Sarah McKinley from Blanchard, Oklahoma, was 18-years-old when her husband passed away from cancer on Christmas Day of 2012, leaving her a widow and a single mother of a three-month-old baby. On New Year’s Eve, Sarah and her son were home alone when two men appeared at the door, one of which was armed with a 12-inch hunting knife. As Sarah stood behind the door, the two men began to break in. As one of the men went door-to-door, Sarah grabbed as 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol and called 911.

She said: “I’ve got two guns in my hand. Is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door? I’m here by myself with my infant baby, can I please get a dispatcher out here immediately?” The 911 operator replied: “Well, you have to do whatever you can to protect yourself. I can’t tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.”

The 911 operator would later say that it was evident that Sarah was terrified. She was whispering down the phone so that the intruder did not know that she had placed a call to 911. She asked Sarah: “Do you have an alarm on your car that you can set off with your remote control that might scare him?” However, Sarah didn’t. All she had was her gun.¹

Sarah had managed to barricade the front door with a couch but suddenly, one of the men kicked in the door and rushed towards Sarah with the knife. Sarah immediately shot him with the 12-gauge shotgun, killing him almost immediately. She would later say: “I wouldn’t have done it, but it was my son. It’s not an easy decision to make, but it was either going to be him or my son. And it wasn’t going to be my son. There’s nothing more dangerous than a woman with a child.”

The intruder was identified as Justin Martin and his accomplice was identified as Dustin Stewart, who had fled from the scene following the shooting but later turned himself in. Sarah had recognised Justin; just the week beforehand, on the day of Sarah’s husband’s funeral, Justin had stopped by at Sarah’s home and claimed that he was a neighbour who just wanted to say hello. Sarah did not let him into her home and briefly spoke to him through the door.

Following the shooting, the district attorney said that Sarah had acted in self-defence and she would not be facing charges. “You’re allowed to shoot an unauthorized person that is in your home. The law provides you the remedy, and sanctions the use of deadly force,” said Det. Dan Huff.  Dustin, on the other hand, was ordered to appear in court to face charges of first-degree felony murder. Under Oklahoma’s felony murder law, prosecutors were permitted to seek a murder conviction if an accomplice dies during the commission of another felony crime.

Just the following day, Dustin was released on bond. Following his release, CBS reported that Sarah was “ready, waiting and watching” in case Dustin decided to make a re-appearance at her home.² Thankfully for both Sarah and Dustin, he decided not to return.

Ironically, when Justin was remembered by his friends and family, their portrayal of the man was a stark difference to what the Sarah had experienced. His uncle, Rod Martin, said: “We don’t have many details about how and why this happened, but we do know that much of the speculation and rumors are not consistent with the Justin his many friends, family and community knew him to be.” According to his obituary, his young life was marked by his love and dedication to animals. One friend said: “He was a super nice guy and very hard worker.” However, according to the arrest affidavit, he died clutching a knife and according to the 911 operator, she heard the anger and violence down the other end of the phone line.³

Dustin would later tell investigators that he and Justin had ingested prescription medication earlier on in the day and Justin believed that there may have been painkillers in Sarah’s home because her husband had recently died of cancer.

In May, Dustin was ordered to stand trial for first-degree murder. He initially pleaded not-guilty but the following year, he pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit burglary and was handed a ten-year suspended sentence. He had been originally charged with first-degree murder but the charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.⁴

On that fateful afternoon, two intruders probably looked at young Sarah McKinley as though she were an easy target. However, the outcome of this case shows that they were very evidently mistaken.

Jasper is a small timber town around 100 miles northeast of Houston, Texas. It’s a quaint area that holds an annual Butterfly Festival the first October every year. However, in June of 1998, Jasper was rocked by a brutal hate crime that still reverberates across the nation today. As a motorist was arriving at the African American church on Huff Creek Road on the 8^th of June, 1998, they were met by a grisly scene. Dumped in front of the church beside the African American cemetery was the mutilated torso of an African American man and a three-mile bloody trail revealed one of the world’s most disturbing murders.

