May 23, 2013
Murderer Arrested After Pocket Dialing 911
Authorities in South Florida say a man is charged with murder because he was overheard discussing the killing when his cellphone pocket-dialed 911. Scott Simon, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the May 5 shooting of 33-year-old Nicholas Walker. Walker was shot while driving his car onto an Interstate 95 on-ramp. Authorities say Simon is heard on the 911 call telling someone he's going to follow the victim home and kill him. Read more...
Faith-Healing Couple Charged With Murder
A Philadelphia couple who believe in faith healing over medicine and who were on probation in their son's 2009 pneumonia death have been charged with murder after a second child died. Herbert and Catherine Schaible (SHY'-bull) face third-degree murder, child endangerment and other charges in the April death of their 8-month-old son, Brandon. Prosecutors call Brandon's death "eerily similar" to that of his 2-year-old brother Kent in 2009. Read more...
May 22, 2013
Man Charged in Death of Nichole Cable
A 20-year-old Maine man has been charged with murder in the death of a 15-year-old girl who was last seen more than a week ago, when she went to meet someone she befriended online. Police say Kyle Dube, of Orono, was charged in the death of Nichole Cable. Police say a body found in the woods on Monday night is likely that of the high school student. Read more...
15-Year-Old Charged in Double Slaying
A 15-year-old boy charged four months ago in the shooting deaths of a married couple in their Wake County home can be tried as an adult, a District Court judge ruled. A witness testified during a probable cause hearing that Jose Samual Flores Mendoza and his wife, Maria Saravia Mendoza, both 34, were unintentional victims in a dispute between two rival gangs and that the target had lived in their house, near Garner, for about six months in 2011 prior to the Mendozas moving there. The couple was found dead in their home shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 5. Their 3-year-old son, Jacob, was found unharmed. Read more...
Teen Used 'Murder Kit' to Kill Couple
A teenager accused of murdering his girlfriend's mother and stepfather came to the couple's Compton home with a "murder kit" that included a baseball bat, a mask and rubbing alcohol, a prosecutor told jurors. Giovanni Gallardo executed a "sneak attack," strangling his girlfriend's mother and ambushing her stepfather with the bat before stabbing him with a knife, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall said during opening statements of Gallardo's murder trial. Read more...
May 21, 2013
10-Year-Old Killed by Gunmen
Authorities were searching for at least two gunmen who walked up to the door of a Northern California home and opened fire, killing a 10-year-old girl and injuring her parents. "Whoever these gunmen were, they were directly outside the front door," Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jason Ramos said Sunday. "This was not a drive-by. These gunmen approached the house and shot inside." Sacramento County sheriff's officials suspected that a family member had gang ties. Read more...
May 20, 2013
2 Men Arrested in Killing Over iPad
Two men have been arrested in the killing of a teenage boy over an iPad in Las Vegas, police said. Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were booked Saturday into the Clark County jail on charges of open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. According to investigators, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking down a street with the iPad when a passenger got out of a vehicle and tried to steal the device from him. Read more...
Man Accused of Killing Father
A man accused of killing his father in Canyon Country was in jail after sheriff's deputies acting on a tip pulled him over and arrested him without incident, authorities said. Juan Alexander Mejia Dubon, 30, faces charges on Monday in the fatal shooting that occurred. Since his arrest about 4 p.m. on Saturday, he has been held in the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station on $1 million bail. Read more...
Three Arrested in Colorado Springs Murder
The 52-year-old wife and 33-year-old daughter of Widefield resident Miguel Barajas allegedly conspired with an acquaintance to kill the 47-year-old man, officials say. Sandra Barajas, the victim's wife; Dawn Richburg, his daughter; and Tommy Wright, 34, have been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder, criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy. The three, who are being held without bond, are accused of killing Miguel Barajas, whose body was found Feb. 13 Read more...
May 18, 2013
17-Year-Old Charged in Brothers' Deaths
A teenager who pointed Ohio authorities to the bodies of two dead brothers who had been reported missing has now been charged in their deaths. A prosecutor in northwest Ohio says the 17-year-old is charged with delinquency in connection with aggravated murder. The brothers' bodies were found hours after they were reported missing May 9. Read more...
May 17, 2013
Man Charged in Brooklyn Teen's Death
A 20-year-old man from Maine was arrested and charged with killing a 14-year-old Brooklyn girl whose death had remained a mystery since her burned body was discovered on a desolate beach in January, police said. Christian Ferdinand allegedly smothered Shaniesha Forbes with a leather pillow after she said she was pregnant with his child and refused to have an abortion, officials said. Ferdinand then allegedly took her body to a marshy area of Gerritsen Beach, where he used deodorant and a lighter to burn her body and clothes in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence, officials said. Read more...
May 15, 2013
Woman Shoots Family, Hospitalized
Authorities say a woman has been charged with fatally shooting her two young children and wounding her husband in a home in northwestern South Carolina. Pickens County deputies say 35-year-old Suzanna Simpson was found in a wrecked truck just outside her home. Arrest warrants say she told paramedics that she had had shot her whole family. Officers entered the home and found Simpson's 5-year-old son Sawyer and her 7-year-old daughter Carly dead. Her 34-year-old husband Michael was wounded and remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Read more...
May 14, 2013
Police Believe Body Is That of 18-Month-Old
The body of an 18-month-old girl whose mother was found dead last week along with two others may have been discovered Saturday, police in Kansas said. Authorities are conducting a forensic identification on the remains, a written statement said. "It is with great sadness that I report a body found in Osage County, Kansas, is believed to be the remains of 18-month-old Lana Bailey," Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards said, adding that he was confident it was the missing toddler. Read more...
May 13, 2013
Brother Arrested in Stabbing of Girl
Authorities say they have arrested the brother of an 8-year-old girl who was mysteriously stabbed at her home in a quiet Northern California community last month. Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz told reporters at a news conference that the arrest was made late Saturday afternoon. He says the 12-year-old boy will be charged with homicide. The boy had told police last month that he encountered an intruder in the home on the day Leila Fowler was killed. He described the man as being tall with long gray hair. Read more...
Coroner IDs 3 Victims of Quadruple Homicide
A southern Indiana man returning home from work found two people shot to death in the living room, and investigators found two other bodies inside, authorities said. Bartholomew County Sheriff Mark Gorbett said three men were found dead in the living room and a woman's body was found in a bedroom of the home in Waynesville, a small unincorporated town about 50 miles south of Indianapolis. All four were shot to death, County Coroner Larry Fisher said. Read more...
Man Killed Making Craigslist Sale
A 40-year-old Cromwell man is dead after being shot in the head while trying to sell a Samsung Tablet in Hartford, according to police and the victim's family. Police are calling the death of Felix DeJesus III, 40, of Cromwell, a homicide. DeJesus' father, Felix DeJesus Jr., said his son was trying to sell an electronic tablet on Craigslist and had arranged to meet with someone who expressed interest in buying. Read more...
May 10, 2013
Man Arrested, Baby Presumed Dead
A 27-year-old man has been arrested in the deaths of three people whose bodies were found at a rural farm home in eastern Kansas, authorities said. Franklin County Sheriff Jeffrey Richards said at a news conference that the 18-month-old daughter of one of the victims is "presumed dead" although her body has not been found. Read more...
Father, Daughter Plead Guilty to Murder
Kathleen Dorsett knew the end was near for her ex-husband, Stephen Moore, when she sent him to pick up tools he had left at her father's house. Moore had dropped off their 20-month-old daughter at Dorsett's house. "I took my daughter into the house, knowing all the time my father was back there, waiting to kill him," said Dorsett, a former third-grade teacher in Neptune. Read more...
May 07, 2013
2 Charged in Florida Man's Death
A 22-year-old Florida girl has been charged with homicide after a man's body was found stuffed in the trunk of a car outside a motel near Pensacola. Escambia County Sheriff's deputies said family members discovered 43-year-old Harvey Ray Smith's body after spotting his vehicle outside a motel. Smith had been reported missing. According to an arrest report, Debra Burge told investigators she asked Smith to her residence so Zachary Vance Greer could rob him. Read more...
May 04, 2013
Police: Fowler Witness Not Credible
A potential witness in the killing of an 8-year-old California girl has recanted her statements about seeing a possible suspect running from the girl's home and "is no longer credible," a sheriff's department spokesman said. Sgt. Chris Hewitt said that while meeting with a sketch artist and detectives Wednesday, the unidentified witness refused to provide a description so a composite sketch could be made of the man. Read more...
Husband Kills Wife With Pickaxe
Investigators say a Pittsburgh man killed his wife with a pickaxe after the couple had an argument. Bruce Cook, 62, was charged Thursday with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse in the death of 57-year-old Lois Cook. A friend called police Wednesday because Lois Cook missed work. Police said they arrived at the Cooks' home and found dried blood on the floor of the kitchen heading toward the basement steps. Investigators said they found Lois Cook's body under a tarp in the basement. Read more...
May 03, 2013
Boston Suspects Plotted July 4 Attack
The brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombings originally planned to set off explosives on July 4 — but changed their minds and decided on Patriot's Day, officials with knowledge of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's interrogation said. Investigators also now have a good idea of how and where the pressure-cooker bombs used in the attack were constructed. But they still are trying to determine where the components in the explosives came from. Officials say Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, dropped pressure-cooker bombs stashed in backpacks in crowds watching runners at the finish line of the marathon on April 15. Read more...
May 02, 2013
3 pals of Boston Bomber Charged
Three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were accused of removing evidence from his dorm room as new details about the case emerged in court papers. Criminal complaints against the trio revealed that Tsarnaev cut his long hair after the April 15 attack but before the FBI released his photo and that he allegedly told friends a month earlier that he knew "how to make a bomb." The court papers also suggest that the 19-year-old suspect was practically blasé when one of the friends texted to say he looked like the man in the FBI photos of the bomb suspect. Read more...
May 01, 2013
Bomber's Widow Wants Body Released
The widow of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects will ask the Massachusetts medical examiner to release his body to his family, her attorney said. Attorney Amato DeLuca said in a statement that Katherine Russell wants Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains released to the Tsarnaev family. Tsarnaev, 26, died after a gunfight with authorities. Police said he ran out of ammunition before his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing the scene. Read more...
April 29, 2013
Intruder Fatally Stabs 8-Year-Old Girl
Authorities have released the name of a young girl who died after being stabbed in her home in rural Northern California. The county coroner identified the girl as 8-year-old Leila Fowler. Initially she was reported as being 9-years-old, but Coroner Kevin Raggio said she would have turned 9 in June. Meanwhile, residents of the tiny community of Valley Springs and Calaveras County are being told to keep their doors locked as authorities continue to search for the little girl's killer. Read more...
April 26, 2013
Bomber's Body Remains Unclaimed
The body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev lies unclaimed in a state morgue. Authorities had not yet determined a cause of death on Wednesday, and no one had stepped forward to claim the body, said Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the Massachusetts state medical examiner. The suspects' mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaev, said she wanted her son to be buried near a Cambridge mosque and told CNN earlier in the week that family members had arranged for a funeral on Tuesday or Wednesday. Read more...
Slain Family Members Identified
Police identified the victims in the grisly shooting deaths of five people in a tiny south-central Illinois town the day before — but why they were gunned down remains a mystery. A pregnant mother, father and their two young boys as well as a grandmother were identified as the victims in shooting rampage in a Manchester, Ill., officials said. State police say the victims are: Brantley Ralston,1, Nolan Ralston, 5, and their parents James Ralston, 23 and Brittney Luark, 23. Jo Ann Sinclair, 57, Luark's grandmother was also identified as among the dead. Read more...
April 25, 2013
Five Killed in Illinois Home
Authorities in central Illinois have yet to identify the five people who are believed to have been shot to death in their home by a man who was later gunned down by police. The nephew of Manchester's mayor shot to death two women, two boys and a man before leading police on a chase that ended in an exchange of gunfire that left him dead, authorities said. Read more...
Bomber Plotted While on State Welfare
One of the men behind last week's deadly attack on the Boston Marathon had received Massachusetts welfare benefits until recently -- during the same period that the alienation he apparently felt as a Chechen in America coincided with a growing embrace of radical Islam. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his family were living on taxpayer-funded state welfare benefits as recently as last year, though it remains unclear what kind of benefits they were receiving. Read more...
Teen Boys Charged With Murdering Couple
Two teens have been charged with murdering an elderly couple at a cabin in Missouri. Anthony Zarron, 17, from Spring, Texas, and 16-year-old Christopher Allen from Nashville, Tenn. allegedly escaped from a juvenile rehabilitation facility in January - the Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch - and fatally beat and stabbed Paul Brian Brooks, 70, and his wife Margaret Brooks, 69, who were on vacation. Circuit Court Judge Judge Alan Blankenship ruled that the teens will be tried as adults. Read more...
April 24, 2013
Man Charged After Severed Head Found
Authorities found a Minnesota man's severed head in the trunk of a car and other body parts in the basement of a Milwaukee home, according to a criminal complaint charging a central Wisconsin man with first-degree intentional homicide. A judge ordered Kou Thao, 26, held on a $1 million cash bond during an initial appearance. The Wausau man is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 1. Read more...
4 Charged in Hazing Death
Police arrested three men and sought a fourth on hazing charges related to the death of one Virginia State University freshman and the disappearance of another. The four are connected to an organization known as "Men of Honor" that conducted an initiation Saturday that required seven male VSU students to walk through the swift, rain-swollen Appomattox River, police said. While some were pulled to safety, two were swept away by the rapids. Read more...
April 23, 2013
Religion Motive for Boston Bombers
The two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon appear to have been motivated by a radical brand of Islam but do not seem connected to any Muslim terrorist groups, U.S. officials said after interrogating and charging Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with crimes that could bring the death penalty. Tsarnaev, 19, was charged in his hospital room, where he was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway. His older brother, Tamerlan, 26, died Friday after a fierce gunbattle with police. Read more...
Man Killed Live-In Girlfriend, 3 Others
A 28-year-old man fatally shot and killed his live-in girlfriend inside an apartment south of Seattle, then went on a rampage that left three men dead, including a neighbor who had phoned 911 to report hearing gunfire, authorities said. Arriving officers found a chaotic scene in Federal Way, and authorities say officers twice shot at the suspect, in a stairway and in a parking lot. Read more...
April 22, 2013
Charges Delayed for Boston Bomber
The capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect raises a host of freighted legal issues for a society still feeling the shadow of Sept. 11, including whether he should be read a Miranda warning, how he should be charged, where he might be tried and whether the bombings on Boylston Street last Monday were a crime or an act of war. The suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, was taken, bleeding, to a hospital on Friday night, and it remained unclear whether he was conscious. Read more...
April 20, 2013
Capture Brings Relief to Boston
Residents of Boston will attempt to return to normal after the death of one suspect and the capture of another following a week that included fatal bombings at the Boston Marathon, the murder of a campus officer, a explosive-tossing shootout in the streets and a final shootout at a boat in a Watertown backyard. Residents and police officer alike cheered and applauded when the last of the suspects was taken into custody. Read more...
2 Arrested in 4 Montana Deaths
Two men were arrested in Montana on suspicion of negligent homicide hours after four bodies were removed from a burned-out mobile home near Billings, but authorities on Friday were releasing no details on how the victims died or their connection to the suspects. Zaccary John Kern and Robert Eric Bottenhagen, both 21 and from Billings, were arrested without incident after being interviewed by detectives, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said. Jail records show each man faces four counts of negligent homicide and a felony arson charge. Read more...
Woman Accused of Helping Brother in Murder
A Skowhegan woman accused of helping her brother kill his ex-wife made her initial court appearance. Michelle D. Corson, 43, was shown on a television screen linked to Somerset County Jail in Madison, where she has remained since being arrested. She is accused of helping her brother Aaron Desjardins, 36, of Epping, N.H., murder his ex-wife, Amanda "Amy" Warf of Hampton, N.H., who was found dead on March 7 in Exeter, N.H. Desjardins' current wife, Sarah Desjardins, 34, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution. Read more...
Parents Charged With Murder of Baby
The Chicago parents of a baby girl who authorities said died after being smothered by her father are facing first-degree murder charges. Cook County prosecutors announced the upgraded charges, four days after 5-month-old Angelina Rodriguez died. Rigoberto "Rico" Rodriguez, 29, and Angela Petrov, 21, initially faced aggravated battery charges after the girl was found unresponsive April 11 in their West Rogers Park home. The couple, due in court Monday, are being held without bail. Read more...
April 19, 2013
Bombing Suspect Images Released
The FBI released video of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing at a press conference and asked for the public's help in identifying the two men. Calling the two men "suspect one" and "suspect two," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers stressed they are considered armed and "extremely dangerous" and that citizens should not approach them, but rather contact law enforcement if they know or see them. See videos...
Four Shot in Ohio Basement
An official in northeast Ohio says four adults have been found dead in the basement of a townhome. The head of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority says the four bodies were discovered Thursday on Akron's northeast side. Police are telling media outlets that two men and two women had been shot in the head. Housing Authority executive director Tony O'Leary says police told his office that no weapons were found in the townhome. Read more...
April 18, 2013
Woman Arrested in Slain D.A. Case
The wife of a jailed former justice of the peace in the Texas county where a district attorney and his wife were found dead in their home in March was arrested and booked into Kaufman County jail. Kim Lene Williams was admitted just before 3 a.m. local time. Online jail records did not list any charges. Her husband, Eric Williams, remained an inmate at Kaufman County jail after being booked on Saturday. He is being held on $3 million bond on one charge of making a terroristic threat and two charges of insufficient bond. Read more...
Man Charged After Body Found in Trunk
Mesquite police have arrested and charged a suspect with murder after a man's body was found in the trunk of his own vehicle. On the morning of April 16, police received a report that John Warren McMillen, 69, was missing. Investigators located McMillen's vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Mesquite. He was found dead in the trunk of the vehicle. Investigators obtained information which led them to arrest Randy Wilson Wright on the same day. Wright has been charged with capital murder. Read more...
April 17, 2013
Boston Bombs Were 'Homemade Claymores'
The deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon were caused by pressure cooker bombs placed to act like a "homemade claymore," a powerful, directional anti-personnel device, sources involved in the investigation said. These and other sources say that the bombs appear to have included a battery pack and a circuit board, the elements they said of a sophisticated triggering mechanism. Both of those elements were recovered at the scene, they said. Read more...
April 16, 2013
Boston Bombing Investigation Intensifies
Three people were killed and at least 140 injured when two bombs exploded within seconds of each other near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. As dozens of victims were being treated in area hospitals, the FBI took the lead in the investigation into what the agency described as a "potential terrorist investigation." The fatalities included an 8-year-old boy, law enforcement sources said. Read more...
Babysitter Indicted on Murder Charge
A grand jury indicted a baby sitter on a murder charge in the death of a 2-year-old boy left in her care. Brenda Kay Garner, 35, will be tried for second-degree murder in the death of Garrett King from blunt-force trauma Nov. 15, according to police and the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. Officers arrested Garner shortly afterward on a felony charge of child abuse and neglect. Read more...
April 15, 2013
Women Deny Hiding Stoller Gun
The mother and older sister of a coastal Georgia teenager charged with killing a baby last month are pleading not guilty to charges that they tried to dispose of a gun police believe was used in the slaying. Karimah Elkins and her 19-year-old daughter, Sabrina Elkins, entered written pleas. Both are charged with evidence tampering in the case against 18-year-old De'Marquise Elkins. He faces a malice murder charge and other counts in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in coastal Brunswick. Read more...
April 12, 2013
2nd Man Arrested in Prison Chief's Death
A second white supremacist prison gang member whose name surfaced during an investigation into the slaying of Colorado's prisons chief was arrested, authorities said. Colorado Springs authorities arrested Thomas Guolee, 31, around 5:30 p.m., according to El Paso County sheriff's officials. He was being held without bond for a parole violation. Investigators have said Guolee isn't a suspect in the shooting death of Colorado Department of Corrections head Tom Clements, but his name and that of fellow 211 Crew member James Lohr came up during the investigation. Read more...
April 09, 2013
Father Held in Shooting of 5-Month-Old
A Utah judge denied bond to a young father accused of plotting for a month before killing his infant son with a rifle. Joshua Petersen, of American Fork, will stay locked up until formal charges are filed. Utah County prosecutor Craig Johnson says a police sergeant testified that the 21-year-old planned for a month to shoot his 5-month-old son and did so last Friday. Read more...
Man Arrested In Death Of 2-Year-Old
A 20-year-old San Bernardino County man has been arrested in the death of 2-year-old boy. Michael Lucero, of Ontario, was arrested on April 4 on suspicion of causing corporal injury to a child which resulted in death. According to Ontario police, the unidentified boy was brought to Kaiser Hospital via ambulance after becoming unresponsive at his home. Read more...
Two Utah Teens Charged With Murder
A pair of teenage boys were charged with first-degree felony murder in adult court in connection with the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old man, whose body was found in the Colorado River. Brody Blu Kruckenberg and Charles Anthony Nelson, both 16, also were charged with second-degree felony obstruction of justice in Grand County’s 7th District court in Moab. The teens were arrested Sunday after the Grand County Sheriff’s Office received information about the disappearance of Gregorio Salazar Campos, who had been reported missing on March 29. Read more...
April 08, 2013
Man Used Xbox to Murder Girlfriend
A Lauderhill, Florida man was arrested after he admitted to killing his girlfriend. Darrius Johnson, 22, told police that he stabbed Monica Gooden, 20 to death in order to sacrifice her for the betterment of the two. When police arrived at Gooden's home, they found a broken and bloody Xbox 360 console and knives next to her body. Darrius Johnson also mentioned to authorities that Gooden would not die and that he had to fight her like a dragon. Johnson also said that he had to sacrifice someone who had the Taurus astrological sign. Read more...
April 05, 2013
Murder Suspect Shoots Mississippi Cop
A murder suspect being interviewed at the Jackson, Miss., police headquarters shot a detective and those who came to investigate the gunfire found both men dead, authorities said. The suspect, who was not identified, was being questioned on the third floor of the building when the shooting happened, said Police Chief Rebecca Coleman. Read more...
April 04, 2013
West Virginia Sheriff Fatally Shot
Sheriff Eugene Crum, a lawman known for cracking down on the drug trade in southern West Virginia's coalfields, was fatally shot Wednesday in the spot where he usually parked his car for lunch, a state official said, and a suspect was in custody. State Police told Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin that Crum, the Mingo County Sheriff, died of his wounds, said his chief of staff Rob Alsop. The suspect, who was also shot, was taken to a hospital in Logan, Alsop said. The courthouse was evacuated, streets into the city of Williamson were blocked off and officers held white sheets around the crime scene. Crum's body was further shielded by two vehicles. Read more...
April 01, 2013
Gunfire Claims 2nd Prosecutor
After the daylight assassination of his deputy two months ago, Mike McLelland, the district attorney in largely rural Kaufman County, responded with a flash of angry bravado, denigrating the perpetrators as "scum" and vowing to hunt them down. Authorities found McLelland, 63, and his wife, Cynthia, 65, shot to death inside their home in Forney, Tex., in Kaufman County. The killings galvanized law enforcement officials and frightened and bewildered local residents, many of them still shaken by the shooting of the deputy, Mark E. Hasse, 57, on Jan. 31. That case remains unsolved. Read more...
4 Arrested in Killing of 2 Teens
Four people have been arrested in connection with a shooting at an Oceanside park that left two teenagers dead and injured two others earlier this month. Search warrants served at five locations led to the arrests of Santo Diaz and Michael Zurita, both 19, and Martin Melendrez, 21. The three men were booked into jail for investigation of first-degree murder and attempted murder. They also face allegations of participating in a criminal street gang. A teenage boy also was taken into custody. Read more...
Man Kills Father Outside Church
Easter weekend came to a deadly end after police said a man shot and killed his father right outside of a church. It happened at Hiawatha Church of God in Christ around 1:15p.m. Sunday. At least 140 people were inside the church when everyone heard a gun shot. There were several children among the congregation. "It was a nightmare," said Steve Sargent, who is an associate pastor. Police said an Ashtabula resident waited outside of the main entrance of the church with a handgun. When the suspect's father walked out, there was a short fight and a shot fired. Read more...
March 30, 2013
Wife Charged With Second-Degree Murder
Just after midnight, court papers say, Diana Lalchan called 911 to report a shooting in the couple's apartment. Police charged Diana Lalchan with second-degree murder in the death of her husband. When they had arrived at the apartment, they found him in the living room. He had been shot in the back of the head. Read more...
March 29, 2013
Police Find Stroller Shooting Bullet
Police say they've recovered a bullet in the slaying of a toddler who was gunned down in his stroller while walking with his mother in a coastal Georgia town. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering also said that more search warrants were executed, though he didn't say specifically what new evidence was being sought. The chief did say investigators recovered a bullet they believe killed 13-month-old Antonio Santiago as his mother strolled him down a Brunswick sidewalk on March 21. Read more...
City Official Arrested for Obstruction
A coastal Georgia city official was arrested on charges of obstructing law enforcement and influencing a witness in the case involving a 13-month-old boy who was fatally shot last week. David Tucker — an attorney for Brunswick city councilman and mayor pro tem James Henry Brooks — told WTLF-TV that his client was arrested for stepping between police and the mother of 17-year-old suspect De'Marquise Elkins when police tried speaking with her during a court appearance. Brooks — who also faces racketeering charges in Camden County — was being held Thursday night in the Glynn County jail on $1,256 bond for obstruction. He is also being held without bond on the charge of influencing a witness, sheriff's officials said. Read more...
March 28, 2013
Teens Indicted for Stroller Shooting
A Georgia teenager shot a 13-month-old baby in the face while trying to rob the child's mother, according to an indictment that also charged the suspect with shooting another person in an unrelated robbery attempt earlier this month. The indictment by a Glynn County grand jury charges 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins on 11 counts, including malice murder, in the slaying last Thursday of young Antonio Santiago a few blocks from his home in coastal Brunswick. Another suspect, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, was indicted on seven counts including felony murder. Read more...
March 27, 2013
Baby Shooter's Mom, Aunt Arrested
Two close relatives who apparently tried to provide false alibi information for a teen accused of shooting a baby in a stroller have been arrested for lying to authorities. The mother and aunt of De'Marquise Elkins have been charged with giving false information to police. The mother, Karimah Aisha Elkins, 36, and her sister Katrina Latrelle Elkins, 33, were released after posting bond. Read more...
March 26, 2013
Lawyer: Accused Baby Shooter 'Not Guilty'
The lawyer for a suspect in the shooting death of a baby in a stroller says his client is "absolutely" not guilty. Public defender Kevin Gough said that 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, who is charged as an adult with murder, "is absolutely, 1,000-percent not guilty." Read more...
Gun Linked to Colorado Shooting
Colorado authorities said that the same gun a white supremacist fired in a gunbattle with Texas police last week was also used in the shooting death of Colorado's prisons director. Texas police killed Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, after a high-speed chase through Decatur, Texas. He is also considered a suspect in the death of Tom Clements, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who was shot at his home near Denver last Tuesday, Colorado authorities say. He is believed to have shot and killed a pizza delivery man and used his uniform to get to Clements' front door without raising suspicion. Read more...
