The Villa Verdict

On the Villa blog, the right sidebar accuses The Morning Call of "purposefully" concealing the facts in its rendition of their trial against J.P. O'Malley's bar. A jury did come back with a $3.1 million verdict, but the paper never reported a finding that the tavern was negligent. Does this mean the Villas win and are suddenly rich? Villa certainly suggests that, asking whether anyone can change a $3.1 million bill. He also warns us to ignore any "'interpretations' (wink wink) of the jury's verdict you might read at other blogs in the coming days and weeks."

But the verdict itself, which you can see below, makes clear that J.P. O'Malley has no culpability. This is no matter of interpretation. The verdict is only against the drunk driver. Villa Verdict

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Villa Impersonates Catholic Seminarian

I first met Alex Joseph when he worked in Northampton County, both in Domestic Relations and as a Probation Officer. He even tried a brief stint as a barber in Wilson Borough, but always had a higher calling. He is now a seminarian in Washington D.C., studying to become a Maronite Catholic priest.

Because he is my friend and comments on my blog, Trollvilla has gone out of his way to provoke him. He regularly impersonates him. Although Father Alex has written him back channel, Villa still insists from time to time that Father Alex is really me. Most outrageous of all are the claims that Father Alex, who is allowed to marry, is a pedophile.

On Friday, Villa published a vulgar comment and falsely maintains it comes from Father Alex. I've been asked to give Father Alex an opportunity to respond to Villa's latest act of criminal harassment. "I want to respond to them, but somewhere safe. Somewhere, where I know his identity has to be revealed and somewhere where I can get my message across without it being moderated."

On this Troll Blog, nothing is moderated, but no one can post anonymously. So this thread is being created so that Father Alex can answer Villa.

Trollvilla: If You're Not With Him, You're Against Him

Hello everybody!

I created this blog for trolls. It's a place where they can feel at home, knowing that no matter how badly they flame someone, nothing will be deleted.

I created this blog for the rest of us, too. I spotlight the people who hijack blogs, start flame wars, misappropriate other people's identities and comment using sock puppets. It's a place to set the record straight when trolls distort the truth, and in a setting where it does not distract from other, more interesting, topics.

Bill Villa is this blog's first inductee. He hasn't let me down.

Villa's wife published a blog last week about the importance of teaching social studies and history and stuff like that. Sounds innocuous, right? Not when the bloggers are trolls.

First, there's those comments. Ninety percent of them are obviously posted by Villa himself, a tactic he admits. He lavishes praise on his wife.

"Mrs. Dottie, you always WOW me with the thoughtfulness of the things you choose to write about. You are a first-rate writer and thinker. Keep it coming! I love your blog."

"mrs. dottie, do you ever think about returning to teaching? it's obvious you are passionate and knowledgeable and good teachers are worth their weight in gold as paul carpenter always says."

Nothing wrong with sucking up to the Missus, but why deceive your readers? Don't you have enough respect for them to be honest with them, even in a frickin' post about social studies??

Then Allentown city council member Michael Donovan makes the mistake of assuming they are sincere and posts a comment about the value of a "liberal arts" education. Donovan apparently knows "how to suspend judgment and sit in the middle of competing interests and take the time to understand both parties." Pretty amazing, huh? But can he pull a rabbit out of his hat?

For making the mistake of being nice, Donovan is eviscerated in a series of increasingly vicious attacks. For one thing, he's slammed because he used to be a "moderate Republican," back in '93. Horrors! I don't know how that got him past the velvet rope that Lehigh Valley Somebody, Villa's blog, uses to screen incoming comments. "[L]ike "Studio 54," we don't let just anybody in, but give it a try, and hopefully you'll see your comment beyond the velvet rope after we approve of you."

Then, Villa reveals the real source of his outrage - Donovan has failed to stop this blog. "[T]here should have been a groundswell of local blogger outrage--led by you--against The Troll Parade' blog."

Villa's grant-seeking Stepford wife takes a break from her private arts lessons to add, "How would you feel if someone created an entire blog with the sole purpose of humiliating you and your family, even your deceased daughter, with false claims and vicious hateful lies?" She warns, "The Troll Parade must be taken down. Ditto Bernie O'Hare O'McCall."

She points out that she's pretty remarkable. "I am a teacher, a dedicated wife and mother, and a community activist and volunteer." I, on the other hand, am a "cruel and evil man."

Oh yeah, the Villas are suing me, too. "[W]e're starting litigation against Bernie O'Hare O'Mcall and his loyal dunce allies." You see, Villa is miffed not just at me, but at every person who has not led the CHARGE against this blog.

