Profile of Harvey M. Robinson

The east side of Allentown, Pennsylvania had the reputation of being a nice, safe area for families to raise children. The residents in the area felt secure to walk their dogs, jog, and let their kids play out in the yards. All of that changed in the summer of 1992. The residents and police force of Allentown had a problem. For the first time, its east side residents were being stalked by a serial killer. A Killer Is Born Harvey M. Robinson was born on December 6, 1974. He grew up in a troubled family. His father, Harvey Rodriguez Robinson, was an alcoholic and physically and emotionally abusive towards his mother. By the time he was three, his parents were divorced. Harvey Rodriguez Robinson ended up going to prison for manslaughter after beating his mistress to death. The younger Harvey idolized his father, regardless of his abusive and criminal behavior. School Years At a very early age, young Harvey Robinson showed great athletic and academic potential. He won awards for his essays and was a fierce competitor in wrestling, soccer, football and various cross-country sports. However, as early as nine years old he demonstrated a dark side that diminished all of his positive accomplishments. School counselors determined that Robinson suffered from severe conduct disorder. As a child, he was known to throw tantrums. As he got older, he developed a quick temper and was unable to define between right and wrong. From the age of nine to 17, he filled up a rap sheet with numerous arrests including burglary and resisting arrest. He was also a known substance abuser, which added to his propensity towards impulsive aggressive behavior. He detested authority and lashed out at those who tried to control him including the police and his teachers. As he grew older, his threats intensified. Teachers and students were afraid of Robinson, and he liked it. Why Robinson began raping and murdering children and women is unknown, but as far as what is known for sure, it all started on August 9, 1992, when he was 17-years-old. First Victim At about 12:35 a.m. on August 5, 1992, Robinson burglarized the home of Joan Burghardt, 29, who lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a residential apartment complex on the east side of Allentown. He broke through the screen on the patio door, which was locked, and ripped just enough to slip his hand through the doorknob and open it. Burghardt reported the burglary and the missing $50 from a drawer in her bedroom dresser. Everything else seemed undisturbed. Four days later at around 11:30 a.m. on August 9, 1992, Burghardts neighbor telephoned the police to complain that Burghardts stereo had been on for three days and nights and that no one answered the doorbell. She also reported that the screen had been out of the window for three nights and during one of those nights she heard Burghardt screaming and banging the wall and sounds as if she was being beaten up. When the police arrived, they found Burghardt dead, lying on the living room floor. She had been severely beaten about the head. The autopsy revealed that Burghardt had been sexually assaulted and hit over the head at least 37 times, fracturing her skull and damaging her brain. She also had defensive injuries on both hands, indicating that she was alive during at least some of the attack. Seminal stains were found on a pair of shorts found at the scene, suggesting that a male had masturbated on them. Second Victim Charlotte Schmoyer, 15, was always diligent about delivering the Morning Call newspaper on her assigned route on the east side of Allentown. When she failed to deliver the paper on the morning of June 9, 1983, one of her customers scanned the street for the young carrier. She did not spot Schmoyer, but what she did see alarmed her enough to phone the police. Schmoyers newspaper cart was left unattended, for more than 30 minutes, in front of a neighbors house. When the police arrived, they found that the newspaper cart was half-filled with newspapers, and Schmoyers radio and the headset had been strewn on the ground between two houses. There were also finger streaks on the windowpane of the door to the nearby garage of one of the houses. Based on the scene the police concluded that Schmoyer had likely been abducted. The police began their search and found her bicycle abandoned along with some of her personal property. Within hours a tip came in, and investigators began searching a wooded area where they found blood, a shoe, and the body of Charlotte Schmoyer buried under a stack of logs. According to the autopsy report, Schmoyer was stabbed 22 times, and her throat was slashed. Also, there were cutting and scraping wounds in her neck area, indicating they were inflicted while the Schmoyer was conscious and her neck bent down. She had also been raped. Investigators were able to