May 18, 2012
Drew Peterson Trial Set for July
When the trial of a former Illinois policeman for the death of his third wife begins at the end of July, prosecutors will not be able to mention that his fourth wife may also be dead. After three years of court battles, the trial of Drew Peterson for the murder of Kathleen Slavio is scheduled to begin July 23. Former Bolingbrook police sergeant Peterson is also suspected, but not charged, in the death of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Read more...
'Evil Spirits' Drove the Flint Slasher
Accused serial stabber Elias Abuelazam told a state psychologist that he felt possessed and had to attack people to get "soul-sucking demons" out of him, according to testimony. Both the defense and prosecution presented their experts to say whether Abuelazam was criminally responsible for the attacks. The prosecution expert said Abuelazam was, while the defense expert said he was not. Read more...
Trayvon Martin Shooting 'Ultimately Avoidable'
Prosecutors made public a trove of evidence used to justify murder charges against Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman, including a police report that concluded "the encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman." An initial review of the evidence, which was provided to Zimmerman's attorney early this week, uncovers documentation that will be helpful to both prosecutors and the defense. Read more...
$2.3 Million Armored Guard Theif Wants Free Lawyer
An armored car guard accused of killing his partner and making off with more than $2 million returned to Pennsylvania to face charges after his arrest last month in Florida. Kenneth Konias Jr., 22, appeared before a federal judge in Pittsburgh and asked for a public defender. He didn't enter a plea. Konias simply answered "yes" to questions from Judge Lisa P. Lenihan, who granted his request for a court-appointed attorney. Read more...
Search Continues for Killer Groom
Police and FBI officials were poring over more than 100 tips as they hunted for a man accused of stabbing his new wife to death and leaving her body in her bathtub, still clad in the silver sequined cocktail dress she wore to celebrate their wedding. More than 30 law enforcement agencies had joined federal agents in the manhunt for Arnoldo Jimenez, who secretly married Estrella Carrera on Friday night at Chicago City Hall and allegedly killed her just hours later. Police would not say in which states they were looking for him, but that it was "all over the country." Read more...
Condemned Killer Needs Hip Surgery
A condemned killer's fight to receive surgery for agonizing hip pain pushed Kentucky officials into an uncomfortable debate over security, politics and even the possibility of inviting scorn from Fox News pundits. Emails and memos obtained by The Associated Press show corrections officials struggling for a year to reconcile their duty to provide medical care with the political ramifications of spending tens of thousands of dollars for surgery on a man they plan to execute. Read more...
Marijuana Use Grows, Cocaine Falls Among Arrestees
Cocaine use is down but marijuana use continues to grow among men arrested in 10 U.S. cities, according to a federal drug-monitoring program's annual report. Marijuana was the most commonly used illegal substance, the 2011 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Annual Report (ADAM II) says. In Sacramento, Minneapolis, Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., 50 percent or more of arrestees tested positive, not significantly different from 2010, but continuing an upward trend from 2000, it said. Sacramento saw the highest use at 56 percent, and highest growth, up from 46 percent since 2009. Read more...
Notorious 1980s Drug Dealer Busted
A notorious drug dealer who got his start during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and was so good at hiding his whereabouts that he was known as "the ghost" has been arrested along with dozens of others on new charges, police and prosecutors said. James Corley, 51, was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and other drug charges after a 15-month undercover investigation that used wiretaps and surveillance, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Read more...
May 17, 2012
Steven Powell Convicted of Voyeurism
A 67-year-old Washington man has been found guilty of voyeurism in a case that was prompted by evidence found during an investigation into the 2009 disappearance of his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell. Steven Powell was convicted of 14 counts of voyeurism stemming from photographs he took of two little girls who were his next door neighbors. Susan Powell has not been seen since she disappeared from her Utah home in December 2009. Read more...
Police Hunt for Groom of Slain Bride
Burbank, Ill., police are on the hunt for the husband of a newlywed woman found stabbed to death in her bathtub over the weekend. Arnoldo Jimenez, 30, and Estrella Carrera, 26, were married on Friday, just two days before Carerra's body was found by authorities during a search prompted by worried family members. Jimenez hasn't been seen since, officials said. A Cook County judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Read more...
Closing Arguments to Begin in Edwards Trial
Closing arguments are set for Thursday in the corruption trial of John Edwards, after his defense team rested its case without calling the former Democratic presidential candidate's ex-mistress to testify. Attorneys for Edwards also chose not to call his eldest daughter, Cate, and prosecution star witness Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign aide, before wrapping up their case. The government alleges Edwards "knowingly and willingly" accepted large amounts of money from wealthy campaign donors Fred Baron and Rachel Melon to hide former mistress Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy in an effort to remain a viable candidate in his 2008 presidential campaign. Read more...