His list of Defendants grows larger every day. He's even gunning for Chris Casey. "i can't help but notice that chris casey has already buried your claim in his 'older posts' from um 3 days ago........a glenn kranzley suggestion possibly? Or do these blogger tuesday sellouts do these things intuitively?"

Villa wants this blog to disappear. It will stay put. For two years, he and his wife have been filling Blogistan with outright lies and defamation concerning his daughter's tragic death. For two years, he has been attacking perceived enemies anonymously. Guess what? What we have accepted as truth is actually the fabrication of a tormented mind.

I have several posts on the subject, but the most relevant one is here. This blog sets the record straight. Contrary to what Villa and his enabling wife have claimed, DA Jim Martin did vigorously and fairly prosecute the person responsible for the death of Villa's daughter. The Morning Call did cover the story fairly and with sensitivity. Villa is wrong, and everywhere he has gone, that's what he's been told.

Like a bully, Villa threatens and menaces anyone who does not do as he says. He wasted Thanksgiving day pathetically trying to spam one local blogger while simultaneously taunting a college student around the same age as his daughter when she passed on. It's time for Villa to accept reality. After two years of baloney, a little truth won't hurt anybody, not even Villa. What he really needs is help. Lots of it.

Oopsie! When I published the blog this morning, I did so without checking the actual time and date of publication. My thanks to Trollvilla for pointing it out. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank him for everything he's done to spread the word about this blog. Without his tireless efforts, there would be no readers.

Trollvilla Graduates From Harassment to Witness Intimidation

Over at Lehigh Valley Ramblings, I've reported that criminal harassment charges are pending against Bill Villa. In response to these charges, Villa has apparently graduated from harassment to witness intimidation. He's sent this email to three persons listed as potential witnesses:

Hiya [redacted], I'm confused ...

you told me my beefs with Bernie are between Bernie and me ...

and that you're not involved with it in any way ... you haven't "taken a side," etc.,

but then Bernie lists you as a "participant" in his complaint against me.

Were you aware of this?

I assume you'll be present at the hearing.

And I further assume you're now very much involved as things [legal] go forward.

Good to have you on board ;)

Bill Villa

When one of these potential witnesses asked, for the fifth time, to be left alone, Villa responded with this:

We're gonna sue Bernie, [redacted], [redacted], and you.

It's gonna be a fuckin' blood bath.

Legally, and figuratively speaking, of course; not literally.

BV

November 16 Update: Villa has continued to taunt the three potential witnesses listed in the harassment prosecution. His third email went out today.

Villa's Boycott Flubs, So Now He Wants a Fistfight

Every Sunday morning, like giddy children at Christmas, Bill Villa and Mrs. Dottie get up at the crack of dawn. But instead of rushing to look under the Christmas tree, they dash off to the computer. They can't wait to check the latest BNN ratings.

For shits and giggles, founder Dave Mastio has established a weekly rating of each blog based on a combination of a "variety of data sets" or some such bullshit. Personally, I think he throws darts.

Does this rating bear any semblance to reality? No way. Listen, the most widely read state poliblog is Micek's Capitol Ideas. After that, there are sites like Attytood or even that insane PhillyWillDo.

It's too easy to game the system. I've even written a blog containing instructions.

Still, I like BNN. Just like The Morning Call's Blogger Tuesday, BNN creates another outlet in which bloggers can be seen. It's another way to get a blog's content found and read. (Mastio only posts excerpts. You have to click and will be redirected to the originating blog if you wish to read an entire post.)

Villa and Mrs. Dottie, who religiously read Lehigh Valley Ramblings, have decided no one else should do so. In fact, those maroons also decided that nobody (except them) should read Northern Lehigh Valley Logic, Molovinsky on Allentown or AJ's Weblog. In true book-burning spirit, these supposed artists have actively encouraged a boycott of these blogs, especially mine.

Last Sunday, at the crack of dawn, the Villas were posting comments here and elsewhere, bragging about their own ratings and mocking others, urging boycotts and bullshit like that. But nothing makes someone want something more than another person who says he can't have it.

Today, the Villas must be crying. BNN's ratings are in, and show the following:

Lehigh Valley Ramblings is #2.

AJ's Web Blog is #9.

Northern Lehigh Valley Logic is #13.

Molovinsky on Allentown is #14.

Every blog they snarked is now in the top twenty.

Ruh roh.

In true troll-like spirit, Villa has now marginalized himself even more by demanding a fist fight with me, setting a wonderful example for his 7 year old son.

CHARGE!

