into the lifestyle that her boyfriend enjoyed when she moved in with him.  It may also be that she wanted to live close to that lifestyle as well since she herself stated that she was wild and loved to party before.  She certainly had the potential to work in modeling but after being on ANTM, her career did not seem to be advancing anywhere.  Nothing has been reported as to why the modeling offers had not been rolling in for her and even if the answer is known, it may not ever be reported.






http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/27/was-the-gang-member-who-murdered-former-americas-top-model-contestant-an-obama-dreamer/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2972699/America-s-Model-contestant-shot-dead-opened-door-gang-killers-murdered-drug-dealer-boyfriend-roommate-ISIS-style.html


Update March 20 2015:

David Ezequel Lopez, 19, turned himself into police and is now the second man charged with the triple murder in Charlotte.  He is in jail charged with three counts of first degree murder.  The police have not stated what his role may have been in the murders or if he knew the three before the murders.  Police have also not stated yet if they have tied to the shooting a few days before to this murder.




http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article15416186.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/killer-caught-murder-mirjana-puhar-antm-contestant-article-1.2156628


Update March 23 2015:

Senators Thom Tillis of NC and Chuck Grassley of Iowa have stated that Emmanuel Rangel was supposed to have been deported from the US for a 2012 drug possession charge.  His application for relief under the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was approved in Dec 2013 before his deportation paperwork could be completed.  That approval had granted him temporary amnesty as a child who had been brought to the US illegally as a child and it is what allowed him to still be in the US to commit the murders he is charged with.  The question though is not so much of a why he was approved with the minor drug charge but why he had been approved while it was known that he had been a gang member.  Pres Obama had expanded the DACA but he stated that the government would still be deporting those who were affiliated with gangs.  Unfortunately, this only proves once again that what is stated is not necessarily what is done.  Denial of his DACA application may very well have meant that four people would still be alive today.



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/teen-charged-antm-contestant-death-dodged-deportation-article-1.2159457

http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-tillis-confirm-murder-suspect-received-daca-despite-alleged-%E2%80%98known-gang

You are suing who????

"The wrongful death says that heirs or personal representatives can sue when the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act or the neglect of another and the survival action law also allows for similar lawsuits," stated the Utah Court of Appeals.





Third District Judge Paul Maughan had dismissed the case in Jan 2014 but last week, the Utah Court of Appeals overturned that decision and stated that Barbara Bagley could sue herself in a wrongful death suit.  Bagley, then 48 was driving with her husband Bradley Michael Vom Baur, 55, east on Interstate 80 about 17 miles from Battle Mountain Nev on December 27 2011.  Bagley evidently fell asleep at the wheel and their Land Rover SUV veered off the road and she overcorrected to the left and then right.  The vehicle ran onto the shoulder and overturned, ending up on it's roof.  Vom Baur was ejected from the vehicle about 15 feet from where the vehicle ended up.  Bagley and Vom Baur were seriously injured and both were transported to the hospital.

Bagley was reported to have suffered broken ribs, a concussion, a shattered wrist and both lungs were punctured.  Her husband was listed in critical condition with broken ribs, fractures in his spine, internal bleeding, a fractured hip and bleeding on the brain.  He passed away on Jan 6 2012 after the family decided to discontinue extensive care for him.  The couple's dog Dooley was lost during the accident and was missing in the desert for 53 days until he was found and returned to Bagley.

Vom Baur was born Aug 6 1956 in Salt Lake City UT and earned a BS of Communications from USC as well as a Masters of Advertising from Northwest University.  He worked with advertising firms Ted Bates in NYC and J Walter Thompson in Chicago early in his career.  Later he had his work recognized by The Wall Street journal and the New York Times as well as having TV ideas optioned to Warner Brothers and the Walt Disney Company.  In 2006, he started Turbo Express Car Wash and Detail in Salt Lake City UT.  He met Bagley in 1990 when he had returned to the Salt Lake City area and they had been together for 21 years.  He left behind three step children and a grandchild when he died.

It was reported on his blog that he was beginning chemotherapy in Oct 2011 for treatment of stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs.  He was reportedly starting a second round of chemo on Oct 19th  and had been responding well to the treatments by the last related post of Oct 31st.  The next post in the blog was on Dec 29 after the accident so it is unknown how well he was doing at the time of the accident.

The court ruling clears the way for Bagley to sue in her capacity as the representative of Vom Baur's estate, the driver of the vehicle during the accident that killed him.  Bagley will be suing herself legally and somehow, the court system sees this as a legitimate use of the court system's time.  Bagley's suit states that she was negligent for failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle and for failure to keep a proper lookout as she was driving.

