Frink on Crime

Norman W. Frink is the Chief Deputy District Attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon. In a letter released yesterday that he had written to the circuit judge two days earlier, he said "the... Major Crimes Team could no longer stand by its assertion in my affidavit of July 2 that unsealing the sealed matters before you would undermine our on-going criminal investigation." With that, Circuit Court Judge Keith Meisenheimer opened the floodgates and released several documents pertaining to Kaine Horman, Petitioner, and Terri Moulton Horman, Respondent.

All court documents were filed on June 28.

First up is the RESTRAINING ORDER TO PREVENT ABUSE, sanctioned by the state Family Abuse Prevention Act. This one prevents Terri from making any contact with the Petitioner, her husband. This means business. If she attempts to contact Kaine in any manner, she will, most likely, go to jail. This means everywhere in the country, not just the state.

It was ordered that:

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from intimidating, molesting, interfering with or menacing, or attempting to intimidate, molest, interfere, menace, the minor child/ren inPetitioner's custody directly or through third parties.

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from intimidating, molesting, interfering with or menacing, or attempting to intimidate, molest, interfere, or menace, the minor child/ren in Petetioner's custody directly or through third parties.

Except as otherwise set out in this Order, Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from entering or attempting to enter, or remain in, the area within 150 feet of the building and land at the following locations:

The locations included Kaine's employer, Intel, and the gym where he works out. Terri is still living at the property he owns.

Respondent shall not knowingly be or stay within 500 feet... of Petitioner unless otherwise ordered by the court.

Terri is allowed to appear at court hearings and at those meetings, she must stay at least 10 feet away from Kaine.

Except as otherwise set out in this Order, Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from:

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner in person directly or through third parties.

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner by mail or e-mail, or any other electronic transmission, except for mailing court-ordered emergency monetary assistance, checks or money orders directly or through third parties,

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner bytelephone, including cell phone or text messaging directly or through third parties.

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from entering, or attempting to enter, or remain at:

The child/ren's current or future day care provider, or removing them from daycare.

The child/ren's current or future school, or removing them from school.

Terri is not allowed to purchase or possess any firearms or ammunition, too. Kaine was awarded temporary custody of their 18-month-old daughter, Kiara Ariel, and Terri was given NO parenting time. If this sounds harsh, consider the next PETITION FOR RESTRAINING ORDER TO PREVENT ABUSE...

Kaine wrote that, "I believe Respondent is involved in the disappearance of my son Kyron who has been missing since June 4, 2010. I also recently learned that Respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me. The police have provided me with probable cause to believe the above two statements to be true."

Throughout the motion, he wrote that he was in imminent danger because,"Respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me." He and his daughter are staying at an undisclosed location.

He also filed a FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM. Kaine filed an ex parte order that this CIF information not be made available to anyone else, including their attorney because a restraining order was in effect that protected Kaine from the opposing party, which, in this case, is Terri. We should remember ex parte motions from the Casey Anthony case. It is a situation where a request is made in which only one party (and not the adversary) appears before a judge.

The final document filed is the one that is rather interesting. The others were straight and to the point, but this one is asking for a special dispensation.

AFFIDAVIT OF COUNSEL RE: EX PARTE MOTION AND ORDER TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO FILE

The search for Kyron and the alleged murder plot are still open investigations. Of course, law enforcement had to know every detail of Kaine and Terri's lives, and it looks to me like there are some things that should remain behind closed doors, so to speak.

Laura E. Rackner is Kaine's attorney. She states that both litigants, Kaine and Terri, have a high profile existence, which they do now, and family relations which garner media attention. That sure is true today. Here's where it gets tricky:

The disclosure of information pertaining to the parties' family information and other matters involved in this proceeding [ongoing criminal investigation] will make the parties the target of further media and public scrutiny. The disclosure of this information will be detrimental to the petitioner and his privacy rights, and could affect the interests and privacy rights of other family members.

Those two sentences imply a lot, but it doesn't stop there:

The information contained in the pleadings filed with the Court may be potentially embarrassing for the parties or for family members. It is likely that if public access to this file is allowed, this information will be disseminated in the media.

Well, well, what could this be all about?

This is a private family matter that should not be disseminated by the press and there is no public policy served by allowing public access to these records. Such access may be embarrassing to the parties, damaging to the family, and disruptive to the Court proceedings.

