Will I get home?
OK. For those that don't know, I am in South Dakota right now. I leave here in a few hours to return to the People's Republic of West Virginia. A massive snow storm is here and I may not make it to Sioux Falls let alone Pittsburgh. So say a prayer and hopefully I can make it back home.
I will be posting blogs on the rest of my trip. I just need some time to sit down and type it all out.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
12-27-06
Another Pre-trial article
Here's another article. It's from WBOY news.
Alleged Killer In Court in Marion County
Posted Thursday, December 21, 2006 ; 06:04 PM
Watch Video
The man police say killed a couple and wounded their son was in Marion County court for a pre-trial hearing
Story by Sarah Kapis
FAIRMONT -- Dale Eagle, 63, has been behind bars for seven months since the shootings that killed Robert and Tanna Slatt and wounded their son Bobby in Four States in Marion County.
On Thursday, Eagle was back in court and very silent.
After a few preliminary motions, the state called two Marion County Sheriff's deputies to the stand.
One deputy said after Eagle was placed in custody, he looked back at his home and said "I will never see this place again."
Defense Attorney James Zimmerowski questioned the deputies on whether or not they tried to engage Eagle in a conversation after they arrived back at the sheriff's department.
Deputy Joseph McKinney testified that Eagle was freely speaking, without any provocation.
During his time with the officers, McKinney said Eagle said many things including the statement "that was a good shot and a good hole in him."
McKinney said there were no recording devices in the room, nor did he think to record their conversation, but he testified Eagle continued talking and referencing the events of the shooting when he said "I can't believe I did this (expletive). It's going to haunt me for a long time."
Eagle's trial has been set for Jan. 22.
The shooting was said to be over a property dispute between neighbors.
Copyright 2006 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Here's another article. It's from WBOY news.
Alleged Killer In Court in Marion County
Posted Thursday, December 21, 2006 ; 06:04 PM
Watch Video
The man police say killed a couple and wounded their son was in Marion County court for a pre-trial hearing
Story by Sarah Kapis
FAIRMONT -- Dale Eagle, 63, has been behind bars for seven months since the shootings that killed Robert and Tanna Slatt and wounded their son Bobby in Four States in Marion County.
On Thursday, Eagle was back in court and very silent.
After a few preliminary motions, the state called two Marion County Sheriff's deputies to the stand.
One deputy said after Eagle was placed in custody, he looked back at his home and said "I will never see this place again."
Defense Attorney James Zimmerowski questioned the deputies on whether or not they tried to engage Eagle in a conversation after they arrived back at the sheriff's department.
Deputy Joseph McKinney testified that Eagle was freely speaking, without any provocation.
During his time with the officers, McKinney said Eagle said many things including the statement "that was a good shot and a good hole in him."
McKinney said there were no recording devices in the room, nor did he think to record their conversation, but he testified Eagle continued talking and referencing the events of the shooting when he said "I can't believe I did this (expletive). It's going to haunt me for a long time."
Eagle's trial has been set for Jan. 22.
The shooting was said to be over a property dispute between neighbors.
Copyright 2006 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Friday, December 22, 2006
12-22-06: Pre-Trial Hearing
Article about Pre-trial hearing.
I am posting the article about the pre-trial hearing that was written by the Times West Virginia newspaper. I attended this hearing. I will not comment on this article and will leave it as is. Just remember, this is what Dale Eagle said, not what actually happened.
Police: Eagle 'just started talking about it'
By Bill Byrd
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT— Police officers testifying in a pre-trial hearing Thursday said Dale A. Eagle freely said after he had been told of his right to remain silent that he knew he had done a "bad, bad, bad, bad thing."
Eagle, 63, is to stand trial next month for the May 16 shooting deaths of his neighbors on Dora Lane in Four States: Robert Slatt Sr., 56, and his wife, Tanna Slatt, 52. Eagle is also charged with shooting and wounding their son, Robert "Bobby" Slatt, 31, in the same attack.
Eagle made the voluntary statements about his alleged role in the crime while he was being fingerprinted and tested for gunshot residue in the squad room and in a smaller "interview room" of the Marion County Sheriff's Department, the officers testified.
