Police arrest 18-year-old in fatal stabbing

11-26-2006 Idaho:

Police have arrested an 18-year-old suspect in the alleged stabbing death of a 77-year-old Garden City man.

After a telephone tip, police located and took 18-year-old Buck Pickens into custody on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Arthur Clarkson, whose body was found by a family member about 1 p.m. Friday inside his trailer on the 3900 Block of Adams Street.

Garden City Police Capt. Cory Stambaugh said Saturday that Clarkson died of stab wounds to the neck. Investigators have recovered a knife that may be the murder weapon and have sent it to the Idaho State Police crime lab for fingerprint and DNA analysis.

Pickens was arrested about 1:30 a.m. Saturday at an apartment complex on the 5800 block of Grissom Street, north of State Street and Ellen’s Ferry in Boise, after a tip to police dispatchers led them to his location.

The suspect gave up without incident and was taken into custody, with no bond set, Stambaugh said during a press conference at Garden City Police headquarters.

Officers also arrested 23-year-old David Gloria of Garden City at another location later Saturday. Gloria, who authorities said claims to be Pickens’ brother, was charged with harboring a wanted felon in the case. He was also served an agent’s warrant for felony probation violations.

Both Pickens and Gloria were held in the Ada County jail, awaiting arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Monday. At that time, a judge will read the indictments against the two men and schedule preliminary hearings for them.

Clarkson’s body has been sent to the Ada County Coroner to determine an exact cause and time of death.

After the preliminary hearings have been set, the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office will gauge whether the suspected homicide meets the standards for a first-degree murder charge, punishable by death or life imprisonment.

According to police investigators, the two younger men were family friends of the victim and considered the elderly man a “grandfather figure.”

“Right now, just in a nutshell, the motive has something to do with an argument, some kind of disagreement, that Buck and Mr. Clarkson had,” Stambaugh said.

Although investigators are aware of the reasons for the argument, which happened a few days before the murder, they have not yet released those details.

Clarkson’s body was discovered midday Friday by a relative and a member of Gloria’s family who stopped by to check on him. Garden City Police arrived on the scene after an assist call from emergency medical responders.

“Upon their arrival, they found a deceased male in the front room of the trailer,” Stambaugh said.

In a cooperative effort, Garden City Police, Boise Police, Ada County sheriff’s deputies and the Idaho State Police crime lab searched Clarkson’s manufactured home, interviewed friends and neighbors, and determined that Pickens was a “person of interest” in the case.

Pickens, who turned 18 in October, has a sealed juvenile record, and Gloria may have a criminal record, Stambaugh said, adding that it is too early in the investigation to determine if Pickens is involved in any other Treasure Valley crimes.

Investigators believe Pickens acted alone in Clarkson’s murder, and no other arrests appear likely at this time, Stambaugh said.

“It’s always possible,” he said. “We don’t see that, but you never know what may come up.”

Investigators continue to check into the criminal histories and backgrounds of the two arrested men and their relationship with Clarkson, who lived alone. ..more.. by

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Possible motive in stabbing death emerges
Friend says Buck Pickens thought 77-year-old victim was molesting a child
1-19-2007 Idaho:

A friend of murder suspect Buck Pickens said Thursday Pickens told her the night before Arthur Clarkson was found stabbed to death in his trailer home that he was going to kill the 77-year-old because he suspected Clarkson molested a 6-year-old girl.

Leslie Burton, who was with Pickens at Clarkson's Garden City home for Thanksgiving dinner Nov. 23, said Pickens was upset that night and was hiding a knife under his leg.

Pickens, 18, "said he was getting a bad feeling ... Art was messing around with (the little girl) and he had to take care of it," Burton testified Thursday during Pickens' preliminary hearing. "He was angry ... I had never seen him angry before that day."

Thursday was the first time a suspected motive in Clarkson's murder was publicly released.

The 6-year-old's mother testified Thursday that there was never any evidence Clarkson molested her daughter, and she didn't suspect anything happened — an opinion shared by Burton during her testimony.

Clarkson was found dead and covered in blood Nov. 24 in the doorway of his trailer in the 3900 block of Adams Street.

Pickens is charged with first-degree murder. His older brother, David Gloria, is charged with accessory to murder. Police say Gloria helped Pickens hide from police until Pickens was arrested a day later at a home on Grisson Lane.

Police and prosecutors accuse Pickens of stabbing Clarkson several times in his neck Nov. 24 and leaving him to die. Police say Gloria got to the trailer a short time later, saw what happened, and helped Pickens leave. He told detectives he did not want to "rat on his brother," according to court documents.

Both Pickens and Gloria were in court Thursday for their preliminary hearing. Fourth District Magistrate Richard Schmidt heard about six hours of testimony before determining there was enough evidence to bind the cases over to District Court.

Pickens and Gloria are both scheduled for arraignment hearings Jan. 29, where they will be able to enter pleas in their cases.

Burton testified Thursday that she, Pickens, Gloria, Clarkson, his adult granddaughter, and three small children were all at the trailer for Thanksgiving dinner when she saw Pickens hide the knife under his leg.

Burton said after talking to Pickens, she thought it was a good idea to get him out of the trailer to avoid a confrontation with Clarkson, so she got everybody to leave. Burton said she was with Pickens for several more hours that night, and he kept asking to borrow her car because he needed to take care of something for "people he cared about."

She also testified that she knew Clarkson and the 6-year-old girl's mother well and had never seen any evidence of molestation.

"I didn't see what he saw," she said.

Burton said Pickens slept at her apartment that night and drove her to an appointment the next morning, keeping her red car.