collect blood samples, a pubic hair and a head hair on Schmoyer that did not match her blood and hair. The evidence was later matched to Robinson through DNA. Burglary John and Denise Sam-Cali lived on the east side of Allentown, not far from where Schmoyer had been abducted. On June 17, 1993, Robinson burglarized their home while the couple was away for a few days. He had taken Johns gun collection, which was kept in a bag in the closet. Within days John bought three new guns, one of which he purchased for Denise for protection. The couple grew even more concerned about their safety after learning that someone had broken into their neighbors home and attacked their child. Third Victim On June 20, 1993, Robinson entered a womans home and choked and raped her five-year-old daughter. The child managed to live but based on her injuries it appeared that he had intended for her to die. Some theorized that he was actually after the childs mother, but when he found her sleeping with her partner, he attacked the child instead. Fourth Victim On June 28, 1993, John Sam-Cali was out of town, and Denise was alone. She awoke to the sounds Robinson was making from inside the walk-in closet near her bedroom. Frightened, she decided to try to run out of the house, but he grabbed her, and they struggled. She managed to get out of the house, but Robinson grabbed at her again and pinned her down onto the ground in the front yard. As the two fought, she was able to bite him on the inside of his arm. He repeatedly punched her, sliced her lip open and then raped her, however, her screams alerted a neighbor who turned on her porch light, and Robinson ran away. When the police arrived, they found Denise alive, but severely beaten, with strangulation marks around her neck, and her lip deeply slashed. They also found a butcher knife wrapped in a napkin lying outside the bathroom door. After recovering in the hospital, the Sam-Calis went out of town for a few days. Fifth Victim On July 14, 1993, Robinson raped and murdered Jessica Jean Fortney, 47, in the living room of her daughter and son-in-laws home. She was found dead, half-naked and her face was swollen and black. There was blood spatter on the wall indicating she had died a violent death. The autopsy revealed that Fortney died in the early morning hours after being strangled and severely beaten. It was also determined that she had been raped. What Robinson did not know was that Fortneys granddaughter had witnessed the killing and was able to give the police his description. Back to Finish the Job On July 18, 1993, the Sam-Calis returned home. Before going out of town, they had the house equipped with a burglar alarm. At about 4:00 a.m. Denise heard a noise in the house and then the back door opened, setting off the alarm and the intruder, Robinson, took off. After that, the Allentown police set up a sting operation and arranged for a police officer to stay in the Sam-Cali home every night. They thought the man who attacked her was coming back to kill her because she could identify him. Their hunch was right. Officer Brian Lewis was staked out inside the Sam-Cali home when at around 1:25 a.m. on July 31, 1993, Robinson returned to the house and tried to open doors. Lewis heard the noises, then watched as Robinson broke into the house through a window. Once he was entirely inside, Lewis identified himself as a police officer and told Robinson to halt. Robinson began shooting at Lewis and gunfire was exchanged. Lewis went to the Sam-Calis bedroom to warn the couple to stay inside the room. He then called for backup. In the meantime, Robinson escaped by breaking through several glass panels on a wooden door in the kitchen. The police found a blood trail in the kitchen and out the door. It looked like the intruder had been shot, or severely cut during his escape. The local hospitals were alerted. Caught A few hours later the police were called to the local hospital after Robinson showed up there to be treated for a gunshot wound. A physical exam of Robinson found that he had fresh wounds to his arms and legs indicative of being cut with glass as well as a bite mark on the inner part of his arm. Officer Lewis also identified Robinson as the man he encountered inside the Sam-Calis home. He was arrested on various charges including kidnapping, burglary, rape, attempted murder, and murder. Investigators built a large case against Robinson with DNA evidence, eyewitness accounts and physical evidence found at his home and the victims homes. It was a solid case. The jury found him guilty for raping and murdering Charlotte Schmoyer, Joan Burghardt, and Jessica Jean Fortney. He was sentenced to a combined 97 years in prison and three death sentences. Resentenced Robinson and his lawyers were able to get two of the three death sentences resentenced to life in prison. One death sentence remains.

