Demanding Accountability

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Star Automotive
Co-Owner Assaults
Wife With Loaded
Gun and Gets Off

By Ron Lee
Investigative Reporter

Grants Pass, OR - According to Sandy Lefeber, co-owner of STARprises Inc., late on January 24th, 2006 she and her husband, James Lefeber, laid in their bed together when she asked him about several bank accounts that she had recently discovered. Sandy had always been "kept out of the loop" about finances and the workings of their company but questions had recently begun to arise in her mind about her husbands dealings so she decided it would be best to ask. For James who, according to Sandy, is ultra controlling of her and of the family, Sandy's questioning must have been absolutely unacceptable and he soon lost complete self control. Grabbing a fully automatic Glock 9 mm with a laser scope, which was usually locked away, he placed it to his own head. Yelling at her, "You don't own me!" Shocked and in fear for her husband, but also afraid of what James might do to her, Sandy got up from the bed and moved away, and said, "No, I don't own you. We're married." She went on to tell him that if he didn't want to talk about it that was fine. But James was becoming more agitated and kept repeating and yelling that she didn't own him and Sandy was getting more afraid with each passing moment, so she ran. Sandy bolted from the room and headed for their security system to hit the panic button, grabbing the phone as she went. James wasn't far behind and turned the gun on her, targeting her with the laser's ominous red dot. When she made it to the wall mounted system she hit the buttons, but nothing happened. It had been disabled. So she dialed 911. He was upon her then, still yelling at her that she didn't own him. He would point the gun at her and then back to his own head and Sandy was starting to panic. Seeing Sandy on the phone James started to strike her with the gun and finally hit her hard on the wrist sending the phone to the floor disconnecting the call. Sandy recalled, "There he was naked, yelling that I didn't own him. And all I could think is that I didn't want my daughter to come out of her room." Sandy made her way toward the front door trying to get outside but James grabbed her and shoved her hard against the door and thrust the Glock into her abdomen with such force Sandy recollects that she felt like she was being lifted off the ground. Sandy was in so much pain and fear at this point that her body relieved itself. For a moment she caught her breath and asked James, "What about the kids?" He let her go then. Immediately she went outside and redialed 911. It wasn't long after that he emerged from the home, now fully clothed and armed with a second hand-gun (which was pointed at her), and he snapped at her, "I'm divorcing you." Sandy saw that he was getting ready to leave and she asked him not to go and to put the guns down but James got in the car and drove away. Fortunately, James was apprehended at gun-point by Josephine County Sheriff's Deputies, his guns still with him, and he was taken to jail where he was booked on three felony charges and one misdemeanor.

In telling, it seems this ordeal was over quickly but in actuality Sandy was in fear for her life, James' life, and the life of her daughter who overheard everything from her room, for more than a half an hour, lasting into the early morning of the 25th.

Throughout their 13 year marriage James was so controlling that he even made up time allotment cards which he would give Sandy on her birthday that would state, "You have my time Sandy" and would list a minute value and expiration date. He wouldn't give her access to any of the family's financials other than the "allowance" account he set up for her and that he would make deposits into. He wouldn't allow her to work, other than in and around her home - which he would reward her with certificates of appreciation if she did a good job, perhaps even entitling her to a night out or even a vacation. He even kept all of his business moves a secret from her even though she is a partner, co-owner, vice-president, and stock holder in the main corporation. He would even take credit cards out in her name and use them to pay off company debt, something she didn't know about until after that night.

His involvement with his wife was minimal, at best, as he would stay at the office until late in the evenings, something she had grown used to. And this event wasn't the first time he had been physically abusive toward her.

It wasn't until after the January 24th - 25th event that Sandy realized something was drastically wrong, that James' treatment of her wasn't that of a loving husband, but was in reality a vehicle which he used for his own agenda. Finding out, that just prior to his arrest, he cancelled her life insurance policy cemented these feelings. So, with help from the few friends she was allowed to have, she started digging - pulling every document she could get her hands on. What she found frightened her even more. Sandy sadly finally admitted, "I don't know Jim. I guess I never have. I thought we were married but what he has done to me isn't marriage."

James soon filed for divorce and what was supposed to be a restraining order hearing quickly became a pre-divorce case where the Judge ruled that James should pay $200.00 per week child support for their daughter and also ruled that he should pay an immediate $6,000.00 to Sandy for living expenses and bills. At this point Sandy, taking what little money she had, and borrowing some more, retained Richard Lane as her attorney for the amount of $4,500.00. They successfully filed a property restraining order in an effort to protect the community property from being disposed of. During another hearing Judge Newman dropped the $6,000.00 amount in favor of James just paying the bills as they came in, which according to Sandy, the home finance company from whom she received a foreclosure notice from, and the electric company who sent her a notice she was past due, he has not been doing - even though according to Lane he had been delivering these bills to James' attorney as per court instructions.

Finding that Judge Newman frequently had his car serviced at Star Automotive, the US~Observer placed a call to his office, soon thereafter James' attorney Lynn Myrick filed for the removal of Judge Newman, which was granted. This is noteworthy as there was obvious communication between the Judge and James' attorney for there to ever have been a question about the Judge's bias in the case.