March 25, 2013
Man Shoots 2 Adult Children
Police near Tacoma, Wash. say they discovered two people shot in the head after a 69-year-old man called authorities and told them he had shot his two adult children. Police arrived at a home in Puyallup, Wash. where they talked the man into putting down his gun after receiving the call. Inside the home, police found an adult male and an adult female each shot in the head in different rooms, authorities said. The victims appeared to have been shot in their sleep. Read more...
Anonymous Tip Led to Baby Shooter
Police in Georgia say an anonymous tip helped them make arrests in the shooting death of baby who was killed in a stroller. The Brunswick Police Department said that they got a tip that someone was crouched in the back seat of a vehicle as it drove away from the shooting. The Glynn County detective's division spent hours following up on the tip and eventually arrested a 14-year-old suspect. The boy's statements led them to take 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins into custody. Read more...
Man Arrested After Father Stabbed
A man is in custody after his father was stabbed to death early Sunday in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Chicago Far South Side, police said. The father, 48, was stabbed during a domestic dispute. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the victim as Kenneth Johnson. Police have arrested the victim's 24-year-old son in connection with the slaying, said Gaines. Read more...
March 23, 2013
Teens Arrested in Shooting of Baby
Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 13-month-old baby and the wounding of his mother in an apparent botched armed robbery. Sherry West was wounded in the leg and her infant son Antonio was shot in the head as she pushed him in a stroller along a Brunswick street. Arrested were De'Marquise Kareem Elkins, 17, and an unidentified 14-year-old juvenile. Read more...
March 22, 2013
Shootout Tied to Colorado Shooting?
A man who could be linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prison chief is likely to die after being shot by Texas authorities after a harrowing car chase. Wise County Sheriff David Walker says the man is still unidentified, and says the suspect is "basically legally dead," although he remains hooked to equipment for organ harvesting. He was stopped while driving a black Cadillac with Colorado plates that matched the description of a vehicle spotted outside the house of Tom Clements shortly before he was fatally shot Tuesday. Read more...
March 21, 2013
Corrections Department Chief Killed at Home
The fatal shooting of Colorado's top prisons official when he answered the front door at his house highlights a troubling reality for the nation's judges, prosecutors and other legal officials: At a time when attacks on them are rising, it's difficult for them to remain secure, even when they are off duty. Investigators do not yet know why Tom Clements, 58, was shot at his home just north of Colorado Springs. They could not rule out any possibilities, including that it was a random shooting or that it was an attack related to Clements' job, authorities said. Read more...
Sniper Kills Hostage Taker
A fatal shooting that led to an hours-long hostage situation in Fort Wayne, Ind. ended with the suspect's death and the child hostage's safe recovery. The suspect, who was identified by police as 45-year-old Kenneth Knight, allegedly shot a 49-year-old woman to death after pulling her off a city bus. The shooting victim, who was identified as Jacqueline Bouvier Hardy, of Fort Wayne, was riding the Citilink bus with the suspect. Read more...
March 16, 2013
3 Arrested in Denver Bar Slayings
A judge ordered three Colorado men to stand trial for murder, robbery and arson in the stabbing deaths of five people at a Denver bar that authorities say was set on fire to cover up the killings. A fourth man who was with the accused during the Oct. 17 slayings at Fero's Bar & Grill is a federal informant who hasn't been charged. The men — Dexter Lewis, 22, and brothers Joseph Hill, 27, and Lynell Jonathan Hill, 24 — are accused of killing the five victims during a robbery as the bar's closing time was approaching. They were ordered held without bail and were scheduled to enter a plea at their arraignment on May 24. Read more...
March 15, 2013
Man Arrested for Deaths of 2 Infants
An Arkansas man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder following the deaths of two infants in separate incidents. Springdale police said that Travis Fox admitted to investigators that he "violently shook" his 7-month-old son, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police in West Fork and the Washington County Sheriff's Department say Fox was already under investigation for the Sept. 4, 2011, death of another of his children, who was 6 months old. Read more...
Man Arrested After Wife's Body Found In Field
A 40-year-old Fontana man was arrested after his wife's body was found in a Chino field. Victor Lopez was taken into custody on suspicion of homicide after he led detectives to the body of Lorna Lopez, 40, in an area in the 17300 block of Cucamonga Road. The man's nephew, 38-year-old Joseph Rodriguez, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessary to homicide. Read more...
March 14, 2013
4 Fatally Shot in Upstate New York
The first sign of trouble was a fire, which sent acrid smoke billowing above the village of Mohawk in upstate New York. As firefighters made their way to battle the blaze, the police said, the man who set the fire made his way to a barbershop in the heart of the village and shot four people with a shotgun, killing two customers and critically wounding two others. He then drove a mile to a carwash in neighboring Herkimer and shot and killed two more people, the police said, before fleeing and setting off a manhunt. Read more...
Man Arrested in Double Murder
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators have arrested a Baton Rouge man in connection with the murders of a couple whose bodies were discovered days after their deaths. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Melvin Miller, 20, according to Glen T. Boyd, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Miller has been implicated in the deaths of Akeem Boudreaux, 22, and Morris Alexander Williams, 26, a transgendered woman who went by the name Milan "Mimi" Boudreaux. Boyd described Miller as an acquaintance of the couple. Investigators said Miller was driving the murdered couple's missing car and had a cell phone and laptop computer belonging to the victims. Read more...
March 13, 2013
Earlier: Grandparents Killed After Welcome Party
A convicted felon is on the run after allegedly killing his grandparents as they hosted a party to celebrate his release from a Washington state prison. Michael "Chad" Boysen, 26, is considered extremely dangerous and has tried to obtain guns, police said Monday. Q13 Fox reports Boysen has also made threats against law enforcement and community leaders, according to police. Read more...
March 12, 2013
Husband Charged in Pregnant Wife's Death
A 36-year-old Apple Valley man was charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn child. Dakota County prosecutors leveled two counts of second degree intentional murder against Roger Earl Holland in the deaths of his 37-year-old wife Margorie Holland and her fetus. Police responded to an apartment building on 1571h Street West just before 10 a.m. following a 911 call from Roger Holland claiming his wife being in cardiac arrest. Officers found her at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Read more...
Woman Confesses to Shooting Boyfriend
A Springtown woman remains in the Parker County Jail today after she confessed last week to killing her boyfriend at their home. Roni Catherine Lisenbe, 33, dialed 911 and told dispatchers that she had shot Richard Graves at their home. When deputies arrived, they found Graves, 38, on the bedroom floor. He was taken to Harris Northwest Hospital in Azle and pronounced dead, according to hospital records. Read more...
March 08, 2013
Trooper Killed in Shooting on Interstate 85
A Virginia State Police trooper was shot and killed during a traffic stop off Interstate 85 and a suspect was arrested after exchanging fire with another trooper, authorities said. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Master Trooper Junius A. Walker, 63, was shot multiple times. Walker, who was patrolling alone as most troopers do, called for backup after being fired upon just before 1:30 p.m. in southeastern Virginia. The second trooper arrived within two minutes and saw a male suspect firing into Walker's marked police vehicle, which was down an embankment off the southbound lanes of the interstate near the woods, Geller said. Read more...
March 07, 2013
Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal Hit-and-Run
A suspect has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a Florida mother and injured another. Shane L. Cruz Jr. was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, grand theft auto and leaving the scene of a crash involving a death. The 21-year-old allegedly slammed a stolen minivan into a Nissan, killing passenger Laguadia Terry, and sending driver Sterling Slaton to the hospital. Police say Cruz then ran from the crash scene. Read more...
March 05, 2013
FAMU Band Members Charged With Manslaughter
Prosecutors are charging 12 former Florida A&M University band members with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major. Ten of the band members had been charged last May with felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but prosecutors said Monday they are raising the charges to manslaughter. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter. Read more...
Couple Indicted for Murder Charges
A couple charged in a double homicide at a Virginia Beach Rally's was indicted on several charges Monday, including capital murder, conspiracy and robbery. According to Harvey Bryant with the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, Deandre L. Dunaway, 23, was indicted for capital murder - multiple victims, capital murder - robbery, two counts of first degree murder, armed robbery, three counts of use of firearm and conspiracy. His co-defendant Cheari Edwards, 20, was indicted on two counts of first degree murder, three counts of use of firearm, armed robbery and conspiracy. Read more...
Two Teens Suspected of Triple Homicide
Two teens were arrested in Clark, Wyoming in connection with the murders of three members of a family. Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said 19-year-old Stephen Hammer and 18-year-old Tanner Vanpelt were arrested after neighbors gave deputies a description of two men seen entering the house where the victim's bodies were found. The neighbors saw two vehicles speeding away, including a black Audi belonging to 40-year-old Ildiko Freitas, who owned the house with her husband. Read more...
March 04, 2013
Teacher Fatally Stabbed Trying to Rescue Woman
Friends say Victoriano "Mo" Moises Byrne-Gonzales was an expectant father and art teacher who had just been promoted to assistant director at his Santa Fe preschool when he was fatally stabbed the night of Dec. 2, 2011. His death was the tragic result of his effort "to do the right thing" when he saw a woman he didn't know getting beaten by her boyfriend, prosecutors said Thursday at the trial of the man accused in the attack. Adrian Gonzales, 31, is charged in District Court with killing Byrne-Gonzales, 21. Gonzales is also charged with assaulting his girlfriend at the time, Natasha Romero, and stabbing and wounding Santiago Cordova, a friend of Byrne-Gonzales. Read more...
March 02, 2013
Grandmother Shot Boys Multiple Times
The state medical examiner's office says the two boys killed in a Connecticut murder-suicide each had multiple gunshot wounds. The examiner's office says the boys' grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, died of a gunshot wound to the head. Police say Denison left a suicide note and took a revolver from her house on Tuesday before picking up 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry at their day care in North Stonington. Their bodies were found in a van hours later after a frantic search. Read more...
March 01, 2013
Man Charged With Murdering Missing Wife
Prosecutors charged a Minnesota man with murdering his missing wife, after investigators found blood traces throughout the couple's home, a large head and torso-shaped stain under a rug, and evidence of an extensive effort to cover it up. Authorities said they have not found 30-year-old Kira Trevino's body, but they believe she's dead because of the amount of blood found in her car and the couple's St. Paul home and because it wasn't like her to disappear without telling anyone. Jeffery Dale Trevino, 39, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in his wife's death. Read more...
Man Accused of Cutting Mom Up With Saw
A 23-year-old man accused of killing his mother, cutting up her body with a saw and dumping it on the curb throughout their Bronx neighborhood said at a court appearance Thursday that his mother was dying and that he was trying to help. Bahsid McLean, 23, was denied bail at the appearance where he was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing his mother, 45-year-old Tania Byrd. "I didn't do anything wrong," McLean shouted in court. McLean, wearing a black garbage bag, had several other outbursts during the court appearance where he is also charged with unlawful dissection of a human body. It was not immediately clear what he meant when he said his mother was dying. Read more...
February 28, 2013
Grandmother Kills Two Boys, Herself
A grandmother who was supposed to take her two grandsons from daycare to their birthday party at home instead killed the boys and herself, Connecticut state police said. All three bodies were found in a car, two hours after an Amber Alert went out for the 2-year-old and 6-month-old. Police have classified the case as a double murder-suicide and said all three had apparent gunshot wounds. The last time Ashton, 2, and 6-month-old Alton Perry had been seen alive was around 2:30 p.m. in North Stonington, when their grandmother, Debra Denison, picked them up from daycare, according to state police. Read more...
Hiker Finds Skeletal Remains
Riverside County Sheriff's Department detectives are investigating a set of skeletal remains found in the San Jacinto foothills south of the town of Cabazon. A hiker found the human bones Feb. 19 in the hills and was able to lead sheriff's deputies to the remote site later in that day. The bones were found south of Interstate 10 at an elevation of about 1,500 feet. Coroner's investigators positively identified the remains as human. Investigators, with the aid of search dogs, scoured the area again. Additional details about the human remains have not been released. Read more...
February 27, 2013
Two California Police Officers Killed
The Santa Cruz, Calif., County Sheriff's Department says two Santa Cruz police officers were shot to death Tuesday afternoon — the first time in city history that officers were killed in the line of duty. One suspect was also killed. Authorities believe there are no more outstanding suspects or any danger to the community, but they are going door-to-door in the perimeter they've established as a precaution. A resident, who declined to give his name, said he was sitting in his house in the 800 block of North Branciforte Avenue when he heard gunfire across the street around 3:30 p.m. Police arrived soon, he said. That's when a suspect fired at police, hitting the two officers. Read more...
Inmate Kills Guard at Pennsylvania Prison
An inmate using a homemade weapon assaulted and killed a guard at a U.S. prison, the first fatal attack on a federal corrections officer in nearly five years, officials said. Correctional Officer Eric Williams was working in a housing unit at the Canaan federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania when an inmate attacked him. Other prison staff restrained the inmate, and Williams was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Read more...
Boyfriend of Dismembered Woman Charged
A man suspected of strangling and dismembering his girlfriend and hiding her body parts in their suburban Detroit home has been arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. Farmington police say 28-year-old William Dhondt was arraigned in Berkley District Court in the death of 29-year-old Kaitlin Hehir. The judge ordered Dhondt jailed without bond. Police say Dhondt reported Hehir missing Saturday night. Police took him into custody after they discovered Hehir's remains Sunday at their Farmington home. Read more...
Body Parts of Woman Found in 4 Trash Bags
Dismembered remains believed to be those of a 45-year-old woman were found wrapped in a trash bag in the Bronx, by a man walking his dog. Police were notified of the possible human remains on East 156th Street and Eagle Avenue in Melrose. Upon arrival, police with cadaver dogs reportedly found body parts inside heavy-duty plastic garbage bags and inside a duffel bag among the pile of trash in at least four different locations. Read more...
Woman Arrested in Grandfather's Death
The granddaughter of a man whose body was discovered north of Sedro Woolley is being held on investigation of second-degree murder and identity theft. The Skagit County sheriff's office says Dean Jackson's body was discovered in a rural area Monday afternoon. He was reported missing Feb. 16. His granddaughter, Ami Morin, was arrested Feb. 19 following an investigation by detectives from several agencies. Read more...
February 25, 2013
Grandmother Charged in Boy's Death
Police have charged the grandmother of an 8-year-old city boy in connection with his death, which was ruled a homicide after an autopsy. In a statement, Schenectady police identified the boy as Sha'hiim Nelligan, and announced they had charged Gloria Nelligan, the boy's legal guardian, with first-degree manslaughter in connection with his death. Officers rushed to the Nelligans' Vale neighborhood home where they found Sha'hiim unconscious. He later died at Ellis Hospital. Read more...
February 22, 2013
Zahra's Skull Found in Woods
North Carolina police say a skull found a year ago by hunters in the woods is that of a disabled girl who was killed by her stepmother. Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins says DNA tests show it was Zahra Baker. But he says police are still unable to say how the 10-year-old girl died. Elisa Baker is serving up to 18 years in prison for killing her stepdaughter. Read more...
Man Turns Himself In for Murder
A man wanted in connection with a murder in Clayton County, Georgia has turned himself in to Providence Police. Julius Thomas was taken into custody Wednesday night at the Providence Police station. The 20-year-old is accused of killing a cab driver last month in Georgia. Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements tells Eyewitness News that the man turned himself in after reaching out to the pastor of Providence's Victory Outreach Center. Read more...
February 21, 2013
Tourist's Body Found in Hotel Water Tank
Police were trying to determine if the death of a Canadian woman who was missing for weeks before her body was found wedged into a water tank atop a Los Angeles hotel was the result of foul play or an accident. The body of 21-year-old Elisa Lam was discovered by a maintenance worker at the 600-room, downtown Cecil Hotel after guests complained of low water pressure. Lam, of Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to California alone on Jan. 26 and was last seen five days later by workers at the hotel near Skid Row that offers rooms for $65 a night. Read more...
Doctor Charged With Death of Pregnant Woman
A Columbus, Ohio physician was charged with drugging, raping and murdering a pregnant woman whose body was found in the back seat of her car in Delaware County. Ali Salim, 44, was indicted in the murder of Deanna Ballman and her unborn child by a Delaware County grand jury. Salim also was charged with giving Ballman, 23, a dose of heroin and raping her, according to the indictment. An autopsy found she died of a heroin overdose. Read more...
February 20, 2013
Mom Grieves After Daughter Found Dead
The grief-stricken mother of a 24-year-old missing woman whose body was found washed up on a New York City beach is looking for answers in the death of her daughter. The body of Marisha Cheong was found along Jamaica Bay in Roxbury, Queens, police said. She had been missing since December. "She didn't deserve this," said Cheong's mother, Bibi Ali, as she cried Monday. "They threw her away like trash." Cheong's hands were tied up, sources said. Watch video...
February 19, 2013
Woman Pleads Guilty to Killing Her Niece
A North Carolina woman is pleading guilty to killing her 15-month-old niece in a case in which social workers are accused of ignoring, then covering up the child's abuse until after her death. Thirty-nine-year-old Ladybird Powell pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. She faces 12 years in prison. Powell was arrested in January 2012 — one year after Aubrey Littlejohn's death. Read more...
February 18, 2013
Man Arrested for Murder of Girlfriend's Baby
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said they have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of a 4-month-old baby. IMPD officers were sent to the 3600 block of North Euclid Avenue on Feb. 14 in response to a 911 call. A male caller told police that a 4-month-old baby at the residence was not breathing. Read more...
February 14, 2013
Man Charged With Killing 16-Year-Old Girl
An Estes Park man was arrested on charges of manslaughter, menacing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the gun-related death of a 16-year-old girl. Thomas Decker Dodge, 21, was arrested in connection with the Dec. 12 death of Miranda Ann Casey, also of Estes Park. The incident was at Dodge's home on the 100 block of Big Horn Drive in Estes Park, according to Estes Park Police Department. The charges are all felonies, and Dodge's bond is set at $75,000. Read more...
February 13, 2013
Man Won't Reveal Location of Wife's Body
A South Florida man arrested in the murder of his vanished wife allegedly confessed to killing her, but didn't say where her body is, Miami-Dade police said. Jesus Maqueira, 54, who was arrested Friday on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated stalking in the death of Raquel Maria Calderin, 42, is being held on no bond, online jail records said. Read more...
February 12, 2013
Headless Bodies Found, Man Arrested
Police say they've nabbed a New Jersey man who fatally shot two men before beheading them, chopping off their hands and burying their remains in the woods of south Jersey. Cops arrested Yusuf Ibrahim, 28, of Jersey City on Sunday after detectives found the bodies of the two men, aged 25 and 27, behind a home in Buena Vista Township, according to a press release. Their severed heads and hands were discovered at a separate burial site. The investigation into the grisly murder began Thursday following reports of suspicious activity at the Buena Vista home. Cadaver dogs located the bodies, which both suffered a single gunshot wound to their chests. Read more...
Woman Charged With Stabbing Her Two Children
A St. Louis mother was charged with stabbing her two children with a knife. Police say Nola R. Miller stabbed her two children several times Sunday after an argument with the children's father. After the father left the apartment, officers were called Sunday morning to Miller's apartment in the 1200 block of Warren Street where they found Miller had barricaded herself inside, police said. Miller then stabbed her daughter, 10, and son, 3, as the children tried to flee, police say. Read more...
Father Charged With Killing Drunk Driver
A Texas man whose two young sons were killed in a traffic accident has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting at the crash scene of a suspected drunken driver. Brothers David Jr. and Caleb Barajas were helping their father push their broken-down pickup truck when a vehicle driven by 20-year-old Jose Banda plowed into them. The December accident happened just 50 yards away from the Barajas' rural Houston-area home. Banda was later found shot. Read more...
February 11, 2013
Two Arrested in Hadiya Pendleton Homicide
Chicago police have arrested and are questioning two people in the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, the high school student who performed at several presidential inaugural events in January. Police spokesperson Melissa Stratton confirmed that "two persons of interest are in custody and the investigation remains ongoing." Read more...
Teen Charged With Baby Sister's Death
A 14-year-old boy has been charged as an adult with murder in the death of his infant sister. Montgomery County police say 14-year-old Jonathan Aguiluc beat and suffocated 7-month-old Larissa Yanes inside a Silver Spring apartment. Police say the girl's mother had left the baby in the care of the teenager while she worked an overnight shift. Read more...
February 09, 2013
Suspect Arrested in 13-Year-Old Girl's Death
Police have arrested a man they say is the lone suspect in the death of a 13-year-old California girl whose nude body was found in a Fairfield park last week. Police arrested Anthony Lamar Jones, 32, in the death of middle school student Genelle Conway-Allen. Genelle's nude body was discovered in Allan Witt Park by a passerby the day after she was reported missing. Read more...
Landlord Finds Woman Tenant's Body
A Dallas landlord made a grisly discovery when he found the body of his tenant stuffed in a piece of luggage inside the home when he went to check on the property. The landlord, who rents out two homes next to one another, initially stopped by because the other home had been burglarized. According to a police report, the thief had broken a window and stole a shotgun. Read more...
February 07, 2013
Two Brothers Arrested in Quadruple Killing
Police in Oklahoma say they have arrested two brothers in the shooting deaths of four women at a Tulsa apartment complex last month. Authorities say 39-year-old Cedric Poore and 32-year-old James Poore lived in the same apartment complex where the women were found. Officers wouldn't disclose a motive for the Jan. 7 killings, saying the investigation continues. Read more...
Cop Suspected in Deaths of Coach, Fiance
A former Los Angeles police officer and Navy Reserve officer is a suspect in the murders of a Cal State Fullerton basketball coach and her fiance and is considered armed and dangerous, police say. Christopher Jordan Dorner became a suspect in the murders of Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence after he allegedly posted a multi-page manifesto online. The manifesto reportedly suggests Dorner blames Quan's father Randy for his firing from the LAPD in 2009. Dorner was represented in the hearing that resulted in his firing by Quan, a retired LAPD officer. Read more...
February 05, 2013
Coach, Fiancee Found Dead Inside Car
A college basketball coach and her fiance were found shot to death in a car at their upscale condominium complex in Southern California, and authorities say they have no motive or suspects in the killing. Cal State Fullerton assistant women's basketball coach Monica Quan, 28, and her fiance Keith Lawrence, 27, were found dead on the top floor of a parking structure at the complex, police said. Officers found their bodies after someone reported seeing Lawrence slumped over the wheel of his vehicle. Read more...
February 04, 2013
Missing 13-Year-Old Girl Found Dead
Police are seeking for clues and releasing few details in the case of a California 13-year-old whose nude body was found in a park a day after she disappeared. A passerby found the girl's body in a Fairfield park on Friday, a day after she vanish from her foster home in nearby Suisun City. An autopsy has been performed by police would release neither the cause of death or the name of the victim. Read more...
Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle Killed
Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his neighbor Chad Littlefield took former Marine Eddie Ray Routh to a Texas gun range to help him, but for some reason Routh allegedly turned his gun on his two mentors, killing them both, police said. Investigators said Routh, 25, was recovering from post traumatic stress disorder, but police today said they could not confirm that. Read more...
Mom Forced to Watch Sons Killed
A South Florida man strangled his two young sons with a rope at his estranged wife's house and then used a gun to shoot one of the boys several times before he shot himself to death, authorities said. Police say Isidro Zavala, 45, went to the Boynton Beach home of his wife with the intention of killing her and their children, Eduardo Zavala, 12, and Mario Zavala, 11. At the crime scene, detectives found a blue bag with a second firearm, extra ammunition, duct tape, cutting shears and a note addressed to Zavala's oldest son, who was not at the residence during the killings, police said. Read more...
Washington 'Mercy Killer' Sentenced
A Washington man was sentenced to two years in prison for shooting his terminally ill wife in what his family said was a mercy killing. Donald McNeely, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. His adult children asked a judge for mercy and insisted their father killed their mother, who had an inoperable brain tumor, out of compassion. "I think that was his only option," said Nikki Bryant, McNeely's daughter. Read more...
February 01, 2013
Authorities Seek Killer After Body Found
Authorities are searching for the person who beat to death a 25-year-old man whose remains were found in the Angeles National Forest. The body of Nicholas Carter, 25, was discovered Jan. 19 near mile marker 2.72 on Big Tujunga Canyon Road, according to Lt. Mike Rosson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau. An autopsy showed Carter, of Glendale, had been beaten to death. Read more...
January 30, 2013
Man Faces Trial in Deaths of Oklahoma Girls
A 27-year-old man has been ordered to stand trial on first-degree murder charges for the shooting deaths of two young Oklahoma girls that he said he thought were "monsters." A judge ruled there was enough evidence to put Kevin Sweat before a jury for the deaths of Taylor Placker, 13, and Skla Whitaker, 11. The two best friends were shot to death in June 2008 near their hometown of Weleetka. Read more...
January 29, 2013
Boyfriend Arrested In Mother's Murder
The boyfriend of Jini Barnum, who was found dead in a shallow grave in September, has been charged with killing her, police said. Anthony L. Garofalo, 38, of East Hampton, was charged with murder, first-degree strangulation and tampering with physical evidence, they said. He was arraigned at Superior Court in Middletown; his bail is set at $1 million. Barnum, 30, of East Hampton was found buried in a shallow grave deep in the woods of Glastonbury Sept. 9. Garofalo had reported her missing on July 29. Read more...
January 28, 2013
Secret Hearings Held in Chandra Levy Case
The 2001 slaying of Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy is back in court, but behind closed doors: Records show a judge has been holding secret hearings in the case of the man convicted of killing her, according to The Associated Press. Hearings have been held for the past several weeks, with neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers revealing their purpose, according to court records obtained by AP. The next hearing will be on Feb. 7 in D.C. Superior Court; The AP and several other media organizations are petitioning to open the proceedings. Read more...
Mom Who Drowned Daughter Released
A California woman who was found to be insane when she admitted to drowning her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub in January 2010 has been released from jail after being deemed sane. Jennifer Lynn Bigham, 26, was ordered released from custody after doctors said she no longer exhibits the symptoms of mental illness that caused her to drown her daughter. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff said he is legally required to order Bigham's release if she has fully regained her sanity, according to the report. Read more...
94-Year-Old Killed, Neighbor Arrested
Police arrested the next-door neighbor of a 94-year-old woman in Yuba City who was found dead this week. Yuba City police allege that 20-year-old Michael Patrick Alexander knew Leola Shreves. Sometime last week, he allegedly broke into her house and "launched a violent and savage attack," police said in a statement. Evidence found at Shreves' home linked Alexander to the slaying, but police did not provide any details, including exactly how she died. Read more...
January 25, 2013
Exterminator Charged in Doctor's Killing
An exterminator named Jason Smith was arrested and charged in the strangling and burning death of Philadelphia pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti. Smith, 36, had been sent to Ketunuti's home on a service call where the two got into "some kind of argument" in Ketunuti's basement. Smith burned the woman's body "to hide evidence like DNA." He said "at some point, he bound her up." The doctor was found with her hands and feet tied behind her back. Read more...
January 24, 2013
Chandra Levy Murder Case Re-Examined
There's a new mystery in a murder case that gripped the nation's capital a decade ago. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for the man convicted of murdering 24-year-old former congressional intern Chandra Levy have met twice since December for secret court hearings about new information that could undercut the testimony of a prosecution witness. The court has closed off the hearings to public view — on one occasion locking the courtroom doors — and has ordered that legal filings be sealed. Read more...