Hobbes And The State Of Nature - 1549 Words

Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English philosopher outlines in his book Leviathan (1651) that the state of nature is a state of â€Å"warre, as if of every man, against every man†. Hobbes sets out his moral philosophy with regard to human nature; the way humans behave amongst each other and the state of nature; the natural condition of human interaction as a proceed of nature. Hobbes uses the state of nature as a mechanism for demonstrating the preconditions of a political society. By highlighting the pre-political condition as an unendurable state of permanent conflict, Hobbes intends to establish the necessity of a distinctive political society, one that is governed by a collective and undivided absolute sovereign. Hobbes argues that the worst that a man can endure is the reversal to the state of nature, which is when society is faced with a civil war, as Hobbes himself witnessed in his lifetime. Hobbes claims that a sovereign with absolute power is the greatest security aga inst the reversal of the state of nature. Hobbes believes that men are not born to be sociable and that it is not in their nature to seek a life together. Instead, Hobbes contends that men will create an absolute sovereign entity to govern all men. There are contradictions of Hobbes arguments particularly the question of how men are able to give up their freedom and rights to live under a sovereign that implement laws and punishments, rather than staying in the state of nature where they are free to do whatShow MoreRelatedHobbes And The State Of Nature1474 Words   |  6 Pages1. According to Hobbes the state of nature leads to a war of all against all. What Hobbes refers to when he discusses the state of nature is a state in which there are no civil powers. 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However, many philosophers have different notions of the State of Nature. In this essay I am going to use the writings of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacque Rousseau to explain how their notions of the State of Nature shape the way they envisionRead MoreHobbes V State of Nature Essay1306 Words   |  6 PagesThomas Hobbes claims that in a state of nature, people are constantly fighting against each other, and the only way to overcome this is to form a commonwealth. He does this by going over the conditions that describe a state of nature, certain rights that all people have in natur e, and the method for transferring these rights, by way of a pledge to a sovereign, whether it to the one person, or a group of people in order to achieve a state of peace. While Hobbes makes a very clear argument, it doesRead MoreThe State of Nature: Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury1691 Words   |  7 PagesIn this essay, I will present three reasons as to why the absolute authority of the sovereign in Hobbes’s state of nature and social contract is justified. The three reasons Hobbes uses are: the argument from contract, the argument from authorisation and the argument from weakness of mixed or divided sovereignty. Firstly, I shall explain Hobbes’s understanding of human nature and the natural condition of humanity which causes the emergence of the social contract. I shall then analyse each argument

Essay on Issue Arising on Rental Income Tax for Rental Property

Question: Write about theEssay on Issue Arising on Rental Income Tax for Rental Property. Answer: Rental properties 2017 Act and Australian Tax Office regulations are set to guide on when and how rental income is assessed and recognized as well as its provisions on when rental income allowable deductions are applicable. The 2017 Australian Rental Property Act is seen to define rental income as any amount paid as rent when you allow a person to live or use your rental property. It is a payment of the service of allowing the tenant to use your premises Poterba(2008). It is mostly paid over an agreement between the landlord and the tenant or an agent who sets terms of payment as well as the rent rate payable as well as payment timelines i.e whether monthly, quarterly or annually. Australian Tax Office requires that any amount earned as rental income or relating to the rental property should all be included as taxable income and further filed as rental income tax return after subjection to the allowable deduction. Australian Tax Office has set guidelines on all the cluster of expenses relating to rental property whether before, during or after the construction of the rental property. Australian Tax Office allows property owners to claim immediate tax deduction expense on any expense relating to the rental feature the likes of management agency fee, payment of interest on the loan issued to finance the property construction Reinhardt (2006). It further outlines, more on their significant consideration to the property owners, whose finance cost or the loan payment value in their loan amortization schedule, is seen to be more than the return on investment or slightly less than what they get. Hence are allowed to claim a deduction on it an aspect referred to as negative gearing in Australian Tax Office advice. This negative gearing aspect mostly makes the property owner operate on a loss that is claimable in line with tax law on their income whether salary or any investment income at the point of filing tax return Saarimaa(2011). However, in case the property owners wages are not enough to set off the rental loss mostly forwarded for future settlement during the next financial year Hulse (2014). Immediate expense deductions are only applicable if the property is seen to be marketed for rent purposes as well as if it is a rented residential