Ebrahim Baytieh

Joseph G. Cavallo, Haidl Gang Rape Lawyer, Wins Personal Corruption Case Dismissal

It wasn't too many years ago when Joseph G. Cavallo was one of Orange County's most well-connected criminal defense lawyers. Cavallo's close, power-hungry pals included Sheriff Mike Carona as well as assistant sheriff George Jaramillo and Don Haidl.But that dream team began to collapse after Cavallo ... More >>

OC's Ebrahim Baytieh Named California's Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year

The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) has named Orange County's Ebrahim Baytieh as the state's "Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year."The honor is not surprising. During his career, Baytieh--a tireless Senior Deputy District Attorney with a photographic memory and a gentlemanly courtroo ... More >>

DA's Office Files Charges Over Oxycontin-Laced Yogurt Suicide

​The Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested a 65-year-old woman today after alleging that she spiked a World War II veteran's yogurt with Oxycontin so he could commit suicide in Laguna Niguel.Elizabeth Jane Barrett remains in custody inside the Orange County Jail and faces one felony count of ... More >>

Inadvertently Funny OC Courthouse Quote of the Day!

​"He [the boyfriend] said, 'I didn't ejaculate' and she [the Anaheim high school junior] said, 'He didn't penetrate.' So it must not have been the best sex."--Straight-faced Orange County defense lawyer Robert Viefhaus explaining in his closing argument this afternoon why his client, accused murde ... More >>

Juana Perez Valencia: Accused Baby Killer Blocked From Testifying in English

​How's this for a rare dilemma: A Mexico City native facing charges she murdered her infant baby in 2009 and tossed the girl's body in a Stanton trash can was told she could testify in her own defense today only if she spoke in Spanish and used an interpreter.Speaking softly in elementary English ... More >>

Clarence Butterfield: Appeals Court Rejects Sex With Daughter Complaint By Nutty Killer

​Clarence Butterfield claimed that his murder conviction should be overturned because an Orange County prosecutor improperly implied he'd had sex with his own 21-year-old daughter before killing her.You can forgive law enforcement for believing something was kinky and terribly wrong with Butterfie ... More >>

Ethan Rosenfeld: Court Rejects OCDA's First Degree Murder Conviction

​There's no doubt that alcoholic Ethan Emanuel Rosenfeld murdered his elderly mother in Leisure World, but two powerful legal entities don't agree on the strength of the district attorney's case.On May 30, 2005, Orange County paramedics found 82-year-old Helen Rosenfeld wrapped in bed "like a burr ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

The Chamberlain Files

The inside story of covering—and becoming part of—the county's most disturbing jailhouse murder case

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

[UPDATED W/PHOTOS] John Chamberlain Murder Trial: Jurors Reject First Degree Murder

​UPDATE, OCT 24, 6:10 P.M.: The jury in the case of five Theo Lacy Jail inmates accused of murdering John Chamberlain, the software engineer they suspected of being a child molester, may be hopelessly deadlocked, but they've agreed on one point: they cannot unanimously convict the defendants of fi ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial: "Cold Blooded, Black Hearted Murderers"

​Shortly before asking jurors to return first degree murder verdicts against the five former Theo Lacy Jail inmates charged in the brutal Oct. 6, 2006 murder of suspected child molester John Chamberlain, Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh asked them to look one last time at the bruised, bloo ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial: Who Lit the Fire?

​Closing arguments began today in the two-month long trial of five jail inmates accused of murdering John Chamberlain, a suspected child molester, at Theo Lacy Jail on Oct. 5, 2006. While both prosecutors and defense attorneys have sparred over seemingly every aspect of the complex case, both side ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial: Runaway Juror Edition

John Chamberlain's booking photo​Closing arguments in the trial of five former Theo Lacy Jail inmates accused in the Oct. 5, 2006 beating death of John Chamberlain, perhaps Orange County's most gruesome jailhouse murder, were delayed today because of a missing juror. What makes this news funny rat ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial: Judge Rules to Exclude Evidence of Alleged Cover-Up

Ex-Deputy Kevin Taylor​As anyone who has followed this story already knows, John Chamberlain, a Rancho Santa Margarita software engineer arrested for possession of child pornography, was brutally assaulted at the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange by dozens of inmates who believed he was a child molester. H ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial Day Three: Deputy Taylor's Partner Speaks

John Chamberlain's booking photo​You could tell that Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Chapluk was nervous. Okay, maybe not as nervous as he was on that security footage from the night of Oct. 5, 2006 when he and fellow Theo Lacy Jail guard Kevin Taylor were bouncing around the guard tower insi ... More >>

The John Chamberlain Murder Trial Begins

[Moxley Confidential] Some defense lawyers claim the deputies made their clients do it

DA: Defendants Tortured, Sexually Assaulted and Killed John Derek Chamberlain

Jared Petrovich: OC jail deputies wanted inmates to beat Chamberlain ​In a 59-minute opening statement today, Orange County homicide prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh promised jurors he won't "sugarcoat anything" about the gruesome 2006 jailhouse murder of John Derek Chamberlain by "waves" of inmates who ... More >>

