A preliminary hearing is set for Friday for Dennis Reed.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The investigation into the weeklong disappearance of three children whose mother turned up dead Sunday has yielded more charges after police talked to one of the children.
Dennis Reed, 30, also known as Chuck, faces two additional kidnapping charges in Lawrence County. He had originally faced one count of kidnapping after being arrested Saturday in Butler, Pa.
The three children, ages 5, 6 and 8, were found unharmed with Reed, but police discovered cocaine and a firearm on him. He was jailed after failing to post $50,000 bond on drug and firearm charges filed by Butler police.
The children's mother, Wendy Miller, 28, of Sankey Street was found Sunday along the banks of Neshannock Creek in New Castle. An autopsy revealed that she died of a gunshot wound to the back of her head sometime around Dec. 16. Miller's brother reported her and the three children missing Dec. 17.
Search warrants: District Attorney Matthew Mangino said that they are still investigating her death and that no one has been charged. Police have executed search warrants looking for the shotgun that killed her, he said. Mangino would not comment on what was found.
According to an affidavit filed to support the additional kidnapping charges, Reed, who police said is a boyfriend of Miller's forced his way into her home Dec. 15 and punched her.
One of the children told police that Miller and Reed went into another room, where they were heard arguing, and then Miller came back and instructed the children to get dressed, the court document said.
Reed drove Miller and the three children to Neshannock Village, a public housing complex in New Castle, where they left the children in the car and Miller and Reed walked to the nearby woods, the affidavit said.
Reed returned alone and drove the children to Butler. They lived out of a vehicle until they were found, the court document said.
Reed is expected to appear Friday before District Justice Melissa Amodie for a preliminary hearing on the original kidnapping charge. Amodie said he will be arraigned on the two additional kidnapping charges at that time.
Protection order: Court documents show that Miller did have a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Reed, which instructed him to stay away from Miller and her children. It stemmed from Dec. 13, when Miller told police that Reed slapped, choked and threatened to kill her, according to court papers.
The two were scheduled to appear in court last Friday to determine if the protection-from-abuse order would become permanent.
Mangino said it was unclear if Reed had ever been served with those papers before Miller's death.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2001/dec/27/missing-kids-probe-spurs-more-charges/
NEW CASTLE Judge sets hearing in complaint against Wal-Mart
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Wal-Mart and the National Labor Relations Board will square off in court over charges that the Union Township super center tried to keep workers from unionizing.
The NLRB's Region Six office in Pittsburgh issued the complaint last week after investigating claims brought by the United Food & amp; Commercial Workers Union Local 880. Union officials say Wal-Mart violated fair labor practice laws with workers in the Tire and Lube Express department who were considering joining the union in the summer of 2000.
A hearing is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 15 in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court before an administrative law judge.
Lou Maholic, director of organizing for UFCW Local 680, said a vote to determine if the workers will unionize has been postponed until the NLRB charges are resolved.
Response: Wal-Mart officials say the charges are the union's attempt to stall the election because there is not enough support to organize the employees.
"It was blocked because the union had no support and they didn't want to lose face. They did what they felt they had to do," said Jessica Moser, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman from the corporate office in Bentonville, Ark.
Union organizers say that Wal-Mart officials promised to remedy employees' grievances before they voted on the union to undermine support for the union. Those grievances included the employees desire for new equipment, hiring more workers and replacing a district manager.
Moser said those things were done as a normal part of business.
"What they are accusing us of is listening to and taking care of our associates," she said.
Moser noted that one charge involves the move of a union supporter from the tire and lube express department to loss prevention. She said that employee asked to be moved to that new position.
Nationwide: Maholic said the allegations in New Castle demonstrate a nationwide pattern by Wal-Mart of avoiding unionization. He said similar charges against Wal-Mart have been filed in Nevada, Texas and Arizona.
Moser said the union tried to bring unfair labor practice grievances against the retailer on a national basis but was rejected by the NLRB and is now doing it store by store.
