band of adults and children charged with murdering a woman....

[azathoth777]

PORTAGE, Wisc.— Prosecutors Wednesday charged a band of adults and children on the run from the law with murdering a woman in the crew, burying her behind their rented house and torturing her 11-year-old son who was found locked in a closet with severe injuries.

Police uncovered the crimes when an investigation into a missing 2-year-old Florida girl led them to the house in this town of 8,000 last Thursday.

Officers found the missing girl along with her mother who was sought in the parental abduction case.

But that was only the start.

After taking those at the house to the police station, investigators learned another child was left behind. They found the severely burned and blood-streaked boy in an upstairs closet.

Then questioning of the 11-year-old and the others on Friday again led them back, and they found the body of the boy's 36-year-old mother, Tammie Garlin, in a shallow grave in the backyard.

Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said detectives believe the group made its living by stealing people's identities and using them in fraud schemes.

"You take just a child custody abduction and bring it to this town, it's a big case," said police Detective Lt. Mark Hahn. "Now you throw in a child abuse, which is a torture, in itself is a big case. Now you throw in a homicide with a buried body. That becomes a big case. And you throw in other things we're uncovering such as the identity thefts.

"We could have victims from all over in different parts of the country. Fortunately, it ended here," Hahn said.

Charged with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide were Candace Clark, 23; Clark's boyfriend, Michael Sisk, 25; Michaela Clerc, 20; and 15-year-old Felicia Mae Garlin, Tammie Garlin's daughter. They also face charges for abusing the 11-year-old boy and hiding Tammie Garlin's corpse.

They were not charged with identity theft, but Kohlwey said the investigation continues.

Circuit Judge Alan White set bail at half-a-million dollars for Felicia Garlin and $350,000 for Clerc. He denied bail for Sisk and Clerc, saying they pose a flight risk and have multiple aliases.

Kohlwey told White the group had been moving from state to state after Clark and Sisk kidnapped Clark's 2-year-old daughter from her foster parents in Florida.

Attorneys for the group asked the judge to set reasonable bail, saying the allegations were unproven. They don't have the money to flee, they added.

But Kohlwey told White investigators had discovered a number of money orders, each worth $500, in the house made out to the group's aliases. Authorities were still looking into how the group obtained them, she said.

According to court documents, investigators in Florida looking for the 2-year-old notified Portage police last Thursday that Clark and Sisk might be in town. Officers went to the address, a brick two-story house across from railroad tracks.

They met Clark, who gave them a false name, and noticed Clark's missing 2-year-old daughter in the house. They took everyone in the house, including Clark, Clerc, Felicia Garlin, Clark's daughter and Clark's 1-year-old and 3-month old children into custody. Clerc told them they had missed the 11-year-old boy in a closet.

Police returned to the house and rescued the boy from the closet.

The criminal complaint said he had suffered cuts to his head and had burn and whip marks from an extension cord all over his body. He also was missing a front tooth and was starving.

The boy told police the others in the house, including his mother and his sister, would pour scalding water over him, hog-tie him and put him in the bathtub, where they threatened to drown him.

He said he was whipped almost daily with a belt and extension cords, fed only one meal a day and forced to sleep naked in his sister's closet.

"I don't want to hurt no more," the boy told a doctor at University of Wisconsin Hospital.

Clerc said the boy's mother _ Tammie Garlin _ took part in the torture for a time before the others, including her daughter, turned on her. They began pouring hot water on her, too, and forced her into the closet with her son. The boy said his mother would rub cream on his burns.

Clark told police Tammie Garlin died before dawn on June 4. Earlier in the day Felicia Garlin and Clerc had kicked Tammie Garlin and had to carry her downstairs to the bathroom, where Clerc dropped her on her head.

Sisk went into the bathroom and shut the door. He came out a few minutes later and told them Tammie Garlin was dead. Clerc laughed, the complaint said.

An autopsy showed Tammie Garlin had been strangled. Clerc, Felicia Garlin and Sisk hid the body in the trunk of their car and buried her behind the house later that night, the complaint said.

Clerc and Tammie Garlin had been lesbian lovers for about five years in Florida, detectives said, but had broken up. Clerc believed Garlin had cheated on her, the complaint said.

Hahn said Clerc's parents were Clark's daughter's foster parents.

After Clerc and Tammie Garlin broke up, Clerc met Clark on the Internet. At some point they all went to Colorado, where Sisk joined them, and returned to Florida for Clark's daughter.

