Florida executes man for pair of killings dating to 1991

STARKE, Fla. — A man convicted of killing two people in 1991 on Wednesday became the third inmate executed in Florida since the state resumed carrying out the death penalty after a hiatus.

Fifty-three-year-old Patrick Hannon received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 8:50 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke, the office of the governor said.

Hannon was strapped to a gurney as witnesses watched on the other side of a glass window. While he expressed regret over the killings, he said it was two accomplices that killed the victims, Robert Carter and Brandon Snider. Carter was fatally shot and Snider had his throat slashed.

"I hope the execution gives the Carter family some peace. I wish I could have done more to save Robert. I didn't kill anybody, but I was there," he said.

As he spoke, one of the victim's female family members cursed.

"Robby was a good man and a good friend, and I let him down when he needed me most," Hannon continued. "As far as Brandon Snider, I think that everybody knows what he did to get this ball rolling. I'm sorry things worked out like this the way it did."

The same woman, who authorities declined to identify later, cursed again in a whisper.

Then as the execution began at 8:38 p.m., the woman made eye contact with Hannon and raised her hand as if to wave "bye, bye."

Hannon's body moved during the execution procedure. His lips twitched, his chest heaved and his arms, legs and body appeared to convulse a bit. Then, 12 minutes after the execution began, he was pronounced dead.

Florida resumed executions in August after making changes to its death penalty sentencing law. The law now requires a unanimous jury vote for a death sentence.

The U.S. Supreme Court had previously found that Florida's old sentencing law, which did not require unanimity, to be unconstitutional. However, the new sentencing law did not affect Hannon's case because the state's high court ruled that those decided before 2002 were not eligible for relief.

Hannon was convicted in 1991 of two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of Snider and Carter.

It was in January 1991 when Hannon and two other men went to Snider's apartment in Tampa.

Hannon's friend, Jim Acker, initially attacked Snider with a knife, according to authorities. Prosecutors said the attacks were motivated by Snider's vandalizing of Acker's sister's apartment. Snider was "eviscerated" by the initial stabbing, according to court documents, and Hannon sliced his throat, nearly cutting off the victim's head.

Carter, who was Snider's roommate, also was home and fled the violence to an upstairs bedroom, where Hannon dragged him out from under a bed and shot him six times, the jury found.

Hannon's jury recommended death unanimously after finding him guilty of both killings.

Hannon's lawyers had earlier requested a halt to the execution plan before the Florida Supreme Court, but that was denied. Hannon had asked for a new sentencing phase, citing recent changes to Florida's death sentencing system. Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, who dissented from the rest of the court, wrote that the jury was not given enough information to make an informed decision in Hannon's sentencing phase.

Without explanation Wednesday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court denied two last-hour requests by Hannon's lawyer sto block the execution.

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/florida-executes-man-for-pair-of-killings-dating-to-1991/ar-BBEIfBH

Police find body in Orlando man's backyard while arresting him in unrelated homicide

ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orlando man accused of killing his neighbor may be charged in another homicide after police found a decomposing body buried on his property.

Jimmy Gary Merritt, 37, was arrested Tuesday after Orlando Police said an investigation revealed he cashed a check belonging to a Friday homicide victim and tried unsuccessfully to cash two more, according to an arrest report.

The victim - Benny Hallmark - was found dead of a gunshot wound, lying on a reclining chair in his home in the 3100 block of Lauressa Lane near Catalina Elementary School and Memorial Middle School about 11:15 a.m. Friday, according to the Orlando Police Department.

Hallmark and Merritt were neighbors, living only about 200 feet apart on Lauressa Lane. Police did not say whether the two knew each other.

Responding medics with Orlando Fire Department found the death suspicious, and called police to investigate. On Saturday, the Medical Examiner's Office ruled Hallmark's death a homicide, according to the report.

During the investigation, police said they discovered Merritt had stolen Hallmark's checks and tried to use them. They issued a warrant for Merritt on charges of grand theft, uttering a forged check and fraud, according to the Police Department.

On Tuesday, officers following up on the case spoke to a witness claiming Merritt confessed to killing another person and burying the body in his Lauressa Lane backyard.

