"My Friend Was Shot and Killed for his Car"

[liveoaktx]

http://www.sundayherald.com/51631

The conditions are extremely bad here. There are murders, looting and vandalism. Every tree in sight is down and there’s no electricity or water. The army is issuing water to us and we have to use lamps. About 80% of the state has no power and it will be a month until we get it back.
There’s four of us in the household. Me, my wife and two sons, one of whom, Ben, is still en route from Edinburgh. He has been studying there and is in Florida right now . My other son, Rob, is a newspaper reporter and is stationed with the police in Mississippi. He’s very busy right now.

We have had three killings in our neighbourhood. One of the people killed was a friend of mine, an Anglican priest. He was shot down for his car and its contents. He leaves behind a wife and six children. It’s a very sad situation. I have also heard that a lady was shot to death for a bag of ice. Can you believe that? Over a bag of ice!

These three murders haven’t been reported in the media here – I think they are trying to avoid ill feeling and panic. But we have a serious crisis on our hands. There are some bad apples, although it’s not as bad as New Orleans. Everyone is very distressed but they are pulling together, trying to be courageous.

[ananda]

1. hang in there

It's good to stay calm and well thinking during the crisis.

I hope you'll get angry and activist later.

Sue

[Autumn Colors]

2. Oh dear

I just looked at that article. My friend lives right outside Hattiesburg.

[enid602]

3. Godspeed

Where exactly are you writing from?

[lvx35]

4. The author of the quoted article is writing from Hattiesburg, Mississippi

nt

[jaysunb]

5. WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT !!

:evilfrown:

[oasis]

32. "I don't blame Bush". mmmmkay.

:eyes:

[Libby2]

59. Well the woman being shot by her brother

for a bag of ice made it to MSM

[Tomee450]

63. I'm skeptical also.

There are reporters in the Hattiesburg area and if an Anglican priest had been murdered, I believe it certainly would have been reported.

[NorthernSpy]

64. this one's actually a mix of truth and lies...

Please see my post.

[Whoa_Nelly]

66. How many stories do we NOT know to date?

How many, such as these will prove true?

Am reserving opinion as to true or not until much later date. As things are now, there is a lot of CYA by the * admin, and there are going to be stories that will not make it to the light of day until some individuals, possibly NOT MSM, gather these together and get them published or into other media venues.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Oh, please! Check the last line. Straight from the propagandists' mill.

I don’t blame Bush – this kind of destruction is too big for one politician to fix.

If the media hasn't reported these dastardly murders it's a damned miracle because as you see the media will print anything any sly devil gives them and pretend its the God's truth.

This is a gold rush for race-baiting rumor-mongering, right-wing propagandists. There will NEVER be as ripe an opportunity for these pieces of filth.

[fortyfeetunder]

34. Well said...

Homeland security means protection against natural events as well as from man-made events...

(Though I fear global warming may bring more "Katrinas" in the future)

[1932]

35. You, stickdog and one or two others are really impressing me.

Excellent job countering the bullshit.

Thank you.

[struggle4progress]

49. Michael Osbourne's longterm association with wacko wingnuts may explain ..

why the rumour-mill sprang into action instantly upon reports of his death:

... We just received this from our friend, Franklin Sanders ... Last night Michael Osborne was murdered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Michael was formerly my business partner, a co-defendant in our federal trial, one of my closest friends in the world ... http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/

<from google's cached version of http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/FSanders.htm :> For the past 20 years, Franklin Sanders has fought the fractional reserve banking system ... Working for monetary reform .. he opened a gold and silver bank in Memphis in 1984 ... On account of the bank, the IRS finally had him indicted for criminal conspiracy to defeat the IRS in collecting taxes and for several counts of willful failure to file income tax returns on December 21, 1989 ... In that "conspiracy," IRS indicted twenty-five others, including Sanders' wife, pastor, assistant pastor, and 7 more members of the church he attended ... Sanders, his former business associate Michael Osborne, and Sanders' wife, Susan, were, according to the government's imaginative theory, at the centre of a conspiracy to defeat the IRS by "laundering checks" through the "secret bank" ... http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:5CsSQ6OsE64J:home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/FSanders.htm+%22Michael+Osborne%22+conspiracy+trial&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[MADem]

52. Fucking UPS could have gotten disaster relief there faster than he did

It is all Bush's fault. The fish rots from the head, the buck stops here, you cannot have authority without accountability...all of those platitudes, they are TRUE. He FAILED TO LEAD.

