The Tire Slasher
In January 2010, Jessica (not the victim's real name) broke up with Dieter Heinz Werner, her 68-year-old boyfriend. Shortly after that someone slashed her tires in the parking lot of a Houston, Texas movie complex. A month later Jessica found a GPS tracking device attached to the undercarriage of her car. Because Mr. Werner had been bothering her with text messages and phone calls she suspected him of slashing her tires and using the GPS device to keep track of her whereabouts.
That spring the ex-boyfriend continued his harassment by sending Jessica hundreds of text messages. On April 3, 2010 he sent her a text which read: "Should have answered the phone and not ignored me again. Pissed me off. Now I'll show you." That day, after following her to a grocery store, Werner texted: "Pissed me off when I saw you at Krogers and you turned your head. I would never treat you like that."
On April 15, 2010 a witness at the movie complex parking lot where Jessica's tires had been slashed saw an elderly white man slashing a car's tires with a pocketknife. The witness jotted down the license number to the vandal's Mercedes convertible. The vehicle was registered to Dieter Heinz Werner. A couple of weeks later a Harris County prosecutor charged Mr. Werner with stalking, a third degree felony. Werner was held without bond for a few days until a judge issued a protection order against the accused stalker. After being served with the restraining order Werner paid his $75,000 bond and was released.
In late 2011 Dieter Werner was found guilty of the stalking offense. A few months later the judge sentenced him to ten years in prison, the maximum penalty for a third degree felony. But in 2012, before Werner was transferred out of the Harris County Jail into the state prison system he was paroled. After serving about a year behind bars the convicted stalker walked free.
According to Texas corrections authorities Dieter Werner benefited from a so-called "parole in absentia." (Texas parole boards in the 1980s had issued these get-out-of prison passes when the state prison system couldn't handle all of the convicted felons.)
Victims' rights activists, as well as Werner's stalking victim, were outraged. The parole authorities had not even bothered to notify Jessica of her stalker's parole hearing. In Texas and other places it was a fact that parole boards often did not inform victims when criminals were released on parole.
The Taco Bell Handcuff Case
In 2011, in the northern Georgia town of Ringgold, 25-year-old Jason Earl Dean and the 18-year-old girl he had become obsessed with worked at the local Taco Bell. After Joan (not her real name) told Dean she did not want to go out with him he continued asking her out for a date. This had gone on for a month. The harassment became so intense she changed shifts at work to get away from him. Undeterred, Jason Dean continued to harass her.
On the night of August 8, 2011 Mr. Dean waited outside Taco Bell until Joan's shift ended. As she walked to her car he came up to her with a pair of handcuffs which he slapped around her wrist, binding the two of them arm-to-arm. She screamed for help which brought other employees out of the Taco Bell. Her fellow employees talked Dean into turning his captive free. The police rolled up to the scene shortly thereafter but Mr. Dean had left. A few days later police officers arrested him on a college campus in nearby Dalton, Georgia. A local prosecutor charged him with stalking and felonious restraint.
In January 2013 Jason Earl Dean entered a so-called "blind guilty plea" before Judge Ralph Van Pelt. (A blind plea meant that no sentencing agreement had been reached between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. The defendant was essentially throwing himself on the mercy of the court.) Judge Van Pelt, showing no mercy for this stalker, sentenced him to four years in prison followed by six years of probation.
In January 2010, Jessica (not the victim's real name) broke up with Dieter Heinz Werner, her 68-year-old boyfriend. Shortly after that someone slashed her tires in the parking lot of a Houston, Texas movie complex. A month later Jessica found a GPS tracking device attached to the undercarriage of her car. Because Mr. Werner had been bothering her with text messages and phone calls she suspected him of slashing her tires and using the GPS device to keep track of her whereabouts.
That spring the ex-boyfriend continued his harassment by sending Jessica hundreds of text messages. On April 3, 2010 he sent her a text which read: "Should have answered the phone and not ignored me again. Pissed me off. Now I'll show you." That day, after following her to a grocery store, Werner texted: "Pissed me off when I saw you at Krogers and you turned your head. I would never treat you like that."
On April 15, 2010 a witness at the movie complex parking lot where Jessica's tires had been slashed saw an elderly white man slashing a car's tires with a pocketknife. The witness jotted down the license number to the vandal's Mercedes convertible. The vehicle was registered to Dieter Heinz Werner. A couple of weeks later a Harris County prosecutor charged Mr. Werner with stalking, a third degree felony. Werner was held without bond for a few days until a judge issued a protection order against the accused stalker. After being served with the restraining order Werner paid his $75,000 bond and was released.
In late 2011 Dieter Werner was found guilty of the stalking offense. A few months later the judge sentenced him to ten years in prison, the maximum penalty for a third degree felony. But in 2012, before Werner was transferred out of the Harris County Jail into the state prison system he was paroled. After serving about a year behind bars the convicted stalker walked free.
According to Texas corrections authorities Dieter Werner benefited from a so-called "parole in absentia." (Texas parole boards in the 1980s had issued these get-out-of prison passes when the state prison system couldn't handle all of the convicted felons.)
Victims' rights activists, as well as Werner's stalking victim, were outraged. The parole authorities had not even bothered to notify Jessica of her stalker's parole hearing. In Texas and other places it was a fact that parole boards often did not inform victims when criminals were released on parole.
The Taco Bell Handcuff Case
In 2011, in the northern Georgia town of Ringgold, 25-year-old Jason Earl Dean and the 18-year-old girl he had become obsessed with worked at the local Taco Bell. After Joan (not her real name) told Dean she did not want to go out with him he continued asking her out for a date. This had gone on for a month. The harassment became so intense she changed shifts at work to get away from him. Undeterred, Jason Dean continued to harass her.
On the night of August 8, 2011 Mr. Dean waited outside Taco Bell until Joan's shift ended. As she walked to her car he came up to her with a pair of handcuffs which he slapped around her wrist, binding the two of them arm-to-arm. She screamed for help which brought other employees out of the Taco Bell. Her fellow employees talked Dean into turning his captive free. The police rolled up to the scene shortly thereafter but Mr. Dean had left. A few days later police officers arrested him on a college campus in nearby Dalton, Georgia. A local prosecutor charged him with stalking and felonious restraint.
In January 2013 Jason Earl Dean entered a so-called "blind guilty plea" before Judge Ralph Van Pelt. (A blind plea meant that no sentencing agreement had been reached between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. The defendant was essentially throwing himself on the mercy of the court.) Judge Van Pelt, showing no mercy for this stalker, sentenced him to four years in prison followed by six years of probation.
Thanks to her co-workers, she was able to escape with her life as she knew it somewhat untouched. Four years for that crime is not harsh in my eyes. Here in Canada, if he served a year I would be surprised. Love to read your entries, great work! Gary
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thank you.
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