welcome to your stupid town

ariel_calmerariel_calmer 3,762 Posts
edited May 2005 in Strut Central
Post a new story about the idiots who live in your town.... here's mine. Disclaimer: floridians are arguably stupid enough to offset the scale of stupidity entirely.Garage Jumpers Prompt Fences In Orlando Latest Victim Survives 6-Story FallPOSTED: 11:10 pm EDT May 4, 2005UPDATED: 4:12 pm EDT May 9, 2005ORLANDO, Fla. -- A death-defying practice of "garage jumping" has prompted the city and a business to take action after another girl nearly dies attempting a jump in Orlando, according to Local 6 News.Melinda Norstein is the latest victim to step forward after falling during a garage jump.In February, Local 6 Problem Solver Wendy Saltzman reported that young adults were drinking and then leaping between 6-story high parking structures in downtown Orlando.IMAGES: Photos Of Possible JumpsIMAGES: More strange stories, images featured on Local6.comSince Saltzman's initial report, both the City of Orlando and the private parking lot owner have erected safety fences to prevent the dangerous practice, according to the report.At least two people nearly died when they missed, and plummeted down an 80-foot freefall.Melinda Norstein (pictured, left) is the newest victim to step forward, according to the report."My foot slipped, and I fell straight down." Norstein said.Norstein suffered the bone shattering fall from the top of one of Orlando's six-story parking garages."I felt the bones sticking out of my legs, and I realized it was blood," she said. "I realize how lucky I am that I didn't die. I should have, but I didn't."Her body was nearly broken in half, Saltzman reported.Twenty-two bones and vertebrae were cracked in the near fatal fall."After the accident she was no longer able to walk," said Attorney Peter Andrews.The parking garages sit just about a foot and a half apart from each other. For some it might seem like an easy jump."Some people are thrill seekers, which Melinda was not," Andrews said. "She wasn't thrill-seeking. She did it because she felt she needed to do it under the circumstances she faced."Norstein said she had two choices when she jumped, and she thought she was picking the safest route.#Local 6 News reports that thrill seekers are vaulting themselves between garages in downtown Orlando.As a young female out late at night, her choice was to jump across with her friend, or walk back down to the streets below, which she felt was not safe.Norstein said she there were no signs warning about the danger, and there was only a partial fence. There was nothing to stop someone from taking a dangerous dive."One day I'm just walking on the streets having a good time, the next day I am lying in a hospital bed, unable to move the bottom half of my body," Norstein said.Norstein says she does take partial responsibility for her decision to jump, but says the garages are responsible as well.[/b]Andrews said the fences erected at the parking garages should have been in place before anyone made the dangerous mistake.He said these garages know they are opening their doors to people drinking at bars downtown."The landowner knows that people are jumping," Andrews said. "The landowner knows there is a potential for people to fall. They have a duty to prevent that."Saltzman spoke with two other victims who fell while attempting garage jumps in Orlando.Timothy Bargfreed was a "garage jumper" who was following friends in mid-air attempts to get to the other side, according to the report."He saw me step out, and then just disappear off the top of the building," Bargfreed said.An online poll conducted by Local6.com found 97 percent, or 15,000 viewers believe the garage jumpers are responsible for their own injuries[/b] "It's not my fault I tried to jump off a roof.."

  Comments


  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts

    Norstein says she does take partial responsibility for her decision to jump, but says the garages are responsible as well.

    Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    This is one of the funniest things i've ever heard.
    These kids are the definition of STUPID.

  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts
    Norstein said she had two choices when she jumped, and she thought she was picking the safest route.

    Choice 1. The other side

    Choice 2. A fall of 6 stories

    Hmmmmm, yeah......

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to NOT make it across an 18inch gap?

  • z_illaz_illa 867 Posts
    this happened at a coworkers neighbor's house... it should be noted also that the family lost their first child in a still open arson case a few years ago...


    Vasilev indicted on 8 counts of murder
    BY PATRICK CORCORAN
    STAFF WRITER

    The husband of a Hoffman Estates woman charged with killing their two children is supporting her attorneys' pursuit of an insanity plea, following a grand jury indictment on eight counts of murder Friday.

    Tonya Vasilev, 34, has long suffered from mental illnesses; her state of mind at the time of the killings will be a major factor in the case, according to her attorney, Cook County public defender Jim Mullenix.

    Her arraignment -- during which a formal plea is expected -- is scheduled for June 9 at the Rolling Meadows courthouse.

