Three Bricks and a Driver, A 13 year old case.

Matthew Levanduski is on trial June 2017 due to being the driver of an automobile carrying three kilos of cocaine. The story is he stopped at the Brighton Shell gas station April 2004, it is said, to get gas. He attempts to receive a wire transfer from Western Union; it is said, to pay for the gas. The Western Union often goes down there at the Shell Station and Mr. Levanduski becomes agitated not receiving his money, agitated enough to frighten the clerk. She calls the police. The police shortly show up. They find out that there are two passengers in car, man in front and woman in the back. The passenger in the front, Richard Rodriguez, has an outstanding warrant for arrest. Woman in the back had a handgun in her purse. The police searched the car and in the trunk found two bricks of cocaine under clothes and one on the left side of the trunk of car. There was a substantial amount of cutting agent as well. That makes the cocaine go farther. My estimate of the street value is a couple hundred thousand dollars. They also find a hand gun in the purse of the female in the back seat.

But the case is 13 years old. Why the delay? My guess is the case was turned over to the Feds and they never pursued it. I wasn’t able to find out.

Livingston County is charging the defendant with three counts: 1) possession with intent to deliver and distribute, 2) possession and 3 possession of a weapon.

The prosecution’s case was simple. Arresting police officers, the City of Detroit DEA, the clerk at the Brighton, Michigan Shell Gas Station were called to testify. Although it was funny the clerk had to be reminded of the police report to refresh her memory of the incident; she couldn’t identify the defendant in the court room. The Senior Forensic chemist was interviewed by phone to confirm that the bricks were indeed cocaine.

Mr. Levanduski gave a signed and dated short written statement to the City of Detroit DEA, stating he was aware of the cocaine and the gun.

For the defense’s case Matthew Levanduski testified in his own behalf. He’s a tall man, 6’ 5”, in his thirties. He had met Maggie at a party, where she presented the courier proposal. Mr. Levanduski testified that he drove the passengers for a fee, since they didn’t have a valid license. She was planning to pick up her brother-in-law in Chicago. Upon arrival at Chicago the brother-in-law doesn’t show up and they turn around. At some point he gets suspicious and discovers the cocaine in the trunk. Maggie comes up to him and points a gun at him. He understandably felt threatened, especially since he says they knew where he lived. They drove back whereupon they were arrested.

Mr. Levanduski under oath stated he had been interrogated at length by the City of Detroit DEA, not realizing he’d be under indictment, he gave his simple statement regarding his awareness of the presence of the cocaine and gun.  He didn’t include the threat he was under by the passengers. In other words he was an unwitting dupe to drug delivery. He hadn’t expected to be arrested by the Feds and it appears a case wasn’t made against him.

 I had several conversations with his uncle and father who were present at throughout the two day trial. He had his own business (lawn care? construction?) in Florida for some years after this incidence.

So initially I’m sympathetic to his situation.

However, the prosecutor pokes some holes into his story. First he didn’t have a valid driver’s license. It was suspended in March 2004, a month before his did the chauffer job. He did get a driver’s license from Ohio later even though he lived in Grand Rapids. We find out that he had $225 in his wallet at the time he says he was trying to get money through Western Union to pay for gas. Prosecutor speculated that he was anticipating being paid for his courier job and got agitated when it didn’t arrive. In addition Brighton is way out of your way, if you’re coming back from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Why were they in Brighton, Michigan? In addition Mr. Levanduski had ample opportunity to alert the police that he was being essentially held against his will by the couple. However, he didn’t bother to tell them. And finally prosecution asked jury to compare the writing in the note book that was found in the car with the writing in the statement provided to the City of Detroit DEA; they matched in some elements.

The jury verdict surprised me. The prosecution provided no evidence of communication between him and the couple in the car or making drug deals whether text or phone. There was no finger printing or DNA of the bricks to match the defendant. Simply, the very large amount of the cocaine was presented as evidence of large scale dealing. That we can agree, but his connection to it is less clear. The jury convicted on possession to deliver and distribute the heavier charge and acquitted on the possession and gun charge. I thought possession would be the charge, since it seemed unclear he had intent to control and deliver the bricks.

In retrospect I’m guessing that it might have been the notebook hand writing that they matched with the signed confession.

