Thread: Neighbor charged in death of Bellevue woman in home

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /608230394

Neighbor charged in death of Bellevue woman in home
Police say suspected illegal immigrant admitted killing

By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF
Staff Writer
8/23/06


The remnants of a brutal and lengthy fight were scattered throughout Mary Sadler's 229 Cross Timbers Drive home on Tuesday.

Police found Sadler's cockatiel, Aussie, cowering in a corner with a broken wing. The bird later died at an emergency clinic.

A glass panel from a grandfather clock was shattered. A mirror in the front foyer was cracked, and glass spilled out onto the floor.

Nearby, police found Sadler, 74, dead, her beaten and bloody body by a rear sliding-glass door inside the home.

"It was one hell of a fight," her grandson-in-law, Paul Woods, said Tuesday as he helped clean debris from the living room. "I think she did a good job for being 74 years old and trying to defend herself."

According to Metro police, the man who on Monday killed Sadler, and perhaps Sadler's bird, was Ivan Moreno, 30, a next-door neighbor.

Moreno, who is thought to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico, admitted to police that he struck Sadler after he went to her house to get money, said Metro police spokesman Don Aaron.

Moreno was arrested yesterday on a charge of criminal homicide.

He also faces two charges of assaulting police officers during his arrest and a domestic assault charge after threatening his wife in Spanish that he would kill her if she cooperated with authorities, police said.

Moreno's possible illegal presence in the country was a sore spot yesterday for Sadler's family and neighbors. They expressed contempt for landlords who rented a duplex to Moreno and his family.

Police initially said Sadler had been beaten to death, but an autopsy yesterday found that she had also been strangled, Aaron said.

It was not clear exactly what touched off the violence inside the home. Moreno had gone to Sadler's house to ask for money.

Sometime after the killing, he went to a Mapco on Highway 70 South where he became belligerent after being refused cigarettes because he didn't have enough money, police said.

Moreno left the Mapco before police arrived and drove back to his neighborhood. Neighbors saw him driving recklessly through yards and called police.

Officers arrived at Cross Timbers Drive to find his car abandoned with a shredded tire, police said.

He was identified moments later and found to have an outstanding warrant for failing to show up in court in June on a charge of driving without a license, police said.

Officers went to his home at 233 Cross Timbers Drive, but Moreno wasn't there. As they prepared to leave, they spotted him behind Sadler's home with blood on his clothes, police said.

According to police, Moreno kicked two officers who tried to arrest him.

Moreno appears to have used false documents and a fake name to land a job at a West End Avenue restaurant, police said. Federal authorities are working to determine his immigration status.

The killing prompted a joint statement by Metro police Chief Ronal Serpas, Sheriff Daron Hall and District Attorney General Torry Johnson, announcing plans to reform the way criminal immigrants are handled in Nashville.

"While it is premature at this point to announce any plans or initiatives, suffice it to say that the three of us are working closely with the federal government to develop a system to better protect our citizens from immigrants who commit criminal acts and show a blatant disregard for our laws," the statement said.

Investigators have said they didn't know of any animosity between Moreno and Sadler before Monday, though a police spokesman said a hand-held video game and other undisclosed items from Sadler's home were found in Moreno's home, police said.

Sadler's family and neighbors yesterday told The Tennessean there had been disputes between them.

One recent spat involved one of Moreno's children shooting a BB gun at tomatoes in Sadler's back yard, a family member said.

Police yesterday declined to comment about that.

"We are still early in the investigation," Aaron said. "We will be talking to Mrs. Sadler's family in more detail."

Officers found Aussie, the bird, wounded in a corner of a room in the residence, Aaron said. Aussie's cage had been knocked over, apparently during the struggle.

Officers wrapped the bird in a soft fabric and took it to an emergency veterinary clinic. Doctors administered oxygen and diagnosed the bird with a broken wing, Aaron said.

"The bird died at the veterinary clinic," Aaron said. Sadler's two ferrets were found inside the home unharmed, police said.

Sadler's family remembered her yesterday as a perennial volunteer for many area organizations.

Her family pointed to a plaque on the wall that showed she had recently surpassed 584 hours during 26 years as a volunteer helping veterans through the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs. She also volunteered through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

She worked at polls during elections and with a Masonic Lodge in west Nashville, her family said. Neighbors described her as an active e-mailer who would send messages to other residents about everything from coyotes roaming the streets to trash pickup times.

Her husband suffers from Alzheimer's disease and was unaware of his wife's death as of Tuesday afternoon, said Woods, Sadler's grandson-in-law.

Linda Martin, a neighbor for three years, said she knew Sadler as the captain of the Neighborhood Watch. Sadler was the first person to welcome her to the neighborhood, Martin recalled.

Mindy Van Tassel, director of the area's Neighborhood Watch program, recalled Sadler as a woman who looked and acted much younger than her age

Duplicate article. Posted earlier. Please watch the duplicates.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=33156

This horrific murder, committed by an illegal alien that should never have been here in the first place, really hit home with me.

As shallow as it may sound, I pray to God that, should the same fate befall me, my beloved parrot, Katie, would be spared.