Officers went to the home to wait until they could receive a search warrant, according to the Police Department. That's when Merritt came from around the corner and officers arrested him on the outstanding warrant, according to the Police Department.

Once officers received a search warrant, in the backyard they found a "badly decomposed body" wrapped in plastic and blankets buried under a large pile of wood and tools from the garage, according to the Police Department.

The body has not yet been identified and officials have not determined the cause of death, the Police Department said.

Police also found the firearm used in Hallmark's homicide.

Merritt faces a charge of first-degree murder in Hallmark's death, as well as the financial crimes.

Police said further charges are pending regarding the unidentified body. The medical examiner's report must first be completed.

Merritt has a criminal history in Orange County that includes convictions of aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a felon and numerous drug offenses stemming back to 1997.

Visit The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) at www.OrlandoSentinel.com

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/police-find-body-in-orlando-mans-backyard-while-arresting-him-in-unrelated-homicide/ar-AAu5GTz

Trucker arrested for California bus crash that killed 13

INDIO, Calif. — The driver of a big-rig charged in a California bus crash that killed 13 people last year has been arrested.

The Riverside County district attorney's office says 51-year-old Bruce Guilford was arrested Thursday in Georgia by a U.S. Marshals Service task force.

He was charged a day earlier with vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving.

It's unclear whether he has a lawyer.

Guilford's tractor-trailer had stopped for construction work on Interstate 10 in the Palm Springs area last Oct. 23 but prosecutors say he failed to move when the road reopened.

A bus carrying passengers from a desert casino back to Los Angeles rear-ended the truck, killing 13 on board and injuring 29.

Prosecutors say Guilford had fallen asleep after sleeping only seven hours in the 24 hours before the crash.

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/trucker-arrested-for-california-bus-crash-that-killed-13/ar-AAtKr2A

Suspect in 4 Ohio slayings arrested while walking along road

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Unarmed, worn out and ready to give up, the suspect in the fatal shootings of three adult relatives and a 7-year-old boy didn't try to flee when officers arrested him Friday as he walked along a road in far southern Ohio, a sheriff said.

Officers were acting on a tip from a resident who spotted 23-year-old
Arron Lawson. Authorities had said he fled into the woods Thursday,
shortly after midnight.

Lawson is an outdoorsman and hunter who liked being in the woods, but "I think
he was just plumb worn out from being out in the elements" during a manhunt that
spanned two cool nights, Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless said.

The sheriff wouldn't discuss any potential motive or the chronology of the slayings,
and he declined to disclose what Lawson said to the arresting officers.

Lawson is being held on charges of murder and aggravated murder. It wasn't immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

He was arrested roughly 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of where authorities found three adults dead in a house trailer on Wednesday evening.

A fourth adult who came upon the scene after work and was stabbed fled the home and was flown to a hospital in Huntington, West Virginia. That victim is recovering well, Lawless said.

The youngest victim, 7-year-old Devin Holston, initially was the subject of a missing-child alert after the adults were discovered. Authorities spent hours searching for him, only to later find him dead in the same house trailer, his body apparently hidden, Lawless said.

A few relatives of the victims said after the arrest that they had seen no sign or warning of such violence by Lawson, who lived just up the road from the trailer home.

Lawson was being questioned by investigators Friday and could face more charges, the sheriff said.

Agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation have been helping Lawrence County with the investigation, BCI spokeswoman Jill Del Greco said.

The initial report about the slayings — violence against multiple people believed to be related — recalled details from a still-unsolved homicide case that rattled rural southern Ohio last year, but the cases didn't appear to be connected, Del Greco said.

The deaths on Wednesday occurred roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of the Piketon area, where eight people from the Rhoden family were found shot to death in four homes in April 2016.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/suspect-in-4-ohio-slayings-arrested-while-walking-along-road/ar-AAtnrwd

'I think I did it': Man says he stabbed wife while on cough meds

(CNN)The male voice on the 911 call sounded flat and slightly confused.

"I think I killed my (wife)," the caller said.

"What do you mean? What happened?" the operator said.

"I had a dream, and then I turned on the lights and she's dead on the floor," he said. "I have blood all over me, and there's a bloody knife on the bed. And I think I did it."