From the second the hurricane started bearing down on NOLA, he should have been barking orders, deploying resources, busing and airlifting people OUT OF THERE before the roads flooded and the airports closed.

Instead, he was eating cake and strumming a guitar. HE FAILED TO LEAD.

[Maraya1969]

60. I heard Tucker Carlson say a few days ago: "If MSNBC can

get here why can't the government"

[FVZA_Colonel]

7. Isn't it the duty of the President to try and prevent these things?

If it was clear that Bush had been making a sincere and comitted effort to stop these murders, then he could not be at fault. But, it is only on Day Five that military personel are entering the city, and given the chaos that has erupted in those five days, it is clear that he should be held at least partially at fault.

[Autumn Colors]

8. Wait a minute....

I'm instant messaging with my friend in a town right next to Hattiesburg this very second. He's on his laptop and slow dial-up. He says the person getting killed for their car is true and he wasn't far away when it happened. It's local news there.

EDIT: I don't know about the rest of the stuff that's referred to in that article, but someone getting shot for their car is true.

[struggle4progress]

12. Nobody seems to know why Michael Osborne was killed, but ..

.. he was shot in his car, which then crashed into a utility pole. The Episcopal minister was dead in his car when the police arrived.

[stickdog]

19. But they know it WASN'T a robbery or a carjacking!

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS05/50903011

Wynn said it did not appear that Osborne was the victim of a carjacking or robbery.

"His wallet and belongings were not taken," Wynn said. "There is no evidence that would suggest he was carjacked and brought to that side of town."

He also said there isn't evidence that suggests the slaying was storm related.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Very helpful, stickdog. We need significantly LESS racist gibberish

at D.U. Someone's having a whole lot of perverted fun trying to muck up the waters even more.

When the smoke clears, we are going to know who the people are who worked so hard for lies and hatred.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

51. Katrina hurled ammunition off the shelves into his head?

:tinfoilhat:

[struggle4progress]

55. Victim could be the new Horst Wessel: ya know, there have been ..

.. rightwingers that killed their own to sing recruiting songs about the corpse ...

[Rowdyboy]

9. The story about a person shot to death over a bag of ice is 100% true

I believe it was a brother and sister. It was a feature on last nights local news.

[struggle4progress]

11. Yep. Antonio Page is charged with killing his sister Cynthia ..

.. allegedly over a bag of ice. Wanna bet its the typical story about a dysfunctional family member drinking alcohol and grabbing a gun to settle a dispute?

[Autumn Colors]

13. It wasn't really about the ice

I just got the story about that one, too. (We're still IM'ing)

He said there were a lady, her boyfriend, and her brother. The two guys were arguing over the ice. The woman stepped in and the brother shot her because he was angry. It was more that she had stepped in than about the ice.

Look, dehydrated people suffer from psychological changes. People don't act normally.

[stickdog]

17. So a brother killed his sister and we are supposed to believe

that's an example of rampant, looting mayhem?

[struggle4progress]

10. Hattiesburg hallelujah: The lights are on! (2 Sept)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9178532/



Police continue investigation into Thursday slaying of minister in Hattiesburg (2 Sept)
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050902/NEWS01/50902008

Hattiesburg hospital returning to full function after power, water outages (3 Sept)
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/12555609.htm

Mississippi town sees flicker of normalcy (3 Sept)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - In an instant, parts of this ravaged city almost rejoined the 21st century: Two Wendy's fast-food restaurants reopened, the dialysis center got power and the electronic sliding doors of the Hawthorn Suites motel whooshed open ...
http://www.theeagle.com/stories/090305/nation_20050903040.php

Number of Miss. storm deaths confirmed by official sources
... Forrest County: Seven dead, reported by Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree ...
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1125795541310990.xml&storylist=hurricane

Here's the Hattiesburg paper:

Owners sleep at stores to prevent looting; police arrest 13
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS05/50903014

Their front page http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage seems to be full of New Orleans links ...