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SOURCES –

The Associated Press, 9 June, 1998 – “Three White Men Charged in Dragging Death of Black Man”

The Associated Press, 9 June, 1998 – “Sisters Say Man Dragged to Death Loved Music, Family”

The Associated Press, 9 June, 1998 – “3 Charged in Black Man’s Murder”

Anti-Defamation League, 10 June, 1998 – “Aryan Brotherhood”

The Associated Press, 10 June, 1998 – “Clinton Denounces Killing as Shocking and Outrageous”

The Associated Press, 10 June, 1998 – “East Texas Town Says Race Problems Were in the Past”

The Associated Press, 10 June, 1998 – “Trail of Evidence Paints Gruesome Picture of Dragging Victim’s Death”

Austin American-Statesman, 10 June, 1998 – “Mayor of Jasper Contends Killing was not Representative of his City”

Houston Chronicle, 10 June, 1998 – “Trio Charged in Jasper Slaying”

Houston Chronicle, 10 June, 1998 – “Racial Hate Crimes Sordid Past of State History”

The Dallas Morning News, 10 June, 1998 – “Stunned East Texans Fear Crime Will Brand Town”

The Washington Times, 10 June, 1998 – “3 Texans Arrested in Dragging Death of Disabled Black”

The Associated Press, 11 June, 1998 – “Apology from Father of Suspect in Dragging Death”

Houston Chronicle, 11 June, 1998 – “Jasper Suspect Wrote of Links to Racist Group”

Austin American-Statesman, 12 June, 1998 – “Victim’s Family Recalls his Talents and Troubles”

The Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 June, 1998 – “The Town of Jasper”

The Houston Chronicle, 13 June, 1998 – “Jasper Slaying Victim’s Rites Today”

Austin American-Statesman, 14 June, 1998 – “Jasper Mourns Victims of Vicious Hate Attack”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 June, 1998 – “Despite His Problems, Jasper Man Remembered as Reliable”

The Times, 15 June, 1998 – “Race Murder Suspect Had Troubled Past”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 June, 1998 – “Klan Plans White Pride Rally in Jasper”

USA Today, 18 June, 1998 – “Prisons Can Cultivate Hatred”

The Charlotte Observer, 28 June, 1998 – “Police Keep Klansmen, Blacks Apart”

USA Today, 8 July, 1998 – “Slain Man’s Daughter Urges Expansion of Hate-Crime Law”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 July 1998 – “Daughter Calls Jasper Tragedy a Wake Up Call”

The Associated Press, 22 July, 1998 – “Evidence Suggests Berry Participated in Attack”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 October, 1998 – “Racial Friendship Urged at Convention”

The Associated Press, 11 November, 1998 – “Suspect denies Dragging Death Was Hate Crime”

The Dallas Morning News, 7 January, 1999 – “Jasper Man Faces Loss of Counsel”

Akron Beacon Journal, 17 February, 1999 – “Sheriff Cites Clues from Dragging”

Austin American-Statesman, 17 February, 1999 – “Dragging Death was a Gang Rite”

The Associated Press, 18 Februray, 1999 – “Tattoos on Murder Defendant Show Man of Hate”

The Associated Press, 19 February, 1999 – “Byrd’s DNA Found in Suspect’s Home”

The Associated Press, 22 February, 1999 – “Dragging Victim Made Vain Attempt to Save Himself”

The Seattle Times, 23 February, 1999 – “Guilty Verdict in Death by Dragging”

Columbia Daily Tribune, 25 February, 1999 – “Jury Deliberates White Supremacist’s Fate”

The Deseret News, 25 February, 1999 – “Jasper Jury Sends a Message”

The Associated Press, 5 March, 1999 – “Prosecutor Wants Condemned Man to Testify Against Co-Defendant”

The Associated Press, 13 September, 1999 – “Dragging Suspect Proud of Actions”

The Associated Press, 17 September, 1999 – “Dragging Defendant Takes Stand”

Houston Chronicle, 17 September, 1999 – “Doctor Details Devastating Pain of Dragging”

The Associated Press, 20 September, 1999 – “Second Man Convicted in Dragging Death of Black Man”

The Associated Press, 21 September, 1999 – “Killer’s Parents Plead with Jurors in Dragging Death Case”

The Associated Press, 11 November, 1999 – “Berry Likely Drove Truck Dragging Byrd”

The Augusta Chronicle, 11 November, 1999 – “Third Trial Begins”

The Dallas Morning News, 11 November, 1999 – “Defendant Feared for his Life”

