Robert Manwill's Mother & Boyfriend in Court Thursday

Sept 2, 2009

fox12idaho.com

Boise, Idaho -- The two people accused of killing eight-year-old Robert Manwill have a court date Thursday.

Daniel Ehrlick is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the little boy. Court records show that Ehrlick abused and tortured the boy for several days leading up to his death.

Robert's own mother, Melissa Jenkins is also charged with first-degree murder in her son's death. Court records show that Jenkins did "nothing" to help her son in the days leading up to and including the day he died.

The two are scheduled to appear in Ada County Court to enter a plea in front of Judge Darla Williamson.

Robert Manwill was reported missing from his mother's apartment on July 24. His body was found in the New York Canal on August 3.

Robert Manwill's Mom, her Boyfriend Indicted in Boy's Death

By TODD DVORAK,
AP

via news.aol.com

Right: The body of 8-year-old Robert Manwill was pulled Aug. 3 from an Idaho irrigation canal. His mother said he had disappeared July 24 after leaving her apartment in Boise. On Wednesday, an indictment was made public. It charges the mother and her boyfriend with first-degree murder charges in Robert's death.

BOISE, Idaho (Aug. 19) - An 8-year-old Boise boy whose body was pulled from an irrigation canal earlier this month was tortured, beaten repeatedly and ultimately killed by his mother's live-in boyfriend, according to a grand jury indictment.

An Ada County grand jury indictment accuses the boy's mother, Melissa Jenkins, 30, of aiding and abetting her boyfriend, Daniel Ehrlick, in the death of her son, Robert Manwill, and in the weeks preceding his death hiding the boy's injuries from government officials who could have intervened.

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Jenkins and Ehrlick, 36, were each charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the death of the boy, whose disappearance launched a massive law enforcement and community effort to find him last month. One week after his disappearance, an estimated 2,500 people turned out to scour the south Boise neighborhood where Jenkins lived and surrounding areas.

His body was found Aug. 3 in an irrigation canal near the small town of Kuna, several miles southwest of Boise...

The indictment made public Wednesday charges Ehrlick of a second felony for failing to report a death. It accuses him of beating the boy, causing severe head trauma and abdominal injuries that led to the boy's death on July 24. Neither the indictment nor prosecutors have divulged the exact cause of death.

Ehrlick served time in an Idaho prison after being convicted of burglary and grand theft in the 1990s and was arrested for several probation violations, according to Idaho court records. He also has been convicted of battery and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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The mother, who only had visitation rights for her son, is charged in the indictment with a second felony, an accessory to failing to report a death. The indictment also accuses her of knowing her son was being beaten and suffering emotional trauma, yet refusing to get him medical attention and deliberately concealing the child's injuries from those who could have stepped in to help...

Jenkins and Ehrlick are scheduled to appear in court again Sept. 1. Jenkins is being held on a $2 million bond, while Ehrlick is being held without bond.

Read entire article here

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see also:

Indictment: Daniel Ehrlick Jr. tortured and beat Robert Manwill to ... -

Answers to some of the community's questions about the Robert ...‎

Someone killed 8-year-old Robert Manwill

Police say the boy was not abducted by a stranger, and the coroner has ruled his death was not an accident.

By Kathleen Kreller

Katy Moeller

Idaho Statesman
Published: 08/06/09

As Boise Deputy Police Chief Jim Kerns promised Wednesday to "determine how and when Robert Manwill died, and who is responsible," his comments narrowed the field of suspects to people who knew Robert.

Police still won't name any suspects or even people of interest. Kerns said police would not prematurely release anything that could "compromise the legal procedures" and the integrity of their case.

A neighbor said she heard Melissa Jenkins tell police she was working the night 8-year-old Robert disappeared. Another neighbor said she saw Daniel Ehrlick Jr. about 7:45 that night outside his home. He often stayed home to care for Robert and the couple's 18-month-old son, Aidan.

