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Thread: Banister and Cody Sentenced In Murder Of Sex Offender

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Banister and Cody Sentenced In Murder Of Sex Offender

    A judge Monday denied bail for a self-avowed white supremacist accused of using California's Megan's Law registry to track down and kill a convicted sex offender at his North Palm Springs home last summer.

    Steven Banister, 28, of Desert Hot Springs is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 10 death of Edward Vaughn Keeley, whose body was found in his back yard in the 64-000 block of 16th Avenue.

    Banister also faces two special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a robbery and a burglary, which would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors will decide later in the case whether to seek capital punishment for Banister.

    Riverside County Superior Court Judge Arjuna T. Saraydarian denied bail, citing the special circumstance allegations, and ordered Banister to return to court Feb. 18 for a felony settlement conference.

    Travis Martin Cody, 27, is also charged in Keeley's death. A Feb. 10 arraignment is set for Cody, who is in state prison on an unrelated offense and is expected to be brought to Riverside County in the next few weeks, according to district attorney's spokesman Michael Jeandron.

    Banister was released from prison less than a month before Keeley's death, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.

    Keeley's address was listed as the home of a convicted sex offender on a publicly accessible database created as a result of Megan's Law.

    Banister reportedly bragged in prison that he planned on assaulting homosexuals, pedophiles and rapists. He is accused of using Megan's Law to target pedophiles and sex offenders for his burglaries, said sheriff's Investigator Josh Button, who prepared the declaration.

    Banister told his girlfriend that he had gotten into a fight with an old man, but did not know if the victim was dead or not, according to Button.

    After Keeley's death, Banister went to Tennessee, where he was arrested in December.

    Cody reputedly told his mother and girlfriend in recorded jail conversations that he was at Keeley's home during the murder, Button wrote.

    http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100126/NEWS0802/1260315/1006/news01/Judge++No+bail+for+suspect++in+sex+offender+death

  2. #2
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    Suspect pleads not guilty in death of North Palm Springs sex offender

    A reputed drug dealer accused, along with another man, in the death of a convicted sex offender in North Palm Springs pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge.

    Travis Martin Cody, 27, faces one count of first-degree murder and two special circumstance allegations -- committing a murder during a robbery and a burglary -- in the Aug. 10 death of Edward Vaughn Keeley, whose body was found in his back yard in the 64000 block of 16th Avenue.


    Cody was in state prison on an unrelated offense and was transported on Feb. 5 to the Indio Jail for prosecution.


    Also accused in Keeley's death is self-avowed white supremacist Steven Banister, 28, who is accused of using California's Megan's Law registry to track down Keeley.


    Banister also faces the same special circumstance allegations, which make both men eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors will decide later in the case whether to seek capital punishment for the defendants.


    Both men are due in court on Feb. 18 for a felony settlement conference.


    Banister was released from prison less than a month before Keeley's death, according to a declaration filed in support of an arrest warrant.


    Keeley's address was listed as the home of a convicted sex offender on a publicly accessible database created as a result of Megan's Law, said sheriff's Investigator Josh Button, who prepared the declaration.


    Banister reportedly bragged in prison that he planned on assaulting homosexuals, rapists and pedophiles, according to Button. He is accused of using
    Megan's Law to target pedophiles and sex offenders for his burglaries.


    Banister told his girlfriend that he had gotten into a fight with an old man, but did not know if the victim was dead or not, according to Button.


    After Keeley's death, Banister went to Tennessee, where he was arrested in December.


    Cody, who is being held without bail, told his mother and girlfriend in recorded jail conversations that he was at Keeley's home during the murder, Button wrote.


    http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100210/NEWS08/100210025/1006/news01

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Judge rules men must stand trial in murder of convicted sex offender


    A self-avowed white supremacist and a reputed drug dealer accused of using California's Megan's Law registry to hunt down and kill a convicted sex offender must stand trial on felony charges, a judge ruled today.

    Steven Banister, 28, and Travis Martin Cody, 27, face first-degree murder charges in the Aug. 10 death of Edward Vaughn Keeley, whose body was found in his back yard in the 64000 block of 16th Avenue in North Palm Springs.

    The suspects also face two special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a robbery and a burglary, which makes them eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

    Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek capital punishment for the men.

    Following a preliminary hearing that started Friday and continued through part of this morning, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.

    The judge ordered Banister and Cody to return to court on March 18 for a post-indictment arraignment.

    Banister had been free from prison less than one month before Keeley's death, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant, prepared by sheriff's Investigator Josh Button.

    Keeley's address was listed as the home of a convicted sex offender on a publicly available database created by Megan's Law.

    Banister had allegedly bragged in prison that he planned to assault homosexuals, rapists and pedophiles. He used Megan's Law to target pedophiles and sex offenders for his burglaries, Button alleged in the declaration.

    Banister told his girlfriend that he had gotten into a fight with an old man, but did not know if the victim was alive or dead, according to Button.

    After Keeley's death, Banister went to Tennessee, where he was arrested in December.

    http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100308/NEWS0802/100308002/1006/news01/Judge+rules+men+must+stand+trial+in+murder+of+conv icted+sex+offender

  4. #4
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    Defendant accused of killing a sex offender has move to fire lawyer denied

    A convicted felon accused of killing a sex offender tried to fire his attorney Thursday but was overruled by a judge, who is expected to set a trial date for the man and his alleged cohort in June.

