How Could You? Hall of Shame-Robert Cipriano case-Death Updated
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Farmington Hills, Michigan, adoptee Tucker Cipriano, 19, killed his adoptive father Robert,52, on April 16,2012. He “has been charged with murder and attempted murder in an a baseball bat attack that killed his father and critically injured his mother(Rose, 51) and brother (Salvatore, 17).
Cipriano has been in custody since Robert Cipriano was killed with a baseball bat Monday at the family home in Farmington Hills, outside of Detroit. Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper announced identical charges Wednesday against him and 20-year-old Mitchell Young.”
“Cooper calls the crimes “horrific.” Police say a break-in at the Cipriano home preceded the attack. Rose Cipriano and 17-year-old son Sal remain in the hospital.
Tucker Cipriano was on probation since February for drug convictions but court records show he didn’t attend a recent meeting and last reported to his probation officer March 15. Corrections officials say the officer who’d been assigned to monitor him has been suspended.
Robert Cipriano was an administrator at Dearborn Public Schools.”
[CBS Crimesider 4/18/12]
“Tucker Cipriano was tasked with killing his two brothers. His friend, Mitchell Young, agreed to end the lives of Cipriano’s mom, dad and sister.
Ian Zinderman, 20 — who has known 19-year-old Cipriano since the fifth grade — testified in a Farmington Hills, Mich. court Wednesday that the two alleged murderers divvied up which of Cipriano’s family members to kill weeks before the plan was hatched, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Asked by prosecutors why Young, not Cipriano, would kill 8-year-old Isabella, Zinderman said, “Tucker loved his sister,” the paper reported.
Zinderman knew about the plan but reportedly did not take part.
Cipriano and 20-year-old Young were charged last month with first-degree murder after they allegedly beat the teen’s father, Robert, to death with baseball bats. They then attempted to kill his mother, two brothers and sister, cops say. Rose Cipriano, his 51-year-old mother, and his brother, 17-year-old Salvatore Cipriano, were critically injured in the attack, while Salvatore’s twin brother, Tanner, and 8-year-old sister, Isabella, were not harmed.
At the hearing Wednesday — a preliminary proceeding meant to determine whether enough evidence exists to take the case to trial in Oakland County — Zinderman wept and told prosecutors that he declined at the last minute to participate in the weeks-long plot to kill the Cipriano family, the Detroit News reported.
Zinderman testified that he went to the Cipriano home with the two men twice on the night of the attack, and that Cipriano had second thoughts about killing his family.
“He asked Roderick [Young] to roll another joint because he didn’t want to have second thoughts about it,” Zinderman said.
The duo wanted to steal money from Cipriano’s family and then escape to Mexico with it, Zinderman testified.
The two men allegedly hatched the plan on April 16, but it went awry when one of Cipriano’s brothers was able to call police from the home before the attack began.
Zinderman was granted immunity because he cooperated with police and agreed to testify, the paper reported.”
Tucker Cipriano, Mitchell Young Split Up Family Killing Assignments, Friend Testifies
[Huffington Post 5/24/12 by Andy Campbell]
“Robert and Rosemary Cipriano adopted Tucker Cipriano — their first child — when he was 4 days old. By age 6, they had him in both counseling and individual therapy.
Cipriano was eventually diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and was prescribed medications. For the next several years, he was in and out of trouble — suspended from school and growing increasingly more aggressive, breaking into his family’s home to steal money, getting arrested and fighting with police, records show.”
“The brutality of the crime — and Cipriano’s seeming lack of remorse and icy demeanor during two court hearings — have led some experts to speculate he was “wired wrong” at birth. Research in the last two decades shows sociopathic tendencies can have a genetic link.
The court-appointed attorney representing Cipriano plans to have his client examined by a psychiatrist before trial.
“I want to know what might be going on there,” said attorney Mitchell Ribitwer.
Family members, as they grieve, have been largely quiet about Cipriano. But interviews, court documents, police reports and published accounts show a troubled young man from the beginning.
“There are a lot of components, and certainly some genetic ones, in psychopathy,” said Donald Lynam, a professor at Purdue University who has been studying “fledgling psychopaths” for two decades. “One can’t say that in any individual case, but what we do know is that in general, genes tend to contribute to these traits.”
Spotting the signs
Lynam said parents can see the trouble early on.
“These kids are not pleasant, they’re not very nice, you feel sort of scared around them,” he said, noting that because those traits make it hard for others to bond with them, they can become even more antisocial as they grow. “Think about babies. The happy baby gets more attention than the colicky, difficult one, and they end up having different life experiences, so the genetic effect is structuring the environmental effect.”