"The National Labor Relations Board recognizes that Wal-Mart deals with our associates on a one-to-one basis with an open door policy. That's the kind of relationship we've had. These charges have no merit," she said. "When this is all said and done, we are confident the National Labor Relations Board will dismiss these charges or cause the union to withdraw them."
http://www.vindy.com/news/2001/nov/01/new-castle-judge-sets-hearing-in-complaint-against/
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Wal-Mart and the National Labor Relations Board will square off in court over charges that the Union Township super center tried to keep workers from unionizing.
The NLRB's Region Six office in Pittsburgh issued the complaint last week after investigating claims brought by the United Food & amp; Commercial Workers Union Local 880. Union officials say Wal-Mart violated fair labor practice laws with workers in the Tire and Lube Express department who were considering joining the union in the summer of 2000.
A hearing is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 15 in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court before an administrative law judge.
Lou Maholic, director of organizing for UFCW Local 680, said a vote to determine if the workers will unionize has been postponed until the NLRB charges are resolved.
Response: Wal-Mart officials say the charges are the union's attempt to stall the election because there is not enough support to organize the employees.
"It was blocked because the union had no support and they didn't want to lose face. They did what they felt they had to do," said Jessica Moser, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman from the corporate office in Bentonville, Ark.
Union organizers say that Wal-Mart officials promised to remedy employees' grievances before they voted on the union to undermine support for the union. Those grievances included the employees desire for new equipment, hiring more workers and replacing a district manager.
Moser said those things were done as a normal part of business.
"What they are accusing us of is listening to and taking care of our associates," she said.
Moser noted that one charge involves the move of a union supporter from the tire and lube express department to loss prevention. She said that employee asked to be moved to that new position.
Nationwide: Maholic said the allegations in New Castle demonstrate a nationwide pattern by Wal-Mart of avoiding unionization. He said similar charges against Wal-Mart have been filed in Nevada, Texas and Arizona.
Moser said the union tried to bring unfair labor practice grievances against the retailer on a national basis but was rejected by the NLRB and is now doing it store by store.
"The National Labor Relations Board recognizes that Wal-Mart deals with our associates on a one-to-one basis with an open door policy. That's the kind of relationship we've had. These charges have no merit," she said. "When this is all said and done, we are confident the National Labor Relations Board will dismiss these charges or cause the union to withdraw them."
http://www.vindy.com/news/2001/nov/01/new-castle-judge-sets-hearing-in-complaint-against/
NEW CASTLE, PA. Homicide charge dropped
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Jason Bair won't be held responsible for the death of 14-day-old Kody Bair.
A judge ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to hold Jason Bair on reckless driving charges, which are needed to support a charge of homicide by vehicle for Kody's death.
Bair, 30, of Taylor Street, New Castle, was found guilty of driving without a seat belt and driving on the wrong side of the road in the Sept. 8 car crash that left his estranged wife, Cathy Sue Bair, in a coma. He will pay $35 in fines, plus court costs.
Prosecutors withdrew a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle when the owner of the full-sized Dodge van could not testify at Wednesday's hearing.
Accident: Police said Bair, his estranged wife, and her boyfriend, Joseph Funkhouser, were driving north on Pa. Route 65 at about 1:18 a.m. Sept. 8 when Jason Bair lost control of the full-sized van and it crashed into a large Maple tree.
Bair was found on the ground next to the van, bleeding and complaining of pain in his lower body, police said. Cathy Sue Bair, who was about 34 weeks pregnant, was unconscious and slumped between the passenger and driver's seats after being hit in the back of the head with a table saw, police said. The van was a construction company's tool truck.
She was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh where she slipped into a coma and doctors delivered Kody via Caesarean section later that day.
Kody was immediately put on a respirator and died Sept. 22, according to court records.
Funkhouser, who was Kody's father, was trapped in the van and had to be extricated by firefighters, according to police.
No basis: The judge decided there was no basis for the reckless driving charge after Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert Donaldson testified Bair was driving about 37 miles per hour before impact. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour on Route 65.