    The stay-at-home mom and Sunday school teacher could face the death penalty on charges that she stabbed to death her two young children, Gracie, 3, and Christian, 9, in their family home on the night of April 27.

    Her husband, Nikolai, returned home from work with a friend that evening to find his children dead from hundreds of knife wounds, according to police.

    Tonya Vasilev was arrested and first charged with two counts of first-degree murder on April 29.

    Cook County prosecutors did not announce the specifics of the indictments Friday, indicating additional charges beyond the murder charges could be levied against the mother, Mullenix said.

    The indictment was updated on Monday from "at least two counts of first-degree murder" to eight counts of first-degree murder, due to the circumstances surrounding the killings and the methods used by the killer.

    Tonya Vasilev was not asked to speak during the hearing at the Rolling Meadows courthouse and showed no emotion during the proceedings.

    Mullenix, who has been in contact with her many times since she was jailed, said she has been heavily medicated and confused in the weeks since her arrest.

    During that time, Nikolai and her brother and sister-in-law have visited her, Mullenix said.

    Doctors at the Cermak Hospital at the Cook County Jail are in the process of diagnosing the specific disorders from which she suffers, he said.

    Public defender Julie Koehler said Tonya is getting the medical attention she needs.

    "She's where she should be at this point -- under the care of doctors and under medication," she said.

    Although he declined to meet with the media, Nikolai Vasilev appeared talkative during his interactions with his wife's defense attorneys both before and after the hearing.

    Through his wife's attorneys, Nikolai Vasilev thanked those who have supported him and his family.

    "He wishes to express his gratitude for all the people who stood by his family, him and Tonya during this very difficult time. He'd like to express this from the bottom of his heart," Koehler said.

    Nikolai, a Bulgarian immigrant and Pentecostal pastor, was joined at the hearings by his mother, who flew to the Chicago area from Bulgaria following the killings, and the Rev.

    Darrell Rice, a religious adviser and friend from his church, the Church of God.

    Nikolai is no longer living at the family's Hoffman Estates home, Mullenix said.

  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    local suburban kids who shoulda known better, sigh



    This is just a few minutes away from the Skirt-lifting Panty Checking Vice Principal and Broomstick Sodomizing Baseball hazing incidents at another local high school.



    ----------------------------------------------

    The San Diego Union Tribune

    June 29, 2002



    Four migrant attackers sentenced | Two go to prison for 90-day evaluations; two get county time



    Greg Moran



    Staff Writer



    In an emotional hearing yesterday, a judge sentenced four teen- agers who beat and robbed Mexican migrant workers to terms ranging from four months in county custody to 90-day evaluations in state prison.



    The teen-agers listened with heads bowed as two of their victims testified about the ordeal and its effect on their lives.



    The aging laborers described the horror of being hunted down at their shanties in a canyon off Black Mountain Road in Rancho Penasquitos on July 5, 2000. Two of the boys were in tears.



    The crime stunned the San Diego community and became the first case in the state to test the legality of Proposition 21, a new law that toughened prosecutions for juveniles charged with certain crimes. The defendants were 14 to 17 at the time of the crimes.



    Four other youths who were part of the attack will learn their fates when the same judge sentences them next month.



    All were charged as adults, and they pleaded guilty or no contest to assault, elder abuse and robbery.



    Superior Court Judge James Milliken rejected requests from defense attorneys yesterday that the youths be sentenced under less- severe juvenile laws.



    An outspoken opponent of Proposition 21, Milliken nonetheless said, "It is the law, and this court will follow the law."



    He also said he wanted the sentences to send a message.



    "The fact that this behavior is possible is a pretty sad commentary on the community," he said. "I, for one, feel we have to tell the community we're not going to put up with this behavior."



    Milliken sentenced Morgan Manduley, 17, to four months at Camp Barrett, a youth correctional camp in the East County. Jason Beever, 16, received a six-month term there.



    The judge also sentenced Manduley and Beever to five years' probation, 200 hours of community service, including racial and cultural sensitivity training. The two, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed, were the least culpable in the attacks.



    Two others, Bradly Davidofsky, 18, and Adam Ketsdever, 18, will be evaluated for 90 days at a state prison in Chino to determine if they should serve further time in a prison or a county jail.



    That decision will be made at a sentencing hearing Oct. 25. The youths face maximum terms of 15 years. Their attorneys said they were confident the two will not end up in prison, largely because they have no prior criminal records.