[moobu2]

14. With all the New Orleans coverage

People don’t understand that Katrina went up through the middle of Mississippi above Hattiesburg, then turned left through Alabama. It tore Mississippi up real bad, all the way up to Jackson. My family lives outside of Jackson and had significant damage and still don’t have electrical power. The power company said the Mississippi electrical infrastructure will have to be rebuilt from scratch.

I believe the stories plus I’ve heard the same reports on our local news.

[Autumn Colors]

15. Yeah

My friend is in a town just outside Hattiesburg and they don't have power yet, but did get their phone service back. He said his town is really trashed. Most of the houses are either totally destroyed or they have huge trees on them. His family came through without much damage.

He's got family in N.O. but they all managed to get out before the storm.

[CityDem]

28. Why are we not hearing about this devastation

I have seen very few reports other than the damage inflicted on NOLA.

[celestia671]

22. It's happening here too...

I live in La, close to Natchez,Ms. We got a little bit of the storm (La side)and lost electricity for only a couple of hours. Natchez was hit slightly harder and lost power for the entire week. However, outlying areas and much of the rest of Ms is still in the dark.

Anyway, we've heard reports of carjackings, stolen groceries and shootings at both Wal Mart and Kmart in both Natchez and Ferriday(La town close to me). The police are denying that any of these things have happened, but eye witness reports claim otherwise.

I don't know how much of the rumors are true, but if they are, I think they come more from desperation over shortages and high gas prices, not crime sprees.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[celestia671]

25. No, I am not racist...

or classist! I'm just reporting what I've heard, read my edited post. I don't know if any of it is true or not.

And NO! I don't want to believe any of it. I really don't!

[stickdog]

29. Good. Because at least 90% is pure Repuke BULLSHIT.

[tblue37]

46. It reminds me of what happened with 9/11 reporting.

Most peopel think only of the WTC. Hardly anyone remembers that the Pentagon was also hit and that many people died there, too.

[tblue37]

50. Darn!

I just noticed the typo in "people," but the editing window has already clsoed.

[stickdog]

16. I CALL BULLSHIT.

COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT.

Why the fuck are these destructive and wholly unconfirmed RUMORS allowed on this site?

I don’t blame Bush – this kind of destruction is too big for one politician to fix. The storm itself was as large as the state of Florida. Everything in its path was wiped out.

By any chance is this BULLSHIT from a fucking MURDOCH rag???

[Judi Lynn]

18. Racists will NEVER have another opportunity like the one they're

seizing now.

Even if they thought they were true, their motives in publishing them during this catastrophe are 100% dishonorable.

Nasty, 2nd rate opportunists. What a damned shame.

[stickdog]

20. What's so sick is that they grasp onto ANY RUMOR, no matter

how wild to feed their preconceived notions of "negro savagery."

It's like when all my Repuke coworkers were taunting me with this week's new WMD "find" in the months after we invaded Iraq based on a load of obvious lies.

I used to call them all gullible Gomers because that's what they were. I won so much money off those idiots that I stopped counting.

[Matariki]

44. thanks for your posts

i've been trying to call bullshit on every post i see like these. rumor mongering. they often start with 'OMG' and so on.

[daleo]

24. The writer is Toxy Morris, a surgeon in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Toxey has some pull. A google gives this:

"MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Farris

Senate Resolution 32

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING ROB MORRIS, A JUNIOR AT HATTIESBURG HIGH SCHOOL, FOR SCORING A PERFECT 240 ON THE PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST.

WHEREAS, Rob Morris, a junior at Hattiesburg High School, has achieved perfection by scoring a perfect 240 on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), the exam that juniors elect to take to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program; and

WHEREAS, he is the first Hattiesburg High School student to have a flawless score on the PSAT according to school officials; and

WHEREAS, Rob has excelled in the study of mathematics and he expresses a desire to become a math professor at a university; and

WHEREAS, Rob does not take the credit for his accomplishments, instead acknowledging the influence of his mother, Virginia, and his father, Toxey, who is a Tulane Medical School graduate, as well as his teachers at Hattiesburg High School, in his academic career; and

WHEREAS, Rob's hobbies are reading, designing and installing computer software and traveling, and his determination to achieve academic excellence has earned for him and his high school the respect and admiration of the Legislature and of the citizenry of this State:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby honor and congratulate Rob Morris, a junior at Hattiesburg High School, for scoring a perfect 240 on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) this year, and wish him continued success in his future academic and career endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Rob and to the Principal of Hattiesburg High School, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps."