This is where it gets uncomfortable. Typically in the court room there are few people in the gallery. I often am the only on-looker in the court room gallery. In this case two gentlemen attended the court proceedings and invariably they’ll ask who I am. Then a conversation starts and we end up talking through the trial in recess. This time I felt bad because I relayed my optimism of a possible acquittal to his father and uncle and the defense attorney for that matter. As already stated in contrast the jury chose the harshest charge to incriminate the defendant to my dismay.

Attack by Mask Man, Appropriately named Savage.

A 19 year old woman was working the reception desk of a Hartland, Michigan Motel Best Western at 5:30AM on June 4, 2016. On her shift she’s been washing bedding and such and just finishing fixing the free breakfast. She’s only been on job for a week and third day on her own. It’s still dark. Sun isn’t up for another half hour. There’s someone at the locked front door.

Instead of going to the audit room that had the video screen of the front door with buzzer to allow entry, the new employee walked up to the locked front door. She saw a man with a ski mask on. For many of us we might have hesitated to allow him entry. She thoughtlessly and yes, foolishly opened the door for the masked man, turned her back on went back to the receptionist desk. The masked man walked through the lobby and it appears went to the bathroom.

Shortly thereafter, our masked man comes back and goes behind the receptionist desk and points a pistol at the receptionist, Lindsey*. He orders her to empty the money drawer and asks for her purse. They both go back to the audit room where the purse is. He orders her to lie down on the floor, whereby he peppers sprays her face.  This as you’d expect gives her searing pain in her face and eyes. This will wear off in an hour or so.

The masked man takes her wallet and car keys and walks out to her parked car and drives off. Once she felt good enough, Lindsey first calls her manager who doesn’t answer then calls 911. Sounds like Lindsey needed more training. Not her fault.

The robbery and car-jacking of the 2006 gray Chevy Impala are reported. When asked the color of the assailant she says she saw tan skin but he wasn’t black, she knew that. There were 16 security cameras at the motel including the parking lot. He was identified as an African-American. The black masked assailant shows up in many of them and we can see him drive off in the Chevy Impala.

About six hours later there’s a report 80 miles away of a masked driver in a gray Chevy Impala driving erratically. Then a woman with a couple of her kids beeps her horn after him; he slows down to menace her and she got a real good look at him. She calls 911. Flat Rock police locate a gray Chevy Impala parked at a CVS Pharmacy strip mall.

The rookie police officer parks behind the car; he sees he’s wearing a black mask. He steps up to ask for the standard driver’s license and registration. The officer has a body camera. We see that seated in the car, the driver, a black male, is immediately uncooperative. “I’m afraid. I’m afraid”, he says, acting like he’s been interrogated for little good reason. He says he doesn’t need to provide license and registration, since he’s parked and not driving. He doesn’t provide an answer how he got in the parking lot in the first place. You would naturally assume he’d been driving. The officer threatens arrest, but I suppose it’s not illegal to sit in a car with a black mask on.

Officer calls for backup. Another Flat Rock police officer shows up in a minute. He speaks to the black male from the other side of the car and basically in a much less threatening tone allows the driver a free pass, saying he’d not done anything illegal. The rookie tells black male he’ll be arrested if he tries to drive. Both Cops leave. One question, did you run the license plates? No.

As the rookie police officer ran the automobile’s license plates, they find out that the car had been stolen so they round back to the CVS Pharmacy parking lot. The car is empty and they go store to store in the strip mall. Finally they find the suspect in the Smoke Shop on his phone. He’s arrested.

He’s identified as Broderick Savage (formerly Siewerth(sp?)). In the car we find Lindsey’s wallet and backpack and the keys were left in the backpack. Also located were pepper spray, mask and some money about $321, said to be similar to the amount at the motel.

Evidence at trial was the security video and the body camera video of the arresting officers. We find out as well that the hand gun was a hand gun sized and shaped BB gun painted black to give it appearance of being a hand gun. This gun did not function. The jury was instructed that it was not necessary for it to function to still be a chargeable offense. The charge was the use of…well a BB gun in a robbery and carjacking.

The most dramatic testimony was Lindsey’s. She was traumatized by the incident and in fact never worked at the motel again. She broke down several times in her testimony. This truly was a shock that she’s yet to recuperate from.