The caller, identified by police as Matthew James Phelps, grew increasingly distraught as he explained that he had taken Coricidin Cough and Cold medicine and awakened to the bloody scene.

"Oh my God," he said, crying. "Why?"

Phelps, 28, has been charged with murder in the September 1 stabbing death of Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps, 29, in North Carolina, the Raleigh Police Department said.

Phelps appeared in court on Wednesday and no bond was issued, according to the Wake County Clerk of Court's Office. He could face the death penalty if convicted. His next court appearance is set for September 25.

Joe Cheshire, an attorney for Phelps, said it was a "very tragic" situation but asked that people withhold judgment.

"There's a lot to this story, I believe that will be told in the future," Cheshire said. "But I don't want anything I say to diminish the sadness and sorrow that everyone feels for the death of this lovely young lady."

Cough medicine

In the 911 call, Phelps said he didn't know what time it was or when he had woken up. He said he took "more medicine than I should have" and woke up to the grisly scene.

"I know it can make you feel good, and a lot of times I can't sleep at night, so I took some," he said.

Cough medicines like Coricidin target symptoms of the common cold, and can also cause drowsiness. When abused or taken in high doses, the cough medicine ingredient Dextromethorphan can cause hallucinogenic effects, including "sensations of physical distortion and hallucinations," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Bayer, the maker of Coricidin, released a statement extending its "deepest sympathies" to the family.

"Patient safety is our top priority, and we continually monitor adverse events regarding all of our products," the company said. "There is no evidence to suggest that Coricidin is associated with violent behavior."

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/health/nc-murder-cough-medicine/index.html

Man arrested in 1999 cold case murder of prosecutor in Denver

Colorado police believe they cracked a cold case murder after finally arresting a suspect nearly two decades after a prosecutor was found dead in the bathtub of her apartment, officials said Wednesday.

Robert Williams, 70, was arrested Tuesday and charged in the death of Rebecca Bartee, who died in June 1999, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said. A reporter from Denver TV station KCNC-TV contacted investigators after receiving a call from a man claiming he lived in the apartment complex when Bartee was murdered. 

"New leads may be the only way to solve these crimes," the department said. "We, along with the victim's family, are thankful someone came forward with new information, even after 18 years."

The man told the station he remembered seeing Williams leaving Bartee's apartment around the time she was killed. Police did not disclose other details about the arrest and Williams' warrant affidavit was sealed. He is expected to appear in court Thursday.

Bartee left work on a Friday in 1999 and never returned to the office. A coworker discovered Bartee's body after going to her apartment to get a case file, police said. 

Investigators initially thought Bartee killed herself because of an antidepressant medication found near her body. But clues -- including a full wine class on the table and pills in the bathroom -- led them to believe someone broke in and murdered her. Autopsy results revealed Bartee did not have alcohol or drugs in her system and hand marks were found on her neck. 

"I never thought the fact that there might be someone living here that could be tied to murder as far as that long ago," a neighbor told FOX31 Wednesday. 

Arapahoe County Sheriff spokesperson Julie Brooks also said making an arrest years after a case is extremely rare. 

"To make an arrest in a cold case, it is difficult because people's memories fade, people move, people who might have information don't realize they have information," Brooks said.

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/man-arrested-in-1999-cold-case-murder-of-prosecutor-in-denver/ar-AAr22Qf

Three arrested for murder of 23-year-old Alabama mother

A 16-year-old boy and two other suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old Alabama mother.

The body of Jennifer Raven Nevin was found Monday on a rural road near a gas well in in Tuscaloosa County, according to authorities.

Koran Rashad Lewis, 23, Vida Milagros Confetti, 20, and teen Kendrick Ky'Andre Marshall have been charged in her killing.

All three suspects have been jailed, and cops say additional arrests are possible. Authorities have not released details on how or why they believe Nevin was killed.

"We developed some leads last night, worked on them all day today," Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit Capt. Gary Hood said Tuesday, according to the Tuscaloosa News. "We interviewed multiple people, several witnesses. We were able to develop a timeline and recreate the last days of Miss Nevin's life."