Lynam said he believes there are varying grades of psychopathy among people. Research shows about 1% of the population, if examined, would be diagnosed as sociopaths — a term interchangeable with psychopaths.
“It’s not about why these people do these things, but why more of us don’t do bad stuff,” he said. “And that’s because the rest of us have inhibitions — we feel anxiety or remorse, empathy and a connection to other people. When you start taking those away, you end up with people feeling pretty free to do whatever pops into their head. On the high end of the scale, you end up with full-blown psychopathy and someone capable of doing some very bad stuff.”
In the months leading up to the attack, Tucker Cipriano seemed preoccupied by the fact that he was adopted, according to his Facebook postings.” [He went by Johnathen Kodiak Hammond on Facebook.]
“”There is a lot of research out there on adopted children, and some feel abandoned (by their biological parents),” said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston and the author of “The Will to Kill” and “Extreme Killing.”
“This kind of child tends to grow up feeling insecure, that the world is a dangerous place,” he said, regardless of how secure their adopted home is.
Role of genetics
Like Lynam, Fox said he believes genetics can play a role in how a child relates to the world.
“And what do we know about his biological parents?” he asked. “Were they drug dealers, prostitutes? Who does he come from?”
Fox also said people can be spurred into violence by others, as is often the case when people are accused of committing crimes together.
“Sometimes to understand why a vicious crime occurs, you have to look at whether a person would have committed it acting on their own,” he said. “What you may have here is a very perverted form of male bonding, with each of them trying to prove how tough they are. … Sometimes it’s less about the act and more about the actors — the emboldening effect of having a buddy.”
Trying to get help
Rosemary and Robert Cipriano knew they had a troubled child, court records show, and were doing everything they could to help.
Diagnosed at a young age with ADD and on medication, his parents enrolled him in Eton Academy in Birmingham, a school for children with learning disabilities. He eventually moved to public schools, where he received special education services. He was in and out of psychological counseling for years, court records show.
But problems continued. Cipriano was found smoking marijuana on school grounds in May 2009. His parents enrolled him in a substance abuse program at Maplegrove in West Bloomfield.
Two months later, while in the program, he was found on school grounds drinking alcohol, records say. A juvenile court referee in Oakland County’s Family Court noted that Rosemary and Robert Cipriano had “made substantial efforts to provide assistance to this young man.”
Tucker Cipriano was placed on “intense probation” and confined to the Cipriano home for 30 days. He was ordered into yet another rehabilitation program, this one at the University of Michigan. By 2010, his parents were taking him to both a psychiatrist and psychologist.
A year later, Tucker Cipriano was in trouble again, after police confiscated a straight razor blade and morphine from him outside a Farmington Hills strip mall, according to records.
He was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and possession of a dangerous weapon.
The weapons charge was eventually dropped, but while awaiting trial on the drug charge, police arrested him on burglary and alcohol possession charges after he got into a fight at an apartment building.
Police said Cipriano’s blood alcohol level was 0.15%, nearly twice the level at which someone can be convicted of drunken driving. He struggled with police as they handcuffed him, reports say.
Cipriano eventually served 153 days in the Oakland County Jail and was released in February. A few weeks later, police say, he and Young began methodically planning how to kill the Cipriano family so they could steal money.
Before the attack
Around that time, on April 5 — the day he turned 19 — Tucker Cipriano had two new postings on his Facebook page.
“Happy Birthday Son,” Robert Cipriano wrote, according to a report by WXYZ-TV (Channel 7). “Call me.”
Rosemary Cipriano posted: “Tucker. I tried texting and calling you…Grandma has a birthday present for you. Call me, Love Mom.”
Eleven days later, Robert Cipriano, 52, was dead on his kitchen floor and Rosemary, 51, and son Salvatore, 17, were fighting for their lives.
They continue to recuperate at local hospitals. Tucker Cipriano and Young will appear for a second day of preliminary examination on June 8.”
Tucker Cipriano said to be in trouble from start
[Detroit Free Press 6/1/12 by L.L. Brasier]
“Dr. Reuben Ortiz-Reyes performed the autopsy on Robert Ciprinao.[sic]
“Because he was still alive breathing, at the time the hemorrhage went into a lung and actually he drowned in his own blood.”
The autopsy revealed 52-year-old Robert Cipriano suffered multiple injuries to his head and his face and he tried to defend himself from the brutal attack.