A Special Thank You to Stepford Wife Angie Villa

I'd be remiss if I failed to write this little thank you note. Stepford wife Angie Villa, aka Mrs. Dottie, today published a thoughtful post about the BNN ratings on my other blog, Lehigh Valley Ramblings. As her husband Bill will proudly tell you, they are "remarkable people."

True, Angie has called me an "evil monster" who spends most of my time "slamming women like Sam Bennett" A sexist, too. So why thank her?

I'm remarkable, too!

Is Angie really a Stepford wife? Her post today is pretty much identical to the comment that Villa himself posted here at 8:07 AM on Sunday. It's virtually the same as a comment posted by Villa at LVPoliblog. So I think he inserted a chip somewhere under that hat she likes to wear.

Don't think so?

How about this? Angie, in an email dated May 23, told me she finds the term "pussy" repulsive. But when her husband repeatedly called David Najarian a "pussy", it suddenly became permissible to use that degrading word.

Alrighty then. Remarkable, isn't she?

In Angie's (that's Mrs Dottie's real name) very first post, written before that implant was inserted, she makes this bold statement: "I'd like to set the stage for a blog where good manners are encouraged and opposing points of view are welcome. You don't have to be on "my team" to be part of the discussion."

Actually, you do.

In an email to bloggers Michael Donovan, Michael Molovinsky and AJ Cordi dated August 10, Villa ominously warns, "You're either with me or against me. Pick a side and be done with it."

Sounds like George Bush, the mother of all neocons.

Sadly for "Mrs. Dottie," a happy blog that once really did encourage diversity and good manners has devolved into a moderated blog that instead promotes a boycott of Ramblings.

So much for all that "healthy dissent" Angie and her husband falsely encourage. The only dissent they permit is when it comes from them. She's clearly enabling her husband's obvious mental illness.

First thing Sunday morning, they could not wait to get out of bed to check the weekly ratings. Seeing that I had dropped for #2 to #4, they were delighted. They must have been really pissed when I jumped from #4 to #2 a few weeks before that.

I hope they keep it up. People are never more interested in something than when someone tells them they can't have it. I'm sure it will encourage artsy-fartsy types to read my blog. Maybe I'll write about a museum or something.

I'll thank Angie more properly on my other blog, too.

Remarkable people.

Morning Call Presents Fair Account of LaBarre Prosecution

Not that long ago, I published a blog about The Morning Call's refusal to sit down and meet with Bill Villa. He has long maintained that both the newspaper and DA Jim Martin have huddled to hush up the facts concerning Robert LaBarre, whose drunk driving resulted in Sheena Villa's tragic death. Sheena was Bill's daughter. Robert happens to be the son of a prominent local attorney, and his firm occasionally represents the newspaper.

Here's how Villa puts it.

"Unless he is stopped, DA Jim Martin will continue to fix DUI homicide cases for pals.

"He must be stopped.

"Ditto any institution that is enabling him."

Since The Morning Call is one of those institutions, at least in Villa's eyes, it must be stopped, too. "The Morning Call has been protecting DA Jim Martin for many years." Blogger Chris Casey quickly agreed. "There is a reluctance on the part of management at the Morning Call to investigate anything that might shine poorly on the office of District attorney Jim Martin. . . . [T]hey don't wish to endanger their working relationship."

As for me, I never bought into the conspiracy theory. I was certainly willing to listen, but nothing I heard was all that persuasive.

Today, I went into The Morning Call archives to see exactly how that newspaper brushed this story under the rug. Instead of finding evidence of a conspiracy, I found eight detailed news accounts*, thoroughly covering all of Villa's contentions. Four of these stories were "buried" on the front page as the lead story.

Morning Call Presents Sensitive and Sympathetic Portrayal of Young Dancer

I mentioned and quoted from one of these accounts yesterday. It was a sensitive portrayal of a vibrant young lady whose life was needlessly cut short. But it did not stop there. On June 26, 2006, in a page A-1 story, Sheena Villa was described in glowing terms again.

"Her father described her as 'a charismatic little starlet' and an idol to many of her young students at Miss Tanya's Expression of Dance school in Lower Nazareth Township, where she taught ballet and choreographed routines for dance competitions for six years.

"Steps in Time, a ballet school in Allentown that Villa attended as a child, and Miss Tanya's plan to award scholarships in her honor."

When Villa decided to put on a musical tribute to his daughter, The Morning Call obliged with a story (7/27/06, p. E-18).

"The two-hour show, which Villa estimates could raise between $10,000 and $15,000, also will be a tribute to Villa's daughter, Sheena Marie, a popular dance instructor who died in a car crash last March while out celebrating her 25th birthday. Daddy Licks' 'I Got Wheels' EP mentions her name on the record sleeve -- she was 6 months old at the time it was released.