property McGregor-Lowndes (2009). Likewise, if it is a residential property under con struction, the land in which it is building its existence gives the owner to claim the deduction. The following outlined expenses are what classified as immediate deduction, i.e., water and sewerage rates, land rates, cleaning expenses, tenants advertising cost, i.e., printing magazines or even television and through internet means among other expenses directly relating to the property before its full occupancy Antoniades (2014). With all the above guidelines set in place by ATO, I believe we are now able to classify the specific cluster and scenario the management account issue falls as well as being able to offer appropriate treatment on the deduction. The first thing to admit about the management accountant is that he owns a rented property hence we expect him to either be enjoying income from it or hoping revenue from it shortly and likewise we anticipate him to be currently incurring expenses or waiting for expenditures as occupancy proceeds Hulse(2012). The issue at hand is that the management accountant refuses to sign his rental tax return with the allegation that the interest and expenses claimed are contrary to the free accounting principles present mainly because within those four months of claim there was no income he was making. I wish first to appreciate the management accountant concern and cautious sense on tax matters and further inform him that Australian Tax Office has set guidelines on how expenses and interests are supposed to treated whether after or before rental income is earned. If we analyse the expenses and interest in the context, we learn that they were incurred within the four months period when there was no income generated from the rents. If then allowed I wish to term this as an immediate deductible allowance expense that is acceptable in the tax office. These immediate expenses qualify for deduction mainly because there is an admissive aspect that it is incurred on the rental property owned by the management accountant Marcus (2013) as informed by the accountant that it was incurred four months ago when the property was not generating income at all. By assuming that the interest expense in the management accountant issue, is that one of financing a loan that he acquired to procure the rental property. Thus a relative approach of negative gearing is seen to occur since we are seeing him paying the mortgage whereas the rental property has not yet started generating income for him hence held in a rental loss situation Burke (2012). At this position, we expect legal claimable process conducted by the management accountant where he can claim the expense settle the tax part of his other income from consultancy service or his part-time teaching job. If not willing to set it off from his salary he has, therefore, a chance to carry it forward for the future claim on the rental income. Mark you, this scenario of claiming the rental loss in future, in my opinion; I guess it is what applies to the management accountant. Just because the persons are filing for him, the tax return is claiming for him the expense he incurred four months ago whereas in reality there was no income being generated that related to the cost Fane (2005). Either of the two approaches, i.e., the one whose interest termed as the direct expense or the latter termed as negative gearing are both under the circumstance of the existence of the rental property owned by the management accountant makes him worth the claim as per Australian Tax Office advice. Having exhausted the two scenarios on the interest expense, I, therefore, wish to advise the management accountant by telling him not to worry about the tax return filed by the firm relating to interest claim just because the action and the filing done is as per the set Australian regulation in place Pivo(2008). The management should likewise be seen signing the tax return without fear or favour since all process involved complied with Australian tax law Pivo (2008). In case this interest was deemed as net rental property loss, something that in my view I think it is was the consideration made on the signed tax return; we anticipate seeing the IT6 label. Informing the Australian Tax Office that the loss is amended at the taxable rental income for the month earned due to the nature of Australian tax system that deemed federal Lai (2008).As per the law the exist a room of setting of a loss on future income but only upon provision of proof beyond reasonable doubt, which if done out of malice the tax payer is charged and penalized under the act of tax evasion. However interest on borrowings is incentivised to property owners up to the extent of a loan whose amortization period is 5year and below. For any deduction to be termed allowable the law expects the claimer to present all relevant documents to substantiate the claim and hence from this I suppose the firm before file return and claim the interest expenses they had a broad back up of documents proofing qualification for the set-off. I, therefore, conclude by telling the consultancy firm to take back the tax return to the management account and urge him to sign it. Just because it is according to the Australian Tax Office and likewise provide him with relevant tax clauses as well as a copy of this essay to back up the reasons why the firm thinks the interest expense is part of his deductions. By doing so will be elevating doubt in him as well as providing satisfaction on the same. As much as we are concentrating with the deduction aspect raised by the management accountant, let us not forget to always report all the revenue income generate by the property whether earned to expected to