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June 1976
MONTROSE, Pa. -
Neighbors gossiped about Dr. Stephen Scher and his adulterous affairs
for decades, though he always denied it - especially when he was
charged with killing his friend, Martin Dillon, so he could marry his
widow.
Scher was charged
and convicted of murder in the June 1976 death of attorney Martin
Dillon at a Dillon family shooting range. The two men were shooting
clay targets when the lawyer took a shotgun blast through the heart.
Scher maintained
that his friend accidentally shot himself with Scher's shotgun while
chasing a porcupine.
He moved away and
married Dillon's widow, Patricia, two years later.
The death was ruled
an accident, but Dillon's father, Lawrence, pressured authorities to
reopen the case. A pathologist performed a second autopsy in 1995 and
charges against Scher followed.
As the trial
opened, the prosecution described in explicit detail a very public
affair seen by everyone from hospital staff to the local paper boy in
this town about 35 miles north of Scranton.
Prosecutor Robert
Campolongo said that when Scher found out Patricia Dillon was ending
the affair and staying with her husband, Scher took action.
"He wanted to
see Martin Dillon dead, and nothing else but dead would do,"
Campolongo said.
During the
skeet-shooting outing, Dillon didn't trip but was executed, shot in
the chest while loading the skeet-throwing machine, Campolongo said.
- UPDATE
A Pennsylvania Superior Court has
overturned the first-degree murder conviction of Dr. Stephen Scher.
The court ruled that the years between the killing and Scher's
arrest tainted the evidence in the trial. Jurors who convicted Scher
were reportedly appalled at the reversal.
March 6, 1978
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. -. Larry Flynt, publisher of
Hustler magazine, and an attorney were shot, apparently because the magazine ran photos of
interracial couples. The lawyer recovered but Flynt was paralyzed from the waist down. The
attempted murders were later attributed to serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin.
TOKYO - A chilling story
involving a major TV network has emerged from the court case against Aum Shinrikyo, the
cult allegedly behind the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. The story began in 1989,
when an obscure cult called Aum was beginning to grow, led by a semi-blind guru. Relatives
seeking the return of kin who had joined the cult sought legal help from a young lawyer. A
major TV network known as TBS, considering the airing of a documentary on the affair,
taped an interview with the lawyer.
According to the prosecutors, a TBS producer leaked
to the cult the news that the lawyer had accused it of fraudulent activities in the
interview. Senior officials of the cult visited the network on October 26, 1989. One of
the cult officials, who has since confessed and pleaded guilty to murder, was a meticulous
notetaker. He recorded the names of the people he met at the TV network and other details
when he and other Aum members were shown a tape of the interview prior to its scheduled
broadcast on an afternoon news-entertainment show the next day. However, the day of the
visit by the AUM members, the TV network decided not to broadcast the interview. The
network claims there was no connection but is investigating.
Meanwhile, alerted to the content of
the interview, the cult leader dispatched three senior members to the lawyer's office.
They demanded that the lawyer withdraw his anti-Aum remarks and apologize. The lawyer
refused.
According to the prosecution in the case against the
cult, the cult leader then said: "[The lawyer] is a problem; we must 'poa' him,"
snapping his fingers. "Poa" is cult jargon for "kill."
The next day, the cult discovered the lawyer's home
address and ordered six followers to kill him, say the prosecutors. The followers drove to
the lawyer's apartment, barging in at around 3 in the morning. They are alleged to have
killed the lawyer, his wife, and infant son and hid the bodies.
February 12, 1989
 BELFAST -- Lawyer Patrick Finucane was shot dead
in front of his family by Loyalist gunmen. Since his death, evidence has come to light
which strongly suggests collusion between military intelligence agents and Loyalist
paramilitary organizations in his killing.
In April 1998 the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, issued a report in which he called
on the UK Government to institute a judicial inquiry into the killing of Patrick Finucane.
The reason for this recommendation by the Special
Rapporteur is the extremely serious question surrounding what the police and security
forces knew or did not know prior to the shooting, and what might have been done to
prevent it. It appears that the security forces had recruited an agent by the name of
Brian Nelson to provide information on the Ulster Defence Association's acitivities.
