HATE CRIME: Six Arrested In Week-Long Torture Of Black Woman

[DeSwiss]

6 arrested in week-long attack on woman

Posted September 10, 2007


Frankie Brewster__Bobby Brewster___Karen Burton_____Alisha Burton

LOGAN, W.Va. (AP) — A woman was sexually abused, beaten and humiliated while being held captive in a home for at least a week, sheriff's officials said Monday after making six arrests. Those arrested, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, are white. The victim, a Charleston woman who was being treated at a hospital Monday, is black. The FBI plans to investigate it as a possible hate crime. "The things that were done to this woman are just indescribable," Logan County sheriff's Sgt. Sonya Porter said.

Deputies found the 23-year-old victim Saturday after going to the home in Big Creek, about 35 miles southwest of Charleston, to investigate an anonymous tip. One of the suspects, Frankie Brewster, was sitting on the front porch and told deputies she was alone, but moments later the victim limped toward the door, her arms outstretched, saying "help me," the sheriff's department said in a news release.

Besides being sexually assaulted, the victim was stabbed four times in the left leg and beaten, Porter said. Both of her eyes were black and blue. Deputies said the woman's wounds were inflicted at least a week ago. During her capture, the victim was forced to eat rat and dog feces and drink from the toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court. The woman also was choked with a cable cord and her hair cut, it alleges.

One of those arrested, Karen Burton, is accused of cutting the woman's ankle with a knife. She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint. Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted. The sheriff's department requested the FBI's participation, said agent Jay Bartholomew.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-10-woman-tortured_N.htm?csp=34

I. Have. No. Words. For. This.

[soothsayer]

1. They look like such a nice family.

yeesh!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Yeah

Like the Manson family...

[Cooley Hurd]

2. What goddamn animals!

Jesus...:grr::mad::grr:

[DeSwiss]

3. The victim....

http://wvgazettemail.com/section/Top+Stories/

[Drifter]

4. If there was ever a time ...

to justify public executions, it would be in a case like this.

I'd pay to see it.

Cheer
Drifter

[cali]

15. There is NEVER a time to justify public executions.

It's that simple.

[axollot]

64. Normally I would agree with you...

However, there was another case this year just before summer with an even more dreadful looking family (Mother, Father and convicted but 'free' pedophile son) in Brunswick GA recently regarding a 6 year old black child (which made me think it was a three fold crime of hate crime, pedophilia and murder) where the very trashy looking white family took this child, who was basically a neighbor, the father and son brutally raped him while the mother watch on and masturbated. (I believe they did get some sort of confession, maybe for a PLEA to a lesser sentence, regarding this case)

If EVER there seemed to be a case for death penalty, this family was perfect for it. The depravity and horror subjected on that child is beyond comprehension.

Most of the time there can be a reasonable doubt on people sentenced for the death penalty. Then there has been the Innocence Project that has found many people on death row being released because of new DNA evidence. However, in the case of the poor child brutally murdered, AND only 6 years old. I couldn't think of a BETTER case for the Death Penalty.

On the other hand you will not see me protesting a total abolishment of the Death Penalty either.

Call me a flip-flopper, I guess I am. Because I rarely think the death penalty is required and life in prison is also cheaper. I know if that had been *my* child - I would want more than a lethal injection, I would want all OUT torture, then death.
~Sandy

[Jed Dilligan]

20. I disagree

Public executions are appropriate for public figures, such as corporate officers whose crimes ruin the finances of thousands of people, or politicians who lie to start illegal wars.

[BlooInBloo]

53. mmmm BLOOD!

[LanternWaste]

6. Two steps forward and three steps back

I can't... I can't understand this. I can't wrap my brain around this kind of thing.

Two steps forward and three steps back. Every time.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ian David]

8. It's the family from "The Hills Have Eyes." n/t

[ImpeechBush]

73. omg

as disgusting as this story is and as repulsive as these folks are you actually made me laugh. Geez, I think you are right.

[Nitrogenica]

9. Freepers

[warrior1]

10. what breeds evil like this?

[iconoclastic cat]

18. A family tree with no branches, maybe? nt

[Cobalt Violet]

11. I hope they all get what they have coming soon.

Such pathetic scum.

[Triana]

12. Disgusting scum....

....LOCK THEM UP FOR LIFE and toss the keys.

I hope the woman who was tortured presses charges - I mean she needs to toss the book at this family of evil slime - if she is able, after she recovers.

[yodermon]

13. How did these people get this way?

Magic? "Evil"?
Can we even ask this question?
These were human beings once (presumably). The journey from human to beast does not happen in a vacuum.
So, How?