Clarkson's next door neighbor, Connie Schofner, testified Tuesday she saw a red car parked in her driveway around noon Nov. 24 and saw Pickens get in the car and pull away in a hurry a short time later. She said she briefly saw Gloria at the trailer around the same time. ..more.. by Patrick Orr

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Possibly Motive Emerges in Stabbing Death of 77-year-old
1-17-2007 Idaho:
The man suspected of stabbing 77-year-old Arthur Clarkson to death in his Garden City trailer in November told a friend he was going to kill Clarkson because he believed the man was molesting a 6-year-old girl.

That's according to murder suspect Buck Pickens' friend Leslie Burton, who testified at Pickens preliminary hearing in Fourth District Court Thursday. Burton said the 18-year-old Pickens told her - quote - "he was getting a bad feeling...Art was messing around."

It's the first time a motive has come out in the case since Clarkson was found dead and covered in blood in the doorway of his trailer in late November, after being stabbed several times in the neck.

Pickens, of Garden City, has been charged with first-degree murder. His brother, David Gloria, who also appeared in court Thursday, is being charged as an accessory to murder.

Police say Gloria helped Pickens hide from police before he was arrested a day after the stabbing.

Both Pickens and Gloria are scheduled to appear in court again January 29, when they will enter pleas in their cases. ..more.. by Local News 8

CA- Boy was killed to hide sex crime, affidavit says

11-5-2009 California:

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A 14-year-old with a baby face told investigators he drowned his 4-year-old neighbor in a bathtub, then hid the body in a dryer, because the child was going to reveal the teen molested him, according to an affidavit released when he appeared in court Wednesday.

Raul Renato Castro, dressed in a purple T-shirt issued at the juvenile jail, appeared emotionless while staring at his hands in Fresno County Superior Court.

He was guarded by five bailiffs and two officers outfitted in paramilitary gear.

“He won’t cry, he won’t cry, he won’t,” said a woman who identified herself as his aunt but refused to give her name because she said the family had received death threats. Police could not confirm there had been threats.

Police said searchers found Alex Mercado on Saturday stuffed in the clothes dryer in the small farm town of Mendota.

The affidavit said Castro, a student at Mendota Junior High School, initially told police he knew nothing of the boy’s disappearance. When investigators said the boy had been found in the dryer, the teen suggested someone had broken into the house and put him there.

Castro eventually told police he had enticed the dimpled, brown-eyed boy into his house across the street and sodomized him, the affidavit states. He said he killed Mercado after the child fell and hit his head, started crying, then threatened to tell his mother, the document states.

“Castro said he panicked and decided to kill the victim by drowning him in the bathtub,” the affidavit says.

The teen, who is 5-feet tall and weighs 170 pounds, put Mercado’s body over his shoulder and carried him to the dryer, hoping everything “would go away,” the affidavit states.

Castro had been scheduled for arraignment as an adult on charges of first-degree murder, sodomy, child molestation, kidnapping and murder to silence a witness.

The arraignment was rescheduled for Tuesday after his acting public defender, Kathy Marousek, said she had not seen the paperwork.

“He told me he was scared,” said Marousek, who spoke with the teen as he sat in the jury box. “He could be in shock.”

Marousek said after the hearing that she doubted the teenager understood the Miranda Rights read to him by investigators, which could put his confession in doubt.

Earlier the teen had nodded without expression when Judge Jon Kapetan asked him if he understood the proceedings. Bail was set at $2.1 million.

California law says suspects 14 and older can be charged and tried as adults. About 20 percent of murders in the state are committed by people between the ages of 11 and 17.

Castro, who turned 14 on July 29, cannot face the death penalty but could be sentenced to as long as 47 years-to-life if convicted. ..Source.. by New Haven Register

AZ- Eighth suspect arrested in A.J. slaying

Note: Here killers believed that Charles Thomas Snyder's son molested a little girl; Charles Thomas Snyder was not a registered sex offender and was killed by mistake.

9-16-2003 Arizona:
Detectives have arrested an eighth suspect Wednesday in the slaying of an Apache Junction resident, and continue to investigate if the attack was because the suspects believed his son molested a 9-year-old girl.

Michael Daniel White, 25, of Apache Junction was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit armed burglary, kidnapping and aggravated assault, said Apache Junction police Sgt. Dick Virgil.

White is suspected of being in Charles Thomas Snyder's home when he was shot and stabbed to death Sept. 10, Virgil said. Allen Pacheco, 15, and Johnny Pacheco, 17, told detectives they went to Snyder's home looking for his 23-year-old son to "rough him up," detective Ralph Cornejo said.

Most of the other suspects didn't know the girl or the Snyders and were only there as "backup," Cornejo said. "Once the first shot was fired they were gone like cats fleeing from a dog," Cornejo said.

Allen Pacheco told detectives he decided to seek revenge against Snyder’s son when the girl told him that the son — a family friend — had sneaked into her home while Pacheco was babysitting her Sept. 9 and molested her, police said.

On Sept. 10, the group drove to the Snyder home in the 1400 block of South Grand Avenue to look for the son, who sometimes lived in a residence in back, Cornejo said. Unable to find him, seven of the eight suspects entered the main house about 11 p.m., Cornejo said.

Snyder was shot and stabbed after confronting the Pacheco brothers upon awakening, police said.

Arrest warrants were obtained for the Pachecos as a result of numerous tips. The teens then implicated the others, who also confessed, Cornejo said.

Johnny Pacheco and Allen Pacheco were charged Monday with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and aggravated assault.

John Ransom, 18, Dave Michienzi, 22, Henry Mitchell, 21, and Fredrick Wayne Besenhofer, 21, could face conspiracy to commit armed burglary, kidnapping and aggravated assault charges. Cindy Johnson, 29, may face conspiracy to commit armed burglary and kidnapping charges.

The girl was interviewed Wednesday and authorities expect to question Snyder’s son soon, Cornejo said. ..more.. by Kim Smith