2 WARSAW, Ind, boys accused of killing stepdad to run away

WARSAW, Ind.  Two young friends from a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in northern Indiana wanted to run away to Arizona so badly, prosecutors say, that they gunned down a stepfather who stood in the way of their plans.The two alleged triggerman ages 15 and 12 hadn’t shown any signs of violence before the older boy’s 49-year-old stepfather, Phillip Danner, was shot to death in his home last week, according to neighbors and family members who testified at a hearing Thursday in which a judge ruled the boys would be tried for murder as adults.

But sheriff’s Detective Jonathan Tyler testified that the boys and two of their friends, who didn’t take part in the actual slaying, plotted for at least a month to kill Danner, so they could run off to Arizona.On the day of the slaying, the boys met at a park before going to the older boy’s home near Lake Wawasee, between Fort Wayne and South Bend, where he had gathered two of Danner’s handguns, Tyler said. The two defendants waited in the living room until Danner appeared in a kitchen doorway, Tyler said, then shot him four times — once in the eye, once in the wrist, and twice in the chest.

Neighbors and family members who testified Thursday said the 15-year-old and 12-year-old were good students who stayed out of serious trouble at school. The worst trouble either had been in came last year when the 15-year-old was put under juvenile court supervision for four months after he shot a BB gun at a neighbor riding a lawn mower.

“Obviously, something’s gone very wrong,” the 15-year-old boy’s mother said. “I don’t know what that is. I would like to know what that is.”One of the two other boys who authorities say took part in the planning is a 12-year-old who is being detained on juvenile charges of aiding a murder. The other boy hasn’t been charged.According to police, the two 12-year-olds and the 15-year-old met up hours after the shooting and took off in a car belonging to the 15-year-old’s mother’s, who was in Florida on vacation.

Investigators still aren’t certain why the boys wanted to go to Arizona. One theory is that the boys — who allegedly killed Danner and headed west on April 20, an unofficial holiday for marijuana users — intended to sell pot. Police said alcohol, marijuana and a gun were found in the car when the boys were caught in Peru, Ill., about 5 a.m. the next day.

Attorneys for the 12-year-old and 15-year-old murder suspects stressed Thursday that both boys were presumed innocent and urged Judge Duane Huffer to treat them as juveniles, saying their chances of rehabilitation would be greater in the juvenile system than in adult prison. But Huffer said the juvenile system wasn’t equipped to deal with crimes of such magnitude.

“The act alleged was violent and unprovoked,” Huffer said.Both boys are being held in the county jail and could face an initial hearing in adult court as early as Friday, according to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Hampton.Calvin Carr, 35, Danner’s neighbor, said he thought the 15-year-old was “a good kid” but recently became suspicious that the boy might be smoking cigarettes and pot. After that, Carr said, the boy had stopped coming over to Carr’s house to hang out with his children.Mike Koher, a longtime friend of Danner’s who often went motorcycling with the family on weekends, saw no sign of any trouble in his friend’s relationship with his stepson. Sheriff’s officials said they had found no sign of any abuse.

“I never seen anything out of the ordinary,” said Koher, 53. “They seemed to get along.”He said the teen rode behind on his stepfather’s Harley-Davidson on family trips while his mother rode her own motorcycle. He also said Danner bought dirt bikes for himself and his stepson so they could ride together and they went fishing together in Danner’s bass boat.”It seemed real normal to me. Being a step’s always tough, but I would never have saw this coming if that’s what actually happened,” Koher said.

priest wins $100,000 for church in poker game

poker tournament

COLUMBIA, S.C.  A South Carolina priest missed the $1 million top prize in a poker tournament to be televised this weekend but he won $100,000 for his church and he hopes his participation gives viewers a “fun twist” on their perceptions of the priesthood.The Rev. Andrew Trapp said he entered the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge in hopes of putting St. Michael Catholic Church “super close” to its $5.5 million fundraising goal to build a new facility. He also wanted to strike a public relations blow for priests.”At the very least, even if I didn’t win any prize money, I was hoping it would help people to see that priests can have fun and be normal people and hopefully get a little bit of a fun twist on the image of the priesthood,” the assistant pastor said Tuesday.

The top prize went to retired New York Police detective Mike Kosowski. But Trapp won $100,000, untaxed, in a semifinal round in October for the coastal church’s building fund, which has amassed $4 million after four years of fundraising.

For the final episode, a camera crew filmed a Sunday Mass at the church, about 10 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, and taped Trapp talking about the need for a new building.

“It’s really old. It’s too small for our needs, and it’s really vulnerable if a hurricane comes,” he says in a segment on PokerStars.net.He adds, “God gave me a gift of playing cards – that interest, that hobby – and I could put it to use to help build our church. That just was really exciting for me.”Congregants will gather Sunday afternoon at the church to watch the final televised round.

The 28-year-old Aiken native said he started playing poker in middle school at family gatherings. But it was in seminary in Columbus, Ohio, that he learned Texas Hold ‘Em.

“We just played for fun,” he said. “It was just a way to hang out with each other and to enjoy each other’s company.”Ordained in July 2007, Trapp is the youngest Catholic priest in the statewide diocese.”A lot of young people out there, young Catholics, have never seen a young priest,” he said, adding that maybe the show will lead others to consider the profession.

Before playing, Trapp got permission from his pastor, who told him to “go for it.” The Charleston bishop later gave him permission to be on TV, he said.Joseph Ohens, executive assistant to the bishop, confirmed Trapp had the bishop’s permission. “He wanted to show the world that priests are human beings like every one of us. … He wanted to demystify priesthood.”

To earn a spot on the poker finals, Trapp had to place among the top 10 in a free Internet tournament involving 10,000 contestants, then submit a two-minute audition video.Trapp said he knew he would be chosen if he could just earn the right to audition: A poker-playing priest would attract attention and viewers. He played in his priestly attire. Since that’s what he’s used to wearing, it would’ve felt weird not to, he said.

PokerStars.net notes Trapp’s profession in promoting the show, calling it “a story of biblical proportions.” Officials from PokerStars.net did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Trapp calls it a game show where, instead of answering trivia questions, he plays cards. “This isn’t even gambling, so to speak,” he said, since everything, including the trips to Los Angeles, was cost-free to him and the church.

Trapp said the Catholic church doesn’t see a moral problem with playing cards or games of chance, within reason.”It’s a question of moderation – just like anything else,” he said. “We believe it’s fine to enjoy a beer or glass of wine, but not to abuse it to get drunk.”