[MountainLaurel]

35. Training since birth n/t

[SmokingJacket]

41. A lifetime of misery and ignorance.

They want to blame someone for their misery, and in their ignorance they decide to blame a black woman.

My guess is they were humans for a few short years as children, then their humanity was beaten and humiliated out of them. There's probably a tiny nugget of it deep inside, hidden under all kinds of evil crap.

[YOY]

14. What shocks me is that the perps were 3 women and 1 (barely) man

I'd think this kinda crap from a bunch of Klansmen.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

45. 6 arrested, 2 not shown were men nt

[alphafemale]

16. Faces of Meth, anyone?

Ugly outside. Uglier inside.

[byronius]

26. Absolutely. Clear as a bell.

There's a cultural meth going on there, as well.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

44. I said just the same thing when I saw this yesterday nt

[sarcasmo]

47. I agree, when I saw their faces Meth was my first thought.

[MissB]

57. Meth. Check. Racism. Check.

The result from that combination is horrifying.

[Dhalgren]

17. Well damn...It looks like the Iraq War HAS followed us home...

I hate to say it, but there are many, many Americans who are just like these monsters. I've seen them all of my life and I am sure many here on DU have seen them, too. It is sickening...

[FooFootheSnoo]

19. that makes me want to cry

How could anyone do that to another human being?

[Jed Dilligan]

21. I'm glad they were caught and she survived

As a victim of childhood abuse by women I'm also glad to see this widely publicized (USA Today). Too often female abusers are invisible because people think only men can rape.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AspenRose]

24. Horrible, yes

What constitutes a hate crime, however, involves motive as well as considering the action....

Since the report says that "She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint", clearly this particular attack was meant to terrorize the person based on her race.

Those jerks you pointed out are brutal, but I don't recall anything in that story where they taunted or searched out their victims based on race, to terrorize or "send a message" to others of that race.

There was also a similar story out of Florida (like the Tennessee one) where it was black-on-black crime. Horrid? Yes. Hate crime? Nope.

If your argument is "all atrocious crimes are hate crimes," I can understand that, but some crimes are executed with the intent to chill the general population that the victim is a member of (black, gay, etc.). THAT's what makes it a hate crime.

[H2O Man]

39. Good response.

In the case of the crime the now deleted person posted, there is no question that it was a vicious, terrible crime. The investigators had considered the possibility it was a "hate crime." Their investigation included looking at the thugs' backgrounds: their previous crimes, their friends, their social contacts, and determined that it was not a "hate crime" in the sense that the one in the OP was.

[PunkPop]

27. Get the facts here:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/newsom.asp

Find more of the poster's buddies here:

http://www.channonchristian.com/

[AspenRose]

28. Well, you know, folks interested in stoking flamebait are seldom

interested in facts....they just get in the way....

I salute you though, fellow Texan :-)

[byronius]

29. Ohhh, now I get it.

[AspenRose]

31. I also found this

"To those groups who'd use this case to talk about racially motivated crimes, Gary Christian has but four words, "It ain't about you."

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/7604337.html

[byronius]

30. Actually, the poster's response is a fascinating glimpse.

No expression of sadness, no comment regarding the incident itself; just a 'reversed' story. The worldview is clear; add the mispelling, add the reference of the name, and you've got --

[PunkPop]

34. Tombstone?

[The Magistrate]

38. Yes, Sir, A Tombstone....

"Kill one, warn one hundred."

[porphyrian]

23. That's so fucked up. Them Burtons look like they've been in the system before.

I guess they couldn't wait to get back in.

[formercia]

25. They do have that institutionalized look.

Another side of group-think.


I can't get my brain around this either.

[Festivito]

32. What produces these people?

That look of arrogance masking her insecurity.

That soulless stare, looking for something he knows he can't find here.

That someone find me something exciting blase search.

That yeah I did it till I got caught resignation.

A WEEK!

I suppose once started there was no turning back, no gain in stopping.

I do hope for long sentences and secondly forced subjection to psychologists and psychiatrists. We should learn what things went wrong.

I feel nauseous. But, I had to look.

[ThomCat]

33. I see a lot of posts here trying to describe all the ways

this family is obviously different, just from the photos. It's like people here are trying to insist that racism is some rare thing that only truly different people would ever engage in.

I have heard many white people talk about black people in ways that certainly make them sound willing to do violence. Especially when I leave the city and visit "less-polished" areas, people often speak freely about their racism. It's not rare, and I doubt these people are so different from a hell of a lot of other people.

