The Case of the Buried Baby?

On January 4th of this year, Mark Austin Windham, 57, took his own life at his residence. Now the Russellville home located at 82 Hunterwood Circle is the scene of a search for gruesome remains. The diminutive Windham was a registered sex offender who had been convicted of sexually abusing an adult female in Florida in 1978.

A Russellville detective has indicated his department received at least two tips concerning the possible illegal burial(s) in the home's back yard. One account concerned a recent burial, while the second reported a burial that occurred almost four years ago. Windham, whose father was reportedly a physician, was rumored to have harbored runaway girls for varying periods of time.

Cadaver dogs have hit on at least one site in the back yard of the Hunterwood Circle home; excavations will continue tomorrow. Who reported Windham? Our source did not divulge that, but no matter who, it's now too late to ask Windham why.



Shoalanda

How Are Child Support Payments Calculated?

The wonderful world of child support in Alabama is sometimes arcane at best. We've asked several for their input and this synopsis seems to cover most of it:

As I understand it. Child Support payments are mandatory mailed to a payment center in Montgomery. This is for a tracking and accounting system to calculate $$$ for the federal government to send incentive funding to the state. 

The Fed's repay the state 66% of the amount collected. After a certain threshold (including the arrears) is met that goes to 90% on the dollar.

In cases of arrears, records are separate for that, but collections on arrears collected by the state are given $1.83 per every dollar collected in federal incentive funding. 

I have talked to many in Montgomery and no one can tell us where all this money goes.

I don't know how the monies are calculated for Lauderdale to get $358K.  Some counties are not reporting any.

We welcome any new input into this matter. Now the salient point is: Do district attorneys encourage court ordered child support in opposition of civil (as in polite) agreements of shared custody and support? We welcome input into this question also.

To be continued...



Shoalanda

Munday, Munday/From Public Trust to DA

Brandon Shane Munday's career in law enforcement is a prime example of the word "checkered." His vehicular homicide trial is scheduled to begin next month, the children of the couple he killed while driving have filed a civil suit, and now the former North Courtland officer is facing federal charges for using excessive force at a traffic stop. It seems there is, or at least was, another incident for which Mundy was being investigated. It was reported in August 2010:

The officer involved has a case in which he was seen by witnesses beating a teenager that was trying to do what the officer was telling him to do. He just didn't do it fast enough for him.

Related posts:

Cowboy Cop

Thin Blue Line

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Yesterday we commented on the extra dollars child support cases may bring a county; in other words, the more collected, the more extra funding. While we're discussing Lauderdale County specifically in this series, other North Alabama counties have also reaped the benefit of this program. For the fiscal year October 2011-September 2012, the district attorneys of these counties received funds from the Public Welfare Trust Fund:

Colbert County -- 224K+

Lawrence County -- 150K+

Lauderdale County -- 358K+

Madison County --  460K+

Just what is the Public Welfare Trust Fund? From the Alabama Department of Finance:

Public Welfare Trust Fund - This is the major operating fund of the Department of Human Resources. It is mainly funded by the whiskey tax and the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board profits, sales tax, franchise tax, beer tax, as well as federal funds. The PWTF also receives annual appropriations from the State General Fund and the Education Trust Fund.

Tomorrow: A closer look at Lauderdale County and one of its cases...

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From D.K.:

Re: Parole Hearings, a Parole Board member Mr Robert P. Longshore will be on WAFF Channel 48 at 10:00 Thursday Night. We are blessed to have a good Parole Board--they have a difficult job.


Shoalanda

Child Support Is Big Money

There's a thin line between transparency and publicity, as least in government. Both the City of Florence and Lauderdale County do the best job of self-promotion among other towns and counties in the northwest Alabama region. Google either one, and you'll find a plethora of information at your fingertips. Much of it may not look that relevant to the reader, but is nevertheless revealing.

We read frequently of the budget cuts to local courts and offices of district attorneys. Yet one area of the Lauderdale's district attorney group seems to be booming. Take a gander:

Child Support Unit

If you're short on time, we'll just point out two things: 1. The unit is run by Robert Smith JD. Robert is also in private practice, but we hardly begrudge his salary, whatever it may be, for his work with the county; 2. It manages to incorporate that ubiquitous phrase "For the Children."

Now, let's return to the main page of this informative site. Looking under the topic of "Investigators," we find that the child support unit has its own investigator. Obviously investigators could be used to find some deadbeat parents, but why does the district attorney's office have a special detective whose only assignment is to find these disappearing parents?

The answer is, no matter how much money is used to find and prosecute these deadbeat parents, the county (read: district attorney's office) brings in much more for every dollar collected. These jobs not only pay for themselves, but bring in extra revenue.

