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Family members of a murdered Brockton man made a gruesome discovery last week when they found what the police couldn't.

BROCKTON The hardest thing Joseph Shaws family has gone through was losing their son, brother, uncle and friend. Then, hearing the details of his death in court caused many of them to have to leave and added to their fresh pain.

But what they found later that day inside his apartment made their hearts break even more.

Joseph Shaw, 44, was found stabbed more than 30 times and wrapped in a blanket inside a closet at his home, 42 Green St., on July 21. His girlfriend, 33-year-old Kathryn Podgurski led police to the body and told them he had been there for about a week. She claimed Shaw was killed in a different location during an armed home invasion and that she helped move the body there, but didnt call police because the supposed suspects would have killed her.

Podgurski was first charged as an accessory after murder, but was later charged with killing Shaw during her arraignment in Brockton District Court. During that court appearance, family members burst into tears as Assistant District Attorney Richard Linehan said investigators found Shaw had been partially dismembered.

The body was also found to be missing the lower left portion of the leg and the right arm below the elbow, Linehan said. It should be noted that the severed limbs have still not been recovered.

That was until later that day, when Shaws family went to his Green Street apartment last Monday afternoon to retrieve some of his belongings. Family members noticed a backpack with blood on it. When they opened it, they discovered Shaws missing limbs inside.

The Plymouth County district attorneys office confirmed that family found what appears to be the missing limb portions, but havent discussed how investigators missed the bag.

David Procopio, a spokesman for state police, the agency responsible for investigating homicides in the city, also confirmed the discovery.

I can confirm that members of Mr. Shaws family did locate partial remains in his apartment, he said.

But he said the department plans to wait until after the trial to decide whether to perform an internal review into how the mishap occurred.

The Massachusetts State Police currently are focused on the ongoing investigation and prosecution of his homicide, he said. As such, there is no departmental review underway at this time of the victims familys discovery.

But two former law enforcement officials told The Enterprise that the discovery of Shaws remains by his family, rather than police, is cause for concern.

Thats bad police work, its real unfortunate, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York City Police Department detective sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The supervisor, whoever he or she is, should be removed from that unit. How do you miss a backpack? You cant afford to have sloppy police work in the crime scene unit.

In its Crime Scene Investigation guide, the National Forensic Science Technology Center describes methods for crime scene searches and says, The thorough search of a crime scene helps ensure that all relevant evidence will be recognized, documented and collected. It calls the handling of physical evidence one of the most important factors of the investigation.

Mitch Librett, a criminal justice professor at Bridgewater State University and former New York police officer, called it extremely unusual for investigators to miss such a large piece of evidence. But he said he doesnt consider it an O.J. Simpson glove moment in the case.

There could be a perfectly logical explanation for it, we just dont know all the facts, he said. But if in fact they conducted a thorough search of the apartment and didnt discover these body parts, its going to open the door for other questions.

The officials both said it will bring on additional questioning when the case goes to trial, particularly for the state and Brockton police investigators who examined the scene.

Its not going to affect the outcome of the case, but its going to take them a longer time to get there, Giacalone said. There will be a lot of drilling on stand, embarrassment a lot of things that could have been avoided. They had one chance to do the crime scene right, this isnt the playground.

And they also both said it will open the door for the defense attorney to question the thoroughness of the investigation. Podgurski is represented by attorney David Sorrenti, who recently represented a city man ultimately found not guilty in a homicide trial.

Maybe the other body parts werent there when they searched the place, Librett said. God only knows at this point whether or not this is something the police missed or whether its something that was deposited there following the police releasing the apartment as a crime scene. Thats something the defense attorney will explore.

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How will family's discovery of remains affect Brockton murder case? - Enterprise News

Marijuana is legal in some capacity, whether medicinally or recreationally, in more than half of the United States. But according to conservative columnist Ann Coulter, legalization of the plant is destroying the country, andwhats worse, it makes people retarded. Thats what The New York Times best-selling author had to say about cannabis while speaking at the nonpartisan political eventPoliticon on Saturday.

Coulter, who has a longstanding history of making controversial remarks, debated with Ana Kasparian, a marijuana advocate and correspondent for the progressive news mediaoutlet The Young Turks, on various topics, includingthe legality of marijuana in the U.S. While sharing her views on legal pot, 55-year-old Coulter made a number of inflammatory comments regarding marijuana, including claims that nobody goes to prison for [pot] possession.

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It all started when Kasparian brought up the racial disparities surrounding marijuana charges, pointing out that African-Americans are often arrested and sentenced at much higher rates for marijuana use and possession compared with whites committing similar offenses.

I dont care if youre black, white, Asian, Latinodoesnt matter. You shouldnt be prosecuted for marijuana possession. Thats a gigantic waste of our resources, Kasparian, 31, said.