LAPD Detective Arrested in Death of Wife
A retired LAPD homicide detective was arrested this week in the fatal beating of his wife in Hawaii six years ago. He had been a suspect since her death. Dan DeJarnette, 59, was taken into custody without incident Monday night at his home on the Big Island in connection with the slaying of his wife, Yu Dejarnette. He appeared in a Hawaii courtroom to face formal charges. He said at the time of her November 2006 death that he had awakened and found her lying on a lava embankment about 20 feet from the couple's home in Ka'u on the southern end of the island. Read more...
Pastor Marvin Winans Assaulted, Carjacked
Popular Detroit pastor and gospel singer Marvin Winans has been assaulted and carjacked at a gas station on the city's west side. Detroit police say the suspects fled in Winans' SUV after taking an unknown amount of money. The 54-year-old minister said four or five young men followed him from inside the gas station and attacked him while he pumped gas into his vehicle. Read more...
Mary Kennedy Found Dead in New York
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s estranged wife, Mary Kennedy, who had fought drug and alcohol problems, was found dead in her home. Attorney Kerry Lawrence, who had represented her in a drunken-driving case, said he didn't know the cause of her death at age 52. Police confirmed a body was found on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s property in Bedford, north of New York City. Mary Kennedy had had trouble with drugs and alcohol and had two high-profile arrests around the time her husband filed for divorce in July 2010. Read more...
May 16, 2012
Dougherty Gang Plead Not Guilty in Georgia
The three siblings accused of committing a cross-country crime spree that started in Florida and ended with a shootout in Colorado were hauled in to court in Georgia to face charges of robbing a bank for cash that helped fuel their escape. The three, 21-year-old Ryan Edward Dougherty, 26-year-old Dylan Stanley-Dougherty and 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, pleaded not guilty to bursting into a Valdosta, Ga., bank and stealing $5,168 to fund their mayhem. Read more...
Mother Kills 4 Children, Then Herself
A Florida mother killed her four children and then shot herself as Brevard County, Fla., deputies closed in on her Port St. John home, authorities said. Deputies said the mother, identified as Tonya Thomas, 33, sent a warning text message to a friend before the shootings, but the friend didn't see the text until later. Three of the children, at least one already wounded, fled to the home of a neighbor who had been awakened by gunfire, but Thomas immediately called the children back and killed them, sheriff's spokesman Tom Goodyear said. Read more...
Doc: Zimmerman Had Broken Nose, Black Eye
A medical report compiled by the family physician of accused Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman and obtained exclusively by ABC News found that Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Martin during an alleged altercation. Read more...
Arizona Girl, 6, Was Abducted, Police Say
Tucson police are saying for the first time that a 6-year-old girl who vanished from her home last month was abducted. Investigators had previously characterized Isabel Mercedes Celis' disappearance as a "suspicious disappearance/possible abduction." Police spokeswoman Maria Hawke says it was an abduction after investigators determined the girl didn't leave her home alone and after they reviewed the evidence. She declined to comment further. Read more...
Trial Set for Man Charged in Teen's Death
An Arkansas man accused of killing a 16-year-old girl he met online is slated to go on trial this summer after authorities found her body in a blue, plastic barrel. During a brief hearing, court clerks say Lloyd Jones' trial is scheduled for the week of July 16. Jones has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Angela Allen's death this February. Read more...
Ex-Wife Charged in Boat-Landing Murder
A 30-year-old woman has been charged with her ex-husband's murder after investigators say she shot him to death at the Binion Creek Boat Landing on Lake Tuscaloosa. Tracey Grissom is charged with murder in the death of Hunter Daniel Grissom, age 27. Deputies with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to the boat landing after Tracey Grissom called 911 to report that she had just shot her ex-husband. Read more...
Colorado House Passes Bill on Marijuana DUIs
A bill setting a blood standard for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, has cleared the Colorado House and is pending in the Senate. Marijuana activists are fighting the proposal that passed the House Tuesday because they say blood THC tests are an unfair gauge of impairment. Sponsors of the bill say more drivers are using marijuana and the state needs a marijuana analogy to the accepted blood-alcohol limit. Read more...