    Because of their pleas to all charges, the teen-agers have two felony convictions. Under the "three strikes" law, any future felony conviction will mean a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.



    Milliken was expected to sentence 17-year-old Michael Rose yesterday, but that was delayed until July 23, when the other three defendants are scheduled for sentencing. They are Kevin Williams, 17; Steve Deboer, 18; and Nicholas Fileccia, 18.



    Prosecutors have said that Davidofsky, Ketsdever and Rose were the three most culpable in the attacks. All three apologized in court yesterday, saying they regretted their actions.



    When they were arrested, the youths told police they had set out to "hunt" Mexicans who lived in encampments in the canyon near the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood where the boys lived.



    Armed with BB guns, pipes and sticks, they made three separate forays, attacking five migrant workers, hitting them with rocks and shooting BBs at them.



    The most seriously injured worker was Anastacio Irigoyen, now 71. He told the court through a translator that his life will never be the same.



    "They left me there for dead," he said. "I don't think the same anymore. I forget everything. I have changed a lot."



    His son, Hericlio, said his father -- once an agile, vigorous man -- is now just a shell of himself. "They changed his life and the lives of all his family. He isn't the same person he was before."



    Irigoyen still carries a BB in his face, near his left eye. Alfredo Sanchez, 65, has almost 20 BBs in his body from the attack. Prosecutor Hector Jimenez said when San Diego police found Sanchez, he was lying in the fetal position; he was bloody and he refused to come out of his tiny hut.



    While acknowledging the damage done to the victims, defense attorneys pressed for leniency. Manduley's attorney, Kerry Steigerwalt, described his client as remorseful and ashamed.



    Manduley did not attack any of the victims, Steigerwalt said. He said he was terrified during the violence and went along only out of peer pressure.



    The teen-ager tearfully apologized to the victims. His mother, Debra, said outside of court that the incident was out of character for an otherwise "super child."



    While the Manduley family expressed regret in a written statement, they also chafed at the decision to prosecute their son as an adult even though he had "a peripheral role as a barely 15- year-old kid."



    The decision to charge all eight as adults triggered a lengthy legal battle that went to the state Supreme Court, which ruled this year that Proposition 21 is constitutional.



    After yesterday's proceedings, migrant rights activists seemed satisfied with the sentences. Claudia Smith of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation called the variety of sentences "thoughtful."



    "It sends that kind of message out, that migrants aren't fair game," she said.



    Hericlio Irigoyen had mixed feelings about the sentences.



    "I think justice is being done," he said. "But I think it was moderated."


  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts
    Theres a dude in my town who got hhhactually arrested for leaping over the spectator boundary at the local indoor swimming pool and jumping in with his clothes on - someone bet him a quid he wouldn't do it or something like that.

    That was pretty funny to watch.. he didn't get the quid either. Huhaaaa!! (in Busy Bee Old Skool stylie).

  • dayday 9,612 Posts
    "It sends that kind of message out, that migrants aren't fair game," she said.



    uh...duh?



    These just made me pissed off. I read about both of these stories in the paper.

    I thought we were talking about shit that's stupid, not evil or vicious?



    Here's a stupid one from last week:



    Flirtatious voice lures cell phone theft suspect[/b]



    A man accused of stealing a cell phone was lured to meet some friends of the owner by a faux flirtatious friend who called him.



    The phone was reported missing Thursday out of a company truck.



    Later Thursday, another woman from the company called the stolen phone and started "flirting on the radio" with David Baltazar, 21, of Palm Springs, who had the phone in his possession at the time, said Palm Springs Police Sgt. John Booth.



    The two agreed to meet in downtown Palm Springs, however, when Baltazar showed up, he was met with more than just the pretty voice on the other end of the line.



    Several other co-workers of the victim were waiting for him also, police said.



    Baltazar then pulled a knife and lunged at the male employees, Booth said.



    That's when one male employee pulled out a baseball bat and held the suspect at bay until police arrived.



    Things got even worse for Baltazar when, according to police, they found what they suspected to be methamphetamine in his pocket.



    Baltazar was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, possession of stolen property and possession of methamphetamine. He was taken to Palm Springs Jail, where he is being held on $25,000 bail.

  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    Well I consider those kids pretty stupid for doing what they did, in addition to being ridiculously cruel.

  • dayday 9,612 Posts
    I absolutely agree - it just pissed me off to read those 2 stories again.


