Michael Plumadore,39, who bludgeoned 9 yr.old girl to death, Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon before dismembering her is spared death penalty. He has plead GUILTY/Update: 06/18/12: Sentenced to Life w/NO Possibility of Parole!

Service slated Thursday for Aliahna Lemmon, 9
Dominic Adams | The Journal Gazette
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There will be a memorial service for Aliahna Marie Maroney Lemmon at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Assembly of God, 1400 W. Washington Center Road, with calling one hour before, according to an obituary.

Aliahna, 9, was a third-grader at Holland Elementary in Fort Wayne Community Schools.

She is survived by her father, Dawayne Maroney; mother, Tarah Souders; stepfather, Allen Souders; siblings Briana, Shaleigh, Trinity and Kyle, and grandparents Leanne and David Story.

Arrangements are being handled by D.O. McComb & Sons Pine Valley Park Funeral Home, 1320 E. Dupont Road.

Neighbor Michael L. Plumadore, 39, told police he was baby-sitting Aliahna when he killed her Dec. 22 and then dismembered her, according to court documents.

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artgal16 wrote:Yes Wrap, he pleaded not guilty probably on the advise of his lawyers - I dont understand why they just dont plead guilty and let them sentence him - hes not going to get away with it, unless they are going for a psych defense.

BBM:From what I gather, he didn't even have a "public pretender" yet. I would bet once he does, he is going to be told there is NO Point in taking this to trial UNLESS the State seeks the DP. MOO.

NG covering this story tonight - stating that Plumadore
had been texting a 13 year old and sending her nude photos of his genitalia to her.

I just now turned it on.

Talking about how Aliahna was molested by her bio fathers ex-wife's stepbrother who babysat her and molested her. NG says she is not blaming the mom - I say why the hell NOT??? Who is to blame then? Im sick of these cases really sick of them.

The ONLY reason NG says she is not blaming the mom is because she wants "the mom" on her show...BOMBSHELL!, TONIGHT, ALIHNA'S MOTHER SPEAKS FOR THE FIRST TIME." She did the same damned think with Cindy.

Did you hear someone say that the father and the killer were FB'ing even after he admitted killing and dismembering her body????? That is Sick!! These peeps are a bunch of low lives and POS's! I want to know where her sisters are. I hope they aren't anywhere Near that scumbag trailer park or her mother/father/family. They are all whacked!

I fell asleep during NG and did not hear the part where her Father & the murderer were FB'ing each other!!!!
I agree w/ the reason NG isn't being hard on the Mom. These people are scum bags!

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to for being with us. Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, the trusted friend of the family/male baby-sitter hauled into court in full shackles. A stunning twist. In the face of shocking physical evidence that this man hacked up a 9-year-old girl with a hacksaw, placing her head in his freezer, 39-year- old Michael Plumadore says, I didn`t do it, I`m not guilty.

We are taking your calls. Let`s go straight out to the scene, there at the jail where Plumadore is being held, to WANE`s Drew Blair. Drew, the judge entering a not guilty plea in court for this guy.

Take a look at him. Let`s see that video again, Dana. When I look at this guy, I just -- I can`t believe in the face of all the physical evidence, including the girl`s head in the freezer, he says he didn`t do it? What happened, Drew?

DREW BLAIR, WANE: Well, Nancy, to be clear, Michael Plumadore never actually said the words, I didn`t do it. As far as we are concerned, there is still...

GRACE: Excuse me!

BLAIR: ... a confession with police...

GRACE: Excuse me, Drew! Did he enter a guilty plea today, Drew? That`s a yes/no question! Did he say, I`m guilty, I did it?

BLAIR: The judge actually entered...

GRACE: So that would be...

BLAIR: ... that not guilty plea on his behalf.

GRACE: ... a no! He did not say, I`m guilty. Therefore, a not guilty plea has been entered for him! Was he standing there in court, Drew?

BLAIR: That`s correct. He was standing there and...

GRACE: OK...

BLAIR: ... and he was very quiet, very solemn the entire time.

GRACE: Did he correct the judge when the judge entered a not guilty plea for him?

BLAIR: He did not.

GRACE: OK. So a not guilty plea entered in court today. Please describe Plumadore, Drew.

BLAIR: Well, again, Nancy he was very quiet. He was reserved. He hung his head low the entire time as he was escorted in the courthouse and then outside the courthouse.

I`ve been covering court cases here for a while now, Nancy. I`ve never seen anything like this. There was all kinds of extra security and precautions in place for his appearance, 30 sheriff deputies surrounding the perimeter of the courthouse and the courtroom the entire time he was there.

GRACE: Thirty sheriffs, according to WANE`s Drew Blair, joining us there live where Plumadore is being held in isolation for his own protection -- 30 sheriffs for Plumadore`s safety. But nobody was there to protect this 9-year-old girl.

And tonight we learn it`s not his first time at the rodeo, people. Plumadore previously charged with sexually harassing and stalking another little girl, including sending that little girl naked shots of a male body. Why wasn`t this monster checked out before he was left alone with a 9-year- old little girl for nearly a week?

Joining me right now, the man responsible for cracking the case, Sheriff Ken Fries with us from the Fort Wayne, Indiana, sheriff`s department. Sheriff, for being with us.

SHERIFF KEN FRIES, ALLEN COUNTY, IN: Glad to be here, Nancy.

GRACE: Sheriff, I know that you -- your stomach must turn. It was you and your law men and law women that cracked this case, that worked 24/7 around the clock over Christmas holiday to find the killer of little Aliahna.

When you hear that he was previously charged with sexting, sending sex messages to another little girl, including naked male photos -- did you know that?

FRIES: We didn`t know it at the time, but that`s one of the things that has concerned us. That`s why I`ve asked the FBI to reach out to their sources around the country, anyplace he`s been in the past, to see if there`s any type of cases like this still out there that are unsolved that he may be involved in.

GRACE: With me, standing there at the jail where Plumadore being held in isolation, Sheriff Ken Fries, responsible for cracking the case. Sheriff, the fact that now we know that he has been charged with sexting, sending sex text messages, to another little girl -- her mom found out and brought to it the attention of authorities. Of course, nothing was done with that case, I might add. But he was -- he did get the accusation against him.

Let me ask you, Sheriff, when he confessed, as he did to you and your people, please tell me it was caught on video, or at least audibly recorded.

FRIES: Yes, it was. It was on videotape.

GRACE: Can I just say that`s the best Christmas present you could have ever given me, Sheriff, because you know when this thing goes to trial -- and we learn today he says, I didn`t do it. His plea in court is not guilty, entered by the judge. That means that there is going to be a trial, Sheriff. And if you didn`t record that audibly or video, you know they would have said, Oh, the sheriff beat him, the sheriff forced him into a confession, it`s not true, blah, blah, blah.

Did you do an audible or a video recording?

FRIES: We have both video and audio. At one point, when he starts to talk to us, we`re outside of the camera view, so it`s all on audio. The rest of it`s all done video. And you`re right, he only has two avenues of defense. One could be that he says that we coerced the confession. The other`s going to be insanity. So we have taken that one out of the mix.

GRACE: Sheriff Ken Fries, are you surprised at his not guilty plea in court?

FRIES: No. The courts enter that in, and I`m not surprised that he didn`t stand up and say, No, no, I did it. He is going to let this go to trial, I`m sure. I don`t think there`ll be a plea arrangement made in this case. So it didn`t surprise me. I think he`s going to let this go through the process. He`ll have a public defender assigned to him, and we`ll move on from there. I have Never heard of a judge making the decision to enter a plea. He has already admitted he did it and went into sordid detail. WHY would this judge enter a "not guilty" plea on his behalf??? This makes no sense at all!!!

GRACE: You know, what`s stunning to me is we are learning tonight for the first time that this is not the first time little Aliahna has been left alone with a male baby-sitter, not the first time.

I want to go out to Bonnie Druker, our producer on the story. Bonnie, what do we know about this not being the first time this child has been left alone with a male baby-sitter?

BONNIE DRUKER, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Oh, Nancy, this is so tragic. She was left in 2010 with a guy -- I`m going to put his name out there -- Curtis Alan Kennedy (ph), and he essentially molested her, but he pled down to indecent contact with a child, a lesser charge, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, how did that happen, Bonnie? Was that another male baby-sitter for Aliahna?

