Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Justice; A Mini Skirt and Christmas

Brenda Schaefer
Justice; A Mini Skirt and Christmas

In watching an episode of American Justice I have found myself unable to wrap my mind around the ‘cracks’ that develop in the process of seeking justice. Is it faulty law or jury failure?

Brenda Sue Schaefer on September 24, 1988, was found dead in the home of her boyfriend Mel Ignatow. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, in 1991, a Kenton County jury acquitted Mel Ignatow.

Pictures showing Brenda being tortured and killed by Ignatow surfaced six months later. Undeveloped film was found in a heating duct of a home Ignatow had owned. It showed Ignatow sexually abusing Schaefer on the night of her murder. Ignatow eventually admitted, after a plea deal involving perjury charges and knowing he was secure due to Double Jeopardy, that he had killed her with chloroform on Sept. 24, 1988. After torturing and sexually abusing her in the home of his former girlfriend, Mary Ann Shore-Inlow, with her grave dug in advance, Ignatow forced Schaefer to strip naked, tied her to the top of a glass coffee table and sexually tortured her, while Shore-Inlow took pictures. He then took a bottle of chloroform and killed Schaefer, whom he was once engaged to marry. After the film was found, Ignatow was convicted of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury about his involvement in Schaefer’s death.

Tape Recording of Brenda’s Murder that was presented to the jury as evidence:
Ignatow: Good evening ladies and gentleman and we are coming to you live. This is your host Mel Ignatow and with me is the puta, the Jezebel who tried to leave me. She has been captured and taken prisoner by me now. (Yelling) THE PRISONER WILL IDENTIFY HERSELF.

Brenda: My name is Brenda Sue Schaefer; I have been captured and taken prisoner by Mel Ignatow.

Ignatow: Describe your situation Brenda

Brenda: You have treated me like a dog and humiliated me by stripping me naked. You have bound me hand and foot. Oh no! I am trapped like a beast in a snare!

Ignatow: (Laughing) Well Brenda my bound beauty welcome to your nightmare!

Brenda: (Sobbing) Oh no! Oh Dear God please no! Mel I am so sorry. Don't touch me! Oh God please don't hurt me!

Jury members stated that they found fault with the way the prosecution witness, and Ignatows accomplis Mary Ann Shore-Inlow, was dressed, in a mini skirt, and the way she sat in court. Some admitted they were hurried to get the trial over for the Christmas holiday. After Ignatow admitted guilt in a plea bargain some jurors held with their decision saying the evidence was not strong enough. Without attacking people personally this seems ludicrous with what was presented at trial. Apparently the judge agrees with this opinion. He has been said to have sent an apology to the Schafer family for the jury’s findings. I have searched for a while and can not find the judges name who wrote to the family. Strange, you would think he would be heralded for his empathetic act.

This is just one case sited in reference to the cons of Double Jeopardy. It would seem that all measures of precaution are afforded defendants found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. They are legally allowed to repeatedly appeal their conviction to avoid the sentence. So, where is the safety net for the victims and family members who find no justice as in the case of Brenda Schafer? You may call this apples and oranges but it shows a pattern of society’s willingness to ensure the rights of the accused and not afford the same consideration for the dead and their family.

While I agree we have to uphold the decisions of elected juries as this is the way of the system. But when the jury fails to weigh and consider the evidence in a manner that delivers just desert we have to look at the ability of the jury that is elected to sit in judgment.

The way a person dresses is not always a representation of their trustworthiness. The old adage of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ comes to mind. If one is deciding the fate of an accused murderer and evidence has been offered that is above and beyond a reason to believe guilt, clothes worn by a witness are not even a consideration.

Ignatow’s blatant disregard and disrespect for the justice system alone is proof that the jury failed. The other proof came later when Ignatow could not be tried again when more evidence came to light and Double Jeopardy applies. His public smirks and laughter, I am sure, haunt the Schaefer family.

In contrast to the laws of the United States, Canadian law allows the prosecution to appeal from an acquittal. If the acquittal is thrown out, the new trial is not considered to be double jeopardy because the first trial and its judgment would have been annulled. Makes sense to me.

The final irony, or one might say ‘just desert’, of this case is that Ignatow’s son, Michael, said on September 1, 2008 his father apparently fell into a glass table and bled to death in his apartment on Terrier Road.

I suppose for me to say Ignatow got his Just Desert in the end is not very professional sounding. But if the justice system, in this case the jury, failed Brenda, maybe God took up where humans left off. Maybe this is a message or testimony to the imperfections of man when it comes to forming judgments on one another. Whatever the case Brenda and her family have suffered the most. In their suffering lies the fact that certain aspects of the criminal justice system need to be revisited.

14 comments:

  1. I really believe that a jury should not see the witnesses,just listen to the evidence,as justice is blind, so also should a jury be.Too many times we judge by appearance.

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  2. I really believe that a jury should not see the witnesses,just listen to the evidence,as justice is blind, so also should a jury be.Too many times we judge by appearance.

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  3. this so called report is so full of errors the tape that is reported here did not exist and the tape played for the jury was made by the FBI with Mary Ann shore-Inlow (Ignatow's former girlfriend involved with the murder) nothing was on the tape like this totally made up crap used in the report.the judge that sent the letter to the brother of Brenda Sue Shafer was the state of KY trail judge Johnstone that oversaw the trail.Not to be confused with Judge Johnstone that was the judge for the federal charges against Ignatow for perjury that got Ignatow the first 5 years conviction.