The defense attempted to argue that the robbery and carjacking at the hotel were two separate incidents. The man caught in the car in Flat Rock was not the same man who had committed the crimes in Hartland. He was simply a victim of circumstance. But coincidences were far too much to reasonably dismiss.

I find out he had two priors and girlfriend lived nearby. That’s how he got there without car. And then needed the victim’s car.

The defendant was convicted on all counts of armed robbery, auto theft and assault with dangerous weapon.   

Sentencing has been postponed as of the writing of this blog.

*named changed to protect witness. 

A Shot in the Dark: the Murder of Ron Hauser

Ron Hauser: A shot in the Dark

Ron Hauser was alone watching Rockford Files on TV at 9:26 PM on December 30, 2011, when a bullet came crashing through his window and shot him in the chest. His heart was shredded and he died immediately. Ron was well loved by many friends and relatives. He didn’t seem to have enemies. He lived out in the country on his 50 to 60 acre residence on a nearly ½ mile driveway in Iosco Township in Livingston County in Lower Michigan. The house couldn’t be seen from the road. Ron is said to have worked very hard in his youth and was able to afford some nice things. He was a tree trimer who hired day labor, but was able to work just weekends from spring through fall and take the winters off. The only light on in the house was in his walkout basement. He lived alone.

His girlfriend began to miss him the next day. He was expected to be a brother’s house for a New Year’s Eve celebration. They began to call throughout the day but no answer. Finally his neighbor and his brother went to check on him only to find him slain in his walkout basement. The window was broken with the glass shards inside and the sliding glass door unlocked and ajar. Ron always kept that door locked witnesses said.  

The crime scene didn’t reveal finger prints, tire tracks, or DNA. The murder weapon was never found.  There were no witnesses. There was a spent shotgun plug in the corner of the walkout basement that the police presumed was from the shot that killed Ron. Note there was a bullet hole behind Ron in the wall as well.

It is presumed that money was the motive. Ron always carried a “knuckle” he called it. Many people say it and could testify that it was likely to have been thousands in cash. Ron didn’t trust banks. And he liked to be able to make a cash deal if he saw something he could use. You can get a discount when you have ready cash, he knew. Yet, no cash was found in the house. A small house safe was found empty in Ron’s bedroom. An attic opening was left open where it could be presumed the safe was stored.

September 2015, Anthony Duke is brought to trial for his murder. Anthony Duke is a soft spoken, a nonthreatening man. He had associations with Ron Hauser over the years as a worker. Anthony Duke had a prior criminal record.

Suspicion was drawn to Anthony Duke when someone reported seeing a Facebook post by Duke posing the question “$30k. What to do? What to do?”

How was Anthony Duke convicted? The detective for the case checked known associates of Mr. Hauser. Anthony Duke’s alibi was the only the detective couldn’t clear. Initially, Duke said he was with his live-in girlfriend the night Ron was killed.

The Facebook post raised suspicion and the police came back to Anthony Duke. His live-in girlfriend said he’d left that night for a period of time. After that alibi was blown, he then remembered he had gone to get gas in Fowlerville several miles away about 9:00 o’clock, which accounted for his absence. He lived on a mile and a half away from Mr. Hauser’s house. Time enough to visit Mr. Hauser’s house and return within a short while. This raised suspicions. Since Duke’s girlfriend testified that it was his habit to save every receipt but not the one he used to purchase the gasoline that evening. The detective went to the Mobil gas station in Fowlerville and went to the two gasoline pumps that Anthony Duke might have used for the period in question 9:00 to 10:00 pm December 30, 2011 but found none for the amount Duke said he purchased the gas for. There was no receipt for that amount retained either. The security tapes had been destroyed, albeit if Anthony had been more forthright in the beginning they may have been able to access those.

Another thing to consider: only someone familiar with the property and the house’s location on it and where Ron Hauser would likely to be, would be the murderer. A stranger wouldn’t even see the house from the road, would have seen a dark house and not realize that Ron was downstairs watching TV in the walkout basement which was not viewable when you pulled up in the drive.