To make things even more interesting is the fact that Bagley is being represented by two sets of lawyers.  One set will be representing Bagley and her responsibilities to her husband's estate and the second set will represent her and her insurance company for her role as the driver in the accident.  If the lawsuit is allowed to continue, the jury will be given the task of deciding how much to compensate Bagley for the harm she has done to herself.  Her lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount for damages that include medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of past and future financial support, physical pain that Vom Baur suffered before he died and the loss of his love and companionship.  If it does move forward to an actual monetary award, the estate creditors would be paid before anything goes to the estate, which only she is the heir of.

It is difficult for me to comprehend how the court system could find that this logically is something to allow but it seems that they felt it was.  I would hope that medically, Vom Baur was on his road to beating cancer and could look forward to many more years to enjoy life.  If not, that will certainly play a role as well into the analysis of any award the jury may decide on.  One can only hope that she has not filed this lawsuit so that her dogs and her can enjoy a life on easy street thanks to an insurance company.









http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2015/02/19/utah-court-allows-woman-to-sue-herself-for-wrongful-death-of-her-husband/

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=19329362

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2960321/Woman-sues-fatal-crash-killed-husband-claim-damages-against-insurance-company.html

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2189925-155/utah-woman-can-sue-herself-over

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=bradley-vom-baur&pid=155460981&

http://bradvombaur.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-10-10T10:49:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false

http://m.elkodaily.com/news/local/driver-falls-asleep-at-wheel-two-hurt/article_89571d98-3362-11e1-881e-0019bb2963f4.html

Thank you Captain Obvious........

The police responded to a shooting at 396 Upton Dr, Saint Joseph MI at around 5 pm on Jan 1 2015.  They found Christina Bond, 55, who had been shot in the eye.  She was transported to the hospital and died the next day.

Bond had retired from the US Navy and had spent two tours as a Military Police officer while in the Navy.  There had never been any doubt with the police that her shooting involved anyone but herself.  The police have now released the preliminary findings of their investigation and have stated that it was an accidental shooting.

She had evidently been carrying her pistol in a bra holster and had been having difficulty adjusting it for her comfort.  While adjusting it, Bond was looking down at the weapon and it accidentally discharged and she was shot in the eye.  I am not sure why it would take that long to decide that it was an accidental shooting, nor why it would be such big news.  It sounds like an unfortunate accident but I would not think to carry a loaded pistol in my bra.  Come to think of it....... I don't even carry my cash or cellphone there either.

None of the brief articles that reported her death as accidental tried to tie her death to the bra holster or even to the fact that she was looking at the barrel of the loaded weapon when it discharged.  for this reason i am a bit confused as to why this is such a news worthy event to report.  The holster in question is known as a FlashBang holster and is designed for women to carry a weapon even if they are dressed for a nigh out.

I couldn't find any statistics as to how many people may have been injured or killed while using this particular model but remarks i did find, state that it would be very difficult to be looking at the barrel of the gun while discharging it.

Meanwhile, on Feb 6 2015, Judge Eric Brewton of Cobb County GA, dismissed the charge of driving while distracted that Alabama resident Madison Turner received in the middle of January.  Evidently a police officer followed Turner for about two miles before pulling him over on Canton Rd in Marietta GA.  The officer stated that he had not been driving erratically or dangerously but added several times that Turner couldn't just drive down the road eating his quarter pounder with cheese.

The law is vague as to what constitutes driving while distracted and local lawyers stated that it usually is only used in cases that involve an accident.  Turner was not driving down the road eating a whole pizza or something so large that he needed to use both hands to hold it..... it was a burger.

What is amazing is that it took almost a month before the court date and a decision that the state does not have the evidence necessary to prove it's case beyond a reasonable doubt.  That should have been obvious when the officer turned in the ticket...... eating a burger while driving was a distraction?  At that rate, officers should be hauling in drivers by the hundreds every week for being distracted while drinking coffee, talking to others in the car, checking out scenery or chatting on their phones.

I wonder what the fine would be for driving while eating fries?






http://www.florin.net/obituaries/Christina-Bond/#!/Obituary

http://patch.com/michigan/newbaltimore/police-woman-adjusting-bra-holster-when-she-accidentally-shot-herself

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/02/woman_who_fatally_shot_herself.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mich-woman-fatally-shoots-adjusting-bra-holster-article-1.2120445

http://thewellarmedwoman.com/flashbang-holster

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/marietta/2015/01/19/eating-while-driving/22025667/

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/man-cited-eating-while-driving-cobb-county/njrGY/

You have to take the children with you?

