Deadly Love Triangle - Case Study Example

DEADLY LOVE TRIANGLE Deadly Love Triangle: Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann Murder September 20, Deadly Love Triangle: Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann Murder This paper examines reports related to a fatal teen love triangle in which one of the girls Rachel Wade stabbed another girl Sarah Ludemann to death. The girls were reportedly fighting over a man name Joshua Camacho with whom both the girls had an affair. Allegations According to a report published by the Examiner (Adams, 24 July 2010), Wade and Ludemann had been fighting over a boy Camacho who was dating both of them since the past 15 months. Wade was very possessive about her boyfriend and would often argue with Ludemann, abuse her verbally with profanities and also through voice mail and SMS. It is reported that on the night of April 15, 2009, Wade and Ludemann confronted each other in a fight and Wade stabbed Ludemann twice in the heart, killing her. The allegations are that Wade had displayed a long history of violence, use of threats and profanity and had even threatened to kill Ludemann in the past. The prosecution has alleged that such a long history of pent up bitterness and anger means that the crime was not one of passion but that it was a premeditated murder case, carefully planned and executed (Legal, 24 July 2010). Investigation The investigation that was carried into the murder of Ludemann covered the events of the fatal night and also the incidents that had occurred in the months before the murder. The prosecution for the case was Lisset Hanewicz, the Assistant State Attorney while the defence lawyer was Jay Hebert. Investigation was carried out by reconstructing the events of the night and also the events through interviews and interrogations of the witnesses and friends of Ludemann who were with her when the crime occurred. The Pinellas County Sheriff and his deputies arrived at the scene of the crime and after sending the victim to a hospital, arrested and booked the accused Wade (Fox, 15 April 2009). Evidence gathered The set of evidence was gathered by the Sheriff of Pinellas County and also the prosecution office that set about gathering the evidence for the case. The following evidence has been gathered from various published sources and reproduced here. The case of the two girls fighting over the boy first came to the attention of the Police on August 31, 2008 when the two girls got into an argument over the boy Joshua. The police had at that time broken up the argument between the two girls and let them off with a warning. In the months leading to the crime, the police had been called a number of times with reference to the various arguments and disputes between the two girls and Camacho (Vice, 16 April 2009). It was further uncovered as evidence that while Camacho did not particularly have a special relation with any of the girls, he presumably dated them many times. Camacho had also fathered a child from another girl. According to reports, Camacho did not think much of these two girls and while slept with them, he did not regard them as girl friends but as someone with extra benefits (Thalji, 22 July 2010). According to media reports, there was a steady exchange of profanities between the two girls. At one point in time, Wade had even verbally abused Comacho in an online blog accusing him of two timing, being unfaithful and uncaring for her (Huff, 15 April 2009). The investigation has also shown that over the months, Wade had explicitly threatened Ludemann by saying ‘I am going to kill you b**ch”. It was also found that she had left a number of voice mails for Ludemann, threatening to kill her and there were a number of SMS that spoke of killing. All in all, there was sufficient evidence to show that Wade had an intention to kill Ludemann (PCS, 15 April 2009). On the fateful night, Ludemann was visiting Comacho’s house while Wade and her friends were driving down to MacDonald’s. According to reports, someone told Ludemann that Wade was in the neighbourhood and that that Ludemann should confront Wade and settle the matter once for her (Thalji, 22 July 2010). Ludemann was driving her mothers Minivan when she saw Wade and stopped the vehicle, rushing out to confront her. At the same time, Wade saw her and jumped out, carrying a kitchen knife. The eyewitness Smith who was with Ludemann states that Wade stabbed the victim twice and Ludemann fell back into the van. Wade did not run away but stood near the dying Ludemann and was arrested after the cops arrived (Thalji, 22 July 2010). Wade was arrested for second degree murder Why the suspect was prosecuted Wade was arrested and prosecuted because all the circumstantial and other evidence clearly showed that she had murderous tendencies against Ludemann. Wade had been caught red handed at the scene of the crime and the 911 message also mentioned this fact. There was also the eyewitness report that was with Ludemann when she was stabbed. There was also plenty of circumstantial and leading evidence that showed how the two girls had waged a war of words since the past few months. The defendant and the victim had a long history of disputes and fights and a few times in the past, the police had been called to settle the fights and disputes between the two girls. Therefore the police was already aware of the strained relation between them. Fontaine (2009) speaks about the difference between pre-mediated crime, crimes that have been planned for some time and spontaneous hate crimes that are done on the spur of moment in a heat of passion. According to the author prosecution and proceedings of the law has to commence when the arresting agency is convinced that there is scope for filing a case and prosecuting. In extenuating circumstances, the prosecuting agency may chose not to file any case or carry out prosecution if they are convinced that the crime was an 1) an accident 2) the crime was committed by an insane person 3) the crime was done by an infant who may have unwittingly fired a loaded gun an killed someone close. All these evidences and facts showed that the prosecution had a valid case and hence the defendant Wade was prosecuted. References Adams, C., 24 July 2010. Rachel Wade found guilty of murdering Sarah Ludemann. [Online] Examiner. com. Available at http://wwww.examiner.com/crime-in-national/slideshow-rachel-wade-found-guilty-of-murdering-sarah-ludemann-photos [Accessed 20 September 2010] Fontaine, R, G., November 2009. Adequate Non Provocation and heat of passion as excuse not justification. University of Michigan, Journal of Law Reform, 43(1), 27-53 Fox, 15 April 2009. Pinellas Park teen fatally stabbed. [Online] MyFox. com. Available at http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/pinellas/pinellas_park_fatal_stabbing_041509 [Accessed 20 September 2010] Legal, C., 24 July 2010. Sarah Ludemann, Joshua Camacho and Rachel Wade: Teen Love Triangle Murder. [Online] Legal. com. Available at http://www-legal.com/sarah-ludemann-joshua-camacho-and-rachel-wade-teen-love-triangle-murder.html [Accessed 20 September 2010] Huff, S., 15 April 2009. The Saga of Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann. [Online] True Crime Report. Available at http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/04/the_saga_of_rachel_wade_and_sa.php [Accessed 20 September 2010] PCS, 15 April 2009. Pinellas County Sheriffs Office Subject Charge Report. [Online] Pinellas County Sheriffs Office. Available at http://www.pcsoweb.com/inmatebooking/subjectresults.aspx?id=1349887 [Accessed 20 September 2010] Thalji, J., 22 July 2010.Prosecution says teen planned to kill in twisted love triangle case. [Online] Tampabay. com. Available at http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1110250.ece [Accessed 20 September 2010] Vice, D., 16 April 2009. Teen Brawl Over Two-Timing Boyfriend Ends In Fatal Stabbing. [Online] The Weekly Vice. Available at http://www.theweeklyvice.com/2009/04/teen-brawl-over-two-timing-boyfriend.html [Accessed 20 September 2010] Read More