DRUKER: Yes, and we understand that he is actually related. He is the bio dad`s ex-wife`s stepbrother, Nancy.

GRACE: OK, I don`t get it. I don`t get it. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist -- and I am not attacking the victim`s family, the mom or the grandparents. I know that they are deeply distraught. But after this child has had her clothes pulled down for one male baby-sitter that we know of -- so you know, that didn`t turn out very well, that male baby-sitter, and here she is with another male baby-sitter, and now she`s dead, Patricia?

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: She was surrounded by sex offenders, Nancy. There were 15 reported sex offenders out of 24 homes. Her own grandfather had a history of child sex offense. So this sets up an environment that`s a haven for pedophiles. And we know that the level of denial of those around and related to pedophiles is astronomic. They distort reality -- It didn`t happen, it couldn`t have happened, not my daddy.

GRACE: But you know, the thing is, I don`t want to blame the mom. I don`t want to get into blaming the victim in this case and the victim`s family because that mom moved into this area so she would have family near her to help her with the children. The grandfather lived very close to them. So the fact that these predators were around her is not her fault.

We are taking your calls. Out to Tim in South Dakota. Hi, Tim. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Actually, it`s a two-part question.

GRACE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as this case in Iowa, where he sent pictures of his genitals to a 13-year-old girl, I see that it was dismissed because it did not meet the requirements for domestic abuse. But let me point out that the judge who dismissed this, Judge Daniel P. Wilson -- by law, he had a duty to refer that case to sheriff`s investigators, just like a teacher would or anyone.

Nancy, you`re our voice. We need this judge off the bench.

GRACE: You know, I`m kind of stunned. Hold on, Tim. Keep Tim on the phone. Tim in South Dakota has an excellent point. I`ve got -- what we are talking about right now is a prior claim of sex text messages sent by this guy, this alleged killer, Plumadore, to another little girl. And in that case -- I`ve got all the information right here in front of me. Right here, we`ve got the allegation against him, against Plumadore, and we`ve got what the judge did with it. The judge`s name, Daniel Wilson.

To you, Darryl Cohen, Randy Kessler. You`re the big defense lawyers. What about the judge not reporting Plumadore`s charge, Cohen? Is there any recourse against him?

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He had every right to report it or not report it. He was in a courtroom. There were all sorts of sheriff`s deputies. There were court officials. Why in the world would he have to do any more than he did? It was brought to his attention.

GRACE: Yes. You know what, Darryl? You`re so right. Kessler -- Kessler, why do we expect a judge to do the right thing?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, we should expect the judges to do the right thing. It sounds like he didn`t do the right thing. He may have been overwhelmed and he said, Go to see the prosecutor. And of course, Mom didn`t go to the prosecutor because she was disenchanted with the whole system.

GRACE: Put the lawyers up! You know what, Darryl Cohen? I`m embarrassed for you because I expect our judges to do the right thing! This judge had a chance to do something, and he didn`t.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A head, feet and hands were found in the freezer of this mobile home right behind us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why`d he have to do that to her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plumadore told police he killed Aliahna outside his trailer home by hitting her in the head multiple times with a brick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She didn`t do nothing to him at all.

GRACE: Tonight, we want justice!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The chief deputy prosecutor reminds the public Plumadore is innocent until proven guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are live outside of the jailhouse where Michael Plumadore being held. In the last hours, a stunning twist. In court, Plumadore, I didn`t do it -- the judge entering a not guilty plea on his behalf. There you see him in full shackles. Imagine the 9-year-old Aliahna being alone in the home for a week with this guy and her two little sisters, Mommy a few doors down, sick with the flu, trusting the male baby- sitter to take care of her three little girls. It ended with Aliahna being murdered, dismembered, her head in the freezer, Plumadore dismembering her with a hacksaw.

And today, he stands by while a not guilty plea entered on his behalf, his head hanging in court. But don`t worry. He`ll cost the taxpayers millions of dollars when this case goes to trial.

With me, the lawman who led the team that cracked this case. With me, Sheriff Ken Fries, outside the jailhouse. Along with him, WANE`s Drew Blair.

To Sheriff Ken Fries, joining us, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sheriff the elected sheriff, Ken Fries. Sheriff, when you find out that this judge dismissed Plumadore`s case for sexting another little girl with photos of a man`s naked body -- Sheriff, what do you think I would do if I found out somebody sent one of my children, my 4-year-old twins, naked photos? You`d have to drag me off...

FRIES: Well, probably the same thing I would do.

GRACE: ... the person with my hands around their neck! And this judge didn`t do anything! What`s his name again, Bonnie? What`s this judge`s name? I`ve got it, Daniel P. Wilson -- Daniel P. Wilson, Centerville (ph), appointed 1995. What about it, Sheriff?

FRIES: It`s disturbing that happens. And I -- somebody should have followed that case through to the natural conclusion instead of just letting it go. And whether it`s his fault or the investigators` fault, I don`t know, but somebody dropped the ball, or several somebodies. And they didn`t follow through like they should have. And we need to do that to protect our kids.

GRACE: You know, Sheriff, as many people have pointed out, you know, you don`t just suddenly commit a dismemberment on a child. I was saying the night this cracked that there had to be more in his background, and sure enough, there is. Are you surprised, Sheriff Fries?

FRIES: No, I`m not surprised at all. I`m concerned there may be others out there that we don`t know about yet.

GRACE: I`m concerned too, Sheriff. And what have you done about that?

FRIES: Well, you know, we pulled the FBI in very quickly in this case, and we`ve asked them to reach out to their contacts across the country to find out any places where Michael has been before, if there are any cases like this or similar to this that are still unsolved that he may have had involvement in.

And that investigation continues, as well as the local investigation. We continue to try to close up loose ends, and there are a lot of them.

GRACE: And is it true, Sheriff Ken Fries, that you guys have actually picked up the home and taken it in, like you impound a car, to continue looking for forensic evidence?

FRIES: That`s correct. The home is in our custody in a safe keeping, and it`ll be there until after the trial.

GRACE: When we come back, taking your calls. With us, metro editor of "The News Sentinel," in court today, Elbert Starks, along with Drew Blair, WANE, and Sheriff Ken Fries.

Today in a stunning twist, I didn`t do it is the message sent by alleged child killer Michael Plumadore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Plumadore has admitted he killed the 9- year-old girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s been a close family friend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man accused of killing 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pled not guilty in court today.

GRACE: Her body found dismembered in the neighbor`s freezer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike would never hurt...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hitting her in the head multiple times with a brick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... any children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He put some of her body parts in a nearby dumpster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Period.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he kept her head, feet and hands in his freezer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a body from a crime scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. In the last hours, a stunning twist in the case. The man accused of murdering, dismembering this 9-year-old little girl, placing her head in the freezer, sends the message in court, I didn`t do it. This in the face of stunning physical evidence, evidence amassed by Sheriff Ken Fries his law men and law women, who worked through the Christmas holiday around the clock trying to crack the case of Aliahna`s disappearance.

To Elbert Starks, metro editor, "News Sentinel," in court today. What was his demeanor, Elbert? Did he ever look up at the judge?

ELBERT STARKS, "NEWS SENTINEL" (via telephone): Yes, he looked at him because, again, he had to pay attention to what he was being asked. But it really was a short appearance.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Darryl Cohen, Randy Kessler. What is a first appearance, Kessler?

KESSLER: Chance to be notified of what you`re being charged with and to tell the court whether you`re going to plead guilty or not.

GRACE: Darryl...

KESSLER: Pleading guilty doesn`t...

COHEN: It`s just walking into a courtroom. It`s formal, normal for him to say, Not guilty. That doesn`t mean that at some point, he`s not going to enter a plea of guilty. It doesn`t mean...

GRACE: Yes, you know what, Darryl? You know what, Darryl? Put him and Kessler up, please. Of course, at some point, he`s probably going to ask, to beg to plead not guilty to life behind bars. That alternative would be the death penalty. And I`ve got the statute right in front of me. And he fits, Kessler, very neatly into several of the aggravating circumstances that call for the death penalty. Of course he`s going to try to plead guilty at some point!

KESSLER: Right, but even a life sentence in prison is a death sentence for him, a child molester, child murderer in jail?

GRACE: Oh, really?

KESSLER: He right now...

GRACE: Name one. Name one other than Jeffrey Dahmer and a Catholic priest who met one of his molestation victims. Name one person that has ever been killed behind bars, Kessler.

