Dateline: Vengeance

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If you missed Dateline this past weekend, you missed an incredible story.  Seemona Sumasar dated a man by the name of Jerry Ramrattan.  She was a hard-working immigrant woman living in Queens, New York, who held two jobs.  She worked at Morgan Stanley during the day, and came home to run a restaurant that she owned at night.

Ramrattan eventually moved in with Sumasar.

Then one day she received a phone call from Ramrattan’s wife saying he was married. Sumasar had no idea! She was very upset and asked Ramrattan to move out. She says a couple of weeks went by and he wasn’t leaving so she asked him to leave again.

It is clear by watching Sumarsar that the two had an argument the night as she claimed and things went south, but I have to say I find her puzzling as well.  Her facial expressions and demeanor stand out to me.

She claims that Ramrattan raped her that evening, but he says it was a lie.

After she reported the assault to police and said she was raped, he hatched a plan to frame Sumasar for armed robberies, and his plan was a success. It happened over many months, but he got three people to say they were robbed by Sumasar.  Police investigated the story and it seemed credible because the eye-witnesses/victims could clearly ID Sumasar and her car–giving them her license plate numbers.  She was eventually arrested and thrown in jail to await trial.  She spent seven months in jail –all the while no one believed her.

Thankfully, one of people Ramrattan convinced to frame Sumasar finally told law enforcement the truth, and police finally believed Sumasar, and locked up Ramrattan.  He was just recently tried and convicted of her rape, and other crimes involving framing Sumasar. He was sent to prison for 32 years.

Without any doubt, what Ramrattan did was outrageous and wrong.  I think he should absolutely be locked up for his actions.  However, when I look at the two of them, I don’t see this case as black and white.  I see shades of gray.

Both of these people are head-strong, obstinate and I personally think they butted heads and neither would back down.  I think tempers flared and each one was going to make the other pay.   Each of them was on a mission– a mission of revenge, and it escalated and escalated.

People naturally feel forced to decide that one person is lying and the other is telling the truth, and we can see that in this case. Police at first didn’t believe Sumasar, and then they didn’t believe Ramrattan–and this case continued on a black and white platform, but what if there are shades of gray here?

I personally suspect there are…

It’s not that I think Sumasar had anything to do with armed robberies. I do not believe she did.  But I wonder what happened that night at her house.  I somehow don’t think we got all the details, or the full truth.

If we ever find out the entire truth, I suspect this case will have even more shades of gray.

I also believe that Sumasar has infuriated Ramrattan to the highest degree, and she needs to take his threats very seriously. When he was sentenced he spoke out and said this isn’t over. I think this guy could be capable of causing Sumasar some serious, serious harm–even from prison.  I don’t think he is finished with her yet.  She needs to watch her back for years to come.

Pharmaceuticals Test Drugs: What you Need to Know

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Dateline’s Chris Hansen did an outstanding investigation in to the FDA, pharmaceutical studies and drug tests on humans.  What he uncovered will make you shutter when you think of taking a prescription drug.  The drug companies who make these drugs, create and run their own studies to get FDA approval, and then more than 80% of them go to foreign countries to do drug trials — tests on human testing, yet less than 1% of them are reviewed by the FDA once they are complete.

Does that give you confidence in the FDA?  And the safety of our drugs?

Even worse, these companies test these drugs on the poorest of poor in India–paying them $150 per drug trial and the poorest of people sign-up to simply survive, and they sign-up for multiple drug trials at one time–which could be devastating not only for their health, but for us as well–as results will be skewed, if they are even accurate and truthful at all.

Since 2008, more than 1,500 people have died in India participating in drug trials.  Think about that next time you take a prescription drug.  Do you think this is fair and ethical?

Michael Peterson Gets New Trial

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Michael Peterson was convicted in his wife Kathleen’s death in 2003. She was found at the bottom of a staircase.  Peterson, who was home at the time, said it was an accidental fall, but the coroner concluded that Kathleen was murdered.

Peterson had been married before and divorced, but his children stood steadfast by him during the trial. Dateline NBC covered the story in 2006 as Peterson prepared for trial and you could see his children fervently believed in him. You got to see him up close and personal.

I, however, did not believe Peterson’s story.