January 22, 2013
Dad Kills Ex-Wife at Daugther's Party
A father shot his estranged wife to death and then killed himself during his daughter's 16th birthday party, police said. The shootings happened outside the front door of the teen's grandparents' house in Grapevine, Texas. Kristi Suckla, 44, had moved to her parents' house with her teenage son and daughter after the couple separated. Grapevine police said her husband Kelly Suckla, 43, came over to the house for the birthday party. Read more...
January 21, 2013
Teen Charged in Deaths of Five
Five people killed in a weekend shooting at an Albuquerque home included a volunteer fire chaplain and three "very young children," officials said. A 15-year-old family member was arrested and charged with the slayings. "Multiple weapons were apparently used, including one assault rifle," Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said. The victims -- which included two girls and a boy -- were each apparently shot multiple times. Read more...
Standoff in Leads to Grim Findings
Authorities in Georgia are trying to make sense of a brutal killing after finding dismembered body parts in the home of a man killed during a police standoff. A SWAT team sniper shot 34-year-old Chad Moretz on Jan. 11, ending a four-hour standoff when Moretz emerged from his Effingham County home armed with an assault rifle. What investigators found afterward shocked them. Read more...
January 18, 2013
Teen Arrested on Murder Charge in Stabbing
A teen was arrested in the stabbing death of a 20-year-old man near Placerville. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department responded to a 911 call reporting a fight in the area of Brown's and Cold Springs road north of Placerville Wednesday afternoon. Those who called authorities said that someone had been stabbed and the possible suspect had gotten away. Read more...
Tulsa Women Died of Gunshot to Head
The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office says four women found dead last week at a crime-plagued south Tulsa apartment complex each died from a gunshot wound to the head. The office noted however that full autopsy reports are still pending for 23-year-old twin sisters Rebeika Powell and Kayetie Melchor, 33-year-old Misty Nunley and 55-year-old Julie Jackson. Investigators have not said how the women knew each other or why they may have been targeted. Read more...
January 17, 2013
Men Charged With Dismembering Teen
Three Kentucky men charged with torturing, kidnapping, killing and dismembering another man told deputies they wanted to "rid the world of the evil in it," said Boone County (Ky.) Sheriff's deputies. Authorities said Daniel Delfin, 19, of Walton, Ky., was beaten and strangled before being cut up with a machete and possibly a saw. Read more...
Florida Lineman Charged With Stealing Scooter
Police say a University of Florida offensive lineman has been charged with stealing a scooter. Campus police say redshirt freshman Jessamen Dunker was arrested and charged with vehicle theft, a third-degree felony. They say he also was charged with driving with a suspended license. Read more...
January 15, 2013
4 Charged in Illinois Double Slaying
Police say the strangulation and attempted dismemberment of two Illinois men, allegedly at the hands of four young adults, is one of the most heinous cases they've seen. Three of the people arrested were playing video games when police arrived at a Joliet home, where the bodies of Eric Glover and Terrence Rankins were found. Police Chief Mike Trafton calls the case "one of the most brutal, heinous and upsetting" in his 27 years in law enforcement. Read more...
Officer Left Infant to Die in Car
Prosecutors say a D.C. police officer involved in a paternity dispute with his mistress shot the woman dead and left their infant child to die in a hot car. Prince George's County, Md., State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said during opening statements that Richmond Phillips killed the two because he want to pay child support. Phillips is being tried on two counts of first-degree murder along with child abuse and firearms charges. Read more...
Gun Video Producer Found Shot Dead
Authorities in Georgia are investigating the apparent homicide of a Georgia man who produced popular gun-related YouTube videos. Keith Ratliff was found shot in the head January 3 in his home-office in Carnesville, Georgia, about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta. Ratliff was co-owner of FPS Industries, whose website says it "is proud to be world leaders in product development and testing for hard use firearms shooters." Read more...
January 14, 2013
Pastor Killed Wife, Wounded Daughter
Police say an Alabama pastor shot and killed his wife and wounded their 18-year-old daughter before stabbing himself in their home. Authorities say the Rev. Terry Greer is being charged with murder in the killing of 52-year-old Lisa Greer and attempted murder in the wounding of Suzanna Greer, a University of South Alabama student. Greer remains hospitalized with what police say are self-inflicted knife wounds. Read more...
Pardoned Man Involved in Fatal Gunfight
A man involved in a deadly shooting at a barbecue in Mississippi was one of nearly 200 inmates pardoned by former Gov. Haley Barbour one year ago. Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan told FoxNews.com an argument quickly escalated into a fatal gunfight between Wayne Therman Harris and Chris McGonagill in Calhoun City, Miss. The shooting took place just outside McGonagill's home, where he, Harris, and three other men were having a barbecue before things got heated between the two friends. Read more...
January 11, 2013
Man Charged in Murder, Dismemberment
Steven Roger Johnson, a 35-year-old man accused of killing his wife and leaving her body in a friend's garage, is charged with intentional second-degree murder. According to the charges, Johnson, of St. Paul, shot his wife in the head with a shotgun on Jan. 6 and then used a saw to dismember her body in the shower, placing her in several storage bins. Johnson said he proceeded to clean up his home to hide the evidence. Read more...
January 10, 2013
Widow, Mother of Kidnapper Indicted
The widow and mother of a Mississippi man accused of a Tennessee murder-kidnapping have been indicted. District Attorney Mike Dunavant said Wednesday that a Hardeman County grand jury met Monday in the case of Teresa Mayes and Mary Frances Mayes. Dunavant said details of the indictments, including the formal charges, will not be released until a arraignment in district court in Bolivar. Teresa Mayes is the widow and Mary Mayes is the mother of Adam Mayes, who authorities said killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter before kidnapping Bain's two other girls and taking them to Guntown, Miss. Read more...
Woman Charged With Chili Powder Death
A woman arrested in the death of a toddler who police say was made to ingest chili powder has been charged with first degree murder. Amanda Sorensen, of Apple Valley, was charged with one count of murder and another count of child abuse causing death, according to the complaint filed by the San Bernardino district attorney's office. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were called to a home for a child suffering from a seizure after ingesting chili powder. Read more...
Burned, Naked Body Found on Brooklyn Beach
The burned, naked body found on a beach Sunday has been identified as a missing 14-year-old girl. Law enforcement sources said the body found in Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn was Shaniesha Forbes, who had been missing since Friday. She was burned on her legs, arms and hands and was found face up on the beach. A law enforcement official said that investigators also located a kerosene can and signs of a bonfire nearby. Read more...
January 09, 2013
Four Women Found Dead in Apartment
Officials in Oklahoma said four people were found shot dead at a Tulsa apartment. Police responded to the scene in the south part of Tulsa where four women were found dead inside the Fairmont Terrace apartments. The victims were shot multiple times," Tulsa Police Officer Jillian Roberson said. Authorities also found an unharmed 4-year-old child in the apartment, Roberson said. The child was taken into protective custody. Read more...
January 07, 2013
Handyman Charged in Woman's Death
Authorities have charged a handyman with killing a 35-year-old Port Richey woman in her home. The Pasco Sheriff's Office said Kelly Bennett was killed sometime after midnight Saturday by "homicidal violence." Her son came home to find his mother's body in the living room and called police. Authorities did not say how she died. Read more...
Married Couple Arrested in Bar Shooting
Police have arrested a married couple they say were connected to a New Year's Eve shooting in a Sacramento bar that killed two people and left three others wounded. Sacramento police say 36-year-old Amber Scholz instigated the altercation and her husband, 34-year-old Charles Fowler-Scholz, was involved in a fight before the shooting at the Sports Corner Cafe in Old Sacramento area of the city. Read more...
Man Charged With Killing Wife's Twin
A Spencer man charged with killing his wife's twin sister has been ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty to murder. Authorities say Steven West killed 20-year-old Alyssa Haden in October. Haden lived in the same apartment as the 21-year-old West, his wife, and their child. She was found dead in the apartment by her brother after she failed to show up for work at a supermarket. West was initially charged with hampering the police investigation because the body had been moved. Read more...
January 03, 2013
Man Charged in Estranged Wife's Slaying
A Chicago man with a history of domestic violence arrests has been charged with the murder of his estranged wife in Munster, Ind., early New Year's Day, authorities said. Margarito Valdivia, 44, of the 10800 block of South Troy Street, is being held without bail in the slaying of his estranged wife, Erica Valdivia, 33. The attack at a home in the 800 block of Boxwood Drive in Munster also injured Erica Valdivia's boyfriend, police said. Read more...
Two Charged in Fatal Shooting of Coach
A reputed gang member was charged with capital murder and other counts in the Christmas Day shooting death of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department employee in Pasadena. Larry Darnell Bishop Jr., 20, was ordered to remain jailed without bail while awaiting arraignment Jan. 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court in connection with a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting that killed bystander Victor McClinton, a 49- year-old law enforcement technician, neighborhood athletics coach and father of two who was caught in the line of fire. Read more...
December 31, 2012
Subway Shoving Suspect Arrested
A woman is in custody in the death of a man who was shoved in front of a speeding subway train, and she "made statements implicating herself," New York City police said. Detectives questioned her but aren't releasing the 31-year-old suspect's name until she is formally charged, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a brief statement. Among other things, investigators were arranging for witnesses to positively identify the woman in custody as the attacker, police said. Read more...
Man, 74, Held in Deaths of Teenage Tenants
Police say a 74-year-old Maine man faces charges in the shooting deaths of two tenants inside an apartment he rented at his home over a possible dispute about where they were parking their cars during a snowstorm. Maine State Police say James Pak was arrested following a standoff at his home in Biddeford. He is charged with killing 19-year-old Derrick Thompson and Thompson's girlfriend, 18-year-old Alivia Welch. Read more...
December 28, 2012
Husband of Slain Police Officer Arrested
The husband of a police officer who was fatally shot while patrolling in suburban Milwaukee on Christmas Eve has been arrested in connection with her death. The Wauwatosa police department says that Benjamin Sebena, of Menomonee Falls, was booked into Milwaukee County Jail on a tentative charge of first-degree intentional homicide. He has not been formally charged in 30-year-old Jennifer Sebena's death. Read more...
Man Pushed to Death in NYC Subway
A mumbling woman pushed a man to his death in front of a subway train, the second time this month someone has been killed in such nightmarish fashion, police said. The man, who wasn't immediately identified, was standing on the elevated platform of a 7 train in Queens at about 8 p.m. when he was shoved by the woman, who witnesses said had been following him closely and mumbling to herself, New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne said. It didn't appear the man noticed her before he was shoved onto the tracks, police said. Read more...
Man Kills Girlfriend After Crash
A central Pennsylvania man is charged with suffocating his 17-year-old girlfriend after injuring her by intentionally driving into a guardrail at about 100 miles per hour in the middle of the night. Police filed homicide and other charges Friday against Benjamin Daniel Klinger for the Dec. 4 death of Sammi Heller on an interstate near Manheim. Police allege Klinger purposely crashed, then killed Heller by sitting on top of her head until she asphyxiated. Read more...
December 26, 2012
3 Charged in Deadly Home Blast
Three people charged in a gas explosion that devastated an Indianapolis neighborhood, killing a couple, are set to appear before a judge. Homeowner Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother, Bob Leonard, face initial court appearances. The three were arrested on charges of murder, arson and other counts following the Nov. 10 blast that killed a couple living next to Shirley's home. The explosion destroyed Shirley's house and four others and damaged dozens more. Read more...
Man Killed Friend, Hid Body in Closet
An ex-convict killed a friend, tried to cut his head off with an ax and hid the body in his bedroom closet for nearly a week while keeping relatives and acquaintances at bay, a prosecutor said. Aston Barth was being held without bail after pleading not guilty to murdering next-door neighbor Jason Campbell, Newsday reported. Barth's lawyer, Paul Barahal, declined to comment; Barth's mother said he had a long history of mental illness. Read more...
Woman Charged in Murder Case
She worked with Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott at the Greenland Target and shared with her an interest in "Harry Potter" books. Police say that Kathryn "Kat" McDonough, 19, of Portsmouth, also lied to investigators about where she and her boyfriend, Seth Mazzaglia, were the night Marriott was allegedly murdered. Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said McDonough was arrested without incident on Christmas Eve on felony charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution and conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution. Read more...
December 20, 2012
Teen Shot During Paintball Argument
A 16-year-old boy fatally shot his friend with a shotgun after the pair argued over a paintball game and playfully wrestled at the boy's home in South Dakota, according to an arrest affidavit. The victim, Dalton Williams of Pierre, was found lying in the entryway of the accused shooter's house around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the chest. Paramedics rushed the high school sophomore to a nearby hospital, but he later died. Read more...
December 17, 2012
Funerals Begin for Newtown Victims
The small Connecticut town shattered by an act President Barack Obama called "unconscionable evil," holds on Monday the first two of 20 funerals for schoolchildren massacred in their classrooms last week. Meanwhile, schools across the country will reopen their doors to confused and scared children full of questions about why the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting happened - and whether they are safe from the very same danger. Read more...
Police Officers Fatally Shot Outside Market
Two Kansas police officers were shot outside a grocery store Sunday while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle and died later at a hospital, authorities said. Topeka Police Chief Ronald Miller called the shootings of Cpl. David Gogian and Officer Jeff Atherly "unspeakable." He said both officers were shot in the head by a gunman who opened fire on them within minutes of their arrival to investigate the vehicle. Read more...
Man Kills Neighbor With a Hammer
A Tampa-Bay area man who authorities say attacked his neighbor with a hammer has been charged with second degree murder with a weapon. Authorities say Jarrett Kyle Brooks approached Jonathan Acree from behind at a Thonotosassa trailer park, striking him in the head and neck multiple times with a hammer. Read more...
December 16, 2012
28 Dead in Connecticut Shootings
Terror swept through a small community and shock gripped the nation as a gunman opened fire Friday, December 14 on the most innocent of innocents - young children ages 5-10 at the Sandy Hook Elementary school near Newtown, Connecticut. The shooter has been identified by authorities as Adam Lanza, 20, whose mother was an employee at the school. Read more...
Many School Victims Shot Multiple Times
Many of the young elementary school victims killed Friday during a shooting spree were fired upon multiple times at close range by an assault rifle, the state’s chief medical examiner says. Dr. H. Wayne Carver II, Connecticut’s long-time chief medical examiner, said most of the 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School were first-graders. Among seven he personally examined, all had three to 11 bullet wounds. Read more...
First Responder: 'Worst Tragedy'
For Ray Corbo, first assistant fire chief at Newtown Hook and Ladder, the horrific images from the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary have taken a toll. There was the Newtown police officer who ran by him in the school's parking lot, carrying a boy, limp in his arms. "The police officer's uniform had blood all over it," he said. There were the teachers, who despite the chaos, kept order as they led their students away from the school building to the Sandy Hook firehouse. Read more...
Lanza Had No Apparent Link to School
The gunman who killed 27 people, including 20 children, targeted a school to which he had no current connection - forcing his way in and spraying classrooms with a weapon designed to kill across a battlefield, authorities said. Law enforcement officials gave new details about Friday's rampage by Adam Lanza, which ended with his suicide. Their new narrative partially contradicted previous ones, and made a baffling act seem more so. Read more...
Officials Release Names of Victims
Authorities have released the names of the 26 victims killed when a gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elementary school. All six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School were women. Of the 20 children who were shot to death, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were ages 6 or 7. Read more...
Suspect's Friends, Family at a Loss to Explain
As with any murder-suicide, the suspect in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took to his grave the reasons that compelled him to mow down more than two dozen people before taking his own life in the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. But those who knew the alleged shooter grasped to reconcile the difference between the quiet, withdrawn 20-year-old without a criminal record -- and the man who, dressed in black fatigues and a military vest, rained hell at the Newtown, Connecticut, school last week. Read more...
December 14, 2012
Student Found Murdered in Apartment
Police in Ypsilanti, Mich., opened a homicide investigation into the death of a 23-year-old Eastern Michigan University student who was found dead in her off-campus apartment. Julia Niswender was studying communications and also worked at Walmart. She never arrived at her company Christmas Party. Instead, she was found dead inside her apartment at the Peninsular Place Apartments near the campus. The school promptly sent out a crime alert warning students about an incident near campus. Read more...
December 13, 2012
Murder In Manhattan Leaves Big Questions
Of the 40 or so murders committed on average every day in the United States, most involve guns and around half involve victims and assailants who are acquainted or related. Nowadays, when we hear news reports about shootings in crowded spaces, they tend to be like the shootings at a Portland, Oregon mall yesterday - a man in a hockey mask firing seemingly aimlessly into a crowd and then taking his own life - murder as an act of madness. Read more...
December 12, 2012
Two Killed at Oregon Mall
A shooting at a mall near Portland, left three people dead, including the gunman, and at least one other person injured, police said. Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said the gunman shot two people to death and also died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Rhodes said another person was wounded with a traumatic injury and sent to a hospital. Rhodes said police do not believe there was a second shooter. Read more...
Suspect Lived With Girlfriend's Rotting Corpse
Prosecutors say a California murder suspect lived with his girlfriend's rotting corpse for months. Devon Epps was evicted from his Stockton apartment a year ago and the apartment manager found the decomposing body of 35-year-old Veronica Jones in the bathroom. Jones was reported missing six months before her body was found. The coroner says she was bludgeoned with a metal table pedestal, raped and stabbed 32 times. Read more...
Teens Kill Woman Who Said, 'Get a Job'
Three teens charged in the fatal shooting of a western Pennsylvania woman had targeted her, police say, after she told them to "get a job" when they tried to bum a cigarette from her boyfriend. Beaver Falls police have charged two 14-year-olds and one 13-year-old with criminal homicide and other charges in the shooting of Kayla Peterson, 22. She was shot and died at a Pittsburgh hospital two hours later. Read more...
December 11, 2012
Evidence of 98 Reform School Deaths
University of South Florida anthropologists say they've found evidence of 98 deaths and more graves than previously identified at a closed reform school in the Panhandle. A report released Monday by the university in Tampa says researchers found at least 50 gravesites at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. The report concludes there may be even more. That's 19 more gravesites than had been identified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in a 2010 investigative report. The FDLE was unable to substantiate or refute claims that students were abused and even killed by staffers since the school opened in 1900. It closed last year. Read more...
Autopsy Confirms Missing Iowa Cousins
Police in Iowa say an autopsy has confirmed that two bodies found last week in a wildlife area are those of two young cousins who have been missing since last summer. Evansdale Police Chief Kent Smock says he received confirmation from the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office that the bodies were Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook, who had been missing since July 13. The full autopsy hasn't been released to police. Read more...
December 10, 2012
4 Dead, 3 Hurt in Calfornia Shootings
A man shot three people dead on a Central California Indian reservation and wounded three others, including two young girls, before being fatally wounded in a shootout with detectives after a car chase, authorities said. The violence started on the Tule River Indian Reservation in Porterville, Calif., the Tulare County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies responding to a 911 call found a man and a woman dead inside a trailer and a male juvenile suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. The juvenile was transported to a hospital. Read more...
December 06, 2012
Subway Pusher Charged With Murder
A New York City man was charged today with murder for shoving another man onto subway tracks where he was struck and killed by an oncoming train. Naeem Davis, 30, was arraigned Wednesday night on a second-degree murder charge in he death of Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y. Davis will be held without bail. He is due back in court on Dec. 11. He is charged with murdering Han "with depraved indifference" not because he intended to kill Han, but because his lack of regard for Han's life resulted in the death. Read more...
December 05, 2012
4 Arrested in 4 Shooting Deaths
Los Angeles police say four suspects have been arrested in Las Vegas in the slayings of four people who were found dead in front of an unlicensed boarding house. Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference that the four were arrested at the Silverton Hotel in Las Vegas. Two men and two women were found fatally shot on a front lawn Sunday after police received a 911 call that led them to a large house in Northridge. Three of the bodies were found face-down. Read more...
Samantha Koenig Was Assaulted, Dismembered
The FBI says an Alaska barista was sexually assaulted and killed the day after she was abducted last February. Suspect Israel Keyes, who died in an apparent suicide this week, told authorities he left the barista's body in toolshed for two weeks while he went on a cruise. The FBI says Keyes told authorities he dismembered the body of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig after he returned from the cruise, and disposed of it in a frozen lake north of Anchorage. Read more...
December 04, 2012
Man's Decapitated Body Found
A man's decapitated body was discovered in Culver City near a busy intersection by Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, officials said. The body of the unidentified man was found by a passerby who immediately alerted police to the area of Washington and Inglewood boulevards, said Culver City Police Lt. Ron Izuka. The body was in an area with bushes. Izuka said "the body was decapitated, but we are not sure at this point how the man died." Read more...
Police Find Decomposed Man in Freezer
An Indiana man faces charges that he killed a friend and hid the body in his basement freezer. Police in Kokomo say they found a badly decomposed body Sunday in the freezer at a house where they were looking for 29-year-old Alex Shipp. Shipp's mother reported him missing Saturday and told police she hadn't heard from him since Nov. 8. Read more...
Man Shoots Ex-Wife During Church Service
An elementary school music teacher walked into a church in the middle of Sunday services and shot and killed his ex-wife as she sat in a pew, police said. Gregory Eldred, 52, of Coudersport, has been charged with first-degree murder, simple assault, terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, accused twice shooting Darlene Sitler, 53, at the First United Presbyterian Church. Witnesses told police they saw Eldred pacing outside the 180-year-old church before the service and that other members of the congregation grabbed Eldred after the shooting and held him until police arrived. Read more...
December 03, 2012
4 Found Shot Outside California Home
The bodies of four people who had been shot to death were found face-down outside a suburban Southern California home that apparently served as an unlicensed boarding house, authorities said. Los Angeles police were seeking a motive for the attacks at the house in Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley. The dead were two women in their mid-20s, a man in his mid-30s and another man in his late-40s, Capt. William Hayes said at a news conference. Read more...
Toddler's Death Prompts Review of 2 Others
A toddler's death during a visit with his father in Virginia is prompting police to also more closely investigate the suicide of the man's mother and the shooting death of a onetime girlfriend in the past decade. Fifteen-month-old Prince McLeod Rams died during a three-hour, unsupervised visit with his father, Joaquin S. Rams of Manassas. Manassas Police spokesman Lowell Nevill says that led police to further probe the 2008 suicide of Joaquin Rams' mother and the 2003 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend Shawn K. Mason. Read more...
November 30, 2012
Body Identified as Emilliano Terry
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed the child's body found at a waste treatment facility as that of 3-year-old Emilliano Terry. The remains were identified through DNA testing conducted by the Medical Examiner's Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. Prosecutors said that Emilliano suffered blunt force trauma to the head and a skull fracture. The medical examiner's office, however, says the cause and manner of death are still under investigation. Read more...
Pet Rescuer Shot to Death by Homeowner
An animal control officer trying to save pets from a foreclosed California home was shot to death by the former owner, authorities said. The officer had gone to the Sacramento-area home after the resident, Joseph Corey, allegedly called and said he could not care for them because he was being evicted by his bank. The animal control officer went to the home in the community of Galt. Read more...
Woman Arrested in Daughter's Death
A Wisconsin woman was arrested on a charge of felony child neglect in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, who officials say drank gasoline. Connie Hartmann, 35, of Medina, is also facing a charge of felony child neglect resulting in great bodily harm to the girl's 4-year-old brother. The Dane County Sheriff's Office said Hartmann was taken to jail after she was arrested in connection with a domestic incident at her home in Medina Township. Read more...
November 29, 2012
Mom Charged in Death of Toddler
A woman who reported her 3-year-old son missing from a family gathering at a Cleveland park has been arrested on a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the child's death. Camilia Terry was arrested after the body of her middle son, Emilliano Terry, was found in a bag thrown into the trash. More charges are expected to be filed in the case, authorities said. Read more...
November 28, 2012
Neighbor Arrested in Jersey Bridgeman's Death
A 6-year-old Arkansas girl who survived being abused by her father and stepmother has been killed and a her body found in a vacant house in her neighborhood. Police have arrested Zachary Holly, who lived next door to Jersey Bridgeman, in connection with her death. Both of Jersey's parents are in prison for child abuse. Read more...
Woman Arrested in Connection With Homicide
A second person has been arrested in connection with the death of a man at a Midvale apartment complex three months ago. Amy Rowley, 35, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated robbery. She is accused of being with Gabriel Gurule, 35, when Gurule allegedly shot and killed 31-year-old Justen Len LeFave on Aug. 26 at the Wasatch Club Apartments. The search continued for a second woman who police believe was also involved in the incident. Read more...
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November 27, 2012
Neighbor Arrested In Jersey Bridgeman's Death
Zachary Holly, 28, was arrested in connection with the murder investigation of 6-year-old Jersey Bridgeman, according to police. He is being charged with capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary, according to Chief Jon Simpson. Holly lives next door to Jersey, in a trailer at 702 SE A St. Holly's home lies between Jersey's house and the vacant house where the girl's body was found. Simpson made the announcement during a news conference at the Bentonville Police Department Monday night. Read more...
Teen Accused of Killing Stepfather With Sword
Authorities in north Georgia say a 16-year-old boy is expected to make his first court appearance after he was accused of killing his stepfather with a sword. Pickens County sheriff's Lt. Kris Stancil says a relative of the teen called 911 Friday night to report the stabbing. It happened at a home inside a gated community in the Jasper area. Jasper is about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta. Read more...
Man Charged in Car Trunk Murders
A man has been charged with the so-called 'Backpage murders' in which the bodies of four women were found in car trunks in Detroit last December. James Brown, 24, of Sterling Heights, said little during a brief arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder. He's due back in court Jan. 9. Brown's lawyer Jeffrey Cojocar, who entered the pleas on behalf of Brown, says his client maintains he didn't kill the women. Read more...
November 26, 2012
Laughing Teen Kills Dad With Ax
The 19-year-old San Antonio man who police say fatally attacked his sleeping father with an ax, began to "smile and laugh" at his booking when he overheard why he was arrested. Police say Marshall Lee Giles died of his injuries hours after the attack. Police arrived at the home and found the man with gruesome injuries. He suffered several large cuts on his head and his left eye hung out of the socket. Read more...
Three Shooting Victims Found in Motel Room
Police are looking for the motive and suspects behind the fatal shooting of three people found dead at a north Dallas motel. A cleaning crew discovered the bodies of two men and a woman on the third floor of a Motel 6, just north of the High 5 interchange of Central Expressway and I-635 LBJ Freeway. The three victims had been shot to death, according to the police report. Read more...
Woman Arrested After Remains Found
Detectives in Florida are trying to unravel the mystery of how a woman's husband died after his body was found decomposing inside their home. James Dennis Peters, 62, who has had a history of domestic violence arrests with his 56-year-old wife, Sheree Hines Peters, was found lying on the ground covered in a sheet, Fox 13 reports. Relatives and neighbors in Haines City became suspicious after asking Sheree where her husband was the past three weeks. She claimed he was hunting, at a hospital or doing yard work, investigators say. Read more...
November 23, 2012
Abused Girl, 6, Found Dead
A six-year-old girl whose father and stepmother were sent to prison for keeping her chained up has been found dead, authorities said. The FBI and police in Bentonville, Arkansas, were investigating the suspected homicide of Jersey Bridgeman. Her father David Bridgeman was given an 18-year prison sentence in 2011 after pleading guilty to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. Read more...
