Five Individuals Charged In Connection With Death Of A Customs And Border Protection Border Patrol Agent, $1 Million FBI Reward Announced

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information today:
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An indictment charging five individuals involved in the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry (seen in the above photo) was unsealed today in Tucson, and a reward of up to $1 million from the FBI for information leading to the arrest of four fugitives, was announced by Department of Justice officials.
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According to the indictment, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza are charged with crimes including first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. A sixth defendant, Rito Osorio-Arellanes, is charged only with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery.
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The 11-count third superseding indictment, which was handed up by a federal grand jury in the District of Arizona on Nov. 7, 2011, alleges that on Dec. 14, 2010, five of the defendants (Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza) engaged in a firefight with Border Patrol agents. During the exchange of gunfire, Agent Terry was shot and killed. The indictment alleges that the defendants had illegally entered the United States from Mexico for the purpose of robbing drug traffickers of their contraband. In addition to the murder of Agent Terry, the indictment also alleges that the five defendants assaulted Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza and Timothy Keller, who were with Agent Terry during the firefight.
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Agent Terry served his country honorably and made the ultimate sacrifice in trying to protect it from harm, and we will stop at nothing to bring those responsible for his murder to justice,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “This investigation has previously resulted in one defendant being charged with Agent Terry’s murder and taken into custody, and today’s announcement reflects the department’s unrelenting commitment to finding and arresting the other individuals responsible for this horrific tragedy so that Agent Terry’s family, friends and fellow law enforcement agents receive the justice they deserve.”
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U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy said, “Agent Terry died in the line of duty while protecting his country. But he was more than a federal agent – he was a son, a brother, a co-worker and a friend to many. The indictment unsealed today reflects the progress our dedicated law enforcement team has made piecing together this complex murder case. But there is more work to be done and we will not rest until we bring justice to the family of Brian Terry.”
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“U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry made the ultimate sacrifice in December of 2010, while protecting our border,” stated James L. Turgal Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Division. “Today’s announcement is an important step forward in the pursuit of justice for Border Patrol Agent Terry and his family. It is our hope that the publicity surrounding this case will lead to information concerning the whereabouts of the remaining four fugitives. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue those individuals responsible for the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.”
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Manuel Osorio-Arellanes has been in custody since his arrest the night of the shooting. Rito Osorio-Arellanes has been in custody since Dec. 12, 2010, when he was arrested by Border Patrol agents on immigration charges. The indictment is being unsealed today in order to seek the public’s assistance in locating the fugitive defendants.
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This case is being prosecuted in federal court in Tucson by attorneys from the Southern District of California, Special Attorneys Todd W. Robinson, David D. Leshner, and Fred A. Sheppard. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona is recused. This case is being investigated by the FBI.
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An indictment is a formal charging document and defendants are presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of the fugitives should contact the FBI's Phoenix field office at (623) 466-1999. You may also contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

Ernest Borgnine, U.S. Navy Veteran, Oscar-Winning Actor And Star Of 'McHale's Navy' On TV, Dies at 95

Anita Gates at the New York Times reports on the death, and the life, of one of my favorite actors, Ernest Borgnine.

Ernest Borgnine, the rough-hewn actor who seemed destined for tough-guy characters but won an Academy Award for embodying the gentlest of souls, a lonely Bronx butcher, in the 1955 film “Marty,” died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 95.         

... Mr. Borgnine received the Oscar for best actor for “Marty.” For the same performance he also received a Golden Globe and awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 
      

Mr. Borgnine won even wider fame as the star of the ABC sitcom “McHale’s Navy” (1962-66), originating the role of an irreverent con man of a PT boat skipper. (The cast also included a young Tim Conway.)

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/movies/ernest-borgnine-tough-but-tender-actor-is-dead-at-95.html?_r=1&hp  

National Landmark UDT-SEAL Museum Looks To Expand

WPEC-TV CBS12 News ran a piece on the UDT-SEAL Museum's plans to expand in their Fort Pierce, Florida location.

My late father was a UDT chief petty officer frogman who trained at Fort Pierce prior to fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific in World War II.

You can watch the CBS video on the UDT-SEAL Muesum via the below link:

http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_1098.shtml

And you can read my magazine piece on the UDT frogmen and the SEALs via th below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg
  

Cool Photos: NASA's Panoramic Camera Captures Mars' Ruddy Terrain

We might not be able to get there yet, but as NASA says, 'this is the next best thing,' writes Eddie Wren in the British newspaper the Daily Mail.

From fresh rover tracks to an impact crater blasted billions of years ago, a newly completed view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the ruddy terrain which the voyaging robot spent the Martian winter.

You can read the rest of the story and view the photos via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2170196/The-best-thing-NASAs-Opportunity-Rover-captures-360-panorama-base-long-Martian-winter.html

Remember Operation Fast And Furious' Mexican Victims

 

Deroy Murdock suggests we remember the Mexican victims of Operation Fast and Furious in a piece that appears in National Review Online.

Largely overlooked is this plan’s calamitous impact on Mexico, its people, and U.S.-Mexican relations. Fast and Furious has spilled American blood. But south of the border, it has made blood gush like an oil strike.

“One of the things that’s so offensive about this case is that our federal government knowingly, willfully, purposefully gave the drug cartels nearly 2,000 weapons — mainly AK-47s — and allowed them to walk,” Representative Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) told NBC News. These arms were supposed to lead federal agents in Phoenix to the Mexican thugs who acquired them. Instead, Fast and Furious guns melted into Mexico without a trace.

These weapons became invisible, but not silent.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/304835/remember-fast-and-furious-s-mexican-victims-deroy-murdock

You can also read an earlier post on Operation Fast and Furious via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/07/operation-fast-and-furious-timeline.html

Superman: America's Ageless And Timeless Crime-Fighting Hero

I grew up with Superman. I loved the comic books and I loved the TV show as a kid in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Larry Tye, the author of Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero, wrote an interesting piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Superman just entered his 75th year, but he has always been ageless as well as timeless. In the 1930s, he was just the crime-fighter we needed to take on Al Capone and the robber barons. In the '40s, he defended the home front while brave GIs battled overseas. Early in the Cold War, he stood up taller than ever for his adopted country, while in its waning days, he tried to eliminate nuclear stockpiles single-handedly.

Over the decades, the Man of Steel has evolved more than the fruit fly. For each era, he zeroed in on the threats that scared us most, using powers that grew or diminished depending on the need — as did his spectacles, his hairstyle, and even his job title. Each change took the pulse of the nation and its dreams. Each generation got the Superman it needed and deserved.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20120706_Has_America_finally_outgrown_Superman_.html

You can also read James Parker's New York Times review of the Superman book via the below link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/books/review/superman-by-larry-tye.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20120706

James Bond Film Exhibition Marks 50 Years Shaken, Not Stirred

AFP.com reports on the James Bond film exhibition in London.

Tuxedos, bikinis and vodka martinis are among hundreds of items going on show in London to mark 50 years since James Bond made the jump from Ian Fleming's novels to the silver screen.

More than 400 archive items from the Bond movies are on display from Friday at London's Barbican Centre in "Designing 007: 50 Years Of Bond Style," a celebration of the British spy's evolving style.

From the black dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in "Dr No" to a crystal-covered dress seen in the forthcoming "Skyfall", the exhibition is a journey through the British spy's glamorous world from 1962 to the present day.

You can read the piece via the below the link:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-u4dtUEDcnlWO_1jpFh7RGW2h3A?docId=CNG.b918f47fa06e0e3e9fdee19bf4e2ae76.4f1

Below are some photos from the exhibit: