Pound Pup Legacy

If a hostage turns on his captors, he is deemed a hero.

If a child turns on his captors/owners, he is deemed a danger to society.

Desperate is what desperate does, making all acts and actions worth a second look. 

ROGER HELM - 435791
NEW JERSEY STATE PRISON
SBI OS01504089
PO BOX 861
TRENTON NJ 08625-0861  http://www.amfor.net/penpals/display.cgi?prisoner=newjersey_435791

Roger needs help connecting with his family members and also seeks legal help... he has received written expert opinion that he he had ineffective legal counsel & was not fairly sentenced. But because he was moved to a N.J. prison he cannot find an attorney to re-open his case, which is in Arizona.

Born 6-13-69, Roger is 6', 180 lbs, Caucasian, Brown hair, Blue eyes. He has his G.E.D., has taken numerous college courses & pursued his art hobby while in prison. Roger was named "Baby Boy Bell," at birth, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Roger would like to find his mother, Arlene Sharon Bell (DOB 7-11-47), his father and any relatives.

He says he grew up in an emotionally and physically abusive adoptive family & was convicted of murdering them in 1984 when he was only 14 years old but was tried as an adult; it was well documented that he was on LSD at the time of the crimes. The one-year time limit for filing a Habeas Corpus in federal court has expired but since learning that his earlier behaviors are classic Adopted Child Syndrome behaviors, he is seeking an attorney who knows what might be done so that he won't have to spend the rest of his life in prison (Note: Juvenile adoptees who killed their adopters in Connecticut & other states were tried as juveniles, released upon legal age, & never committed another crime of violence). Following is an excerpted newspaper article aboutt Roger in The Arizona Republic, by reporter Linda Valdez (5-11-97); and below that is a letter to AmFOR from Roger, explaining his situation:

".... He's serving a life sentence for killing his adoptive parents and 16-year old sister in 1984. He was 14 and high on LSD at the time. Helm was tried in adult court after a debate that is remarkably similar to recent debates over juvenile crime. Before his trial, a psychiatrist testified that both Helm and society would be better off if the boy were treated as a juvenile. The psychiatrist said "Prison would just harden him." Helm's public defender said it would be "barbaric" to try such a young person for a capital offense. The prosecutor said society needed to be protected from a kid who would "assassinate three people while they are sleeping." The judge sent Helm to adult court. Helm says the juveniles who would up in the juvenile wong of adult prison with him a decade ago were serving long sentences for things like murder. "Now," he says," "they're putting everybody in prison." Not quite. But prison is getting more crowded. Last Fall, Arizona voters approved Proposition 102, which calls for mandatory transfer to the adult system of juveniles 15 and older who are charged with murder, rape or armed robbery. The Legislature expanded that list to include aggravated assault, drive-by shooting and shooting at a structure. Juveniles will also be sent to adult court on a third felony charge. "First and foremost, our mission is custody and control," Warden Hallahan says... ....By Christmas 1998, the juvenile population in [Arizona] adult prison is expected to reach 500.

Excerpts from Roger's letter to AmFOR:

"....No one seems to comprehend the need to know who you are and where you came from. That's something only my Mom can anseer. She's in no danger and if she doesn't want to know me, it's something I can accept because at least it was definitely said, ya know?

...I lived with my adopters and an older adoptive sister who was viewed as "could do no wrong' & I was viewed as 'could do no right.' She had her own Adopted Child Synrome problems to deal with & I was abused as result of her lies. My adopters barred my windows, bugged the phones, probably afraid I might try to find my real parents & always lied about who my real parents were. I frequently ran away. That my adoption was at the root of my behavioral problems never occurred to me...I was 14 years old when sent to adult court where they called me a 'monster.' I was high profile & a target since I was the youngest in an adult prison. So I became vicious--I wasn't going to be anyone's victim...whatever violence I had to resort to in self defense. I hated the world & pled guilty on advice of an attorney when I was 16, because he told me I would get the Death Penalty if I didn't...I got 88 years....

...I GUESS THIS IS MY 'MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE."