Badger Blogger

Yep. Trademarked on May 13, 1958.

Think of all the ways in which those little hooks and loops have changed your life.

Coincidence? We’ll probably never know. In any event, James P. Bohanan, wanted by Madison police for the murder of a Waunakee man “in cold blood” at a house party in Madison last July, was arrested this afternoon “without incident” in Chicago. They were acting on a “tip” from the Madison Police Department.

A few days ago, we opined on Bohanan’s evasion of Madison police, who, on a surveillance assignment, last December… apparently saw someone “matching Bohanan’s description” twice in one night, but failed to make an arrest, according to reports.

Hats off to the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Chicago PD’s Fugitive Squad. Way to make an arrest! When you know whom you’re looking for, and aren’t afraid to bring them in, crimes get cleared.

Also, according to the online posting, two Madison detectives are “on their way to Chicago” at the time of this writing. We can only assume that their dispatch has something to do with Bohanan’s arrest, and nothing to do with that new sushi place that’s all the rave in Lincoln Park. We’ll stay on top of this one, folks.

In honor of Jennifer Bukosky, her pre-born daughter Sophie and daughter Courtney Bella, all who were killed in the horrific accident we have been following, the family is setting up foundations to honor their memory. The Jennifer Bukosky Fund will be used for substance abuse education at Oconomowoc High School, where Jennifer was a beloved teacher and associate principal.

There is also a fund being set up in honor of Courtney Bella, the “Imagine A Day Foundation.” This is still being set up, details will follow.

The family has also set up an Edvest college fund for Jennifer’s son Zachary Bella. This young man was also in this terrible accident that took the lives of his mother and two sisters. Please help secure the future for Zach. He has lost a lot, but he has family that love him enough to think of his future.

Please consider a donation, and don’t forget to sign the petition, as 12,000 concerned citizens have over the past few days.

The Jennifer Bukosky Fund
Oconomowoc Public Education Fund
PO Box 444
Oconomowoc WI 53066
(non-profit, funds to be used at Oconomowoc High School for substance use/abuse education programs)

Zachary Bella Wisconsin Edvest 529 Program
Account#2729-2501105965 (write account# in check memo)
Edvest c/o Wells Fargo
PO Box 55244
Boston, MA 02205-8348
$15 minimum donation

The Courtney Bella Memorial Fund
“Imagine A Day Foundation”
details forthcoming

No wonder over 9,500 people have signed the online petition demanding change in this state’s drunk driving laws.

This morning’s J/S Online Newswatch brings us word of a 4th time convicted OWI offender, arrested in Washington County last night for his 5th time OWI. After striking another vehicle, making a brief “detour”, and striking a parked truck, his truck left the roadway, and he ended his journey by crashing through the wall of an apartment building. An apartment building which, according to the report, contained at least one child. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured.

What was the brief “detour” he made between hitting two vehicles? Why, a stop at the tavern of course. Apparently, he just wasn’t drunk enough yet.

The Milwaukee Common Council is finally reviewing something that we have been talking about for almost a year. Jailed former alderman Michael McGee Jr. received a car allowance of $337 per month, even though his license had been revoked before his arrest, and he spent almost a year in jail awaiting trial on a slew of state and federal charges.

Car allowance scrutinized
Ald. Terry Witkowski’s ordinance would halt an alderman’s transportation allowance - currently $337 a month - if “the member is incapacitated for an entire month by illness, injury or otherwise fails to discharge the duties of the office.”

Sitting in jail would fit that definition, Witkowski said.

Darn, we could have had fun with that

Greetings all, I may be posting a little light for the next day or so, my PC seems to have crashed and burned So I will be reinstalling Winblows tonight, and I just might finally dual boot that rascal with Linux.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Esenberg family. Rick Esenberg reports that his mother succumbed to her illness this past Friday.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the heroic crew of Madison’s Med Flight helicopter. The air-ambulance went down outside of LaCrosse last night, after dropping a patient at an area hospital. The crew of three, flight physician Darren Bean, flight nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer were all killed.

From an article in today’s Wisconsin State Journal.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and news editor of the weekly alternative newspaper Isthmus, said the police department is losing public trust over what he called “the high level of inexplicable secrecy ” in police handling of the cases, especially issues involving the botched handling of a 911 call from Zimmermann on the day she died.

While a Dane County dispatcher made that mistake — by failing to call back the number when the call disconnected — and the 911 Center itself then made things worse by providing false information that sent police on a bad lead for two weeks, Lueders said police have over-reacted by refusing to tell the public even how long the call was and other details.

He also noted police had to be prodded for weeks by the media before they agreed to reveal, for better public safety, that forced entry was made to Zimmermann ’s building.

