American Taboo: A Peace Corps Tragedy Returned Volunteers met with author Philip Weiss in Baltimore on June 18 to discuss the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner. Weiss was a member of a panel that included three psychiatrists and a criminal attorney. Meanwhile, the Seattle U.S. Attorney's office announced that Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder. "We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States." Read background on the case here.

Seattle U.S. Attorney's office says Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner -“We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States.”



Seattle U.S. Attorney's office says Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner -“We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States.”

Prosecutors reject second trial in slaying of Peace Corps volunteer

LES BLUMENTHAL; The News Tribune
Published: June 18th, 2005 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors have concluded there is no way to reopen the case against a man accused of killing a young Peace Corps volunteer from Lakewood nearly 30 years ago in the Pacific island kingdom of Tonga.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Belfair) had asked the U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle to review whether a Brooklyn, N.Y., man could still be charged with murder in the stabbing of Deborah Gardner.

“We have researched this every possible way,” said Jeff Sullivan, who heads the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s Seattle office. “We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States.”

Gardner was a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer teaching biology and home economics in a Tongan high school when she was slain in October 1976. Dennis Priven, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, was charged with murder but a Tongan jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity.

Under an agreement with U.S. State Department officials, Priven was to be committed to a mental hospital in the United States. But after two days in a Washington, D.C., hospital, Priven checked out, received a routine discharge from the Peace Corps and returned to Brooklyn, where he worked for the federal government, retiring in 2003.

“Under current law, there is nothing that can be done,” Sullivan said in a telephone interview. “From our standpoint, this matter is concluded.”

A spokesman for Dicks said the congressman was frustrated. “We are very disappointed,” spokesman George Behan said. “But this remains a serious miscarriage of justice. We’re not sure there is much that can be done, but it isn’t over.”

Sullivan said a 1994 law allows federal prosecutors to file charges against a U.S. citizen who has killed another U.S. citizen overseas, but the law was not in effect when Gardner was murdered. Congress could amend the 1994 law to make it retroactive.

“Congress could pass a statute and then see what the courts do,” Sullivan said.

But the law also said such federal prosecutions were prohibited if the accused had already been tried elsewhere – a legal standard known as double jeopardy.

“It doesn’t appear there is any way to amend the law to retroactively impose a penalty in a case already adjudicated,” Behan said.

Gardner’s mother, Alice, who lives in Tacoma, said she can’t understand why Priven remains free.

“It’s like my daughter never existed,” said Alice, who remarried after a divorce with Gardner’s father and doesn’t want her last name used. “I’m still angry. Why aren’t other people angry? It’s definitely not fair.”

Gardner’s parents had assumed over the years that Priven was in a mental hospital. They didn’t know he was free until contacted several years ago by Philip Weiss, the author of a book on their daughter’s death.

The CBS news magazine “48 Hours” will rebroadcast its story on Gardner’s murder tonight.

Priven could not be located for comment.

If convicted in Tonga, Priven could have been hanged. The Peace Corps hired a lawyer to defend Priven and flew in a psychiatrist from Hawaii to evaluate him. The psychiatrist testified that Priven suffered from latent paranoid schizophrenia. Tongan prosecutors did not have the money to hire their own psychiatrist.

The jury found Priven not guilty by reason of insanity after deliberating for 26 minutes.

During his stay in the Washington hospital, Priven was examined by another psychiatrist who found there was no reason to believe he suffered from schizophrenia.

The whole case is frustrating,” said Sullivan, the federal prosecutor. “Hopefully the Peace Corps would handle this differently now than it did.”

Les Blumenthal: 202-383-0008

lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

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June 12, 2005: This Week's Top Stories US should take a stand for freedom in Uzbekistan Maureen Orth says: Michael Jackson not sleeping well 12 Jun Marguerite Chandler promotes NJ's historical heritage 10 Jun Dick Haws writes: My life as a substitute teacher 10 Jun Mike Honda in Ethiopia urges peace 10 Jun James Walsh is Chairman of the Friends of Ireland caucus 10 Jun Ohio Governor Bob Taft struggles with scandal 10 Jun NY Times asks RPCVs about "Upside down stamps" 10 Jun Mark Schneider discusses OAS compromise 9 Jun Dodd concerned About Passport Rules 9 Jun Fred O'Regan says no need to hunt whales in 21st century 9 Jun Vic Godfrey enters hall of fame for track and field 8 Jun Al Kamen says Bush spokesmen like to hide information 8 Jun Bobby Shriver: The Power of One 8 Jun Tony Hall outlines US aid package for Africa 8 Jun Phil Hardberger new mayor of San Antonio 8 Jun Karzai visit prompted by friendship with Thomas Gouttierre 7 Jun Christopher R. Hill cautious on Korea talks 7 Jun Ugly Americans in Paul Theroux's latest novel 7 Jun

