MySpace a place for friends

The REAL Story of Domestic Abuse "20/20 News Special"

..

Links for Grieving Families:

National Organization of

Parents of Murdered Children

for the families and friend of those that have died by violence

Nicole Sinkule, Sept. 20, 1980 - Oct. 16, 2005.

Police responded to a domestic call at Nicole's apartment the evening of October 16th, 2005 and did not remove Eric Nathaniel "Nate" Marum from Nicoles Oceanside apartment. Three Hours later Nicole was  beat to death with a hammer. She suffered 13 deadly blows. Eric Marum faces sentencing on Feb. 2, 2007.

Nicoles family would like victim impact statements as to why Eric should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Nicole's family has created "The Nicole Sinkule Foundation to be a "voice" against two social ills that appear to have factored in their daughter's death ---- domestic violence and the suspected killer's methamphetamine use. They said they also hope the foundation will bring changes to a law enforcement system they believe failed them." (from article in NCTimes.Com by SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer). To find out more about Nicole's Story, the Sentencing and her Families Vision, Click Here to Visit the Nicole Sinkule Foundation.

On, April 4, 2004 Margarita
Casillo was found in her Elmwood Park, Illinois home
naked. She was found lying on her hallway floor with seven needle stab marks to her heart of her chest. She had multiple bruising on her both of her forearms, the shins of her knees and across her back.
Her current partner was the last
person to see her alive. He had been overheard by
neighbors next door threatening to kill her. This was just three days before her body was found.
The coroner ruled her death as
"undetermined." (click on Margarita's picture to see her story as told to me by her daughter Susana)

Linda Anne Regan preceeded her in death on Memorial Day 2001. She was found with her car in park on University Drive in the Plantations of Florida. She was parked west
bound in an east bound lane. The coroner marked the cause of death as "Blunt Chest Trauma. "

The last person to see her alive was a neighbor. The neighbor saw her leaving with her "live in boyfriend" in his father's white car. The same car she was found in. Following them was a young brunette with a red car.

He came back with her.

Linda Anne Regan
7/27/76 - 5/28/01

NO PROSECUTION, NO CONVICTION HER KILLER WALKS FREE

(click on Linda Anne's Picture for full story as told to me by her sister Susana)

Tina Martindale,

In March, a Kane County coroner's jury deliberated for more than an hour -- much longer than normal for an inquest -- before ruling Tina's death a homicide.

Though the Aurora Police Department is investigating the case, no one has been arrested.

(click on Tina's picture to read her story)

Gina Marie Lupson-Holden-Young, June 1, 1967-June 9, 1993
Shaun Edward Lupson-Holden, December 1, 1989-June 9, 1993
Joshua Lee Lupson-Young, November 10, 1992-June 9, 1993

Wednesday June 9, 1993 Gina's  husband poured gasoline in the living room, up the stairs, and right into Gina's bedroom, lit a match, and walked away — walked away with not a burn on his body; walked away with no carbon monoxide in his lungs; walked away while Gina, Shaun and Joshua died in the inferno. (click on Gina's picture for full story - her husband was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences)

On October 22, 2000, Claire Joyce Tempongko was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Tari Ramirez. Ramirez stabbed Claire to death in her home in front of her two young children. Ramirez is still at large. (click on Claire's picture to read the full story - her murder is at large and a picture is posted in the link)

Berna Samara Judge Ellington, Cameron Noah and Christian Caleb Ellington

Died May 17, 2006. All three were beaten to death with a hammer by Berna's husband and the twins father, Clayton Ellington. (click on Berna's picture for story)

On Dec. 26, 2006, after 27 years of marriage, Steve Donald killed his wife then himself. Just 4 days prior Annette had convinced a judge to lift a "stay away" order on Steve. In one final attempt to save her marriage, Annette paid the ultimate price & so did Steve. Left behind were their children and grandchildren. Please see Annette's "MY SPACE", told by her old friend, Irish Rose or you can refer to her full story on the web by clicking here.

