GUILTY CO - Makayla Roberts, 10, & Hannah Marshall, 8, slain, Norwood, June 2017 *Arrests*

[kaen]

RSBM

Per your link... it's now updated with "jury trial" as well as two dates "11/16 AND 11/17" *this info is for Ceus only (haven't searched the others yet)

*I'm not sure I wanna' know the details in this case

I may be right there with you. I fear this is going to be so horrific. As "travelers", I wonder if there were other deaths in other areas. I am hoping for justice of these two girls.

 

[MsMarple]

Two women have been charged with killing two young girls whose bodies were found on a Colorado farm.

The women were arrested in mid-September along with three other people after authorities discovered the bodies. All five were initially charged with fatal child abuse.

Prosecutors on Friday added the murder charges against Nashika Bramble and Madani Ceus.
...
Frederick Blair, a 23-year-old man from Norwood, Ika Eden, a 53-year-old woman from Jamaica, and Ashford Archer, a 50-year-old man from Haiti, are charged with fatal child abuse.

Blair and Archer also have been charged with acting as an accessory to a crime.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-wome...-two-young-girls-found-dead-on-colorado-farm/

I take it that Ashford Archer is the man originally called Nathan Yah then Nathanyah Nitchitu.

All records are sealed and LE is not releasing any more info right now.

The following comes from an article in People magazine so take it with a grain of salt. However, a lot of the info comes from Frederick Blair's stepfather. The implication is that the 2 girls were starved.

When officers arrived they found the two girls, who are said to be 7 and 10 years old, decomposing in the backseat of a car on the property, a person familiar with the case tells PEOPLE.

How the two girls died has yet to be determined.

While on the property, officers also removed two more children from the property; those children are now in the custody of child services.

“The allegations are they are the kids of Medani Ceus,” Harvey Palefsky, the attorney for Nashika Bramble tells PEOPLE.

Bramble, Ceus, Archer and Eden are purportedly members of a traveling healing group that promotes prophesies about the end of the world.

“It was an apocalyptic kind of thing,” the source says. “They are guided by their dreams. They will stay some place until they have a dream and then they go someplace else. They think they can heal people.”

The source says Ceus is the leader and the rest of the group “sought permission from her.”

The group allegedly lived in Grand Junction before relocating to Norwood where they met Blair.
...
Blair’s stepfather, Donnie Blair, tells PEOPLE his stepson moved to Colorado around five years ago to grow medical marijuana and met the group in the spring.

“They were telling him they were in a jam, and he is so sweet he offered them a place to stay,” he says, adding, “Over time they broke him down. They pretty much brainwashed him.”

http://people.com/crime/was-religious-ritual-involved-colorado-death-two-girls-decomposing-car/

Much more at the link. The article also says Blair's father drove from Texas to see what was going on. I believe he was the reporting person in the San Miguel County public files that I posted earlier. The county doesn't archive the police reports they just overwrite them using the same file name so the original report is not longer available.

If even half of this is true then it explains the sheriff saying "I have never seen anything as cruel and heartless as this."

 

[cocomod]

If true, starvation is a very cruel and painful death.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Horrific.

 

[FlossyMay]

This is something straight out of a Stephen King novel. How do people get so twisted?

 

[MsMarple]

About the People article:

Seventh Judicial District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller confirmed with local media after an Oct. 10 hearing for one of the suspects, Madani Ceus, that investigators have been looking at whether voodoo was involved in the situation leading to the deaths.
...
On Friday, People magazine published an article that quotes an unnamed source who outlined alleged rituals of a “traveling healing group” comprising four of the five suspects. People cited a source “close to the investigation” in divulging information related to the case. Arrest affidavits in the case have been officially sealed by the court, meaning there currently is no public or media access.
...
Hotsenpiller previously told the Daily Planet that while the practice of voodoo was part of the investigation, “I’m confident to tell you that this is not some kind of ritualistic slaying.”

The father of one of the suspects and another suspect’s attorney were quoted in the People story. DA’s Office spokeswoman Sherry McKenzie provided a comment as well.

When asked about the magazine’s anonymous Deep Throat on Monday, San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said he wasn’t concerned.

“I’m not going to worry about the source of it too much,” he said. “I think it’s pretty obvious. The source appears to be a member of the family or a member of the legal team defending the clients. I don’t believe it’s a law-enforcement official.”
...
On Thursday, the Daily Planet and KOTO Community Radio filed an open records request to San Miguel District Court for access to the arrest affidavits.