State Health and Welfare officials had taken the younger boy away from Jenkins and Ehrlick Jr. last October, after Jenkins was charged with fracturing the child's skull.

Jenkins later was convicted of misdemeanor injury to a child and is on probation until March 2011. A neighbor and friend, Carol Carrillo, said Aidan had been back in their custody for about two months. She said the couple worked hard to meet Health and Welfare standards to get him back.

Robert lived primarily with his father, Charles, in New Plymouth - an arrangement crafted after Jenkins was laid up in the hospital for a few weeks before Aidan was born and she had no one to take care of Robert.

Right: Charles Manwill, Robert's father
An affidavit that Charles Manwill filed at the time to get temporary custody of Robert states that Jenkins told him she "was being physically abused by her ex-boyfriend (the apparent father of the unborn child)."

He added that the hospital "has kept the admission of mother Melissa, and her room number, secret because mother Melissa is concerned that the ex-boyfriend may storm into the hospital and mother Melissa's room and cause extreme trouble."

Ehrlick Jr. also has been barred from being around Jenkins' daughter, not from anything he did, but because the father, Raymond Ames, said he didn't like him or want him around the toddler. The girl lived with Melissa Jenkins until Ames got custody last year.

Family and neighbors say Ehrlick Jr. has given at least two separate explanations about the night Robert disappeared.

Ehrlick Jr.'s father said his son accused him of taking Robert, but he denied it. A resident in the building who did not want to be identified said Ehrlick Jr. told her that Robert was in the hot tub and pool the night he went missing and that a heavy-set couple invited the child to a birthday party. Other neighbors say Robert was never near the pool that night.

Neighbors said neither Jenkins nor Ehrlick Jr. have been at the apartment since Wednesday. One neighbor and KBCI-TV said Ehrlick Jr. has been in a treatment center since being treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise for an undisclosed reason.

Dorothy Aydelotte, Robert's aunt and sister of his father, said Charles Manwill is doing his best to deal with Robert's death. "He's better than he was a couple days ago, but not good," Aydelotte said. "He's upset, understandably. Robert was very close with his dad."

On Wednesday, Carrillo, Jenkins' upstairs neighbor, said she trusted Jenkins and Ehrlick with her four kids and doesn't believe either of them could be involved.

"There's a little boy who's dead," she said. "There can be no common sense to that. Who could do that? It's hard for me to see that someone that I interacted with on a daily basis could do something like that. ... I'm not in the grieving stage, I'm in the shock stage."

Mindy Clark, who lives in the apartment complex, visited the makeshift memorial to Robert that has been growing for days. "I feel kind of devastated ... . I've seen him playing," Clark said. "(Today's news is) just kind of hard to swallow. It's just hard ... . Who would hurt a child and just throw him away?"

Robert Manwill, 8: body in canal tentatively identified as Robert Manwill

Teachers say Robert Manwill was affectionate, quick to learn

August 4, 2009
Don Day

KTVB.COM

KUNA - The body found in the New York canal Monday afternoon has been tentatively identified as that of 8-year-old Robert Manwill.

The boy's body was found in the New York Canal near Kuna Monday afternoon. Manwill was reported missing on July 24th.

Just before 1:30 p.m. Monday, a citizen called Ada County Dispatch and said there was a body floating in the canal. An Ada County Sheriff's Deputy responded to the scene and jumped into the water to pull the body from the water.

The Ada County Coroner also responded to the scene, and the person was found to be dead.
Tuesday afternoon, Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg made a tentative identification of the body, but said that the cause of death is pending a police investigation.

The identification is tentative because Sonnenberg is awaiting the receipt of dental records to make a final determination.

Sonnenberg said his office is working closely with the Boise Police Department on the case - and says further information will come in cooperation with BPD. It still is not clear how Manwill ended up in the canal, how long his body had been in the water or if other factors are at play...

read entire article here

Robert Manwill, 8: Missing from Boise, Idaho

Search continues for missing Idaho boy

by The Associated Press

Monday July 27, 2009

National Cener for Missing & Exploited ChildrenRobert Manwill



BOISE -- An 8-year-old boy from Boise has been missing since Friday, and the FBI has joined in the search.