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June 12, 2005: Special Events Vote in the NPCA Election for new board before June 15 "American Taboo" author Phil Weiss in Maryland on June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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June 6, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Kinky Friedman will "sign anything except bad legislation" 6 Jun Niels Marquardt Makes Chimpanzee Protection a Priority 6 Jun Laurence Leamer needs approval for "Today" appearance 6 Jun Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira is son of RPCVs 6 Jun Anthony Sandberg runs Berkeley sailing school 5 Jun Amy Smith field-tests sugarcane charcoal 5 Jun Mary Johnson organizes workshop on genocide 3 Jun Jonathan Lash in 100 most Influential Business Leaders 3 Jun Hastert jump-starts Chris Shays' Campaign 3 Jun John Coyne says 41 RPCVs applied for scholarships 3 Jun James Rupert writes on bombing in Kandahar mosque 1 Jun John McCain says to expand opportunities for service 1 Jun Jay Rockefeller's relationships with Japanese go way back 1 Jun Anat Shenker met her husband during service in Honduras 31 May Ryan Clancy punished without hearing for visiting Iraq 30 May Melissa Mosvick remembered as a fallen American hero 29 May Kurt Carlson played basketball against Togo's national team 29 May Helen Thomas's favorite president remains JFK 24 May

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June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

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Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By rpcv (ca1462-ch01-bl07.ma-cambridg0.sa.earthlink.net - 207.69.137.206) on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - 7:35 am: Edit Post

No, But the Congress and or attorney's can open a case against Zigmond Lebensoln, Peace Corp's Psychiatrist who aided in getting him off and the diagnosis to get away with murder. Peace Corps has been using this guy for years to hurt Volunteers and the Peace Corps program. They have used Lebensoln, an extremely controversial Doctor in his field, to give Peace Corps educated guesses of what happened at their Peace Corps site. In Dennis's case, Peace Corps should have used better educated Psychiatrist. Lebensoln has also fired many volunteers by guessing and using his hallucinated state to label volunteers with major diagnosis that have hurt themselves and the families involved with these families. He is a dangerous man.

We need transparency in cases he has worked on for Peace Corps. We should measure, how many volunteers he has fired through his diagnosis. He is one man who meets with these volunteers in a very limited time and space and makes life judgements that are many times obtuse and bias.

The GAO should investigate this guy.

On the case itself: Have you looked at it from this point; The family could file a wrongful death suit in his home area against him. This is not a prosection, but it does look into financial responsibility. Number two: If there is new evidence such as someone investigating the so called Doctor for wrong doing and demonstrating that Peace Corps used this individual who was not credible, then you might be able to open a new case, even 30 years later. He can't be tried for the same crime, but he could be tried in other ways for taking her life.

By none (66-44-0-3.s3.apx1.lnh.md.dialup.rcn.com - 66.44.0.3) on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - 8:02 pm: Edit Post

Zigmond M. Lebensohn died on September 21, 2003 at the age of 93.

Daniel, there is no more revenge you can have on him for the things in your life for which you blame him.

By downwPC (75.60.16.106) on Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - 8:47 pm: Edit Post

If any one who is young and KNOWS about this case regarding DEB GARDNER SHOULD NEVER volunteer for the PEACE CORPS (or else you'll end up as a CORSPE!!!) EVERYONE INVOLVED were IDIOTS and the so called men should have beat the S***T out of this guy even upon returning to the States. DENNIS PRIVEN is lucky to not know us because HIS ASS would have be as good as JIMMY HOFFA or much worse. To the Peace CORPS all of you were complete asses and should have taken matters upon yourselves. Tonga should have HUNG the SOB and PRIVEN had better remain hid. STupid narcissistic F**K!!!! PC men are complete PUSSIES!!! And all that you guys can come out of this is with a damned book!!! Any one who joins the PC is a effing idiot any more. PARENTS DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THE PC unless you want them DEAD. SCREW YOU PEACE CORPS. LONG LIVE DEB GARDNER. SHE IS A HUMAN BEING YOU ASSHOLES!!!

By downwPC (75.60.16.106) on Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - 8:51 pm: Edit Post

To "none" you are obviously another Peace Corp Prick. So shut the eff Up you moronic muther effer!! LOSER!!!! ALL OF YOU ARE MURDERS!!!!