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Tampa Uncuffed

Bolin's 1991 suicide note is for sale on Internet

By COLLEEN JENKINS and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published November 4, 2006

An industrious true-crime Web site is selling a letter that convicted killer Oscar Ray Bolin wrote from jail before his failed suicide attempt in 1991.

A photocopy of the six-page letter is available for $7 on www.supernaught.com, a site billed as "the best online source for contemporary and historical artifacts from the underside of life." The site also offers a "handwritten envelope" from Bolin for $25.

In the suicide letter, Bolin said his ex-wife knew about the three deaths he had been charged with.

"If there's ever anything else that you really want to know about then you'll haft to ask Cheryl Jo, because she knew just about everything that I was ever a part of," he wrote to a Hillsborough homicide detective.

This week, as Bolin stood trial for the third time in the death of 17-year-old Stephanie Collins of Carrollwood, his defense attorney asked a judge to make sure no potential jurors had perused supernaught.com.

"I don't even know how you would comment on something like that," defense attorney David Parry said, referring to the site's lurid content. Writings by killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson also are available.

Rosalie Bolin, Oscar's wife, said she tried unsuccessfully to get the site to remove her husband's letter. Of course, any member of the public could get a copy from court records at a dollar a page.

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Tampa police Majs. George McNamara and Sophia Teague won statewide praise recently for legislation that closed a legal loophole.

McNamara and Teague won the "Above and Beyond" award from the Florida Crime Prevention Association for helping draft legislation to make it a crime to lure children.

Their efforts followed an August 2005 abduction attempt in Tampa. Sonia Acevedo, 11, was riding her bicycle when a truck pulled up alongside her. The driver offered Sonia $20 to get into the vehicle.

Instead, Sonia went home and told her mother what happened. Sonia's mother then called police, who found the driver but couldn't arrest him because he didn't violate the law.

So Teague and McNamara helped draft legislation, making it a first-degree misdemeanor to lure or entice a child into a vehicle or building.

The two received the award at an Oct. 19 ceremony in Altamonte Springs.

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For her dedication to getting kids adopted, Tampa lawyer Jeanne Tate has received an Angels in Adoption award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

The nonprofit organization is dedicated to raising awareness among the public and national elected leaders about the plight of foster children and their need for safe, permanent homes. Each year, it encourages members of Congress to nominate "unsung heroes" from their state who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans.

Rep. Jim Davis nominated Tate, one of eight Floridians honored at the Angels in Adoption ceremony in Washington, D.C., in September. Tate, a mother of five and owner of the Heart of Adoptions agency, has helped place more than 1,500 children in adoptive homes.

Got a tip? For cops news, contact Abbie VanSickle at vansickle@sptimes.com or 813 226-3373. For courts news, contact Colleen Jenkins at cjenkins@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3337.

[Last modified November 4, 2006, 06:55:29]