02202012 - VIDEO - Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan $10,000 reward in Amanda Bach's murder case

[IN] Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan $10,000 reward in Amanda Bach's murder case

Feb 20, 2012

http://youtu.be/afDaPf0q4SM

02202012 - VIDEO - [IN] Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan - $10,000 reward for evidence in Amanda Bach's murder case

[IN] Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan - $10,000 reward for evidence in Amanda Bach's murder case
Lakeshore Public Radio
89.1 FM
Regionally Speaking
Steve Walsh
February 20, 2012

[IN] Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan - $10,000 reward for evidence in Amanda Bach's murder case - February 20, 2012

02202012 - News Article - Study casts light on corruption

Study casts light on corruption

Post-Tribune (IN)
February 20, 2012

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=13D1F2780E470F50&p_docnum=11&p_queryname=3

Lake County doesn’t have a reputation of corrupt political officials for nothing. 

From former Gary Clerk Katie Hall forcing her employees to contribute to her political campaign to former East Chicago Mayor George Pabey using city money and workers to renovate his Gary home, the past decade has seen more than 40 people convicted in federal court in connection to public corruption cases. That doesn’t even count the people who preceded them. 

But a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago shows that as corrupt as some people think politics in the U.S. District of Northern Indiana are, they actually aren’t that bad. 

Not so corrupt 

Northern Indiana actually registered hardly a blip in the study, titled “Chicago and Illinois, Leading the Pack in Corruption.” 

It focused mostly on how Illinois ranks high in the pure number and per capita rate of convicted corrupt public officials since 1976 and also discusses in detail the many political criminals from states such as California, Louisiana, New Jersey and Texas. In fact, the study includes 35 years worth of information for only the top 15 federal court districts with the most convictions of corrupt public officials. Northern Indiana did not crack the list. 

However, it did provide information on the number of convictions from 2001 to 2010 for the 91 federal court districts representing the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Northern Indiana saw 83 convictions during that time, not a small number. However, several districts saw more than 300 public corruption convictions during that same time period. In fact, Northern Indiana ranked just 38th out of all the districts, not even in the top third. 

The study did argue that it was also important to do a comparison at a per capita basis, because populous states such as Texas and California were bound to have more corruption cases than states such as Illinois. Going from that angle, however, actually shows that Indiana has had even less of a problem with corrupt public officials compared with the country. The state was tied for 16th for the fewest number of convicted public officials in the past decade. 

Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub took the data for good news. Scheub said that Lake County has certainly had a history of notoriety with public corruption but that it doesn’t always have to be that way. 

“If you see it enough, you should be smart enough to make sure it’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’ll never change our image in Indianapolis, but we can change our image up here.” 

The county’s image has made it hard for him, Scheub said, with some people automatically suspecting him just because he’s a politician. He also pointed out that it’s not as though the rest of the state doesn’t have its problems, mentioning Secretary of State Charlie White is who battling accusations that he voted in the wrong district. 

What’s the case? 

However, U.S. Attorney for Northern Indiana David Capp said that the study was perhaps not the best picture of public corruption convictions. For instance, he said, all U.S. attorneys must submit a yearly report to the U.S. Department of Justice on public integrity and includes a broad span of crimes, including U.S. Postal Service employees who steal even $1 from their employer. Most of Northern Indiana’s public corruption crimes, however, have focused mostly on actual elected officials, he said. The study does not say what it counts as a public corruption cases. 

“I just know we have focused a great deal of attention on elected officials,” Capp said. “And sadly most of them come from Lake County.” 

Because it’s unclear just which cases were considered for the report, it’s hard to narrow down how many of the 83 convictions in the Northern District came from Lake County. However, a perusal of news archives shows about 40 cases from Lake County, or about half of the district’s cases, that involved blatant public corruption by elected officials, government employees or people appointed by public officials to boards and committees who had control over tax dollars. Capp added that the only public officials he can think of who recently were convicted who were not from Lake County were Michael and Teresa Orsburn from Jasper County. 

The rough estimate would put Lake County at a rate of 0.81 convictions per capita of 10,000 people. Compared with the averages of all the states, Lake County would rank behind just three states and Washington D.C. Most states averaged a rate from 0.2 to 0.5. 

FBI Supervisory Special Agent for Northern Indiana Bob Ramsey said the fact that Lake County’s per capita rate is more than double the state’s shows the county has a public corruption problem. 