Teen Charged in Fatal School Bus Shooting
A Florida teen accused of fatally shooting a 13-year-old girl on a private school bus has been charged with manslaughter, police said. "The defendant removed a firearm that was concealed in his backpack and began displaying it," the Miami Dade Police arrest report said. He "discharged the firearm one time, shooting the victim." The shooting happened as the bus was traveling down a road in Homestead, Florida, the report said. Read more...
November 21, 2012
13-Year-Old Girl Shot on School Bus Dies
A 13-year-old girl who was shot on a school bus Tuesday morning has died, and a male student is being held for questioning, Miami-Dade police said. The suspect's age was not made public. The victim, also a student, had been airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital from the scene of the shooting. She was on a private school bus en route to Somerset Academy Silver Palms when the incident happened, Javier Baez, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said. Read more...
Boy Faked Death to Avoid Gunman
A pastor says 12-year-old Christian Schuster survived a deadly shooting in North Dakota by being covered by his slain brother and pretending to be dead. The Rev. Grant Patterson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he spoke to the young boy for a little more than an hour after his grandmother and three of his siblings were killed in New Town, which is on the Fort Berthold reservation. Read more...
November 20, 2012
4 Indicted in Atlanta Lounge Murder
A quartet of alleged gang members and bandits was indicted last week by a Fulton County grand jury in connection with the August shooting death of a west Atlanta lounge owner. Gerald Peterson, Ottis Ricks, DeMario Carman and Christopher Penson were each charged with murder, criminal gang activity, gun possession while committing a felony, armed robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Read more...
November 19, 2012
Man Arrested in Barrel Deaths
South Carolina authorities say they've arrested a man accused of killing two people more than a month ago and stuffing their bodies in barrels before dumping them into a lake. Anderson County Sheriff's spokesman Chad McBride says John Michael Young was arrested early Saturday. A jail spokesman says Young was likely to make a first appearance before a judge later Saturday. He did not know if Young had an attorney. Read more...
Foul Smell Leads to Dismembered Woman
A Southern California man has been arrested in connection with the grisly murder of his 74-year-old wife, authorities confirmed. Police found the woman, who had been dismembered, inside the couple's Oceanside, Calif. home at 11:10 p.m. on Friday. The smell coming from the house was so foul that officers had to wear masks while investigating the home. Detectives located the woman's 68-year-old husband in downtown Oceanside. He voluntarily went with them for questioning. After interviewing the man, police arrested him on suspicion of his wife's murder. Read more...
Third Shopkeeper Killed by Same Gun
Authorities say a New York City boutique owner was shot to death in the head with the same gun that killed two other shopkeepers in the same borough over the summer. The shop owner was behind the counter of She She in the Flatbush section when he was shot. The gunman dragged his body toward the back of the store and covered it with clothing. Read more...
November 17, 2012
9-Year-Old Boy Charged With Murder
A 9-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of a toddler in a St. Louis suburb. Associate Judge Walter Brandon ordered the Illinois Department of Human Services to take custody of the child, who was charged as a juvenile in the Aug. 22 death of the 14-month-old boy in Cahokia. Defense attorney Bill Walker said the boy's mother and grandmother both died years ago and that the other adults in his life were detained after being charged with child endangerment. Read more...
Aunt Arrested in Death of 3-Year-Old Girl
Westminster Police have arrested a 27-year-old woman on charges of child abuse resulting in death. According to court records, a warrant for the woman, Irene Walker's arrest was issued on Thursday. Her bail has been set at $100,000, and has not been posted. Records show the child's death occurred on Sept. 17. An arrest affidavit identifies the child as 3-year-old Jersey Ruiz — Walker's niece. Read more...
November 16, 2012
Bodies of Woman, Man Found in Barrels
The bodies of a man and a woman have been found in two barrels in a South Carolina lake, Anderson County investigators said. The first barrel was discovered floating in the water near Asbury Park. It contained human female remains. The second barrel was found near a bridge about a half mile away. Greg Shore, Anderson County coroner, said the remains were of a man. Read more...
Teen Charged With Killing Girl, 16
A Chicago teen was charged with fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl in the South Side's Roseland neighborhood. Deon Blandon, 18, was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Taylor Fitting in the head while she sat in the back seat of a car, authorities said. Police said that Taylor was dropped off by an unknown person at Roseland Community Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Read more...
November 15, 2012
Mom and 2 Daughters Found Dead in Closet
Police are investigating after a neighbor found a 29-year-old woman and her two young daughters dead inside their home near Miami. Miami-Dade detective Roy Rutland told The Miami Herald the neighbor smelled an odor Tuesday and went inside the house to find its source. There, she found Gladys Machado in a closet. Machado's daughters, 4-year-old Daniela Patrino and 8-year-old Julia Padrino, were next to her. Read more...
November 14, 2012
Nephew Charged in Aunt's Slaying
A 19-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his aunt Saturday night in a gated community in North Jackson. Caleb Lawrence Mullins was arrested by police in Louisville, Ky., on Monday. He will appear this morning in front of a Louisville judge to determine when he will be extradited to Jackson, according to Jackson police Lt. Tyreece Miller. Police said that Mullins stabbed his 43-year-old aunt Karen Mullins, took her SUV and drove from Jackson to Louisville, which is where the two are originally from. Read more...
Pastor's Grandson Accused in Murder
A Houston, Texas man was arrested and questioned by police regarding the death of his grandfather, an 89-year-old pastor and the pastor's 61-year-old daughter, who was visiting from California. Police said Cameron Dorsey, 20, became a "person of interest" after he was seen leaving his grandfather's house shortly before the bodies were discovered. Houston firefighters found the bodies of Vincent Dorsey and his daughter, Barbara Ann Dorsey Alexander, after a home on Dover street caught fire. Read more...
November 13, 2012
Woman Set on Fire by Husband Dies
A Florida woman who suffered burns on 80 percent of her body after her husband allegedly set her on fire in August died from an infection. Megan Kimbrough, 26, was allegedly burned by Joshua Kimbrough, who faces numerous charges including attempted first-degree murder. Detectives say Kimbrough set his wife on fire in their Lakeland home with flammable liquids and then stopped her as she tried to run out of the house to extinguish herself. Read more...
November 08, 2012
Ex-Officer Arrested in Wife's Death
A fired police officer has been charged in the alleged murder-for-hire death of his wife, whom he married after undergoing a female-to-male sex-change operation. Oregon City police said that 50-year-old Lynn Edward Benton has been charged with aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Read more...
Woman Charged in Child's Death
A northwestern Missouri woman has been charged in the October death of her bedridden 4-year-old daughter. Alexandra Laureen Schurr, 21, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. Schurr was being held in the Buchanan County jail on $50,000 bond. Schurr's daughter, Amber Elizabeth Mosier, died Oct. 10 at their St. Joseph home. The little girl had cerebral palsy and relied on a feeding tube. An autopsy showed she died of an airway obstruction. Read more...
November 06, 2012
Uncle Charged With Murdering 6-Year-Old
A Delaware County man has been charged with murder in the beating death of his 6-year-old nephew, the district attorney's office announced. Paul Adams, 38 of Wallingford, allegedly lashed Tyreece Charlow for 45 minutes with a large belt after the child would not listen or follow directions, according to court documents. Read more...
November 05, 2012
Pastor Charged With Killing Fiancee's Daughter
As police frantically worked to figure out how his fiancee's 24-year-old daughter had vanished, a Michigan pastor who had turned to God to shed his violent past went to his flock with a request: pray for her. But all along, authorities say, he knew the sordid truth about where the young mother was. The pastor, ex-convict John D. White, later confessed to killing Rebekah Gay to fulfill a fantasy of necrophilia, police said Friday. White drank four or five beers before going to the woman's mobile home and repeatedly striking her head with a mallet and strangling her with a zip tie, according to court documents. Read more...
October 31, 2012
Teen charged as an Adult in Ridgeway Death
A 17-year-old student was formally charged with the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, whose body parts were found at a park in a Denver suburb earlier this month. Austin Reed Sigg, a student at Arapahoe Community College, was also charged with attempting to kidnap, sexually assault and murder a female jogger last May. Read more...
October 30, 2012
Autumn Pasquale Funeral Draws Hundreds
The body of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale was laid to rest at a New Jersey church where mourners were urged to do good works in her memory. Autumn was found dead on Oct. 22 in a recycling bin behind a house in Clayton next to where her accused murderers lived. Two brothers, aged 15 and 17 years old, were arrested in her slaying. Read more...
Pastor of North Texas Church Killed
A North Texas pastor was killed by an attacker who rammed a car into a church wall, chased the pastor and beat him with an electric guitar, police said. Police in Forest Hill, a suburb of Fort Worth, did not say why the unidentified suspect attacked the Rev. Danny Kirk Sr., the founding pastor of Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church. The suspect also died a short time after being taken into custody. Read more...
October 29, 2012
Brother-in-Law Charged in Stabbing Murder
A California man is facing three counts of murder for the stabbing deaths of his sister-in-law and her two young children. Grigoriy Bukhantsov, 19, was arrested in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento. He is the only suspect in the murder of 23-year-old Alina Bukhantsov, her 3-year-old daughter Emmanuela and her 2-year-old son Avenir a day earlier. Grigoriy Bukhantsov's brother Denis came home Tuesday to find his wife and children dead, the Modesto Bee reported. Read more...
Murder Suspect Influenced by Porn?
An Oregon man charged in the Oct. 16 rape and murder of a 21-year-old barista told police that he had child pornography in a bizarre confession unrelated to his killing. Police said Jonathan Holt, 24 -- who's accused of sexually assaulting and shooting 21-year-old Whitney Heichel to death -- not only admitted to the killing, but copped to downloading child pornography. Read more...
October 27, 2012
Twins Charged in Florida Murder
Florida authorities charged 31-year-old twin brothers with murdering a former Pensacola newspaper reporter whose body was found buried in concrete in Georgia. Pensacola police said Christopher and William Cormier of Georgia also face armed robbery charges. Authorities say they killed 30-year-old Sean Dugas. Dugas worked for the Pensacola News Journal from 2005 to 2010 doing various newsroom jobs including clerk, multimedia reporter, entertainment reporter and crime reporter. Read more...
Friend Charged With Killing Grandmother, Baby
A family friend charged with killing a baby girl and her grandmother told police he dropped the baby as he wielded a knife and the grandmother charged at him during a botched kidnapping, authorities said. Raghunandan "Raghu" Yandamuri, a native of India, targeted the family for a $50,000 ransom because he knew both parents worked, and he left copies of a ransom note, according to a police affidavit filed in a Philadelphia suburb. Read more...
Man Charged in 3 Family Members' Deaths
A 19-year-old Northern California man accused of fatally stabbing his sister-in-law and young niece and nephew was formally charged with three counts of murder at his first court appearance. Authorities have yet to release a motive, but Grigoriy Bukhantsov's attorney said after the hearing that his client appears to have psychological problems and a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Read more...
October 26, 2012
2 Children Stabbed to Death, Nanny Arrested
Police say a mother returned home to her Manhattan apartment to find her two small children stabbed to death in a bathtub and her nanny with a knife in her hand. Police said the woman returned home to find her children, ages 3 and 5, in the bathroom of their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The nanny had a knife in her hand and a self-inflicted wound. Read more...
Ridgeway Suspect Made Girls Uneasy
His stare stayed with them for days. The cold, harsh way he looked at them. The unease they just couldn't shake off when he did. So, when Austin Reed Sigg was arrested, accused of strangling 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, dismembering her and placing her body parts under the two-story home where he lived, many of the girls in that Denver suburb weren't shocked. Read more...
October 25, 2012
Teen Arrested in Killing of Colorado Girl
A teenage boy who lived just a mile from a 10-year-old Colorado girl who was abducted and killed earlier this month has been arrested in her death, along with a May attack on a runner, authorities said. Police in the Denver suburb of Westminster said they arrested 17-year-old Austin Reed Sigg after receiving a phone call that led them to his home. They declined to elaborate. Sigg lives about a mile from the home of Jessica Ridgeway, who disappeared Oct. 5 after leaving for school. Her body was found five days later in a field at a park. Read more...
Man Arrested in Slaying of Brother's Wife
Authorities in Sacramento, Calif., arrested a 19-year-old man Wednesday in connection with the brutal slaying of his brother's wife and two young children. Deputies with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department took Grigoriy Bukhantsov into custody after they found him asleep at a Denny's restaurant in Placer County. Bukhantsov's brother found the bodies of his wife, his 2-year-old son and his 3-year-old daughter when he returned to the family's Rancho Cordova home, about 15 miles east of Sacramento. He then ran to a neighbor's home and called police. Read more...
Man Shot and Killed at Atlanta Megachurch
A former employee entered a chapel at an Atlanta-area megachurch headed by televangelist Creflo Dollar early and fatally shot a volunteer staff member leading a prayer service, police said. The gunman walked calmly into the chapel at World Changers Church International's main campus in College Park, Ga., and shot a 39-year-old volunteer and church member who was leading a prayer service, Fulton County Police Cpl. Kay Lester said at a news conference. The victim, Gregory McDowell, was transported to South Fulton Hospital, where he later died. Read more...
October 24, 2012
Teens Charged in 12-Year-Old's Death
Two teenage brothers have been charged with the death of a 12-year-old New Jersey girl whose disappearance set off a massive search over the weekend. The body of Autumn Pasquale was found stuffed into a small home recycling container. Arrested were Justin Robinson, 15, and his brother Dante Robinson, 17. Read more...
Oregon Barista Was Raped, Shot
Whitney Heichel, the 21-year-old Oregon barista whose body was found days after she vanished on her way to work, was sexually assaulted and shot to death by her neighbor, police said. Police charged Heichel's neighbor, Jonathan Holt, 24, with seven counts, including aggravated murder with a firearm, kidnapping, robbery, and sodomy, during an arraignment in Clackamas County Circuit Court Monday. Read more...
Killer of 5 Dead in Alabama
A body found in Hazel Green, Ala., has been identified as that of the man wanted for questioning in the deaths of five people, a county coroner said. Authorities have ID'd the body as that of Warren Vincent Crutcher, 24. Whisenant said the death was not a suicide but did not elaborate. Earlier Tuesday, a victim identified as Jeffrey Pope was found dead in Huntsville, Ala. Read more...
October 23, 2012
Whitney Heichel Died of Multiple Gunshots
A medical examiner has determined that Whitney Heichel, the Oregon barista who went missing Oct. 16 and whose body was found three days later, died of multiple gunshot wounds. The station also reports that Jonathan Holt, 24, the suspect in her death, attended the same Jehovah's Witness church as Heichel, 21, and her husband. Holt and his wife also reportedly lived in the same apartment complex as the Heichels. Read more...
FAMU Hazing Killer Gets Probation
The first of a dozen defendants to be sentenced in last year's hazing death of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion has avoided jail time but will spend more than two years under close supervision. Brian Jones, 23, was sentenced at the hearing to six months of community control, which puts strict limits on his freedom and requires frequent check-ins with probation officials. Following that, he'll serve two more years of probation. He's also required to perform 200 hours of community service. Read more...
Killer of Bride Left Chilling Note
The killer of a pregnant bride-to-be who was found stabbed to death in her New York apartment over the weekend left a strange note at the crime scene promising that more expectant mothers would continue to die unless the infamous "DC Sniper" is released from prison. A law enforcement source close to the investigation told the New York Post that the killer had left the missive underneath Vindalee Smith's body that threatened that one pregnant woman a week would be killed until serial shooter Lee Boyd Malvo is released from prison. Read more...
October 22, 2012
3 Killed, 4 Injured in Rampage at Spa
Three people were killed in a shooting rampage at a spa near the Brookfield Square Mall in Wisconsin. Four others were shot. Waukesha County authorities confirmed that the suspected shooter, Radcliffe F. Haughton, 45, of Brown Deer, was found dead inside the spa. The multiple shooting occurred at the Azana Salon & Spa on N. Moorland Road. Read more...
Gunman Shoots Family of 5 in Inglewood
Authorities were continuing to piece together the shooting and fire at an Inglewood home that left three people dead, including a young child, and three others wounded. Five members of a family were found shot Saturday morning. Then on Saturday night, the body of another person was found in the rubble. "We do have a body," said Inglewood police Lt. James Madia, adding that police were taking care not to disturb it and had not made a tentative identification. Read more...
Missing Woman's Live-In Boyfriend Charged
The live-in boyfriend of missing Calumet City resident Gena Chiodo has been charged in her killing, officials said tonight. Donal E. Clark, 42, was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide, Calumet City Police Chief Edward Glimore said. The charges came after Chiodo disappeared on Oct. 13 and as her friends began to suspect that Clark had something to do with her disappearance. Read more...
October 20, 2012
Body of Oregon Woman Found
Searchers have found the body of a young Oregon woman who vanished Tuesday on her way to work and police have arrested a neighbor for investigation of aggravated murder, Gresham police said. The body of Whitney Heichel, 21, was found on Larch Mountain, a remote forested area east of Gresham, Police Chief Craig Junginger told a news conference. After collecting DNA and fingerprints and conducting three interviews over several days, police arrested Jonathan Holt, 24, of Gresham, the chief said. Read more...
Woman's Body Found in San Diego Dumpster
A body buried under a ton of trash in a remote San Diego County dumpster is that of a missing Newport Beach woman whose husband was charged earlier this week with her murder, authorities said. Quee "Q.C" Chadwick's body was found inside the dumpster off a highway in rural Lakeside beneath mounds of trash. A coroner's examiner in San Diego County made the positive identification on Friday, prosecutors said. The location is about 100 miles south of the tony Orange County coastal community where she lived with her husband, Peter Chadwick. A cause of death is still being determined. Read more...
October 19, 2012
Police Seek Clues in Colorado Murder
Police investigating the slaying of a 10-year-old Colorado girl whose dismembered body was found days after she disappeared released the description of a man who attempted to abduct a woman in the same area months earlier. While not calling the man in the earlier incident a suspect in the kidnap and murder of Jessica Ridgeway, Westminster, Colorado, police issued the bulletin in an effort to "uncover any lead" in the high-profile case. Read more...
Three Arrested in Denver Bar Fire Deaths
Police said they had arrested three men they say entered a Denver bar just before closing time to rob the owner and patrons, and ended up killing five people and then setting the bar on fire to cover up the murders. The arrests followed an all-day manhunt on Wednesday after an early morning fire at Fero's Bar and Grill in southeast Denver. Firefighters responding to the blaze pulled the five victims from the burning building and determined they had not died from the blaze, leading detectives to believe the fire was set to cover up the killings, Denver Police Detective John White said. Read more...
Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty Against Nurse
Texas prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a Houston woman accused of killing a mother and abducting her newborn son earlier this year outside a clinic, authorities said. Investigators believe Verna McClain, 31, was desperate for a baby to pass off as her own after suffering a miscarriage. She is facing a charge of capital murder for allegedly shooting Kala Golden-Schuchardt outside a pediatric clinic in suburban Houston and taking her days-old son. The baby was found safe with a relative of McClain. Read more...
October 18, 2012
Son Arrested With Body Parts in Back Seat
After a car eluding Greenwood Village police crashed at East Orchard Road and South Dayton Street, officers made a shocking discovery in the back seat: a woman's dismembered remains. After a short chase on foot, Ari Misha Liggett, 24, of Centennial was arrested. The woman whose body was found in the backseat has not yet been identified, but before the crash Liggett and his 56-year-old mother had been reported missing. Read more...
October 17, 2012
Boyfriend Charged in Freshman's Beating Death
A New York college student has been formally charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of his girlfriend inside her dorm room last month. The Monroe County District Attorney's office says a grand jury indicted 21-year-old Clayton Whittemore. He has been held without bail since shortly after the body of 18-year-old freshman Alexandra Kogut was found Sept. 29 at the State University of New York College at Brockport, near Rochester. Read more...
October 16, 2012
Man Charged in Marriot Murder
A 29-year-old man has been charged with the death of a 19-year-old University of New Hampshire student who disappeared last week on her way to visit a friend. Assistant Attorney General James Vara said that although Elizabeth Marriott's body has not been located, police believed that the teen is dead and arrested Seth Mazzaglia from Dover who was accused of second-degree murder of the missing student. Authorities have credible information that determined Marriott is dead, although the body is yet to be found. Read more...
Body of Missing Florida Student Identified
Human remains discovered last week in Levy County, Florida, have been identified as those of missing University of Florida student Christian Aguilar. Dental records were used to identify the body, Gainesville police said. Further tests will be conducted to determine his manner of death. Aguilar's remains were found on Friday, but police did not identify them until Monday. Read more...
October 15, 2012
Body Identified as Missing 10-Year-Old
A 10-year-old Colorado girl reported missing one week ago is dead, police said Friday, spurring a manhunt for the person who killed her. Westminster Police Chief Lee Birk told reporters that a body found earlier this week "has been positively identified" as that of Jessica Ridgeway. "Our focus has changed from a search for Jessica to a mission of justice for Jessica," Birk said. Jessica was last seen by her mother as she left for school October 5. Authorities then issued a statewide Amber Alert for the girl. Read more...
Concrete-Encased Body Identified
A body encased in concrete and buried in a Georgia backyard has been identified as that of a former Florida journalist who went missing in August. The positive identification of 30-year-old Sean Dugas was made using dental records and facial bone CT scans, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. Dugas, a former crime reporter at the Pensacola News Journal, had been missing since August 27. Read more...
Search for Body of UNH Student on Hold
A New Hampshire prosecutor says the search for the body of a 19-year-old University of New Hampshire student has been suspended ahead of the arraignment for an actor and martial arts instructor who's been charged in her death. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said Sunday that a ground and water search on and around Portsmouth's Peirce Island is expected to resume Monday. She says waters around the island were dangerous on Sunday. Read more...
Three Women Arrested for Murder
New details have emerged in a brutal homicide case, investigators say 64-year-old Rudy Montoya was stabbed dozens of times and beaten with a baseball bat. Three women are now in jail facing murder charges. A caretaker for Montoya's father discovered the man dead inside his Chimayo home. Read more...
Utah Man Stabbed Grandma 111 Times
A Utah man accused of stabbing his grandmother 111 times told police he slit her heart and belly and removed several of her internal organs, prosecutors said in court documents. Police went to 84-year-old Joyce Dexter's Salt Lake City home on Oct. 3 after neighbors heard screams and called 911. Officers found Zachary Cole Weston standing over Dexter's body while holding a bloody knife, according to court. Read more...
October 11, 2012
Body Found in Charles River Identified
A body found in the Charles River is that of an architecture graduate student from North Carolina missing for about a week, authorities said. A law enforcement source told the Boston Globe that the body of 23-year-old Jonathan Dailey was found bound with chains and weighted down with a cinder block in the river. The Suffolk District Attorney's office said the remains were identified from dental records as Dailey, a Charlotte native who had been studying at Boston Architectural College. Read more...
Twin Brothers Charged With Murder
Police charged twin brothers with murder in the death of a man whose body was found entombed in concrete in the backyard of a northeast Georgia home. Christopher and William Cormier, 31, were charged with murder Wednesday afternoon, according to Winder, Ga., police officer Chris Cooper. They'd previously been charged with concealing death. Authorities still haven't definitively identified the body, Cooper said. But police in Winder and in Pensacola, Fla., have said they believe the remains are those of 30-year-old Sean Dugas. Read more...
October 10, 2012
Police Unearth Human Remains in Concrete
Georgia police have unearthed a body that was entombed in concrete, stuffed inside a plastic storage container, and buried in a back yard. They believe the remains could be those of a missing Florida man. Police in the northeastern city of Winder arrested 31-year-old twins Christopher and William Cormier a day after the body was found. They were charged with concealing a death. Read more...
Pregnant Woman Charged in Deaths of 2 Sons
Police say a Southeast Texas woman who is pregnant with her fourth child has been charged in the deaths of her two infant sons. Kristi-An Walker remained jailed on murder and two other charges relating to the deaths that occurred separately. One was in April 2011 and the second was in June. Read more...
October 09, 2012
Suspect Arrested in Falcon Lake Killing
For more than two years, details about the investigation into who killed David Hartley have been as murky as the waters where his body disappeared. His grieving widow told police that attackers shot him in the head on a lake the straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. She said she was forced to flee and leave his body behind. The trail seemed to go cold until Monday, when Mexican authorities said they had arrested a leader of the ruthless Zetas drug cartel and linked him to the Falcon Lake killing. Read more...
October 08, 2012
Teen Describes Murders of Mom, Sister to 911
During a nearly 25-minute call to 911, a 17-year-old calmly describes shooting his mother and younger sister to death in their North Texas home. Jake Evans told the Parker County 911 operator early Thursday morning, "It's weird, I wasn't even really angry with them." Authorities say he shot his mother, 48-year-old Jami Evans, and his 15-year-old sister, Mallory, at the family's upscale home near Aledo, about 20 miles west of Fort Worth. Read more...
Toddler's Remains Found Buried in Backyard
Police have discovered what they believe to be the remains of Justin Kowalczik, a missing 17-month-old boy in Farmingdale, Long Island. According to investigators, Kowalczik's remains were found buried in the backyard of the home Justin's mother Heather Kowalczik rented with her boyfriend and their two other children. The search for Justin was ignited after police say someone called Child Protective Services out of concern for the health and welfare of Justin's 6-year-old sibling. Read more...
October 05, 2012
Recently Escaped Prisoner Kills Two
A convicted felon was arrested and charged with first-degree murder of two men in St. Petersburg, Fla., after disappearing from a work release program. Michael Scott Norris, 36, is also charged with escape, burglary and possession of a firearm. Detectives say he shot and killed Bruce Johnson, 51, and Arthur Regula, 36, inside a home where Johnson was staying. Read more...
October 03, 2012
Mother Charged With Murder of 4-Year-Old Son
Police have charged a 46-year-old Westchester, N.Y., woman with murder after they found her 4-year-old son dead in the bedroom. Manuela Maria Morgado was arraigned in Village of Mamaroneck Court and was remanded to Westchester County without bail. She is due back in court on Oct. 4. It was not immediately clear whether she has an attorney. Read more...
Teen Girl, 4 Others Charged in Homicide
Five people, including a 17-year-old girl, were charged today with first-degree murder in connection with last month's kidnapping and slaying of a Lakewood man. "The motive for this kidnapping and brutal murder is still murky," Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said in a news release. "Some of the defendants alleged that the victim was somehow involved in the disappearance of a three-year-old, and that he previously sexually assaulted defendant King, but there's no corroborative evidence to support these claims." Charged were: Jeffrey Powell II, 30; William Barry, 33; Aileenah Horton, 17; Angela King, 32; and Justin Mahaffey, 23. They have also been charged with robbery. Read more...
October 02, 2012
4 Arrested in VFW Shooting in Florida
Four men were charged in a shooting at a Veterans of Foreign War post in Florida that killed two people and critically wounded another, authorities said. The gunfire happened after a fight in the VFW's parking lot as a motorcycle club gathered for a charity ride. Police have not said whether the men arrested or the shooting victims were VFW members or with the motorcycle club, known as the Warlocks. Read more...
Student Held Without Bail in Murder of Coed
A New York college student has been charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of his 18-year-old girlfriend, who was found brutally assaulted in her dorm room, police said. Alexandra Kogut, of New Hartford, N.Y., was found dead in her room at The College at Brockport by university police. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. Kogut's boyfriend, Clayton Whittemore, 21, was later arrested at a rest stop roughly 100 miles away and confessed to killing Kogut, a freshman communications major whose relatives remembered her as a "bright, beautiful" young woman excited to begin her college life. Read more...