The Associated Press, 17 November, 1999 – “Fear Kept Third Dragging Death Defendant From Stopping Attack”

The Associated Press, 19 November, 1999 – “Third Dragging Death Defendant Convicted, Sentenced to Life in Prison”

Houston Chronicle, 21 November, 1999 – “Grieving for Son”

The Beaumont Enterprise, 22 September, 2011 – “Different Deaths”

The Beaumont Enterprise, 1 May, 2019 – “King Executed for Byrd Murder”

AUDIO SOURCES –

“Jasper: Ku Klux Klan Rally Ends in Scuffle”

“Byrd: “The Life & Tragic Death of James Byrd Jr ” ft.Dick Gregory”

“The Murder of James Byrd Jr.”

Children are among the most vulnerable members within our community and great lengths are taken to protect them at all costs. Adults – especially parents – have a responsibility to protect youngsters and it’s one that isn’t taken lightly. The schoolyard is patrolled by teachers, at the playground, parents watch like hawks, and tiny hands are grasped tightly while out in public. There are also social service systems in place whose sole purpose is to protect children. But sadly, there is no such thing as a perfect system. No society can protect every single child and in 2006 a tragedy in Barrie, Canada, was a painful reminder.

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Sources:

The Barrie Examiner, 5 October, 2006 – “They Were Precious – Girls’ Deaths Leave Neighbours Shaken”

The Brockville Recorder and Times, 5 October, 2006 – “Barrie Mom Charged in Daughters’ Deaths was in Custody Fight”

24 Hours, 6 October, 2006 – “Mom Looks Weary at Court Date”

The Barrie Examiner, 6 October, 2006 – “Pair Polar Opposites: Friends Reaction”

The Barrie Examiner, 6 October, 2006 – “Loss is Beyond Understanding”

The Barrie Examiner, 6 October, 2006 – “Memorials Honour  Dead Girls”

The Brockville Recorder and Times, 6 October, 2006 – “Slain Girls’ Mother Appears in Court”

The Edmonton Sun, 6 October, 2006 – “Mom Accused of Killing Young Girls Needed to See Psychiatrist, Says Social Worker”

The Toronto Sun, 6 October, 2006 – “It Wasn’t a Happy Home, For Sure”

The Barrie Examiner, 7 October, 2006 – “Barrie Mom Feared Losing Girls”

The Barrie Examiner, 11 October, 2006 – “Priest Calls on Family to Forgive”

The Barrie Examiner, 18 October, 2006 – “Campione Abused by her Husband”

The Toronto Star, 18 October, 2006 – “Why Was She the Trusted Parent?”

The Toronto Star, 18 October, 2006 – “CAS Returned Kids Twice”

The Toronto Sun, 18 October, 2006 – “Normal… Too Normal – Campione Court Documents Show a Family Like Many Others”

The Barrie Examiner, 19 October, 2006 – “Mom Looked for Help”

The Barrie Examiner, 31 October, 2006 – “Memorials Torment Tenants”

The Barrie Examiner, 18 January, 2007 – “Court Hands Campione a Reprieve”

The Barrie Examiner, 19 January, 2007 – “Campione Granted a Divorce”

The Barrie Examiner, 17 September, 2010 – “She’s Not Insane, Crown Tells Jury”

The Barrie Examiner, 18 September, 2010 – “Photos Shake Jurors”

The Barrie Examiner, 21 September, 2010 – “Dancing Towards Death”

The Barrie Examiner, 24 September, 2010 – “Sister of Killer Mom Testifies”

The Barrie Examiner, 23 September, 2010 – “Journal Unveiled in court”

The Toronto Star, 29 September, 2010 – “A Morbid Exchange, a Macabre Vigil”

The Alliston Herald, 13 October, 2010 – “Mother Talks About Daughter’s Erratic Behaviour”

The Toronto Sun, 14 October, 2010 – “Killer Berated Helpful Mother”

The Barrie Examiner, 27 October, 2010 – “Her Motive Was Altruistic”

The Barrie Examiner, 30 October, 2010 – “Campione Snow Doctor”

The Barrie Examiner, 2 November, 2010 – “Psychiatrist Takes Stand”

24 Hours Toronto, 5 November, 2010 – “Closing Words in Campione Case”

The Barrie Examiner, 6 November, 2010 – “Crown Refutes Illness”