“I think there ’s been a crisis of confidence that ’s been created in the community, ” he said. “I think the police department is more tight-fisted with information now than at any time I can recall, and I have been here for more than 20 years. ”

“There needs to be tension between what the public is allowed to know and what the police are allowed to keep close to the vest, ” Lueders said. “No one disputes that. It ’s just that the possibility exists that some of this secrecy is not to protect the investigation. It could be to protect the investigators. “

Yes, even the WSJ is asking tough questions of the Madison Police Department, including a list of basic questions in the Kelly Nolan, Joel Marino, and Brittany Zimmermann homicides which Madison Police have refused to answer. It’s a pretty good read.

Happy Mothers Day to all of our mothers… Especially MY Mom!

Shortly before midnight last night, officers were responding to reports of shots being fired in the neighborhood of 28th & Burleigh. As several marked squads came to the scene, they found a group of about 20 men preparing to fight in the parking lot of the gas station on 27th & Burleigh. When police arrived, the group ran.

As officers gave chase, one officer, a 30-year old with 4 years of experience felt that his life was in danger when a known member of the Gangster Disciples street gang with a violent record, reached to his waistband, crouched and turned on the officer. The officer fired and wounded the suspect in the arm, he is in custody and he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. No gun was found on the scene.

Hopefully the news paper will provide more details later today, but this story has not been reported as of yet.

Madison Police always seem to be asking the public to help them find somebody. “Bring us tips. Bring us leads. Big reward! Call Crimestoppers. C’mon, be a good citizen, give us a little help here.”

Well, we all know how that often turns out.

I was reminded today of a story from last January in the Wisconsin State Journal that makes so much more sense in light of recent developments.

James Bohanan is a fugitive wanted for the murder of a Waunakee man last July. Witnesses claim Bohanan shot the 28 year old man in cold blood outside a house party in Madison, with no provocation. Bohanan has ties to Chicago, and authorities believe he’s been coming and going from the Madison area since the shooting.

On January 28, 2008, the Wisconsin State Journal ran a story titled “Suspect in Killing Could be in City”. In it, there are several paragraphs that are very intriguing in light of the many questions folks in Madison, and now around the country, are asking about their police force:

“A search on Dec. 6 of the South Side apartment mentioned by the informant turned up neither Bohanan nor any weapons or ammunition tying him to Cobbins’ murder. Police officers doing surveillance outside the apartment the night before thought they saw a man matching Bohanan’s description leave the building, drive away and then return about an hour later, but he was not arrested.

Woodmansee and Wahl declined to say what complications may have developed that night, but stressed that police will arrest Bohanan wherever and whenever he can be safely apprehended.”

Wait, let me get this straight… Clearly, I must be missing something here… Police officers, being paid to stake out an apartment building believed to be the hideout of a fugitive they’ve been looking for for nearly six months, saw a person matching the description of the person they were being paid to watch for, not once but twice, yet somehow he eluded their grasp? They let him drive away and return? From the same story:

“Certainly if officers were in a position to be able to take him into custody or stop someone we believed might be him to check his identity, we obviously would have done that,” Wahl said. “He’s on the top of our list for people we’re looking for and want to take into custody.”

I would argue that officers were in a position to “stop him” — they were right there! He was in front of them! They saw a man matching his description twice! And they let him get away? And now we’re supposed to call Crimestoppers to help police find him again?

Wow. And this is the same police department that wants Madisonians to “bring their complaints to the department, not the media“. This is getting to be like a bad joke, the one the guy in the office with the flared jeans and the bad combover tells over and over again, thinking you’ve never heard it before. All you can do is muster up a fake chuckle, and walk away from the coffeemaker.

Good. It’s nice to know that Mark M. Benson won’t be able to “sign the house over” and “sell his guns” for a little while at least. You’ll recall that those were the thoughts foremost in his mind as he spoke to his wife on the telephone from the Waukesha County criminal justice building, after taking three lives, two weeks ago today.

In a suit against Benson filed two days ago in a Waukesha County court, attorneys asked for the court order freezing Benson’s assets, out of fear that he would attempt to divest himself of anything of value.
It’s interesting to note that in that lawsuit, the Progressive Classic and Navigators Insurance companies are named as co-defendants. From the Journal/Sentinel:

“In addition to Benson, named as defendants in the suit are Progressive Classic Insurance Co. and Navigators Insurance Co., which according to the lawsuit, insured Benson’s vehicles.

Benson’s attorney in the criminal case, Dean A. Strang, said it is likely that one or both of the insurers will assign attorneys to handle the civil suit and a civil lawyer from Strang’s office also will be involved.”

Yet, in the days following the crash, the Journal/Sentinel reported that Benson had no auto insurance at the time of the crash. Hmmm.

For the record, Progressive is an insurer known for their willingness to take on a “higher risk” class of driver than many other insurance companies. My suspicion is that the vehicle was insured, but that Mr. Benson was most likely not listed as a driver on the policy. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Just another angle to ponder of Mark M. Benson’s lack of respect for anything other than his own selfishness, I guess.