However, this agent's own participation in the planning of assassinations led to him being
charged and convicted. A BBC Panorama documentary broadcast on 8 June 1992 brought to
light a diary kept by Mr. Nelson. In this diary he claims to have informed his handlers
that Patrick Finucane was being targeted for assassination, and also to have given a
photograph of Mr. Finucane to an assassin a few days before the shooting.
LAWYER
SHOT WITH CROSSBOW
November 15, 1991
Patricia Allen, 31, a Revenue Canada lawyer
was shot by a bolt from a crossbow by her estranged husband, Colin McGregor, a writer for
a Montreal weekly newspaper. Colin McGregor was found guilty of first degree murder and
sentenced to life in prison.
Mireille Durocher Bertin, a Haitian
lawyer, was murdered on Mar. 28, 1995 in Port-au-Prince. The lawyer was shot in broad
daylight as she was driving a client, Eugene Junior Baillergeau, away from the US
military's "Camp Democracy" headquarters. Baillergeau, who was killed along with
Durocher Bertin, was in litigation with the US military over damages a US helicopter had
allegedly done to his private plane. After the assassination, the authorities whisked the
two corpses back to Camp Democracy.
May 27, 1994
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Julio Mora, 70, went on a
shooting rampage in which he shot 3 people in a Fort Lauderdale office building. Killed
were attorney Karen Marx, 30, and Clarence Rudolph,54. Maurice Hall, Rudolph's
attorney, was wounded but survived. All 3 were at the 1st deposition in a wrongful-firing
lawsuit Mora had filed against his former employer, Rudolph.
Mora had worked in at least 3 positions for Rudolph,
who headed the Senior Community Service Employment program; it was subsidized by the
American Association of Retired Persons. The murder was captured on the deoposition
recording machine which was running as Mora, Hall, and Rudolph begin bickering about one
of Mora's questions. Seconds later, Patricia Grant, a court reporter at the deposition,
screamed "No, Dr. Mora! No! No!" Marx was then heard to yell, "help me!
help me! help me!." Then there was a series of gunshots, followed by 30 seconds of
silence, then moaning from Marx, then a final shot.
May 1995
RIO GRANDE DO NORTE, BRAZIL -- Amnesty
International is calling for the federal police to investigate the killing of Gilson
Nogueira, a lawyer investigating cases of death squad crimes and their connections to the
authorities. Gilson Nogueira's work also included legal representation for the families of
death squad victims, including those of the "Mãe Luíza massacre" of 5 March
1995, in which two people were killed, one a pregnant woman.
The 34-year-old lawyer was shot dead on his
doorstep in Natal, by six men. He was killed by 13 shots, most of them to the head.
August 30, 1995
A masked gang of thugs attacked a lawyer
with baseball bats outside of the Hamburg courthouse where he was defending a German man
who called Auschwitz a "myth.'' Attorney Juergen Rieger was hospitalized with head
injuries, bruises, and abrasions. He was released after treatment. One man, suspected to
be a member of the gang of between five and seven, was detained by police.
Sept. 25, 1995
ST. PETERSBURG - Yevgenii Melnitskii, a
lawyer defending Dmitrii Yakubovskii, was murdered today. His controversial client
was arrested late last year in connection with the theft of rare manuscripts worth $100
million from St. Petersburg's National Library. The head of St. Petersburg's criminal
investigations department expressed doubts that Melnitskii's murder was linked to the case
noting that Melnitskii had recently become active in local politics.
Jan. 18, 1996
MONTERREY, Mexico - A lawyer was shot to
death late Wednesday while dining with the state police chief at a restaurant in this
industrial state capital.
Attorney Leopoldo del Real Ibanez was killed
at Cafe Florian by a man who fired two shots at his head, judicial police chief Fernando
Garza Guzman said.
Garza Guzman said he met the
lawyer at the cafe, and about five minutes later the gunman walked in, killed del Real
Ibanez and fled.