"'She always loved the fact that Daddy Licks' EP was dedicated to her, and that she was named after a Ramones song,' says Villa. 'That made her a very cool chick.'"

The Morning Call ran yet another story (3/18/07, p. B-3) to promote "Dancers With a Cause," a ten-hour dance-athon for the Sheena Villa Scholarship Fund.

Finally, in its front page story about LaBarre's guilty plea (2/3/07), The Morning Call makes it very clear that Sheena Villa had pleaded with LaBarre to slow down.

The Morning Call Scrutinizes All Prosecutorial Decisions

In addition to showing more sympathy for Sheena, the paper covered every prosecutorial decision that DA Jim Martin made.

1. Why did it take ten weeks to file charges? "At a news conference, Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin said it's not unusual to work on a homicide-by-vehicle case for more than two months. Witnesses were interviewed, the accident was reconstructed, and the autopsy report was just completed two weeks ago while Martin was on vacation, he said."
6/2/06, page A-1.

2. Why did the DA fail to charge third degree murder? According to a front page story on 2/3/07, Judge Steinberg himself told Villa those charges are rare. "Steinberg said the charge is rare in traffic fatalities and cited two state cases, the most recent more than 12 years old.

"To show third-degree murder, prosecutors must prove the driver acted maliciously. Under the definition of homicide by vehicle while driving drunk, the driver does not intentionally set out to kill a person.

"While some counties have charged third-degree murder in traffic cases, it hasn't happened in Lehigh County in at least 30 years, District Attorney James Martin said. He said the appropriate charges were filed in the LaBarre case."

3. Did the DA try to hide evidence that Sheena was pregnant? In a front page story on 4/28/07, it is clear that it was thoroughly discussed and disclosed. "District Attorney James Martin said charges against LaBarre were initially delayed because prosecutors had to review the state's Crimes Against the Unborn Child Act. Citing case law, he said an additional count of homicide by vehicle while driving drunk could not have been charged for the fetus, which he said pathologists determined was at most 3 weeks old.

"[Ass't DA] Director said he prepared a legal memo and asked the judge to consider the fact Sheena was pregnant in sentencing."

All in all, it is very apparent that The Morning Call was unusually sympathetic to what happened to Sheena Villa. It also covered the tough questions that need to be asked in prosecutions of this sort.

Bill Villa's Downward Spiral

The news accounts tell another story, too. They reveal that Bill Villa, distraught father, became increasingly obsessed with the case as time went on. On June 2, 2006, the paper reports that "Villa slowly became consumed with the investigation. 'I was compelled to do it and a bit obsessed. The first two weeks after Sheena died, I was in a fog. After that two-week period, I started getting obsessed with seeing Sheena get justice.'

"He questioned prosecutors, Allentown police officers and detectives, and almost anyone who would listen or offer information about the accident."

That obsession intensified. When LaBarre's preliminary hearing was waived, Villa had convinced himself that LaBarre should spend 17 years behind bars. "We'd like to see none of that time plea-bargained away. We want to see him do every second of it."

By the time LaBarre entered his guilty plea, Villa's life was in ruins. "He said he's lost clients from the advertising business he runs out of his home, he feels as though he's aged 10 years and sees a therapist to cope with his grief. 'I feel new aches and pains every day, he said. My joints hurt, my head hurts.'"

After LaBarre entered his plea and was escorted away by deputies, Villa mockingly wished him a Happy Birthday. LaBarre had just turned 28.

At LaBarre's sentencing, Villa had finally crossed the line, deluding himself into thinking that "LaBarre received preferential treatment because his father is an attorney." He continued to question the way the case was handled. Eventually, Judge Steinberg had to stop him.

Unfortunately for Villa's mental health, his obsession has continued. His enemies' list has grown.

I'm on it now.

His troll-like behavior is a product of that obsession. What is even more disturbing is that an exasperated Villa is now engaging in threatening behavior, hurting himself.

I have all the sympathy I can have for his loss. That's why I spoke out for him and even helped him meet with a district attorney. But I won't drink his kool-aid, and I have no sympathy for the way he has threatened other people or for bloggers like Chris Casey, who use him.

Bill Villa would prefer that you not read this.

But it's the truth.

He needs help.

Blogger's Note: * Stories were published on 3/26/06, p. B-3; 3/27/06, p. A-1; 6/2/06, p. A-1; 7/21/06, p. B-3; 7/27/06, p. E-18; 2/3/07, p. A-1; 3/18/07, p. B-3; and 4/18/07, p. A-1. Because they are archived, I am unable to link to them.