Kohlwey said Sisk is wanted in Colorado for not returning to jail, where he was released to go to work.

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It's amazing the things that people will do.

[novakru]

Originally Posted by azathoth777

____________________________________________

It's amazing the things that people will do.

I question the word "people".
I don't think they should be classified as human.

[novakru]

In my wanderings last night around the house NOT SLEEPING, I had a myriad of meandering thoughts and this subject came up in my musings.

If we could pass a law that states 'what is' and 'what is not' human behavior....anything that bypassses into those outer limits.....we could put these dogs (yes, ok, that's offending to dogs..sorry )
out of their (and mostly our) misery.
I don't want these people in jail..why give them that?
I want them hanged by the neck until dead.

And I understand the right to life issue-trust me, but I really do not think that someone that depraved can be any kind of asset or even remotely valuable in this society.
Anybody that can torture a CHILD .....




They are not even good enough to pick trash from the highway.

[Shazbut]

I dont believe in capital punishment as I feel that no one has the right to judge life or death over another. Yes, I know that perpertrators of crime dont think that way, having no compassion, empathy or morally sound thought and that punishment should maybe fit the crime, but I still cant condone the taking of another's life simply because they chose to torture, maim or murder someone.

But then again, if it was one of MY children or my sister or brother or my beloved Dad or my nieces or nephews??? Hard one!

[novakru]

I hear ya Shaz.

I would love to believe my spirit is an evolving one, and one day I will be on that ultimate level of peace and compassion beyond reproach, but I have a sneaky suspicion I will always want blood, an eye for an eye....
and even though two wrongs never make a right, it sure FEELS GOOD when vengence abounds.

[Shazbut]

It is difficult isnt it? When you are of the ilk in not wishing death to others for their crimes, but may require vengeance if it was a loved one who died at the hands of others?

Remember Lesley Ann Downey, the little girl who was raped and tortured by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley? - the harrowing tape of her pleas to Hindley to help her? Lesley's mother wished both Brady and Hindley dead and swore that if that Hindley was ever released, she would rip her limb from limb. All she could hope for was that both Brady and Hindley were never released and vowed to outlive them both. That lady never got her revenge and sadly died (3years before Hindley), riddled with cancer. There was never closure for her.

For some, at least, it appears that death for a crime is a way of being able to let go.

But does vengeance release us? I dont know and hope to the gods, I never know.

[corpse_grinder]

Originally Posted by novakru

In my wanderings last night around the house NOT SLEEPING, I had a myriad of meandering thoughts and this subject came up in my musings.

If we could pass a law that states 'what is' and 'what is not' human behavior....anything that bypassses into those outer limits.....we could put these dogs (yes, ok, that's offending to dogs..sorry )
out of their (and mostly our) misery.
I don't want these people in jail..why give them that?
I want them hanged by the neck until dead.

And I understand the right to life issue-trust me, but I really do not think that someone that depraved can be any kind of asset or even remotely valuable in this society.
Anybody that can torture a CHILD .....




They are not even good enough to pick trash from the highway.

you got my vote! Im for the death penalty AND MORE SO for those who take the life of a child ... once you've done a deed so vile you've revoked your rights as a human and should be put down as the rabid dog they are

[corpse_grinder]

Originally Posted by Shazbut

It is difficult isnt it? When you are of the ilk in not wishing death to others for their crimes, but may require vengeance if it was a loved one who died at the hands of others?

Remember Lesley Ann Downey, the little girl who was raped and tortured by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley? - the harrowing tape of her pleas to Hindley to help her? Lesley's mother wished both Brady and Hindley dead and swore that if that Hindley was ever released, she would rip her limb from limb. All she could hope for was that both Brady and Hindley were never released and vowed to outlive them both. That lady never got her revenge and sadly died (3years before Hindley), riddled with cancer. There was never closure for her.

For some, at least, it appears that death for a crime is a way of being able to let go.

But does vengeance release us? I dont know and hope to the gods, I never know.

I can understand what your saying and have total respect in your opinion, but all this really boils down to is rehabilitation. Some offenders (or in most cases repeat) cost states a ton of money a year to house ... money that should go to helping fund schools, hospitals, law enforcement etc etc..

The punishment should fit the crime no doubt and some people should be "put down" for crimes that have been committed in such a henious fashion.