Nevin's mother last saw her on Friday when she picked up her 5-year-old son in Tuscaloosa, according to the Tuscaloosa News. Her brother told local media outlets that Jennifer battled mental illness and struggled with drugs.

"On her good days, she was beautiful and creative," Will Nevin told AL.com. "She had a thousand questions about everything. She was smart. But she had her not good days, and this weekend was a string of them."

Article Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/teen-arrested-murder-23-year-old-alabama-mom-article-1.3338640

A 40-Year Mystery Ends: Teenager Was Killer’s 24th Victim

MAYWOOD, Ill. — It was a painful mystery that had simmered just below the surface for about 40 years, and last month, the family of James Byron Haakenson finally got their answer. As had been long feared, the funny, good-natured 16-year-old they called Jimmy had been a victim of John Wayne Gacy, one of the country’s most notorious serial killers.

But the revelation by Chicago-area law enforcement officials opened up a new set of haunting questions for this family as it imagined his final days, now with just enough certainty to be horrifying.

“How did this 16-year-old kid get to Chicago, and how in the heck did he run into this awful man?” Lorie Sisterman, Jimmy’s older sister, said from her home in North St. Paul.

The story of Jimmy’s identification, decades after his death, is a remarkable quest that spanned the country. It took a curious nephew in Texas with a knack for digging around online, siblings in Minnesota and South Dakota who had never stopped wondering what had happened to their brother, and a sheriff-detective team in Illinois determined to close cold cases.

Originally, Cook County investigators had little to go on but the body of a young man, between 5 feet 5 and 5 feet 10, discovered with dozens of others at Mr. Gacy’s house in 1978. He was known only as Victim No. 24.

The Disappearance

One summer day in 1976, Jimmy appeared in the kitchen of the Haakenson house in St. Paul, his brown hair bleached blond. Carrying no backpack or suitcase, he told his family that he was off to Chicago. Jimmy had been known to leave home before, seeking fun and relief from a crowded house with four children, a mother who held as many as three jobs and a father who worked as a plumber but also drank heavily. Jimmy had always come back.

“I just said, ‘Why is your mom letting him go to Chicago?’” said Jackie Haakenson, who was then dating Jimmy’s older brother, Donald (they later married). Nobody else in the room seemed to share her worries.

“It was so loose and easy back then, you could just hitchhike and not worry about it,” Ms. Sisterman said. “If he thumbed it all the way to Chicago, we don’t know.”

Word that he had made it there safely came on Aug. 5. Jimmy called home and spoke to his mother, June Haakenson, assuring her that he was fine.

But then weeks passed with no word from him. Ms. Haakenson, a quiet, reserved woman, reported Jimmy missing to the police. In a message dated Sept. 7, 1976, the St. Paul police alerted the Chicago Police Department. “Mother thinks he may be in company of gays in Chicago,” the letter said. Family members said he was seen wearing makeup that summer.

“When he didn’t come back, we knew something had to have gone wrong,” Jackie Haakenson said. “What are the chances he met up with Gacy?”

The Serial Killer

The news out of Norwood Park Township, Ill., in December 1978, was grisly. The police arrested Mr. Gacy, a 38-year-old owner of a construction firm who was known in the neighborhood as a businessman and amateur clown.

A search revealed 29 bodies in or near Gacy’s house, 26 of which were found in the home’s crawl space. Four more were found in the nearby Des Plaines River. Mr. Gacy had abducted and raped some victims, and lured others to his home by promising them construction jobs or sex. Then he killed them, often by strangulation.

Hearing about the murders, Ms. Haakenson thought of her son, who had now been missing for more than two years. “After the story broke, my mom and I had a conversation and said, ‘Well, what if?’” Ms. Sisterman recalled.

Her mother told the St. Paul police, who passed along her theory to officials in Illinois, according to police records. The Cook County police asked for Jimmy’s dental records. For reasons unknown, none were sent.

“What could a woman in the Midwest with three more kids to raise, what could she do?” Ms. Sisterman said.

After that, there would be no more conversation about Jimmy at home. “Every once in a while I would say something about Jimmy,” Ms. Sisterman said. “She just would close her eyes. It was something you didn’t talk about.”