Coulter refuted her panel mate's comment and started speaking about a study she allegedly read that claimed black people lie about their marijuana use more than other races.

There have been further studies where they actually drug test the person after asking Do you smoke pot, or have you smoked pot in the last week? and it turns out theres a racial difference in telling the truth on Did you smoke pot? Blacks were about 10 times more likely to lie and say they hadnt smoked pot, Coulter said.

She was unable to citethe studys origin, where it had been published or any other information regarding the researchers of the study, but Coulter told the moderator, journalist and author Tour, that she would email him the study. However, a different study, conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 2008, found that more peopleregardless of raceself-reported marijuana use than they actually tested positive for in a hair-strand drug test.

As for possession arrests and sentences, Coulter advanced her claim that no one actually serves time for possessing marijuana.

No, I know youre all potheads, and youre gonna have trouble following what Im about to say, but almost 90 percent of people in prison are in prison as a result of a plea bargain. No one gets arrested and tried for possession of marijuana. But if they happen to have marijuana on them thats what they plea it down. But youre not going to prison for that, youre going to prison because you held up a liquor store with a sawed-off shotgun, and they found pot on you, she said.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 8.2 million people were arrested on marijuana charges between 2001 and 2010. Eighty-eight percent of the arrests were merely on possession alone. A separate study released by the National Registry of Exonerations in March said that African-Americans were five times as likely to face jail time for simple drug possession, including marijuana, compared with white offenders of the same crime.

When asked if marijuana should be made legal in the states, Coulter, who obviously disapproved, tried to connect the herbal substance to mental disabilities, which she then seemed to link to immigrants who work as busboys in restaurants.

No. You can legalize all the drugs you want once there isnt a welfare state, but no, she said. Marijuana makes people retarded, especially when theyre young. Weve got enough busboys. Were bringing in busboys by the million through our immigration policy. We do not need a country of busboys. Were destroying the country.

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Ann Coulter Blames Marijuana for Making 'People Retarded' and 'Destroying the Country' - Newsweek

Ann Coulter was shouted down by brownshirted protesters over the weekend while she tried to lead a panel on campus free speech.

According to PJ Media, the protesters stood in front of their seats dressed as members of the Nazi SA and shouted their protests over the panel conversation until chants of USA drowned them out, after which the Nazis were ushered out of the room.

"That's not how one wins an argument. Anyone can yell."

[RELATED: Defiant conservatives invite Coulter to Berkeley after riots]

When the panel resumed, two more protesters also began chanting and once again were silenced by pro-Trump chanting that drowned out the protest. Finally, the demonstrators were booted from the room, ending the ruckus.

Hearing about protesters disrupting @AnnCoulter at @Politicon, CNNs Jake Tapper tweeted after the event. That's not how one wins an argument. Anyone can yell.

Coulter, according to attendees, later stated that she was glad that liberal protesters showed up in Nazi outfits, being that it is their natural garb.

[RELATED: UC Berkeley will not silence conservatives]

The panel also featured Axios Vice President Evan Ryan, stand-up comic Gregg Proops, Townhall.com Political Editor Guy Benson, and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin, along with Coulter, and was reportedly well-received by spectators despite the interruptions.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MrDanJackson

Continue reading here:
Ann Coulter interrupted by 'Nazi' protesters at free speech panel - Campus Reform

A Politicon discussion featuring conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter was disrupted over the weekend by protesters dressed as Nazis.

Ms. Coulter was participating Saturday in a panel discussion, titled Censorship on Campus, at the annual convention in Pasadena, California, when she was interrupted by a man and a woman wearing swastikas and throwing Nazi salutes, a local CBS affiliate reported.

Heil Trump! Heil Hitler, the woman screamed as she was being escorted out of the event, according to a video of the incident. Why are you taking me away? I came to see my Nazi leader, Ann Coulter!

CBS posted video of a second interruption when two other protesters, who were not dressed like Nazis, were escorted out of the event. Both disruptions reportedly happened within the first 15 minutes of the discussion.

CNNs Jake Tapper scolded the protesters in a tweet Saturday evening.

Hearing about protestors disrupting @AnnCoulter at @Politicon. Thats not how one wins an argument. Anyone can yell, he wrote.

The Censorship on Campuspanel also featured Axios Vice President Evan Ryan, standup comic Gregg Proops, Townhall.com Political Editor Guy Benson and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin, PJ Mediareported.

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Ann Coulter discussion crashed by protesters dressed as Nazis ... - Washington Times

Biaowiea National Park which spans 350,000 acres in Poland and Belarus is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson/NPR hide caption

Biaowiea National Park which spans 350,000 acres in Poland and Belarus is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The lush, green canopy that is Bialowieza Forest spans 350,000 acres between Poland and Belarus. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to a variety of endangered species like the European bison, which is slightly larger and leaner than its American cousin.