Boise police say Robert Manwill went missing about 9:30 p.m. Friday in southwestern Boise and that he may have been headed to a party at a friend's house when he disappeared.



About 20 FBI agents and dozens of residents joined the search over the weekend, and many more residents joined Monday.



Deputy Chief Jim Kerns said Monday investigators have fielded about 50 leads. He also says there is no reason to believe the boy is not safe.



On Sunday, Kerns pleaded with the public for help finding Robert, who is described as 4 feet, 2 inches tall, about 50 pounds, and wearing blue jeans, black shoes, and either a brown shirt with the words, "Andy don't need no Mic" or a blue shirt with a superman symbol on the front.

-- The Associated Press





Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman--Boise Deputy Police Chief Jim Kerns speaks at a press conference Monday morning, issuing a renewed call for the public's help to find missing 8-year-old Robert Manwill, who disappeared Friday evening from an apartment complex near the intersection of Vista Boulevard and Cherry Lane in Boise.



Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman--Teams of volunteers join with Boise police Monday in searching for Robert Manwill, missing since Friday night in the area of South Vista in Boise..."The family has said that he likes to sneak around and crawl in little places. He's an inquisitive little kid," said police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower.



Robert lives with his father in New Plymouth, but was visiting his mother and her family Friday, police said.



ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Search for missing Boise boy, Robert Manwill, will continue Wednesday

Missing Boise boy's mom fractured other son's head

Search for missing boy: Over 100 registered sex offenders interviewed

Search intensifies for missing 8-year-old Boise boy

Boise police following up on leads for missing boy

Search for 8-year-old Boise boy continues Sunday with no solid leads

Boise police still searching for missing boy, age 8

Boise police continue search for missing boy with the help of rescue dogs



Initial reports indicated the boy was last seen at an apartment playground sometime between 7 and 9 p.m., but police officials could not say Tuesday whether that was accurate. The family reported the boy missing at 10:11 p.m., police said.



Robert Manwill is about 4 feet 2 inches tall, about 50 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen in a faded blue Superman T-shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes.



On the fifth day of an exhaustive search for a missing Boise boy, court documents revealed a family tale of abuse, tragedy and more.



Robert Manwill's mother is on probation for fracturing the skull of Robert's infant half brother, a boy the state removed from her custody.



Robert's mother's boyfriend has been convicted of burglary, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia, and is banned by the courts from being alone with Robert's half sister.



Robert's father, meanwhile, has already lost a son. In 1993, his first wife stabbed their 4-year-old boy in the chest. She spent 10 years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.



Police have repeatedly said they have no suspect - or even evidence to believe there is one - in Robert's Friday night disappearance at the mother's Boise Bench apartment, and have no evidence of any foul play.



"We've had questions from the media ..." Boise police Deputy Chief Jim Kerns said Tuesday. "Specifics and details of this very active priority investigation cannot be released."



Here's what the court records say:

ROBERT'S MOM--Melissa Scott Jenkins pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor charge of injury to a child, after an October 2008 incident that left her infant son with a fractured skull.



According to court records, Jenkins "did willfully inflict" the wound "by striking the child's head on a surface, causing a fracture to the child's skull," on Oct. 19, 2008. She was sentenced to 29 days of work release, fined $75.50 and put on probation for two years.



In February, at least, the child was still in the care of the state Department of Health and Welfare, court documents said.



"We are a joined family at this time in this crisis," Burrill said. "We are acting as one, with one goal in mind. To bring Robert back."



HER BOYFRIEND--Daniel Edward Ehrlick - Jenkins' boyfriend and the father of her infant son - has served time in Idaho prisons and faced multiple charges.