October 01, 2012
Teacher Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot
A Florida high school teacher was arrested for allegedly plotting to kill a former colleague, My Fox Tampa Bay reports. James Pepe, 55, a social studies teacher at Bloomington High School, was arrested last week for what police say was a plot to harm Pepe's former colleague, teacher Robert Meredith. During a recorded conversation played during Pepe's bond hearing Saturday, prosecutors allege Pepe is heard on tape saying of Meredith, "I want him killed; all right." Read more...
Woman Charged With Fatally Stabbing Roommate
Authorities say a Houston-area woman accused of fatally stabbing her roommate and then asking a friend's boyfriend to help her dispose of the body has been charged with murder. Adele Margaret Karczewski remained jailed Sunday on $50,000 bail. The Harris County Sheriff's Office says the 53-year-old Karczewski and her 62-year-old roommate Charles Graham had been arguing and she later used a kitchen knife to stab him in the neck on Wednesday. Read more...
Teen Charged as Adult in Mall Shooting
A 17-year-old boy has been charged as an adult in a shooting in a mall parking lot in Baltimore County. Police say 17-year-old Rickey Freeman has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and use of a firearm during a violent crime. He's being held without bail. The shooting occurred Friday night in the parking lot of Security Square Mall. Police say a man was shot at least once and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police have not released additional details about the victim or his condition. Read more...
September 28, 2012
Five Dead After Workplace Shooting
A gunman killed four people inside a Minneapolis sign-making business before turning the weapon on himself, authorities said. The victims' bodies were found shortly after officers arrived at Accent Signage Systems Inc., located in a residential area in the city's north side, after receiving a 911 call, according to police spokesman Sgt. Stephen McCarty. Read more...
Son Arrested After Mom's Body Found
Police arrested the 16-year-old son of a woman who was found shot dead and stuffed inside a plastic trash bin in the Bronx. Darwin Jackson reportedly told police investigators he shot his mother, Tihesha Savage, 34, amid an argument. He was charged with second-degree murder and weapons possession. A superintendent of the building where the family lived made the discovery when he spotted a tan, rectangular bin near some bushes. Read more...
September 25, 2012
Ex-Professor Gets Life for Shooting Rampage
A Harvard-educated biologist was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday after being convicted of going on a shooting rampage during a faculty meeting at an Alabama university, killing three colleagues and wounding three others in 2010. The jury deliberated for about 20 minutes before convicting Amy Bishop. The former professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville showed no reaction as the verdict was read. She did not speak in court, but her attorney said she has often expressed great remorse for the victims and their families. Read more...
September 24, 2012
Parents Charged in Canal Drowning Death
The parents of a three-year-old girl whose body was found in a canal just hours after recovered wandering the streets alone have been charged with felony child neglect. Police in Dansbury, Wisconsin say the parents of Reena Mae Williams turned themselves in two days after a warrant was placed for their arrest in the child's death. Jenna Danish, 33, and Thomas Jay Williams, 42, face a maximum of 25 years in prison after Reena's body was found approximately 25 yards from their home last month. Read more...
September 18, 2012
19-Year-Old Charged With Shaking Baby to Death
A 19-year-old New Jersey man will appear in court after being charged with shaking his girlfriend's baby to death, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. Daquan Davis is charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. Police say Davis was caring for the 6-month-old infant at School House Apartments on North Martin Luther King Boulevard in Atlantic City, N.J., while the child's mother was at work. Read more...
September 17, 2012
Boy Accused of Killing 2-Year-Old Brother
A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street. The grandmother taking care of him had holed up with cocaine in a messy motel room, while his 14-year-old mother was nowhere to be found. His life had been punctuated with violence since he was conceived, an act that resulted in a sexual assault conviction against his father. Fernandez' life got worse from there: He was sexually assaulted by a cousin and beaten by his stepfather, who committed suicide before police investigating the beating arrived. Read more...
September 15, 2012
Professor Arrested in Ex-Wife's Death
A Naval Postgraduate School professor and financial expert has been arrested in connection with the death of his ex-wife, whose body was found in California last week. Media reports said 69-year-old Lawrence Jones was arrested in Los Angeles after investigators searched his Monterey home and determined his ex-wife had been killed there. Her body was found near Gilroy. Read more...
Officer Shot Responding to Hit-and-Run
A police officer was shot in the head and killed while pursuing a hit-and-run driver in a Philadelphia suburb, a day before his 35th birthday, officials said. Brad Fox, an Iraq war veteran, is the first police officer in Plymouth Township, Pa., to be killed in the line of duty. Authorities say Fox was shot in the head during the pursuit. "There are just no words that can begin to express the magnitude of this tragedy, " said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman at a Thursday night press conference. Read more...
September 14, 2012
Convicted Killer Charged With 1993 Murder
Prosecutors say they're bringing first-degree charges against an imprisoned killer in the 1993 death of a 19-year-old college student. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton joined Genesee Township police Thursday to announce the charges against 42-year-old Mathew L. Adler. He's serving life in prison for a 1994 murder in Macomb County. Authorities say they found the naked body of Wanda Musk along a road in the Flint-area community on Nov. 14, 1993. They say the Mott Community College student was last seen alive with a man who had his arm around her at the 1-Stop Food Store where she worked. Read more...
September 12, 2012
Mystery Surrounds UNC Student's Death
Investigators are questioning everyone who was in contact with a 19-year-old University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student who was found murdered in her off-campus apartment last week. Faith Hedgepeth was found by friends around 11 a.m. Friday. Police said her death was an "obvious homicide." Investigators also said they did not believe it was a random act. Read more...
Ex-professor Pleads Guilty to Killing Colleagues
An ex-professor pleaded guilty to fatally shooting three colleagues and wounding three others during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2010. Amy Bishop, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder involving two or more people and three counts of attempted murder. She had earlier pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against the Harvard-educated Bishop and it was not immediately clear if they would drop the penalty as part of the plea deal, which is common in such cases. Read more...
September 11, 2012
Ex-Convict Arrested in Death of Woman, 2 Children
A man released from prison six months ago was arrested in the killing of a woman he knew and her two young children. Officers found the bodies of 23-year-old Heather Jackson and her 3-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son at their home in Sandusky, a city in northern Ohio that sits along Lake Erie midway between Toledo and Cleveland. A family friend had told police they had not been heard from all day. Read more...
Hannah Truelove Investigators Seek Suspect
Police are searching for a vehicle in the death of 16-year-old Georgia girl Hannah Truelove, whose body was found in the woods behind her apartment complex. The vehicle is a late 1990s to early 2000s four-door passenger car, possibly a Chevrolet or Dodge, that may have been in the area of the Lake Lanier Club Apartments on the evening of Aug. 23, when the Gainesville teen was reported missing, according to CBS affiliate WGCL. It is light silver in color, with substantial front end damage and a driver's door that is either white or a lighter shade of silver. Read more...
September 10, 2012
Father, Uncle Charged in Fire That Killed 3 Boys
A southwestern Wisconsin father is being accused of starting the fire that killed three of his four young children, law enforcement authorities announced. The boys' uncle also faces arson charges. Three of Armin Wand III's four children - sons aged 3, 5 and 7 - died when their Argyle home burned down. His wife, Sharon, 27, and their 2-year-old daughter escaped, although Sharon Wand remains in critical condition at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Sharon is 16 weeks pregnant, according to her family. Read more...
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Mother Charged in Death of Baby
A Chicago woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after leaving her 2-1/2-month-old daughter alone in the bathtub, where she drowned, police said. Dorota Duda, 30, called 911 from her home in the Belmont Cragin area, police said. The child, Julia Duda, was pronounced dead at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Police have said the mother left the baby alone while she made coffee. Read more...
September 08, 2012
Man Pleads Guilty in Friend's Grisly Death
A Northern California mixed-martial artist accused of ripping out his friend's heart and removing his tongue while the two were on hallucinogenic mushrooms has pleaded guilty to murder and mayhem charges. Jarrod Wyatt of Crescent City agreed to a plea deal in which he will serve 50 years to life in prison, Del Norte County prosecutors said. His official sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4. Wyatt pleaded guilty to first-degree murder involving mayhem in the March 21, 2010, death of his sparring partner, 21-year-old Taylor Powell, prosecutors said. Read more...
September 07, 2012
2 Charged With Burning Woman Alive
A Muskingum County Common Pleas Court grand jury has indicted two women on murder charges in connection with the death of fellow Canton resident Celeste Fronsman, who was left to die late last month along a remote stretch of roadway near Adamsville. Muskingum County Prosecutor Mike Haddox reported Katrina Culberson, 20, and Monica Washington, 24, were each indicted on aggravated murder charges with death specifications. The pair was also indicted on kidnapping and aggravated arson charges. Read more...
Mother of Missing Arizona Girl Re-Arrested
The mother of an Arizona girl missing for nearly a year was re-arrested in the case on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. Police in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale announced at a news conference that Jerice Hunter was taken into custody without incident at her home in Mesa. Hunter, 38, was indicted earlier in the day by a Maricopa County grand jury, even though the body of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley hasn't been found. Read more...
September 06, 2012
Baby Killer 'Severly Mentally Ill'
The attorney for a mother accused of discarding her infant son in a Fort Lauderdale hotel trash bin said her client is "severely mentally ill" and suggested she spend time in a residential treatment facility rather than Broward County Jail. Public defender Melisa McNeill represented 33-year-old Alexandria Sladon-Marler Tuesday, who faces charges including aggravated manslaughter and child neglect. In bond court, McNeill argued that family members tried to get help for Sladon-Marler during the woman's pregnancy. Read more...
September 04, 2012
Man Charged With Slitting Kids' Throats
A New Jersey man who smoked a combination of pot and PCP has been arrested and charged with slitting the throats of a 6-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister who is in critical condition, according to authorities. The wounded girl was able to give police a tip that led them to her alleged attacker. It is the second time in recent weeks that the hallucinatory drug combo, known as "wet," has been implicated in the grisly murder of a child in the crime ridden city of Camden, N.J. Read more...
'Coffee Mug' Murder Suspect Bails Out
Three days after announcing a fundraiser to raise her bail money, a professional tennis umpire accused of bludgeoning her 80-year-old husband to death with a coffee mug walked out of jail after posting bail. Lois Goodman's family and friends raised the $40,000 needed to bail her out of jail. Goodman, 70, faces a murder charge in the death of her husband, Alan Goodman, whose bloodied body was found in their Woodland Hills home in April. Read more...
Boyfriend to Be Charged With Murder
The 25-year-old boyfriend of a woman founded stabbed to death in Laguna Hills will be returned to California and charged with murder. Derek Pinski of Laguna Hills was arrested Sunday in Mesa, Ariz., and is being held on suspicion of killing Alexandra Tang, whose body was found Saturday, authorities said. Paramedics were called to the Laguna Hills home where they found a homeowner trying to resuscitate the 24-year-old woman, a Santa Barbara resident. The efforts failed, however, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Read more...
September 01, 2012
Gunman Kills Two at New Jersey Supermarket
A 23-year-old gunman killed two co-workers early Friday at a Pathmark supermarket in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and then shot himself to death, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said. The shooter wielded an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun, and was carrying multiple ammunition magazines, he added. "I believe everyone in the store was a target," said Kaplan, who noted that the gunman fired 16 rounds during his attack. Read more...
August 31, 2012
Girl, 10, Charged in Maine Infant Death
A 10-year-old girl was charged with manslaughter in the death of an infant -- an extremely unusual charge for such a young defendant. The girl, who is not being identified, is the youngest person to be charged with manslaughter in the far northern state of Maine in at least 25 years. Authorities said the infant, Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway, of central Maine, had been under a baby sitter's care but did not say whether the suspect was the sitter. Read more...
Man Charged in Deaths of Wife, Daughter
Prosecutors who charged a 40-year-old Spanaway, Wash., house painter with aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and 11-year-old daughter say the man told officers he killed his wife to keep her from learning he had lied about their dire financial situation. In charging papers, prosecutors say Dean Holmes also said he killed his daughter so she wouldn't have to face her mother's death and her father's imprisonment. Read more...
August 30, 2012
Driver Finds Scorched, Naked Woman
A naked, severely burned woman with a strap around her neck arose from a rural eastern Ohio road, crying in agony, and threw herself toward a passing vehicle in a scene that was "something out of a horror show," the motorist said. The man said the 29-year-old woman was pleading for help and comfort, and was burned from head to toe, with all her hair gone, when he spotted her Sunday morning in a heavily wooded, lightly traveled area northeast of Zanesville. Read more...
August 29, 2012
Trooper, Suspect Dead in Shootings
A West Virginia state trooper was killed and three others injured in back-to-back shootings that also left the suspect dead. Two troopers noticed the suspect was driving erratically and pulled over his vehicle about 8 p.m. at the Wallback park-and-ride off Interstate 79 in Clay County, 37 miles east of Charleston, said West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous. Read more...
School Shooter Brought 21 Rounds of Ammunition
A 15-year-old sophomore at a suburban Baltimore high school who made references to murder-suicide on Facebook has been charged as an adult in the shooting of a classmate on the first day of school, authorities said. Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. was being held without bail on charges of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault, Baltimore County police said. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 7. Read more...
FAMU Band Hazing 'President' Charged With Felony
Dante Martin, identified as the so-called "president" of the band bus on which FAMU drum major Robert Champion was fatally beaten last fall, faces a charge of felony hazing in Champion's death, new court documents show. Martin, 25, of Tampa, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with a separate hazing aboard Bus C, a charter bus that transported members of the Marching 100's percussion section to band performances. Read more...
August 28, 2012
Megan Boken Suspects Investigated
St. Louis authorities have filed murder charges against two men in connection with the shooting death of a university volleyball star during an attempted robbery. Johnathan Perkins and Keith Esters are facing murder charges in the death of former St. Louis University student Megan Boken. They are being investigated in a possible link to a previous robbery and kidnapping. Read more...
Body of New York Girl, 5, Found in Alley
Authorities say a 5-year-old western New York girl was killed by a trusted family friend at her great-grandmother's house then put in trash bag and stuffed in an alley garbage can. Niagara Falls police say two people in custody will be charged with killing Isabella Sarah Tennant. They did not identify the two suspects, including a 16-year-old friend of Isabella's family. Read more...
August 27, 2012
Two Teens Charged in Megan Boken Case
Two 18-year-old Missouri men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of volleyball player Megan Boken. The suspects have been identified as Keith Esters and Johnathan Perkins, and police said the motive was attempted robbery. Boken, 23, was a former volleyball star at St. Louis University who was in town to play a match that pitted alumni against student athletes. She was shot to death while sitting in her Volkswagen on Saturday afternoon, hours before the game, police said. Read more...
August 23, 2012
Two Charged in Killings of Louisiana Officers
Louisiana State Police brought first-degree murder charges on Wednesday against two men held in connection with a pair of shootings including an ambush near New Orleans that killed two police officers, police said. The men, 24-year-old Brian Lyn Smith and 28-year-old Kyle David Joekel, were among seven people charged last Friday with lesser charges over the shootings of sheriff's deputies in LaPlace, Louisiana, earlier this month. Read more...
August 22, 2012
Man Gets Life in Dismemberment Case
A man who pleaded guilty to stabbing, suffocating and dismembering his girlfriend has been sentenced to life in prison and must serve at least 42 years before being eligible for parole. Matthew Puccio, who was sentenced Monday in Champaign County Common Pleas Court, pleaded guilty last month to aggravated murder in the death of Jessica Rae Sacco along with other charges including felonious assault, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. The remains of Sacco, 21, were found in the bathtub of their apartment in Urbana, in western Ohio, in late March. Read more...
August 21, 2012
Suspect Sought in Volleyball Star's Death
St. Louis police are searching for a lone gunman who fatally shot a former star college volleyball player hours before she was planning to play in an alumni game. Investigators believe 23-year-old Megan Boken was shot to death in her vehicle during an armed robbery attempt. The suspect is described as a 5-foot, 10-inch black male in his 20s, police said. Read more...
August 20, 2012
John Lennon's Killer Seeks Freedom Again
Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's convicted killer, is up for parole for the seventh time and may be questioned as early as Tuesday, authorities said. His latest quest for freedom comes ahead of the 32nd anniversary of the death of the former Beatle, a British singer-songwriter who was gunned down outside his Manhattan apartment on December 8, 1980. Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by two or three members of the parole board, according to Carole Claren-Weaver, a spokeswoman for the New York Department of Corrections. Read more...
4 Shot in WalMart Parking Lot
Authorities say a 24-year-old man has been arrested after a shooting in a Texas mall parking lot left one person dead and two injured. Police in Odessa say Braushlyon Richardson turned himself in at their West Texas department. They say Richardson is charged with murder in an arrest warrant. He was booked into an Ector County jail, and an official there said an attorney had not yet been listed for him. Read more...
August 17, 2012
Two Louisiana Deputies Killed in Ambush Shootings
Two deputies in Louisiana were killed and two more were injured in a pair of ambush shootings. The first shooting occurred around 5 a.m. in the parking lot of a Valero refinery in St. John the Baptist Parish, 35 miles west of New Orleans near the Mississippi River. A deputy was injured while working an off-duty traffic detail when someone opened fire on his vehicle. Read more...
August 16, 2012
Teen Stabs Girlfriend's Abusive Dad
A 19-year-old accused of stabbing his girlfriend's father to death in a Las Vegas home claims the girl asked him several times to kill her dad because he was abusive. Jose Martinez is charged with murder, conspiracy and burglary in the death of 45-year-old Jaime Meza Guzman, who was found dead Monday inside a residence on San Marcos Street. An unnamed 17-year-old also was arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy. Read more...
Man Held in Murder of 5-Year-Old Niece
An Ohio uncle confessed to murdering his 5-year-old niece Tuesday by hitting her in the head, Fox19.com reported, citing court papers. Authorities found the antique cutting tool allegedly used in the girl's death at the home east of Cincinnati where Jada Beth Williams' body was located, Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward said. Preliminary autopsy results found that the girl died of blunt injury to the head, face and neck. Authorities earlier described the tool as a sickle or scythe. Read more...
August 14, 2012
Three Bodies Found in Burned Car in Maine
Police in Maine are investigating the deaths of three people who were found in a burned out car morning. Sgt. Paul Edwards of the Bangor Police Department told the station the deaths are suspicious and that police need to talk to witnesses. Around 3:30 a.m., a local radio announcer called 911 after discovering the car fire while on her way to work. Read more...
Three Killed Near Texas A&M
One police officer, one civilian, and the suspected gunman have all died after a shooting near the campus of Texas A&M University. Three other people were also injured in the incident. According to CBS affiliate KHOU, Assistant Chief Scott McCollum says the officer killed was 41-year-old Brian Bachmann, a constable with Brazos County. Investigators say he was the first to arrive on the scene where the suspect fired shots from his house, but a motive is still being determined. Read more...
August 13, 2012
Man Stabs Mother 41 Times
An emotionally disturbed Brooklyn man who had feuded with his mother over money for years was arrested after stabbing her 41 times, killing her, police sources said. Richard Cohen, 31, who has a history of mental illness, knifed his 64-year-old mom, Anne Cohen, repeatedly in the torso and neck. "There was a record of domestic incidents, domestic violence in that household between the son and the mother," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Read more...
Husband of Missing Kentucky Woman Charged
Police say the husband of a missing woman has been charged with murder. Authorities found the body of a woman in the Aflex community. They say it's the same area where Sherry Dillon was seen more than a month ago. Jail records show Bruce Dillon is currently in the Pike County Jail charged with murder. Read more...
Charges Filed in Missing Indiana Woman Case
Days after withdrawing a plea deal for a Kokomo man charged with killing his girlfriend, prosecutors facing pressure from the woman's family have upgraded the voluntary manslaughter charge the man had faced to a murder charge. Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann said pressure from Kelly Armstrong's family led him to charge Travis Funke with murder. Court documents say Funke, who's in his mid-30s, told police he killed 27-year-old Armstrong in July 2011 after they argued over drugs, then put her body in a trash bin. Read more...
August 11, 2012
Unhappy Patron Kills Three at Strip Club
Three people were shot and killed and another injured by a dissatisfied patron of a strip club in Alabama, police say. Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said the shooting happened at Teasers, a topless nightclub outside of Dothan, Ala. Police arrested the alleged shooter, Ryan Clark Petersen, 22, and charged him with three counts of capital murder and one count of attempted murder. Read more...
August 10, 2012
Body Identified as Michaela Shunick
Human remains found near a Louisiana cemetery have been identified as a 21-year-old college student who was last seen May 19. The body of Michaela 'Mickey' Shunick was positively identified by the Louisiana State University FACES Laboratory a day after it was found near state Hwy. 10. A 33-year-old registered sex offender, Brandon Scott Lavergne, was arrested in July in connection with Shunick's disappearance. Read more...
86-Year-Old Mob Hitman Paroled
An 86-year-old mob hitman is on the streets after serving nearly 50 years behind bars for a 1961 rubout ordered by Mafia legend Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, according to the New York Daily News. Harold "Kayo" Konigsberg, who used a cord from venetian blinds to strangle Anthony "Three Fingers" Castellito in his upstate New York home, was quietly sprung from a New York prison in a surprise parole from a life sentence, allowing him to spend his final days at a gated community in Florida, according to the paper. Read more...
August 09, 2012
Girl, 7, Dies After Being Thrown From Car
A 7-year-old girl Spartanburg County girl has died after being thrown from a sport utility vehicle following a high-speed chase on Interstate 85. Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger says Queniya Tykia Shelton died at a local hospital. Sheriff Chuck Wright says deputies pursued the vehicle Queniya was riding in Monday morning after noticing erratic driving. The chase topped 100 mph before the 2012 Dodge Journey struck a guardrail and overturned in the median, ejecting the girl. Read more...
Hospital Shooter 'Acted Out of Love'
An Ohio man accused of fatally shooting his wife of 45 years in a hospital intensive care unit acted out of love, his attorney and a longtime co-worker said. According to police, John Wise was armed with a gun when he went to the neuroscience ICU at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, and shot Barbara Wise, 65, in the head. A doctor who was also in the room at the time wasn't injured. Wise's attorney, Paul Adamson, says Wise acted out of mercy. Read more...
August 08, 2012
Husband Charged in Hospital Shooting of Wife
An Ohio man accused of shooting his wife in the head in a hospital intensive care unit appeared confused about the attempted murder charge against him and asked the judge, "Is she not dead?" John Wise, 66, of Massillon, made his first appearance in Akron Municipal Court on Tuesday. He appeared before the judge via video from jail on an aggravated attempted murder charge. Read more...
Susan Powell Case Was Murder From the Start
Heavily redacted court documents show authorities investigating the 2009 disappearance of a Utah mother almost immediately began classifying the case as a murder and kidnapping probe as they focused largely on the woman's husband. Some 800 pages of court documents released Tuesday provide scant new details in the case of Susan Powell's disappearance or the ensuing investigation of her husband, Josh Powell. Earlier this year, Josh Powell killed himself and the couple's two young sons at a home in Washington state. Read more...
August 06, 2012
Shooting at Sikh Temple Leaves 7 Dead
Seven people, including a gunman, were killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee in what police say is being treated as an act of domestic terrorism. Authorities including the FBI, the ATF, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department and Cudahy police are now searching a house in Cudahy, Wis., believed to be linked to the suspect. Read more...
James Holmes' Psychiatrist Was Alarmed
The psychiatrist treating James Holmes was alarmed enough by the 24-year-old former student to notify the University of Colorado threat assessment committee. The alert came more than a month before the Colorado shootings that left 12 dead. However, because Holmes suddenly dropped out of school, the committee never acted nor did it alert authorities of their concerns. At about the time that Dr. Lynne Fenton warned her colleagues of Holmes, Holmes was busily accumulating guns he would allegedly use in the movie theater massacre. Read more...
July 31, 2012
Aurora Shooter Faces 24 Murder Charges
The man who was arrested for shooting to death 12 people and wounding 58 others in a Colorado movie theater is now facing 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder. For each person who died, James Holmes faces one count of premeditated murder and one count of murder with extreme indifference to the value of human life. Read more...
July 27, 2012
Colorado Judge Bans Release of Suspect's Records
Tightening the secrecy over the year Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes spent studying neuroscience, a judge has barred the University of Colorado Denver from releasing any records about the former graduate student's time there. What happened to the 24-year-old during his time in the program at the school's Anschutz Medical Campus is one of the many mysteries stemming from last Friday's mass shooting at a theater in which he's accused of killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Read more...
July 26, 2012
Killer Fled Massachusetts to Evade Police
A convicted killer possibly linked to the murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish abruptly moved from Massachusetts to Florida to run away from investigators, according to a longtime friend of the man. Rodney Stanger, 64, who was living in Southbridge, Mass., at the time, relocated to Summerfield, Fla., a few months after Bish was abducted from her lifeguard post in June 2000. Bish's remains were found in 2003. Read more...
Holmes Sent Chilling Notebook to Psychiatrist
James Holmes, the accused gunman in last Friday's midnight movie massacre in Colorado, mailed a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, but the parcel sat unopened in a mailroom for as long as a week before its discovery. Police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora after the psychiatrist, who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect. Read more...
July 25, 2012
Two Charged in Murder of Dismembered Teen
Two men were charged Monday in the death of an Oklahoma woman whose dismembered body was found in a duffel bag behind a grocery store last year. Jimmy Massey and Luis Ruiz were being held without bond at the Oklahoma County jail. The Oklahoma County District Attorney's office charged them with first-degree murder in the October killing of 19-year-old Carina Saunders. Her body was discovered in a duffel bag spotted by animal welfare workers as they rounded up feral cats in Bethany, an Oklahoma City suburb. Read more...
Man Must Stand Trial in Three Daughters' Deaths
A North Dakota construction worker must stand trial in the deaths of his three young daughters, a Wisconsin judge ruled after hearing how the girl's terrified mother called police and an investigator found the children tucked in bed with their faces covered in dried blood. St. Croix County Circuit Judge Scott Needham said prosecutors presented enough evidence during a preliminary hearing to persuade him Aaron Schaffhausen probably killed all three girls. Faced with three bodies and an alleged confession, Schaffhausen's attorney didn't call a single witness. Read more...
July 24, 2012
Colorado Shooting Victims Named
An aspiring sportscaster. A 6-year-old girl. A man celebrating his 27th birthday. College students who moved to Colorado to blaze paths for their futures. The names and lives of the victims killed in a horrific mass shooting at a Denver-area movie theater emerged as families and friends learned the fates of their loved ones. The Arapahoe County coroner released the identities of the dozen victims who were killed in the attack at a midnight premiere of "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" early Friday in Aurora, Colo. Read more...
July 20, 2012
Bar Shooting Suspect on Suicide Watch
The suspect in a shooting rampage at an Alabama bar had been fired from his job after a fistfight with a co-worker in the spring, police said, elaborating on one of many problems that vexed the man in recent months. Nathan Van Wilkins told police in April he was angry about his firing, and he was pressing assault charges against the co-worker, said Brookwood Assistant Police Chief Jimmy Sellers. The other man had also been fired but not arrested. Read more...