[UPDATED with Victim's Death:] Leovardo Vera Bustos, OC Homicide No. 33: Dies From Single Punch Outside Nightclub

Medina-Perez​UPDATE, JULY 26, 7:44 A.M.: 24-year-old Westminster resident Leovardo Vera Bustos has died from the brain injuries suffered after sustaining a single punch in front of La Barca NIght Club in Stanton on July 5.Bustos fell backward, hit the ground hard, lost consciousness and never reg ... More >>

[UPDATED with DA Report:] Brea Cop Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Julian "Jules" Collender

​UPDATE, JUNE 29, 4:56 P.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) today released an 11-page letter based on its investigation of last year's police shooting of the late Julian "Jules" Collender, but it is the final two paragraphs that say it all: "Based on all the evidence presented ... More >>

Vietnamese Gangster Finally Gets Supreme Court Ruling

Vietnamese In Prison For Life (VIPFL)​How quickly do the wheels of justice turn in California?This week the state's Supreme Court announced its decision relating to criminal acts--violent extortion of Little Saigon businesses--committed 18 years ago by Quang Minh Tran, a shot caller for the crimin ... More >>

Anthony Darnell Wade to Face Death Penalty in Brutal Rape, Torture, Murder of 84-Year-Old Widow

​Anthony Darnell Wade is accused of breaking into a sleeping Bessie Whyman's Paradise Road home in Anaheim on Jan. 10, 2010, and going on to bind the 84-year-old widow's hands and feet, repeatedly punch and kick her, brutally rape her, torture her and stab her numerous times with a kitchen knife t ... More >>

Two More Inmates in OC Jailhouse Murder Plead Guilty

​Christopher Teague and Jeremy Dezso Culmann, two of nine inmates charged with beating to death a suspected child molester inside Theo Lacy Jail in Oct. 2006, have pleaded guilty to the crime, according to a press release issued by the Orange County district attorney's office today. As the Weekly ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Alfredo "Freddy" Cruz GUILTY in Murder That Followed Spat Over Girl, Vandalized Car

The late Luis Alejandro Rivera, with his son Isik.​Update, December 16, 3:35 p.m.: 24-year-old Alfredo "Freddy" Cruz was convicted today of murdering Luis Rivera outside the young father's Lake Forest home. Cruz could get up to 15 years to life in state prison at the Lake Forest resident's sentenc ... More >>

Paul Marshal Curry Faces Extradition Hearing in Kansas for Wife's 1994 Murder in OC

​A Salina, Kansas, man faces an extradition hearing today as he has been arrested and charged in the cold case murder of his wife in San Clemente 16 years ago.Paul Marshal Curry, 54, is accused of poisoning his wife of two years, Linda Curry, for a $400,000 life insurance payoff. He faces life in ... More >>

Clarence Eugene Butterfield Gets Life in Prison for Torture-Death of Daughter Kept in Freezer

​Clarence Eugene Butterfield, the 57-year-old carpenter who lived in an RV with a 21-year-old daughter he tortured and killed and whose dead body was found nearly two years later in an unplugged freezer, was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole."He killed a person h ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Trial of the Alleged Torture Dad Ends in Conviction

​We have a verdict, ladies and gentlemen. Torture dad is going to find out what cellmates do to people like him after all. Read about his testimony, and the jury's decision after the jump.Have you ever heard the one about the man living in a van, down by the river, who is being accused of torturin ... More >>

Ethan Emanuel Rosenfeld's Trial in 82-Year-Old Mother's Murder by Strangulation Begins

​Opening statements begin this morning in the Santa Ana trial of a 52-year-old Laguna Woods man accused of strangling and murdering his 82-year-old widowed mother at the Leisure World home they shared.The trial will be held in two phases because Ethan Emanuel Rosenfeld has entered pleas of "not gu ... More >>

Prosecutors Enthusiastically Endorse Sheriff Sandra Hutchens

Prosecutors: Hutchens deserves to win sheriff's race​Out on the campaign trail it often looks like Dana Point's Sandra Hutchens doesn't enjoy politics, but today the appointed sheriff has reason to smile after receiving the "enthusiastic and unconditional endorsement" of the Association of Or ... More >>

Judge in Jailhouse Murder Case Failed to Disclose Conflict; DA Should Drop Case, Motions Claim

Jared Petrovich​The case of the brutal Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Derek Chamberlain, an inmate at Theo Lacy Men's Jail who died at the hands of inmates who believed he was a child molester, is already sensational enough. Although only nine inmates have been charged in his death, both the suspects ... More >>

Judge to Costa Mesa White Supremacist: "You Shall Suffer the Death Penalty"

Serial killer before he inked two Nazi SS tats over his throat​It took almost 12 minutes for Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel to summarize Billy Joe Johnson's extensive rap sheet and mention a few mitigating factors before finding that the Costa Mesa-bred white supremacist gangster's 30-year sp ... More >>

OC Serial Killer Gets His New Home Wish: Death Row

Billy Joe Johnson says drugs blocked his dreams​On the day he didn't bother to spike his Mohawk (with jailhouse soap) or tuck in his white button down shirt, Costa Mesa serial killer Billy Joe Johnson received the death penalty recommendation from a somber jury of eight men and four women. Johnson ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Killer Billy Joe Johnson Makes His Case for Death Row

Will An OC Jury Send A Costa Mesa Serial Killer to Death Row?