My son has done very well in scholastic endeavors too, but I haven't managed to get the legislature to congratulate him. Methinks Toxey might be a good old boy.

[Judi Lynn]

26. Bill Frist's a surgeon too, God help us all. n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

45. Certainly sounds like it.

Any Hattiesburg DUers out there?

[NorthernSpy]

27. my research indicates: a couple of facts, plus a whole lot of lies

Whoever wrote that article is lying: the murder committed over the bag of ice was indeed reported, and widely. Clearly, there was no conspiracy afoot to keep the news of this incident away from the public.

The report of that murder is an example of a credible report: the who, what, where, and when are all matters of record.

Without specific details, there is nothing to report. The fact that basic details were available to substantiate the ice-bag murder distinguishes the case from mere rumor.

The author of the article is also lying about the death of the priest. This incident was reported openly in the press as well. Furthermore, our "Toxy Morris" appears to have added some fabrications, perhaps to fit some agenda (whatever that may be).

According to police, Michael Osborne, 52, was driving his SUV down a street in Hattieburg's east side when he was shot. His vehicle crashed into a utility pole, and he died shortly thereafter. Police report that people nearby heard shots and saw someone drive away from the area.

Also according to police (and in contradiction to the article cited in the original post), "his car and its contents" were not taken. There is currently no reason to link this incident to the hurricane or its aftermath. It simply is not known at this time who shot Osborne, or why:

Hattiesburg Police Chief David Wynn said Friday he was pleased with the progress made by detectives on the case, but would not elaborate. As of 9 p.m. Friday, no suspects were in custody.

Wynn said it did not appear that Osborne was the victim of a carjacking or robbery.

"His wallet and belongings were not taken," Wynn said. "There is no evidence that would suggest he was carjacked and brought to that side of town."

He also said there isn't evidence that suggests the slaying was storm related.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS05/50903011


Word of advice to all the fabulists out there: never lie about something that can be fact-checked.

[stickdog]

30. Do you really believe a man shot his SISTER over a bag of ice?

Both reports are full of shit in terms of how our esteemed Repuke surgeon reported them!

[Judi Lynn]

31. Something very strange happens when grown men will tell whoppers

like that.

I have a strange distant relative who raced to tell his aunt in the 1960's about the "news" he had heard of civil rights workers fornicating "right there in the street" and throwing condoms all over the place in Birmingham, Alabama.

When people are this diseased, morally, they are driven by colossal stupid forces to try their best to make others look unworthy of respect. It's pure evil (and stupidity).

[NorthernSpy]

33. I think there was more to it than just ice...

I refer to the incident as the ice-bag murder because that is pretty much how it was reported -- and my point was that contrary to Toxy Whatever's claim, the news of the murder was made public.

[stickdog]

36. Then your research was DEAD ON.

I just wanted to point out that BOTH incidents were EXTREMELY distorted by our esteemed Repuke surgeon "eyewitness" (who was actually "reporting" nothing more than inaccurate thirdhand hearsay, to be kind).

[Judi Lynn]

37. True enough. I saw it a day ago, I believe. It's been around a bit.

It's amazing seeing what has happened to D.U. as it suddenly EXPLODED with people here to tell DU'ers just how criminal poor people really are when they are shattered and destitute and traumatized.

I'd love to see how these wingers, bursting with the need to communicate suddenly, would conduct themselves if they had to lose use of their refrigerators for a few days! Life just wouldn't be worth living, I'm sure. Major crisis.

[stickdog]

38. Thanks for the smile in this week of tears.

My brother-in-law is still not accounted for, having gone back one last time to help a friend who the doctors advised could not be moved earlier.

Let me tell y'all one thing LOUD & CLEAR. The VAST majority (as in 95% at minimum) of the casualties of the fine citizens of the wonderful city of New Orleans were MURDERED. No ifs ands or buts about it! They most certainly did NOT kill themselves.

[Judi Lynn]

39. Didn't know you have a personal relation at risk here, too.

Hoping to see a post soon indicating he's safe, after all this.

No doubt what you would learn from him about what he has experienced would deepen your beliefs.