Having had several in-office meetings at Myrick's office Lane soon stepped down as Sandy's attorney, leaving her without legal counsel just prior to a show cause hearing in regard to child custody and support. He also billed her in the amount of $1,900.00 but didn't account for all of the $4,500.00 retainer she paid him.

James Lefeber

On March 31st, 2006 James Lefeber appeared at the Josephine County court house for sentencing on the four charges associated with the January 24th-25th event. Sandy Lefeber, along with her 18 year-old son, Sean, and 12 year-old daughter attended, all of whom have been irreparably damaged by James' actions that night, throughout the marriage and in subsequent wrong-doings obviously motivated by James' need to attack Sandy and anyone that doesn't stand by him. James stood and spoke in the court room about how he realized he had frightened his family and apologized for his actions. He actually stood there and admitted to the act, never denying anything in the case! Even still the presiding Judge, Pat Wolke who, having all of the information regarding the assault before him and having heard James' own admission of wrong-doing, chose to accept a plea agreement made by the district attorney's office, who never went so far as to do a victim's impact study, dropping the three felony counts and finding him guilty of misdemeanor menacing for which James was sentenced to three years of probation. He was also to attend counseling for anger management, but his right to brutally bear arms against an unarmed individual was kept intact. James was further ordered to maintain his no-contact with the victim and agreed to be a law abiding citizen. And on his way out of the court room Judge Wolke offered James kind words for a good future.

Instantly Sandy's mouth widened, "What? What just happened?" Sandy, and her childrens' beliefs in the justice system were destroyed.

Leaving the court house they watched as James hopped into the passenger side of his attorney's vehicle and drove away, a free man. They had no idea what was in store for them.

Sandy's son went to get the Suburban they had come to the court house in and bring it around to pick it up the rest of the family but it was gone, taken while everyone was in court.

Walking back to the court house where Sandy and her daughter were talking with Observer investigators Sandy's son simply said, "He took the Suburban."

Trying to file a stolen vehicle report with the police department, they were informed that if the SUV was community property, James had every right to take it. Evidently there is no database for police or deputies to review records on valid property restraining orders as Sandy's clearly stated that removal of property from one to the other was a violation. Just moments before the car was taken (or even at the same time as he had an outside party take the vehicle) James Lefeber professed to Judge Wolke that he'd be a law abiding citizen. I guess that didn't take in to account court orders.

Since they weren't allowed to file a stolen vehicle report, Sean wanted to file a report of stolen goods as he had over $3,000.00 worth of his personal possessions in the vehicle when it was taken. Instead of taking a report, the city police clerk called and talked to James, and all of a sudden Sandy's son Sean became the criminal. Sean was told by the police clerk that James had said Sean was driving a vehicle without a valid license or insurance and the clerk asked to see proof of these. He immediately presented them, which she then took away and photo copied. The clerk was even told by James that Sean wouldn't get his things back until he (Sean) talked to him but when she was asked if he had just admitted to having the stolen items she stammered and said that he hadn't. But when Sean still persisted in wanting to file a report the clerk said, "look, we won't be used as a go between." Still, Sean demanded action, as some of the items he had in the vehicle weren't even his, they were left there by a friend.

Finally, he was able to see a police officer who said that only after a personal letter was written asking for the items back was denied, or terms not met, would they file a stolen property report.

Sean is a whole other story. Having worked as a mechanic for James at Star Automotive, Sean was recently dismissed, a truck he had at the shop which he was working on with James started getting charged a $25 "storage fee" for being there and Sean was told not to call him Dad anymore, to call him Mr. Lefeber.

Sean was finally able to move the truck and found all of his belongings that were left in the Suburban carelessly thrown into the back of it, some damaged beyond use.

As for Sandy, through the help of some friends she was able to retain another attorney and is in the process of moving forward with the divorce case, one in which James is trying to take everything, even their daughter, who maintains she doesn't want to see her dad and that what he did, and is still doing, is wrong.

During our cursory investigation the US~Observer has found that James has most likely misrepresented himself to the IRS; used his wife's identity to secure credit cards in her name and used those cards for personal and/or company expenses; fell victim, himself, to an inheritance scam giving international criminals his personal information; and has sold, transferred or otherwise removed community property including, but not limited to, Sandy's IRA, the children's IRAs, stocks, and other assets otherwise not owned by him exclusively - a violation of the property restraining order. While we have only scratched the surface the US~Observer will be keeping a watchful eye on James and his business dealings.

This investigation will be continued in the next edition of the US~Observer.

Editor's Note: The recent ruling to dismiss James Lefeber's felony criminal charges reeks of back-door dealings. You can be assured that if this were someone other than a prominent business owner they would be sent to prison. We live in a world where murder-suicide rates are rising. These crimes are often perpetrated by individuals without criminal histories and are some of the most horrific acts of violence. To treat an assault and threat of this kind as what ORS 163.190 defines as menacing is a travesty and the District Attorney's office should be held accountable for such an injustice.

ORS 163.190: A person commits the crime of menacing if by word or conduct the person intentionally attempts to place another person in fear of imminent serious physical injury.

Should you have any information regarding James Lefeber, Star Automotive, STARprises, Inc., or have heard him say anything degrading his wife Sandy, please call us at 541-474-7885.

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