KESSLER: Well, tell me what good does it do to plead guilty now, for him? He gets no benefits out of pleading guilty.

GRACE: Oh, so you can`t name one.

KESSLER: Not offhand, no. If I had my Google right now, I`d look some up.

GRACE: OK. Your Google, Kessler -- I`ll give you your Google!
LOL!!!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s been a close family friend for a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Reed (ph) Plumadore. Date of birth is 11/16 of `72.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) kids out (INAUDIBLE) because they could play on the floor in front of the TV, watch TV, and they played games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say a trusted family friend has admitted he killed a 9-year-old girl who was partially blind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only blame is to the person that took her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Reed Plumadore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man accused of killing and dismembering a 9- year-old Indiana girl pled not guilty.

GRACE: Her body has been found dismembered in the neighbor`s freezer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2010, Michael Plumadore was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a 13-year-old girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mobile home where Aliahna was allegedly murdered was hauled away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Preservation of evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As news of Michael Plumadore`s arrest spread, the local story turned into a national one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The murder has received so much attention. He`s charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a body from a crime scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2010, Michael Plumadore was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a 13-year-old girl. In court documents, the alleged victim`s mother stated, quote, "Michael is 38 years old. My daughter is 13 years old. He is stalking her, sending explicit sexual text messages and photographs. I have told him to stop over a month ago, and he continues to seek out and make contact with my daughter. Messages have included messages of wanting to get her pregnant and photos of exposed genitalia."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live and taking your calls outside the jailhouse that is housing the alleged killer of this 9-year-old little girl, Michael Plumadore, a 39-year-old so-called family friend, who we now learn was accused of sext messaging another little girl in another state. That judge did nothing. Now this girl is dead, allegedly by beating her in the head with a brick.

Straight out to Sheriff Ken Fries, the Allen County sheriff joining us, his team responsible for cracking the case. Sheriff, I know in his confession to you and to your people, he stated he beat the child in the head with a brick there on the front porch of his home. I find that very, very hard to believe that he would kill the child in the open that way. But that aside, did he make any admission as to whether he molested the child?

FRIES: No, there`s been no admission of that so far. As I say, the investigation continues. And we do know that the majority of the stuff he told us that night is factual. There are some questions we have, trying to verify some other things. But as far as molesting, no, he has not admitted to that yet.

GRACE: Back to Drew Blair at WANE, joining us there with the sheriff outside of the jailhouse. Drew, again, for being with us and braving the elements. I see the snow in the background. Drew, where is he now, and why is he being held in isolation?

BLAIR: Well, Nancy, he is in this building right behind us. This is the Allen County jail. And as far as we know, he`s being held in isolation for his own safety. Obviously, there is all kinds of outrage throughout this entire community, as anyone can understand. That`s why you saw that police presence in the courtroom today.

No only are they protected Mr. Michael Plumadore, they`re protecting the community as a whole, the sheriffs deputies themselves, because there`s so much anger surrounding this case.

GRACE: Let`s talk about where he`s being housed. What`s the name of the jail, Drew Blair?

BLAIR: This is the Allen County jail. We`re at Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana.

GRACE: To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. As you recall, Marc Klaas minding his own business when his little girl, Polly, was abducted and murdered. He has devoted his life to victims` rights ever since.

Marc, take a listen to this. He gets to sit in a nice area with tables and chairs to watch TV and make phone calls, as many phone calls as he wants. It`s an indoor common area. He gets served up on a platter -- frankly -- he gets room service, macaroni and cheese, green beans, cake and juice. That`s what he had for lunch. We`re waiting on his dinner menu.

He gets to visit with his lawyer. He gets private, basically, security because he`s at risk. He gets visits from family and friends.

What do you make of that? You know, I wish somebody would serve me up macaroni casserole, green beans, cake and juice!

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: You know, we`re giving this guy presidential levels of security and we`re giving him the kind of consideration that he never afforded that young child.

I`d like to address the 800-pound elephant in the room, though. There`s plenty of blame here. There`s a criminal justice system that has given this guy a pass on his past sex offense against a young child. And remember, there`s another goon who molested the girl, who had been given a pass on that crime.

And we have a criminal justice system, Nancy, that does this time and time and time and time again, gives the devil a pass, moves him on to the next community again and again and again. And oftentimes, very little is done with these guys or about these guys until a horrendous crime like this is committed.

How do I know this? I`ll tell you. Yesterday would have been Polly`s 31st birthday, Nancy. But instead of celebrating her birthday, the date was nothing more than a reminder that another horrendous monster has been sitting on death row for more than 16 years for the hideous crime that he committed against my child.

And he, like Plumadore, like many of these people, regardless of the disposition of this case, will never be executed. Why? Because there`s a very vocal group of individuals, of judges, of dilettantes, of abolitionists who want nothing more than to offer the kinds of service and considerations for these horrendous monsters so they can contemplate the crimes that they have committed against our loved ones until they die of natural causes and never have the justice served that should be!

GRACE: And you know what else, Marc Klaas? Here you are, working double time. You`ve got Klaas Kids going. You go all over the country speaking. I work two jobs and take care of my children. And long story short, we`re working our fingers to the bone so we can support people like Plumadore, so he can have -- what did he have? Macaroni casserole, green beans, cake and juice for lunch. I`m feeding him!

The public -- there`s Fries -- Sheriff Fries, the Allen County sheriff, working over Christmas, all his people working out in the snow, many of them with second jobs because you know sheriffs don`t get paid hardly anything. They`re all working so their taxes can buy this guy`s macaroni casserole, so he can make unlimited phone calls and watch television in the common area. That`s what`s happening.

I`m hearing in my ear, in addition to Marc Klaas, I`m being joined by Aliahna`s cousin. Joining us from Fort Wayne is Elizabeth Sepponen, joining us exclusively tonight.

Ms. Sepponen, first of all, coming from a crime victim of violent crime myself, I want to tell you and your family that we have been praying for Aliahna and her mom and sisters since she first went missing, since we first broadcast her story.

I`d like to know how her little sisters are doing. I know that they are under court supervision now.

ELIZABETH SEPPONEN, COUSIN OF ALIAHNA (VIA TELEPHONE): Yes. As far as I know, they`re just -- they`re in protective custody. There have been a lot of death threats against, of course, her mother, Tarah, and Jeremy (ph), the owner of the park that they live in. So you know, the kids had to be protected.

GRACE: Ms. Sepponen, again for speaking with us tonight. You stated that Tarah gave you information about Aliahna that she wants the viewers to know. What is the message?

SEPPONEN: She was a very kind, trusting and helpful girl. In fact, she taught her siblings how to tie their shoes. She loved school, dancing, of course, her sisters and brother. And she always put others first. If she got an A-minus, she worked so hard to get an A-plus the next time. And she just really was a sweet kid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say a trusted family friend...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s been a close family friend for a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man accused of killing and dismembering a 9- year-old Indiana girl pled not guilty in court today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In 2010, Michael Plumadore was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a 13-year-old girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He at one point talked about giving her a kiss on the forehead.

GRACE: We all know what was probably going on at about 2:30 AM when he gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. We are taking your calls. Outside the jailhouse where alleged child killer -- the child`s body found dismembered, her head in the guy`s freezer -- in court today. Joining us outside the jailhouse is Sheriff Ken Fries from the Allen County sheriff`s and Drew Blair, WANE.

To Dr. Bill Manion, joining us now, medical examiner, joining us tonight out of Philadelphia. The cause of death still pending, Dr. Manion. Why?

DR. BILL MANION, MED. EXAMINER/FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, I think the medical examiner wants to be very careful here and just gather as much information as possible. He wants to get toxicology results. Was this child given the date rape drug or was the child given barbiturates to knock her out? He wants to do a microscopic exam to confirm that the child was dead when the child was dismembered.

He wants to, you know, do a -- I`m sure a careful exam with DNA testing. He`ll be looking for sperm, evidence of sexual abuse, evidence of prior child abuse. Are there any old fractured ribs, any old broken arms, things of that nature? And it`s a homicide case, so he`s got to have all his facts lined up very carefully.

GRACE: Dr. Bill Manion, many of us, many of the viewers became intimately familiar with how important the medical examiner`s findings are during the tot mom, Casey Anthony, trial...