An April 2008 court document outlining Jenkins' visitation rights with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter states that the girl shall never be left "alone with Danny Ehrlick." The document does not say why.



ROBERT'S DAD--Robert Manwill's father, Charles Manwill, has had custody of the boy since January 2008, according to court records.



The records show Jenkins was admitted to the hospital that month for early pregnancy complications and was unable to care for Robert, who has lived with his dad in New Plymouth ever since. Jenkins has visitation rights, and the boy was visiting her the night he disappeared.



Almost 15 years earlier, Manwill was an officer at Fort Polk Military Base in Louisiana, in his early 20s and married to a woman named Silke Fatma Manwill. In November 1993, according to federal court documents and Louisiana newspaper reports, Silke Manwill "upon sudden quarrel and in the heat of passion" stabbed their 4-year-old son, Michael, in the chest.



She served 10 years in federal prison and was released in 2002, federal documents show. Her sentence included five more years of supervised release.



UPDATE: FBI now involved in search for missing 8-year-old boy

Monday, July 27, 2009

ktvb.com



BOISE -- We're now more than 48 hours into the search for Robert Manwill.

Police say they've received some information, but nothing that has led to Manwill.



Police asking for any information regarding boy. After two days of searching the biggest question is still out there - what happened to Robert? So far the answer from everyone is ‘we have no idea.’



"At this point, we don't know where Robert is. We're trying to determine what has happened, and we're pleading with the public for their assistance in locating Robert Manwill," said Deputy Chief Jim Kerns with the Boise Police Dept.



Description

Robert Manwill

8-years-old

4' 2" tall

50 Lbs.

Last seen wearing jeans, black shoes, either a brown or blue shirt

Call 570-6457 with info





In addition to the public's help, the FBI is now involved. 20 FBI agents are in the area, and more could be on the way at a moment’s notice to help find Manwill.



"It's tough. It really is tough, this is very difficult to go through as a family," said Trish Burrill, who is Robert's aunt.



Now, searchers are looking everywhere.



"Go out, look in your sheds, your garages, hiding places, abandoned cars, any place where a young child might hide," Kerns said.



That search included draining a 12 foot deep pond in the middle of Manwill's apartment complex.

Over 100 people roamed neighborhoods looking for anything and everything that might point investigators in the right direction.



"This kid, we thought he was at the park yesterday with us, well not with us with us. Which park? Ann Morrison," said some teenage girls.



Police aren't saying whether this information put them any closer to finding Manwill.

But they do say they won't stop until he's found and neither will Manwill's family.



"I don't recall a time where I've seen this much community support in Boise come out for a search,” said Lt. Doug Shoenborn. “It's really been nice to see a lot of support from the local community.”



"I will search until I find him. No matter what. I will search until I find him. Until he comes home," Burrill said.



Family members of missing boy have criminal histories.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

ktvb.com



BOISE -- The search in Boise for a missing 8-year-old boy continues to expand. Robert Manwill lives with his father in New Plymouth most of the year but is spending the summer with his mother in Boise.



While we have seen Robert's mother and her boyfriend at many of the news conferences, we know very little about them. Many of the adults in Robert's life have a criminal history.



But court records obtained by NewsChannel 7 say Robert's mother, Melissa Scott Jenkins, was charged with felony injury to a child in October 2008. She later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. The documents say Jenkins hit her 9-month-old son's head on a surface.



Robert Manwill--The infant suffered a fractured skull that caused not only physical pain, but mental suffering as well. The mother's boyfriend, Daniel Edward Ehrlick, is the father of the infant. Ehrlick has a criminal history including burglary and has served time in prison.



According to sealed documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman, during a visitation hearing for Jenkins' two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Jenkins stated she did not want her boyfriend, Ehrlick alone with her daugther. The reason she said that was not stated.



There is discussion and debate on whether this information is relevant since police have not charged anyone with a crime at this time. Family members have been attending daily news conferences assisting police in the search.