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_1c3ad852-b2bf-11e7-9f79-c7419f798594.html

 

[margarita25]

Bodies of 2 young girls found on Norwood farm ID'd as one of suspects' daughters
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...norwood-farm-idd-as-one-of-suspects-daughters

"NORWOOD, Colo. – The two young girls whose bodies were found on a farm outside Norwood were the daughters of Nashika Leonie Bramble, 36, one of five suspects in the case."

Snip

"The San Miguel County Coroner’s Office, with the assistance of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, released their identities Friday after extensive DNA testing."

 

[MsMarple]

Nashika Leonie Bramble, 36, believed to be from the southeastern U.S.; Ashford Nathaniel Archer, 50, of Haiti; Madani Ceus, 37, of Haiti; Frederick Alexander Blair, 23, of Norwood; and Ika Eden, 53, of Jamaica will appear in front of San Miguel County District Judge Keri Yoder at 9 a.m. Nov. 20-21.
...
On Thursday, District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller said he plans to call on upwards of six witnesses during the hearing.

Public Defender’s Office motions to disjoin the cases and try each one separately were denied by Yoder for economical reasons.

Yoder also approved an open records request filed by the Daily Planet and KOTO Community Radio to unseal arrest affidavits in the case. The documents are being processed and may become available soon.

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_fae2643c-b5dd-11e7-a3ad-cf691c1718dc.html

Roberts, Makayla Victoria, born to Nashika Bramble and [redacted by me because sheriff said the girls' fathers were not involved], Orlando, Winnie Palmer Hospital.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2007-04-01/news/ORBIRTHS01_1_winnie-palmer-hospital-born-orlando

COD pending. Next hearing November 20 and 21. The judge approved a request from msm to unseal the arrest affidavits so keep an eye out. Stupid, senseless murders.

If you Google the two women you'll find quite a bit of information. I also found a Madani Ceus in the Wayne County PA property tax online public information site but I won't link since I can't verify it's the same woman.

RIP Makayla and Hannah :rose:

 

[MelmothTheLost]

About the People article:

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_1c3ad852-b2bf-11e7-9f79-c7419f798594.html

If not a ritual killing, maybe an exorcism that went too far.

 

[MsMarple]

Affidavit was unsealed by Judge Keri Yoder during a hearing on Thursday following a joint request by the Daily Planet and KOTO Community Radio.

The two children — identified last week by the Coroner’s Office as Makayla Victoria Roberts, 10, and Hannah Elizabeth Rosalina Marshall, 8 — were placed in a 1999 Toyota Sedan on property off County Road Y43 at different points during the summer. From May to the time of their arrests in early September, a group of two Haitians, a Jamaican and a woman believed to be from the southeastern U.S. were living on the property, which belonged to a Norwood resident who befriended them, according to the affidavit.

The document says the two girls were banished to the car as punishment — and at some point, food and water were withheld —because their spirits were “unclean from a previous life,” the Norwood resident and fifth suspect, Frederick Alexander Blair, 23, told sheriff’s deputies.
...
Ceus allegedly ordered the children into the car sometime after the group settled in Norwood, Blair told sheriff’s deputies. It is not known exactly when the children died. Authorities previously have said the girls had been deceased for at least two weeks when the bodies were found Sept. 8.
...
The group befriended Blair at a Grand Junction truck stop in May, the affidavit states. Ceus, who preferred to be called “Ama” or “Yahweh” (God), told Blair the group was on a “spiritual retreat” in search of St. Michael. She declared Blair to be St. Michael, “the one the creator had sent to help them,” before revealing “the (group members) were not humans but spiritual beasts that were going to survive the coming apocalyptic times.”

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article—af4ceadc-b84a-11e7-9fe0-a778787c5a89.html

Much more at the link. Apparently Madani Ceus was the so-called spiritual leader and had convinced property owner Fredrick Blair that she could "shatter his spirit" with magic. Blair told his father about the girls' deaths and the father called authorities. Blair said he was afraid of Ceus.

Ceus prepared all the food, including the girls' while they were in the car. Food ran low and Ceus said she and Bramble went to a local food pantry for supplies to provide for Bramble and the girls. Um, okay..

It's just :nuts:

 

[MsMarple]

More...

According to the arrest affidavit, the owner of the farm, located just 30 miles away from Telluride, told San Miguel County Sheriff investigators he met the group of five adults and four children at a gas station in May. During the meeting, Frederick Blair invited the group of nine to use his land.

Blair said Ceus instructed the group to call her "Ama" or "Yahweh" and the girls were ordered to stay in the car because Ceus believed they were "unclean."