“Not to say there isn’t public corruption in other places,” Ramsey said. “But there seems to be an inordinate amount in Lake County.” 

Ramsey said part of the problem for the county is that it’s ingrained in the county’s past and has become a practice that people learn from those who came before them. 

“It’s difficult to break,” he said. “You constantly get into the same crimes being repeated.” 

The past few years certainly have seen a decrease in public corruption convictions compared with the beginning of the century. Those years saw the convictions of people such as Katie and Junifer Hall, the Sidewalk Six from East Chicago and the people involved with the Gary Urban Enterprise Association. The only notable public corruption conviction in 2009 was former Calumet Township Trustee Dozier Allen Jr., and the only one in 2010 was former East Chicago Mayor George Pabey . 

Of course, those numbers don’t include two new public corruption cases announced last fall, including a case against Lake County Coroner Thomas Philpot claiming he paid himself money he shouldn’t have when he was Lake County clerk. Philpot has pleaded not guilty in that case and is scheduled to go to trial in July. 

The other case, however, is just waiting sentencing. Three former Lake County Sheriff’s officers have already pled guilty to using the county’s information to illegally buy guns and sell them online for a profit. 

“We still have an extensive ongoing public corruption effort, and we’re going to continue it,” Capp said.

A rough count of people from Lake County convicted in public corruption crimes during the past decade includes: 

George Pabey 

Dozier Allen 

Jewell Harris 

Robert Cantrell 

Will Smith 

Roosevelt Powell 

Willie Harris 

Katie Hall 

Junifer Hall 

Joe De La Cruz 

Adrian Santos 

Jose Valdez 

Frank Kollintzas 

Pedro Porras 

Edwardo Maldonado 

Randall Artis 

Jojuana Meeks 

Johnnie Wright 

Joel Markovich 

Kim Lyles 

Deborah Riga 

Peter Benjamin 

Troy Montgomery 

Greg Cvitkovich 

James Fife 

Morris Carter 

02162012 - VIDEO - Amanda Bach Murder Suspect's Allies Offer Reward For 'Real' Killer

[IN] Amanda Bach Murder Suspect's Allies Offer Reward For 'Real' Killer

Feb 16, 2012

http://youtu.be/FdlgckNyrpI

02162012 - Bill Warner Website Post - Update on Amanda Bach Murder Case: There is no connection to any other case

Update on Amanda Bach Murder Case:
There is no connection to any other case

Bill Warner
Posted: February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
pibillwarner.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/update-onamanda-bach-murder-case-there-is-no-connection-to-any-other-case

UPDATE 2/16/2012 … BILL WARNER PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR ON AMANDA BACH MURDER CASE, THERE IS NO CONNECTION TO ANY OTHER CASE…..The phone call I got from someone claiming to be a police officer, on Jan 5th, 2012, concerning the Amanda Bach murder case came from phone line, 219-662-3245 , which is registered to the Crown Point Police Department. 

I took what the police officer told me that day as fact about specific aspects of the Amanda Bach murder case and possible links to other unsolved cases, but now that I know the police officer who called me on the registered phone line to the Crown Point Police Department is the father of murder suspect Dustin Mccowan, serious doubt comes into play about the truthfulness of what was said and just what the hell was Crown Point police officer Elliott McCowan trying to do, I feel like I’m getting played here by a cop"..


AMANDA BACH WAS SHOT IN THE NECK AND HER BODY DUMPED IN A FIELD NEAR DUSTIN McCOWAN’S HOUSE, DUSTIN McCOWAN IS THE ONLY SUSPECT IN HER MURDER, THAT’S WHY DUSTIN McCOWAN IS IN JAIL WITH NO BOND!

BILL WARNER PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR POST OF 2/15/2012

…."In a phone conversation on Thursday with a detective and/or police officer from the Crown Point Police Department in Crown Point Indiana, that came in on unpublished number 219-662-3245 , I was asked if I knew how Karen Swift had been murdered in Dyersburg TN, (shot, strangled, knifed?), was the body of Karen Swift moved from where her car was found, like Amanda Bach, did the car Karen Swift was driving have a flat tire, how close was Karen Swift’s body found near to a cemetery and was Karen Swift’s body found with or without clothes. 