As for the pictures, I'm sure every one of us could look that bad if our mug shots were taken under harsh lighting. Again, all this effort to make these people so different ignores how common racism is. The threat of this kind of violence could happen anywhere.

We can't fight racism so long as people keep insisting that it's only a few bad apples (and obvious, mutant bad apples apparently). Racism isn't just a few bad apples. It's a large part of the bushel.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

48. this isn't just your garden-variety racism

I knew many racists who would not be able to bring themselves to cutting on a woman for a week, not to mention the whole damn family joining in. :scared:
Several of those suspects do have classic meth 'look'. The sagging skin (especially on the younger ones), the acne, the dead eyes. Sadly, I know all the signs from personal experience. The old lady though... she doesn't have the look. imho.

[tom_paine]

36. Horrific beyond belief. No words. n/t

[democrat2thecore]

37. Whatever color - it was a horrific crime, period.

These kinds of crime are indefensible. Sick. Whether it's whites doing it to blacks, blacks doing it to whites, purples doing it to violets. Sick minds at work here.

[CRF450]

67. Agreed!

Their was a story I saw many months ago about a gang of black men and one black woman I think bargin into a white woman and child's home. They kept them hostaged, torchored and raped them. And heres the worst part. They made the 12 year old have sex with his mother at gun point!


I get the feeling that had it been posted here on DU, it wouldn't get the responses of racism that this one has gotting with a black female being the victom.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

77. I think you have some facts mixed up

The "story" you are referring to involved a black woman and her 12 year old son who were attacked by a group of black teenagers in West Palm Beach Florida last July. If I remember correctly, people on DU were just as outraged at that horrible crime as they are about this horrible crime.

[CRF450]

81. Well their was something similar to what I'm saying

Maybe theirs a different one you saw, I dont know...

[NOLALady]

78. Maybe they are calling it racism

because one of the suspects told the victim that it was about race.

[yardwork]

88. bullshit! Don't you dare suggest that people on DU would excuse this kind of crime, ever!

You are wrong.

[Catherine Vincent]

40. How horrible.

You can see the hate in their eyes.

[gollygee]

42. This is why hate crime legislation exists

I hope the folks who think hate crime legislation isn't necessary see how this is different from crimes that aren't hate crimes. The whole overkill thing, specifically telling her why so she'll tell others and spread fear throughout her community. It's awful. I will think of the victim and hope for strength and peace for her as she deals with the aftermath of this terrible crime.

[Blue_Roses]

43. how horrible

poor child:cry:

[yardwork]

46. I'll bet they are white supremacists.

Sounds like white supremacist behavior.

[BellaB]

52. No, just

a sick bunch of racist pigs PERIOD!!!

[NMMNG]

49. Vile scum

Every last one of them. :grr:

[robinlynne]

50. torture. what our country stands for now. These people better be made to

work for the rest of their lives, with every penny going to that woman.

[judaspriestess]

51. why aren't they being charged with attempted murder?

[BadgerLaw2010]

55. In that circumstance, if they had had intent to kill, she would be dead. Proving it could be hard.

Not necessary with a few hundred years of other charges, either.

[Catherine Vincent]

68. That's a good question.

And yet the Jena 6 was charged with attempted murder. Go figure.

[NOLALady]

80. Well they didn't use a deadly weapon. There's no

mention of tennis shoes.:sarcasm:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

54. What a sick, horrible and disgusting lot they are.

To let such blind hatred be their guide in life also shows just how freaking stupid they were.

I hope that not a one of them ever sees the outside a prison cell again for the rest of their miserable lives.

I hope the poor woman who was their victim manages to regain what they attempted to take from her by force.

[theHandpuppet]

56. Please read this, folks!

Because after you do, I'm wondering what y'all would suggest regarding this violent family. What do you do with folks such as these? How do you break generations of violence, murder and sexual abuse? What happened to that poor young woman this past week didn't come out of the blue. Can we have a serious discussion about this? Because frankly, I have no idea what can be done.


Generations and patterns of violence...

http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007091148/Video-FBI-enters-case-of-ghastly-abuse/

(excerpts)
The suspects were arrested Saturday and Sunday.

Brewster, 49, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation.

This isn’t Brewster’s first brush with the law.

In 1994, she was charged with murder after she shot dead an 84-year-old woman in Logan County. She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served time in Pruntytown Correctional Center from 1996 to 2004. The victim, Polly T. Ferrell, of Big Creek, was shot at least four times.