The Toronto Star, 18 November, 2010 – “Father of Dead Girls Far From Monster Portrayed by Ex-Wife”

Audio Sources:

“Elaine Campione – National Post”

Hennis arrived at the Eastburn home at 367 Summer Hill Road at approximately 9PM that night. He told Katie that he and his wife, Angela Hennis, loved dogs and thought that Dixie would be a perfect addition to their family which included a 10-week-old daughter named Kristina.  Hennis adopted the English setter and returned home to his family, new dog in tow. Two days later, however, Hennis made an unexpected visit to the Eastburn family. It isn’t known exactly how the following events unfolded, but the grim outcome would send shivers down the spine of the nation.

Four days later, a concerned neighbour who had not seen any movement from the Eastburn home and had noticed the newspapers piling up, contacted police to conduct a welfare check. When police arrived, they looked through the window and saw a crying toddler. Nevertheless, nobody answered the door. When they broke in, a putrid smell wafted up their noses and they were met by a scene that shocked even the most hardened officers: “Death has a smell, its own aroma. I’ll never forget the smell in there,” said Officer Robert Bittle, who was first on the scene. Kara was found curled up underneath a bloody Star Wars blanket. She had brutally stabbed ten times. Erin was found bludgeoned, stabbed and almost decapitated in her bed. Katie was found in her bed. Her bra was up around her neck and her underwear had been cut off. She had been raped and then stabbed 15 times. All of them had been slashed across the throat. Janna was found unharmed but distressed and hungry; she had been left in her crib for three days with no food or water.⁵ “For so long after that homicide, I could close my eyes and I could see the children,” said Officer Robert Bitte.⁶

The gruesome slayings stunned the safe, middle-class neighbourhood. The murders played to a common fear among military families that when the man of the house was away, the family would become prey. But the locals wouldn’t have long to wait until an arrest was made. Before her murder, Katie wrote a letter to her husband about the “nice man” who had come to the house on Tuesday night and adopted Dixie. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department announced that they wanted whoever had adopted Dixie to come forward for questioning. “We have no idea who it was. But anybody who went to the house, we’re going to talk to,” they announced. Hennis’ wife, Angela, saw the enquiry and the couple reported to the Sheriff’s Department right away.⁷ Investigators noticed how much Hennis resembled the composite sketch based on a description provided by Patrick Cone, a neighbour of the Eastburns who had seen somebody lurking in their driveway the night of the murders. When Hennis was interviewed, he couldn’t provide an alibi for the night of the murders; Angela was out of town all weekend.

While Hennis denied any involvement in the murders, his neighbour told investigators that he had seen Hennis burning something in a barrel in the backyard in the early morning hours after the murders. Hennis was apprehended on the 16^th of May, 1985, after Cone picked him out of a police line-up and identified his car as similar to one he had seen parked nearby on the night of the murders. When Gary Eastburn rushed home, he identified several missing items from the family home, including his bank card. It was determined that the bank card had been used at an ATM nearby and an eye witness identified Hennis as the man she had seen using the ATM at around the same time the card was used.

After a lengthy and distressing trial, during which graphic crime scene photographs were shown, Hennis was found guilty of rape and three counts of murder. He was sentenced to death. However, Hennis appealed this conviction on the grounds that the crime scene photographs had inflamed the jury. In 1989, his retrial began and this time the defence mounted a better argument. The second witness to place Hennis at the ATM, now claimed that her memory could have been influenced by Hennis’ pictures in the newspapers. Additionally, it was uncovered that she initially claimed she did not see anybody at the ATM that night. Another witness was produced by the defence team – a tall blonde high school student who looked strikingly similar to Hennis. He told the court that he often walked through the neighbourhood at night and that Cone could have been mistaken when he saw him and thought it was Hennis.⁸ The defence also produced a newspaper carrier who claimed she saw a small, thin man leaving the Eastburn’s home on the night of the slayings.

In 1989, Tim Hennis was acquitted on all charges and then released. He returned to the Army and served in the first Gulf War and in Somalia, steadily earning promotions. He had a son and became a Boy Scout leader so that he could spend more time with his young son. He retired in Lakewood, Washington, in 2004, and lived a life of anonymity along a quiet, tree-lined street.