The Nephew

In the house in Sioux Falls, S.D., where Jeff Haakenson grew up, he never saw a picture of his Uncle Jimmy. But when he was a child in the 1980s, his mother, Jackie Haakenson, told him what had happened before Jeff was born.

“John Wayne Gacy got him,” she would say.

Mr. Haakenson often read about true crime, including books about the Gacy killings and the Jeffrey Dahmer murders in Milwaukee. And from the time he was 19 and in the Air Force, he would spend hours searching for his uncle online.

“I could never find him,” Mr. Haakenson, 37, said from Lubbock, Tex. “It just really bothered me that nobody cared, that somebody went missing and it’s like, nobody’s doing anything about it. If it was my brother who went missing, I would be turning over every rock looking for him.”

His mother was the only person who talked about Jimmy. “Time went by, and I kept asking,” Ms. Haakenson said from her home in Sioux Falls. “I would ask Don, ‘Why doesn’t your mom look for him, do something?’ If it was my dog I would look harder.”

Last year while working in Los Angeles, Jeff Haakenson came across a page online from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. It said the authorities were trying to identify the remaining unknown Gacy victims. Mr. Haakenson filled out a form with his uncle’s name, birth date, last known location. Then he waited.

The Detective

As a boy growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1980s, Jason Moran would hear about the serial killer from the suburbs who targeted young people. As a seasoned detective in Cook County trying to close Gacy cases, he saw the agony left behind.

“It’s quite devastating to see how much death and pain he has caused for so many people,” he said. “This was a new experience with human pain.”

In 2011, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced a new push to close cold cases in Cook County, particularly the Gacy case, which had left eight unidentified victims at the time. Mr. Gacy was executed by lethal injection in 1994.

Sergeant Moran and Sheriff Dart started digging, beginning with the warehouse where boxes and materials on the Gacy case were kept. They gathered everyone they could find who was involved with the original investigation. And they acknowledged the challenges ahead — after decades, many families have long given up on finding their missing relatives.

But DNA evidence was making it easier to link unidentified bodies with names, and DNA was extracted from the bones of the unidentified people who were discovered in a crawl space beneath Mr. Gacy’s house. There was also hope that families who did not want their missing loved ones to be associated with Mr. Gacy back then might come forward now.

After publicizing their quest, hundreds of tips poured in, including from Jeff Haakenson.

From there, the investigation moved swiftly, Sergeant Moran said. Nothing revealed that Jimmy was alive, and his description — a young, unsupervised man in Chicago during the period when Mr. Gacy was killing people — suggested a possible link.

He then asked Donald Haakenson and Ms. Sisterman to submit DNA samples; Jimmy’s parents had both been dead for years.

The results from the lab were convincing enough that Sergeant Moran asked the Haakenson family if family members could meet in person to discuss them.

With family members assembled around Ms. Sisterman’s dining room table in North St. Paul in July, Sergeant Moran broke the news. Shock rippled through the room as the family absorbed it.

“I didn’t want him to be dead, and especially dying the way he did,” Jeff Haakenson said. “But I’m relieved that he’s found, that he’s not missing anymore.”

Ms. Sisterman said she was grateful that her mother was not alive to hear it. “It would have killed her, literally,” she said.

On the wall of his office in Maywood, Sergeant Moran has hung Jimmy’s photo on a poster of the unidentified Gacy victims.

“I got more leads and I’m hopeful,” he said of the victims. “The next six are going to be tough.”

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-40-year-mystery-ends-teenager-was-killer’s-24th-victim/ar-AApg8w0

FBI: Man says he killed wife on cruise over her laughing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Utah man killed his wife aboard an Alaska cruise and told an acquaintance who later walked into the blood-splattered cabin that he did it because she would not stop laughing at him, the FBI said in documents released Thursday.

Kenneth Manzanares was found in the couple's room on the Princess Cruises ship Tuesday night with blood on his hands and clothes and blood spread throughout the cabin, according to a criminal complaint by FBI Special Agent Michael L. Watson.

The agency said the 39-year-old woman, identified only as K.M., had a severe head wound but didn't reveal any other details about her death. Manzanares was arrested aboard the 3,400-passenger Emerald Princess that had left Sunday from Seattle.