Two Farmington Hills police detectives also took the stand during the preliminary exam. While describing the bloody scene, Cipriano couldn’t hold back his tears.
“There was blood spatter on the walls, blood all over the floor, and in the kitchen where Mr. Cipriano was laying, there was also blood on the cabinets,” said Richard Webby.
“It was very emotional. He broke down on multiple occasions. He was crying. He was sobbing, and when his father’s name was mentioned or his sister was mentioned, he lost it,” said Mitchell Ribitwer, Cipriano’s attorney.
Cipriano’s mother, Rose, and his brother, Sal, also suffered severe injuries during the attack. They are still recovering.
In statements to police, Cipriano and Young are pointing the finger at each other.
After two hours of testimony, Judge Marla Parker ruled there is enough evidence for the two to stand trial on all charges, which includes first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder and assault with intent to murder.
“It’s not a surprising thing that the case would be bound over against Mr. Young and that all the charges that he was initially charged with would result in charges now in Circuit Court to go to trial, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to be found guilty of any of those charges,” said Michael McCarthy, Young’s attorney.
“The statements can’t be used against the two co-defendants, in other words, Tucker Cipriano’s statement cannot be used against Mitch Young and Mitch Young’s statements can’t be used against Tucker Ciprinao unless the testify. The likelihood is there’ll be two juries or two separate trials,” Ribitwer said.
The two are being held without bond. A tentative arraignment has been set for June 19.’
Tucker Cipriano, Mitchell Young headed to trial
[Fox Detroit 6/8/12 by Ronnie Dahl]
“Tucker Cipriano will be evaluated by the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry to determine if he is competent to stand trial and whether he was insane when police say he beat his father to death with a baseball bat and nearly killed his mother and brother.
His attorney Mitchell Ribitwer made the motion Tuesday in Oakland County Circuit Court, as Cipriano sat quietly with his eyes cast down. Oakland County Chief Prosecuting Attorney John Skrzynski did not object.
The motion, before Judge Shalina Kumar came during Cipriano’s circuit court arraignment on murder and attempted murder charges. Earlier, his co-defendant Mitchell Young, 20, was brought in for arraignment. Kumar entered not guilty pleas for both.
After the hearing, Ribitwer said Cipriano, 19, had been treated by psychiatrists and psychologists and was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. “These are lifelong issues,” he said.
On why he wants his client evaluated, Ribitwer said: “It’s based on some of the things he’s told me, while in jail, but I can’t go beyond that.”
The evaluation could take up to 60 days. Cipriano is due back in court Sept. 4.”
Adoptive mother and brother recovering
“Rose and Salvatore spent weeks in intensive care at Botsford Hospital. Rose was transferred to a rehabilitation center for closed head injuries two weeks ago. On Tuesday, Botsford spokeswoman Margo Gorchow issued a statement saying Salvatore also was moved to a rehabilitation facility.
“It is with a great deal of caring and hope for his continuing recovery that we share the news that Sal was discharged late this morning to a rehabilitation facility with a specialty unit for closed head injury patients,” the statement says. “The staff at Botsford has become very close with Sal and his family during the two months that he was hospitalized at Botsford. We will be thinking about Sal and his family for some time hoping to hear that their health and lives are moving forward.”
Tucker Cipriano will undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine competency for trial
[Detroit Free Press 6/19/12 by L.L. Brasier]
“Megan Niemann, a 19-year-old South Lyon resident and recent Farmington High School graduate, has been following Tucker Cipriano’s court proceedings closely.
She said leading up to the alleged April 16 bat attack on the Cipriano family in their Farmington Hills home by Tucker Cipriano, 19, and Mitchell Young, 20, Niemann frequently saw Tucker Cipriano, who dated her friend.
“I use to hang out with them and it was just kind of a friend-gathering type of thing,” Niemann said after Tucker Cipriano was arraigned in Oakland County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Niemann visited the Cipriano home where the ambush occurred, drove Tucker Cipriano places and sometimes bought him cigarettes, because she said he never had ID and was on probation.
“He was always getting kicked out (of school), he was always suspended for extreme behavior,” Niemann said. “I would actually be like his chauffeur-type person, and I always used to take him back to the house that this whole incident happened.
She described how she perceived his relationship with his parents.
“It was always fighting,” Niemann said. “His parents knew that he was doing stuff illegally and that he was always into trouble.
“As far as hanging out with him, he was always smoking, always drinking.”