Ashley Marie Scott died of Blunt Force Head Trauma on Thanksgiving Day 2006, at the hands of her husband. She was a school teacher and admired by all of her students. Husband let her stay in the garage for several hours with injuries prior to calling 911. One of Mrs. Scott's students told me that she died of her injuries later at the hospital. To see Mrs. Scott's full story to date (as I know it) CLICK HERE.

On February 21, 2005, 20 year old, Evelynn Grace Smith died of stab wounds. She was murdered in a bathtub, then placed on a bed. Her killer folded her arms across her chest and then laid a Spanish language bible on her. Her killer, at first, claimed that the two had a suicide pact, but it was later determined that there was no way that Evelynn could have inflicted the wounds that she had upon herself. Investigators learned about some sort of domestic violence report between Smith and Trejo-Ramirez in North Carolina but hadn't obtained any details. Fernando Trejo-Ramirez, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder. Click Here to see Evelynn Grace Smith's story as told by her mom's friend, Francine.

Rebecca Caldwell, her story as told by her sister:

around 4am on the morning of september 18, 00', rebecca was getting stoned. her ex, ben, was getting drunk. he had, earlier in the day, argued his way through her door demanding a place to crash. she, being rebecca, allowed his entry. the arguments grew grew and grew, like the devil's erection, until ben saw fit to strangle rebecca til her eye popped out of socket, til she bit off most of her own tongue, til she never breathed again.
poor ben panicked, spending the next day and a half in rebecca's one bedroom apartment, drinking and smoking and god knows what else, as her body grew cold and stiff. the blood stains on her bed had long since dried when ben saw fit to call the proper authorities on his white trash self. rebecca's family had to make do with a closed casket ceremony. eventually, ben was found guilty and sentenced to life behind bars, where his meals would forever be provided, and he would never again have to sweat a utility bill. To vist Rebecca's MySpace Click Here. Rebecca had two outstanding warrants on Ben at the time of her death. The authorities in Louisville say that they were not "obligated" to serve warrants. The family still pursues justice for Rebecca.
 

Tynesha Stewart went MISSING on March 15, 2007. She was missing for over a week. Her family and a local activists did not give up and ultimately got a confession from her Ex-Boyfriend who had strangled her and placed body in a dumpster. There are some lessons to be learned here and I hope that you will read Tynesha Stewarts FULL STORY.

On January 2, 2007 two intruder's  broke into the home of Merced Costilla, where Brenda Greenwood and her baby were staying. Merced Costilla was shot in the stomach, Brenda Greenwood was shot multiple times and her daughter, Reya had also been shot. Brenda died later at the hospital, however Reya (her baby) survived with wounds from the gunshot(s) to her arm, lung and neck. Approximately one week earlier, Brenda had filed a protective order against Reya's father, Jaime Casillas. At the hospital, the victims identified one of the shooter's as Jaime Casillas. Casillas had previous convictions for domestic battery in 2005 and 2000 according to prosecutors.  Jaime Casillas currently awaits trial. For further information regarding Brenda Greenwood visit the full story at wordpress or you can visit her sister Holly at http://www.myspace.com/hollygarzao. Holly currently seeks custody of her niece, Reya.

Tracey Sigman, 28 years old, was beat to death by her husband, in her home on May 1, 1994. Her 11 year old daughter Megan, and 15 year old brother were also present the day that this happened. Tracey had 42 multiple bruise over her body, 6 abrasions to her head, hair was missing from her right temple. Her 9th rib was also broken and her sternum broke and cut a one and half inch gash into her heart. Her spouse, Megan's father, only spent 10 years in prison for this violent death, in the presence of two minors. Although his daughter showed up at his parole board hearing, he was released from prison. Tracey's brother lives in the same town as this man and has to encounter him on occasion. Megan, the daughter states that he was VERY abusive to both her and her mother. Megan spent years being understandably angry (probably an understatement), however later tried to establish contact with her father. He never responded to Megan. Megan's story of her feelings surrounding all of these events are blogged in a story called: "Letters from Megan, Homicide through the Eye's of a child", Insights into the feelings and life experience of the children that bear witness to domestic violence, abuse and homicide. To visit Megan's MySpace, click on her mom's (Tracey's) picture. To read Megan's story of what domestic violence is like through the eyes of a child, click anywhere on the highlighted text.
 