It also has some of the last old-growth forest in Europe, untouched by human hands, and there is a great deal of international interest in preserving the forest's delicate ecology.

Polish journalist, author and naturalist Adam Wajrak said he never tires of seeing the complex life cycle in this forest up close.

"Look at there, here, you see?" he asked me, pointing to the top of a dead spruce trunk during a recent hike. "This is the little spruce growing on the body of dead spruce, this very often happens."

He peeled back the top layer of another dead trunk.

"If you look under the bark, there's a lot of beetles, a lot of spiders everything, whatever you want, and this is how it works," he says. "This is why I compare the Bialowieza Forest to coral reef because in coral reef, a lot of life is based also on the dead corals. So this works like that."

But the Polish government insists Mother Nature has lost control of Bialowieza Forest. Poland's Minister of the Environment Jan Szyszko has repeatedly warned of a spreading bark beetle infestation targeting spruce trees in particular.

The camp outside Biaowiea National Park where environmental activists are staying as they try to stop loggers. They've hung a sheet that says: "Bialowieza, Run Forest Run" playing on the popular Tom Hanks movie "Forrest Gump." Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson/NPR hide caption

The camp outside Biaowiea National Park where environmental activists are staying as they try to stop loggers. They've hung a sheet that says: "Bialowieza, Run Forest Run" playing on the popular Tom Hanks movie "Forrest Gump."

He says the forest must not be left to its own devices and that infected trees and those around them must be cut down. Last year, he approved a plan that triples the amount of logging in parts of the forest. It sparked an international outcry.

Foresters are planting less vulnerable oak saplings to replace the trees they are logging but that hasn't appeased critics, who complain the replanted woodlands look like man-made tree farms.

The Ministry of the Environment isn't budging on its claim that only human intervention can save this forest. It defends its plan on its official website, noting in big letters at the end: "We'll see who is right."

Mariusz Agiejczyk, the deputy chief in the Hajnowka district office overseeing state forests, firmly backs the ministry's plan. The General Directorate of the State Forests, a government agency, funds its activities from the $2 billion Polish logging industry.

Agiejczyk blames the bark beetle proliferation in the Bialowieza Forest on global warming and previous reductions of logging quotas there.

"The [Polish] foresters are here since 90 almost 100 years, and look how beautiful the forest is," he says. "This kind of criticism that says we are harming it is absurd, we did not do anything wrong."

The European Union's highest court is siding for now with the Polish government's opponents, who argue the beetle infestation must be left to nature. The European Commission which is the EU's executive arm and is leading the legal action in the Court of Justice case argues the Polish logging violates the bloc's wildlife protection laws.

On July 28, the court imposed a temporary injunction against logging in Bialowieza Forest to protect the trees while the case is being decided. But Szyszko said on July 31 that Poland won't abide by it, and that logging which he referred to as "protective measures" for the forest would continue.

Should Poland lose the case before the European Court of Justice, it could face fines of more than $4.7 million, plus possible penalties of around $350,000 each day.

Meanwhile, environmental activists are not waiting for officials. They've descended on Bialowieza Forest from around Europe in recent weeks to try and block the loggers.

Joanna Bienkowska, 30, of Greenpeace, is one of the activists who recently moved into a camp near the forest with other protesters. They've hung up a sheet that says "Bialowieza: Run, Forest, Run," playing on a line from Forrest Gump.

Bienkowska said she and the other activists spend their days hiking, biking and driving around the forest with maps, binoculars and GPS devices in search of the mechanical harvesters that cut down as many as 200 trees each day.

"We don't know where are harvesters, so we are looking for them," she says. "[They] are moving so fast with guards, so sometimes we don't know where they are."

Fellow activist Marcin Skopiski, a university student in cultural and social anthropology from Warsaw, says he recently helped form a human blockade that chained itself to a forest harvester.

Deputy superintendent of the Hajnowka Forest District cuts of bark of spruce to find woodworm and woodworm larvas in Biaowiea National Park. Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Deputy superintendent of the Hajnowka Forest District cuts of bark of spruce to find woodworm and woodworm larvas in Biaowiea National Park.

"During patrols, I've see a lot of places where logging [is] taking place and it's a very sad thing to see," says Skopinski, 25. "Like some of the parts are looking like a storm came in or some huge destruction happened."

The activists say it's increasingly difficult to get to the harvesters because of the armed foresters, scores of whom are being sent here from around Poland to protect the logging operations.

But what they show me is the aftermath of the logging. Felled trees stripped of their bark and bearing the harvester's signature gouges are piled high along roads and trails, where trucks will haul them away.

Nearby, dozens of other trees are marked with fluorescent pink dots. They will be cut down next.

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Poland Clashes With European Union Over Logging In Primeval Forest - NPR