Dana Pretzer Show – Special Guests: Atty. Michael Winston, Jossy Mansur & Jacque Hollander

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 Standard Podcast [87:19m]: Download

Special Guests:

• 9:00 PM: Attorney Michael Winston (Atty for Joe Mammana v. OH Crime Stoppers)
• 9:30 PM: Jossy Mansur (Editor of Diario)
• 9:45 PM: Jacque Hollander (Appealing Rape case against James Brown)

Tonight the attorney for Joe Mammana, Michael  Winston, will join us to discuss the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers situation with Kevin Miles and Joe Mammana. A situation that has got completely out of hand with accusations of forged documents, verbal contracts, baseball bat beatings and most recently an arrest on a parole violation.

Then Jossy Mansur, Managing editor of Diario, will be discussing the recent events of this past week in Aruba. From the airing of the Peter de Vries program to the suspects day in court on Friday. As always, Jossy will give us the dirt as to what has really been going on in Aruba and where the Natalee Holloway case stands.

Finally, Dana Petzer and Scared Monkeys radio has an exclusive internet interview with Jacque Hollander. She is trying to have her law suit against James Brown appealed. Larry Garrison is representing Jacque Hollander as a spokesperson and stated that she did pass lie detector test. This is actually a fascinating case and many should take a look at The Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. It is possible that this case could change the growing trend of recent rape cases that have all but shredded the rape shield laws and made the rape victims, victims again.

Dana Pretzer Show- Special Guests: Jay Paul Deratany, Kevin Miles & Wade Jones

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Special Guests:

• 9:00 pm: Jay Paul Deratany (Melinda Duckett family attorney)
• 9:30 pm: Kevin Miles (Central Ohio Crime Stoppers)
• 9:45 pm: Wade Jones (The Elvis cup guy)

Listen to Podcast Here:

 Standard Podcast [97:53m]:  Download

Listen tonight as the Melinda Duckett family attorney, Jay Paul Detratany, discusses the recent law suit filed against Nancy Grace. He will discuss the merits of the law suit and the role of the media.

Also Kevin Miles, the President of the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers weighs in with his side of the story regarding the Popovich reward money law suit and his recent reported attack by an individual with a baseball bat.

We will also have some light hearted fun and humor with the “Elvis Cup” guy. Trust me and listen to this one, it will be funny.

Kevin Miles, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers President attacked with Baseball bat … Implication was made “Joe sent him”

The story just gets more bizarre. Kevin Miles, the President of the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, is presently locked in a heated law suit with Philadelphia philanthropist Joe Mammana over reward money in the Julie Popovich case. Now it appears that Kevin Miles has been attacked by a man with a baseball bat las Sunday. Now accusations are being made by Kevin Miles and his attorney, Kinsley Nyce, that Joe Mammana may have been involved. Please note that Kevin Miles of Central Ohio Crime Stopper’s will be Dana Pretzer’s guest tonight on Scared Monkey’s radio at 9:00 pm EDT to tell his side of the story.

Miles said that a man with a similar description to his attacker approached Crime Stoppers attorney Kinsley Nyce over the weekend and told him that “Joe sent him.”

Miles wouldn’t say if he believed there was any connection.

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions or make things worse,” he said. (Columbus Dispatch)

Seems that it has already been made worse by the comments. It is a shame that the reward issue has even been made public and that dirty laundry is being aired in this manner. In an interview previously with Joe Mammana, he stated that he would make payment on the reward in the Julia Popovich murder when the suspect was convicted. To date that has not occurred.

(Popovich agreement, click on doc to enlarge)

document 1

We have talked with Joe Mammana recently regarding the latest allegations that he had something to do with the attack on Kevin Miles. Joe Mammana stated that  “it was a joke and that Kevin Miles made this up in the same manner as he did the signed contract.” In typical Joe fashion he asked, “whether any girl scouts had their cookies stolen recently, maybe they should be looked into.” Mammana also made the following comments:

He mocked Miles’ allegation, ridiculed his weight and suggested the beating was deserved.

“If he was able to talk, it wasn’t me,” Mammana said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. “Where was he, at Wendy’s?” (Washington Post)

Joe Mammana states he never signed an agreement with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers and that his signature is a forgery.

It is unfortunate that the reward issue with the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, Kevin Miles and Joe Mammana has gotten this far out of hand and is being aired in the press.