Nathan Yah, another member of the group, told police the girls were allowed to leave the car to use the bathroom and did receive food and water. However, when police questioned Ceus, she "would not say who was responsible" for keeping the girls in the car.
...
During later questioning with police, Blair said he believed the girls died in June and that he and Yah covered the car with a tarp.

https://www.bet.com/news/national/2...ed-of-locking-two-young-girls-in-a-car-w.html

Also: http://www.co7da.org/affidavit-reveals-disturbing-details/

 

[MsMarple]

The COD of the girls remain undetermined and their bodies have been sent to a medical examiner in New Mexico in hopes of learning more.

Ashford Nathaniel Archer, 50, of Haiti; and Ika Eden, 53, of Jamaica were in court yesterday for a preliminary hearing. Both are charged with two felony counts of child abuse resulting in death. Archer is also charged with being an accessory to a crime. The preliminary hearing for Frederick Blair, Madani Ceus and Nashika Leonie Bramble (the girls' mother) will be held on Jan. 17 at 9 a.m.

You can't make this stuff up:

The two children — previously identified by the San Miguel County Coroner’s Office as Makayla Victoria Roberts, 10, and Hannah Elizabeth Rosalina Marshall, 8 — were placed in a 1999 Toyota Sedan on property off County Road Y43 at different points during the summer.
...
The two girls were banished to the car as punishment — and at some point, food and water were withheld — because their spirits were “unclean from a previous life,” another suspect, Norwood resident Frederick Alexander Blair, 23, told sheriff’s deputies, according to the arrest affidavit.
...
Benziger said it’s “quite likely” the children died due to dehydration, malnourishment and hyperthermia, given the details surrounding the case.
...
After meeting “the spiritual group” at a Grand Junction truck stop in late May, Blair invited them to live on his property in Norwood on June 1.

Ceus was described as the “spiritual leader” of the group, Blair told authorities.

Ceus, who preferred to be called “Ama” or “Yahweh” (Hebrew for “God”), told Blair the group was on a “spiritual retreat” in search of St. Michael. She declared Blair to be St. Michael, “the one the creator had sent to help them,” before revealing “the (group members) were not humans but spiritual beasts that were going to survive the coming apocalyptic times,” according to the affidavit.
...
Ryan called August the “critical” month in the case. He added how the group prepared for the end of the world during the two weeks between the Aug. 7 full moon and the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, essentially ignoring the girls all together.

The hearing continues today.

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_22c36c84-ce5d-11e7-b8f1-63ef4700659e.html

 

[MsMarple]

Updated to include Tuesday's hearing. The ME described the group as a Santeria cult but their actions don't match up with my understanding of Santeria after living in Miami for many years. Some highlights:

“(It) took a village to lead to the death of these children,” Deputy District Attorney Robert Whiting said during a closing argument Tuesday morning.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent John Zamora testified to start Tuesday’s proceedings.

Recounting a Sept. 8 interview with Ceus, Zamora said she told him the girls most likely died because “they weren’t eating or drinking water” after a certain period of time in the car.

In a separate Sept. 8 interview, Archer also told Zamora the children “pretty much starved to death,” according to the investigator’s testimony.

Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Covalt said during his testimony Monday that up to 165 pounds of edible food was recovered from the property during the formal search on Sept. 9.
...
There was a sixth group member, Eden’s son Cory Sutherland, who was not arrested or charged in connection with the two girls’ deaths. He was present on the property before being “exiled” by Ceus during the week of June 18, Ryan said at Monday’s hearing, referring again to one of Blair’s accounts.

Ryan said Blair told authorities Sutherland’s exile was “the beginning of the end” for the group. Shortly after, on July 20, Roberts was banished to the car by Ceus “for being unclean.”
...
Blair told authorities that the group members were forced to burn and bury all of their personal possessions if they wanted to achieve “light body” and travel into the cosmos.

Ceus told the group tales of a nuclear war with North Korea, and disastrous hurricanes, earthquakes and floods ravaging the country, according to one of Blair’s accounts.

During the Aug. 21 eclipse, Ceus prophesied there would be “three days of the darkness,” and the group members were going to leave their earthly bodies, Blair told authorities. She also said the car containing the two dead girls would be “swallowed by the Earth.”

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_22c36c84-ce5d-11e7-b8f1-63ef4700659e.html

Arraignments for Archer and Eden are set for February 22. Eden's attorney is asking for charges to be dismissed and Archer's attorney wants his charges reduced to one count of criminal negligence.

The preliminary hearing for Blair, Ceus and Bramble will be held on Jan. 17 and 18.

 

[watcher9]

Throwing this out, just because.
With talk of Haiti and Florida and maybe migrant workers, I wonder if there could be any connection to the Adji Desir disappearance back in 2009?