MANION: Absolutely.

GRACE: ... where the body was largely decomposed. It`s very difficult. In fact, no cause of death could ever be determined. There`s really no way to -- nice way to ask you this question, Dr. Manion, but I`ve learned from all my years in court, sometimes niceties have to be disposed of.

Dr. Manion, with her body, Aliahna`s body, dismembered, cut into so many pieces, how will they be able to make all the determinations you think are necessary, like toxicology, prior abuse, prior sex abuse? Will they ever be able to put it back together again in order to determine those answers?

MANION: Well, if the body -- you know, the body was frozen and so it`s going to be well preserved, certain body parts. In addition, the body was outside in the cold, and so the decomposition will be delayed. So you`d be surprised what can be found in a careful exam.

And again, using DNA techniques, using microscopic examination, toxicology techniques, you don`t need blood or urine. You can use liver or brain or kidney for toxicology analysis. So you`d be surprised what we can do in a situation like this, that you think, how you could put anything together. But believe me, they`ll come up with a very logical cause of death. And of course, the manner of death will be homicide.

But they`ll also be looking for evidence of sexual abuse or sex activity. That would make it a felony homicide, which is eligible for the death penalty in many states.

GRACE: To Steve Moore, former FBI violent crimes investigator. Steve, for being with us. Thanks to Sheriff Fries out of Allen County and his people, police are -- as we go air tonight are trying to determine whether Plumadore linked to other crimes. How can they piece that together, Steve?

STEVE MOORE, FMR. FBI INVESTIGATOR : Well, what they`ll do is find his -- find his trail, where he lived, where he went, where he vacationed. And they`ll forward that to the FBI offices in those areas, who will confer with the police in those areas and determine whether they have crimes with any kind of similar MO. People like this guy are not going to change the way they do things. It`s habitual. It`s instinctive to them. It`s not something they learned in a book. They`ll do it the same way every time.

GRACE: To Elizabeth Sepponen, joining us exclusively tonight. This is Aliahna`s cousin. Again, Ms. Sepponen, our prayers and thoughts out to you and her family. You know, it seems to me like this Plumadore had Aliahna`s mother and grandmother, the whole bunch of them, really fooled. How did he present himself to the mother and the grandmother in order to persuade them to let him baby-sit?

SEPPONEN: Well, clearly, he was very deceptive. He wasn`t on the sex offenders list. And before Tarah moved to the trailer park, she asked her day, you know, Will my kids be safe? He said yes. She said, What about Mike? He said yes. They had known him from Iowa. He`s just -- he fooled everyone, even some of the reporters he talked to. He just -- he fooled them.

In fact, at Jim`s funeral, I met him and he spoke to my son, which now just makes me sick to my stomach. But he just seemed nice. He was giving the other kids, you know, little trucks and cars to play with and keeping them occupied while the family, you know, greeted everybody who was coming in. And he just -- I don`t know. He just had a way of fooling everybody except for Ken Fries.

GRACE: Well, you know what? I, like a lot of moms -- and I have a male baby-sitter that works with a female baby-sitter. A lot of moms are very hesitant, I guess just instinctively, to leave their children with male baby-sitters, and I guess that`s just because of crime statistics. But I get what you`re saying, Elizabeth, because you`re right. He had a lot of people fooled.

To Dr. Saunders. If you can put it in a nutshell for me, Dr. Saunders, clinical psychologist, joining us out of New York -- we don`t want to think about our baby-sitters, our nannies or our au pairs doing harm to children. We want to believe that they are good.

Why? I mean, a lot of people don`t even run rap sheets. They do nothing. They meet the people and they go, Hey, I really like them. They might get a reference. Maybe not. Why are we so trusting?

SAUNDERS: Well, because most people aren`t murdering, depraved psychopathic pedophiles, Nancy. They don`t just -- a pedophile doesn`t just groom the child, they groom the family, they groom the community, which is what psychopaths do, the chameleons.

GRACE: Back to Tim in South Dakota. What was your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my other question was -- it kind of has to do with Kurtis Kennedy and this whole deal with the family. As of yesterday, I noticed -- I looked up Kurtis Kennedy`s FaceBook profile, and I reported it because they`re not allowed on FaceBook. But I noticed to this day, he was still friends with Aliahna`s dad, Duane (ph) (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Holy moly!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my question is...

GRACE: For those of you that don`t know who Tim is talking about, Kurtis Allen Kennedy -- all Ks -- was accused of molesting Aliahna. And now he`s still FaceBook friends with the dad? OK. Creep-out!
I was wrong..the dad is FB'ing w/Kurtis Kennedy..that is Sick!!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He killed Aliahna outside his trailer home by hitting her in the head multiple times with a brick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aliahna`s remains have been located.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pled not guilty in court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s the (INAUDIBLE) that the detectives and the FBI did an excellent job talking to him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say they believed Plumadore was responsible all along.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What person goes out at 6:00 o`clock in the morning, buys a cigar, smokes it, and goes back to bed?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live outside the jailhouse, joined by Sheriff Ken Fries of the Allen County sheriff`s department and Drew Blair, WANE.

Christine in Connecticut. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Nancy. It`s nice to be able to talk to you under the circumstances...

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... (INAUDIBLE) everything that`s happened. I have a question for you.

GRACE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was personally answered earlier, but how could this monster -- and I will use "monster" very freely here -- be able to admit to killing a child, dismembering her, admitting to it fully to the police, and then he gets to walk into court, and you know (INAUDIBLE) obviously, not guilty because the plea went in today? How could they let that happen and not expect him to respond to that? Should they have asked him point-blank? Or are they just going to wait to do that?

GRACE: To Sheriff Ken Fries. Sheriff, does it turn your stomach at all? I mean, your people were there -- your people were there when he gave a confession, leaving out all the gory parts, leaving out the molestation that probably happened. But for him to go into court, getting kid glove treatment -- that doesn`t bug you at all?

FRIES: Oh, it does. You have to remember, we`re all taxpayers, too, and we see this time and time again, that we do our job and through whatever reasons, they don`t get what we believe they should get as far as justice is concerned. But I -- in this case, I think everybody`s going to come together and work as a team, and I think we`ll see a successful prosecution.

GRACE: Thank you, Sheriff.

Put up the lawyers very quickly, Darryl Cohen and Randy Kessler, both veteran defense attorneys. You know what, Cohen and Kessler? I was about to ask you about the death penalty he`s probably going to face. But you know what? I`ll just give you one of these, a little tissue, because I don`t want to hear your whining about how unconstitutional it is.

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Security tight for Plumadore's initial court hearing
First felony court appearance for accused killer

Updated: Wednesday, 04 Jan 2012, 6:59 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 04 Jan 2012, 12:09 AM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Michael Plumadore, 39, of Fort Wayne was in court Wednesday morning for his initial hearing in the death of nine-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

Security was tight with thirty Allen County Sheriff's deputies on hand as Plumadore was taken into the hearing chamber. Deputies were stationed around the perimeter of the courtroom for the proceedings and escorted him to a vehicle for transportation back to jail after his court appearance ended.

Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries said his department has been aware of threats made against the defendant and took precautions for the safety of not only Plumadore but the courthouse facility, community and law enforcement.

The hearing didn't take very long with Plumadore telling the judge that he understood his rights. The magistrate entered a not guilty plea for Plumadore. A trial date will be set on January 18, a pretrial hearing was also scheduled for February 27. A public defender will be appointed to represent him.

Plumadore is accused of killing and dismembering Aliahna just before Christmas. She was reported missing late Friday evening on December 23. Authorities believe Plumadore bludgeoned the young girl with a brick sometime Thursday evening.

A massive search went underway looking for the girl over the Christmas weekend.

It wasn’t until investigators from the FBI and Allen County Sheriff’s Department interviewed Plumadore multiple times that the fate of Aliahna was learned.

According to police, Plumadore said he hit Aliahna in the head with a brick, and then dismembered her body. He apparently told investigators he put her head, hands, and feet in his freezer and the remaining body parts into a dumpster at a nearby gas station.

Plumadore was arrested December 26th and charged with murder. His initial court appearance was scheduled for December 30 but postponed. Allen County Prosecutors added additional charges that same day, including one count of abuse of a corpse and one count of moving a body.

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What a slob he is!!!