(NOTE: The authors’ words in this document are always stated in italics)

Sandra Kay Travis has been missing from Mayfield, Kentucky since July 31, 2005.  Her daughter, who lives in Illinois was not aware of the extent of the abuse that her mother suffered, until after her mother went "missing". Mrs. Travis' daughter has since learned that a lot of victims of Domestic Abuse "keep it to themselves". Mrs. Travis, daughter has been told that Sandra Kay's husband, Bobby Travis, is a person of interest in the case, by the Sheriff’s Department in  the presiding jurisdiction.     

When you ask Sandra Kay Travis' daughter, "what do you think has happened to your mom?" She will readily tell you 

that she believes that her mother was murdered! She has sound reasons for this belief. 

Below is a series of correspondence between myself and the daughter of Sandra Kay Travis. You will see why Bobby 

Travis, should be investigated,  which has YET to take place in a manner in which the family members are satisfied with.

There are also "key" pieces of evidence that I have omitted from this document as they may or may not be applicable. 

I neither want to alert Mr. Travis, if indeed, he is responsible for whatever happened to Sandra Kay Travis, nor do I 

want to compromise these items (possible physical evidence) if they indeed do hold "answers" to certain physical 

evidence relating to the disappearance of Sandra Kay Travis. 

Below is some of the correspondence between myself and the victims’ daughter. As I usually do, certain items will be 

underlined or put in a Bold font as I believe that they are pertinent to this case. This is the story of the disappearance of 

Sandra Kay Travis, 58 years old, a mother and grandmother. When her daughter speaks of her, you can hear the 

resentment in her voice at feeling like her mother's case has been ignored in the media. She states,

“My mom was not a pretty young blond, a beautiful pregnant woman, a high profile celebrity that went missing, but 

she was a 58 year old mother and grandmother.  She was a beautiful, caring, loving person; she was a living, 

breathing human being, who happened to have nothing.  Does that mean she is not worthy of being found??”

Sandra Kay Travis story as told by her daughter.

 My mother at the time she went missing was not employed, not because she didn't want to work, but because her husband 

would disable the car and she could not get out to look for a job. I know this because the last time I talked to her was a week 

before she went missing.  We talked about her putting in applications and she said she was unable to because the car wasn't 

running and so I told her to ask her husband to take her in to town, she relayed the message to him without response.  

It wasn't until after she disappeared that I found out that her husband would take parts from the car so that she could not leave 

and he did this quite often. I don't believe my mom knew this. Most days she would not even get out of her pajamas, this has 

been confirmed by many of her friends that I spoke to. Her husband physically, verbally, emotionally and psychologically abused 

her throughout their 25 year marriage.

 The last time I spoke to my mother was July 24, 2005. I called to tell her thank you for the card she sent me for my birthday on 

July 22, 2005.  On August 17th I received a phone call from the mother of my mom's husband.  She said that Bobby Travis, my 

mom's husband, had told their family that my mom had gone up to Illinois to stay with me for a couple of weeks and 

that I had just called and told him that she DIED in her sleep on my couch. (Note: he later changes this story) He also 

told them that the body would stay in Illinois because she was going to be buried with the rest of her family there.  

His family decided to call us to find out where they could send flowers for the funeral. It is my belief that my mom's husband was 

unaware that my mother had given his family my phone number in case of an emergency.  I believe that Bobby Travis thought that 

they would have no way to contact us and find out the truth.  He was wrong.  I immediately told the family that everything Bobby 

Travis told them was a lie and that I was going to call the sheriff's department to have them go to the home to find out what was 

going on.  

I tried to call both my mom's home and her cell phone and I received no answer. I then called the sheriff's department and 

explained the story to them. Their first response was "are you sure someone isn't playing a joke on you?"  I told them this was not 

a joke and I want a deputy sent to the home to check on my mother's well being. 

  An hour later the deputy called me back to tell me that he made contact with Bobby Travis, and that he had now 

changed his story. He now says that he was too embarrassed to tell his family that his wife really left him for another 

man, so instead he told them that she died. He said a truck driver with an 18 wheeler drove down their small

country road and picked up my mother at their home and left with her and no one has seen or heard from her since.  He said he 

would have called to let us know that she left, but that she took all the phone numbers with her. 