    HOLLORR

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,080 Posts
    hahahaha reminds me of that clip I posted a long time ago of those two idiots taping themselves trying to imitate pro wrestling antics by one idiot giving idiot a piledriver off a roof through a table below. With hillarious results, of course.



    Last week, a coke bust occured about a couple of miles away from where I live. $5M worth of blow was siezed. The guys in the house ran out but all of them surrendered when only one shot was fired by a police officer. Here's another one regarding a very angry kid who doesn't know how to choose his battles. I'd like to note that on the desert-like outskirts of the Los Angeles area, little league baseball is huge...



    Trial set for boy in death of teen with baseball bat



    By Daily News



    A 13-year-old Palmdale boy charged with murder for striking another boy in the head with a baseball bat after a youth baseball game made his first Antelope Valley court appearance.



    As his family and that of the 15-year-old he hit watched, the boy was ordered Tuesday to stand trial -- called adjudication in Juvenile Court and conducted before a judge -- starting on July 6 in Lancaster Juvenile Court. It is expected to take three days.



    The boy earlier denied a murder petition, the equivalent of entering a not guilty plea in adult court.



    The youth, whose name has not been released because of his age, is accused of killing Jeremy Rourke by hitting him in the head with an aluminum baseball bat at the Palmdale PONY league field April 12. While standing in the snack stand line, Jeremy allegedly teased the younger boy, who pitched for a previously undefeated team that dropped a game to a squad with the worst record.



    At the hearing Tuesday, seated in two rows of seats behind the boy were his parents, two grandmothers, a grandfather, a great-aunt and great-uncle and a minister. They declined to speak to the news media.



    The 13-year-old, a Cactus Intermediate student who remained in custody at Sylmar Juvenile Hall, appeared in court wearing black pants and an oversized gray sweat shirt.



    Jeremy's father, Brian Rourke, spoke to the news media after the court hearing and talked about a foundation the family has established in memory of Jeremy to prevent violence in youth sports.



    The National Foundation Against Violence in Youth Sports will encourage youth sports leagues to use contracts for youth, parents and coaches to promote proper conduct at sporting events, Rourke said.

  • drewnicedrewnice 5,465 Posts
    Posted on Sat, May. 28, 2005

    H2>Baby on block./H2>
    Imagine your logo on her newborn[/b]


    By Amy S. Rosenberg
    Inquirer Staff Writer
    So what sort of person will offer up her baby, not yet born, for ad space?

    How about Michele Hutchison, 26, stay-at-home mother, nine months pregnant, Langhorne resident, and Neshaminy High graduate who sees a story on television about a woman offering to temporarily tattoo her body with ads for cash?

    "I jokingly said to my husband that we should do this on my baby," Hutchison said. "The next day I couldn't get it out of my head."

    And so, in a flash, her future newborn son - or, at least, the right to advertise on his future clothing - has become a commodity for sale on the Web sites Craigslist and eBay, where a similar auction run by a Canadian couple was recently ended after a torrent of bad press.

    Hutchison sees nothing wrong with or exploitative about auctioning (minimum bid, $1,000) the right to provide her with logo-emblazoned babywear, in which she will garb her son throughout July as her family goes about its summer travels. And sends pictures as proof. She'll also accept logo-fitted strollers or other equipment. (Auction ends on Monday at 07:55:56 PDT, eBay says.)

    "We put Old Navy on my son every day," Hutchison said of her 5-year-old first born, Dylan. "We're advertising that for free.

    "Everyone looks at babies. We're going to be out and about all the time. For one, around the Fourth of July weekend, we want to go down to the beach."

    So far, she says, the only negative reaction has been from her sister. "She just doesn't think it would be good for the baby to get that much attention. I really don't see the difference between [this and] putting other advertisements on him."

    Besides, is it any worse than advertising to babies, which has become commonplace, as any mother who's picked up a Cheerios advertisement masquerading as a board book can attest?

    "We've moved way beyond commercials," Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, author of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood, said in a recent interview in New England Psychiatrist magazine. "Marketing is in the fabric of children's lives - their education, their social system."

    But really, is it any more offensive than dressing your baby in a $58 designer T-shirt featuring a Rolling Stones logo, complete with trademark tongue and lips now on sale at a fancy baby store near you?

    Linn said she found nothing amusing about Hutchison's quest. "Babies are increasingly targets for marketing," she said. "What this woman is doing is turning her child into an object to be bought and sold, basically."

