Before we continue our examination of John McCaul’s life - and there is still a lot more to examine - let’s take a brief detour.
John McCaul posted on Facebook recently about how he has raised three children - an implicit invitation to examine his skills as a parent. And by including “all in his family” who’ve “tried to get [Sonya] home” in this picture, an invitation to take a look at their backgrounds too, especially given the controversy over whether Sonya should have been placed into his mother Phyllis’s care once John went to prison or after the adoption was vacated. So let’s take a look at what sort of extended family Sonya has been thrust into and how John and Phyllis have performed as a parents.
John was born to John McCaul Sr. and Phyllis (Manzer) McCaul in 1971. Phyllis and John Sr. raised five sons--John Jr., Brandon, Daniel, Steve, and Dennis. Each of them has had trouble with the law to varying degrees. Here they are from least to most serious:
Dennis is the youngest of the McCaul brothers with the cleanest record. Along with three separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts, Dennis has been charged with four counts of speeding, three counts of driving without insurance and two counts of driving without proper registration. A relative angel.
Daniel has two criminal charges--one for disturbing the peace and another for improper handling of explosives. Yes, that’s right - explosives.
Brandon has a documented drug abuse history with two counts of marijuana possession, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia along with a pending request to be drug tested as part of his current divorce proceedings from his wife. He’s also been charged with possession of a concealed weapon without a permit (the McCauls do like their guns), two separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts and one count of each of speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, driving without insurance and driving with a suspended license.
Steve has been changed with criminal mischief, assault causing bodily injury to his wife, disturbing the peace (twice), child abuse/neglect, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit (just like his brothers), two counts of assault in the 3rd degree, driving with an open alcohol container, DUI, driving with a suspended license (twice), driving without insurance (twice), driving without registration (twice), driving without a license (twice), failure to stop, and driving left of center. Oh, and he’s also been charged with failure to appear in court on charges twice - a habit he’s made out of thumbing his nose at the law. There’s even a warrant out for his arrest on the same offense right now. As we’ll see soon this is a habit he shares with his big brother John. And of course let’s not forget that he’s provided a weapon used in a brutal double murder, then concealed knowledge of that murder for nine years all while socializing with the murderer.
John Jr.’s litany we’ve already begun to explore, and will continue to reveal in due course.
John Sr. has had his own share of run-ins with the law, including charges of disorderly conduct, theft (I guess we know where John got his penchant for robbery and burglary) and some traffic violations. But more disturbing is a documented history of physical abuse against Phyllis and their children (as reported in his and Phyllis’s divorce pleadings from 1979), along with a felony charge of 1st degree sexual assault of a minor in 1997. While that latter charge was ultimately dismissed, given the totality of his background one prays that Sonya is not being left in the presence of her grandfather--ever.
And as for Phyllis -- her direct record consists mostly of five separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts and a smattering of traffic offenses. But on top of whatever you might want to conclude about her parenting given the recitation above, Phyllis also has a documented history of neglect of her children.
For what’s listed above consists only of charges faced by the McCaul sons as adults. On top of that Brandon was arrested twice as a juvenile and sentenced to six months of probation each time. As a juvenile Steve was put on probation once for six months, and jailed twice--once for four months and once for 19 months, both for charges that would have been felonies had he been an adult. But the kicker is that Steve was adjudicated abandoned and neglected on one occasion -- charges that Phyllis admitted to:
John was born to John McCaul Sr. and Phyllis (Manzer) McCaul in 1971. Phyllis and John Sr. raised five sons--John Jr., Brandon, Daniel, Steve, and Dennis. Each of them has had trouble with the law to varying degrees. Here they are from least to most serious:
Dennis is the youngest of the McCaul brothers with the cleanest record. Along with three separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts, Dennis has been charged with four counts of speeding, three counts of driving without insurance and two counts of driving without proper registration. A relative angel.
Daniel has two criminal charges--one for disturbing the peace and another for improper handling of explosives. Yes, that’s right - explosives.
Brandon has a documented drug abuse history with two counts of marijuana possession, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia along with a pending request to be drug tested as part of his current divorce proceedings from his wife. He’s also been charged with possession of a concealed weapon without a permit (the McCauls do like their guns), two separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts and one count of each of speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, driving without insurance and driving with a suspended license.
