May 18, 2012
Trayvon Martin Shooting 'Ultimately Avoidable'
Prosecutors made public a trove of evidence used to justify murder charges against Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman, including a police report that concluded "the encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman." An initial review of the evidence, which was provided to Zimmerman's attorney early this week, uncovers documentation that will be helpful to both prosecutors and the defense. Read more...
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...