I did NOT see that the dad is "FB friends" w/Kurtis Kennedy, but is friends w/this Kennedy and WOW!!
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Here is the dad's FB..this is one he had prior to the murder:
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Hundreds of people have paid their last respects to a 9-year-old Fort Wayne girl allegedly bludgeoned and dismembered by a man whom her mother had entrusted with her care.

The Journal Gazette reported mourners gathered Thursday night at First Assembly of God Church to sing and pray for Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon.

Pastor Joe Hines of Auburn Church of Christ remembered Aliahna as an energetic little girl who loved to dress up and play with dolls.

Aliahna's baby-sitter, 39-year-old Michael Plumadore, has been charged with the slaying three days before Christmas. According to court papers, he admitted to killing and dismembering her.

He entered not guilty pleas to charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene Wednesday in Allen Superior Court.

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“A friend to everyone, happy, smiling, she never held a grudge.” This was how Aliahna Lemmon's teachers and classmates at Holland Elementary School described her.

J. Michael Caywood, Holland Elementary School principal, shared these remarks during a memorial service Thursday evening for the nine-year-old third-grader who was brutally killed Dec. 22. Family friend Michael Plumadore allegedly confessed the killing to police after a three-day search of the area around Lemmon's home.

Haywood had brought a picture, part of a mural, which was an outline of Lemmon's left hand. She had drawn the picture as part of a school-wide project. Inside the hand was a smiling face, with stars for eyes and a heart for her tongue. Haywood said the picture would become part of a permanent memorial the school is designing for her.

Several hundred people came to the First Assembly of God, 1400 W. Washington Center Road, to support the family and remember Aliahna. Through prayer and song, memories and sermons, an attempt was made to make some sense of the tragedy.

Nine rows of family members were present, but only one spoke.

“Do not stand by my grave and cry … I am not there, I didn't die,” read Elisabeth Sepponen, a cousin, as she concluded Mary Frye's “Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep.”

At the front of the church, a large portrait of Aliahna was flanked by a framed tie-dyed t-shirt with messages to her written on the fabric, along with several smaller photographs. Nine vases of flowers in shades of pink, purple, blue and white were on either side of the photos. A large floral star in yellow and white carnations sat at one end of the display. Stuffed bears of all sizes, color and shapes were arranged around the flowers and photographs, a visual reminder the memorial service was for a child.

Many children were in the audience, possibly some of her former schoolmates. Before the service started, images from Aliahna's short life flashed across the screen – many showing her wide-eyed, smiling face, and one of her posing with a purple frosted birthday cake.

The service lasted about an hour. At the end, her mother Tara Souders slowly walked out, tears on her face and head bowed as a family member gently patted her back.

The crowd was largely silent as it exited the church, with a few people commenting on the appropriate choice of closing music. The final hymn was “Safe."

The song's last line concluded: “When everything is falling apart, you will be safe in His arms.”

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So very sad and so very unnecessary. Her killer needs to die.

If this perverted murderer doesn't get the DP, there is no justice in the United States!

I DO NOT have faith in our non justice system. Look at Zahra.....

I too have no faith in getting real justice that suits the crime - too many variables - too many lawyers tricks

I agree with both of you!!!!!

I have to agree with raine if there was justice there wouldnt be an Elisa Baker

Sly's I Love your signature!!!!

raine1953 wrote:I DO NOT have faith in our non justice system. Look at Zahra.....

I couldn't agree more. And they still do not have all of Zahra. Someone knows where the rest of her is, but is not telling and they are getting away with that.

Published: January 7, 2012 3:00 a.m.
Jeff Wiehe | The Journal Gazette

The man accused of killing and dismembering 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon just before Christmas will be flanked by two attorneys when he appears in court this month.

Anthony S. Churchward and Mark A. Thoma have been appointed by the Allen County Public Defender’s Office to represent 39-year-old Michael Plumadore, who faces charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and moving the body after a violent death in Lemmon’s killing.

Plumadore is due in Allen Superior Court for a hearing Jan. 18.

The public defender’s office announced the appointment of Churchward and Thoma on Friday. In a statement, Chief Public Defender Randall J. Hammond said:

“The Allen County Public Defender’s Office has every confidence that Mr. Churchward and Mr. Thoma will undertake their obligation to represent Mr. Plumadore professionally, ethically and diligently within the bounds of the law.”


Aliahna was reported missing in the Northway mobile home park Dec. 23.

Plumadore, a family friend who lived in the park, was supposedly watching her and her two sisters at the time. After several interviews with detectives, Plumadore reportedly confessed to police that he killed Lemmon by bashing her head with a brick and then used a hacksaw to cut her body into pieces.

Police found parts of Aliahna’s body in a trash bin at a gas station and then her head, hands and feet in Plumadore’s freezer.

Thoma is an 18-year veteran of the public defender’s office and has represented many clients facing serious felony charges, including murder.

Churchward has been a deputy public defender since 2000 and is no stranger to high-profile cases, having been part of the defense teams that represented Ronrico Hatch and Simon Rios, the last two men to face death-penalty trials in Allen County.

Hatch was one of five people who abducted a 17-year-old girl in 2002. The group beat the girl, stripped her and made her beg for her life before Hatch shot her through the mouth. Her body was then doused in gasoline and burned.

Instead of death, Hatch received a sentence of life without parole.

In 2005, Rios abducted and raped a 10-year-old neighbor girl he knew before killing her, and he dumped her body in a gravel pit in Muncie. He then killed his wife and three children. Rios was sentenced to life without parole and then killed himself in prison.

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Speechless

My god - after reading Wraps post I am speechless as well. If two people ever deserved death it was Rios and
Hatch

Published: January 8, 2012 3:00 a.m.
Sex-felon residency law vexes everyone
Slaying shines light on ‘logistical nightmare’

Jeff Wiehe | The Journal Gazette

The Northway mobile home park where 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon disappeared just before Christmas is a haven for sex offenders, with 14 of them living among the roughly 25 units.

While none of these men is accused of being involved in the girl’s death in any way, Aliahna’s killing and dismemberment put renewed focus on the state law that prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of any school, park or child-care center.

In an area like Fort Wayne – full of parks, churches and a growing number of walking trails – the law creates small pockets where sex offenders can reside, areas that some dub as “sex offender ghettos.”

Cpl. Jeff Shimkus of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department finds this consequence increasingly troubling.

“It’s bad. I don’t like it at all,” said Shimkus, who is part of the department’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Team.

The law, Shimkus said, is becoming harder to enforce and might hinder police from knowing where some sex offenders live, allowing them to move closer to schools and parks undetected for long periods of time.

Shimkus is considered by many in this area to be an expert on sex offender issues. He’s even been involved in mapping out some of the state’s laws governing such offenders and said he cautioned legislators against the 1,000-foot law before it was passed.

“I told them it’s going to be a logistical nightmare to enforce and, the thing is, I don’t think there’s any research that shows these residency restrictions really protect anything,” he said.

One of the primary problems with the restriction is that with so few places sex offenders can live, many give up trying to comply with the law and move to within earshot of a school or park anyway.

They never register their real addresses and might not be caught until police are able to do a check on their whereabouts.

Of the 37 people Allen County police arrested for failing to register their addresses in 2011, Shimkus said 20 percent to 30 percent did so because they could not find living accommodations that comply with the 1,000-foot requirements in the law.

Without such a restriction, Shimkus argues that most offenders would not be so willing to break the registry laws or lie to police about their addresses. Officers would then be able to keep better tabs on where offenders live.

Shimkus proposes that instead of having so many restrictions on where offenders can live, there should be a more severe felony levied against an offender who lives within 1,000 feet of a school or youth center without registering his or her address.

“Some of these guys want to comply, but can’t,” he said. “I’d much rather have a sex offender living next to a school as long as the school knows, as long as I know and as long as the community knows.”

The multiple requirements in the law ban sex offenders from many parts of Fort Wayne, forcing them into the rural areas of the county.

This presents a whole new set of problems, Shimkus said. Many offenders are on parole and need to make mandatory counseling appointments or meet with their probation officers. When they live in areas without buses, many who are poor can’t make these meetings and end up failing their probation.

It’s like they are set up to fail, Shimkus said.

And then there are the “sex offender ghettos.” It comes as no surprise to Shimkus that these areas have an influx of offenders in one place.