They did not prompt him or question him, they said, other than to occasionally ask him what he was saying when they hadn't heard or understood one of his comments. Eagle "just started talking about it," as one of them said.
Eagle told them after the shootings and before his arrest that he had returned to his home below the Slatt's residence on a hill in Four States. Eagle said he asked his wife to call his attorney, James B. Zimarowski of Morgantown, one officer testified, "because he was in a lot of trouble."
Zimarowski, who is defending Eagle, then told him over the phone not to make a statement, Eagle said, according to Deputy Matt Love.
Other points the deputies and A.R. McHugh, a prisoner transport officer, testified about and also wrote about in their post-arrest reports:
• Eagle told them that before police arrived, he had gone back up the hill and tried to shoot himself in the head with a derringer or handgun. But he was out of shells "so he threw the gun down" in the woods and went home.
• Eagle told police that Robert Slatt Sr. told him he would "make his life hell over the right of way" dispute. He also said Slatt had beaten him up before.
• Eagle said it seemed like the police were on the side of the Slatt family in prior disputes
• Eagle said the incident started while he was "up on the hill to hunt a coyote," Deputy Love testified. In his statement, Love wrote that Eagle said the couple came down from their house in their SUV and "tried to hit him so he jumped up on the bank (of the road)."
"They stopped, started to yell at him and called him a stupid bastard, then his wife (Tanna Slatt) got out and started calling him names and yelling. He (Eagle) stated he shot her and then he shot at him (Slatt Sr.), but he (Slatt Sr.) started backing up (the road) until he got hung up in the ditch. Then he (Slatt Sr.) got out (of the SUV) and ran so he shot him again."
• Eagle also stated "that he shot the boy with a .38. He stated that the boy had a butcher knife, so he shot him twice," Love wrote in his report.
Although the police statements reflect that Eagle was remorseful to the point of attempting suicide and that he felt he was acting in self-defense, Zimarowski said he wants them quashed.
Prosecutor Patrick N. Wilson wants them admitted.
Wilson argued police "do not have an affirmative duty" to "repeatedly tell somebody to shut up" when they freely talk about their role in a crime.
Eagle was talking on his own volition, the prosecutor said.
But Zimarowski argued the squad room statements were obtained through "trickery and deceit."
Deputies deliberately stayed silent during the booking process to elicit statements from Eagle, Zimarowski said, saying the technique was an age-old interrogation method.
Citing testimony about an aerial map and a map that Eagle drew in his own hand to pinpoint the location of the pistol, Zimarowski also said police were interrogating Eagle at that point.
Police did not tape record Eagle's alleged incriminating remarks for a subsequent independent review, Zimarowski argued. They also did not reduce them to writing and ask Eagle to review and verify them himself, Zimarowski argued.
After the hearing, Zimarowski said Eagle's defense will be one of "self-defense ... of provocation (by the Slatts)."
Chief Judge David R. Janes will rule on the admissibility of the statements Eagle made to police before next month's trial. The trial is set to begin Jan. 22.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
I am posting the article about the pre-trial hearing that was written by the Times West Virginia newspaper. I attended this hearing. I will not comment on this article and will leave it as is. Just remember, this is what Dale Eagle said, not what actually happened.
Police: Eagle 'just started talking about it'
By Bill Byrd
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT— Police officers testifying in a pre-trial hearing Thursday said Dale A. Eagle freely said after he had been told of his right to remain silent that he knew he had done a "bad, bad, bad, bad thing."
Eagle, 63, is to stand trial next month for the May 16 shooting deaths of his neighbors on Dora Lane in Four States: Robert Slatt Sr., 56, and his wife, Tanna Slatt, 52. Eagle is also charged with shooting and wounding their son, Robert "Bobby" Slatt, 31, in the same attack.
Eagle made the voluntary statements about his alleged role in the crime while he was being fingerprinted and tested for gunshot residue in the squad room and in a smaller "interview room" of the Marion County Sheriff's Department, the officers testified.