July 19, 2012
Suspect in Mich. Sisters' Slayings Found Dead
An ex-convict and Iraq war veteran being sought nationwide in the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her pregnant sister in Michigan has been found dead in West Virginia, police said. The U.S. Marshals Service, following up on a lead, discovered the body of Thomas Fritz in a remote cabin in Tyler County, W.Va.,Michigan State Police Lt. Sean Furlong said. Fritz served nearly a year in Iraq and later was jailed in Ohio for sexual battery. Read more...
July 18, 2012
Alabama Gunman Charged in Second Shooting
A gunman stood outside of a crowded downtown bar and opened fire from two different positions, sending patrons running or crawling for cover in a chaotic and bloody scene. At least 17 people were hurt as bullets ricocheted and glass shards and brick chunks fell around the nightclub. Nathan Van Wilkins, 44, surrendered about 10 hours after the 12:30 a.m. shooting near the University of Alabama campus, police said. The rampage started a couple of miles away about 45 minutes earlier, police said, when Wilkins knocked on the door to a home and waited for a person to answer it. He then started firing, wounding the person. Read more...
Man Sought After Ohio Woman's Body Found
Authorities investigating the death of an Ohio woman whose body was found on North Carolina's Outer Banks have issued an arrest warrant accusing her on-and-off boyfriend of murder. Police confirmed a body discovered in a vacant lot was 33-year-old Lynn Jackenheimer of Ashland. She went missing early this month during a vacation with her children and Nate Summerfield. Read more...
July 17, 2012
Man Charged With Killing 2 Missouri Sisters
A man who told investigators he was high on methamphetamine when he killed two sisters at a northwest Missouri home was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Clifford B. Miller, 31, of Trimble, was charged in the slayings of Britny Haarup, 19, and her sister, Ashley Key, 22, whose bodies were found Sunday in a field near a tree line. Read more...
July 16, 2012
2 Bodies Found in Search for Missing Sisters
The bodies of two white adult women were found in a Missouri field by authorities investigating the disappearance of two sisters. Officials say they found the bodies in Platte County after interrogating an unidentified "suspect" in the disappearance of Edgerton sisters Britny Haarup and Ashley Key. Police say they do not yet have information as to the identities of the bodies found, or how they may have died. Platte County Sheriff's Capt. Erik Holland said authorities "were led" to the area where the bodies were found by talking to the suspect in the case, whom he did not identify. Read more...
July 12, 2012
Fugitive Shoots Self in Survivalist Bunker
Before he killed his wife and teen daughter and retreated to a remote bunker in Washington's Cascade Mountains, Peter Keller recorded a video explaining his mindset: He was bored. "It's getting to the point where just trying to live and pay bills and live as a civilian and go to work, that just freaks me out," the 41-year-old survivalist said in a video clip released Thursday by the King County Sheriff's Office. "It's actually more comfortable for me to think about living out here, robbing banks and pharmacies, just taking what I want for as long as I can. At least it'll be exciting." Read more...
Father Gets 20-30 Years for Beating Daughter to Death
A psychologist has been sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison for the baseball bat beating death of his sleeping 20-year-old daughter at their Michigan home. Robert Kelly of Oxford was sentenced in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac. He pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in exchange for the dropping of a first-degree murder charge. The Oakland Press says the 53-year-old Kelly wept upon entering the courtroom. He sobbed while apologizing but offered no explanation for the attack. Read more...
July 11, 2012
Neighbor Arrested in 6-Year-Old's Death
A man has been arrested in the death a 6-year-old Utah girl after authorities say he sneaked into her home through a sliding glass door in the middle of the night, then raped and killed the child. Terry Lee Black, 41, has been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and rape of a child, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said. Police in West Jordan, about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City, say Sierra Newbold's body was found June 26 in a canal near her home. Read more...
July 10, 2012
Suspect in Triple Murder Arrested in NC
Authorities in North Carolina have arrested a second suspect in the 2008 killings of a father and his two sons in San Francisco. San Francisco officials say 31-year-old Wilfredo Reyes was arrested in Salisbury, N.C., after trying to escape through a window. Reyes was booked into Rowan County Jail on an outstanding murder warrant involving the shooting deaths of 48-year-old Tony Bologna and his two sons, 20-year-old Michael and 16-year-old Matthew. Read more...
3 Dead After Gunfire at Soccer Tournament
Armed men suspected of triggering an exchange of gunfire at a weekend soccer tournament in Delaware that left three people dead and two wounded apparently targeted the tournament organizer, but authorities on Monday remained mum about the motive. The dead included the tournament organizer, a 16-year-old boy participating in the tournament and one of three suspects alleged to have initiated the deadly violence Sunday afternoon at a park near downtown Wilmington. Read more...
July 07, 2012
Man Charged With Killing 3-Year-Old Son
Memphis police have filed murder charges against the father of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found in a large trash bin. Police said in a news release that charges against 28-year-old Maurice Brown Sr. were upgraded to first-degree murder. He had reported the boy missing Sunday night, saying he woke up from a nap and the boy was gone. Read more...
Boy, 12, Charged With Beating Death of 2-Year-Old
Prince George's County police say a 12-year-old boy is charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Aniya Batchelor, a 2-year-old foster child living with his family. Police were called to a Ft. Washington home after Aniya's foster father called 911 to report that he discovered the girl unresponsive. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Read more...
July 06, 2012
Ex-Oakland Raider Charged With 3 Killings
A former Oakland Raiders defensive end and first-round draft pick, who was awaiting retrial for a 2008 murder, has been charged in three additional cold case murders. Anthony Wayne Smith, who played with the team from 1991 to 1998, has been accused in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court of killing brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles in November 1999, and killing Dennis Henderson in June 2001, the Los Angeles Times reports. Read more...
July 04, 2012
Lifer Won't Be Charged in Inmate Killing
A Michigan prosecutor has decided not to charge an inmate in the killing of another inmate because he's already serving a life sentence. Andre Marcel Adams, 39, is suspected of strangling Carlos Love at the Alger Correction Facility on May 31 but won't face charges at this time, Alger County Prosecutor Karen Bahrman announced in a written statement. Read more...
Inmate Dead After Attack by Prison Cellmate
California prison officials say an inmate serving time in Corcoran State Prison for murder is dead after he was attacked by his cellmate. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says inmate Shawn Keith Wilson was pronounced dead at a hospital outside the prison. Officials say the 35-year-old Wilson was attacked in his cell on Saturday by his cellmate, 27-year-old Chad Michael Carl. Read more...
July 02, 2012
Man Charged in 7-Year-Old Girl's Death
A 26-year-old suspected gang member has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the shooting death of a 7-year-old girl who was gunned down while selling snow cones near her house last week. Police say Jerrell Dorsey of Chicago was taken into custody and charged. Heaven Sutton was with her mother Wednesday night when police say someone walked up to another group of people and opened fire down the street. The girl was struck by a stray bullet as she ran away. Read more...
June 29, 2012
4-Year-Old Found Buried at Home
The body of a 4-year-old boy missing for a week was found buried at his home, a family spokesman said. Carnel Chamberlain's body was found under a wood porch or deck at the home on the reservation of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, 70 miles north of Lansing, Kevin Chamberlain said. Chamberlain, the tribe's former chief, said he had no details about what led investigators back to the house after many days of searching woods, ponds and the tribe's wastewater treatment areas. Read more...
Man Gets 18-27 Years for Killing Girlfriend's Baby
A 22-year-old Grand Ledge man has been sentenced to 18 to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the killing of his ex-girlfriend's 3-month-old daughter. Joshua Piercefield received the sentence in Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge last month after prosecutors dropped an open murder charge in the May 2011 death. Read more...
June 28, 2012
Utah Girl, 6, Found Dead in Canal
A 6-year-old girl found dead in a canal near her home was sexually assaulted, and authorities are now searching for a suspect, police said. Police in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan said the girl was reported missing by her mother early Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, police ruled Sierra Newbold's death a homicide and said an autopsy determined she had been sexually assaulted. Read more...
Man Charged With Hiring Hitman to Kill Hitman
Police say a Detroit-area man was caught on tape trying to hire someone to kill the hitman who killed his wife, according to media reports. Authorities arrested Bob Bashara of Grosse Pointe Park and charged him with solicitation of murder, prosecutors said in a news conference. He was arrested at a property he owned that police said had a sex dungeon in the basement. Read more...
Woman Indicted in Slaying, Baby Abduction
A Houston woman accused of killing a mother and snatching her newborn son has been indicted on a capital murder charge. Verna McClain is being held without bond Wednesday in the Montgomery County Jail. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty against the 31-year-old licensed vocational nurse. McClain has been in custody since she was arrested hours after the April 17 slaying. Read more...
June 26, 2012
Two Boys Shot While Waiting in Line for Lunch
Three people, including two young boys, were shot in the District of Columbia while they were waiting in line at a summer lunch program. Metro Police told the newspaper that the boys, ages 7 and 8, were among 30 children lined up for the lunch program when a gunman began shooting at another male outside a nearby apartment building around 12:30 p.m. The gunman and his intended target fled the scene. Read more...
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Teen Lesbian Couple Found Shot in Texas Park
Two teenage girls in a relationship were found with gunshot wounds to the head in a south Texas park, with one of them dying from her injuries. Police were searching for the gunman. Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and Mary Christine Chapa, 18, were found in knee-deep grass in a park in Portland by a couple early Saturday. Olgin, of Flour Bluff, died; Chapa, of Sinton, was rushed to a hospital where she had surgery and was in serious but stable condition. Read more...
June 23, 2012
Doctor Loses License Over Abortion Referrals
A Kansas doctor remained unapologetic Friday after state regulators revoked her medical license over allegations that she performed inadequate mental health exams on young patients she then referred to Dr. George Tiller for late-term abortions. Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus and other abortion-rights supporters described the action against her by the State Board of Healing Arts as part of ongoing efforts to limit access to abortion that also shadowed Tiller before his murder in 2009 by a man professing strong anti-abortion views. Neuhaus immediately said she would ask the state's courts to overturn the board's decision. Read more...
Man Killed Wife, Daughter After Paternity Test
A Southern California man strangled his wife and bludgeoned his 6-year-old daughter to death after a paternity test showed the girl was not his biological child, prosecutors said. Deputy District Attorney John Aki told a Riverside courtroom that Michael Barbar, 54, of Perris received the test results eight days before strangling his wife and smashing the girl's head into a bedpost repeatedly until her skull was crushed in 2009. Read more...
June 21, 2012
Gunman Shoots 2 Deputies, Kills Self
As police closed in on a suspect in the shooting of two Spokane County sheriff's deputies, the suspect fired repeatedly at pursuing cars, then shot and killed himself in the Deer Park area. The deputies, described as seasoned law enforcement veterans, are in stable condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where one has had surgery for his wounds. Read more...
3 Dead, Houston Rapper Injured in Shooting
A mother-of-three and a popular local rapper were among the victims of a shootout outside a Houston nightclub that left three dead and two hospitalized. Hundreds ran for cover when bullets started flying following a rap concert outside Club Blue in southwest Houston. Houston Police have not yet identified a suspect or motive. Read more...
June 20, 2012
Toddler Found Inside Car With 2 Dead Bodies
Police are investigating after a 3-year-old was found in a car with the bodies of two gunshot victims in southwest Florida. The child was not harmed. Fort Myers Police found a man and woman inside a car around 4 a.m. Tuesday at the Gulfstream Isles apartment complex. They were pronounced dead at the scene and apparently died from multiple gunshot wounds. Several shell casings were left at the scene. Read more...
Cannibalism Suspect Ordered to Mental Hospital
A Maryland judge has ordered a cannibalism suspect transferred to the state's maximum-security psychiatric hospital for a competency evaluation, prosecutors said. Alexander Kinyua, 21, of Joppatowne was also indicted on one count each of first-degree murder and carrying a weapon with intent to injure in the death of Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodied. Kinyua, a U.S. citizen originally from Kenya, told investigators last month that he killed the 37-year-old Ghanaian man and ate his heart and part of his brain, according to the sheriff's office. Read more...
June 19, 2012
Man Gets Life for Dismembering 9-Year-Old
A Fort Wayne man was sentenced to life in prison for bludgeoning to death and dismembering a 9-year-old girl he was baby-sitting just days before Christmas. Michael Plumadore last month pleaded guilty to murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in the Dec. 22 death of Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon. Prosecutors initially called for the death penalty but agreed to life in prison without the possibility of parole in exchange for the guilty plea. Read more...
More Chicago Mayhem: 35 Hurt, 7 Killed
President Barack Obama's visit to Chicago didn't stop another violent weekend. At least seven people were killed and 35 were injured since Friday night. The youngest victim was a 16-year-old girl who died after she was shot three times in the chest Saturday evening in the Englewood neighborhood. Ten people were shot overnight Friday, and in one hour Sunday morning, three people were killed. The latest shooting happened just after midnight Monday when a 19-year-old was shot to death on the city's North Side. Read more...
June 16, 2012
Parents Killed Their Daughter's Pimp
Authorities say a San Francisco couple dispensed their own brand of justice by gunning down their 17-year-old daughter's pimp. Prosecutors say Barry Laprell Gilton, 38, and Lupe Mercado, 37, had attempted once before to kill 22-year-old Calvin Sneed in May but were unsuccessful. In a second attempt, Sneed was sitting in his car on June 4 when Gilton fired a .40-caliber weapon from another vehicle, killing him. Read more...
June 15, 2012
Bruce Davis' Parole Hearing Postponed
A parole hearing for former Charles Manson follower Bruce Davis was postponed at the last minute Wednesday after the inmate reported he was feeling ill. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira said Davis showed up for the hearing in San Luis Obispo but said he didn't feel well. He was taken to a prison medical clinic in the California Men's Colony and was examined and sent back, but still complained of illness and parole commissioners said it was necessary to postpone. Read more...
June 14, 2012
Teen's Remains Identified After 32 Years
Forensic science has identified the remains of a Maryland teenage girl who was reported missing by family members on April 3, 1980. Cynthia Gastelle was 18 years old when she vanished while going to job interviews in Takoma Park, Maryland. Her remains were found in Virginia two years later, but not identified until this week as a result of advancements in forensic science. Read more...
Former 'Goodfellas' Gangster Henry Hill Dies
Henry Hill spent much of his life as a "goodfella," believing his last moment would come with a bullet to the back of his head. In the end he died at a hospital after a long illness, going out like all the average nobodies he once pitied. Hill, who went from small-time gangster to big-time celebrity when his life as a mobster-turned-FBI informant became the basis for the Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas," died at age 69, longtime girlfriend Lisa Caserta said. Read more...
June 12, 2012
'Tex' Watson Says No Clues on Tapes
A former Charles Manson Family member has asked a federal bankruptcy judge to revise an earlier ruling that would allow Los Angeles Police Department detectives to take possession of audio tapes of conversations with his attorney 40 years ago. Charles 'Tex' Watson asked that the investigators be allowed to listen to the tapes, but not be given the cassette recordings. Watson said there is no evidence of any unsolved murders on the tapes as the detectives said in their motion to get the tapes. Read more...
June 11, 2012
Police Seek Gunman in Auburn Shootings
Two former Auburn University football players are among the three killed when shots were fired at a party near the school. Three more were wounded. The gunman opened fire during a fight at a party held at an off-campus apartment complex near Auburn University on Saturday night. Three were killed in the shooting including the former AU student athletes Edward Christian and Ladarious Phillips. Three more were injured in the gunfire, one of whom is a current football player for the university. Authorities are hunting for the suspect, Desmonte Leonard. He is being charged with capital murder and considered armed and extremely dangerous. Read more...
Man Arrested for Killing Twins, Sitter
A man charged with killing 9-year-old twins and their 73-year-old baby sitter has been arrested in Alabama. Prosecutor Michael Jackson says 22-year-old Deandra Marquis Lee was arrested Saturday morning in Selma. Authorities found him at an apartment complex after someone called in a tip to a hotline set up by state officials. Read more...
Burned Bodies Were Missing Ariz. Family
Authorities have confirmed the identities of three burned bodies found inside an SUV in the desert south of Phoenix in a murder-suicide. Tempe police said that dental records showed they were 16-year-old Malissa Butwin, 14-year-old Daniel Butwin and 7-year-old Matthew Butwin. Authorities say the records were needed because the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Read more...
June 08, 2012
Man Pleads Guilty to 1981 Double Murder
One month after he stunned police by stepping forward to confess to the brutal 1981 killing of an elderly couple in Iowa, a California man pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Jack W. Pursel, 66, entered the guilty pleas during a hearing at the Black Hawk County courthouse in Waterloo. Quoting Bible verses, Pursel said he was taking responsibility for the torture and execution-style shooting deaths of Robert Huntbach and his wife, Goldie, because he had become a born-again Christian and was seeking forgiveness and mercy. Read more...
June 07, 2012
Cops Search Etan Patz Suspect's Home
Detectives armed with a search warrant raided the suburban N.J. home of Etan Patz's suspected murderer and seized a computer hard drive and other evidence. ABC News witnessed the search, which is part of a relentless scouring for evidence to corroborate the murder confession of Pedro Hernandez in the disappearance of Patz, a 6-year-old New York City boy who vanished on his way to catch a school bus in 1979. Read more...
Missing Twins and 73-Year-Old Caretaker Found Dead
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) said Wednesday that authorities had found the bodies of a caretaker and two twins reported missing and have developed a person of interest in the triple-homicide. "On Tuesday, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department requested the ABI's assistance after the bodies of one adult and two children were discovered on a dirt road off Alabama 21, near Hayneville," the ABI said. "It has been confirmed that the bodies are those of Jack Mac Girdner, 73, and nine-year-old twins Jordan and Taylor Dejerinett." Read more...
June 05, 2012
Compassionate Release Too Late for Inmate
A convicted killer has died in a California prison hours before he was to be freed to spend his final days with his family. Carl Wade was recommended for compassionate release under a state law for inmates whose death is imminent and who post no danger to the public. He was terminally ill with heart and lung diseases. A Lake County judge blocked the 66-year-old's release, but an appeals court overruled the judge on May 17. Read more...
Nebraska Mom Strangled Son, Herself
Police say a Nebraska mom who disappeared last month with her son strangled the 10-year-old boy before strangling herself in the woods of an Iowa state park. Council Bluffs police said that Charlotte Schilling, 41, of Plattsmouth, Neb. and her son, Owen, both died with plastic zip ties around their necks in a murder-suicide. The Schillings were missing from May 10 until their bodies were found May 20 in Lake Manawa State Park. Read more...
June 04, 2012
Man Kills Brother, Sister-in-Law While Kids Listen
A convicted murderer freed from prison two years ago gunned down his brother during an argument outside his brother's northwest Indiana home, then chased his sister-in-law inside and killed her while her terrified children listened, authorities said. Steven Clippenger, 41, of South Bend, apparently killed Matthew and Lisa Clippenger after he became angry when Matthew confiscated his handgun hours earlier at the home. He got another handgun from an acquaintance, Jenifer Leveque, returned to his brother's home and killed the couple before fleeing with Leveque in a pickup truck. They were arrested a short time later driving away from Steven Clippenger's home. Read more...
Body of Kidnapper Goes Unclaimed
Mississippi officials are trying to determine what to do with the body of a man who abducted two young Tennessee girls after he killed their mother and oldest sister. Police believe Adam Mayes killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne Bain, on April 27 in their home in Whiteville, Tenn. Bain's two younger daughters were found and taken home after Mayes fatally shot himself when police tracked him down May 10 in Union County, Miss. Read more...
May 31, 2012
Shooter Kills 5 in Seattle
For most of Wednesday, police didn't know whether the shootings at a north Seattle café and a carjacking murder five miles away were related. They only knew that a tall, white man with a trim, dark beard had entered a small coffee shop around 11 a.m. and shot five people, killing four. And they knew that half an hour later, someone had fatally shot a woman in the head and driven off with her black Mercedes SUV. Read more...
Indiana Man Shoots 4, 1 Fatally
A gunman opened fire at an Indianapolis apartment complex Wednesday, fatally shooting a woman and wounding three other people before turning the gun on himself as officers confronted him, police said. The woman who died in the Villa Paree's leasing office was an employee of the apartment complex in the city's northeast side, Indianapolis police spokesman Officer Kendale Adams said. Two other women and a maintenance worker also were shot, though all three were in stable condition at local hospitals, police said. Read more...
May 29, 2012
Police Say Man Arrested in 4 Deaths
Authorities say they've arrested a man wanted in connection with the deaths of four people whose bodies were found in a wooded part of central West Virginia. State Police said that James Belknap was arrested Monday. State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous said he was found not far from the crime scene when he was arrested. Authorities said they believe the bodies found Saturday were those of a missing man, his girlfriend and his two young children. Read more...
May 28, 2012
Teen Charged in 2011 Triple Murder
Cook County prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old Chicago man in the 2011 slayings of three people outside a bakery in the Chatham neighborhood. Aaron Barnes was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Chanda Thompson; her boyfriend, Shawn Russell; and their friend Cortez Champion, authorities said. He is being held on a no-bail arrest warrant. Read more...
May 26, 2012
Mom Charged With Killing Toddler Twins
A woman was charged with killing her 18-month-old twins, named Adam and Eve, in the family home. Police said she also attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. Stacey Smalls, 41, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, police said. Investigators believe one twin was strangled and the other was drowned. Authorities are awaiting autopsy results for the official causes of death. Read more...
May 25, 2012
Sierra LaMar Suspect Charged With Murder
Jeanine Harms, Nancy Jo Crew, Young Kim, Blair Miller-Carlotto -- and now, missing Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar. The 15-year-old, whose disappearance has made national headlines, joined a short list of people who have vanished and are presumed dead in Santa Clara County -- and whose suspected killers were charged with murder, even though the victims' bodies were never found. Such cases are rare -- prosecutors here could remember only about six in the past three decades, most of which they won. Read more...
May 24, 2012
Suspect Linked by DNA to Sierra LaMar
Police are intensifying their search for a Northern California teen missing for more than two months after arresting a man on suspicion of her murder and kidnapping. Antolin Garcia-Torres was arrested on suspicion of Sierra's kidnapping and murder Monday, after authorities said her DNA was found in his red Volkswagen Jetta and his DNA was found inside her bag. Read more...
May 22, 2012
Grandmother Shot Grandson 8 Times
Jonathon Hoffman frantically told a 911 dispatcher he had been shot in the chest by his grandmother and was going to die, a police detective testified. By the time officers arrived at the family's upscale condo in a Detroit suburb, at least four more shots from a .40-caliber handgun had been pumped into the 17-year-old high school senior. A West Bloomfield Township detective told a judge during an arraignment for 74-year-old Sandra Layne that eight entry and exit wounds were found in Hoffman's body after the shooting. Read more...
May 21, 2012
One Dead in Mississippi Prison Riot
An ongoing prison riot in Mississippi has left one guard dead and five injured, authorities say. The "inmate disturbance" began at 2:40pm at the Adams County Correctional Facility – a 2,567 low-security prison in Natchez, Miss. Sheriff Chuck Mayfield told the newspaper that the riot was linked to a power struggle among hierarchies within the inmate ranks. Read more...
Woman Charged in Bizarre Stabbing
A Cleveland woman was charged with murder in the stabbing death of her best friend, who tried to drive away afterward and fatally struck the accused woman's 2-year-old daughter, police said. The two women were sitting in a running parked car when they got into an argument, police said. Kimberly Black left the vehicle, went into her house, returned with a knife and stabbed Sharice Swain in the face and neck, said Sgt. Sammy Morris, a police spokesman. The wounded Swain then stepped on the gas pedal and hit Black's two young children, who were standing near the car. Two-year-old Kimshia Ruffin was killed. Read more...
May 19, 2012
Mississippi Shooter Not Fake Cop
Police said they have arrested a suspect in two fatal highway shootings in Mississippi that prompted warnings a fake officer might be pulling over victims. Authorities said the fears of an impostor turned out to be unfounded. Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain told The Associated Press that the suspect, James D. Willie, 28, had not been posing as a police officer in the shootings. Read more...
2 Arrested in Killings of Chinese Students
Police arrested two young men in the shootings deaths of two graduate students from China last month near the University of Southern California, an attack that stunned a school that has more international students than any other U.S. university. Javier Bolden, 19, and Bryan Barnes, 20, were arrested on suspicion of killing the two during an apparent robbery attempt, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said. Read more...
May 17, 2012
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...
May 16, 2012
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...
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...
May 15, 2012
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...
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...
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...
May 12, 2012
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...
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...
May 11, 2012
Gunman Dies, 2 Officers Shot on Turnpike
Authorities say a gunman who apparently fired a weapon while walking on a median of the busy Florida's Turnpike has been killed in a shootout that wounded two South Florida law enforcement officers. The shootout snarled rush-hour traffic as both directions of the turnpike in Broward County were stopped. Officers were searching for at least one other suspect. Read more...
May 10, 2012
Rapper G. Dep Gets 15 to Life in '93 NYC Shooting
When rapper G. Dep turned himself in for a nearly 2-decade-old shooting, he told police he wanted to clear his conscience. He found out what the consequences would be: 15 years to life in prison, the minimum term for his murder conviction. A judge, prosecutors and even the jury foreman said he deserved credit for coming forward when he'd never been suspected in the long-cold case. Read more...
May 08, 2012
Girl, 16, Suspected in Fatal Shooting
Dallas police have issued a capital murder warrant for a 16-year-old girl suspected in the fatal shooting of a grandfather who was protecting family under attack from masked invaders at his home. Police say 66-year-old Lorenzo Moreno died in the attack. Police say at least six suspects stormed into Lozenzo's house to confront his granddaughter and an argument ensued. The dispute turned violent and the attackers beat Moreno's granddaughter, his 62-year-old wife and their 34-year-old son. The three were later treated at a hospital and released. Read more...
May 03, 2012
5 Dead After Shooting at Arizona Home
For several years, Arizona vigilante J.T. Ready conducted armed, civilian patrols along the U.S. border, urging the use of violence to prevent smuggling and illegal immigration. The former Marine, who was running for Pinal County sheriff, went on a shooting rampage in a sedate Gilbert neighborhood, killing four people before he took his own life, authorities believe. The victims ranged from a 16-month-old infant to a 47-year-old grandmother. Investigators have yet to list a motive for the killing spree, but early indications suggested an explosion of domestic violence rather than a political act. Read more...
13 Charged in Hazing Death of Band Member
Thirteen people were charged Wednesday in one of the biggest college hazing cases ever prosecuted in the U.S., accused in the death of a Florida A&M University drum major who authorities say was mercilessly pummeled by fellow members of the marching band. The charges came more than five months after Robert Champion, 26, died aboard a chartered bus parked outside an Orlando hotel following a performance against a rival school. Read more...
Wife Admits Murder Plot With Her Pastor
A Missouri woman admitted to plotting with her church pastor, who was also her lover, to murder her husband. 40-year-old Teresa Stone pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the March 2010 shooting death of her husband Randy Stone. Teresa Stone confessed that she and her 51-year-old church pastor David Love agreed one of them would kill Randy Stone. Randy Stone was later found shot to death in his office at an insurance company. Read more...
Dad Killed Infant, Put Body in Refrigerator
Houston police say a local dad has confessed to killing his 6-month-old son and placing the baby's body in his refrigerator. Houston police say they received a 911 call Wednesday from the man, who is in his 50s, saying he was having suicidal thoughts. However, when officers arrived, the man refused to let them in. Police forced their way into the apartment once they discovered a child lived there, and eventually discovered the infant's body in the refrigerator. Read more...