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    1. both Mary Ann shore-Inlow and Mel Ignatow got themselves convicted by lying to federal grand juries. please GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT about this case. There never was a tape of Brenda saying such things.If the family of Brenda ever saw this it would hurt them.This family has already had another murder in their history.Brenda's brother was murdered.He was a Louisville police detective, he and partner were ambushed while doing a traffic stop.

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    2. both Mary Ann shore-Inlow and Mel Ignatow got themselves convicted by lying to federal grand juries. please GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT about this case. There never was a tape of Brenda saying such things.If the family of Brenda ever saw this it would hurt them.This family has already had another murder in their history.Brenda's brother was murdered.He was a Louisville police detective, he and partner were ambushed while doing a traffic stop.

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    3. sorry. I kept spelling Brenda Schaefer's last name wrong. Kept spelling like my friends last name.

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    4. good book to read about this case is called DOuble Jeopardy.by Bob Hill..

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    5. With all due respect, Larry Jones, I think you are confused. No one said this tape was played for the jury. Of course it wasn't--the video tape mentioned in the article wasn't even found until after the original trial. You're thinking of an audio tape between Mary Ann Shore and Mel Ignatow where he makes incriminating statements. The author here is talking about a video tape found in Mel Ignatow's home. This tape and the pictures that were found both document the torture, rape, and murder of Brenda Schaefer, and are what got Ignatow convicted of perjury.

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    6. This was copied directly from the above article!

      "Tape Recording of Brenda’s Murder that was presented to the jury as evidence:

      Ignatow: Good evening ladies and gentleman and we are coming to you live. This is your host Mel Ignatow and with me is the puta, the Jezebel who tried to leave me. She has been captured and taken prisoner by me now. (Yelling) THE PRISONER WILL IDENTIFY HERSELF.

      Brenda: My name is Brenda Sue Schaefer; I have been captured and taken prisoner by Mel Ignatow.

      Ignatow: Describe your situation Brenda

      Brenda: You have treated me like a dog and humiliated me by stripping me naked. You have bound me hand and foot. Oh no! I am trapped like a beast in a snare!

      Ignatow: (Laughing) Well Brenda my bound beauty welcome to your nightmare!

      Brenda: (Sobbing) Oh no! Oh Dear God please no! Mel I am so sorry. Don't touch me! Oh God please don't hurt me!"


      Nothing in that statement is true. an is a complete lie!

      there was never a tape found any where at any time before or after the trial.
      The new home owners found rolls of film and jewelry in a heating vent that had been covered by carpet, which they immediately turned over to the FBI.
      There were over a hundred photo's on the film depicting the rape, torture and murder of Brenda Schaefer. The video tape mentioned above never existed. The only tape was as Larry Jones said, made by the FBI!
      So, with all due respect scorpio, i think you are the one thats confused, not Larry Jones!
      I no that anyone can write anything they choose about any subject an post it as fact on the internet. It's unfortunate that it falls to the reader to decipher whats fact and whats shit!!
      This report above IS " total made up crap!" ( thank you Larry for putting it so eloquently!) so before you but in an try an correct someone, make sure you got your facts strait an actually no what your talking about. Otherwise you'll end up looking more foolish than the person you set out to defend in the first place!

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    7. I agree that the original message is full of errors but that's the way things are now days it seems, facts are optional, why don't people double check themselves before posting something that makes them look like an idiot.

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  4. Not to mention that Brenda wasn't, "found dead in the home of her boyfriend Mel Ignatow." He and Shore buried the body out behind the home in the woods, and the body wasn't found for 16 months.

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  5. Not to mention that Brenda wasn't, "found dead in the home of her boyfriend Mel Ignatow." He and Shore buried the body out behind the home in the woods, and the body wasn't found for 16 months.

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  6. The jury on this case was horrible. Ignorant to put it best.
    I'm glad he finally died, bleeding to death, alone. It reminds me of the OJ jury and Casey Anthony. She should be hung.

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  7. NO.... tape video or audio was ever found after the trail. ONLY.... pictures taken while Shore and Ignatow tied up Shaefer. Shaefer was on a glass coffee table tied up.(This is where the jury didn't believe a person could be on a glass coffee table without breaking...one of the reasons Ignatow got away with this crime. Pictures found later after the trial showed Shaefer on the glass table. Proving the jury wrong) This is where too much coloform was used and it killed her. AFTER THE TRAIL....The new owners of the house that had been Ignatow's found 3 rolls of undeveloped film inside an airduct in the floor. The duct had been covered over by wall to wall carpet by Ignatow. He( Ignatow) had hidden the film inside the duct and put carpet over the duct to hide it.) This why no one saw the duct to search until the carpet was removed by the new owners to put down new carpet. It was actually the carpet installers that looked into the newly discovered duct and found the film. The new owners called the police since they knew who had owned the house before them. Ignatow was then charged for lying since the double jeopardy rule applied and he couldn't be charged for murder. He went to prison for that. After he got out he died 2 years later. He was alone in his apt. and fell against a glass coffee table (irony..he had tied Brenda Sue Shaefer onto a glass coffee table) and bled out alone.

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