The caller, who is now known to be police officer Elliot McCowan, tried to link the Karen Swift murder case to the Amanda Bach murder case, he wanted to know if I had the phone number for the Sheriff in Dyersburg TN, he was going to call…sure he was!. The cause of death in the Karen Swift murder case has not yet been determined or released (since December 10th, 2011).

FROM NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES ARTICLE…."I get the phone call from a supposed police officer claiming to be in Valpariso IN. I had no idea where Valparaiso was," Warner said." Warner blogged about the case and within hours, that blog posting was linked on three different Facebook sites maintained by McCowan supporters.

Warner said he wanted to know where he was getting his information, so he traced the number and determined it was from an inside line at the Crown Point Police Department, where McCowan’s father works. The more I looked into it, the more fishy things got."

"I feel like I'm getting played here," Warner said.

Elliott McCowan said he made that phone call and said he sees similarities in the fate of the women. "I'm the one who called that guy [Bill Warner]," Elliott McCowan said. "It’s very similar to what happened to Amanda. It’s possible. You can’t rule anything out."
Bill Warner Sarasota Private Investigator, SEX, CRIME, CHEATERS & TERRORISM at www.wbipi.com
Posted by Bill Warner

02162012 - News Article - Despite $10,000 reward offer, police confident in McCowan's arrest

Despite $10,000 reward offer, police confident in McCowan's arrest
NWI Times
February 16, 2012 - 3:35 pm
nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage/despite-reward-offer-police-confident-in-mccowan-s-arrest/article_0c96e2fd-c417-5575-bc70-bdf5b53df97f

VALPARAISO - While a reward may be on the table for information leading to the person responsible for Amanda Bach's death, police remain firm in believing that person already is in custody.

"There's not been any evidence in our investigation pointing to anyone else but Dustin McCowan," Cmdr. Jeff Biggs, head of the Porter County Sheriff's Department Detective Division, said Thursday.
On Wednesday, Elliott McCowan, a Crown Point police officer, announced a supporter of his son, Dustin, posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Bach's killing.
Bach, a 19-year-old recent Portage High School graduate, was found dead in September, killed with a single gunshot wound to her throat. Police said her body was discovered along a railroad easement, about 300 yards from Dustin McCowan's Union Township home. Police said McCowan also was the last known person to see Bach alive.

McCowan was arrested and is being held in Porter County Jail awaiting an August murder trial.

Biggs said reports surfacing on the Internet that the case is being reinvestigated are not true, and alternative theories regarding the case, like that involving a multistate serial-killing trucker, seem to be based on false information or tying together loose connections.

"We didn't stop our investigation when we made the arrest of Dustin McCowan," Biggs said. "We've continued to talk to as many people as we can. We've never closed our doors to anybody that has new information on this case."

Biggs said witness statements and evidence initially made public during a November bond hearing, point to McCowan.

During that hearing, investigators said in the hours following Bach's disappearance, they were able to trace McCowan's cellphone at the site where Bach's body was found and where her vehicle was found. Police said a bloodhound also tracked McCowan's scent to the location of Bach's body and tracked the woman's scent back to his house.

A driver traveling in the area shortly after Bach disappeared also told police he saw a "Justin Timberlake-looking kid" walking alongside the road. That driver later reportedly identified the person as McCowan.

Police said they collected other evidence and conducted about 150 interviews in the case.

"I still stand by that," Biggs said of his testimony in the bond hearing. 

02162012 - VIDEO - Amanda Bach Murder Suspect’s Allies Offer Reward For ‘Real’ Killer

Amanda Bach Murder Suspect’s Allies Offer Reward For ‘Real’ Killer 
CBS News – Chicago IL
February 16, 2012 - 8:47 AM
chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/16/amanda-bach-murder-suspects-allies-offer-reward-for-real-killer/"/amanda-bach-murder-suspects-allies-offer-reward-for-real-killer 

VALPARAISO, Ind. (CBS) — Police in northwest Indiana want nothing to do with a reward that is being offered in a murder case.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, the $10,000 reward is being offered by family and friends of accused killer Dustin McCowan, 19. He is due to go on trial this summer for the murder last year of a former girlfriend, Amanda Bach, 19.