Costa Mesa serial killer say he has no remorse​Lisping serial killer Billy Joe Johnson (pictured) walked into Orange County Superior Court today in a seemingly relaxed mood despite the shackles, handcuffs and extra security. An animated, wide-eyed smile appeared on Johnson's prison pale face when ... More >>

White Supremacist OC Nazi Gets His Wish!

Will Billy Joe's Suck Up to Prison Gang Work?​In what may have been acclaimed homicide prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh's easiest conviction, a jury this afternoon found Billy Joe Johnson--the notorious, wide-eyed and lisping Costa Mesa white supremacist--guilty in the 2002 conspiracy to execute a fello ... More >>

Courthouse Shocker! Defense Admits DA Is Dead-Right About White Supremacist Client

Who created Billy Joe Johnson?​There was something comical about defense attorney Michael Molfetta's opening performance today in the trial of legendary Costa Mesa serial killer/white supremacist Billy Joe Johnson. Molfetta, a former prosecutor with legendary oratory skills, represents Johnson--a ... More >>

More Details on Post-War Crime

Various news agencies have identified the 25-year-old suspect in the beating death of his 19-year-old girlfriend and aspiring model as a distinguished U.S. Army Iraq war veteran who earned a Purple Heart, an Army Commendation Medal and a Combat Infantry Badge. Now, the retired infantryman sits in O ... More >>

Death Official for PEN1 White Supremacist Killer

Dana Point's Michael Lamb ditched his menacing shaved head look and entered Judge William Froeberg's 10th floor Santa Ana courtroom this morning with a full, messy head of hair that still couldn't cover the white supremacist tattoos doting his scalp, face, throat and neck. It wasn't like Lamb, a v ... More >>

Lamb Chopped: White Supremacist Gets Death

White supremacist gangster and killer Michael Lamb (pictured) trotted into a heavily guarded Orange County courtroom this afternoon, chuckled with his lawyers and watched quietly as a court clerk announced the jury's verdict: death. But the proceedings, which took less than two minutes, nearly lef ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Billy Joe Johnson Tries to Save Pal From Death Row. Plus, Adieu, Buffalo Jim

Saturday's Headlines & Surprises: Are There Snapple Bottles in Jail?

Sheriff's Lawyer Pal Going to the Slammer: Somehow defense attorney Joe Cavallo—indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s longtime drinking buddy—was able to operate a bail bonds scheme inside Carona’s jail. Hmmm. Wonder how that happened. Any ideas Mikey? Anyhow, yesterday Cavallo (pictured) be ... More >>

PENI Gangster Won't See Freedom Again

This afternoon Superior Court Judge William Froeberg sentenced convicted killer Jacob Rump, a 30-year-old Orange County gangster, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 2002 ambush murder in Anaheim. Details about the case involving Rump (pictured), who is a member of Public Enem ... More >>

How Many Public Enemy Number One Death Squaders Can You Squeeze Onto Death Row?

Billy Joe Johnson, Orange County's most infamous white supremacist and killer, inched closer this week to San Quentin State Prison's Death Row. Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh charged Johnson (pictured) with the lying-in-wait 2002 murder of a fellow Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squ ... More >>

DA Determined to Send White Supremacist Killer to Death Row

Prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh announced this morning he will try a second time to send convicted killer Michael Alan Lamb, 33, to San Quentin State Prison's notorious Death Row. An Orange County jury convicted the Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad hit man in July for the execution-style murd ... More >>

OC Murderer Escapes Death Row--for Now

Jury deadlocks on ‘ultimate’ punishment for Michael Lamb

OC White Supremacist Killer Avoids Death Penalty

Just before lunch today, the jury in the Michael Allan Lamb murder case announced itself "hopelessly deadlocked" on whether the Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad member deserved the death penalty. The vote was nearly tied after almost three days of deliberating. Six jurors wanted death; f ... More >>

The 'Good Seed'?

Defense: Death penalty would be unfair to convicted murderer who loves baseball and his brothers

Wednesday's Headlines & Surprises

Build It & Hope They Come: The Register reports that Irvine has approved a 5-mile, $280 million street car/bus plan that will link the future Great Park to the Irvine Spectrum and a train station by 2012. City officials, untrustworthy in the past, claim that each day 5,000 people will abandon their ... More >>

White Meat, Please

DA roasts Lamb and Rump, two seasoned white supremacists

A Day in the Park With Hitler