The head of a crime tipsters group was attacked by a man with a baseball bat and told to drop a lawsuit against a philanthropist over an unpaid reward, the man’s attorney said Monday.

The attack near Kevin Miles’ home Sunday morning left him badly bruised, said Kinsley Nyce, Miles’ lawyer. Miles, who was treated at a hospital and released, said he was “pretty beat up” but declined to comment further. (SF Chronicle)

There are a couple things that are most bizarre and do not make much sense. Maybe too many episodes of the Soprano’s have been watched.

• 1. Why would Joe Mammana not pay this reward when he has paid others?
• 2. Why would a law suit be filed when one party claims that they will pay as soon as the suspect is convicted?
• 3. Was the contract ever signed by Joe Mammana or is it a forgery?
• 4. Why would Joe Mammana threaten either Kevin Miles or his attorney when he would have been the first people that police would have looked at?

One thing is for certain, the publicity from all this does not do any favors to Crime Stoppers or rewards for missing persons or unsolved crimes. This has been handled so poorly and made so public that future donors may just shy away.

If the question in play here is over semantics as to whether a reward should be paid over arrest and indictment or arrest and conviction then one should keep the following in mind. We will not even use the Aruba revolving carousel of arrested suspects, but one closer to home. Imagine having to pay rewards for tips in the arrest and indictments in the Duke Lacrosse Case? Three suspects have been arrested and indicted by the DA in North Carolina in the much publicized Duke Lacrosse Rape case. Yet, there hardly seems like their is any evidence, any communication with the suspects or accuser by the DA and may never be a trial. What if the three Duke Lacrosse players are never trial and are released? Should a reward be paid for doing nothing that furthers a case? The answer is “NO”. So what’s the difference here?

Joe Mammana Puts Up $2 Million in Rewards for 20 Missing Persons Cases … And the Bizarre Crime Stoppers Situation

Recently Joe Mammana put up $20 Million for 20 “Missing Person” cases in an effort to hopefully drum up new leads. $100,000 is reward money was given to the following missing person cases.

Last month, Patti Bishop, stepmother of Karen Jo Smith, who disappeared in Indianapolis on Dec. 27, 2000, contacted Mammana about her vision for a “Squeaky Wheel Tour” to draw attention to missing persons cases.
Mammana liked the idea and agreed to fund rewards to try to draw out information. In short order, he and Bishop devised a plan to offer $2 million for 20 cases for 20 days — Sunday through Nov. 24 — with $100,000 dedicated to each case. (Indy Star)

We were contacted by Patti Bishop, the step-mother of of Karren Jo Smith telling us of this special reward offer that is being done by Joe Mammana. The rewards runs from Sunday, November 5, 2006 through Friday, November 24, 2006.

However, recently there has been some other bizarre news going on as well regarding Joe Mammana, rewards and Crime Stopper’s of Ohio. Originally, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers stated that they were taking Philadelphia philanthropist, Joe Mammana, to court for an issue in the failure to pay reward monies in the Julia Popovich case.

“We’re very disappointed we had to go to this level,” said Crime Stoppers President Kevin Miles. “We’ve sent e-mails, we’ve sent phone calls. It’s not happening.” (NBC4)

Some other rather disparaging comments were made by Kevin Miles of Crime Stoppers which are difficult to believe. In my opinion, not having talked to Joe Mammana at that point to believe not only that Joe would need to borrow money from anyone, but more so that a representative from Crime Stoppers would air any dirty laundry like this in the press.

“About three or four months ago when he came to town, he had to borrow $100 off of me when I realized, how does a guy with a $100,000 watch need a $100 from a fat guy? That was when I said, ‘This doesn’t seem straight.’ And he said he would send it back to me and he never did.” (NBC4)

Seeing that reward money was being called into question, we decided to contact Joe Mammana and ask what on earth was going on as well as ask whether he would like to come on Scared Monkeys radio and explain. It seems that some of the discrepancies are coming from the following.

“Arrest and conviction. You just can’t pay for an arrest,” Mammana said in a phone interview from Aruba, explaining the criteria for payment.