Ironically, Peterson is also connected to another death. A close friend of his, Elizabeth Ratliff,
was also found at the bottom of a staircase deceased as well.   What are the odds? At first her death was investigated as an accident, but after Kathleen’s death, her case was looked at again, and  now it too is believed to be a homicide as well.  Guess who the last person was with Elizabeth?  Michael Peterson.  A neighbor in 2003 recalled seeing him leave the night Elizabeth died (read more).

According to Yahoo News, Peterson is getting a new trial in the Kathleen Peterson case because a witness mislead the jury about the strength of the bloodstain evidence. You can read more here. This will be interesting to watch develop.

Michael Peterson is currently out of jail on bond. Can you believe it?  I wouldn’t go near a staircase if you see him!

Dateline: The Secret

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Did you see Dateline this past weekend when they featured “The Secret”?  They profiled the life and death of Mike Snyder, a well known auto mechanic in Albuquerque.  His wife, Ellen, eventually confessed to police that she was the one who killed him after her son’s friend went to police detailing all he knew about the murder.  Ellen had told everyone for years that Mike had left her for a gay lover, but the truth was she shot and killed him, and along with her son, they buried him near the garage. Her son told a friend who sat on that secret for years, but when Ellen became his boss and fired her– he went to the police in revenge.

Ellen Snyder had no problems lying to people or eliminating her husband Mike.  She was actually quite happy after Mike supposedly disappeared.

I don’t believe much of what Ellen said in the show.  I don’t believe Mike had a gay relationship.  I don’t believe he woke her up in the middle of the night to scream at her. I don’t believe he was jealous of her.  I also don’t believe their relationship came to boiling point that night because he was abusive and she killed him self-defense.  I think the reverse has more merit than anything. 

Ellen was no little mouse. That’s all nonsense. They may have had fights, but Ellen stood her ground, without question.

Ellen Snyder is one cold, calculating and scary woman, and I am sad to hear she only had to serve 11 years for killing her husband.

Quinn Gray’s Abduction on Dateline NBC

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If you didn’t see Saturday night’s Dateline, you missed a whopper of a story.  It was two-hours of action, deception and lies.  I would have to say this was one of the most hotspot littered cases I think I’ve ever watched.  Quinn Gray couldn’t have been a better subject!

For those of you who saw the show, here is Quinn Gray’s ransom note. 

So many hot spots:

  1. Notice Quinn’s normal bubbly written text? When people are held at gunpoint, they get nervous and nervous hand writing isn’t so sweet and smooth! Hello.
  2. Quinn writes, “I need you read this and be calm!!” Who under duress is going to think like this?   Just be calm, honey!
  3. Quinn writes, “…do not be a hero.” Hero? Who would think about heroes when you have a gun pointing to your head?
  4. Quinn writes, “This is professional.” What victim of a crime is ever going to think her abductors are “professional”?  I could see law enforcement calling someone professional, but not a victim unless they were talking about a crime in hindsight–not during the actual crime. How does she know they are “professional” at this point? She hasn’t seen them do anything, if this is real and they just broke into her house. It’s ridiculous.
  5. I find it very odd she tells her husband they want $50,000, but he cannot get more than $9,500.00 out of the bank. Had she tried at one point? Would you know this if you were held at gun point? Very odd information for a “victim” to have… She could have called the bank with the kidnappers and asked about how much she could withdrawal, but she makes no mention of it.
  6. Then she says they only have $7,000, which makes it even more perplexing that she should would know about the $9,500 number because why ask if you don’t have it? 
  7. Her use of the word “stupid” stands out to me as well. When you are facing life and death, and you may not see a loved one again, and I can’t imagine you would worry about them doing stupid things. You would worry about their life instead. It’s odd to say the least. She doesn’t seem worried about him at all, does she?
  8. It’s odd how she is so sure she will be fine if he just gets the money. Why would she be so sure? A kidnapper wouldn’t give her the time to write that over and over again! Time is of the essence if they are all standing around in her house, mind you.
  9. She writes, “Please do this honey!” Honey? Again, its ridiculous!!

Clearly, by her own word choices, she was not a woman under duress.  Had I found this ransom note, I couldn’t help but chuckle!!!! It tells a heck of a lot information, and while you couldn’t write it off, I would have been very skeptical. 

Word choices tell us so much…