    Hutchison's postings say she will not accept any advertising that is of a "sexual nature or that has anything to do with alcohol or drugs... we will not allow anything that has any profanity on it, no cursing!"

    Plus, no girly stuff for her little guy, due to be born by cesarian section June 7 and to be named Devon Joshua Hutchison.

    Todd Feldman, president of the Dan Ryan Group, an Erdenheim advertising firm, says the market is so dense that this kind of lark might appeal to someone - especially with the added lure of publicity.

    "It's the ultimate buzz marketing, wouldn't you say? There's people who have sold advertising on a bald head. So there's a lot of that going on these days as the market is trying to find new ways of penetrating through the clutter."

    Other recent examples include a couple on eBay who sought ad space for their daughter's wardrobe "to finance college education/filmmaking gear," as reported on Filmmaker Magazine's bulletin board. And then there's a couple from Canada, never fully identified, who pulled their eBay ad that offered to let companies place ads on their baby's outdoor clothing for a year.

    The eBay auction that caught Hutchison's attention is run by Rob Taormina, 25, and his fiance, Kristen Noelle, 23, both professional models. They offer to wear and expose (via Web site, advertising, and other publicity and appearances) any company logo.

    A bid of $25,000 will take it outright, but as of yesterday, nine bids had nudged up the price to only $20.50.

    Hutchison says her plan is much simpler: no Web sites, no tattoos, no undue publicity (oops), and they'll do it for only a month. Little Devon Joshua will never know the difference, she said.

    "I figured this would help with the baby's needs," she said. "We're doing our normal things that we do. I'm not going out of my way to go anywhere specifically. It's only for a month. I can deal with that."

    As of last night, though, the bidding was up to only $9.99.


  • RishanRishan 454 Posts
    I read last week about 2 people somewhere in England, who almost burned to death after filling fluorescent tube lights with petrol, setting fire to them and trying to use them as lightsabres. They had just watched Star Wars or something, but they were about 20 years old, not little kids who didn't know better. I've not heard about many more stupid things than that.

  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    Well, there is a section called Tri-City Celebrity Look-Alikes.







  • NiteKrawler45NiteKrawler45 1,062 Posts
    Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to NOT make it across an 18inch gap?

    I've gotta second that motion.

  • BsidesBsides 4,244 Posts
    Well, there is a section called Tri-City Celebrity Look-Alikes.









    pretty creepy. especially the mike moore dude. But the seinfeld dude? Oh man, kill yourself dude, kill yourself now.


    I bet hes actually a real comic too. And he has a whole routine about people thinking hes seinfeld.



    but he doesnt even look like dude, so i bet no one laughs. Having his picture in the paper is the highlight of his life.


  • ShingalingShingaling 877 Posts
    The Clint Eastwood dude looks more like Crocadile Dundee.
    Those are some scary pics.

  • HamHam 872 Posts
    pretty creepy. especially the mike moore dude. But the seinfeld dude? Oh man, kill yourself dude, kill yourself now.


    I bet hes actually a real comic too. And he has a whole routine about people thinking hes seinfeld.



    but he doesnt even look like dude, so i bet no one laughs. Having his picture in the paper is the highlight of his life.


    haha, so true.

  • GrafwritahGrafwritah 4,184 Posts
    "Some people are thrill seekers, which Melinda was not," Andrews said. "She wasn't thrill-seeking. She did it because she felt she needed to do it under the circumstances she faced."

    I can think of very few reasons to go leaping from a rooftop. Just because I didn't want to walk on the sidewalk isn't one of them.

    Norstein said she there were no signs warning about the danger, and there was only a partial fence. There was nothing to stop someone from taking a dangerous dive.

    New Orlando city ordinance: "All roofs must have a sign saying, 'WARNING: JUMPING FROM ROOF IS DANGEROUS' affixed in a conspicuous location - on the roof."

    Andrews said the fences erected at the parking garages should have been in place before anyone made the dangerous mistake.

    He said these garages know they are opening their doors to people drinking at bars downtown.

    Yes, they should have predicted how incredibly stupid people are.

  • GrafwritahGrafwritah 4,184 Posts
    While standing in the snack stand line, Jeremy allegedly teased the younger boy, who pitched for a previously undefeated team that dropped a game to a squad with the worst record.

    Not that death should've been his punishment, but the kid was probably a dick.

  • volumenvolumen 2,532 Posts
    Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to NOT make it across an 18inch gap?