be earned. Ideally deductible allowable expenses were introduced to net-off tax liability over the incomes earned by them, hence excusing entities that can lawful utilize this privileges for the relieve to do so pursuant to Australian Tax Office expectation set in place. Most taxable revenue earned consequently involves expenses that ought to be settled off so as to declare the taxable income available. Australian Income Tax Act 2017 further gives instruction on how and when rental income is earned as well as at what point is it worth being subjected for tax purposes. This platform of interest on expense both for immediate and that on rental loss is seen to boost capital expenditure, primarily to persons who use means of loan or mortgage to finance the project thus making most investors in Australia preferring investing in real estates and rentals more than in private residence. The waive they access from Australian Tax Office is what causes this. More considerable incentives on interest rental loss expense is been seen improving housing developments in Australia Blessing (2011). Finally, I wish to state that for anyone to enjoy all these benefits relating to rental interest expense, of course, they must register with the Australian Tax Office first for tax purposes and second for the claim they must produce all the expenses claimable at the time of reporting. This is expected to be witnessed in the claim of interest expense by the management account whereby he was expected though his agents the firm that, as he files the return he likewise need to attach the rental interest expense loss claimable. References Antoniades, H., 2014. Housing Affordability in Australia: The National Rental Affordability Scheme v. Public Housing and Welfare Programs. In Asian Real Estate Society 19th International Conference. AsRES. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=100q=negative+gearing+in+australiahl=enas_sdt=0,5 Blessing, A. and Gilmour, T., 2011. The invisible hand? Using tax credits to encourage institutional investment in social housing. International Journal of Housing Policy, 11(4), pp.453-468. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616718.2011.626609 Burke, T., 2012. The Australian residential housing market: institutions and actors. Australias unintended cities, pp.35-49. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=enlr=id=nQw6AGB4yCICoi=fndpg=PA35dq=negative+gearing+in+australiaots=FAx1iO6bBEsig=Y1EbfpPOWFBelqu7RpoCQnY5imAredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=negative%20gearing%20in%20australiaf=false Fane, G. and Richardson, M., 2005. Negative gearing and the taxation of capital gains in Australia. Economic Record, 81(254), pp.249-261. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2005.00259.x/full Hulse, K. and Pawson, H., 2010. Worlds apart? Lower-income households and private renting in Australia and the UK. International Journal of Housing Policy, 10(4), pp.399-419. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2013.873115 Hulse, K., Burke, T., Ralston, L. and Stone, W., 2012. The Australian private rental sector: changes and challenges. Australian Journal of Political Science, 35(1), pp.99-110. https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/2802/AHURI_Positioning_Paper_No149_The-Australian-private-rental-sector-changes-and-challenges.pdf Hulse, K., Reynolds, M. and Yates, J., 2014. Changes in the supply of affordable housing in the private rental sector for lower income households, 200611. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Swinburne University of Technology and The University of Sydney, p.8. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kath_Hulse/publication/284180051_Changes_in_the_supply_of_affordable_housing_in_the_private_rental_sector_for_lower_income_households_2006-11/links/564e7c7d08aefe619b0fe55a/Changes-in-the-supply-of-affordable-housing-in-the-private-rental-sector-for-lower-income-households-2006-11.pdf Lai, J., Yik, F. and Jones, P., 2008. Expenditure on operation and maintenance service and rental income of commercial buildings. Facilities, 26(5/6), pp.242-265. https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/02632770810865014 McGregor-Lowndes, M. and Newton, C.J., 2009. An examination of tax deductible donations made by individual Australian taxpayers in 2006-07. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/20579/ Marcuss, R., Contos, G., Guyton, J., Langetieg, P., Lerman, A., Nelson, S., Schafer, B. and Vigil, M., 2013. Income taxes and compliance costs: How are they related?. National Tax Journal, 66(4), p.833. https://search.proquest.com/openview/83b9357a72d9c3c7d51736d51a4e852c/1?pq-origsite=gscholarcbl=41305 Pivo, G. and Environment Programme Finance Initiative Property Working Group, U.N., 2008. Responsible property investing: what the leaders are doing. Journal of Property Investment Finance, 26(6), pp.562-576. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=130q=rental+income+expenseshl=enas_sdt=0,5 Poterba, J. and Sinai, T., 2008. Tax expenditures for owner-occupied Housing: Deductions for Property Taxes and mortgage interest and the exclusion of imputed rental income. The American Economic Review, 98(2), pp.84-89. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29730000?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Reinhardt, S. and Steel, L., 2006. A brief history of Australia's tax system. Economic Round-up, (Winter 2006), p.1. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=321151613629366;res=IELBUS Saarimaa, T., 2011. Imputed rental income, taxation and income distribution in Finland. Urban Studies, 48(8), pp.1695-1714. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098010377474