    Travis Martin Cody, 28, and Steven Aruther Banister, 29, could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstance allegations of killing during a burglary and robbery in the Aug. 10, 2009, death of Edward Vaughn Keeley.

    Trial proceedings were slated to get under way Thursday, but a motion by Cody to dismiss his court-appointed lawyer, James Silva, delayed the process.

    Following a closed-door hearing at the Indio courthouse, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Steven Counelis denied Cody's request and scheduled a trial-setting conference for Cody and Banister on June 7.

    Silva told City News Service he would need at least that amount of time to review recorded jailhouse phone conversations initiated by Cody.

    Banister, an avowed white supremacist, is accused of using the California Megan's Law registry of convicted sex criminals to track down Keeley, whose body was found in the backyard of his house in the 64-000 block of 16th Avenue in North Palm Springs.

    Banister was released from prison less than a month before Keeley's death, according to court papers.

    He and Cody are longtime friends.

    They were convicted in 2002 of burglarizing a Desert Hot Springs storage facility.

    Banister allegedly bragged in prison that he planned on assaulting homosexuals, rapists and pedophiles, according to court documents.

    He allegedly used the Megan's Law database to target pedophiles and sex offenders for burglaries.

    The defendant told his girlfriend that he had gotten into a fight with an old man, but did not know if the victim was dead or not, according to sheriff's Investigator Josh Button.

    After Keeley's death, Banister went to Tennessee, where he was arrested in December 2009.

    Cody told his mother and girlfriend in recorded jail conversations that he was at Keeley's home during the murder, Button said.

    Investigators also found some of Banister's property, including a Derringer-style pistol and leather holster, at Cody's residence.

    Cody was in state prison on an unrelated offense when he was arrested in connection with the Keeley slaying.

    The defendants could have faced the death penalty, but prosecutors decided late last summer not to pursue capital punishment.

    http://www.mydesert.com/article/2011...yssey=nav|head

  5. #5
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    Attorneys trade opening accusations in sex offender death

    Two men bludgeoned a 75-year-old man to death when they burglarized his Desert Hot Springs-area home, a prosecutor told jurors Monday, but an attorney for one of the defendants countered that there were no witnesses or evidence linking the pair to the crime.

    Travis Martin Cody, 29, and Steven Arthur Banister, 30, are charged with first-degree murder with special circumstance allegations of killing during a burglary and robbery in the Aug. 9, 2009, death of Edward Vaughn Keeley at his home in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Desert Hot Springs.

    Deputy District Attorney Scot Clark told jurors in his opening statement that a man living in a trailer on the victim's property “found Ed Keeley laying near his bed bludgeoned, the stock of a shotgun near his head” on Aug. 10, 2009.

    “His face was literally caved in from repeated strikes ... his ankles were bound with a necktie,” the prosecutor said.

    Keeley's new car was discovered burned in the desert about a mile and a half away, Clark said.

    Cody told someone he knew that he and Banister had previously broken into some outbuildings on Keeley's property and “figured the good stuff was in the main house and went back to get the good stuff,” Clark said.

    Cody said his friend, later thought to be Banister, “had taken a gun or some long (object) and beat the victim repeatedly with the butt of the gun,” the prosecutor said.

    Authorities later found a pistol recognized by Keeley's family members as belonging to the victim at Cody's house, Clark said.

    The prosecutor said that in a prison phone call, Cody told his mother that he was at Keeley's home at the time of the murder and expected to go to prison “forever.”

    Banister — who left for Tennessee after Keeley's death and was arrested there in December 2009 — told his girlfriend the day after the victim's death that he had gotten into a fight with an elderly man and did not know if he was dead or not, Clark said.

    “The defendants' own words are how they're brought here (to court); the defendants' own words show they're guilty for the killing of Ed Keeley,” Clark said.

    Keeley was a registered sex offender, and his ex-girlfriend's son, who lived nearby, said Banister “knew the victim was a registered sex offender and targeted sex offenders for his burglaries,” according to the prosecution's trial brief. Banister asked Keeley's ex-girlfriend's son about “‘robbing' the ‘old man,'” the document states.

    Cody's attorney, Leni Jacobs, told jurors in her opening statement that “there is not one person who was in that residence or near the residence who will come into court and tell you Mr. Cody and Mr. Banister were there.”

    “There is not one piece of physical evidence that Travis Cody was there or Steven Banister was there. It's just not going to mesh with any of the testimony,” Jacobs said.

    Keeley's ex-girlfriend's son, who thought he was a suspect in Keeley's death, “was reluctant to say much, other than to shift blame to Mr. Cody and Mr. Banister” and varied his story to authorities, the defense attorney said.

    “Every single one of these people is going to lie about something,” Jacobs said.

    Cody and Banister face life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty.

    The special circumstance allegations made the defendants eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors decided in 2010 not to pursue capital punishment in the event of conviction.

    http://www.mydesert.com/article/2012...er-trial-opens

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    http://www.kesq.com/Pair-Found-Guilt...w/-/index.html


    INDIO, Calif. -
    A Riverside County jury convicted two men on Thursday - accused of killing a Desert Hot Springs man.
    Prosecutors say Steven Banister, 28, robbed, beat and strangled Edward Keeley to death in 2009.

    Travis Cody was also convicted of the same charges.

    Prosecutors say the murder happened at Keeley's Desert Hot Springs home after the two targeted him because he was a registered sex offender.

    Both now face the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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