Man Who Killed Mother Arrested at Border
A 23-year-old Massachusetts man suspected of killing his mother and another woman and dumping their bodies outside an elementary school was arrested while trying to flee to Canada, authorities said. Joseph Wright, 23, of the Boston suburb of Lynn, was stopped Wednesday evening at a border crossing checkpoint in Woodstock, New Brunswick. When Canadian border agents directed his car to a secondary screening area, he fled, Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a news release. Read more...
May 02, 2012
Charges Coming in FAMU Band Hazing Death
At least five people will face criminal charges in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University drum major aboard a band bus in Orlando last fall, authorities said. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told The Associated Press that multiple defendants will be charged in 26-year-old Robert Champion's death, although he refused to say what the charges are. Read more...
May 01, 2012
Nurse Accused in Baby Theft Denies Being 'Monster'
A Texas woman accused of kidnapping a newborn boy after fatally shooting his mother says she is not "some sort of monster" and people should not judge her until they know the facts. Verna McClain remains jailed without bond after being charged with fatally shooting 28-year-old Kala Golden-Schuchardt and snatching her 3-day-old son on April 17. The infant was later found safe. Read more...
April 30, 2012
Remains From Indiana Man's Backyard Identified
Police said that human remains found in a southern Indiana man's backyard have been identified as a woman who has been missing for about a month. New Albany police Maj. Keith Whitlow said the remains found in William "Clyde" Gibson's backyard Friday night are those of Stephanie Marie Kirk, a 35-year-old Charlestown woman. Kirk was last seen March 25, when she left a friend's home in New Albany to meet a man at a bar. Read more...
Man Booked in Hammer Deaths of Mom, Child
Using a hammer as a weapon, a "complete stranger" with no significant criminal history allegedly chose a family at random and attacked them in their home, killing a woman and her daughter, in a brutal crime that left investigators both baffled and aghast. Bryan Clay, 22, was arrested in the April 15 rape and bludgeoning deaths of 38-year-old Ignacia Martinez and 10-year-old Karla Martinez. He had no connection to the family of five, Lt. Ray Steiber said. Read more...
Girl's Body Found in Church Parking Lot
Police in Long Beach, Calif., are investigating a murder and attempted suicide after the body of a young girl was found next to a wounded man in a pool of blood outside a church parking lot. The grim discovery was made by Nancy Eormurian, who spotted the girl -- believed to be about nine years old -- beside a bloody man outside the Los Altos United Methodist Church. The girl, who had cuts to her chest, was dead, while the man -- believed by authorities to be the girl's father or stepfather -- had self-inflicted wounds but was conscious, police said. Read more...
Doctor Charged With Hiring 2 Hitmen
Authorities say a 70-year-old Mississippi oncologist is accused of hiring two men to kill the lawyer who represented his ex-wife when they divorced in the 1990s. Greenwood city police told the Greenwood Commonwealth that Dr. Arnold Smith of Greenwood and William Paul Muller, a 54-year-old brick mason from Morgan City, were arrested Sunday and held without bond on a charge of conspiracy to kill attorney Lee Abraham. Read more...
April 25, 2012
Man Convicted in Decapitation Slaying
A North Dakota man was convicted of shooting and beheading a university researcher in what prosecutors claimed was an attempt to start a white supremacist group. Jurors deliberated for less than three hours Tuesday before finding Daniel Wacht, 31, of Cooperstown, guilty in the death of 54-year-old Kurt Johnson. Wacht shook his head from side to side as the verdict was read. He faces up to life in prison without parole. Read more...
April 24, 2012
Husband Charged With Murdering Mother of Triplets
The husband of a southeast Missouri woman missing for nearly a year has been charged with first-degree murder. Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle filed the murder charge against 41-year-old Clay Waller, even though the body of his estranged wife, Jacque Waller, has never been found. Swingle says he will not seek the death penalty. Waller is also charged with tampering with evidence. Read more...
Gunman Kills Pastor's Mother in Church
A pastor's mother was shot and killed when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado church. Yolanda Marant, a representative for The Destiny Center, confirmed that 65-year-old Josephine Eccles, the mother of the church's pastor Delono Straham, was shot and killed when a unknown gunman entered the church and began shooting. Read more...
April 23, 2012
San Diego School Shooter Sentenced to Life
A gunman who opened fire on a crowded elementary school near San Diego has been sentenced to life in prison. In March, a jury in Vista convicted 42-year-old Brendan O'Rourke of premeditated murder and assault with a firearm. The jury found he was sane at the time of the attack at Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad. Read more...
April 20, 2012
Woman Charged in Death of Marine's Wife
A woman charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of a Camp Pendleton Marine's wife left a suicide note before paramedics found her with self-inflicted wounds, authorities said. Jessica Lynn Lopez, 25, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of killing 22-year-old Brittany Dawn Killgore, whose body was found Tuesday in brush near a Southern California lake. Lopez, who pleaded not guilty Thursday, was discovered with the note in a San Diego hotel room, prosecutor Patrick Espinoza said. No further details were released about the note. Read more...
Dispatcher Reprimanded for Josh Powell Call
A Washington State dispatcher has been reprimanded for allowing 22 minutes to pass before help arrived after taking a social worker's 911 call just before Josh Powell killed himself and his children in a home explosion. The Salt Lake Tribune reports dispatcher David Lovrak violated four Law Enforcement Support Agency policies in his handling of the call. A supervisor for Lovrak wrote in a reprimand letter, obtained by the paper through a public records request, that he did correctly assign the call a priority that indicated an "imminent danger to life or property." Read more...
Teens Kill Homeless Man for $1
Four Houston teens have been charged with killing a homeless man who had just $1 on him when he resisted being robbed. The youngest of the accused, a 16-year-old girl, told police they had found $2 on Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, but police later determined that she had seen a single dollar bill torn in half, the Houston Chronicle reported. "They killed a man for a one dollar bill torn in half," said Houston Police Sgt. Brian Harris. Read more...
April 19, 2012
Woman Found Dead Is Marine's Wife
A body found in Southern California is a Marine's wife who disappeared five days ago, authorities said. Coroner's investigators determined the woman discovered near a lake in Riverside County on Tuesday is 22-year-old Brittany Dawn Killgore, sheriff's officials said in a statement. Authorities say they have arrested Jessica Lynn Lopez, 25, woman on suspicion of murder and are investigating Louis Ray Perez as a person of interest. Read more...
Man Charged in Samantha Koenig Case
An 34-year-old Anchorage construction contractor has been indicted on charges of kidnapping and killing a 18-year-old teenage who worked at a coffee stand. Israel Keyes was also charged with trying to extract ransom payments from the family of Samantha Koenig after she was already dead. Koenig disappeared Feb. 1 and her body was not found until more than two months later in Matanuska Lake. Read more...
Nurse Charged With Kala Schuchardt Murder
While Kala Golden Schuchardt's family was struggling to come to terms with her seemingly random slaying in a parking lot outside a doctor's office, authorities began piecing together the story of her accused killer, a 30-year-old vocational nurse who inexplicably sought to add to her family by stealing a baby - any baby - and was willing to kill to get it. Verna McClain, who has three children, was charged with capital murder in the death of Schuchardt, who had just taken her 3-day-old infant for his first medical checkup when she was accosted as she got into her pickup truck to go home. McClain is being held without bail in Montgomery County Jail. Read more...
April 18, 2012
Kidnapped Baby Found Safe After Mom Killed
A three-day old baby has been found safe hours after he was snatched from his mother, who was shot in the parking lot of a pediatric center parking lot. Keegan Schuchardt was kidnapped after a woman in a Lexus fired a reported seven shots at his mother during an altercation outside the Spring, Texas clinic. Kala Golden Schuchardt, 28, (pictured) died of her wounds at a nearby hospital. Read more...
Three Arrested in Shooting of 12-Year-Old Boy
Three people have been arrested in a May 2011 quadruple shooting in East Baltimore that killed a 12-year-old who was sitting on a porch, watching a basketball game on television. Police said Danyae Robinson, 29; Antwan Mosley, 21; and Derrick E. Brown, 17, have each been charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder after being arrested by the warrant apprehension task force. Read more...
April 17, 2012
Boy Tells Teachers Mom, Sister Dead at Home
Las Vegas police say a 9-year-old boy showed up at his elementary school on and told the staff that his mom and sister were dead at home, just a half-mile away, according to local media reports. According to the Las Vegas Sun, police headed to the child's West Las Vegas home to discover a grisly scene: Two dead bodies, an injured man covered in blood and 4-year-old boy. Read more...
April 16, 2012
Seven Arrested in Texas Crash That Killed Nine
Authorities have arrested seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, in connection with a late-night wreck that killed nine illegal immigrants in southern Texas earlier this week, police said. The boy, believed to be the driver who tried to outrun U.S. Border Patrol agents in a minivan overcrowded with 19 illegal immigrants, was tracked down at his rural Hidalgo County home Thursday night, said Chris Barrera, the police chief in Palmview. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have detained six other people, who now face human smuggling charges, officials said. Read more...
April 13, 2012
George Zimmerman Charged With Murder
A Sanford, Florida Neighborhood Watch volunteer has been charged with second-degree murder for the shooting of a young black man wearing a hoodie that he reported as suspicious to police. Prosecutors claim teenager Trayvon Martin was killed because he was racially profiled by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was arrested and charged 45 days after the Feb. 26 incident at the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, north of Orlando. Read more...
Mom Finds Triple Murder at Daycare
A woman who became suspicious and called 911 after dropping her son off at a suburban Minneapolis day care provider's home stayed on the line as she went back to the house and discovered three people shot to death, according to transcripts of the call. The Brooklyn Park Police Department released the transcript of the call that took place, minutes after investigators believe a lone male fatally shot DeLois Brown and her elderly parents. Read more...
Mom, Baby Girl Shot While Sleeping
A Chicago mother and her baby girl were shot early Thursday while they slept in their family's home, police said. Tonishia Allen, 24, and her 1-year-old daughter, Jaliyah Allen, were asleep in a back bedroom when shots were fired around 1:20 a.m. into the home in the 11900 block South Calumet Avenue, police said. Jaliyah was struck in the head. Read more...
April 12, 2012
George Zimmerman Charged With Murder
Legal experts expressed surprise that a Florida state prosecutor is seeking a second-degree murder charge against George Zimmerman, the block watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during a scuffle, given that he wasn't arrested or charged the night of the fateful altercation. Zimmerman's legal team is expected to invoke the controversial "Stand Your Ground" provision of Florida law as a key strategy in defending him against the charge, which was announced Wednesday evening by Special Prosecutor Angela Corey. Read more...
USC Student Killed in Carjacking Attempt
Investigators say a University of Southern California student is one of two people shot to death in a BMW in what may be a bungled carjacking attempt. A gunman opened fire shattering the windows on the new luxury car and killing a man and woman in the West Adams area near the USC campus. The BMW was in the roadway, not at the curb, at the time of the shooting. Read more...
April 11, 2012
Man Pleads Not Guilty to Dismemberment
An Ohio man indicted on charges of stabbing, suffocating and dismembering his girlfriend pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, while four others linked to the crime also pleaded not guilty. Matthew Puccio, 25, admitted to the crime in a newspaper interview last week, adding that he would plead guilty, but then told a court last Friday that he was "clinically insane." He could face up to life in prison if convicted of killing Jessica Rae Sacco, 21. Read more...
April 09, 2012
Police Probe Racial Motive In Tulsa Killings
Police are investigating whether the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were a hate crime after the weekend arrests of two white suspects in the case, local authorities said. Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, are scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning. Tulsa police arrested them early Sunday after a series of tips that led investigators to England's burned pickup, a vehicle that matched a description reported at the crime scenes, according to their arrest reports. Read more...
5 Men Charged in Killings of 2 Women
Five men have been charged in the abduction and slayings of two Michigan women who were kidnapped and stuffed in a car trunk at gunpoint, a prosecutor said. The men are being charged in the deaths of friends and roommates Abreeya Brown, 18, and Ashley Conaway, 22, who were abducted on Feb. 28. Their bodies were discovered March 25 in shallow graves in a wooded area on Detroit's west side, not far from their home in Hamtramck. The women had been bound and shot in the head. Read more...
Jerry Brown Commutes Grandmother's Murder Sentence
Gov. Jerry Brown commuted the prison sentence of a 51-year-old woman convicted of shaking her infant grandson to death 15 years ago, citing "significant doubts" about her guilt. Shirley Ree Smith has already served 10 years of the 15-years-to-life sentence she was given after a Van Nuys jury convicted her in the death of 7-week-old Etzel Glass. The jury relied on testimony by two coroner's officials relating evidence that another deputy medical examiner recently deemed "inconclusive." Read more...
April 06, 2012
Man Arrested After Daughter's Skeleton Found
A New Jersey man concealed the remains of his adult daughter for more than three years in his former house, at one point moving the body into a crawl space, where it was discovered this week by a cleaning crew, authorities said. Fifty-seven-year-old Dennis Adler made an initial appearance in state Superior Court in Monmouth County to face a charge of disturbing human remains. Adler didn't enter a plea and was held on $100,000 bail. Read more...
April 05, 2012
4 Arrested in Triple Murder
Residents in the small North Carolina town of Farmville may be finding some relief in the arrest of four suspects for the senseless killing of three young convenience store employees during an armed robbery. Two days after the bloody shootings authorities have arrested two men and a juvenile who were caught on video tape shooting the store owner's son and two of his cousins. Read more...
7 Murder Charges Filed Against Former Student
The man suspected in a shooting rampage at a small Oakland, Calif., Christian college was charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, prosecutors said. One L. Goh also faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders that could make him eligible for the death penalty. The 43-year-old former nursing student was expelled from the school last fall, allegedly for anger issues. He surrendered to police at a Safeway store outside Oakland about an hour after the attack on Monday morning. Read more...
April 04, 2012
Police Hunt for Killers of 3 at Rural Store
Law enforcers in a rural North Carolina community on Tuesday were engaged in an "all hands on deck" manhunt for three suspects who robbed an isolated convenience store and shot to death three young men working there, according to a report from NBC affiliate station WITN. Victims at the Hustle Mart 3 on a sparsely populated county road in Farmville, N.C. were identified by the sheriff's office as Nabil Nasser Saeed Al'mogannahi , 26, Gaber Alawi, 24 and Mokbel (Sam) Mohamed Almujanhi, 16. Read more...
Landlord Finds Woman's Dismembered Body in Bathtub
A landlord who found a woman's dismembered remains in her bathtub said that a "gut feeling" compelled him to break into the bathroom after her mother came looking for her. Gary Zerkle said that 21-year-old Jessica Sacco's mother arrived at the younger woman's Urbana home, finding nothing amiss, but a locked bathroom door. The following morning, Zerkle, who lives next door to the duplex Sacco rented, decided to check it out himself, largely because Sacco's mother had looked so concerned. Read more...
April 02, 2012
Susan Powell's Blood, Note Found
Authorities investigating the 2009 disappearance of a Utah woman found her blood in the family home and a hand-written note in which she expressed fear about her husband and her potential demise, according to unsealed documents. The files raise further questions about why Susan Powell's husband was never charged in her disappearance before he killed himself and their two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno in Washington state earlier this year. Investigators in West Valley City, Utah, never arrested Josh Powell or even publicly labeled him as a suspect in Susan Powell's disappearance. Read more...
Bodies of 2 Teens in Well Identified
Authorities released the identities of two Northern California teens whose remains were found inside an abandoned well linked to two men known as the "Speed Freak Killers." San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore identified 19-year-old Kimberly Billy, who went missing in 1984 at the age of 19. He says 16-year-old Joann Hobson disappeared in 1985. Moore says a third body found is awaiting identification. Read more...
2 Dead, 10 Injured After Drive-By Shooting
Two people were shot dead and another 10 were injured in a drive-by shooting outside a funeral home in Miami. The shooting occurred when at least one person inside a car opened fire on mourners who were gathered for the funeral of a man who died recently. One person died at the scene after being shot in the chest, witnesses said. It was not immediately known if the second person killed died at the scene or in a hospital. Read more...
March 30, 2012
The Trayvon Martin Tragedies
What about all the other young black murder victims? Nationally, nearly half of all murder victims are black. And the overwhelming majority of those black people are killed by other black people. Where is the march for them? Where is the march against the drug dealers who prey on young black people? Where is the march against bad schools, with their 50% dropout rate for black teenaged boys? Those failed schools are certainly guilty of creating the shameful 40% unemployment rate for black teens. Read more...
Caller Arrested After Cops Shoot Armed Robber
Pasadena police arrested a 911 caller accused of fabricating an armed robbery story that led to the death of a black college student. Kendrec McDade, 19, was shot dead by police in the city's northwest district. Police were dispatched to the scene after a man, identified as Oscar Carillo, called 911 and said he had been robbed by two armed men who stole his laptop and backpack as he was buying tacos. The 26-year-old claimed one of the men pointed a gun at him during the robbery, but police said Wednesday he lied to officers and that detectives now believe the two men -- who included McDade -- were unarmed. Read more...
March 29, 2012
Couple Charged in Vermont Teacher's Death
A 30-year-old man and his wife has been charged with second-degree murder and improper disposal of a body in connection with the death of a popular boarding school teacher. Allen Prue and his wife Patricia, 33, are accused of luring Melissa Jenkins away from her home by telling her they had car trouble. Allen Prue told investigators they planned the abduction of Jenkins because he wanted to "get a girl." Read more...
Andrea Yates Will Ask For Pass to Attend Church
It has been 10 years since Andrea Yates was first convicted of drowning each of her five children in the bathtub in a Houston suburb. Since then, her murder conviction has been overturned, she has been found not guilty by reason of insanity on retrial, and she was placed in a state psychiatric hospital. Now her lawyer says that she will ask for a pass to leave the hospital two hours a week to attend church, the Houston Chronicle reported. Read more...
Teen Guilty of Murdering 2 British Tourists
A Florida teenager is facing a life sentence after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the shooting of two young British tourists last April in a case that generated brash tabloid headlines in the U.K. press. Shawn Tyson, 17, sat stone-faced as the jury's verdict was read. It came after two hours of deliberations. Because he is under 18, Tyson is ineligible for the death penalty and is facing a mandatory life sentence. Read more...
March 28, 2012
Police: Zimmerman Story 'Consistent' With Evidence
A slain U.S. teenager and the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed him exchanged words before the teen punched him in the nose and began banging the man's head on the ground, according to the watch captain's account of the confrontation that led to the shooting. Because 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was black and George Zimmerman has a white father and Hispanic mother, the case has become a racial flashpoint that has civil rights leaders and others leading a series of protests around the country. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense and has not been arrested. Read more...
Man Gets 25 Years for 1985 California Killing
A California judge has sentenced a man to 25 years to life in prison for deliberately hitting a woman with his car, then running her down and killing her as she limped into an alfalfa field. Then 50-year-old Felipe Guerra Sanchez fled to Mexico after the 1985 killing of 34-year-old Carmen Achutegui. He later returned to California and was working as a truck driver under another name when he was arrested in 2008. Prosecutor say Sanchez deliberately ran over Achutegui on a rural road near San Joaquin. As she limped into a field, Sanchez ran her over again. Read more...
March 27, 2012
Body of Abducted Teacher Found
The search for a missing teacher at a Vermont boarding school ended a day later with the discovery of a body in a remote area near Barnet. The search for Melissa Jenkins was launched after her SUV was found with the engine running and her 2-year-old son inside and unharmed. Jenkins was a teacher and coach at the prestigious St. Johnsbury Academy. Read more...
SF Slaying Suspect Had Been Ordered Deported
The suspect in last week's slayings of five people in San Francisco had been ordered to be deported by an immigration judge six years ago, after he served a prison sentence for armed robbery, federal officials said. But they said he remained in the U.S. because the Vietnamese government declined to provide the travel documents that immigration authorities needed to process his removal. Read more...
March 26, 2012
Man Arrested in 5 San Francisco Killings
A man has been arrested in connection with what authorities described as shocking and gruesome murders of five people in a Ingleside home. Binh Thai Luc, 35, has been arrested on five counts of murder two days after the bodies were found near City College in San Francisco. Police said Luc had a relationship with the victims, but he would not elaborate. Read more...
Texas Man Confesses to Killing His Family
A 22-year-old man has confessed to fatally shooting his parents and brother in their Texas home, say police. Investigators say Trey Sesler has contacted extended family members since his arrest, saying he was sorry for killing his mother, father and brother. Police found the bodies of 58-year-old Lawton Ray Sesler, his wife, Rhonda, 57, and their son, Mark, 26, in their home in Waller, about 40 miles northeast of Houston. Read more...
March 23, 2012
Body in North Dakota Is Missing Montana Teacher
A body found in North Dakota was identified as a missing Montana teacher kidnapped in January. The identification was made after the body of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold was taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula. Arnold was grabbed off a Sidney, Mont., street on Jan 7 while jogging at the edge of town. Michael Spell, 22, and Lester Van Waters Jr., 48, were charged with aggravated kidnapping in the case and await trial. Read more...
March 22, 2012
Body Found on New York's Long Island
Police in Suffolk County are investigating the discovery of a body found in the woods. The remains were discovered by a jogger in Manorville, N.Y. The gender has not yet been determined, according to police. An autopsy will be performed. Police had previously discovered human remains in Manorville on Feb. 21. Read more...
March 21, 2012
'John Doe' ID'd After 37 Years
A body found naked in 1974 at a California condominium complex is a U.S. Marine from Iowa who had been listed as a deserter from Camp Pendleton, authorities said. The man known for more than 37 years as 'John Doe No. 155' is Oral Stuart Jr of Des Moines, Long Beach police said in a statement. His cause of death, previously listed as undetermined, has been reclassified as a homicide. Read more...
March 20, 2012
Students Want Watch Leader Arrested
College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the arrest of a neighborhood watch captain who shot an unarmed black teen last month, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force. Police have described the man who fired the shot, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, as white; his family says he is Hispanic and is not racist. Zimmerman claims he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month in self-defense during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford. Read more...
March 19, 2012
1 Adult, 3 Children Found Dead at Campground
Authorities are investigating the killing of a woman and three children at a campground and resort in eastern Missouri as a possible triple-murder suicide. Crawford County Sheriff Randy Martin says in a statement that four bodies were found about 1 p.m. Saturday at a campground about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis. KSDK reported that the shootings happened in a remote area along a gravel road on the property of Blue Springs Ranch & Resort. Martin told the station each victim sustained one gunshot wound and a handgun was found close to the bodies. Read more...
March 15, 2012
Woman Killed, 3 Hurt Outside Courthouse
One person was killed and three wounded by a man who left a courthouse, retrieved a gun from his car and started firing in the parking lot, police in Beaumont, Texas, said. A detective outside the courthouse fired back. He quickly was joined by law enforcement officers from nearby buildings, police said. The gunman retreated to his pickup truck and, still firing, ran over one of the people who had been shot as he drove away. He drove about three blocks and abandoned his truck in the middle of the street before entering a nearby construction business, police said. Read more...
Child Killer Ordered to Court
A mother accused of killing her 6-year-old daughter with scissors refused to leave her jail bed for her first court appearance, drawing angry words from a Las Vegas judge and concern from her lawyer about her mental state. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure reset Danielle Yvonne Slaughter's arraignment on a murder with a weapon charge for Friday, telling a jail supervisor by closed-circuit video that he wants Slaughter brought forcibly to court if necessary. Read more...
March 14, 2012
Hudson Suspect Tried to Solicit Alibi
The suspect in the killing of singer Jennfir Hudson's family members tried to get a former girlfriend to provide him with a false alibi for the day that the murders occurred. According to court papers, William Balfour solicited the false alibi from Brittany Acoff-Howard, who now lives in South Carolina. Balfour is scheduled to go on trial next month in the 2008 murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57; brother, Jason Hudson, 29; and nephew, Julian King, 7. Read more...
March 13, 2012
Man Pleads Not Guilty to 1989 Beheading
A man has been charged with cutting off his pregnant girlfriend's head on a New York City rooftop in 1989. Philip Ward pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering Veronica Bowen. Ward already is in prison for killing the woman who became his girlfriend after Bowen's death.
Defense lawyer Frank Rothman says Ward has been cooperating with authorities. Rothman says Ward is driven by a desire to build a better relationship with his and Bowen's two children. Read more...
March 10, 2012
Gunman Named in Deadly Campus Clinic Shooting
Police identified a gunman who killed one person and shot several others at a University of Pittsburgh psychiatric clinic as a 30-year-old local man. They said he was armed with two handguns traced to Texas, one of which had been reported stolen. Police still don't have a motive for Thursday's shooting by John Shick, who's believed to have lived in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood near the hospital. Read more...
Prosecutor: Many Threats Before Hudson Killings
The man accused of killing Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew had threatened to kill members of the family at least two dozen times before the October 2008 slayings, a prosecutor said during a hearing in Chicago. Assistant State's Attorney James McKay said the threats began in February 2008, when James Balfour moved out of the family's house where he had been living with his wife, Hudson's sister Julia. The threats continued right up until the day the bodies were found, on Oct. 24, 2008. Read more...
Nightclub Owner Cited After Gang Shooting
Police have cited the owner of an Arizona nightclub for alleged violations of the venue's security plan after a shooting injured 16 people last weekend. Tempe police said that the owner of the Clubhouse Music Venue violated the city code, which is a misdemeanor. The club's security plan permit has been revoked by police. The owner has five days to appeal the decision and the business can continue to operate during that time. Read more...
March 09, 2012
Two Dead, 7 Injured, in Psychiatric Clinic Shooting
Gunfire at a psychiatric clinic at the University of Pittsburgh killed two people and injured seven others, the university's medical center said. Police reported one of the dead was the gunman, said University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokesman Paul Wood. It was unclear whether the wounded people were patients, employees or visiting family members, Wood said. Read more...
Remains Found of Missing Soccer Mom, Escort
Colorado authorities have tentatively identified human remains found as a mother of three who was working as an escort when she went missing in 2007. The remains, which were found in a dry creek bed by a hiker in Delta County, Colo., were tentatively identified as 34-year-old Paige Birgfeld using dental records. Personal items were also found near the body. Read more...
'Secret Life of Paige Birgfeld'
Investigators said the attractive single mom who vanished from western Colorado 4½ years ago was running an escort service, but her father is more blunt. "I think 'escort' is kind of a polite word for prostitution," said Frank Birgfeld, whose daughter's remains were found in a dry creek bed in a Colorado desert this week. Thirty-four-year-old Paige Birgfeld was twice divorced and living with her three children in Grand Junction, about 200 miles west of Denver, when she disappeared in June 2007. Friends knew her as a devoted mom who sold kitchen products and did other jobs. Read more...
March 07, 2012
Inmate Known as the 'Lipstick Killer' Dies
A Chicago man who confessed to one of the most shocking slayings in the city's history and paid for it with more years of his life than any Illinois state prison inmate has died. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, 83-year-old William Heirens died Monday at a Chicago hospital after officials at Dixon Correctional Center found him unresponsive in his cell. The office said that an autopsy was scheduled. Read more...
