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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 18, 2021 0:36:26 GMT -5
Mother Calls Missing Son ‘The Next Ted Bundy’The remains of a 5-year-old boy his mother described as “the next Ted Bundy” were discovered on the morning of Saturday, October 23, in a wooded area of Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts.
Elijah Lewis was last seen at his home 75 miles away in Merrimack, N.H., and the New Hampshire Division for Youth, Children and Families (DYCF) contacted authorities on October 14. His mother, Danielle Dauphinais, 35, had not reported her son missing and both she and her live-in boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, 30, were arrested three days later on charges of child endangerment and witness tampering. The witness tampering charges stemmed from the couple’s having asked people to lie about Elijah’s whereabouts.
Investigators learned that approximately four months prior to the boy’s disappearance, his mother complained to a friend via text message that the Elijah’s behavior was becoming “worse and worse” and she referred to him as “the next Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer,” adding she had “no connection with the child.” In another text message, she said, “I want him gone.” Elijah was the fourth of her six children.
It is unknown how long the body had been in the woods. Multiple agencies in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island assisted in the search, which shifted to the park based on a tip from an unnamed source. The boy’s remains were identified through dental records, however, the manner of his death has not been determined and the results of toxicology and other tests won’t be available for months.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz and other officials have shared few details concerning the case. “Obviously a little boy is gone,” Cruz told a reporter. “Nobody deserves to die this way and we hope to get justice for the little boy.”
Randy Stewart, Elijah’s uncle, said he feels “a small sense of relief knowing he’s not out there suffering. He’s in a better place now.”Sources: Audrey Conklin, Fox News, November 17, 2021; Sahar Akbarzai, Artemis Moshtaghian and Kiely Westhoff, CNN, October 25, 2021; WBTS, October 24, 2021; and The Boston Globe.
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Post by kitty on Nov 18, 2021 9:56:53 GMT -5
He was only 5 and she has two younger kids?
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Post by catherine on Nov 18, 2021 10:25:04 GMT -5
He was only 5 and she has two younger kids? |
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Post by JoannaL on Nov 18, 2021 17:40:47 GMT -5
Actually, the boy does look a lot like Ted Bundy when he was around that age.
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Post by serena on Nov 19, 2021 3:12:23 GMT -5
Actually the boy does look a lot like Ted Bundy when he was around that age. |
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Post by catherine on Nov 19, 2021 4:11:42 GMT -5
They do look alike and a lot of people believe in reincarnation. |
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Post by Kate on Nov 20, 2021 10:45:01 GMT -5
If it was easier for parents to give up children, this little boy might still be alive. The mother said she wanted him gone and child protective services was involved because it looks like they reported him missing. If parents say they don't want a child, then the agency should remove that child. But since people today are criticized for surrendering something as worthless as a damned dog, I'm sure it would be almost impossible to give up a child. Also, where is the child's father? The article mentions an uncle, but nothing about the father.
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Post by JoannaL on Dec 1, 2021 0:59:13 GMT -5
Elijah Lewis Died of Violence, Neglect and Acute Fentanyl Intoxication
The results of the autopsy on 5-year-old Elijah Lewis, performed by a Massachusetts medical examiner, have been released. According to the report, death resulted from violence, neglect and acute fentanyl intoxication. During the examination, the ME noted facial and scalp injuries, malnourishment and pressure ulcers.
When the boy was reported missing, police in New Hampshire contacted the authorities in Gilbert, Arizona, in an attempt to locate Timothy Lewis, Elijah’s father, but he no longer lived in the area. When Lewis and the boy’s mother, Danielle Dauphinais, divorced in 2017, Lewis described his wife as “violent and impulsive” and claimed she had a “history of domestic violence and substance abuse.” It is still unclear why the child came to live with his mother in the spring of 2020.
Both Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were arrested and are due to appear in court on charges of child endangerment and witness tampering.
Sources: Dean Shalhoup, The Telegraph, November 23, 2021; Joshua Rhett Miller, The New York Post, November 23, 2021; and The New Hampshire Department of Justice, November 22, 2021.
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Post by JoannaL on Jun 19, 2022 6:56:16 GMT -5
Mother Charged with Murder of 5-year-old Son
Danielle Dauphinais, 35, who described her 5-year-old son as “the next Ted Bundy,” has been charged with the boy’s murder. She was indicted in March by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office on one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing the death of Elijah Lewis, one count of second-degree murder for recklessly causing his death and three counts of witness tampering. Her attorney, Jaye Rancourt, entered not guilty pleas to all charges on behalf of his client.
The body of Elijah Lewis, who was reported missing in October 2021, was found in the woods in Abington, Massachusetts, and the medical examiner reported the child suffered “facial and scalp injuries, acute Fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers.”
Dauphinais was initially arrested in October and pled not guilty to witness tampering and child endangerment. However, the latest allegations indicate investigators believe Lewis died at the hands of his mother.
Sources: WBTS, April 20, 2022; and Susannah Sudborough, Boston.com, April 18, 2022.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Mar 13, 2023 2:05:53 GMT -5
Boyfriend Sentenced, Mother’s Trial Expected to Begin in 2024
On Thursday, September 29, 2022, Joseph Staph, the boyfriend of Danielle Dauphinais, who declared her 5-year-old son was destined to become the next Ted Bundy, entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter and other charges associated with the death of Elijah Lewis.
Prosecutors said the child was starved, neglected and physically abused, and read a series of texts between Stapf and Dauphinais that expressed hostility toward Elijah and frustration if he didn’t behave according to their wishes. In some of the messages, however, Staph told Dauphinais to give Elijah more food to “fatten him up.”
The child’s battered body was recovered from a wooded area in Abington, Massachusetts, on October 23, 2021. The medical examiner noted facial and scalp injuries, malnourishment and pressure ulcers, and the toxicology report revealed acute fentanyl intoxication. The fact the boy was 3-feet-tall and weighed only 19 pounds, indicated long-term abuse. A normal 5-year-old white male should measure approximately 43 inches and weigh around 40 pounds.
The judge sentenced Staph to 22 to 45 years in prison.
On October 26, 2022, in the Superior Court of New Hampshire, attorneys defending Dauphinais, who is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, objected to previous interviews of their client, claiming she was questioned “in violation of her constitutional rights.”
The attorney general’s office argued there was no violation of the Defendant’s right to counsel and during the questioning to which the defense objected, “The Defendant was not asked to relate any details about her case and was not questioned about Elijah Lewis.”
Dauphinais’s trial is expected to begin in January 2024.Sources: Ray Brewer, WMUR, November 22, 2022; Ariana St Pierre, WGME, October 26, 2022, and State of New Hampshire v. Danielle D. Dauphinais, Case No. 226-2021-CR-0944.
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