Robert and Rosemary Cipriano adopted Tucker Cipriano when he was an infant, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Niemann said this seemed to bother Tucker Cipriano.
“I didn’t know that he was adopted until two, three months into hanging out with him,” she said. “He never really talked about it. He hated the fact that he was adopted.”
Ian Zinderman, 20, during a May 23 preliminary examination in the 47th District Court in Farmington Hills, testified that he helped Tucker Cipriano and Young break into the Cipriano home with the intent of getting money to purchase K2, a synthetic drug that is set to be banned in Michigan on July 1.
Because of the alleged use of various “mind-altering” drugs and “narcotics,” Cipriano’s defense attorney Mitchell Ribitwer has requested his client undergo a mental examination at the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry.
Ribitwer said if any of the substances Tucker Cipriano may have been using induced a psychosis, it could affect the trial.”
Tucker Cipriano acquaintance: ‘He hated the fact that he was adopted’
[M Live 7/20/12 by Gus Burns]
REFORM Puzzle Pieces
Hat tip to Mirah Riben for her article Adoption and parenticide seeking truth and justice [Dissident Voice 7/24/12] for the awareness of this missed case as most articles fail to mention that he was adopted.
Update:”Before receiving mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole, both young men convicted of murder in the April 2012 baseball bat beating attacks against a Farmington Hills family had their say in court Wednesday.
Tucker Cipriano, the adopted son of the family which lost its patriarch that night, spoke of his relationship with his adoptive parents.
“My father was a great man and was there for me time and time again when I had problems at school, with the law and especially with problems in my social life,” Cipriano said in a prepared statement.
Cipriano, 20, and Mitchell Young, 21, were both convicted of participating in an attack that left Robert Cipriano, 52, dead, and his wife Rose and son Salvatore severely injured. Authorities said the pair went to the house with a plan to kill the entire family, steal $3,000 and a car and drive to Mexico after Tucker Cipriano violated his probation.”
Cipriano and Young were smoking synthetic marijuana in the hours leading up to the attacks, according to testimony.
“My mom was there every step of the way,” Tucker said, adding that she drove him to rehab.
“My mom is an amazing mom and did anything she could to help me all throughout my life. My family has done a great deal for me. I want my dad back.”
At that point, reading the statement in front of a packed courtroom, Tucker Cipriano began to cry.
“(My dad) taught me to be strong, to hold my head up … that includes taking responsibility for my actions and suffering the consequences.”
Cipriano, who pleaded no contest to felony murder in the case, said he wishes he could take the events of April 16, 2012, back.
“Dad, a lot of people miss you down here,” he said.
“I love you, and for what it’s worth, I did what you would have wanted me to do and protected (his sister) Bella and my family as much as I could.”
Tucker said he “will never recover from (this) or regain what I lost,” but he expressed love for his siblings.
“Tanner, Sal (who was also injured in the attacks) and Bella, I love you with all my heart,” Tucker said.
Tucker asked for forgiveness and also asked those affected to “move on and try to enjoy the small things — a family dinner, a movie with friends, smiles and laughter.”
Many in the audience were crying as Tucker finished his statement. It was then Oakland County Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar’s turn to share her thoughts.
“With all the support you had, all the love you had, you just threw it away because you didn’t want to face the challenges,” Kumar said.
“You had the support and you just didn’t want to do the work. You ruined your life. You ruined the lives of people that did nothing but love you.”
Mitch Ribitwer, who represented Cipriano, spoke about his client before the statement was read.
“Obviously his actions are inexcusable,” he said.
“However, he is responsible enough to stand up and take responsibility for his actions to avoid a trial and any further grief for his family, and I think for that, he deserves some credit.”
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor John Skrzynski said he was “kind of dismayed” by Cipriano’s description of the attacks in a pre-sentencing report.
In that report, Cipriano said he “did not assault or restrain his father,” Skrzynski said.
He also simply said he “saw” his mother and said he “must have hit” Salvatore, Skrzynski said. He also said he “pretended not to see Tanner,” his brother who hid and called police that night.
Statements from various people contradict all of those statements, Skrzynski said, citing specific examples from Tucker himself, as well as his siblings.
Mitchell Young also spoke before his sentencing, but his tone was much different.
“The event that brought all of us here today is nothing short of an absolute tragedy,” he said, offering his “deepest condolences and sympathies” to the family.”
Tucker Cipriano at sentencing for murder of father: “I want my dad back”[The Oakland press 7/24/14 by Dave Phillips]
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