Steve has been changed with criminal mischief, assault causing bodily injury to his wife, disturbing the peace (twice), child abuse/neglect, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit (just like his brothers), two counts of assault in the 3rd degree, driving with an open alcohol container, DUI, driving with a suspended license (twice), driving without insurance (twice), driving without registration (twice), driving without a license (twice), failure to stop, and driving left of center. Oh, and he’s also been charged with failure to appear in court on charges twice - a habit he’s made out of thumbing his nose at the law. There’s even a warrant out for his arrest on the same offense right now. As we’ll see soon this is a habit he shares with his big brother John. And of course let’s not forget that he’s provided a weapon used in a brutal double murder, then concealed knowledge of that murder for nine years all while socializing with the murderer.
John Jr.’s litany we’ve already begun to explore, and will continue to reveal in due course.
John Sr. has had his own share of run-ins with the law, including charges of disorderly conduct, theft (I guess we know where John got his penchant for robbery and burglary) and some traffic violations. But more disturbing is a documented history of physical abuse against Phyllis and their children (as reported in his and Phyllis’s divorce pleadings from 1979), along with a felony charge of 1st degree sexual assault of a minor in 1997. While that latter charge was ultimately dismissed, given the totality of his background one prays that Sonya is not being left in the presence of her grandfather--ever.
And as for Phyllis -- her direct record consists mostly of five separate cases of money judgments for failure to pay debts and a smattering of traffic offenses. But on top of whatever you might want to conclude about her parenting given the recitation above, Phyllis also has a documented history of neglect of her children.
For what’s listed above consists only of charges faced by the McCaul sons as adults. On top of that Brandon was arrested twice as a juvenile and sentenced to six months of probation each time. As a juvenile Steve was put on probation once for six months, and jailed twice--once for four months and once for 19 months, both for charges that would have been felonies had he been an adult. But the kicker is that Steve was adjudicated abandoned and neglected on one occasion -- charges that Phyllis admitted to:
and in the other, Phyllis admitted being unable to assume responsibility for Steve due to her fragile health:
Oh, and then there’s this little gem from Steve’s testimony at Hoover’s murder trial:
Q. Mr. McCaul, how old are you?
A. 32.
Q. Where do you live?
A. Omaha.
Q. What is your educational background?
A. Little.
Q. How far did you get in school?
A. Fifth.
...
Q. Can you read?
A. Not very good.
Q. If they had given your statement to read in order to refresh your recollection about what you said in the past, would you have been able to read it?
A. It would have took a while.
And in case you might be willing to overlook Phyllis's many examples of parental inadequacy -- they were, after all, a long time ago -- time seems not to have helped. Phyllis has been lauded for stepping up to care for several great-nieces and nephews who were abandoned by their father after their mother died. Unfortunately one of them, Kennedy Staton, was removed from her care very recently after a finding of neglect:
For those incensed that Phyllis didn’t get custody of Sonya early on -- perhaps that was a blessing and not an injustice.
And last but certainly not least, let’s not forget to look at John’s skills as a parent. As his three older sons are in their 20’s, a raw timeline will tell you that John has been effectively absent from their lives for most of their childhoods. The lawbreaking ways spread to at least one of them though--John’s son Eric Warbelton (Sonya’s half-brother) was just recently released from prison after serving a little over nine years on a manslaughter conviction plus an escape charge. Young Eric apparently thought it would be fun to drop a 21-pound landscaping block off a freeway overpass to see what happened. What happened is that it struck a car driving below and killed the woman driving it. And in true McCaul family form, Eric created his own gang--the Bridge Killing Crew--and tried to keep the killing a secret. Perhaps if John had been around more, or paid more attention to raising his children rather than breaking the law himself, Eric might have chosen a different path. As it is John can proudly say he’s raised a chip off the old block. And for good measure, Eric’s girlfriend is also a convicted felon with a history of drug abuse.
This is the family Sonya has been forced into.
And last but certainly not least, let’s not forget to look at John’s skills as a parent. As his three older sons are in their 20’s, a raw timeline will tell you that John has been effectively absent from their lives for most of their childhoods. The lawbreaking ways spread to at least one of them though--John’s son Eric Warbelton (Sonya’s half-brother) was just recently released from prison after serving a little over nine years on a manslaughter conviction plus an escape charge. Young Eric apparently thought it would be fun to drop a 21-pound landscaping block off a freeway overpass to see what happened. What happened is that it struck a car driving below and killed the woman driving it. And in true McCaul family form, Eric created his own gang--the Bridge Killing Crew--and tried to keep the killing a secret. Perhaps if John had been around more, or paid more attention to raising his children rather than breaking the law himself, Eric might have chosen a different path. As it is John can proudly say he’s raised a chip off the old block. And for good measure, Eric’s girlfriend is also a convicted felon with a history of drug abuse.
This is the family Sonya has been forced into.