    I've gotta second that motion.


    Even bigger....how much of a junkie do you have to be to fit through and 18" gap. Maybe I'm not picturing it right.


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  • ariel_calmerariel_calmer 3,762 Posts
    I am totally serious. y'all can't fuck with florida, we're the godzilla of stupidity.





    Teens accused of killing homeless man 'for fun'



    Tuesday, May 31, 2005 Posted: 9:13 AM EDT (1313 GMT)





    Jeffery Spurgeon, right, appears in a Florida court.



    HOLLY HILL, Florida (AP) -- Two Florida teenagers found a homeless man in the woods and beat and kicked him to death "to have something to do," according to Volusia County sheriff's investigators.



    Christopher Scamahorn, 14, and Jeffery Spurgeon, 18, confessed to beating the 53-year-old victim with their fists and sticks and kicking him, sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said Sunday.



    The pair were charged with murder Sunday. Spurgeon was being held without bail in Daytona Beach. Scamahorn taken to a juvenile jail.



    The teens said they attacked the man "for fun" and "to have something to do," Haught said. They went back to the woods three times after the initial attack to beat the man again[/b], he said.



    The victim was found Saturday, and the condition of the body indicated he had been dead for several days. An autopsy Sunday determined that the man died from blunt force trauma to the head and body, Haught said.



    The victim's name has not been released.



    "We're trying to find next of kin," Haught said Monday. "He apparently doesn't have any next of kin nearby."



    Investigators said there may be more arrests.

  • NateBizzoNateBizzo 2,328 Posts
    Here's my hometown of La Crosse, Wisco


    Schuth charged with 8 felonies; judge orders competency hearing



    By DAN SPRINGER / La Crosse Tribune


    The French Island man accused of shooting a neighbor and having a woman's body in his freezer was charged Tuesday with eight felony counts in

    La Crosse County Circuit Court.

    Philip J. Schuth told police about the body ??? which he identified as his mother, Edith ??? during a 14-hour standoff that began April 22, when Schuth reportedly fired on Randy Russell Jr. and his wife and son during a confrontation at his town of Campbell home.

    Russell, 32, was treated for bullet wounds to his right shoulder and arm, plus a graze mark on his cheek. His wife was grazed as well; the 10-year-old son was not injured.

    Charges filed Tuesday against Schuth are: attempted first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with a weapon, three counts of possession of explosives, hiding a corpse and possession of a short-barreled shotgun.

    The charges carry a maximum combined sentence of 134 years in prison.

    Schuth's attorney, Tom Locante, questioned whether the 52-year-old was competent to assist in his defense. Judge Ramona Gonzalez then asked Schuth if he understood what was taking place.

    "My knowledge consists of sitting down and shutting up and just saying, ???Yes, your honor' or ???No, your honor,'" Schuth answered.

    The judge ordered a competency evaluation and set a status conference for June 7.

    La Crosse County District Attorney Scott Horne did not oppose the evaluation, which will be done at the La Crosse County Jail by a mental health expert with the Wisconsin Forensic Unit.

    Horne said the expert's report should be available in about 30 days. Gonzalez then will convene a competency hearing.

    Schuth was arrested April 23 after authorities negotiated with him overnight to come out of his home at 1330 Bainbridge St.

    He had taken refuge there after the shooting in his yard about 4 p.m. the previous day. The Russells said they confronted Schuth after he had struck their son and taken his bicycle while the boy was playing in Schuth's yard.

    During negotiations, Schuth revealed he had guns, homemade explosives and the body in a basement chest freezer.

    Schuth told investigators said his mother died of natural causes Aug. 15, 2000. He then put the body in the freezer in a sitting position and, little by little, dumped bags of ice over her until the freezer was filled.

    An autopsy done last week by Dr. Lindsey Thomas in Hastings, Minn., indicated the woman died of natural causes, most likely kidney or heart failure brought on by hypertension. Efforts are still under way to confirm whether the body is Edith Schuth.

    Schuth told investigators he has been living off his mother's Social Security checks, which were automatically deposited in the bank account he shared with his mother.

    When Schuth was arrested, officers found $10,000 in cash in the home and another $25,000 in a bank account.

    Schuth said he figured he could live five years on the money. He told investigators after the money ran out, he planned to either kill himself or commit a robbery and get arrested.

    Federal investigators are looking into allegations of Social Security fraud.

    Schuth will remain in the La Crosse County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.
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