“All these guys talk to each other and see each other in counseling sessions,” Shimkus said. “They hear from each other the places where they can live. One day a little area might have one or two sex offenders, the next it becomes a minefield for the families that live there.”

Multiple sex offender clusters already exist in Allen County.

At a motel at 4606 E. Washington Blvd. there currently reside 24 sex offenders, some of whom are part of a taxpayer-funded Department of Correction program that helps offenders reintegrate into society.

Seven sex offenders are living at a mobile home park at 5430 Old Maumee Road; six are living in an apartment complex at 5334 New Haven Ave.; and 15 live within a half-mile of Hoagland Avenue and DeWald Street, where someone reportedly tried to abduct a 13-year-old girl in November.

The 300 block of West DeWald Street, where seven offenders currently live, has presented a unique problem for Shimkus and his team recently. It also shows a gray area in the law, he said.

A few years ago, Shimkus said his department had 13 sex offenders removed from a local apartment complex because of its proximity to a youth center. These offenders all moved to the 300 block of West DeWald Street because at the time it fit the 1,000-foot requirements.

This year, a child-care center opened in the area. Does the law mandate that these offenders – who were within their right to live where they do when they moved – now relocate?

Shimkus isn’t convinced the law is clear.

“We’ve kind of grandfathered them right now,” he said, noting his department has not forced these offenders to move.

Shimkus’ boss, Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries, does not want sex offenders anywhere near schools but also said he doesn’t know whether there’s a “magic number” when it comes to measuring how many feet away a sex offender must live.

He, like Shimkus, said that parents need to be mindful of where they live, that they should always check the sex offender registry to see who lives around them.

While many sex offenders know their victims, Fries said a neighbor is someone who usually becomes known to the children and that parents need to know their neighbors.

“If you’re a parent and you know there’s something wrong, or you think there’s something peculiar about someone, for God’s sake don’t let your kid be around them,” Fries said.

While he disagrees with the living restrictions, Shimkus does not expect the law to be lifted soon.

It would take a legislator standing up and committing “political suicide” by appearing soft on sex offenders, he said, but he hopes the attention Aliahna Lemmon’s case is bringing to the issue will also bring education about the drawbacks of the law.

“We have to decide what the real purpose is here,” Shimkus said. “Do these sound-good and feel-good laws really protect us?”

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This is a very tough call. Do we want the cockroaches in small areas surrounded by children or do we want them to be allowed to live near a school but with heavy restrictions? What say you?

Fort Wayne Derby Girls hold charity bout for Aliahna's family
Updated: Monday, 09 Jan 2012, 1:07 AM EST
Published : Monday, 09 Jan 2012, 12:11 AM EST

NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WANE) - NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WANE) - The Aliahna Lemmon Benefit Fund continues to grow, thanks to help from community organizations. On Sunday, the Fort Wayne Derby Girls held a charity bout with a portion of the proceeds going to the fund.

"The Fort Wayne community is coping with the tragic loss of one of our youngest citizens," said Shannon Dispennette, president of the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. "As the details continue to come to light, we want to provide an opportunity for the general public to support the healing process."

The Derby Girls planned to host a scrimmage on Sunday night, but felt it was appropriate to help out the Lemmon family.

"W e're founded on community service," said Dispennette. "Specifically, women's and children's charities. We've got a lot of families out here that have children, and when a tragedy like that happens you kind of hug your children close, and want to make a difference."

The other portion of the proceeds was sent to Erin's House.

Erin's House provides support services for children, teens and their families, who have suffered the death of a loved one. The cost-free programs provided by Erin's House help to reach those families in need of grief support.

Donations to the Aliahna Lemmon Benefit Fund can be made through Salin Bank.

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video at above link.

10:20 PM, Jan. 8, 2012 | Comments

Written by
CLARK KAUFFMAN

A man who allegedly killed and dismembered a 9-year-old Indiana girl was accused of sexually harassing a 13-year-old Iowa girl 14 months ago.

Michael Plumadore, 39, was charged with murder, removing a body from the scene of a suspicious death and abuse of a corpse last week in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Police say he killed 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon — another former Iowan — on Dec. 22 after repeatedly hitting her with a brick on the steps of a trailer where she lived.

An Iowa sheriff told The Des Moines Register last week that authorities investigated the 2010 sexual-harassment complaint against Plumadore but did not have enough evidence to file charges.

Court records also indicate that Aliahna, who was remembered at a memorial service as a freckle-faced, energetic girl, was sexually abused when the girl’s mother, Tarah Souders, lived in Appanoose County in 2010. That case did not involve Plumadore, who was described after Aliahna’s death as a trusted family friend. He allegedly knew Aliahna’s family through Souders’ father, a convicted sex offender.

In the fall of 2010, Plumadore moved into the Moravia home of Souders’ relatives — a couple who had three children, ages 9 through 15, living with them.

It was there that Plumadore met one of the children’s stepsisters, a 13-year-old girl who lived in Centerville with her mother. The girl sometimes visited her father and stepmother in the Moravia home.

In November 2010, the girl’s mother went to the Appanoose County Courthouse and filed a petition for relief from domestic abuse, seeking a court order that would prevent Plumadore from having any further contact with her daughter.

Although the girl and her mother are identified in court records, The Des Moines Register typically does not identify sex-crime victims or their relatives in non-homicide cases.

In papers filed with the clerk of court, the girl’s mother wrote that Plumadore “is stalking (my daughter), send her explicit sexual text messages and photographs. I told him to stop a month ago and he continues to seek out and make contact with my daughter.”

She wrote that the messages sent by Plumadore to the girl included “photos of exposed genitalia” and statements indicating that he “wanted to get her pregnant.”

She asked that a judge order Plumadore to stay away from the girl and not have any further contact with her.

The same day she filed that request, Judge Annette Scieszinski reviewed it to determine whether an immediate, but temporary, protective order should be issued pending a full hearing on the matter.

Scieszinski ruled that the girl’s mother didn’t have the legally required relationship with Plumadore that would allow for such an order.

Under Iowa law, an individual seeking a protective order in a domestic abuse situation must have a current or past relationship with the accused before such a request can be granted. The two can have a child together or have been dating, married, separated or divorced. The girl’s mother had no such relationship with Plumadore.

In her ruling denying a temporary protective order, Scieszinski wrote that “all evolving issues related to immediate threats to the health and safety of the child should be reported to the appropriate child protection and/or law enforcement authorities who are equipped to investigate and intervene as appropriate.”

Appanoose County Sheriff Gary Anderson said Saturday that it appears the child’s mother did report her concerns to Centerville police.

“It’s my understanding that the police did investigate, but they did not have enough conclusive evidence to charge him in that case,” Anderson said.

On Nov. 23, 2010, Judge Daniel P. Wilson held a hearing in the Appanoose County Courthouse that was attended by both Plumadore and the child’s mother. Neither of the two was represented by an attorney. Wilson dismissed the petition for a protective order, citing the “relationship requirements” specified in Iowa law.

The girl’s stepmother told the Register the text messages that were the subject of the court proceedings included some flirtatious comments by the girl herself.

“She was 13 and didn’t know any better,” the stepmother said.

She said she opened her house to Plumadore because he needed a place to stay for a while until he could connect with relatives.

“I never was worried with him being around my kids, but now I count my blessings,” she said. “The only problem we had with him was that if my husband and I weren’t around, he would slack off on the punishment for the kids. You know, he’d let them play the GameCube even if their grades were down, so we butted heads on that.

“But I never seen any signs of anything else when he was around here. He always seemed happy-go-lucky, and he was great with the kids. But I guess you never know. It’s like, now, in my church group, people say, ‘Well, are you going to let anyone else stay with you at your house?’ And I say, ‘No, not unless it’s family.’ ”

She said Plumadore stayed in the Moravia home for several weeks.

“From here, he had a brother from South Carolina come and pick him up and take him to Indiana,” she said.

Plumadore’s route from Iowa to Indiana followed the same path as Aliahna’s family. In Fort Wayne, Plumadore moved into the same trailer park where Aliahna, a 6-year-old sister, a 6-year-old stepsister and Aliahna’s mother and grandfather lived.

He was allegedly babysitting the children for three days before Christmas when Aliahna was killed.

Plumadore allegedly cut up the girl’s body using a hacksaw, then placed the body parts in freezer bags. He allegedly dumped some of the bags in a trash container at a gas station, but kept the girl’s head, hands and feet stored in his freezer.