This Motion to Restrict Access to Court File says a lot, even by saying nothing at all. In earlier comments on another thread pertaining to this case, we discussed matters of privacy and how we project ourselves in public. The id is part of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's model of the human psyche. According to Freud, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends. The ego is the organized, realistic part, and the super-ego plays the role of moralizing.

We have different personae depending on how comfortable we are with people. This is called the "I" person and the "me" person. When we meet someone for the first time, we tend to be on our best behavior. That is the "I" personality. If we continue to see that person, over time, we become more comfortable and less restrictive. We open up. That's the "me" part. A man would, most likely, never belch on a first date, but he would down the road as he becomes more relaxed. What this illustrates are different levels of comfort. Everyone has rules regarding what they are willing to do and where they draw the line and they constantly change over time; be it style, politics, religion, and most certainly, private matters. As they grow together, they learn to adapt, and what was once unacceptable may become a norm. For example, a lifelong Baptist could one day embrace the Catholic faith because his mate wants him to convert. The same holds true in most walks of life, and we all have our own sets of mores that we constantly adjust.

What happens when this includes other areas of our lives, like what we do in the bedroom? There is probably nothing more embarrassing than for someone or something to open up our hamper of sexual behavior, dirty in the sense that what may be good for some geese might not be acceptable for others to take a gander at. Shocking! Rumors have been rampant regarding matters of what was going on behind the doors of certain households and private clubs around Portland, Oregon. Is it important that we find out? No, of course not, but part of that human psyche involves peeling away the curtains and poking around our neighborhoods, and with the advent of the Internet, the world is now our neighborhood. Humans are a curious lot and always ready for gossip. Just what is Kaine's attorney asking to keep private? No one will say at the moment, but a buzz is in the air. Will we find out? Most likely, yes, because of our curious proclivities and also because Terri's defense may want to use it against her estranged husband - to take away his innocence and place him on an even playing field in court. Why? People don't like to be backed into corners, and that might be the way she feels right now.

That doesn't mean we need to ask, because we might not like what we see. Personally, I'd rather leave the investigation in the capable hands of the Multnomah County Major Crimes Team. Let them come out swinging.

POOF! Into thin air

"Polly was taken inside of her bedroom. A little girl named Amber Dubois was taken out in front her school last February. Children can be, unfortunately, snatched anywhere."

- Marc Klaas, on Larry King Live last night

In an odd twist, Kyron Horman's father filed for divorce from his stepmother yesterday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It includes a restraining order. The filing listed Kaine Horman as the petitioner and Terri Moulton Horman as the respondent. KATU also reported that, "The source said the restraining order is a physical restraining order that is meant to protect the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Kiara."

Read the Horman divorce papers

Kyron's father, biological mother and stepfather issued a statement yesterday. Noticeably absent was his stepmother's signature:

"We have been fully briefed by law enforcement on the on-going criminal investigation. We are in complete support of that investigation. We have asked the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to facilitate releasing this statement for us due to their access to the media/flash news.

We understand that we have free access to the media but are limiting statements to the media to keep the integrity of the investigation intact.

Any actions taken by the investigation, or by us, are based on the best interests of Kyron and Kiara and comply with the law. Beyond this, we have no comment on the matter.

Desiree, Tony and Kaine"

Since Kyron disappeared from his school on June 4, police have said that Terri is the last known person to see him alive. After a massive search turned up nothing, the Multnomah County sheriff's office labelled the case a criminal investigation.

Last night, Sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand said her office is "not talking about personal issues going on with the Hormans." In other words, the divorce papers mean nothing to them. Although speculation has mounted in recent weeks that Kyron's stepmother might know more about his disappearance than she had initially let on, Lindstrand said Terri Horman is neither a person of interest, nor a suspect.

Meanwhile, her father is staying at her house to lend a hand and to give her much needed support.

Former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Jim McIntyre had a few things to say about the investigation.

"The probabilities are that it’s somebody close in – and when I say that I don’t mean immediate family members, I mean that it’s somebody that may or may not know Kyron or know the routine.  It’s usually someone closer in but closer in can include a retail store clerk that sees him all the time that decided to do something," McIntyre stated. He said that maintaining a lead on the right suspect is a key ingredient. "You don’t want to put the investigators off on the track that could be an erroneous track because then the individual who actually committed the offense is gaining time."

McIntyre also warned about the problems associated with joining public opinion. "Jumping on the bandwagon of who the public thinks did it is often a huge mistake," he said. Pointing fingers at the family usually causes them to shut down.