"We all knew he was going to snap eventually," stated Edwards's 17 year old daughter Jordyn.





Alan Dean Edwards, 46, rammed his 1997 Honda Accord into the back of a parked semi on December 8 2014 at about 1 am.  The high speed crash at the Whitaker Brake Check area off I-5 north of Castaic Lake CA killed him and his two children, Erick Edwards, 9 and 5 year old Alona Edwards.  Police spent the next day investigating how he could have accidently crashed into the legally parked semi truck.

The evidence reveals that Edwards meant to kill himself and his two children, most likely because his life seemed to be spinning out of control.  Edwards had been involved in a very bitter custody fight and divorce with his estranged wife and was on the losing side so far.  He picked his two children up on Friday December 5 after school in accordance with their agreement and headed to the family home.

His wife of eight years, Sherri Edwards, had sold the Lancaster home that day but had not told Edwards that she had.  He arrived there to find the home sold and virtually empty of the family belongings.  Sherri states that she was unable to reach Edwards by text afterwards and on Dec 7 she filed a complaint at the Lancaster Sheriff's station stating that he had kidnapped the children.

Police are certain that the accident is a murder-suicide based on the evidence that they have found.  Edwards left the family home unlocked and left his driver's license, his keys, Erick's asthma medicine and the Honda's air bag sensors inside.  The children, Erick in the front seat and Alona in the backseat, were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

Police do not believe that Edwards could have fallen asleep at the wheel  because he also was not wearing a seatbelt and he had to dodge several obstacles at the brake check to hit the rig.  Police added that they all died instantly in the high speed crash that sheared most of the roof off of the car.  Balbir Singh, 45, of Yuba City was asleep in his truck at the time of the crash and was not hurt.  Police stress that he was legally parked at the pull-off at the time of the crash.

Sherri stated that the children must have been asleep at the time of the crash and that they both usually rode in the back seat.  Her step daughter Jordyn stated that Edwards had lost custody of her earlier and that he had threatened to kill both her and her mother previously.  She added that several people had felt that her father would snap one day and it is believed that the pressure of being homeless, not having a job and losing custody of the children may have been enough to push him over the edge.

No funeral plans have been announced yet but there has been a fund set up on go fund me to help with the expenses for the children.





http://www.gofundme.com/iftuzk

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/calif-man-kills-kids-slamming-car-truck-article-1.2040694

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/130692/

http://abc7.com/news/2-kids-man-killed-in-castaic-lake-crash-identified/428513/

Stumbling away from justice.......

"You are going to ruin my life," stated Nora Longoria.









Justice Nora Longoria, 49, was stopped at 1 am on North 23rd Street in McAllen Texas for going 69 in a 55 mph zone on July 12 2014.  She admitted to the police that she had five beers in the past three hours before getting behind the wheel but she thought flashing her court badge would give her a "get out of jail free" card.

She had the misfortune it seems to have been pulled over by an honest cop and at that time, she started begging.  While slurring her words, she pleaded with the police to let her drive home the few miles she had left.  She added that she had worked very hard for 25 years to get to her position of 13th Court Justice of Appeals.

She failed the sobriety tests miserably and refused to submit to a blood test or breathalyzer test.  The police dash cam caught her struggling to walk a straight line and stumbling during the test so it looked like it would be a fairly easy case to prosecute.  She was charged with driving while intoxicated and released from jail on a $2,000 bond the same morning.

Her case was heard in court on November 20 2014 and it was promptly dismissed.  It seems that the only video that was shown in court was the one that had been made while she was in the police station and she was a bit more "sober" looking in that one.  The judge felt that there was not enough evidence to prove that she was intoxicated when she had been pulled over and he gave her that "get out of jail free" card afterall.

The McAllen police stated that they don't know why the dash cam video was not in the hands of the prosecutors when her case was heard.  Odd but stranger still was their ability to make it available for release to the public shortly after Longoria's case was dismissed.  Somehow her tape of a very lame imitation of dirty dancing must have gotten lost in the mail?  I guess that it is true.... having powerful friends can save your ass in a time of need.

 
Best qualified to beat the charges?





http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/texas-judge-busted-drunk-driving-pleads-special-treatment-article-1.1867241

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/texas-judge-stumbles-dui-sobriety-test-article-1.2035975

http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1132398

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_e0ad41c8-7b29-11e4-ae18-9f051e070429.html