March 06, 2012
Handyman Charged in Death of Jane Bashara
A handyman has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Detroit marketing executive Jana Bashara, who was found strangled inside her luxury car in January. The Wayne County prosecutor's office said Joe Gentz, 48, will appear in court on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Read more...
Human Remains Found in Newark Suitcase
A homicide investigation is under way after human remains were discovered in a suitcase near the Passaic River in Newark. Police responded to a telephone tip Monday about the gruesome finding in the vicinity of Raymond Boulevard and Van Buren Street, not far from Penn Station. The Essex County Prosecutor's homicide task force is also investigating. Read more...
March 02, 2012
Teen Charged With Three Counts of Murder
A 17-year-old youth was charged with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder in shooting that killed three students at a high school. Thomas "T.J." Lane was accused of pulling out a semiautomatic pistol he had stolen from his uncle and opening fire in the Chardon High School cafeteria on Monday. Three boys were fatally wounded, and two other students were injured. One is still in the hospital. Read more...
2 New Orleans Police Officers Shot
One suspect is dead and two New Orleans police officers and another suspect were wounded after an early morning traffic stop developed into a gunfight. Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas says both wounded officers required surgery after the shooting. The condition of the injured suspect was unknown. Read more...
Woman Sentenced for Killing Expectant Mother
A Kentucky woman was sentenced to life in prison without parole for slaying a pregnant acquaintance and cutting her baby boy alive from her womb. Kathy Coy of Morgantown agreed to the sentence in a deal last month in which she avoided a possible death penalty by pleading guilty but mentally ill to killing 21-year-old Jamie Stice last year and taking the baby. Read more...
Bones May Be Linked to Infant Death
Authorities have unearthed possible human bones while digging in the backyard of a Minnesota home. Police have been looking for evidence at the home in the suspected death of an infant years ago. Crystal police said that the digging unearthed bones that may be human. A man and woman who lived at the home have been arrested and remain in jail. Authorities have until 4 p.m. Friday to charge the pair. Read more...
March 01, 2012
Judge Releases Records on Shooting Suspect
A judge has released seven pages of juvenile court records on a school shooting suspect in Ohio, including an assault case in late 2009 at age 15. T.J. Lane allegedly choked and punched another male. He entered the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty plea to a reduced misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and was given a suspended sentence of up to 30 days in jail. Read more...
February 29, 2012
Third Student Dies in Ohio School Shooting
Three students have now died from Monday's shooting at a high school in Chardon, Ohio, officials said. Demetrius Hewlin died from his injuries on Tuesday afternoon. The news came hours after officials told reporters that Russell King Jr., 17, had been declared brain dead overnight after he was shot. The medical examiner's office received the word about King early Tuesday morning, office administrator Hugh Shannon said in a statement. Read more...
Student Accused of Killing Principal Indicted
A 16-year-old Tennessee boy has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder, accuse of the fatal stabbing of his principal. The district attorney's office in Tennessee's Shelby County said that Eduardo Marmolejo of Memphis has been charged in the death of 49-year-old Suzette York. York was the principal of Memphis Junior Academy, a private high school affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist church. Police said Marmolejo planned York's death for months before stabbing her repeatedly in a classroom on the third day of school last August. Read more...
February 28, 2012
1 Dead, 4 Wounded in High School Shooting
A teenager opened fire in the cafeteria at a suburban Cleveland high school Monday, killing one student and wounding four others before he was chased from the building by a teacher and captured a short distance away, authorities said. A student who saw the attack up close said it appeared that the gunman targeted a group of students sitting together and that the one who was killed was gunned down while trying to duck under the cafeteria table. Read more...
1 Killed, 20 Injured in Shooting at Nightclub
Police said one person was killed and 20 others were injured in a shooting at a Tennessee nightclub. An apparent dispute between several people at the Karma Lounge in Jackson led to at least three people opening fire, according to the Jackson Police Department. The club was hosting an after-party for a basketball game between Lane College and Lemoyne-Owen College. Read more...
Wife Found Dead in Georgia Home
Homicide detectives in Georgia were investigating after a woman was found dead inside a home. The 43-year-old woman's husband has been named as a person of interest in her death. He claims that a group of Japanese men broke into the home, raped her and then strangled her. Her body was found by police responding to a call for help at the home in Decatur, about six miles east of Atlanta. Read more...
February 24, 2012
Suspect in Trooper Death Shoots Himself
A possible suspect in the shooting death of a veteran Washington State trooper during a routine traffic stop shot himself hours later as police closed in, authorities said. A SWAT team was approaching a house in Port Orchard where they hoped to find the registered owner of a truck the trooper had stopped. They heard a shot and found the man with a self-inflicted wound. He was taken to a Tacoma hospital. Read more...
Washington Trooper Killed in Traffic Stop
A Washington state trooper has been found shot to death following a traffic stop. State Patrol spokesman Monte Simpson says the shooting occurred just outside the Kitsap County town of Gorst shortly before 1 a.m. He says no one has been apprehended in the shooting. Read more...
Hospital Worker Shoots Two Supervisors
A 65-year-old hospital maintenance worker shot and wounded two of his supervisors in a dispute over a disciplinary issue, said police. Victor Valcarcel, Sr., was arrested at his house within about an hour of the shooting, which took place at the 200-bed Hospital for Special Care, a private nonprofit facility specializing in rehabilitation and long-term acute care. He has been charged with first-degree assault and criminal intent to commit murder. Read more...
February 23, 2012
Man Charged With Murder of Teen He Met Online
A convicted rapist accused of killing a 16-year-old girl he met online pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, several days after authorities found the girl's body in a blue, plastic barrel in western Arkansas. A judge appointed a public defender to represent Lloyd Jones, 36, in the case of Angela Allen's death. The public defender's office said an attorney hasn't yet been assigned. He was being held at the Sebastian County jail on $1 million bond. Read more...
Wal-Mart Worker Shoots Boss, Kills Self
An employee at a Wal-Mart distribution center shot his manager in her leg, then fatally shot himself, the Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Office said. The shooter was a 32-year-old Petersburg man who had worked in the shipping department for nine years. He was working on the day shift and had just returned from his lunch break when he opened fire. After shooting his manager, he fired two shots at deputies responding to the scene before turning the gun on himself. Read more...
February 22, 2012
5 Dead in Shooting at Health Spa
Five people were killed in an apparent murder-suicide at a Norcross, Ga., health spa, northeast of Atlanta, local police said. On arrival at the scene, officers found four people dead, Norcross police captain Brian Harr told Reuters. A fifth victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Harr said they believe the shooter was among the dead. Read more...
February 21, 2012
Remains Found of Girl Missing Since 1999
The skeletal remains of a 14-year-old Ohio runaway girl have been found underneath the home of the man who was a suspect in her disappearance. The remains have been positively identified as Nicholle Coppler, who vanished in 1999 and was last seen at the home of Glen Fryer. Fryer reportedly committed suicide in 2002 after he was convicted of raping another girl. Read more...
February 20, 2012
Body Found in Search for South Carolina Woman
A South Carolina coroner has identified a body found in a national forest as that of a woman who went missing this month. Authorities said the woman, 30-year-old Dara Lee Watson, was killed by her former fiance days before he committed suicide. Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said Saturday that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. The body was found Friday in the Frances Marion National Forest, not far from where police had discovered the woman's torched SUV. Read more...
Mom, Baby Found Shot to Death
Police say a 19-year-old mom and her 1-year-old daughter were found shot to death in a Cleveland garage next to the body of the woman's estranged boyfriend, who was suspected of kidnapping them. Cleveland police Sgt. Sammy Morris said the three were found with gunshot wounds before 3 a.m. Sunday in a closed garage at an unoccupied building. He said it appeared the man, Thomas Lorde, 35, had shot himself in the head. Read more...
Woman Admits to Taking Baby From Womb
A Kentucky woman pleaded guilty but mentally ill to killing an expectant mother and taking her baby. Kathy Coy of Morgantown cried as she entered the plea in Warren Circuit Court. Family and friends of the victim, 21-year-old Jamie Stice, looked on, all wearing pink ribbons. Coy pleaded guilty to three counts — murder, capital kidnapping and kidnapping. The plea deal calls for her to receive life in prison without parole when she's sentenced March 1. Read more...
February 16, 2012
Josh Powell Set Up Sham Residence
Authorities said Josh Powell was not living at the house he rigged as a bomb and blew up, killing himself and his two young sons, the Tacoma News Tribune reported. Pierce County sheriff's detectives told citizens at a community meeting on Monday that the house Powell showed to authorities was a sham -- intended to look like a loving home where his two sons could visit, according to the newspaper. Read more...
February 15, 2012
Woman's Fiance Seen Near Her Burned SUV
Authorities confirmed that the death of a missing South Carolina woman's fiance was a suicide, and they revealed that he had been seen leaving the area where Dara Watson's sport-utility vehicle was found burning, WCBD-TV in Charleston reported. In a news conference held by Mount Pleasant police, officials said witnesses identified fiance David Hedrick as leaving the scene with a shovel, according to the station. Read more...
February 13, 2012
Man to Face Alabama Trial in Wife's Diving Death
A dream honeymoon to scuba dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef turned into a terrible nightmare, and the horror is about to play out years later in a courtroom in Alabama. An Alabama man who already served prison time in Australia after pleading guilty to a reduced charged in the death of his bride goes to trial Monday, accused of murdering her for insurance money. Tina Thomas Watson drowned during a scuba dive on the reef just days after her wedding in October 2003. Read more...
Powell Search Resumes at Recycling Center
The Pierce County sheriff's office says a search has resumed at a recycling center near Puyallup, Wash., for papers that Josh Powell is believed to have dumped before he killed himself and his two sons in a house fire last week. Powell was the husband of missing Utah woman Susan Powell. He attacked his 5- and 7-year-old sons with a hatchet last Sunday and then ignited the house in a gas-fueled inferno. Read more...
February 11, 2012
Powell Comforter Tests Positive for Blood
Police in Washington state who searched a storage unit rented by Josh Powell found a stained comforter that tested positive for blood in initial exams, according to documents filed in court. Pierce County detectives reported finding a gray-blue comforter with a stain. The search warrant documents say the comforter tested positive for blood. Investigators planned to perform further tests. Powell killed himself and his two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno Sunday, and Pierce County authorities consider it an admission that he killed his wife. Read more...
Killer's Tip Leads Police to Human Remains
Information provided by a California death row inmate who was one of the two notorious "Speed Freak Killers" led to the discovery Friday of a second set of human remains, this time believed to belong to a 16-year-old girl who went missing nearly three decades ago. Specially trained dogs led authorities to a partial human skull and bones buried on a remote Calaveras County property, said Deputy Les Garcia, spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the search. Read more...
February 10, 2012
Powell Had 'Incestuous' Images on Computer
Before Josh Powell was going to try to win back custody of his children last week, Washington state authorities received materials from Utah police that had been discovered on a computer in Powell's home two years ago. Authorities say the images depicted "incestuous" sex and were disconcerting enough that they prompted a psychologist to recommend that Powell undergo an intensive psychosexual evaluation. But a lawyer for Powell's in-laws, who had custody of the boys, wasn't invited to see the materials before the custody hearing - even though a Utah judge had specified in a sealed court order that he was one of the few people allowed to see them. Read more...
Josh Powell Told Son He Had 'Surprise'
The Washington state social worker who was supposed to supervise a visit between Josh Powell and his young sons says Powell told his oldest boy he had a "surprise" for him moments before attacking and killing the children. Elizabeth Griffin-Hall said in an interview to air on ABC's "20/20" that Powell slammed the door on her after he had the children inside the house. Hall said she banged on the door to try to get inside and heard Powell tell 7-year-old Charlie: "I've got a big surprise for you." She also heard 5-year-old Braden crying. Read more...
February 09, 2012
Thrill-Kill Teen Gets Life
A teenage girl who once faced first-degree murder charges for killing a 9-year-old neighbor just to see how it felt has agreed to a plea deal that gives her hope of one day being paroled. Alyssa Bustamante, 18, has been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in the death of Elizabeth Olten in 2009. Bustamante wrote in her diary that killing Olten was 'pretty enjoyable,' according to court records. Read more...
Reality TV Producer Beresford-Redman Extradited
Bruce Beresford-Redman, the reality television-show producer accused of murdering his wife, Monica, in Cancun in 2010, has been extradited to Mexico. The one-time "Survivor"producer's attorney, Richard Hirsch, confirmed that Beresford-Redman's extradition process began Tuesday and he was extradited to Cancun, where he must face the magistrate within six days. Read more...
Facebook Spat Leads to 2 Shooting Deaths
Authorities say a father who was upset after a Tennessee couple deleted his adult daughter as a friend on Facebook has been charged with killing the couple. Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece said Wednesday the victims had complained to police that Marvin Potter's daughter was harassing them after they deleted her as a friend on the social networking site. Potter has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in last week's slayings of Billy Payne Jr. and his girlfriend, Billie Jean Hayworth. Their baby was found unharmed in Hayworth's arms. Read more...
February 08, 2012
Arrests Made in Murder of Arizona Couple
Police said that they have arrested five people in the shocking deaths of an Arizona couple found tied up and burned beyond recognition in their stylish stucco home in a posh Phoenix suburb. The murders of Lawrence and Glenna Shapiro, well-to-do philanthropists in their 70s, were the first in nearly eight years in Paradise Valley, which is set among picture-perfect mountains popular with hikers and is home to some of the area's nicest resorts and lushest golf courses. Read more...
Former MLB Player Clyburn Killed
Police say former major league outfielder Danny Clyburn Jr. has been shot and killed in his South Carolina hometown. Lancaster police say officers found the 37-year-old Clyburn lying in the front yard of his home. Witnesses told police they saw Clyburn arguing with 36-year-old Derrick Lamont McIlwain shortly before Clyburn was shot. Police say McIlwain turned himself in to authorities later and is charged with murder and weapons possession. Read more...
2 Dead, 2 Hurt After Transit Stop Shooting
A suspected gunman and another man are dead and a police officer and another bystander are wounded after a shootout at a suburban Dallas transit station. The incident happened at a Dallas Area Rapid Transit train station in Richardson. Richardson police Sgt. Kevin Perlich (PUR'-lihk) says a man reported to be disorderly stepped from a DART bus and shot a DART police officer who challenged him. The officer returned fire. Two bystanders were struck in the exchange of gunfire. Read more...
February 07, 2012
Powell Boys Had 'Chop Injuries' to Necks
The two young sons of a missing Utah woman had chop-type injuries on their necks and a hatchet was found near their bodies after the home where they were visiting their father exploded. Authorities believe Josh Powell, a suspect in the disappearance of his wife Susan, tried to chop the boys' heads off before setting the house on fire. The double-murder suicide was a deliberate, planned-out event, investigators said. Read more...
Ohio Girl, 16, Dragged to Death
Authorities say a 16-year-old Ohio girl was dragged to death by a vehicle during a late-night argument. Police in Cleveland say the teen was standing next to the vehicle when the driver accelerated, dragging the girl. She fell from the vehicle and later died at MetroHealth Medical Center. Police are looking for an 18-year-old suspect who was driving a maroon Jeep. Read more...
February 06, 2012
Trial Opens For Woman Accused in Dragging Death
The trial of a woman charged in the dragging death of a tow truck driver is under way in Colorado Springs. Detra Farries is charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly accident that killed Allen Lew Rose last year. In opening arguments, prosecutors said Rose was trying to tow Farries' SUV when he got snagged in a tow cable as Farries drove away. Read more...
February 04, 2012
Somer Thompson's Killer Gets Plea Deal
The man who kidnapped 7-year-old Somer Thompson on her way home from school two years ago has avoided the death penalty by accepting a plea deal. Jarred Harrell was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after agreeing to drop his right to appeal the sentence later. Somer's family members agreed to the plea deal, prosecutors said. Read more...
Alabama Police Kill Fugitive Cop Killer
Authorities shot and killed an escaped inmate who stabbed one Mobile police officer to death and wounded a second after fleeing in a stolen police car. Cpl. Christopher Levy, spokesman for the Mobile Police Department, said Lawrence Wallace Jr., 24, was pronounced dead at the scene of a standoff several miles from the location where Officer Steven Green was stabbed. Lori Myles, spokeswoman for the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, said the incident began around 3:50 p.m. as Green transported Lawrence to Mobile County Metro Jail for booking on a robbery charge. Lawrence stabbed Green and then fled in the officer's patrol car. Read more...
February 03, 2012
Psychologist Believes Loughner's Still Incompetent
A federal judge says a psychologist believes the Tucson shooting rampage suspect is still incompetent to stand trial. U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns scheduled a hearing for Monday in San Diego on the status of the Jared Lee Loughner case. Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges stemming from the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting in Tucson that killed six people and injured 13 including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Read more...
Murder Suspect Arrested in Georgia
A New Ellenton fugitive who faces murder and weapons charges in connection with the death of an 18-year-old New Ellenton man in Aiken County was arrested in Pooler, Ga., officials said. Christopher Nathaniel Parker, 24, has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, said Aiken County Sheriff's Office Capt. Troy Elwell. "Authorities with the U.S. Marshals Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and authorities in Pooler, Ga., took Parker into custody without incident," Elwell said. Read more...
February 01, 2012
Deaths of Pastor's Wives Ruled Homicides
Authorities now say the deaths of both wives of a jailed Pennsylvania pastor were homicides. Former Reeders United Methodist Church pastor Arthur Schirmer is awaiting trial in the July 2008 killing of his second wife, Betty Jean. Authorities said that the 1999 death of Jewel Schirmer was also a homicide. Officials began looking into Jewel's death after Arthur Schirmer was charged with killing Betty Jean. Read more...
January 31, 2012
Zahra Baker's Dad Deported to Australia
The father of a 10-year-old disabled girl who was murdered by her stepmother in western North Carolina has been deported to his native Australia. Attorney Shell Pearce says his client, Adam Baker, was deported roughly two weeks ago by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Pearce says Baker brought the remains of his daughter, Zahra, with him for burial in Australia. Read more...
Three Suspects Held in 5 Killings
Three men were in police custody in connection with a quintuple murder at a bullet-riddled house in a working class neighborhood near downtown Birmingham, police said. The bodies of five people shot dead were found early on Sunday morning at the home, which was riddled with bullet holes, in the Ensley Highlands area, the Birmingham Police Department said. Read more...
Mom Pleads Not Guilty in Newborn Twins' Death
An Iowa woman accused of killing her newborn twin daughters and hiding their bodies in the trunk of her car has pleaded not guilty. Jackie Burkle is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. She is being held on $1 million bond. Her attorney entered a written plea of not guilty on her behalf in Story County District Court in Nevada. Police found the infants' bodies in the trunk of Burkle's car on Jan. 7 after receiving a call to check on her. Read more...
January 30, 2012
Officers Checking Robbery Find 5 Dead
Police investigating a possible robbery at a Birmingham home instead found five people dead inside, authorities said. Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams said officers arrived at the house after getting a call that a robbery was in progress and soon discovered the five victims. He told reporters that investigators are interviewing potential witnesses but so far have made no arrests. Read more...
Man Faces Murder Charges in 2 States
Authorities say a 26-year-old man faces murder charges in two states following the fatal shootings of a South Carolina police officer and a Georgia woman. Police in South Carolina say Joshua Tremaine Jones has been charged with murder in the death of Aiken police Master Cpl. Sandra Rogers. The nearly 28-year veteran was shot after responding to a report of suspicious activity involving two cars near a local park. Jones was arrested hours later in Batesburg. Police said Saturday evening that the 49-year-old Rogers had died at an area hospital. Read more...
January 28, 2012
Woman Gets Life for Killing Yoga Co-Worker
A woman convicted of killing her co-worker at an upscale yoga clothing shop in the Washington suburbs, then spinning an elaborate lie about being attacked by two masked men, was ordered Friday to spend the rest of her life behind bars. A judge sentenced Brittany Norwood, 29, to life in prison without parole, rejecting defense pleas that she deserved an eventual shot at rehabilitation and freedom. Read more...
January 27, 2012
Grand Jury Investigates Celina Cass Death
Six months after an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl disappeared from her home during the middle of the night, no suspects have been named in her abduction or death. However, a grand jury has heard testimony from members of Celina Cass' family as the lead prosecutor claims the investigation remains active. Cass vanished from her home on June 25, 2011 and her body was found in the Connecticut River a week later. Read more...
April Trial Set in Jennifer Hudson's Family Murders
A judge ordered a man charged in the 2008 Chicago slayings of Jennifer Hudson's mother and two other family members to stand trial in April, despite the objections of his attorney, who said she was not ready. After listening to William Balfour's attorney say she's still building her case, a clearly exasperated Cook County Judge William Charles Burns said it didn't appear she was making any progress and set a date. Balfour, 30, is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson. Read more...
January 26, 2012
Skakel Says Sentence Is Excessive
A lawyer for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel told a panel of Connecticut judges that his client's 20-years-to-life prison sentence for killing his teen neighbor in 1975 was excessive. Skakel, who was convicted in 2002 of beating 15-year-old Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in wealthy Greenwich, also addressed the court, saying, "I didn't commit this crime." Read more...
Richey Pleads Not Guilty to Threat
A Scotsman released from an American prison after spending two decades on Ohio's death row pleaded not guilty to charges that he threatened a judge who prosecuted his original case. Ken Richey appeared in a northwest Ohio court on charges of retaliation and violating a civil protection order. Richey sat in a chair with his hands clasped in his lap and didn't speak during the hearing. Read more...
Man Hacked Victim With Ax, Ate Brain
A Florida man has been arrested on charges that he hacked to death a Connecticut man and ate the victim's eye and part of his brain. Police in Lynn Haven, Fla., said that 35-year-old Tyree Lincoln Smith was arrested on a Connecticut warrant for murder. According to police in Bridgeport, Conn., Smith was covered in blood when he told a relative on Dec. 16 that he had killed a man with a hatchet and eaten pieces of his brain and his eye. Read more...
Manhunt Under Way for Killer Landlord
A nationwide manhunt was under way after cops said that a New Mexico landlord shot dead two of his tenants following an argument over rent money. An arrest warrant for Arthur "Arturo" Anaya of Santa Fe was issued on two counts of murder after Theresa Vigil, 51, and her daughter's boyfriend, 16-year-old Austin Urban, were shot dead Monday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The two victims lived in a mobile home on Anaya's land in Santa Fe, along with Vigil's 17-year-old daughter Natalie. Read more...
January 25, 2012
'Rockefeller' Ordered to Stand Trial
A German man who pretended to be a member of the Rockefeller family was ordered to stand trial for murder after a preliminary hearing in California. Christian Gerhartsreiter is facing murder charges for the 1985 death of John Sohus, his landlord and neighbor. Gerhartsreiter is suspected in the death of John Sohus' wife Linda, but her body has never been found and charges have not be filed. Read more...
Van der Sloot Appeals 28-Year Sentence
Dutch citizen Joran Van der Sloot is appealing his 28-year jail sentence for killing a young business student in Peru two years ago, his lawyer said. Van der Sloot, who was arrested but never charged over the disappearance of Alabama woman Natalee Holloway in 2005, apologized for murdering student Stephany Flores and accepted all charges against him earlier this month. Read more...
'Headless Body in Topless Bar' Killer Denied Parole
New York state authorities denied parole to the man convicted of the crime that generated one of the most famous headlines in U.S. journalism: the New York Post's "Headless body in topless bar." The parole board denied early release for Charles Dingle, 53, convicted of the 1983 rampage in which he fatally shot the owner of a topless bar, took hostages, raped a woman and forced another to cut off the dead man's head in order to prevent police from linking the bullet to his gun. Read more...
January 24, 2012
Dahmer Survivor Sentenced in Drowning Death
The man who led police to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer two decades ago was sentenced to a year and a half behind bars for his role in the drowning death of a homeless man. Tracy Edwards' attorney argued that the Dahmer encounter had a profound impact on his client, who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and that the remorse he felt over the death last summer of Johnny Jordan just added to his pain. "He's going to have another ghost to haunt him all his life," lawyer Paul Ksicinski told the judge. Read more...
Woman Convicted in Millionaire's '94 Murder
A woman accused of arranging to have an ex-NFL player kill her millionaire boyfriend in 1994 has been found guilty of first-degree murder. An Orange County jury also found that Nanette Ann Packard committed the crime for financial gain. Prosecutors said Packard gave keys to ex-NFL linebacker Eric Naposki so he could enter the Newport Beach home of William McLaughlin and shoot him six times in 1994. Naposki, a former Patriots and Colts player who worked as a nightclub bouncer, was convicted of the murder last year. Read more...
'Headless Body in Topless Bar' Killer Seeks Parole
The murderer convicted of killing a bar owner, taking four women hostage and forcing one of them to cut off the dead bar owner's head during a drug-fueled crime spree three decades ago is seeking parole for a third time. The New York Post, which dubbed now 53-year-old Charles Dingle the "Headless Body in a Topless Bar" killer after he committed the 1983 spree, reports the felon will ask a three-person parole board to spring him from the upstate Wende Correctional Facility. Read more...
Small-Town Mayor Shot Dead, Suspect Surrenders
The mayor of a small western Kentucky town has been shot and killed in his home, and a suspect turned himself in shortly afterward. Hickman Police Chief Tony Grogan says Mayor Charles Murphy was slain in the town of about 2,500 people. Grogan says 30-year-old Thomas Joseph Lattus walked into the police department around 1 a.m. and admitted to the shooting, and he was charged with murder. Read more...
January 23, 2012
Bodies of Missing Texas Family Found
The Dallas County Medical Examiner on Sunday identified three bodies as members of a Texas family that disappeared last week. The bodies of Harold and Sue Harpst and Sue's daughter, Regina Taunton, were found behind a barn near Sherman, Texas, KXAS-TV reported. They had been missing since Jan. 15. Sue Harpst's son, Thomas Taunton, is in custody in Louisiana and has been charged with their murders based on evidence found at their home in Fannin County, Texas. Read more...
Abortion Doctor Freed After Posting Bail
Lawyers for a Utah abortion doctor charged with murder for the death of a fetus in Maryland asked a judge to throw out the charges, arguing she is immune from prosecution and that the state is trying to infringe upon a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. Nicola Riley and her former colleague, Steven Brigham of New Jersey, were indicted last month under a law that allows murder charges to be brought in the death of a viable fetus. The 2005 law had only been used previously for cases in which defendants were accused of assaulting or killing pregnant women, and prosecutors have acknowledged they are in uncharted territory by using it to charge abortion doctors. Thirty-seven other states have similar statutes. Read more...
Suspect Sought in Huckabee Relative's Death
Authorities in Arkansas were searching for a suspect wanted in a homicide and kidnapping case involving a distant relative of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Police issued an arrest warrant for Donald Hux after investigators found the body of Sandy Carl Huckabee at his home in Arkadelphia, which is about 70 miles southwest of Little Rock. Former Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris said Sandy Huckabee's father was the first cousin of former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's father. Read more...
Man Charged in 1989 Honolulu Murder
The 52-year-old man arrested in connection with a murder that happened more than 20 years ago has been charged with murder and sex assault. Gerald Austin remains in police custody unable to post a $200,000 bail. In 1989, 81-year-old Edith Skinner was found dead in her apartment on Kalakaua Avenue. Witnesses say they saw a man leaving the apartment that morning, but the case went cold. Authorities say DNA linked Austin to the case. Read more...