To be continued...



Shoalanda

The Lard Can is Rusting

The majority of people alive today didn't enter the world until after World War II. Yet many, at least here in the South where the population is more static and given to archiving tales of eccentricity, have heard stories of the deprivation the global conflict brought to even the decidedly non-cosmopolitan Shoals. Rationing was real and not confined to only gasoline.

The Florence Packing Company produced several meat products, all of them affected by mandatory pricing freezes. One such product was lard, a county cousin to Crisco Shortening and a necessary element in 1940's cooking. Rather than sell the canned lard at a price it deemed too low, the Florence Packing Company stored it in hopes of a quick end to the war and rationing. The result was countless cans of the product that sat in a back storage room, meeting their demise via the rust that entered through the metal cans. In the end, the meat packing company lost money, and Shoals area families lost out on some home cooking. No winners there.

From the moment any structure is built, it starts to deteriorate. The Jackson Ford Bridge (Ghost Bridge) is the most recent example of such deterioration unchecked. We can blame Lauderdale County for not maintaining the edifice, but no one spoke up when this was, or should we say wasn't, happening. It's a fact of life that not all historical property can be saved. Neither can those in power or those who advise them agree on what should be saved and what should meet the wrecking ball.

Our friend Mary Carton writes an extremely interesting and informative blog entitled The Tuscumbian. In a recent post, Mary enumerated several Tuscumbia structures which are in danger. The most urgent building is the Hunt House (pictured). The home's owners reportedly don't want to live there, but refuse to sell the property at a reasonable and attractive price. Across the Great Divide in Lauderdale County, the Weeden Home stands unoccupied, its owner Susan Leigh Smithson reportedly still asking nine million dollars for the ante bellum structure and its surrounding property.

At the right price, there would obviously be willing buyers who would restore both homes to their lost elegance. At the current asking price, all we can expect is an even faster deterioration until too little remains to be saved.

The lard can is rusting...

Shoalanda

Questions? We Got 'Em

A frequent commenter has noted Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford was absent from work 60 days last year. Upon checking with our sources, Mr/Ms Mal is totally correct. Now the question would seem to be: Just how long is Turtle Season in Northwest Alabama?

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The Westminster Interfaith Caring Place, an adult day care, is in dire straits thanks to plans for RegionalCare's new hospital. When last we checked, CEO Russell Pigg has agreed to aid displaced renters financially; why not this worthwhile and much needed endeavor?

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The Jackson Ford, aka Ghost, Bridge is almost history. The county is paying Shotcrete of America to remove what's left of the dilapidated structure. We have to ask if at least some of the work could not have been done by Lauderdale County Detention Center trusties? And what of the scrap metal from the dismantled edifice? Does it belong to the county or is Shotcrete charging to haul it away and then selling it? And why doesn't the TimesDaily ask these questions?



Shoalanda

Why Was This Child Sexually Abused?

She's five years old and lives with a neglectful grandmother. For all practical purposes, her father is gone from her life forever, and any thinking, caring adult hopes her mother is also. She didn't ask to be brought into this world or to be handed from one purported caregiver to another. Many have reported her situation to Colbert County DHR, but nothing has been done to provide the child a safe home until now--now that she's been sexually abused.

We're using the term "sexual abuse" since we're not sure if "sexual torture" is more appropriate or not. The grandmother isn't sure either. Nor is she sure how long this forced mutual touching by a man in his 30s has been going on. The grandmother, who has been trying to adopt this unfortunate child, seemingly thought nothing of leaving the young girl with a man whom she apparently barely knew.

What do police say? They say they haven't been able to catch up with the suspect to question him. What do we say? We say that we've previously reported this woman's inability to care properly for the child twice...and we will report it again. We say why would any trained social worker even consider allowing this woman to adopt her granddaughter?

We hope to have a copy of the Muscle Shoals police report by early next week and will publish it then. In the interim, we urge all our readers to pray for the safety of this child.

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The TimesDaily just published an article on the parole status of Dana Myhan Allen which quoted the Lauderdale County District Attorney: "...we had several letters that had been sent to us from members of the Wilson community that were opposing (Allen’s) parole.

If anyone seeks any input into the parole process, it's best to write the parole board directly. Include the subject's AIS number with the other pertinent information. This information is easily found online, and we have previously published the info for several offenders here.

Allen's sentence is relatively short, but many in the system may remain incarcerated long after current district attorneys leave office. Files can be discarded or lost locally before ever being forwarded to Montgomery. Allen will be released on December 19, 2013, unless her behavior warrants loss of accrued Correctional Incentive Time.



Shoalanda