DU'ers will be hoping for your brother-in-law. You have many friends here going well back.

[stickdog]

40. I've already heard from my sister-in-law that the news reports about

it being too violent to so much as DROP SUPPLIES are completely FULL OF SHIT.

Her parents are staunch Republicans and Fox News watchers and they are no less than WHITE HOT LIVID at the federal nonresponse to this mostly avoidable human disaster. It may be the first time we've agreed 100% on any even semi-political issue.

[daleo]

41. Yes, there has been a sudden influx of new posters

One doesn't want to discourage honest discourse, but it is a tad suspicious how news that hurts Bush tends to create these population explosions. In a way it is a good sign for progressive people, since it shows how desperate the situation really is for reactionaries.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

56. They are beyond desperate....reprehensible is a word that comes to mind.

[Judi Lynn]

57. You made a good point. The sudden appearance of faux Democrats

CAN be seen as something like the first robin of spring!

It means _Bush has them on the run! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[slackmaster]

42. Maybe the person who did the shooting really needed that car

:eyes:

[daleo]

43. Whatever happened, he didn't get the car.

Which makes me think it wasn't an attempt to steal a car.

"According to police, Michael Osborne, 52, was driving his SUV down a street in Hattieburg's east side when he was shot. His vehicle crashed into a utility pole, and he died shortly thereafter. Police report that people nearby heard shots and saw someone drive away from the area."

[Tomee450]

65. Someone probably killed Osbourne

thinking that looters would be blamed.

[NorthernSpy]

61. Why don't you just read the article I linked to? There was no robbery.

:eyes:

Also, I've yet to see DUers post anything that even remotely justified robbery. If anyone has done that, then please do show it to us. I'm sure we'd all like to see it.

[0007]

47. Straight from Karl Rove's desk

[JNelson6563]

48. A glimpse of the future

of neo-con America.

[crispini]

53. I have also spoken to a cousin in Hattiesburg.

He said that there had been 3 or 4 murders in the last few days. He said that someone had been stabbed for his wallet in line at the Lowes (or Home Depot). They are only letting people in 25 at a time, etc.

However, I didn't want to post it because I couldn't find confirmation in the Hattiesburg online paper.

[Judi Lynn]

58. That would be the better way to do it.

No reason to spew bogus reactionary crap just to impugn a whole bunch of people for no good reason whatsoever.

[crispini]

67. Excuse me?

I didn't post it because I didn't have any confirmation, but are you telling me that my cousin is lying to me? I find that this other report is very similar to his and to me it is a sort of confirmation.

[NorthernSpy]

69. just as the article in the OP is a mixture of facts and falsehoods...

... your cousin is probably relaying a mix of things that:

• have occurred, and are related to the storm (the ice-bag murder)
  
  
• have occurred, and are NOT known to be related to the storm (the murder-without-robbery of the priest)
  
  
• have occurred, and are certainly NOT related to the storm (the stabbing reported on August 13)
  
  
• are not currently known to have occurred at all (claims of murders that the police are unaware of)
  
  
  The thing is, there have been many spurious claims of refugee-related mayhem in many areas away from the disaster zone. For instance, in the city of Lafayette, there were widely-believed rumors of the armed robbery of several businesses -- including a gun store -- and a murder in an Albertson's supermarket. All of those claims were false: the alleged events never occurred, according to police and to the owners of the businesses themselves. Even so, thousands of people heard -- and believed -- the same rumors with the same details; hundreds of people called the specific gun store that supposedly had been robbed to talk about the incident.
  
  My guess is that your cousin acquired much of the information in conversation with other people, and believed that they were telling the truth.
  
  I supposed it all comes down to some fact, some fiction, and some mass hysteria tying it all together.

[crispini]

70. Mass hysteria is explaining a lot these days.

:(

[NorthernSpy]

62. last report of a stabbing in Hattiesburg was dated August 13th...

... obviously well before Hurricane Katrina.

So far, the only post-hurricane murders I can find for Hattiesburg are the killing of the priest, and the incident involving the bag of ice. And of these, only the latter can currently be connected to the aftermath of the storm.

[crispini]

68. See my reply #67

[Media_Lies_Daily]

54. Propaganda....but the Kool-Aid drinkers will gulp it down.