<snipping>

Frankie Brewster has another son, Hallie J. Brewster, 25, who is currently serving time at Huttonsville Correctional Center for first-degree sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl, Abraham said.

“We’re going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” Abraham said of those arrested.

The case of Frankie Brewster and his sexual assault of an 8 year old child...
http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/docs/spring03/30598.htm

[MountainLaurel]

91. That doesn't seem surpising

I'm not sure how you break it. One would think education and opportunity are key, but knowing the schools in that area, I doubt that's going to be much help. And they are few economic opportunities in Logan.

[BlooInBloo]

58. There's really not much to say about this.

[lonestarnot]

59. Sweet look'n buncha fucks aren't they?

[BoneDaddy]

60. Just look at them

Rarely have I seen such a haunted looking crew. Reminiscent of the same look the Manson group had. Strung out, souless, lunatic.

[Hope springs eternal]

61. Should be skinned alive

And I don't care if you think I'm barberic. Sue me.

[superkia]

62. Send them to fight Bushs war but out of the green zone alone.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

63. I Say Life In Prison.

People like that shouldn't be allowed anywhere near society.

[Solly Mack]

65. speechless

horrified

[derby378]

66. WHY am I not surprised this is happening in Bush's AmeriKKKa?!?

A year or so back, some poor woman in Fort Worth, TX was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and tortured in an abandoned house over a number of days. Possibly the worst part was when she was shackled from the ceiling and her torturer burned her back with a blowtorch and then "doctored" her wounds with drain cleaner. It's amazing that she's still alive - the torturer has been sentenced to life in prison, but I think that's too good for him. Same for this cluster of sick inbred fucks that look like escapees from Deliverance.

[pitohui]

69. ye gods, what's the matter w. people?

why do this?

[Bryn]

70. I am speechless

sick crime..very sick

They look like inbreed mountain people, very trashy type. I wouldn't call them animals or pigs because that would insult animals/pigs.

[Pachamama]

71. All I know is that if I were a person who had never visited the US, and all I knew about the US was

what I saw on the TV and news about the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, and then I saw a story like this and the pictures of the perps, then I would think the US and its people are the most sickening creatures on this planet....

This story is so disgusting and awful....what kind of people do this kind of shit?

[LibertyorDeath]

72. They should Heat Up a Branding Iron

and Stamp RETARDED RACIST on their foreheads

[Beerboy]

74. Wow, what a bunch of p.o.s.

All of them look like they've had their faces busted on except horrible witch Frankie Brewster. There's not a whole lot going on upstairs with this bunch, they have nothing but payback heading their way.
Oh well, within 2 years they'll probably all be dead, and all I've got is 'gee, that's a shame'.
Fuck 'em, good riddance to putrid garbage.

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

75. I fail

I fail to grasp how one can get so utterly vile and cruel. My best wishes for the victim..for the others...speechless

[Ian_rd]

76. We don't torture! These are just a few bad apples.

I wonder who these people voted for? Not that that has anything to do with the crime at hand.

[malaise]

79. Shocking indeed

Damn how do human beings do this to their own?

[AspenRose]

89. Having a government that condones it and thinks it's ok doesn't help

Geneva Convention is "quaint," remember?

[verdalaven]

82. They aren't human

you can see it in their eyes. No souls there.

[Jamastiene]

83. Disgusting. We should not allow these people to ever

be free again. Vicious nasty people like that who would perpetrate a hate crime on an innocent woman like that merely because she was black deserve to rot in jail for the rest of their lives and NEVER be allowed out on parole. Period.

[Annces]

84. These people are despicable

Incredible that this occurred. This seems worse than the horror stories that TV land dreams up.

[H2O Man]

85. MSNBC reported

that the authorities are looking for more suspects. They showed the four photos above, and two more young "men."

[Lucinda]

87. pic of the 6 arrested

Plus I think they are looking for two more people who took her there

[Marr]

90. They look like tweakers.

[SidDithers]

86. Put 'em away forever....

they should never see the outside of a prison cell again.

Sid

[Nikki Stone1]

92. It is for people like this that I still support the death penalty in some limited cases

I don't want a lecture on it. It wouldn't do any good.

[Lucinda]

95. I still dont - but to be honest

horrors like this really test my beliefs...

[goodhue]

93. yikes

scary stuff

[H2O Man]

94. More on MSNBC

Retired FBI profiler Cliff VZ is on now. He's a smart man. I enjoy listening to him.

The crime is chilling. Cliff thinks there is a good chance of other related crimes. Hard to imagine this being a lone incident.