James Koenig Arrested on Assault, DUI Charges
James Koenig, the father of slain barista Samantha Koenig, was arrested early Tuesday morning on charges including assault and DUI after he allegedly left an Anchorage strip club and drove drunk, threatening an employee who tried to stop him. APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker says Koenig faces charges of third-degree assault -- a felony -- as well as fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons, DUI and refusal to take a breath test. Read more...
May 15, 2012
Van der Sloot to Fight Extradition
After a Peruvian judge approved provisional detention for convicted killer Joran Van der Sloot, the main suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway announced his plans to fight extradition to the United States. Van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges in the U.S. in connection with the Holloway case. Van der Sloot has been indicted in the U.S. for taking $25,000 from Beth Holloway in exchange for telling her where she could find Natalee, which he never did. Read more...
Gunman in 2 Killings May Be Police Imposter
Mississippi authorities on Monday urged motorists to be alert in the wake of two shooting deaths along the state's highways that they believe may have been committed by someone impersonating a police officer. "There are some similarities between the two incidents, mainly the fact they happened alongside a Mississippi highway," Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Director Lt. Col. Larry Waggoner said in a press release. "The concern is that someone is posing as a law enforcement officer and that is how these vehicles end up on the side of the road." Read more...
Still Wearing Wedding Dress, Woman Stabbed
When police showed up to Estrella Carrera's apartment outside Chicago on Sunday, they found her dead in a dry bathtub. She had been stabbed multiple times, and she was still wearing her wedding dress. Carrera hadn't told many people that she was getting married, the Chicago Tribune reported, and the news seemed to surprise her neighbors as well, who had never seen her with another man. She was a Spanish interpreter for a social welfare agency and apparently lived alone with her daughter and son, ages 9 and 2. Read more...
Mom Helped Daugther, 13, 'Sext' Her Boyfriend
Would you want your mom to help you sext? Probably not. And even if you did, it's doubtful that your mom would even give you sexting help, right? Right. Which is why this story is so disturbing. A 35-year-old Utah woman has been arrested for helping her 13-year-old daughter take nude photos with her cell phone. She allegedly did this knowing that the photos were to be sent to her daughter's older boyfriend. That boyfriend is 30-years-old and lives in Oregon. Read more...
Teen Arrested After Homework Left at Crime Scene
An 18-year-old Utah man was arrested on suspicion of burglary after police say he left his homework at the crime scene. Police in Orem say they tracked a USB drive found at the burglarized home to Dallas Naljahih. They say the computer hard drive contained his homework and was in a backpack abandoned in the backyard. A 75-year-old man and his wife reported their home had been burglarized. The husband says he was woken up by a light in his office, and found a man who was looking through a desk. Read more...
Prosecuting for Spice DUI Proves Difficult
Prosecuting drivers under the influence of synthetic cannabinoid products, or spice, is proving a challenge because changes in the drug are outpacing the crime lab's ability to test for it. Spice is a chemical drug that is constantly evolving. Every time one version becomes illegal, producers alter it slightly, making it legal again. The changes make testing for the drug moot. Read more...
May 14, 2012
Two Charged in Burned Bodies Case
Authorities say two men have been charged with first-degree murder in the killings of two teenagers whose bodies were found engulfed in flames along a central Florida trail. Reports said 30-year-old Jesse Brandon Davis and 31-year-old Hector Manuel Rodriguez also have been charged with kidnapping in the deaths of 16-year-old Nicholas Presha and 18-year-old Jeremy Stewart in April. Read more...
Rescued Girl: 'Now We Can Go Home'
Days of grueling searches for two young girls and the kidnapper who killed their mother and sister led to the kind of terrain that favors the hunted — high hardwoods and deep ravines near a red-brick church perched on a hill. Specially trained officers had come up empty-handed for days but were following another lead after Adam Mayes was put on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. Dozens of tips turned up nothing. This latest lead officers to the woods near Zion Hill Baptist Church, just a couple of miles from Mayes' rented mobile home in Guntown, where 31-year-old Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, had been buried in a shallow grave. Read more...
Police Seek Motorcycle Club Killer
Police are looking for the gunman who fatally shot a San Diego motorcycle club leader outside the group's clubhouse. Police said a drive-by gunman fired several shots, killing 51-year-old Clyde Thompson Jr., the San Diego Chapter president of the Black Sabbath Motorcycle Club Nation. Thompson was known by his motorcycling nickname, "Wild Dogg." Read more...