February 26, 1996
Two alleged mafia hitmen are still at large
after John Hyden, a Scottish lawyer, was killed by stray bullets during a machine-gun
attack in a five-star hotel that also killed two policemen and left a prominent mafia
figure in hospital,according to St Petersburg police.
The intended target of the hit -- Tambovskaya
Gang leader Victor Gavrilenkov -- survived the attack by diving under his table, escaping
with serious, though not fatal wounds, police said.
Natalya Belik, head of press relations at the
hotel, said, "The British man was unfortunate. He was just sitting drinking coffee
and got his bullet."
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Bruce Barron, a
47-year-old lawyer, killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage in 1996. He
had just learned that his bank was foreclosing on the his home in Derry because the IRS
had placed a lien on it.
In a suicide note, he blamed the IRS and the
bank, saying they are "bigger than me. One sits, does nothing, and watches you die.
One needs to clear its books."
May 1997
PHILADELPHIA - Up-and-coming lawyer Stefanie
Rabinowitz, 29, was found strangled in her home in May. Police have charged her husband,
Craig, 33, a latex glove salesman, with murder. Her husband, who took out a $1.5 million
policy on her life a month earlier, was deeply in debt from involvement in a failed
pyramid scheme. Police also say he spent at least $100,000 on an exotic dancer named
Summer. Rabinowitz pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
June 6, 1997
SAMANABAD - Syed Ghulam Mustafa Jafri, a
senior Supreme Court of Pakistan advocate and general-secretary of Imamia Lawyers
Federation, was gunned down by two unidentified motorcyclists when he had just dropped his
son at an educational academy on Sanda Road near M A O College here on Friday morning.
According to police, the deceased was shot by the armed assailants from a very close
range. A bullet hit him in the face injuring him seriously. He was taken to the Mayo
Hospital but succumbed to his wounds there soon afterwards. The victim was the 91st man to
be killed so far in the incidents of sectarian nature in the Punjab during 1997
July 25, 1997
RICHMOND - H.M.Marsh Sr., a prominent
Virginia attorney, was fatally shot while stopped at a traffic light at a busy
intersection.
The 59 year old lawyer and substitute judge
had stopped for a red light when a bronze or brown 1996 or '97 Cadillac pulled alongside
Marsh's rental Ford Escort. The driver fired four or five times, blasting out the Escort's
windows.
The victim's brother was quoted as saying
"I'm just puzzled as to why something like this would happen, of all of the people
you would expect to be shot, he is the last person you would expect this to happen
to."
March 4, 1998
EKATERINBURG, Urals - Georgii Stepanenko, a
famous Ekaterinburg lawyer who rose to prominence representing the Uralmash criminal
group, was shot to death near his office. Speculation is that he was killed by
corrupt police officers.
April 19, 1998
BOGOTA - An attorney who gained prominence
defending guerrilla leaders was killed in his office with two shots to the head by
assassins posing as journalists. Eduardo Umana Mendoza, 50, was surprised in his central
Colombian office by two men and a women. The killers, one of whom carried a video camera,
posed as a television crew to gain entrance. One of Mendoza's recent cases involved
representing leaders of the national oil workers union charged with conspiring with
leftist rebels to blow up oil pipelines. Hernando Hernandez, president of the union, said
he had no doubt the shooting was the work of a right-wing paramilitary death squad.
May 20, 1998
GUATEMALA - The public prosecutor of
Retalhuleu was gunned down on a highway in Quetzaltenango. She was traveling with her aid
when a group of gunmen attacked their car riddling it with 9mm bullets.
November 11, 1998
SAN ANTONIO -- A criminal defense lawyer was
killed as he slept in his home. A police spokesman said Leslie Vaughn, 44, was shot
in the back of the head in his bed about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Bexar County sheriffs
questioned Vaughn's two sons, ages 16 and 12, who were at home at the time of the attack.
The younger boy said he slept through the incident. The older son, Brian, said he
heard a "loud pop" then ran into his father's bedroom to discover the body.
Jan. 16, 1999
HISAR, India — A lawyer was shot dead
by a youth in the court premises, here today in broad daylight.