And while Bair admitted he had been drinking beer before the accident, his blood alcohol level, 0.03, was below Pennsylvania's legal limit for driving under the influence, 0.10.
No cause for the crash was given during Thursday's preliminary hearing. Bair told police he thought a tire had blown out, but Donaldson testified that all four tires were in tact after the crash.
Bair's attorneys said there may have been some mechanical problem with the van. Donaldson said he could not find any mechanical problems as part of his investigation.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Barletta said the reckless driving charge was needed to support the homicide by vehicle charge.
Standards: District Justice David Rishel also said the homicide by vehicle charge did not meet Pennsylvania's standard, which says the death must involve a person.
Pennsylvania law does not consider a fetus a person, Barletta said.
However, when the Lawrence County accident occurred and prosecutors decided to charge Bair, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in a Westmoreland County case that a viable fetus killed as a result of a car accident was a person, according to Barletta.
But in February 2001, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying that the Pennsylvania Legislature must address the issue, not the courts, Barletta said.
Barletta said because the judge dismissed the reckless driving charge in Kody's death, the district attorney's office will not be able to prosecute Bair if his estranged wife eventually dies from her injuries.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2001/jun/22/new-castle-pa-homicide-charge-dropped/
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Jason Bair won't be held responsible for the death of 14-day-old Kody Bair.
A judge ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to hold Jason Bair on reckless driving charges, which are needed to support a charge of homicide by vehicle for Kody's death.
Bair, 30, of Taylor Street, New Castle, was found guilty of driving without a seat belt and driving on the wrong side of the road in the Sept. 8 car crash that left his estranged wife, Cathy Sue Bair, in a coma. He will pay $35 in fines, plus court costs.
Prosecutors withdrew a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle when the owner of the full-sized Dodge van could not testify at Wednesday's hearing.
Accident: Police said Bair, his estranged wife, and her boyfriend, Joseph Funkhouser, were driving north on Pa. Route 65 at about 1:18 a.m. Sept. 8 when Jason Bair lost control of the full-sized van and it crashed into a large Maple tree.
Bair was found on the ground next to the van, bleeding and complaining of pain in his lower body, police said. Cathy Sue Bair, who was about 34 weeks pregnant, was unconscious and slumped between the passenger and driver's seats after being hit in the back of the head with a table saw, police said. The van was a construction company's tool truck.
She was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh where she slipped into a coma and doctors delivered Kody via Caesarean section later that day.
Kody was immediately put on a respirator and died Sept. 22, according to court records.
Funkhouser, who was Kody's father, was trapped in the van and had to be extricated by firefighters, according to police.
No basis: The judge decided there was no basis for the reckless driving charge after Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert Donaldson testified Bair was driving about 37 miles per hour before impact. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour on Route 65.
And while Bair admitted he had been drinking beer before the accident, his blood alcohol level, 0.03, was below Pennsylvania's legal limit for driving under the influence, 0.10.
No cause for the crash was given during Thursday's preliminary hearing. Bair told police he thought a tire had blown out, but Donaldson testified that all four tires were in tact after the crash.
Bair's attorneys said there may have been some mechanical problem with the van. Donaldson said he could not find any mechanical problems as part of his investigation.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Barletta said the reckless driving charge was needed to support the homicide by vehicle charge.
Standards: District Justice David Rishel also said the homicide by vehicle charge did not meet Pennsylvania's standard, which says the death must involve a person.
Pennsylvania law does not consider a fetus a person, Barletta said.
However, when the Lawrence County accident occurred and prosecutors decided to charge Bair, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in a Westmoreland County case that a viable fetus killed as a result of a car accident was a person, according to Barletta.
But in February 2001, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying that the Pennsylvania Legislature must address the issue, not the courts, Barletta said.
Barletta said because the judge dismissed the reckless driving charge in Kody's death, the district attorney's office will not be able to prosecute Bair if his estranged wife eventually dies from her injuries.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2001/jun/22/new-castle-pa-homicide-charge-dropped/