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/desir_adji.html

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?97539-FL-Adji-Desir-6-Immokalee-10-Jan-2009-3

 

[MsMarple]

Long article with some additional information. I can't put it all here due to copyright rules but if you're following this case it's a must read article.

Arraignment for Eden and Archer is set for Feb. 22. A preliminary hearing for Blair, Ceus and Bramble is set for Jan. 17-18 at 9 a.m.

During a nearly four-month span — from late May to early September — Ashford Nathaniel Archer, 50, and Madani Ceus, 37, both of Haiti; Ika Eden, 53, of Jamaica; Nashika Leonie Bramble, 36, of Georgia; and Frederick Alexander Blair, 23, of Norwood, believed they would achieve some form of cosmic clairvoyance (“light body,” as it was later described to authorities) during an Aug. 21 eclipse.
...
The young girls — Makayla Victoria Roberts, 10, and Hannah Elizabeth Marshall, 8 — had been deemed “unclean” and “impure” by group leader Ceus. “Harlots” in a past life, according to Ceus, she believed that the youths were holding back the enlightenment of the group and ordered them to stay in the car as punishment. Other group members were eventually forbidden to have contact with the children. Though the timeline is still unclear, at one point, food and water were withheld. The children began to scream out, but no one answered their cries, according to Blair’s account.

By Aug. 17, Bramble, the girls’ mother, informed the rest of the group that the girls were dead. The car, a virtual coffin, sat silent for nearly a month, sealed with duct tape and ratchet straps, covered with a tarp.
...
Sutherland’s expulsion served as a critical turning point for the group.

Blair called his exit “the beginning of the end” as Ceus began to dictate more and more aspects of the group’s daily routine. One example of her power dealt with the group member’s sex activity. Bramble, who was carrying Sutherland’s child, and Blair were ordered to mate. Bramble gave birth while in custody at the San Miguel County Jail.

Another new rule: The children in the car were not allowed to be fed from “increase,” which was described as the practice of obtaining food through the generosity of others. Eden and Bramble, typically, would visit a grocery store, fill a cart and then ask patrons for money in order to buy everything. This was seen as a “divine act,” Ryan testified.

At one point, Blair and Bramble brought back food from a Telluride food pantry in order to feed Roberts and Marshall, but Ceus — using a pendulum for cosmic consultation — deemed the food unfit for human consumption and ordered it be thrown away. Bramble asked if her girls could still have the food. Ceus agreed, but it is unknown if the food was actually given to the children, according to Blair.
...
Around the same time, Ceus started to spin tales of the end of the world in order to keep group members inside the confines of the property. According to Ceus, a nuclear war with North Korea, disastrous hurricanes, earthquakes and floods were in full force and ravaging the country.

http://www.telluridenews.com/the_watch/news/article_70517550-e063-11e7-b1b2-cf6aaaaff074.html

These people are off the wall with their actions and beliefs. Weird thing is that at least Nashika Bramble, the mother of both girls, appears to have led a relatively normal life until hooking up with Eden in 2015. When Bramble lived in Lawrenceville, Georgia she placed an online ad offering child care.

Hello,

I am a 33 year old mother of two, who has over 20 years of babysitting/caregiving. I am a Certified Home Health Aide who has a caring heart and loves children.

I am available in the Lawrenceville, Georgia area to care for infants and toddlers (*No age restriction) Sunday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. *No Saturdays

My fee is reasonable because I don't believe child care should be so expensive. I charge $65.00 a week - per child (Monday through Friday) and $10.00 an hour on Sundays.
Please feel free to call for more info. Nashika Seraphiel [phone no. redacted]

https://sitter.com/loving-arms-daycare-lawrenceville-ga

No COD has been released yet.

 

[Niner]

Oh geez.... just found this thread.

And another one on my list!

:candle: RIP Makayla & Hannah

 

[Niner]

just :bump: this up for tomorrow's hearing:

Wednesday, January 17th:
*Prelim Hearing (@ 9am MT) (for bold) - CO - Makayla Victoria Roberts (10) & Hannah Elizabeth Rosaline Marshall (8) (June, 2017/found Sept. 8, 2017) - charged:
**Nashika Leonie Bramble (36) (from Georgia) "Mom" charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder & 2 counts of child abuse resulting in death, bond $125K. Next court Prelim appearance Jan. 17/18;
**Madani "Ama" Ceus (37) (from Haiti) charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder, criminally negligent homicide & 2 counts felony child abuse causing death, no bond. Next court Prelim appearance Jan. 17/18;
**Nathan Yah aka Nathanyah Nitchitu aka Ashford Nathaniel Archer (50) (from Haiti) charged with 2 felony counts of child abuse resulting in death & accessory to a crime, bond $250K. Next court appearance Arraignment Feb. 22;
**Ika Eden (53) (from Jamaica) charged with 2 counts felony child abuse causing death, bond $125K . Next court appearance Arraignment Feb. 22;
**Frederick "Alec" A. Blair (23) charged with 2 counts felony child abuse causing death & accessory to a crime, bond $125K. Next court Prelim appearance Jan. 17/18