"It’s easy for family members to begin to believe that they’ve become targets when perhaps they’re really just trying to eliminate [the family] and they’re can be a natural friction that can develop and you saw that historically in theJonBenet case which still remains unsolved and that case slipped sideways between law enforcement and the family."

Terri Horman's white truck being impounded twice and the recent questionnaire sent out, McIntyre concluded, "You have to go back to who is the last person who was with Kyron, who was the last person to see Kyron. What was Kyron’s regular schedule and where would he have been.  What was the likelihood of people having contact with him."

On Larry King Live last night, Marc Klaas of the Klaas Kids Foundationsaid, "As I understand it, he does. Let me clarify a couple things. First of all, it's a very rural community. It's a rural school. There are about 300 people at the school. What happened that day, according to her own words, as she was walking the little boy to his class and was very close to the class when the bell rang at 8:45 a.m. She then told him - he told her, mom, excuse me, I'm going the classroom now. She said she waved to him and that was the last time she saw the little boy.

"The problem with that statement is that if she was walking with him, she would have kissed him or rubbed his head or something. Waving doesn't make a lot of sense if you're close to the classroom. So she then turned and went away. One of two things happened, I believe. Number one, she is involved. That's where the numbers take you. That's where the facts as we know them take you. The second possibility is a very high risk snatch by a local pedophile."

The problem with Terri's story is the relative lack of time. If she was walking Kyron to his classroom, he would have been merely seconds away from the door. Had she turned around to leave, how much time would there have been for someone to grab him and run out of the building? Why didn't anyone see a perpetrator? Klaas added, "And I think the best thing to yell is you're not my mom, you're not my dad. Under no circumstances, if a child has any kind an option, you never, ever go with the bad man."

Although the sheriff's office states that Terri Moulton Horman is not even a person of interest, how could someone enter a school undetected and, in a matter of seconds and perfect timing, leave with a young child in tow? This is a far cry from the 31 days Casey claimed, but it becomes more believable if we factor in the entire school day. Remember, he wasn't reported missing until he failed to get off the afternoon bus.

Where did Kyron go?



Kyron Horman has been missing over two weeks now. His stepmother said she last saw him walking to his classroom at 8:45 AM on June 4 after looking at exhibits at Skyline Elementary School's science fair, where he is a student.

This became a criminal investigation on June 14. Authorities have put out flyers in hopes of generating positive leads.

Three Page Flyer

As of now, the focus of the investigation seems to have shifted to his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, after her story about what she did on the day of his disappearance didn't match her cell phone records, which placed her at or near Sauvie Island, north of the school. Because of this discrepancy, authorities have been combing bodies of water around the area where he was reported missing.

Remember that Kyron's stepmother has not been named a suspect or a person of interest, so she's not implicated in his disappearance.

The following image is a map from Kyron's house to the school, and from the school to Sauvie Island.

The next image will give you a better idea of the Sauvie Island location.

Sauvie Island

See: FBI

See: FBI

X

Those persnickety cell phone pings again

You would think by now the whole world knows about Casey Anthony. You'd also guess that most people know a thing or two about cell phone pings and how they will be used as evidence against her when her trial gets underway next May. It shouldn't take a brain surgeon to realize that the words "cell phone pings" have become synonymous with Casey, where she was, and how those words trigger thoughts about a missing child, now dead.

That's why it seems peculiar that the focus of the search for missing 7-year-oldKyron Richard Horman centers on his stepmother's cell phone records. Terri Moulton Horman told authorities she last saw her stepson at school on June 4, when she saw him walking toward his classroom. She said she took him around the school to look at the many science projects. At 8:45 AM, she left. When he didn't get of the school bus later that afternoon, she called the police.

Now, investigators have determined that Moulton Horman was not where she said she was, or her cell phone wasn't according to pings. Her cell phone records show that the day Kyron was last seen, she was at Sauvie Island, 5 miles from his school. Since June 10, rescuers have been searching all over that island for any evidence that the second-grader may have been there.

Ironically, it was the same nonchalant attitude that gave police immediate suspicion in the case against Casey, where she was forced to admit she hadn't seen her daughter in a month and didn't seem to care. Moulton Horman raised suspicions in a flash for having claimed to have gone to the gym right after she reported him missing.

"Hitting the gym," she wrote on her Facebook wall. Eh, so what, she could have added. Poor Kyron.

Anyone with information is asked to please call the Multnomah County Sheriff TIP-Line at

503-261-2847