By the way it was known that he was killed at 9:26 pm because he fell over as he was shot and broke his watch which read 9:26 pm. Ron was a creature of habit. He always watched Fox news at 10:00 pm but the TV remained on the channel that hosted Rockford Files. So it is very likely that he was shot in the 9 to 10 hour, plus he had talked to his brother for 40 minutes with phone records showing the call ended around 9:15 pm. This is the time that Duke was out of the house.

There were two sabots (shot gun shell casings) in the yard along with cigarette butts and a beer can. The two sabots matched the type of shot gun Duke was likely to have known to have had in his possession when Ron was shot, a Mossberg 12 gauge. Derek Duke, his step brother, saw a Mossberg 12 gauge in the possession of Anthony.

Anthony Duke’s girlfriend testified that Duke had a Mossberg 12 gauge shot gun. Anthony Duke told police he didn’t own a gun. Yet, at the time he possessed a Mossberg 12 gauge shot gun he’d borrowed.   This type of sabot was found in Anthony Duke’s yard and at Anthony Duke’s step-father’s yard as well. Jim Duke, the step-father, testified that he never shot guns at Anthony’s. Anthony always came over to visit him.

Jim Duke had some interesting things to report. He appears to have had his suspicions. He noticed that Anthony suddenly had money. Jim Duke said that he knew that Anthony took money from Ron in the past without his knowledge. Jim Duke was taken back by the fact that Anthony had no reaction to Ron’s death. Anthony Duke had asked him if he had any business accounts he could sell. This will be important when the explanation of the cash by the defense comes up. His step-dad says that he spent most of his time scrapping: selling iron/copper scrap.

A former close friend, who used to work for Ron as well and lived with Anthony Duke for a time, came all the way from San Antonio, Texas to testify that in 2006 he’d heard Anthony say in all seriousness that I can go get Ron Hauser’s money and I’d shot him if I had to.

Ashley Cuffleman, former girlfriend, was living with Anthony in December 2011, the time of the shooting. She confirms that Anthony Duke, on parole mind you and prohibited from owning a gun, possessed a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun at the time. Ashley also testified that Anthony took the White Pickup that usually had the shotgun hidden under the seat to go get the purported gas on the night of the murder.

It was discovered that Anthony purchased 3 boxes of Winchester sabot style 12 gauge shotgun rounds at Walmart on November 14^th 2011.

On November 9, 2011 Anthony got a traffic ticket and it was confirmed he was in possession of a shotgun. So I am not sure why nothing happened to Anthony on parole and in possession of firearms.

December 31, 2011 suddenly Anthony has cash. The day after Ron’s murder Anthony and girlfriend treated themselves with a night out the local Best Western; that’s on New Year’s Eve. Admittedly we don’t know how frequently this type of night occurred for them but based on the knowledge they were hurting financially you wouldn’t think too often. Then Anthony buys a new pickup truck and a zero turn mower that usually costs a few thousand.

More evidence implicated Anthony Duke. The court got to hear his jail house recorded conversation with Ashley subsequent to his arrest and incarceration in which he urges her to “do the thing I asked you to do.” Ashley testifies that the thing Anthony wanted him to do was to buy a new Mossberg 12 gauge and proffer it to the police, as the gun Anthony had been using during the time of the murder. This was hoped to put the police off the track, since it wouldn’t match the bullets at the crime scene.

Anthony Duke never took the witness stand.

Some things to think about. There was DNA on the beer can in the yard. It didn’t match Anthony Duke’s. There was a foot print in the broken glass inside Ron’s walk out basement. It didn’t match Anthony Duke’s. They never found the supposed murder weapon, the Mossberg 12 gauge, even though they looked in 5 ponds in the area. No one witnessed the crime. The question remained, was there money actually stolen, since none was found? Ron kept his “knuckle” on top of the freezer inside the door from the garage in a plastic baggy. It was empty but had an edge of a passport resting over it. The significance of that is why would the thief bother to position the passport over the baggy after emptying the baggy. It’s easier to presume the baggy may have been empty to begin with.   There was an empty safe found in Ron’s bedroom. We can presume it had money but it was empty.

Note however that the sabots matching a Mossberg 12 gauge were found at Ron’s, Anthony’s Step-father’s and his house. Only Anthony was at all three places.