Ex-Detective Sentenced in Murder Cold Case
A former Los Angeles police detective was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for murdering the wife of her former lover 26 years ago. Stephanie Lazarus, 52, was found guilty in March of killing Sherri Rasmussen, a nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the condo she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. Rasmussen's mother, sister and widower spoke during the sentencing hearing about their pain and described the victim as a warm, caring and loving person. Read more...
Jurors Acquit Rapper Lil Boosie of Murder
Jurors have acquitted the rapper known as "Lil Boosie" in the 2009 slaying of a man gunned down in his home. They deliberated for an hour before returning the verdict Friday for the 29-year-old rapper, whose real name is Torence Hatch. Before the verdict was read, District Judge Mike Erwin warned those in the courtroom not to make any emotional outbursts. Still, many quietly sobbed after the verdict was announced. Hatch, who stood quietly, bowed his head and pumped his fist when he heard the decision from the 12-person jury. Read more...
Polo Tycoon Goodman Sentenced to 16 Years
Polo tycoon John Goodman was sentenced to 16 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 by a Florida judge for the drunk driving death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson. Goodman's Bentley slammed into Wilson's Hyundai and sent it into a nearby canal in Wellington, Fla., in February 2010. Wilson, an engineering graduate, was strapped into the driver's seat and drowned. Goodman, 48, also made headlines by adopting his girlfriend in an attempt to preserve part of his fortune for her while negotiating a civil suit settlement. Read more...
Amber Portwood Back in Jail for Missed Drug Test
Amber Portwood, a star of MTV's reality show "Teen Mom," is reportedly back in a jail after missing a court-mandated drug test. The reality star claimed she was recovering from a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery which preventing her from making the appointment because she was ordered to say in bed for 2-3 weeks. But when prosecutors contacted her doctor, he reportedly said did not order the bed rest and that Portwood was well enough to attend the test. Read more...
May 12, 2012
Balfour Guilty in Hudson Murders
An hour after telling the judge they were split, a Chicago jury returned guilty verdicts against the former brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson for murdering three members of her family in 2008. William Balfour was found guilty of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. Under Illinois law, Balfour faces mandatory life without parole sentences for the multiple murders. Read more...
Three More Arrested in Bain Case
Three more people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a Tennessee woman and her daughter and the kidnapping of her two younger daughters, CNN reported Friday morning. The arrests were for making a false statement to authorities and illegal possession of a firearm, a law enforcement source said. Read more...
Joran Van der Sloot to Fight Extradition
The prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American Natalee Holloway, Joran Van der Sloot, told a judge that he will fight extradition from Peru to the United States, where he faces extortion and wire fraud charges in connection with Holloway's disappearance. Van der Sloot faces an indictment in the U.S. for allegedly accepting $25,000 in early 2010 in exchange for an unfulfilled promise to lead Holloway's mother's lawyer to the body after her disappearance in Aruba. Read more...
Boy Charged in Hanging Death of Alabama Girl
Alabama authorities say a 14-year-old boy is charged with murder in the death of a girl found hanging from a tree. St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles says the victim, Katelynn Arnold, was 9 years old and the boy's half-sister. Her body was discovered outside her home in Ragland, a rural town about 40 miles northeast of Birmingham. Read more...
Man Confesses After 3 Decades
Three decades have passed since Robert and Goldie Huntbach were found tied up and shot to death in their Waterloo, Iowa, home, and no suspects were ever arrested in the elderly couple's murders -- until this week, when one of them voluntarily walked into police headquarters and confessed. Read more...
Nebraska Court: Woman Must Testify in Rape Case
A woman can be sent to jail for refusing to testify against the man she has accused of sexual assault, the Nebraska Supreme Court said, although it suggested that might not be the best way to address her reluctance to take the stand. The ruling came in the case of a Kansas woman who was found in contempt after refusing to testify against a 63-year-old Nebraska man who was charged with sexually assaulting her 17 years earlier when she was 7 years old. In April 2011, Lancaster County District Judge Paul Merritt ordered the woman to testify or face 90 days in jail, saying the case hinged on her testimony, which outweighed any shame she might feel. Read more...
Lions' Leshoure Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge
Lions running back Mikel Leshoure pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor possession of marijuana Friday at the Berrien County District Courthouse. He paid $575 in fines and will be required next May to show proof of compliance with a treatment program that is being conducted through the NFL. Leshoure was cited by Baroda-Lake Township police for possession of marijuana March 12 in Bridgman, after a rented SUV he was a passenger in was pulled over on I-94. Since he was cited for possession of marijuana for the second time in a month, the second-offense charge from March 12 was a felony. Read more...
