With Fat Tuesday and Valentines Day being within less than a week of one another, I thought I'd send some HAPPY news your way...
Idaho Teen Scalped After Slight
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press Writer
February 8, 2005, 2:44 PM EST
BOISE, Idaho -- A 16-year-old Idaho girl was tied up and scalped by an older woman in an attack motivated by revenge, police said.
Authorities are searching for Marianne Dahle, 26, who was visiting Kirkham Hot Springs in central Idaho Jan. 18 with the girl and a friend when Dahle allegedly tied the girl up and cut away the entire crown and back portion of her scalp.
A felony arrest warrant accuses Dahle of aggravated battery, though she has not been formally charged.
"When I say this gal was scalped, she was truly scalped," said Boise County Chief Deputy Bill Braddock. "The top of her head, her hair, was completely cut off. The motive, as near as we've been told by witnesses, was retaliation for acting in a way that the adult perceived as being offensive to women as a gender."
The girl is recovering at home. Police would not release many details -- including the victim's name -- for fear it would harm the prosecution's case. Braddock said he only agreed to discuss the incident because the public could help authorities find Dahle, who has been missing since the alleged assault.
[snip]
The teens and Dahle had gone to the hot springs about 70 miles northeast of Boise, apparently just planning on a soak at the national forest campground, Braddock said.
The hot springs, made by a cascade of hot water forming small pools at the base of a cliff, are popular with campers and hikers. But during mid-week in the winter, Braddock said, visitors can count on near total seclusion.
"When I got there it was after midnight and very cold out, about 9 degrees. I found a lot of physical evidence consistent with information that we were given, including the scalp itself, which was near one of the hot pools," he said.
The case has been difficult to investigate because it has taken deputies some time to win the trust of witnesses and friends of the victim. The teens and Dahle allegedly hang out with a counter-culture punk clique, Braddock said, and some witnesses are fearful of retaliation.
"Everybody in this case is very fragile and they're worried about how they're going to be judged by their peers," Braddock said. "I have to be very protective of my victim and others who are cooperating."
Authorties say Dahle is believed to be armed with a knife and staying somewhere in the Caldwell area, driving a four-door, white 1995 Mercury Tracer. Dahle was described as 5-foot-8, about 140 pounds and with brown hair. Police say Dahle may have shaved her hair except for her bangs.
Though Idaho's mayhem law bans "depriving a human being of a member of his body," Braddock said he expected Dahle would be charged with aggravated battery, which carries the same maximum sentence of 14 years but requires a lesser burden of proof in court.
_________________
"Suddenly I realize, I've seen it all through real eyes, the blood was really dripping from my hands. And oh, it makes me feel lik
Idaho Teen Scalped After Slight
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press Writer
February 8, 2005, 2:44 PM EST
BOISE, Idaho -- A 16-year-old Idaho girl was tied up and scalped by an older woman in an attack motivated by revenge, police said.
Authorities are searching for Marianne Dahle, 26, who was visiting Kirkham Hot Springs in central Idaho Jan. 18 with the girl and a friend when Dahle allegedly tied the girl up and cut away the entire crown and back portion of her scalp.
A felony arrest warrant accuses Dahle of aggravated battery, though she has not been formally charged.
"When I say this gal was scalped, she was truly scalped," said Boise County Chief Deputy Bill Braddock. "The top of her head, her hair, was completely cut off. The motive, as near as we've been told by witnesses, was retaliation for acting in a way that the adult perceived as being offensive to women as a gender."
The girl is recovering at home. Police would not release many details -- including the victim's name -- for fear it would harm the prosecution's case. Braddock said he only agreed to discuss the incident because the public could help authorities find Dahle, who has been missing since the alleged assault.
[snip]
The teens and Dahle had gone to the hot springs about 70 miles northeast of Boise, apparently just planning on a soak at the national forest campground, Braddock said.
The hot springs, made by a cascade of hot water forming small pools at the base of a cliff, are popular with campers and hikers. But during mid-week in the winter, Braddock said, visitors can count on near total seclusion.
"When I got there it was after midnight and very cold out, about 9 degrees. I found a lot of physical evidence consistent with information that we were given, including the scalp itself, which was near one of the hot pools," he said.
The case has been difficult to investigate because it has taken deputies some time to win the trust of witnesses and friends of the victim. The teens and Dahle allegedly hang out with a counter-culture punk clique, Braddock said, and some witnesses are fearful of retaliation.
"Everybody in this case is very fragile and they're worried about how they're going to be judged by their peers," Braddock said. "I have to be very protective of my victim and others who are cooperating."
Authorties say Dahle is believed to be armed with a knife and staying somewhere in the Caldwell area, driving a four-door, white 1995 Mercury Tracer. Dahle was described as 5-foot-8, about 140 pounds and with brown hair. Police say Dahle may have shaved her hair except for her bangs.
Though Idaho's mayhem law bans "depriving a human being of a member of his body," Braddock said he expected Dahle would be charged with aggravated battery, which carries the same maximum sentence of 14 years but requires a lesser burden of proof in court.
_________________
"Suddenly I realize, I've seen it all through real eyes, the blood was really dripping from my hands. And oh, it makes me feel lik