Before medical workers and security officers responded, a man and others went into the cabin and saw the woman on the floor covered in blood, according to court documents. Manzanares grabbed his wife's body and dragged her to the balcony before the man stopped him, Watson wrote.

A ship security officer handcuffed Manzanares in a nearby cabin, and he was taken into custody late Wednesday.

The ship was diverted to Alaska's capital city because of the investigation, which the FBI is leading because the death occurred in U.S. waters. The ship docked in Juneau on Wednesday morning, and passengers were kept on board for hours before the cruise departed late that night for the southeast Alaska town of Skagway.

Princess Cruises said in a statement Thursday that passengers will receive $150 onboard credit because of the effect on their vacations.

"You feel sorry for the family but a lot of people had to wait," said Lloyd Barrows, a passenger from Alberta, Canada.

The U.S. attorney's office announced it would hold a news conference with representatives of the FBI and Coast Guard on Thursday in Anchorage to announce federal charges against Manzanares.

Sheriff's deputy, 7 others killed in Mississippi shootings

(CNN) A sheriff's deputy and seven other people were shot dead overnight in southern Mississippi, authorities said Sunday.

Authorities identified Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy William Durr, 36, as the slain officer according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

The MBI said the shootings started around 11:30 p.m. at an address in Bogue Chitto, where the deputy and three females were found dead. 

Another crime scene was found in Brookhaven, where the bodies of two boys were found. There also was a third crime scene, where a man and a woman were found dead. The identities of the other victims are pending notification of next of kin.

A man identified as Willie Godbolt, 35, of Bogue Chitto, was taken into custody and was being treated at a Jackson, Mississippi, hospital, for a gunshot wound, the MBI said. 

Bogue Chitto is an unincoporated part of Lincoln County and Brookhaven is the Lincoln County seat, about 60 miles south of Jackson.

The MBI said its agents and Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies and the district attorney were investigating.

'He was just there'

News photos showed authorities apprehending and cuffing Godbolt. 

While he was in custody and awaiting treatment, the suspect spoke to a reporter at The Clarion-Ledger, the daily newspaper based in Jackson.

In the video and recounted in a story on the paper's website, Godbolt said he had gone to a residence to talk with his wife, her mother, and her stepfather about taking his children home.

"Somebody called the officer. People that didn't even live at the house. That's what they do. They intervene. It cost him his life. I'm sorry."

"My pain wasn't designed for him. He was just there," Godbolt said, referring to the lawman.

When he was asked what the future holds for him, Godbolt said, "Death."

"Suicide by cop was my intention. I ain't fit to live. Not after what I've done."

In addition to the sheriff's deputy, family members told affiliate WAPT that the victims at the first location included the mother, aunt and sister of Godbolt's estranged wife. Godbolt's wife escaped with their two children. At the the third location, they said, the victims were another of Godbolt's wife's sisters, as well as her husband.

A statement from the MBI said Godbolt's charges include one count of capital murder and seven counts of first degree murder.

Godbolt has a history with the law. In 2005, he was arrested for armed robbery and aggravated assault after allegedly striking a man over the head with a pistol before stealing his jewelry and cash. In 2013 he was charged with simple assault. In April 2015 he was arrested for driving with a suspended license and and later that year for disorderly conduct. Most recently he was was arrested in 2016 for contempt of justice court and an additional assault charge.

'A senseless tragedy'

Durr served in the sheriff's department for two years and the Brookhaven Police Department for four years, the MBI said.

In a Facebook post, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant mourned the victims, including the sheriff's deputy who died, in what he called a "senseless tragedy."

"Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities. Too often, we lose one of our finest. I thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their hard work," he said.

According to the MBI, other agencies involved in the case include the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Narcotics, Pike, Walthall, Franklin, Copiah, Lawrence, Amite counties sheriff's departments, the Brookhaven Police Department and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/28/us/mississippi-mass-shooting/index.html

Human Remains Found on Pennsylvania Farm in Search for Missing Men

The body of a missing man has been uncovered on a sprawling multi-million dollar Pennsylvania farm along with unidentified human remains, authorities announced Thursday morning. 

Dean Finocchiaro, 19, was found deceased on the property of Antonio and Sandra DiNardo, whose son Cosmo, 20, is being held by police as a person of interest in the disappearance of the teen and three others. 