Aliahna’s godmother — the Moravia woman who is the stepmother of the 13-year-old Centerville girl — said that on Saturday she and her family released a group of balloons in memory of Aliahna since they couldn’t attend the memorial service in Indiana.

“Aliahna was a very kindhearted girl,” she said. “She had some problems. She was going deaf and she had some eye problems, but she was a happy little girl. We’re going to miss her.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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I don't give a Damn if he was or was not domestically related to this 13 yo. She is a MINOR and the mom had Every right to obtain an Order of Protection. This is disgusting! The laws in Iowa and any other State that practices like this need to be revised/changed IMMEDIATELY. I am Livid!

Aliahna Lemmon Case: Lawyers Appointed To Defend Accused Murderer Michael Plumadore
First Posted: 1/10/12 03:14 PM ET Updated: 1/10/12 03:14 PM ET

Michael Plumadore is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and moving the body after a violent death.

Two experienced Indiana public defenders have been named to represent the man accused of murdering and dismembering 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon just a few days before Christmas.

Meanwhile, new evidence revealed that Plumadore was accused in 2010 of stalking a teenaged girl in Iowa.

Anthony Churchward and Mark Thoma bring over 40 combined years of legal experience to Michael Plumadore's case. Plumadore, who stated in a police affidavit that he repeatedly hit the young girl with a brick before chopping her up with a hack saw, pleaded not guilty during an initial hearing last Wednesday.

Churchward and Thoma have both dealt with high-profile murder cases in the past. Churchward, in particular, is known for his role on the defense team of Ronrico Hatch and Simon Rios, the last two individuals to face death-penalty trials in Allen County.

Prosecutors haven't decided yet if they'll seek the death penalty.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial board contends that the appointment of two experienced attorneys is a wise move and one the public should support, despite the added cost to taxpayers.

"If Plumadore is convicted of murder, his case will go up on appeal," the newspaper explains. "Having two good attorneys takes away the argument of ineffective counsel and, indeed, greatly reduces the likelihood of any errors occurring in the trial that would be grounds for a new trial."

In a statement obtained by The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Chief Public Defender Randall J. Hammond said:

"The Allen County Public Defender’s Office has every confidence that Mr. Churchward and Mr. Thoma will undertake their obligation to represent Mr. Plumadore professionally, ethically and diligently within the bounds of the law."

It's been learned that the Lemmon-family friend was accused of an earlier criminal incident in which he allegedly stalked and sexually harassed a 13-year-old Iowa girl, the Des Moines Register reports. The girl's mother petitioned for a restraining order, but the judge turned down the request and no criminal charges were filed, according to the newspaper.

Plumadore is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and moving the body after a violent death. He is due in court on Jan. 18.

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Aliahna Lemmon Case: Lawyers Appointed To Defend Accused Murderer Michael Plumadore
First Posted: 1/10/12 03:14 PM ET Updated: 1/10/12 03:14 PM ET

Two experienced Indiana public defenders have been named to represent the man accused of murdering and dismembering 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon just a few days before Christmas.

Meanwhile, new evidence revealed that Plumadore was accused in 2010 of stalking a teenaged girl in Iowa.

Anthony Churchward and Mark Thoma bring over 40 combined years of legal experience to Michael Plumadore's case. Plumadore, who stated in a police affidavit that he repeatedly hit the young girl with a brick before chopping her up with a hack saw, pleaded not guilty during an initial hearing last Wednesday.

Churchward and Thoma have both dealt with high-profile murder cases in the past. Churchward, in particular, is known for his role on the defense team of Ronrico Hatch and Simon Rios, the last two individuals to face death-penalty trials in Allen County.

Prosecutors haven't decided yet if they'll seek the death penalty.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial board contends that the appointment of two experienced attorneys is a wise move and one the public should support, despite the added cost to taxpayers.

"If Plumadore is convicted of murder, his case will go up on appeal," the newspaper explains. "Having two good attorneys takes away the argument of ineffective counsel and, indeed, greatly reduces the likelihood of any errors occurring in the trial that would be grounds for a new trial."

In a statement obtained by The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Chief Public Defender Randall J. Hammond said:

"The Allen County Public Defender’s Office has every confidence that Mr. Churchward and Mr. Thoma will undertake their obligation to represent Mr. Plumadore professionally, ethically and diligently within the bounds of the law."

It's been learned that the Lemmon-family friend was accused of an earlier criminal incident in which he allegedly stalked and sexually harassed a 13-year-old Iowa girl, the Des Moines Register reports. The girl's mother petitioned for a restraining order, but the judge turned down the request and no criminal charges were filed, according to the newspaper.

Plumadore is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and moving the body after a violent death. He is due in court on Jan. 18.

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Published: January 15, 2012 3:00 a.m.
Trying for death penalty costly choice
If Plumadore becomes capital case, county has no certified defenders

Rebecca S. Green | The Journal Gazette

Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards has not determined whether to seek the death penalty in the case of Michael L. Plumadore – accused of murder in the disappearance and death of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

But should she choose that option, there are currently no Allen County attorneys certified by the Indiana Public Defender Commission to handle a capital case and serve as Plumadore’s public defenders.

Allen County has plenty of qualified defense attorneys in terms of experience – including Plumadore’s appointed counsel Anthony Churchward and Mark Thoma. Both have handled capital cases before as public defense attorneys.

And should Plumadore come up with the money to hire his own attorney in what would likely be an expensive legal process, the state places no requirements on the private counsel who handle death penalty cases.

But a certified public defender is a different classification.

The certification – which requires prior experience handling death penalty cases as either a lead or “second chair” attorney and a 12-hour course on defending a capital case – allows the county to be reimbursed by the state for costs incurred during the case.

Using attorneys without the certification means no reimbursement.

Officials at the Indiana Public Defender Council said that after Churchward and Thoma were appointed, the Allen County Public Defender’s office inquired about upcoming training seminars in the state that would allow the two to meet the 12-hour training requirement and be certified for capital cases., The Public Defender Council is the state agency that supports public defenders and provides education.

None is scheduled in Indiana, but there are other classes before the end of the month in other states that would qualify, said Paula Sites, the Public Defender Council’s assistant executive director.

Randall Hammond, Allen County chief public defender, declined to comment on the certification status of local public defenders but said that if the county prosecutor decides to pursue the death penalty against Plumadore, he will have Public Defender Commission-certified attorneys available.

Costly process

Established in 1989 by the state legislature, the Public Defender Commission exists primarily to recommend standards for indigent defense in capital cases.

Counties that meet those standards can apply to the commission for reimbursement from the public defense fund in capital cases. Since 1997, that reimbursement can be up to 40 percent of a county’s cost for a death penalty case.

Deborah Neal, staff counsel at the Public Defender Commission, said the public defense of a capital case can cost a county between $200,000 and $800,000. Those numbers do not include other costs to the county, such as jury, prosecution and general court expenses, she said.

If a county prosecutor pursues the death penalty, and the court appoints public defenders to represent the accused and those attorneys are not certified by the Public Defender Commission, reimbursement is impossible, she said.

To be certified, the lead attorney must have at least five years of criminal trial experience, handled multiple felony cases and have experience in at least one case – as either lead or co-counsel – in which the death penalty has been sought, according to Indiana Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Both Churchward and Thoma previously have handled death penalty cases in different capacities, as well as multiple non-capital murder cases and other high-level felony trials.

To serve as co-counsel, an attorney must have at least three years of criminal trial experience and have experience as co-counsel or lead counsel in at least three felony trials, according to the criminal procedure rules.

And both must have taken, within two years, the 12-hour course, from either the Indiana Public Defender Council or a number of other states and organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training, according to the Public Defender Commission.

Capital cases decline

In recent years, the number of death penalty cases filed in the state has dropped, and the number of cases that resulted in a death penalty sentence is even less, according to state statistics.

In 2000, 11 death penalty cases were filed, with two death sentences handed out. In 2011, the number of capital cases filed was down to three, according to the Indiana Public Defender Council.

Allen County’s most recent death penalty case involved Simon Rios – who admitted to killing his entire family in Fort Wayne after he abducted a classmate of his daughter, sexually assaulted her and killed her in Delaware County.

He pleaded guilty a month before his trial and received consecutive sentences of life without parole. Rios hanged himself in an apparent suicide inside his prison cell in October 2008.

