On MySpace, they're so boyishly ordinary: Pages tell of music, TV, girlfriends ? not the brutality they're charged with

LAKEVILLE, Oct 19, 2008 (Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- NWS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- On MySpace.com, they weren't so different.

Justin Hamilton, the mentally disabled victim of two savage attacks that have left him with burns, broken ribs and possible permanent injury, said he liked muscle cars and rap, country and classic rock. He worked as a janitor, took courses at a technical college and wrote a sad love poem dedicated to a girl he called Angela.

He listed "Top Gun" among his favorite movies. He loved a good war story.

Two of his alleged attackers decorated their own Web pages on the social networking site with similar interests, similar hopes and similar struggles with girls.

Jon Diepold, 21, enjoyed watching "Scooby-Doo" and "SpongeBob Squarepants." He had enlisted with his friend John "Max" Maniglia, 19, in the Minnesota Army National Guard. They were upbeat about the future.

I "do just about anything to get my self (sic) into trouble," Maniglia wrote.

In some ways, at least on the Internet, they seemed still like children, posturing at toughness while nursing wounded hearts or flirting with girlfriends.

Somehow, the two Northfield men descended into savagery, according to accounts from investigators, and Hamilton, 24, of Lakeville, became the canvas for their rage.

"You are in the (expletive) national guards (sic) and you hit, kicked, and burned a mentally disabled man. i hope you're real proud of yourself for this max!" 16-year-old Stephanie Gramley wrote Wednesday night on Maniglia's MySpace page.

"Even if what

that girl said was true. you shoulda gone to the cops ... stop acting like your so tough and start thinking ... look at where your bad ass attitude got you."

In an e-mail message to a reporter, Gramley said she had been a friend of Maniglia's for two years and never expected him to cross a line into brutal violence, allegedly motivated in part by a falsified story from his 16-year-old girlfriend. Another young person close to Maniglia posted a message on his MySpace page calling him an "idiot."

The two men each face seven felony and three gross misdemeanor counts for allegedly luring Hamilton from his Lakeville home Oct. 10, taking him to a secluded location in Dakota County and beating him for hours. Authorities believe they forced him into a friend's truck the next night and repeated the violence, only worse -- tying him to a tree and then burning him with a cigarette lighter and a heated credit card. The charges against them include kidnapping, aggravated robbery and assault.

If convicted, they could face presumptive sentences of eight years in prison or more, depending on their criminal histories.

Two other men and a teenage girl face a series of charges for allegedly assisting in the attacks.

They are Timothy Ketterling, 21, of Prior Lake, who is believed to have assisted in the attack on the first night; and Glen Ries, 33, of Northfield, who is accused of assisting on the second night and driving the truck. Maniglia's girlfriend, Natasha Dahn, 16, of Lakeville, faces 10 charges ranging from kidnapping to assault.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom has said he will seek to have Dahn prosecuted as an adult, and authorities believe she may have egged on the attackers by falsifying a story that Hamilton had assaulted her.

Idemir "Reeder" Sullivan, 20, said he was as shocked as anyone to hear of the allegations against his friends. Sullivan befriended Maniglia in the first grade and considered him a best friend. Through Maniglia, he met Diepold about six years ago.

The three decided to enlist in the National Guard together late last year, but Sullivan was rejected because of a heart condition, he said. His two friends had high hopes.

According to his MySpace page, Maniglia's great loves included the military and the television series "The Sopranos." In messages posted last year, he pined for a car and bemoaned a failed relationship.

"Everything I own means nothing to me until I (see) her," he wrote.

Sullivan said Maniglia, who had been fired from his job at a turkey factory in Faribault, Minn., told him he was asking to be deployed overseas. He expected to leave in February for Iraq, he had said.

National Guard officials said they have no record that Maniglia was scheduled to go anywhere.

Sullivan said he last saw Maniglia two or three weeks ago, and he invited him to get out of Northfield for a while and join him where he was living in Brownton, Minn. They sat around a bonfire and talked. Maniglia was unhappy but calm, he said.

"It seemed like he was getting stressed, because his grandma had been in and out of the hospital quite a few times," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Diepold was the feistier of the two friends and a heavier drinker and liked to stand up to people when challenged.

Calling himself "the Scooter King," Diepold posted on his MySpace page that his favorite television shows included "The Simpsons," "Scooby-Doo" and "SpongeBob Squarepants." His favorite music was country, rock and his girlfriend's singing.

Before enlisting in the National Guard, he attended an alternative learning program in Northfield.

"My name is jon, i'm 21 and i have an amazing girlfriend named liz," Diepold wrote. "she's super funny and ridiculously sexy. anything else you want to know just message me."

Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172.

How To Help:

A fund has been established to help defray costs associated with Justin Hamilton's medical care:

Wells Fargo Bank For the benefit of Justin Charles Hamilton 16817 Duluth Ave. S.E. Prior Lake, MN 55372

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