 

[MsMarple]

Norwood homicide suspects in court
Preliminary hearing for ‘central figures’ to conclude Friday
The "central figures" are Bramble, Ceus and Blair.

Three suspects — called the “central figures” in the Norwood double-homicide case by prosecuting authorities — appeared in San Miguel County District this week for a preliminary hearing in front of District Judge Keri Yoder.
...
Ceus, consistently described as a “high priestess” and leader of the nomadic North Carolina group by suspects and witnesses, sat at the defense table with her head in her hands most of the time, periodically staring off into space.

Bramble, the mother of the deceased children, was silent as the death of her two daughters was described in gruesome detail by Dr. Michael Benziger, the Montrose forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies. She began to sob openly during an intense cross-examination of Sheriff Bill Masters on Thursday morning by Blair’s defense attorney, Kristen Hindman.
...
Benziger [Dr. Michael Benziger, the Montrose forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies], who testified first during the November hearing, stood by his initial testimony that it’s “quite likely” the children died due to dehydration, malnourishment and hyperthermia, given the details surrounding the case. He reiterated that the cause of death is still “undetermined” because he can’t say “concretely” what the scientific cause of death was due to the “extremely poor conditions” of the bodies. The manner of death remains “homicide.”

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_e17a90d8-fcae-11e7-9ea9-2f1d9295cf72.html

More at the link. Deputy Dan Covault and Sheriff Masters also took the stand, along with Sheriff’s Office investigator Norman Squier. CBI agent John Zamora was also scheduled to testify today.

For updates on the story, visit www.telluridenews.com on Friday afternoon.

 

[MsMarple]

Blair, the local marijuana cultivator who fell in with the group after Ceus dubbed him “St. Michael” at a truck stop outside of Grand Junction in late May, looks much different than the jail-issued mugshot of him that has circulated since Sept. 8. Instead of a bald head and scraggly beard he had at the time of his arrest, he was clean-shaven, with a buzz cut — neatly parted on the right side — and wore black-rimmed glasses at the hearing.

Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Covault and Sheriff Masters also took the stand this week to outline a scenario initially described in November: the lay of the land on Blair’s property, and authorities’ findings after the Sept. 8 discovery and arrest.

Sheriff’s Office investigator Norman Squier testified for the first time on Thursday, mainly describing the group’s background and inner-workings.

He said the group that ultimately settled in Norwood traveled to “innumerable spots” around the U.S., “spreading the gospel … and conducting spiritual teachings and raising money to keep them on the road.”

Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent John Zamora, who also testified in November, took the stand Thursday. Sheriff’s Deputy Paula Martinez, and Blair’s friends Adam Horn and River Young all testified Friday.

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_e17a90d8-fcae-11e7-9ea9-2f1d9295cf72.html

Judge Yoder set Feb. 22 for arraignments for Ceus, Bramble, Blair, Archer and Eden.

 

[Niner]

just sharing an article....

Left to die: Cult queen's failed prophecy leads to death of two young girls
https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/wes...cle_40e9eefc-04ba-11e8-8d0b-10604b9f1ff4.html

When San Miguel County sheriff's deputies were summoned to a farm outside Norwood on Sept. 8, 2017, for a report of two bodies, they didn't know exactly what they were walking into.
[.....]
On Covault's most recent visit, just weeks earlier, however, he had gotten an uneasy feeling from Blair's visitors, who dressed in robes and refused to speak to him.
[.....]
"After Cory left, Ms. Ceus engaged in a reign of terror," Palefsky said. "She threatened to have people's souls 'harvested' by 'reapers.' They would be sent to the 'purge.' They would become 'abominations' or 'sent to abomination.' … She decided more importantly who could live and die."
[.....]
Masters testified that Blair said Ceus informed the group that 10-year-old Makayla was a danger to their spiritual well-being, and had been a "harlot" in her past life.
[.....]
Ceus and Bramble have been charged with first-degree murder, and the others with child abuse resulting in death. Seventh Judicial District Judge Keri Yoder found probable cause to bind over all five defendants for trial.