After a painstaking search in the dark and muggy heat just outside New Hope, Pennsylvania, cadaver dogs led police to a section of the $5.4 million property, where the remains were found buried 12 ½ feet beneath the earth. 

Finocchairo was reported missing on July 7 along with Thomas Meo, 21, and Mark Sturgis, 22. Another 19-year-old, Jimi Patrick, was reported missing on July 5. It is unclear how the four men may have known Cosmo DiNardo.

"We're going to see this investigation through to the end," Bucks County District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said at news conference shortly after midnight. "We're going to bring each of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another." 

Although Cosmo DiNardo has not been charged with the murder of Finocchairo, he is being held on a $5 million bond. 

"This is a homicide; make no mistake about it. We just don't know how many homicides," Weintraub said. 

DiNardo was first arrested on Monday for an unrelated gun charge, stemming back to February when he was accused of owning a firearm despite a history of mental illness. Because of an involuntary commitment to a mental institution, DiNardo was not allowed to possess a firearm. 

The 20-year-old is schizophrenic, according to his lawyers, who say their client’s mental illness is being exploited by prosecutors, Philly.com reported. 

He was held on a $1 million bond in relation to that case and released after his parents posted $100,000 for his bail. He was then taken back into custody on Wednesday for allegedly attempting to sell one of the missing men’s car for $500. 

DiNardo tried to sell Meo’s Nissan Maxima to a friend, court records show. Inside the car, police found Meo’s diabetic kit, which Meo’s parents said their son could not survive without. 

The back-to-back arrests bought investigators time as they scoured 90 acres of property and other spots across the county for clues to the men's disappearance, Weintraub said.

On Thursday morning, Weintraub thanked the tireless efforts of the officers working on the farm in an attempt to uncover any additional evidence relating to the men’s disappearance. 

Although he has not been charged in relation to the missing men, prosecutors described DiNardo as a flight risk and a “dangerous person.” 

Officers haven’t disclosed why DiNardo is considered a person of interest, or what led them to begin the search on the family’s farm. 

With DiNardo in custody, the punishing search continued on the family farm, where veteran officers and brand new cadets worked side-by-side to sift through the dirt with backhoes, hands, metal detectors and buckets. 

The Pennsylvania FBI and U.S. Marshal as well as local and state police are all working to investigate the case. Officials have suggested the search is the largest in the history of Bucks County. 

Before human remains were discovered on the property, a family attorney for the DiNardos released a statement saying they are fully cooperating with law enforcement. 

"As parents, Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo sympathize with the parents and families of the missing young men and they are cooperating in every way possible with the investigation being conducted by law enforcement," the statement said. 

The DiNardo family earned a fortune off of trucking and concrete, according to NBC News affiliate NBC 10. After buying the farm outside New Hope for $5.4 million in 2005, they purchased a nearby property for $500,000 in late 2008. 

DiNardo's grandfather, also named Cosmo DiNardo, owned numerous properties and eventually shared a real estate deal with his son Antonio before handing over the business entirely to him. 

Article Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/human-remains-found-pennsylvania-farm-search-missing-men-n782461

Woman Charged With Killing Family Smiles In Court

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A woman charged with killing four of her young children and their father smiled and flashed a double thumbs up to news cameras during her first court appearance Friday before telling a judge she doesn't want an attorney.

Isabel Martinez, 33, appeared before Gwinnett County Magistrate Court Judge Michael Thorpe a day after police said she stabbed the five to death and seriously injured another child at her home outside Atlanta. The injured child, a 9-year-old girl, survived but remained hospitalized with injuries police described as serious.

Before the hearing began, Martinez sat with other inmates and struck poses for cameras — smiling, giving the thumbs up, putting her hands in a prayer position and spreading her arms out wide.

As Judge Thorpe listed the charges against her — five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault — Martinez smiled, shook her head "no" and wagged her finger at him. The judge advised her sharply not to perform for the cameras.

When Thorpe informed her of her right to have an attorney, she said through a Spanish-language interpreter, that she doesn't want one. She later added that her attorney will always be the people and her faith.

Thorpe advised Martinez to hire a lawyer or to allow one to be appointed for her.

