Aurone
01-06-2008, 05:07 PM
A University of Arizona law student and beauty queen indicted on kidnapping and assault charges had been acting strangely for several months, her neighbors said.
One neighbor, Steve Kincaid, said Kumari Semone Fulbright, 25, lost a lot of weight over the past few months and he sometimes saw her lying face down on the paved parking lot in front of her North Side apartment, wearing only a tank-top and shorts in 40-degree weather early in the morning.
"She was real impersonal all of a sudden," Kincaid, a 25-year-old student, said. "She would literally spend 15 hours a day outside of her house or in her car. She would turn the car on and not go anywhere."
Court records show Fulbright and three other men are suspected of holding a 24-year-old ex-boyfriend of Fulbright's for 10 hours Dec. 8 and threatening to kill him. She was charged in December with robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault in connection with the incident. Police have offered no motive, other than to say it may have involved a dispute over jewelry. The man escaped, police said.
Police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said there was no evidence that Fulbright had been using drugs when police arrested her. But a search warrant return shows that police found a box of marijuana in her apartment.
Neighbor Julie Bryson, 44, said Fulbright and her roommate, who was not identified, lived in an apartment in the 1200 block of East Knox Drive but have since moved out.
Both Kincaid and Bryson said Fulbright and her roommate received many visitors. "There were always cars, people coming and going," Kincaid said.
Tucson police say they have reason to believe that one of the men wanted in connection with the kidnapping had business connections to Colombia.
That man, Robert A. Ergonis, 44, had recently visited the country, Pacheco said. He also was an ex-boyfriend of Fulbright.
A judge issued arrest warrants for Ergonis and his brother, Michael, 46, but they so far have eluded police, Pacheco said. He said the two are believed to be out of state, possibly out of the country.
Larry B. Hammond, 40, was arrested at the same time as Fulbright and faces similar charges. Fulbright bonded out of Pima County Jail. Hammond is being held on $50,000 bail.
Court documents show that the three men all have recent and past drug charges or convictions.
Court records show Hammond was charged Dec. 27 with possession of a cocaine base and drug paraphernalia from an unspecified incident that occurred Dec. 1.
Michael Ergonis pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous drug in 1995. Records show he had 205 methaqualone pills, which is a sedative similar to barbiturates, plus marijuana and a crack pipe, as well as a pistol. They also show he was considered likely to flee prosecution. On the county attorney's bail recommendation paperwork, the space marked high flight risk was filled with three X's.
Robert Ergonis was arrested by Tucson police in October when police pulled him over for speeding and found that he was wanted in Nevada on a fraud charge. The interim complaint in that case said that Ergonis had put up a $147,000 bond to get out of jail. He also has past indicments on theft, drug paraphernalia and narcotic drug charges. Court records were unclear as to whether he was convicted on those charges. The records also reveal a long list of arrest warrants for failure to appear in court.
The brothers live, at least part time, in Michigan, according to addresses listed in court paperwork. Fulbright received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, according to Citizen archives.
Robert Ergonis and Fulbright had known each other for at least two years. A restraining order issued against one of Ergonis' ex-wives ordered her to stay away from Fulbright. The woman had threatened the couple with a gun, court records show.
Fulbright was a volunteer worker at the U.S. District Court here, but since her indictment, she has been denied access to the court and no longer volunteers there, said Chief Deputy Clerk Mike O'Brien. Fulbright did not work as a law clerk for District Judge Raner Collins as previously reported.
She was named Miss Pima County in 2005 and Miss Desert Sun in 2006, but the Miss Pima County Scholarship Pageant is distancing itself from Fulbright. It released a statement saying, "Neither the Miss Pima County Pageant Committee members nor the current titleholder have any present knowledge about or connection with the actions of this young woman."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0103beauty03-on.html
Good God, what's happening to the Beauty Pagents Today? I remember the pure days when they simply flashed cameras and acted sexual.
One neighbor, Steve Kincaid, said Kumari Semone Fulbright, 25, lost a lot of weight over the past few months and he sometimes saw her lying face down on the paved parking lot in front of her North Side apartment, wearing only a tank-top and shorts in 40-degree weather early in the morning.
"She was real impersonal all of a sudden," Kincaid, a 25-year-old student, said. "She would literally spend 15 hours a day outside of her house or in her car. She would turn the car on and not go anywhere."
Court records show Fulbright and three other men are suspected of holding a 24-year-old ex-boyfriend of Fulbright's for 10 hours Dec. 8 and threatening to kill him. She was charged in December with robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault in connection with the incident. Police have offered no motive, other than to say it may have involved a dispute over jewelry. The man escaped, police said.
Police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said there was no evidence that Fulbright had been using drugs when police arrested her. But a search warrant return shows that police found a box of marijuana in her apartment.
Neighbor Julie Bryson, 44, said Fulbright and her roommate, who was not identified, lived in an apartment in the 1200 block of East Knox Drive but have since moved out.
Both Kincaid and Bryson said Fulbright and her roommate received many visitors. "There were always cars, people coming and going," Kincaid said.
Tucson police say they have reason to believe that one of the men wanted in connection with the kidnapping had business connections to Colombia.
That man, Robert A. Ergonis, 44, had recently visited the country, Pacheco said. He also was an ex-boyfriend of Fulbright.
A judge issued arrest warrants for Ergonis and his brother, Michael, 46, but they so far have eluded police, Pacheco said. He said the two are believed to be out of state, possibly out of the country.
Larry B. Hammond, 40, was arrested at the same time as Fulbright and faces similar charges. Fulbright bonded out of Pima County Jail. Hammond is being held on $50,000 bail.
Court documents show that the three men all have recent and past drug charges or convictions.
Court records show Hammond was charged Dec. 27 with possession of a cocaine base and drug paraphernalia from an unspecified incident that occurred Dec. 1.
Michael Ergonis pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous drug in 1995. Records show he had 205 methaqualone pills, which is a sedative similar to barbiturates, plus marijuana and a crack pipe, as well as a pistol. They also show he was considered likely to flee prosecution. On the county attorney's bail recommendation paperwork, the space marked high flight risk was filled with three X's.
Robert Ergonis was arrested by Tucson police in October when police pulled him over for speeding and found that he was wanted in Nevada on a fraud charge. The interim complaint in that case said that Ergonis had put up a $147,000 bond to get out of jail. He also has past indicments on theft, drug paraphernalia and narcotic drug charges. Court records were unclear as to whether he was convicted on those charges. The records also reveal a long list of arrest warrants for failure to appear in court.
The brothers live, at least part time, in Michigan, according to addresses listed in court paperwork. Fulbright received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, according to Citizen archives.
Robert Ergonis and Fulbright had known each other for at least two years. A restraining order issued against one of Ergonis' ex-wives ordered her to stay away from Fulbright. The woman had threatened the couple with a gun, court records show.
Fulbright was a volunteer worker at the U.S. District Court here, but since her indictment, she has been denied access to the court and no longer volunteers there, said Chief Deputy Clerk Mike O'Brien. Fulbright did not work as a law clerk for District Judge Raner Collins as previously reported.
She was named Miss Pima County in 2005 and Miss Desert Sun in 2006, but the Miss Pima County Scholarship Pageant is distancing itself from Fulbright. It released a statement saying, "Neither the Miss Pima County Pageant Committee members nor the current titleholder have any present knowledge about or connection with the actions of this young woman."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0103beauty03-on.html
Good God, what's happening to the Beauty Pagents Today? I remember the pure days when they simply flashed cameras and acted sexual.