DOJ Sentences Misssour Woman - Vandalism, Arson of Biracial Man's Home

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, June 18, 2012

Missouri Woman Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison for Vandalism and Arson of Biracial Man’s Home

A Missouri woman was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for her role in the vandalism and arson of a biracial man’s home in Independence, Mo., the Department of Justice announced .

Teresa Witthar, 43, of Independence, was sentenced in the Western District of Missouri by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple.

On Feb. 2, 2012, Witthar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of violating the Fair Housing Act and one count of obstruction of justice. Witthar’s co-conspirators, Charles Wilhelm and David Martin, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2012, and March 7, 2012, respectively, to one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the victim and one count of violating the Fair Housing Act for their roles in vandalizing and burning down Nathaniel Reed’s home in Independence.

According to the plea agreement filed with the court, Witthar, Wilhelm and Martin conspired to intimidate and scare Reed, a biracial man, into moving out of the Highland Manor Mobile Home Park in Independence, in part because of his race.  On or about June 6, 2006, Witthar, along with Wilhelm and Martin, entered Reed’s mobile home, without his permission, and vandalized it by writing at least 15 racially derogatory slurs on the walls of his trailer. 

Two days later, on or about June 8, 2006, Witthar drove Martin and Wilhelm to a neighborhood behind Reed’s home so that they could set fire to his home without being detected.  Witthar waited in her vehicle for Wilhelm and Martin to set the fire and then provided them a ride back to the Highland Manor Mobile Home Park.

The investigation further revealed that in the spring of 2011, Witthar unsuccessfully attempted to persuade another individual to testify falsely in front of a grand jury about her role in the vandalism and fire.  

“Violent and destructive acts such as the arson of this man’s home seek to undermine the guarantees of equal justice and equal opportunity that are central to our laws,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.  “The Department of Justice will continue to act aggressively to ensure that every American enjoys the right to occupy a home free of racially motivated intimidation and violence.”

“Today's tough sentence makes it clear that our community will not tolerate racially-motivated violence and intimidation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri David M. Ketchmark. “We are satisfied that this defendant is being held accountable for the arson, vandalism and threats that violated Mr. Reed's civil rights. By defending one victim’s right to live freely in his own home, we are upholding Constitutional freedoms for all citizens.”

Sentencing for Wilhelm is scheduled for July 24, 2012.   Sentencing for Martin is scheduled for July 26, 2012.

These guilty pleas were the result of a cooperative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  This case was investigated by the Kansas City Division of the FBI.   It is being prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark for the Western District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Sheldon L. Beer of the Civil Rights Division.'

Munirah Chronicle Offers 'Today in Black History'

1787 - Prince Hall, founder of the first African American Masonic

lodge, and others petition the Massachusetts legislative for

funds to return to Africa. The plan is the first recorded

effort by African Americans to return to their homeland.

1832 - A major insurrection of slaves on Trinidad occurs.



1901 - Cyril Lionel Richard James is born in Tunapuna, Trinidad. He

will become a writer, historian, Marxist social critic, and

activist who deeply influenced the intellectual underpinnings

of West Indian and African movements for independence. He was

born into an educated family in colonial Trinidad. At the age

of nine He earned a scholarship to Queen's Royal College, in

Port of Spain, Trinidad, and graduated in 1918. In 1932 James

left Trinidad for England. He will become involved in socialist

politics, gravitating toward a faction of anti-Stalinist

Marxists. He applied Leon Trotsky's views about a worldwide

workers' revolution to his colonial home. The result, in part,

was "The Life of Captain Cipriani: An Account of British

Government in the West Indies" (1932), in which he called for

Caribbean independence. For a time in the 1970s he taught at

Federal City College in Washington, D.C. He lived the last

years of his life in London. Three volumes of his collected

works appeared as "The Future in the Present" (1977), "Spheres

of Existence" (1980), and "At the Rendezvous of Victory"

(1984). He will join the ancestors on May 31, 1989 in London,

England.

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