"What prompts a person to take the life of such innocent children and her spouse is something we may never understand," Gwinnett County police said in a statement. "This is a horrendous crime not only for the victims but for the extended family, neighborhood and community."

Psychologists and others who study cases of mothers accused of killing their children say it's not as uncommon as people might believe. But media coverage often focuses on dramatic cases, such as Andrea Yates who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2001 drowning deaths of her five children in her suburban Houston home.

Other cases get less attention, as when a woman kills a newborn or in children's deaths blamed on neglect, said Cheryl Meyer, co-author of two books on mothers who have killed children based on about 1,000 cases during the 1990s.

That amounts to roughly one death every three days. If anything, the total based on media reports at the time underestimates the reality, said Meyer, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Ohio.

In cases when mothers kill intentionally, Meyer said there is often another influence, such as mental health issues, postpartum depression or the loss of a close loved one.

"We like to classify these women as pariahs, that they aren't at all like us," Meyer said. "I found that was not the case."

Some neighbors in the small, largely Hispanic neighborhood in Loganville, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Atlanta, said they had no clue anything was amiss in the home until police mobbed the scene Thursday morning. The neighbors said the Spanish-speaking family had moved to the community recently, and their children seemed happy playing with other neighborhood kids.

Victoria Nievs said Martinez had recently suffered the death of her father.

Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michele Pihera confirmed that the 911 call came from a woman who was inside the home at 4:47 a.m. Thursday to report a stabbing. Police believe Martinez made that call.

Pihera said the caller was speaking Spanish, which initially made it difficult for 911 operators to communicate with her. The county sheriff's office said Martinez is on a hold for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement but didn't provide further details.

The hospitalized girl, Diana Romero, was in serious but stable condition Thursday evening, police said.

The four children killed were identified as Isabela Martinez, 10; Dacota Romero, 7; Dillan Romero, 4; and Axel Romero, 2. Their slain father was Martin Romero, 33, Pihera said.

Early indications are that a knife was used to attack the five, though a medical examiner will make the final determination about the cause of death, she said.

Article Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/woman-charged-with-killing-family-smiles-in-court/ar-BBDWug6

One Of Worst Killing Sprees In State History

Nearly four years after a summer killing rampage, a three judge panel sentenced Nikko Jenkins to death four times for four murders. Additionally, he received up to 500 years in prison for his remaining counts.

Jenkins, 30, was convicted of killing three men and a young mother -- Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge C. Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger -- in 2013.

The families of two of the four victims sat quietly in the courtroom and listened intently as Judge Peter Battalion explained the process and how the three-judge panel reached its decision. 

The murders, which occurred over a 10-day span, were planned and deliberate, Battalion said. "This is one of the worst killing sprees in the history of this state," he added.

Six aggravating factors were weighed, Battalion said, such as Jenkins' previous history of violent crimes, against mitigating factors, such as his mental health diagnosis. 

Surrounded by six deputies, Jenkins sat quietly Tuesday, which surprised prosecutors, who noted his tendency for outbursts in the courtroom. In total, he was convicted of 12 counts: four counts of first-degree murder, four counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, and four counts of possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person.

The parents of Andrea Kruger said they feel a sense of relief.

"We're just glad it's over with. It's been a long time. Too long," Kent Roberts, Andrea's father said. "It's ridiculous (the length of the process) but that's the way the court system works."

Bradford's mother, said Jenkins has had control over her life for four years and now she can be free.

"I don't want to hear his name. I don't have to anymore. He don't (sic) get the glory today. I get the glory. My family gets the glory and God gets the glory," Velita Glasgow said.

She wore a t-shirt with the last picture taken of her son wrapped in angel's wings on it.

"I'll never forget him and I'll love him forever but it's time for me to heal and I'm ready. I'm ready for peace," Glasgow said.

Following the sentencing, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he thought the judges followed the law appropriately.

"I think the court looked at all the evidence and there wasn't any question as to what the appropriate sentence would be in these circumstances," Kleine said.

Jenkins will be Nebraska's 11th man on death row, but Kleine said it could be years before he's executed. 

In Nebraska, a death penalty sentence is automatically appealed.