Prosecutors are beginning to recognize that the death penalty is not always the best use of their dollars, said Sites, at the Public Defender Council.

And at the same time, defense attorneys are finding better ways to spend their money for required continuing legal education, rather than on something used so rarely in the state, she said.

“Things that can be used much more often have a much more practical use,” Sites said. “We used to provide death penalty training every year, but we have cut back to every other year. It just doesn’t make sense, not just for lawyers to take it every year, but for us to provide it every year.”

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Would bet the DP will NOT be on the table in this horrific case. WHY?? As above article states, too costly and no one has the credentials. He cannot afford a high profile DP attorney unless one steps up to the plate pro bono.

Even though he formally plead "NG" (actually, the Judge deemed his plea as NG) , he has Already Confessed on tape.

He will get life WNPOP. MOO.

He will get life WNPOP.

There is no such guarantee even if it is the sentence as proven recently by an exiting governor and that is the best reason, of all the many reasons, to impose the penalty of death to those deserving individuals.

Agree. But doubt he will get the DP for reasons listed above. No way w/he get any type of sentence lower than LWOTPOP.

Many are "deserving" of the DP as we know. In this case, that isn't even good enough for him. I wish he could die exactly the way he killed her.

I've read the maze of laws and rules and hoops to jump through our law makers create on the supposed path to justice. The problem is criminals don't have any rules they must follow and they or some attorney somewhere knows all the loop holes.

Our "justice" system has tilted the bar too far to the side of the criminials/guilty leaving the victims and civilized society as a whole "up in the air" without any rights.

When a murderer given a sentence of LWOP can wash a governor's car and get a pardon the sentence given was suddenly nullified. The cost of DP cases wouldn't be cost prohibitive if appeals for things like two jurors having sex during the trial were not granted.

Would the crime and murder rate decrease if the chance of getting away with it or only spending a few years in jail was not so great? At least that one guilty party wouldn't be a threat and if it happened enough, it might also convince other would-bes to reconsider.

1:39 p.m. EST, January 18, 2012

Fort Wayne

A trial date for the Fort Wayne man accused of killing and then dismembering a 9-year-old Fort Wayne girl will be determined next month.

According to the Journal Gazette, a decision on when to set a trial for 39-year-old Michael Plumadore was postponed until February 27. The paper also reported defense attorneys filed a motion, asking the judge to appoint experts in the murder case.

Plumadore is accused of murdering Aliahna Lemmon on December 22. He entered a not guilty plea in early January and requested a public defender.

Prosecutors brought formal charges against Plumadore in late December in Allen Superior Court 6. Plumadore was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and moving body from scene.

In an interview with police, Plumadore admitted that he used a brick to hit Lemmon in the head several times. He said he then carried Lemmon's body to his home and used a hack saw to dismember her.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Plumadore said he placed pieces of Lemmon's body in freezer bags before disposing of them in a dumpster at a nearby business.

Lemmon and her two sisters were staying with Plumadore for about a week while their mother was ill. Plumadore was a neighbor and a family friend.

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Some Friend!!

Accused child killer back in court/Michael Plumadore made his second court appearance Wednesday …

Group to follow child's murder case in court
Women said to be showing support for victim

Updated: Wednesday, 18 Jan 2012, 6:38 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 18 Jan 2012, 6:36 PM EST

Drew Blair
ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - A group of women gathered Wednesday to attend a court hearing for the man charged in murdering nine-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

Kristy Williams and four others said they attended Michael Plumadore’s court appearance in support of the young victim.

“I just feel a lot of hurt like the rest of the community does and I feel somebody needs to stand up for her and be here with her all the way,” Williams said.

The women met through various Facebook pages created in the aftermath of Aliahna’s death. They plan to attend every public court appearance related to the murder case.

No one in the group has a personal connection to the case but said outrage over the brutal murder inspired the commitment.

Williams and the others are part of other efforts to honor Aliahna. Organization of a balloon launch is underway to talk place around what would have been the girl’s tenth birthday. A memorial book has been created which upon completion will be donated to the child’s elementary school.

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MUST-SEE video at above link.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A Fort Wayne man accused of bludgeoning a 9-year-old girl to death and dismembering her body three days before Christmas is scheduled to stand trial in June.

Allen Superior Court John Surbeck on Monday ordered 39-year-old Michael Plumadore to stand trial on June 18. Plumadore is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in the Dec. 22 death of Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon. A probable cause affidavit says Plumadore fatally beat Aliahna with a brick.

Authorities say Plumadore had been caring for the third-grader and her two younger sisters at the time because their mother was sick. The family had described him as a trusted friend before his arrest.

A pretrial hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 16.
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Murder trial for Fort Wayne girl's death to begin in June
Tuesday morning, a judge scheduled the murder trial for Michael Plumadore, 39, to begin on June 18.

By Fox59
11:11 a.m. EST, February 28, 2012

Fort Wayne, Ind.

A Fort Wayne man accused of killing a 9-year-old girl just days before Christmas is scheduled to stand trial in June.

Tuesday morning, a judge scheduled the murder trial for Michael Plumadore, 39, to begin on June 18.

Plumadore is pleading not guilty to charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in connection with the death of Aliahna Lemmon.

Plumadore is accused of killing and then dismembering Lemmon on December 22.

In an interview with police, Plumadore admitted that he used a brick to hit Lemmon in the head several times, before dismembering her body. According to the probable cause affidavit, Plumadore said he placed pieces of Lemmon's body in freezer bags before disposing of them in a dumpster at a nearby business.

Lemmon’s family said Plumadore was a trusted family friend who was caring for the girl and her younger sister while their mother had the flu.

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) – The final ruling has been made by the Allen County Coroner’s Office regarding the death of Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon, who died on December 26, 2011.
The autopsy report states that the cause of Aliahna’s death was from multiple blunt force and suffocation injuries.
Her death was previously ruled a Homicide with Michael Plumadore admitting he had killed her, dismembered her, placed the pieces of her in freezer band, and disposing the bags in a dumpster.
Plumadore is expected to stand trial on June 18th.
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OMG, what that poor innocent little child suffered! OMG.

Coroner rules on Aliahna's death
Rebecca S. Green | The Journal Gazette

FORT WAYNE – The Allen County Coroner’s Office issued its final ruling Wednesday in the homicide of 9-year-old Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon, two months after the girl’s disappearance and death.

According to the coroner’s office, Aliahna died of multiple blunt-force and suffocation injuries.

While the coroner’s office puts her official date of death at Dec. 26, her baby sitter, Michael L. Plumadore, 39, told police he killed the little girl Dec. 22 – by smashing a brick into her head.

He then dismembered her body later that day, putting her head, hands and feet into his freezer and the rest of her body into bags and discarding it in a nearby trash bin, according to court records.

Allen County prosecutors charged Plumadore with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a body from the scene of a violent or suspicious death.

Officials could not comment on the nature of the suffocation finding because the case is still under investigation, said Becky Stuttle, an investigator with the coroner’s office.

But the time between the date Aliahna’s body was discovered and the date of the final ruling on her death was spent waiting for all the evidence to come in, Stuttle said. Toxicology results typically take between three to six weeks and other tests from one to two months, she said.

Plumadore appeared in Allen Superior Court last week for a pre-trial conference and Allen Superior Court Judge John Surbeck scheduled a five-day trial beginning June 18.

But the trial could be delayed if Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards decides to seek the death penalty.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no such decision had been announced. Richards could also seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Plumadore often baby-sat for Aliahna and her younger sisters and was doing so at the time while the girls’ mother recovered from an illness.

Aliahna’s mother told police she last saw her daughter Dec. 20.

Plumadore said he saw her last the morning of Dec. 23. Police, firefighters and others searched for days, and on Dec. 26, Plumadore admitted to police he had killed her Dec. 22.

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12:02 PM, May. 1, 2012

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors and attorneys for a Fort Wayne man accused of bludgeoning a 9-year-old girl to death and dismembering her body three days before Christmas have told a judge they’re ready to go to trial next month.

The News-Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/JEdxUG ) the attorneys said during a brief pretrial conference Tuesday morning in an Allen County court that they’re ready to proceed.

Thirty-nine-year old Michael Plumadore is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in the December death of Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon. Authorities say Plumadore fatally beat Aliahna with a brick.

Plumadore was a family friend who was caring for the third-grader because her mother was sick

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 18.

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