Anthony Duke was convicted after a short period of deliberation by the 44^th Circuit Court jury.

He was sentenced to life for felony murder, 15-25 years for 1^st degree home invasion, and 10-15 years for possession of a fire arm by a felon. He continued to maintain his innocence and said he considered Ron a friend, a boss and like a brother. He was sorry that the detectives lied, manipulated and deceived the jury. He said he looks forward to appeal and arrest of the true killer.

The appellate court in 2017 deemed there was sufficient evidence to convict Mr. Duke. As you probably know, appellate courts are meant in large part to determine if the correct law was applied to a particular case. The jury is the trier of fact and is rarely overruled based on the facts of the case.

Based on conversations with friends and family at the trial, Ron is sorely missed.

Poker Party Break In

Mary Pezzoni’s friendly poker party, a few miles west of Brighton out in the country with a $100 buy in, got terrifying all of a sudden last June 4, 2015 late Thursday night. There are about 18 people in the walk out basement. Most gamblers are situated around a poker table with the $100 buy in. There’s an unlocked black cabinet that has the money stash.  Suddenly three black men, two with white sleeves covering their faces, show up, two down the stairs accessed through the garage and one through the sliding door, armed with a baseball bat, a retractable baton and a revolver. “Where’s the money? Where’s the money”, they shout. The poker table has chips on it, but they’ve been told the money is in the black cabinet next to the poker table. Tereance Ayres opens the cabinet and grabs what money there is. They were told that there could be $20 grand at stake. There’s far less than that. A gun is held to someone’s head and they begin to count down from 5…4…3…2. Mary has come down from upstairs where she was washing dishes and begins to shout for them to leave, “There’s no more money; there’s children upstairs”. The gun is pointed at Mary. “There’s no money. Please leave!” she says. Mary has a bit of an odd home situation; her ex-husband continues to live with her, plus her boyfriend and children live there. One gamer is threatened with kidnap, “He’s cute. We should take him!” The boyfriend gets bludgeoned with the baton and begins to bleed profusely down the forehead. People are truly in fear of their lives. Mary continues to shout, “There’s no more money! There’s no more money!” The robbers determine there’s no more money to be had and shake the guests down for cell phones, wallets. They run out of house.

With only one road to speak of back to town, that is Brighton, the robber’s car and Kennie’s are soon located by police and followed back to a condo in Brighton. Kennie has an app that monitor’s police chatter. He detects a call has been made to police. The robber’s began to throw things out the window of the car, the torn sleeves off their tee shirts used as masks, credit cards, wallets and such. 

Both cars park at a condo in Brighton. It’s unclear how close the police were following because by the time they put a search light onto the car and only a driver is present. There was some testimony that they saw someone walk up to the front door. Police are waiting for backup since they know that the robbers are armed. The car next to this one begins to back out and pull by the police car. Police stops him and asks for id.  We find out its Kennie Whitby who purports to live there and claims to be picking up janitorial supplies. Now it’s something past 1:30am in the Morning June 6 at this time. Police officer is satisfied and allows him to drive off.

The driver of the other car, Germante Perkins, is arrested. The other 3 robbers run off underneath a tarp next to a shed in a house nearby. The police dog failed to locate them and oddly the police seem to be content to allow armed robbers, who just committed home invasion, to roam free. Kennie Whitby gets a call the next morning to have him pick them up, the 3 robbers on the lamb. He takes them over to a commercial property his wife owns and takes them to an empty unit. He goes to clean Becker’s Brewery and then comes back to drive the 3 back to West Detroit. Those three arrive on Tacoma St in Detroit. About 15 minutes later the Police arrive to arrest them. One of the robbers left his driver’s license in the car. 

Upon interrogation the four arrested Detroit residents point to Kennie as the master mind of the crime. A detective goes to Kennie’s work that night to ask questions. Kennie asks if he could step outside to talk. Then Kennie makes a getaway on foot. The detective hears a splash. Kennie has jumped into the nearby mill pond and is lost to the detective. Helicopter and a police dog later a wet Kennie on the other side of the pond is in custody. Kennie sustains a dog bite as well, that didn’t require medical attention.