Listen: WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports:

[IN] Amanda Bach Murder Suspect’s Allies Offer Reward For ‘Real’ Killer - February 16, 2012 

McCowan’s body was found on Sept. 17. She had been shot in the neck, and authorities said she died instantly.

McCowan admits she was hanging out with him at his Valparaiso, Ind., home on Sept. 15 – just over 24 hours before she disappeared – but says she had nothing to do with her killing.

Her car was found the next morning in a nearby parking lot, and her body a couple of days later near some railroad tracks.

Investigators used GPS technology to track McCowan's cell phone to the area near where Bach's body was found between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sept. 17. Authorities believe she was killed between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Sept. 17.

Detectives said blood hounds traced McCowan’s scent from his house to where her body was found, about 300 feet away from the McCowan home in Union Township. Also, prosecutors said that an eyewitness claimed he saw McCowan walking in the same area around the time of the murder on the main road between the store wehre Bach's car was found and McCowan's home.

But McCowan and his family and friends maintain his innocence.
Elliot McCowan, Dustin McCowan’s father and a Crown Point police officer, said Wednesday the reward money came from a person who believes his son did not kill Bach.

"Someone contacted me and wanted to do it, and they wanted to remain anonymous," the elder McCowan said.

He said he wanted the reward to go through Crimestoppers, but the organization requires information to go to the Porter County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Detective Jeff Biggs said he didn’t want the public to be led into thinking the department was connected to the reward.
"We’ve never closed our doors to anyone who has any information about the case," Biggs said. "But we don’t want the community to think we’ve got the wrong guy. We are confident in our arrest."

Bob Harper, the attorney for Dustin McCowan, declined to talk about the situation.

"Dustin and his family have continually maintained his innocence, and it’s my belief that Mr. McCowan is trying to find more information."

02152012 - News Article - McCowan supporter offers reward for suspect in Bach homicide

McCowan supporter offers reward for suspect in Bach homicide 
NWI Times
February 15, 2012 - 9:00 pm
nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/wheeler/mccowan-supporter-offers-reward-for-suspect-in-bach-homicide/article_2d6f9a4c-fb45-5aee-8caa-feb07f840f17

UNION TOWNSHIP - Family and friends of Dustin McCowan believe it was not the 19-year-old who killed his former girlfriend Amanda Bach, but someone else, possibly a multistate serial killer.
Now, they're putting up a $10,000 reward to find the person they believe is responsible for what they see as McCowan's wrongful incarceration.

Elliott McCowan, Dustin's father, said the $10,000 reward came from a supporter who wishes to remain unnamed.

"I had somebody contact me saying they wanted to put out a $10,000 reward for any information that ultimately results in an arrest and conviction," Elliott McCowan said. "Obviously they're a supporter of my son. They think he's innocent."

The elder McCowan, a Crown Point police officer, asks that anyone with information in the case contact the Porter County Sheriff's Department. He said the reward only stands for information received through March 18.

"(The donor) wanted to put the pressure on," he said. 

Bach disappeared Sept. 15 after allegedly spending an evening with Dustin McCowan at his rural Union Township home. On Sept. 17, her lifeless body was found with a single gunshot wound to her throat along a Union Township railroad easement, about 300 yards from McCowan's home.

McCowan was arrested and charged with Bach's murder. He's currently being held in Porter County Jail awaiting his August trial.

Florida-based private investigator Bill Warner has been following the case and said he sees some similarities between Bach's disappearance and killing and that of a 44-year-old woman in Dyersburg, Tenn., who was found dead along a county road, miles away from her car with its flattened tire.

"They're all petite females, all light brown or blonde hair," Warner said.
Warner said the first he heard of the Bach case was about 9:40 a.m. Jan. 5, when he received a four-minute phone call from a man claiming he was a police officer in Valparaiso. Warner said the man provided him with "inside information"and brought up similarities in a series of cases.

"I get the phone call from a supposed police officer. I had no idea where Valparaiso was," Warner said. "The more I looked into it, the more fishy things got."

Warner blogged about the case and within hours, that blog posting was linked on three different Facebook sites maintained by McCowan supporters.

Warner said he wanted to know where he was getting his information, so he traced the number and determined it was from an inside line at the Crown Point Police Department, where McCowan's father works.

"I feel like I'm getting played here," Warner said.

Elliott McCowan said he made that phone call and said he sees similarities in the fate of the women.

