Posted in Related Deaths:12-2-2010 Missouri:
UPDATED 12-22-2010
Bonne Terre, MO (KTVI - FOX2now.com) — There were stunning developments Wednesday in the shooting rampage in Bonne Terre that happened on day earlier: another possible victim, a suicide note, and an apology from the suspected shooter's family.
It appears 25 year old Nathan Fortner was distraught over a breakup with the mother of his son, Danielle Bement. His suicide note reads in part, "I pray to God, God forgives me"... "I can't take it"... "We're not going to get back together". Fortner obviously felt helpless, and now his mother does.
"I'm so deeply sorry," said his mother Mary Anne, "words can't express the sorrow in our hearts."
Police found another body believed to be linked to Fortner's crime spree late Tuesday night. 19 year old Ericka Wade was discovered in a vacant home on Doc Wallen Road in Washington County. Wade was a freshman cheerleader at Mineral Area College.
"Everyone loved this girl," said Nick Basinger, a friend of Ericka's. "A girl like Ericka, what do you do? What do you do?
Tuesday morning, police say Fortner shot and killed Bement, her mother Christine Snider and Snider's boyfriend Derek Nash. Then he killed himself. Police were led to the home on Doc Wallen Road by their investigation. Before her death, Bement had reported to police Fortner had raped her at that location.
Police are not yet saying for sure Fortner was Ericka Wade's killer.
"She was just a blast to be around," said her prom date, 19 year old Justin Clemons. "No matter where she was she was having a good time. And she had a wonderful smile. We pretty much danced the entire time."
Fortner was supposed to go on trial in April for a rape charge. Police say the victim in that case was not involved in Tuesday's crime. Fortner's parents say he was bipolar and had stopped taking his medication.
Clemons and Basinger say their entire community is in mourning.
"She'll always be remembered," said Clemons. "Especially by me, from the experiences we had together. Those are milestones that she shared with me. I'll never forget her." ..Source.. by KTVI-TV
Missouri gunman blamed in fourth shooting death
12-22-2010 Missouri:
Missouri investigators said Tuesday they have linked a man who killed himself after shooting three people to death in eastern Missouri to the shooting death of another victim, whose body was found after the rampage.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that unspecified DNA evidence and telephone records link gunman Nathan Fortner, 25, to the shooting death of 20-year-old Ericka Wade. Sgt. Al Nothum, a spokesman for the patrol, later declined to elaborate on the release, which said no one other than Fortner appears involved in the deaths.
“It was DNA evidence. That's about as specific as we can get,” Nothum told The Associated Press. “We normally don't get into that. (But) it pretty much puts him at the crime scene.”
Police said Fortner broke into a duplex apartment Nov. 30 in the 7,000-resident former mining town of Bonne Terre about 55 miles southwest of St. Louis and opened fire, killing his former girlfriend, 19-year-old Danielle Bement, along with Bement's mother, Christine Snider, 37, and Snider's live-in boyfriend, Derek Nash, 32. Snider and Nash lived in the duplex on a quiet, secluded cul de sac, and Bement had been staying there. Two boys at the home were unharmed.
Fortner turned a handgun on himself as police closed in.
The body of Wade, a Fortner acquaintance, was found later that day in an abandoned house near Bismarck in neighboring Washington County. Wade had been reported missing the previous night.
Fortner's sister, Angie Fortner, has said her brother was unemployed, bipolar and overcome with despair over the breakup with Danielle Bement. After the shootings, the couple's 18-month-old son was found unharmed in the same sport utility vehicle as his fatally injured mother, who police say died trying to protect the boy.
Angie Fortner said her brother left three Post-it notes at her house.
“We will never get back together and it hurts so bad I just can't take that,” read one. “I know you all are going to be very mad at me but I just can't take it anymore,” read another.
In the third note, Fortner expressed his innocence in a pending rape case against him. Fortner was free on bond on that 2008 rape charge and was scheduled to go on trial in April.
Fortner's criminal background included probation for 2003 charges of burglary, property damage and tampering with a motor vehicle. In 2006, he again got probation after pleading guilty to third-degree assault and disturbing the peace. ..Source.. by KansasCity.com
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