(Notice that in the above statement, he changes his story after contact is made by the local police department and what 

a convenient response that he came back with. Of course, his explanation regarding his wife’s disappearance was not 

the same as his original, but you will find out later that this could very well be just another misled direction on the part 

of Bobby Travis. Keep in mind also, that it is common in abuser's to discredit the victim. While his story changing is not 

indicative of his guilt or innocence in any responsibility in the disappearance of his wife, it does ring true, of the typical 

response of an abuser and he has ALREADY lied once! Read on and make up your own mind to see if you "buy" his 

second story)

Now this is coming from a man who I later found out had been having an affair with another woman for several month's before 

my mom went missing.  My mother, just days before she went missing, had found out about the affair and had told her 

husband that she wanted a divorce and was going to take her half of what she was entitled to. 

(If you know anything at all about control and abuse, this previous statement is probably sending up "red flags" galore. 

She recently found out that her abusive husband of 25 years has been having an affair. She tells him that she is leaving 

and intends to get her half of what she is entitled to. Of Course, for the abuser, this always means a LOSS OF 

CONTROL and since they believe that they are entitled to everything and all decisions regarding the relationship 

ultimately are his to make, her behavior would be completely unacceptable to him in this situation...)

The deputy told me there was nothing he could do because my mom was an adult and she was free to leave if she wanted to.  

Same old song and dance whenever an adult goes missing.

His family, in the beginning, believed that he was involved and filed a missing persons report.  A search was done by cadaver 

dogs on the property and the sheriff's department "walked" through the house. 

I was never notified they were doing a search, I heard it from a third party.  They never talked to any neighbors or family 

members.  If they had, they would have found that a neighbor my investigator had talked to had been sitting outside with her 

daughter on an evening around the time my mom went missing and heard what she says were "screams of a woman 

being tortured." 

(WITNESS, WITNESS, WITNESS..THE AUTHOR interjecting  AGAIN) 

She did not call the police as she did not have a phone and was too scared to go down to my mom's home.  

The mother of Bobby Travis also demanded that he tell her what he did with my mother and 

he told her "she's dead and she isn't coming back."  This was overheard by his sister and 

brother-in-law as well. However, they are now denying this information and are protecting and covering up for him.  There are 

some members of his family that still do believe he killed her. They are however being harassed by Bobby Travis and those that 

are covering for him.

The investigator that helped me with my mom's case sent an 18 page report of evidence to the sheriff's department and they have 

never responded.  We also, in person, took the 18 page report plus more to the Commonwealth attorney because we wanted to 

try and get a grand jury investigation.  This attorney says he does not see enough evidence and is not pursuing the investigation. 

(HERE IS THE PART WHERE I OMITTED THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE; I HOPE THAT THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE 

SEE THIS SO THEY WILL KNOW, OUT LOUD, THAT THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 

REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SANDRA KAY TRAVIS!) 

We also found physical evidence, ************OMITTED, OMITTED, OMITTED*****The sheriff's department has never 

checked out  these items. We then talked to the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation and all they said is "what do you want us to do?"  

I even sent the sheriff a letter asking them to turn the case over to the Kentucky State Police and they have never responded to 

my request.  Bobby Travis is a person of interest in her disappearance, this per the sheriff's department.

PART II

When I first heard of the possibility of Mrs. Travis leaving her husband for another man and that being a possibility in 

her disappearance, I asked her daughter why she so strongly believed that this could not possibly be the case and why 

she so strongly suspected foul play on the part of Bobby Travis. This was Mrs. Travis' daughters reply to that 

question:  

You know at first when he said she left him for another man, I thought well maybe she did.  He did give a name of the truck 

driver she left with and that is what made it almost possible.  I thought why would he not just say she left with another man.  

Why would he make up a name??  Still, again why would he lie and tell his family that she died.  He must have really been 

sure she would never come back and that is why I don't believe the truck driver story.  If she left with someone, it is 

always possible for her to come back.  If he said she died, he then knew for sure she wouldn't 

come back