"I'm the one who called that guy," Elliott McCowan said. "It's very similar to what happened to Amanda. It's possible. You can't rule anything out." 

Bob Harper, Dustin McCowan's defense attorney, said he couldn't comment on the validity of any theories and said his focus is on preparing his client's defense.

"The only thing I can say is Dustin has maintained his innocence throughout this and his family is very supportive of him," Harper said.

02142012 - News Article - Judge takes former North Twp. official's petition under advisement - ROBERT CANTRELL

Judge takes former North Twp. official's petition under advisement
NWI Times
Feb 14, 2012
nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/judge-takes-former-north-twp-official-s-petition-under-advisement/article_230b0e67-8e83-5b3f-bfca-c91f92e0180d.html
HAMMOND | A Hammond federal judge decided Tuesday to take under advisement Robert Cantrell's petition to set aside four of his 11 fraud-related convictions, federal court records show.

A federal court jury found Cantrell, a longtime region politico, guilty in 2008. In 2009, the former North Township supervisor was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for using his position in public office to steer contracts to a counseling company in exchange for money.

A jury also found him guilty of insurance fraud for "deceptively procuring" township-funded health insurance coverage for two of his children, filing false income tax returns and other offenses.

Cantrell was ordered to repay the $68,000 he took from North Township through contract fraud, court records show.

In his order filed Tuesday, Hammond federal court Judge Rudy Lozano ordered the government to file a response to Cantrell's petition by March 13.

02102012 - News Article - Robert Cantrell seeks to vacate, set aside his honest services fraud convictions - ROBERT CANTRELL

Robert Cantrell seeks to vacate, set aside his honest services fraud convictions
NWI Times
Feb 10, 2012
nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/robert-cantrell-seeks-to-vacate-set-aside-his-honest-services/article_d1d40a2d-3e3e-5d06-9885-b400b2ecccfb.html
HAMMOND | Longtime region politician Robert Cantrell is seeking to vacate and set aside four of his 11 fraud-related convictions, federal court records show.

A jury found Cantrell guilty in 2008. In 2009, the former North Township supervisor was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for using his position in public office to steer contracts to a counseling company in exchange for money.

A jury also found him guilty of insurance fraud for "deceptively procuring" township-funded health insurance coverage for two of his children, filing false income tax returns and other offenses.

Cantrell was ordered to repay the $68,000 he took from North Township through contract fraud, court records show.

In a petition filed this week, Cantrell's attorney, Paul Stracci, asked the court to set aside Cantrell's four honest services fraud convictions and to recalculate his sentences for insurance fraud and false tax returns, court records state. Stracci filed a 51-page document Friday in support of the motion.

In it, Stracci argued Cantrell had ineffective assistance at trial on appeal.

02092012 - News Article - Cantrell claims ineffective counsel - ROBERT CANTRELL

Cantrell claims ineffective counsel
Post-Tribune (IN)
February 9, 2012
Former North Township employee Robert Cantrell is making another attempt to cut his prison sentence and drop his convictions on honest service charges.

According to a motion to vacate his conviction, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, Cantrell is arguing that the four honest service counts he was found guilty of be dropped.

Cantrell was found guilty in 2008 in connection with money he received from a friend’s addiction services program that was contracted with the North Township.

Cantrell has already appealed his conviction to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled against him in 2010. However, he now argues that he had ineffective counsel during both his federal jury trial and during his appeal. He claims attorney Kevin Milner, who represented him during the jury trial, improperly decided not to present any defense for Cantrell. Milner at the time had argued for acquittal because the government had never established that Cantrell was the defendant and didn’t want to give the prosecution a chance to do so by presenting defense witnesses, according to the motion.

The motion also argues that his appeals attorney, Daniel Rubinstein, failed to argue that the honest service charges should be overturned in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on them. The court established that honest services charges could only be brought when a defendant was found to have accept a bribe or kickback. The motion says Rubinstein didn’t bring up how the central arguments that felled one of the honest service charges cases before the Supreme Court was also used in Cantrell’s case.

The motion, which does not ask that the seven other counts of insurance fraud and false income tax return that he was also found guilty on be overturned. He does ask that his sentence be recalculated, with the four honest services charges dropped.

Cantrell is serving a six and a half year prison term in Ashland, Ky. He is scheduled to be released in January 2015.