There’s lots of evidence that Kennie Whitby was heavily involved. Kennie had met Mary Perzzoni, although she didn’t remember him. He texted her to ask if he could join the poker party. Kennie did play something like three times at Mary’s before the robbery. And this is where he found out that stakes could get high at Mary’s Poker Party. Possibly twenty grand.

We find out at trial from Kennie’s ex-mother-in-law that Kennie keeps no supplies at the Pinewood Court condo, where Kennie was seen pulling out of the drive way. And Kennie doesn’t live there either currently but was his residence when he was married to her daughter. So this is more than a coincidence that he was parked next to the armed robbers at the condo at 1:30a.m.

It’s also presented at trial that Kennie had communication through text with Tersean Pressly, his nephew one of the armed robbers.

Inside the robbers’ car was all manner of evidence including keys, watches, credit cards, car licenses, a wallet AND Kennie Whitby’s business card in Tyler Ayres wallet.

At trial according to Terence Ayers, who testified on behalf of the prosecution, Kennie had met them just before the robbery. He gave them 2 plastic bags and plastic gloves. Kennie explained the setup of the house and directed them to enter through the garage. And how the money was stored in an unlocked black cabinet next to the poker table. Then Kennie in his own car led them out to the rural Brighton residence.

Kennie directed the robbers into the garage and downstairs. He knew he’d be identified, if he followed the robbers down stairs. Kennie Whitby waited in his car. Then he led them back to the condo in Brighton as they were being followed by the police.

It was discovered at trial that Kennie had a police scanner app as well and let the robbers in the other car know that the police had been called shortly after leaving the poker house.

Phone records were introduced that showed Kennie’s phone was pinging a mile 1.65 miles away from the Poker Party at the time of the home invasion and robbery.

The four accomplices once alerted police were on the way minutes after they had left, began to throw out things they had robbed like wallets, phones, the masks they used to cover their faces. The masks were torn t-shirt sleeves. One torn t-shirt sleeve was retrieved and DNA matching one of the accomplices.

Kennie led them over to his ex-mother-in-law’s condo were as we know 3 of the accomplices shortly fled. They stayed the night behind a shed under a tarp. The police’s diligence in locating them wasn’t sufficient to locate the home invading robbers. They called Kennie at 6:00am and he came over to pick them up and take them down to Western Detroit to the bus station.

Prosecution didn’t have an eye witness that Kennie was present at the Poker Party residence. So what evidence did they have? We have the testimony of Terence Ayers, as to Kennie’s involvement.  We have Kennie’s presence at his ex-mother-in-laws house, parked next to the robbers’ car night of the robbery. The car that had Tyler Ayres wallet with Kennie Whitby’s business card. Kennie knew Mary Pezzoni and her poker parties. We have Kennie’s several texts to his nephew Tersean Pressly  before and after the crime, letting him know there was no guns nor cameras at the Poker Party. Kennie’s phone also a suspicious police scanner app, that seems to have prompted a warning text to the other accomplices as they were fleeing the scene.

The jury came back with a guilty verdict after a few hours deliberation. Unfortunately, at the sentencing we find out that Kennie is 4^th time offender and still under a parole for 2^nd degree murder in the early 90’s. He shot somebody in his drive way. He had been convicted prior to this in a bad check, credit card fraud some 5 years before this trial. Sentencing guidelines are harsh and Kennie will likely spend the majority of his life in prison. The judge sentenced him to 50 years. Prior to sentencing Kennie had unsuccessfully tried to escape by trying to kick out the air duct in his jail cell but I read that in the papers. You wouldn’t have known it at trial. Kennie presented a respectful image.

                                                                           *****

I had to confirm this myself but good looking Kennie charmed an attractive local business woman to marry him a few months prior to the robbery. What possessed him to concoct this hair brained plot afterwards, you got to wonder? Didn’t he realize he was a repeated offending convicted criminal?

Of course that’s just one of the questions one asks oneself. What was Mary Pezzoni thinking hosting large stakes poker parties in her home? She asserted these guests were her family and that was her only motivation for having them. Number two, isn’t gambling illegal? The invasion/robbery kind of confirms the risk involved with such an enterprise. Especially with no security: no guns or no security video. As well as putting her children upstairs along with her ex-husband at risk. Poker party with big stakes…what could go wrong there?