At the time of the murders and the subsequent trials, DNA testing was in its infancy. Investigators could do blood-type and hair analysis tests to determine whether a suspect was in the population that could have committed a crime but they couldn’t pinpoint a specific person based on that evidence. Then in 2006, when DNA testing was much more advanced, investigators decided to have the State Bureau of Investigations test the evidence once again. This time, analysis on the semen found at the crime scene matched a blood sample Hennis had voluntarily given the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department back in 1985. Since Hennis had already been tried and acquitted, double jeopardy prevented him from being tried in state court again. However, he could be tried in military court and in October of 2006, authorities successfully reenlisted Hennis back into the Army so that another trial could take place. The Army were able to try him twice for the same trial because of the dual sovereignty doctrine. They dropped the rape charge against Hennis due to the statute of limitations being expired.

During the third trial, Hennis’ defence argued that the DNA did not indicate murder and instead, could have indicated that Hennis and Katie had sexual relations at some point before the murders. “Does the evidence take you beyond adultery to murder?” asked lawyer, Frank Spinner. “You should follow that evidence where ever it leads you, no matter how uncomfortable it may make you.”⁹ They argued that despite the DNA evidence, no other evidence such as hair or fingerprints were found at the crime scene. The prosecutor, Capt. Matthew Scott, argued that Hennis may have been able to clean up the crime scene but that DNA doesn’t lie. “The person that slaughtered her, raped her – the person that raped her left his sperm,” he said.

In 2010, after weeks of testimony and less than three hours deliberation, the jury found Tim Hennis guilty on three counts of premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death and currently remains on Death Row at the Army facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

‬‪For over 20 years, Helen and George Ackley and their children called this eerie house “home.” In 1977, Helen went to the Reader’s Digest to relay some odd occurrences they had experienced over the years. ‬

The first time Helen knew there was a hidden entity sharing her home was back the late 60s. She was on top of a ladder painting her living room ceiling when she glanced towards the fireplace and saw a man. The elusive figure had white hair and was wearing a colonial-style suit and a white shirt with puffy cuffs. “He was rocking back and forth but there wasn’t a chair. I told him I hoped he liked what we’re doing to the house and I hoped he liked the color. He smiled at me and nodded. I took that to mean that he was glad,” she recalled.¹⁰

“I feel comforted by their presence. I feel protected. You’ve got to enjoy a house like this,” said Helen. She said that over the years, the family saw three separate apparitions, all of whom were dressed in Revolutionary-period clothing. None of the paranormal experiences inside the home could be considered terrifying. The poltergeists were friendly and even generous.

On several occasions, including one daughter’s wedding and a granddaughter’s christening, the kind-natured spirits left little gifts of silver or gold rings on the bedside tables. “They left gifts. My two older granddaughters received rings. We had scoured the area shopping for baby rings, and we couldn’t find anything. Then we found a baby ring on the table in one bedroom. It fit perfectly. The same thing happened with the second child,” said Helen.¹¹

In addition to the gifts, the ghostly guests would shake Helen’s children’s beds to get them up in time for school each morning. During the school breaks, they announced the night before that there was no school the following day and then the ghosts would allow them to sleep in.

‬When the taxes became too much, Helen was forced to sell the unique home, much to her dismay. She didn’t mention the haunting to her buyer, Jeffrey M. Stambovsky, who had agreed to purchase it for $650,000. He put down a $32,500 deposit. However, he soon discovered that the house was supposedly haunted after a local architect said to him: “Oh, you’re buying the haunted house…”¹² Jeffrey took Helen to court in an attempt to get their deposit back.

The New York appellate court declared that the house was haunted “as a matter of law.” Ultimately, Jeffrey settled for half of his deposit back and left the haunted mansion for good. Helen had no problem selling her house afterwards.

The case became known as the “Ghostbusters Ruling,” and was later taught in U.S. law school classes. It even forced the Connecticut State Legislature to enact a law requiring owners to tell potential buyers if ghosts were present in the home before selling it. Some states have a long list of stigmas that must be reported to potential buyers. They range from murders and suicide to sex crimes and drug activity.

The new owners never reported any paranormal activity after they moved in but there’s probably a reason for that: During the lawsuit against Helen, she announced that when she moved from the haunted home along the Hudson River, she would be taking the ghosts with her!‬