They did not prompt him or question him, they said, other than to occasionally ask him what he was saying when they hadn't heard or understood one of his comments. Eagle "just started talking about it," as one of them said.
Eagle told them after the shootings and before his arrest that he had returned to his home below the Slatt's residence on a hill in Four States. Eagle said he asked his wife to call his attorney, James B. Zimarowski of Morgantown, one officer testified, "because he was in a lot of trouble."
Zimarowski, who is defending Eagle, then told him over the phone not to make a statement, Eagle said, according to Deputy Matt Love.
Other points the deputies and A.R. McHugh, a prisoner transport officer, testified about and also wrote about in their post-arrest reports:
• Eagle told them that before police arrived, he had gone back up the hill and tried to shoot himself in the head with a derringer or handgun. But he was out of shells "so he threw the gun down" in the woods and went home.
• Eagle told police that Robert Slatt Sr. told him he would "make his life hell over the right of way" dispute. He also said Slatt had beaten him up before.
• Eagle said it seemed like the police were on the side of the Slatt family in prior disputes
• Eagle said the incident started while he was "up on the hill to hunt a coyote," Deputy Love testified. In his statement, Love wrote that Eagle said the couple came down from their house in their SUV and "tried to hit him so he jumped up on the bank (of the road)."
"They stopped, started to yell at him and called him a stupid bastard, then his wife (Tanna Slatt) got out and started calling him names and yelling. He (Eagle) stated he shot her and then he shot at him (Slatt Sr.), but he (Slatt Sr.) started backing up (the road) until he got hung up in the ditch. Then he (Slatt Sr.) got out (of the SUV) and ran so he shot him again."
• Eagle also stated "that he shot the boy with a .38. He stated that the boy had a butcher knife, so he shot him twice," Love wrote in his report.
Although the police statements reflect that Eagle was remorseful to the point of attempting suicide and that he felt he was acting in self-defense, Zimarowski said he wants them quashed.
Prosecutor Patrick N. Wilson wants them admitted.
Wilson argued police "do not have an affirmative duty" to "repeatedly tell somebody to shut up" when they freely talk about their role in a crime.
Eagle was talking on his own volition, the prosecutor said.
But Zimarowski argued the squad room statements were obtained through "trickery and deceit."
Deputies deliberately stayed silent during the booking process to elicit statements from Eagle, Zimarowski said, saying the technique was an age-old interrogation method.
Citing testimony about an aerial map and a map that Eagle drew in his own hand to pinpoint the location of the pistol, Zimarowski also said police were interrogating Eagle at that point.
Police did not tape record Eagle's alleged incriminating remarks for a subsequent independent review, Zimarowski argued. They also did not reduce them to writing and ask Eagle to review and verify them himself, Zimarowski argued.
After the hearing, Zimarowski said Eagle's defense will be one of "self-defense ... of provocation (by the Slatts)."
Chief Judge David R. Janes will rule on the admissibility of the statements Eagle made to police before next month's trial. The trial is set to begin Jan. 22.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
12-10-06
OK Maybe just one more time :-)
You have no idea how hard it is to not blog!!!
It's nerve racking right now for me. It's finals week and I'm swamped. My reason for living at this moment is exams. There is no other answer to my existance until after 3pm on Thursday. So I want to extend a Merry Christmas to everyone and apologize if you haven't heard from me in a while. You can blame exams!!!
I felt it necessary to break the blog silence. A number of friends and family have asked the question of how I and my brother are coping with the Christmas holiday season. Tonight when I came home from work I got a voice message on my phone that I feel puts it all into perspective.
I received a voice mail from my brother. He called me from a track meet he was at in Minnesota. He ran a sprint! A SPRINT!!! He doesn't do that often. My brother likes to run and jump into a giant sand pit for fun! Chris said he didn't know if he was gonna go to the meet because he didn't know if he was ready but he did. I was elated to hear that he was at a track meet. Why? Because it is a step towards normal. My brother going to this meet is a way of telling me that when we feel like we may not be ready we still go forward.