Here’s your chance to drive the conversation, feel free to use and abuse.

We have had an amazing response on the petition to strengthen drink driving laws for habitual offenders, in the first day and a half we have had over 3,000 signatures. Don’t be left out!

Wisconsin’s driving after revocation law must change

Update: 5045 Signatures in the first 48 hours

A new counter to track the signatures.

Good bye Mary Ethel Betty Abbitch.

From one of your many husbands, John Abbitch…

I don’t have tome to make it look pretty, but what are your thoughts?

n

Looks like Joel Marino’s dad, in his comments a few weeks ago that he believed that Madison Police detectives were “in over their heads”, might have been on to something.

I’d be pretty ticked off, also, if this is how seriously Madison police took my son’s murder. As reported by Isthmus’ Jason Shepard this morning:

“A key witness in the Joel Marino murder investigation says he saw Marino’s killer walking along West Shore Drive six weeks ago, but he believes police did not take his call seriously.

“I thought the cavalry would come,” says the witness, a retired Madison firefighter who asked not to be identified because the killer remains at large. “No one ever came.”

This wasn’t your ordinary police tip. It came from the man who saw the suspect on the day of the murder, near where the presumed killer dumped a hat and backpack that were later linked by DNA tests to the knife used to kill Marino.

The witness told his story to Isthmus after reading last week’s revelation that UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann called 911 before she was murdered, but police were never sent. He was also infuriated by a comment from Police Chief Noble Wray, after the Zimmermann murder, urging people with relevant information to “call police, and we will come.”

“That just pissed me off,” says the man. “It’s bullshit.”

The witness says no officer ever contacted him in response to this call. Upset, he tracked down a detective at the south district: “He said he’d check it out. He said thanks for calling. That’s it.”

These stories of police never responding to citizens’ calls under any circumstances are too frequent and too similar to be a string of groundless accusations. Madisonians deserve better than this.

Oddly, this report comes just one day after the very same publication published an interview with Chief Wray in which Wray claims that “the public is confident in the ability” of Madison police to solve crimes.

Even Wray probably doesn’t know what to believe anymore. At least he gets to carry a gun, though.

Many of you saw Madison’s weekly Isthmus reporter Jason Shepard this evening on Greta Van Susteren’s program.

In the interview, they referred to a series of e-mails that had circulated between City of Madison and Dane County 911 call center officials. Oddly enough, what they didn’t mention in the interview was that Jason Shepard himself was the subject of discussion in those very e-mails. (Perhaps Shepard isn’t even aware of this fact.)

How does BadgerBlogger know about the references to Shepard, and other members of the Madison media, in these discussions? We’ve obtained the e-mails. You can find them at this link.

In an ongoing e-mail dialog which took place over a one-week period, April 8-14, 2008, a Captain Carl Gloede of the Madison Police Department is quoted to have told members of the Dane County 911 call center staff, in a personal visit, “not to release any information regarding Doty Street [the Brittany Zimmermann homicide]”

In another communication between Captain Gloede and a specific member of the Dane County 911 call center’s “communications” staff, a Wendy M. Phillips, Gloede tells Phillips explicitly, “[Madison] PD continues to request that the 911 call center not release information regarding the Doty Street homicide investigation and to refer any and all requests to the MPD PIO (Police Information Officer) Joel DeSpain“.

This is an inexplicable contradiction to what Madison Police Chief Noble Wray told Madison - and national - media when this botched 911 call story broke just last week.

Surprise, surprise… somebody in Dane County government is lying.

In that same e-mail, this 911 call center “communications” employee goes to great lengths to pat herself on the back for the tremendous strong-arm she gave Jason Shepard of Isthmus and other members of the Madison media, going so far as to brag about how she “refused to give him [Shepard] her last name” and how “he was not happy” with her stonewalling.

Shepard, in Wendy Phillips’ own words “continued to ask questions“… How dare he? A member of the Madison media “asking questions“? Obviously, this is not something the entrenched bureaucrats in Madison, and their union representatives, are used to. Jason Shepard, and other members of the Madison media who have refused to back down, should get a plaque to hang on their walls as a result of their tenacity.

I communicated today with a member of the BadgerBlogger team, a certain retired Milwaukee Police Department Captain with 30+ years on the job. He tells me that conduct like this is totally unfamiliar to him. Refusing to give one’s last name to a member of the press, and then chuckling about it in a public records document afterward, is something that could probably only happen in Madison. As our insider puts it, they’re “a small town, not yet accustomed to the scrutiny of big city media.”

I suspect they’ll be accustomed to that scrutiny, sooner rather than later. As much as the Madison establishment would prefer that these five unsolved homicides in the past year would not be in the national spotlight, the genie’s already out of the bottle.

BadgerBlogger will continue watching. We will not back down.