The accused has been arrested by the
police.
According to the Superintendent of Police,
Mr Manjeet Singh Ahlawat, the advocate Atma Ram Dhayal was sitting in front of Chamber
Number 116 along with some other colleagues when the youth, Mahinder, came and started
talking to Atma Ram. A mild altercation between the two reportedly ensued, following which
Mahinder took out a country-made pistol and shot Atma Ram in the chest. He was rushed to a
local hospital, where he was declared 'brought dead'.
The murder is said to be the outcome of a
long-pending dispute between the family of Atma Ram and Mahinder over the use of canal
water. Atma Ram and his two brothers and Mahinder and his brother had been detained by the
police about a week back. Both the families have a history of personal enmity.
Mahinder, who has been detained in the
Civil Lines police station, was produced before newsmen. He said he had no regrets for the
murder. He claimed that Atma Ram and his family had been continuously harassing his family
for the past three years. He said, Atma Ram, his father Om Prakash and two brothers Neki
Ram and Chhabildas, recently manhandled his brother Rajinder and father Hetram. He alleged
that Hetram had suffered multiple fractures in his arms, legs and jaws because of the
manhandling.
After firing at Atma Ram, Mahinder tried to
escape. However, he was overpowered by the lawyers present in the lawns. Intervention by
the police prevented the mob from lynching Mahinder. He was severely manhandled by the
lawyers and the mob that gathered there. He suffered facial injuries in the incident.
The police has registered a case under
Section 302 of the IPC against Mahinder. Surprisingly, no lawyer came forward to register
the case. While they helped the police nab Mahinder, but none of them was prepared to sign
the FIR. The case was registered only after the relatives of Atma Ram came from Siswal
village in Mandi Adampur.
While Atma Ram was detained under
preventive custody, lawyers here lodged a protest. This is not for the first time that a
lawyer has been involved in personal disputes. There are several cases pending against
lawyers in various courts. Some time ago, a local lawyer assaulted his colleague. The case
is still registered with the police.
A sense of shock is prevailing among the
lawyers. About 100 lawyers gathered at the site of the incident. However, none of them was
prepared to talk about the incident.
March 15, 1999
BELFAST -- A well-known Catholic human rights lawyer, Rosemary Nelson,
died from injuries she received earlier today in a bomb attack on her car in British-ruled
Northern Ireland.
A spokeswoman at
Craigavon area hospital confirmed the death after Nelson had undergone surgery for wounds
sustained in a suspected booby-trap bomb explosion in the nearby town of Lurgan. “She
has died,” the spokeswoman said. The device exploded shortly before 1300 GMT as
Nelson was driving her car from her home.
Politicians in several parties condemned her murder as sectarian.
3/10/2000
 A
lawyer defending Pakistan's ousted prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, against
serious charges has been shot dead in his office in the southern port city
of Karachi. Police said that Iqbal Raad was with two clients in his office
when four gunmen entered and shot them all dead. Mr Raad was a leading
member of a team of a dozen lawyers defending Mr Sharif on charges of
attempted murder, kidnapping and hijacking, which carries a possible death
sentence.
- 2/28/2001
Laoag Vice
Mayor's lawyer shot dead
LAOAG CITY--The legal counsel of city vice mayor Eddie Domingo was shot
dead yesterday in front of his residence by a still unidentified
assailant.
Lawyer Venancio Albano sustained a lone gunshot wound in the neck and
died on the spot in Barangay Caliloet-Libong, Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
Police probers are still determining the motive behind the killing,
including the possibility that it is linked to the cases lodged against
the Domingos.
3/1/2001
Russian lawyer
shot dead
The head of the
Russian federal chamber of notaries - the body which authenticates all
contracts, has been shot dead as he was entering his home around
midnight.
Anatoly
Tikhnenko died instantly after he was hit five times by an unknown
attacker, who left two pistols at the scene of the crime.
Police said it
bore the hallmarks of a contract killing. Correspondents say contract
killings have become a feature of Russia's unruly business culture.
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