But in one case, Mammana signed a contract to pay for information resulting in the arrest or indictment of a suspect. A grand jury indicted one man for the murder of an Ohio State student nine months ago. (WTHR)

 This is where the thing gets sticky. It is hard to believe that one would pay a reward for an arrest or an arrest and indictment. The reason being that neither an arrest or an indictment means a conviction. Let’s use the Natalee Holloway example. That would mean that a reward would have been paid every time a suspect was arrest? That would be insane. Or in the case of the Duke Lacrosse rape case. Three suspects have been arrested and indicated, yet many question whether the case will go to trial. That hardly seems like what the intent is of a reward to get information or leads on a missing persons case or a homicide.

However, now comes the really bizarre situation, the signed contract. In talking with Joe Mammana yesterday and earlier today, he states that the “so-called contract is a forgery.”

Philadelphia philanthropist Joe Mammana claimed that Central Ohio Crime Stoppers forged his signature on a contract that requires Mammana to pay $31,000 for information that led to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the death of Julie Popovich.

Crime Stoppers officials said the claims are ridiculous. (NBC4)

We are in receipt of multiple items with signatures on it and are making some comparisons ourselves. In speaking with Joe Mammana, he stated that the contracts have been sent to hand writing analysts. Joe Mammana will provide us with the results when available. We will provide the documents for all to see in the near future.

Also others have come forward and states that Joe Mammana has paid rewards to other tipsters. This is really a bizarre and strange situation that looks like will end up with both parties suing each other.

“We pay based on arrest and conviction, that’s what we stand by. It’s been that way for 15 years. We don’t budge,” Mammana said.

Earlier this year, The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Mammana agreed to pay $6,000 to a Philadelphia tipster after a suspect pleaded guilty to killing a transit-authority employee.

Santo Montecalvo, vice president of the Delaware Valley Crimes Commission, a Philadelphia-area tip line, said Mammana also paid a reward in a rape conviction earlier this year. He did not reveal the amount, citing disclosure policies.

Montecalvo said Mammana has been a strong supporter of the commission. He said he is puzzled by the disagreement.

“I just don’t get it. I think it’s a terminology of words or a bad misunderstanding,” he said. (Orlando Sentinel)

We will be following this story and getting to the bottom of the signed contracts. This may become the next “RAthERGATE.” The question that I have is in previously meeting Joe Mammana, money was hardly an object. Now was this contract signed or not by Joe Mammana? I have seen some of the correspondence between the parties, which we will make public soon. What is beyond strange I have to say was the content of emails between what is supposed to be professional.

As they say … developing.

Beth Twitty is still living every parent’s nightmare one year later

Its been a year for Beth Twitty in dealing with the pain and anguish of dealing with the disappearance of her Daughter Natalee. A year that most likely seems like an eternity. Every day is the same for Beth Twitty. Ever day represents another day without answers and without Natalee. Beth Twitty is no different than any other parent of a missing child. Although in some respects, she is.

“Nobody would give up until one thing has happened,” Beth says. “Either charges have to be filed or the case has to be closed and right now we still have an active investigation, no charges have been filed. We’re doing just what any parent would do at this point.”

Beth is still living every parent’s nightmare. Last May, six hours after she got the call that Natalee was missing, she was on a plane to the tropical island, where her daughter was celebrating her high school graduation with her friends.

(Yahoo Entertainment)

Having just recently having the opportunity to talk to Beth I am reminded of the amazing strength she displays and also the enormous mountain of grief that she takes on every day. She faces every parents worse nightmare. The possibility of losing their child. Parents are not supposed to bury their children and the sad fact is that Beth Twitty can at least get a small amount of closure in doing just that.

And although she’s still working for some sort of closure, Beth says she knows she may never see her daughter again. “I don’t think any of us think that’s a very good possibility,” she says. “Of course every parent hopes to see their son or daughter alive again, but I think in Natalee’s case we know that it doesn’t look good.”

Beth Twitty battles on and fights the good fight. She is a tremendous inspiration and will be for future parents who unfortunately find themselves in the same position. I am proud that we could be a support for a family who at many times found themselves down but not out and up against the wall. 

One year ago I never knew who Beth Twitty, Dave Holloway, Jug Twitty, Robin Holloway, Paul Reynolds, Tim Miller (TES), Joe Mamana, so many others and more importantly who Natalee Holloway was. One year later after a roller coaster ride of our own and through the support of the internet, both commenters, readers, lurkers and faithful Monkeys we are all better for having known them and showing them our support.

One year later by witnessing Beth Twitty’s unwaivering strength as an example to us all, I am proud to know this brave family of people as simply Beth, Dave, Robin, Jug, Paul, Tim, Joe and Natalee.