That's how I feel about this holiday season. I'm not gonna lie to you and say that it's not hard having my parents not here. I have a Christmas tree that won't be put up. I won't have the fun of plotting with my dad on what to buy my mom for Christmas. I won't have the fun of plotting with my mom on what to buy my dad. My Christmas movie buddy is gone. My mom won't be making nut rolls. There are a million things that will be missing from Christmas for the rest of my life. But I won't let that get me down this holiday season.
Why? Because my mom and dad, even though they enjoyed my company on the farm never intended for me to live with them for the rest of their lives. My parents raised me and my brother well and to leave home and make our own traditions and memories. My mother would genuinely be upset if we sat around and moped all Christmas season. If my mom was here she'd give me and my brother a huge hug and cry a little but then be bound and determined to make the rest of Christmas as wonderful as possible. She did it when my Grandma Laughlin died. She did it when Aunt Jean died. That was her. My dad wouldn't have a lot to say on the matter. He'd do everything in his power to keep our minds off the negative and focus on the positive. My dad had a way about looking at the future in a positive light. Whether it be raising alpacas, our church growing or my brother long jumping, he would encourage and keep us lifted up and in good spirits.
So for them I don't plan on looking at this holiday season as a season of loss. I will look at this holiday season as the moment my parents raised me and my brother for. To venture out into the world and not look at life in a negative or narrow light, but to be mindful of the future, that it brings great things and if you work hard, fruitful rewards. When you fall there is always family to pick you up.
For them I will not lament the loss of yesterdays traditions.
For them my brother and I will make new traditions.
For them...Even when I don't feel ready...I will move forward and look kindly into the future....
You have no idea how hard it is to not blog!!!
It's nerve racking right now for me. It's finals week and I'm swamped. My reason for living at this moment is exams. There is no other answer to my existance until after 3pm on Thursday. So I want to extend a Merry Christmas to everyone and apologize if you haven't heard from me in a while. You can blame exams!!!
I felt it necessary to break the blog silence. A number of friends and family have asked the question of how I and my brother are coping with the Christmas holiday season. Tonight when I came home from work I got a voice message on my phone that I feel puts it all into perspective.
I received a voice mail from my brother. He called me from a track meet he was at in Minnesota. He ran a sprint! A SPRINT!!! He doesn't do that often. My brother likes to run and jump into a giant sand pit for fun! Chris said he didn't know if he was gonna go to the meet because he didn't know if he was ready but he did. I was elated to hear that he was at a track meet. Why? Because it is a step towards normal. My brother going to this meet is a way of telling me that when we feel like we may not be ready we still go forward.
That's how I feel about this holiday season. I'm not gonna lie to you and say that it's not hard having my parents not here. I have a Christmas tree that won't be put up. I won't have the fun of plotting with my dad on what to buy my mom for Christmas. I won't have the fun of plotting with my mom on what to buy my dad. My Christmas movie buddy is gone. My mom won't be making nut rolls. There are a million things that will be missing from Christmas for the rest of my life. But I won't let that get me down this holiday season.
Why? Because my mom and dad, even though they enjoyed my company on the farm never intended for me to live with them for the rest of their lives. My parents raised me and my brother well and to leave home and make our own traditions and memories. My mother would genuinely be upset if we sat around and moped all Christmas season. If my mom was here she'd give me and my brother a huge hug and cry a little but then be bound and determined to make the rest of Christmas as wonderful as possible. She did it when my Grandma Laughlin died. She did it when Aunt Jean died. That was her. My dad wouldn't have a lot to say on the matter. He'd do everything in his power to keep our minds off the negative and focus on the positive. My dad had a way about looking at the future in a positive light. Whether it be raising alpacas, our church growing or my brother long jumping, he would encourage and keep us lifted up and in good spirits.
So for them I don't plan on looking at this holiday season as a season of loss. I will look at this holiday season as the moment my parents raised me and my brother for. To venture out into the world and not look at life in a negative or narrow light, but to be mindful of the future, that it brings great things and if you work hard, fruitful rewards. When you fall there is always family to pick you up.
For them I will not lament the loss of yesterdays traditions.
For them my brother and I will make new traditions.
For them...Even when I don't feel ready...I will move forward and look kindly into the future....
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