I read once about the "cake" analogy ... it goes like this, somone gives you a recipe for the best tasting chocolate cake ... so you put in the flour, the eggs, sugar, coco ... and by mistake 1 cup of motor oil!!

You bake the cake and serve it ... well of course its no good and can not be eaten by anyone ... you cake extract the motor oil in it you and have no choice but to throw it out.

This in the same way could be said about violet offenders ... some are so bad that no matter what you do you can never really help them.

You may have heard of Richard Speck? He was given life in prison for killing those nursing students back in the 50's I believe ... well, anyway they found a homemade video of Speck in prison doing drugs and having sex with other inmates... during the filming of one he said to the camera If only they knew how much fun I was having..

I could only imagine what the families of the poor girls would have thought if they saw that tape..

[Shazbut]

Yes, it is a tough one. Ones that cant be rehabilitated and kept in prison for the rest of their natural lives and costing the tax payer millions of pounds/dollars to keep them there. And of course, those so depraved that they continue to laugh in the face of surviving families.

But I still cant get my head round us putting people down for crimes committed - it just doesnt compute for me.

Couldnt we go back to an Alcatraz or Papillion type form of imprisonment? Just stick the totally depraved on an island and leave them to fend for themselves. If they want to maim, torture, rape and kill each other, then so be it.

The only cost to the state would be the boat/helicopter trip to and from the island.

Dunno! :confused:

Richard Speck was like many serial killers in that he had sustained a head injury as a child, and was from a dysfunctional family - alcohol fuelled abuse, etc..
There is a pattern that runs through most serial killer stories.
I remember watching a documentary a few years ago whereby the producers of this very well known British programme (Panorama) decided to liaise with Britain's top child protection charity (the NSPCC). They started off by listing all the symptoms of a potential serial killer, starting from early age. Things like, torturing small animals and lighting fires. They were asking the general public to make an effort to become aware of these kinds of symptoms and to involve social services and namely the NSPCC if they ever witnessed that kind of behaviour in any child. The reasoning being, that if a child could be re-habilitated at a young age, the potential to become a murderer/serial killer later in life was lessened.
Of course the problem is, that children with that potential are normally from families where the parent(s) are blind, ignorant, indifferent, apathetic to their own circumstances and basically ignore the needs of their children - not caring how abuse, violence, abandonment, etc., affect their children.
It boils down to relying on the conscientious citizen to take the initiative - but I wonder how many people remember even watching the documentary?

[corpse_grinder]

Originally Posted by Shazbut

Yes, it is a tough one. Ones that cant be rehabilitated and kept in prison for the rest of their natural lives and costing the tax payer millions of pounds/dollars to keep them there. And of course, those so depraved that they continue to laugh in the face of surviving families.

But I still cant get my head round us putting people down for crimes committed - it just doesnt compute for me.

Couldnt we go back to an Alcatraz or Papillion type form of imprisonment? Just stick the totally depraved on an island and leave them to fend for themselves. If they want to maim, torture, rape and kill each other, then so be it.

The only cost to the state would be the boat/helicopter trip to and from the island.

Dunno! :confused:


Richard Speck was like many serial killers in that he had sustained a head injury as a child, and was from a dysfunctional family - alcohol fuelled abuse, etc..
There is a pattern that runs through most serial killer stories.
I remember watching a documentary a few years ago whereby the producers of this very well known British programme (Panorama) decided to liaise with Britain's top child protection charity (the NSPCC). They started off by listing all the symptoms of a potential serial killer, starting from early age. Things like, torturing small animals and lighting fires. They were asking the general public to make an effort to become aware of these kinds of symptoms and to involve social services and namely the NSPCC if they ever witnessed that kind of behaviour in any child. The reasoning being, that if a child could be re-habilitated at a young age, the potential to become a murderer/serial killer later in life was lessened.
Of course the problem is, that children with that potential are normally from families where the parent(s) are blind, ignorant, indifferent, apathetic to their own circumstances and basically ignore the needs of their children - not caring how abuse, violence, abandonment, etc., affect their children.
It boils down to relying on the conscientious citizen to take the initiative - but I wonder how many people remember even watching the documentary?

I can agree with where you are coming from ... its not an easy issue to talk about.

I wont go into detail about the job I held before I moved here but lets just say if you heard or seen what I saw you may look at the situation differantly.

Not to make light of the situation but yes I would totally go for the "island" idea