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    Showing posts with label Crime News. Show all posts

    Woman raped by 10 including husband, forced to drink urine

    In yet another shocking incident of crime against women, a tribal woman was allegedly gang-raped by ten people, including her husband and relatives, paraded naked and forced to drink urine in front of her minor son following a land dispute.

    After the woman lodged a complaint in which she alleged that the attack was carried out at the behest of her husband Kailash Rumalia, all the accused were nabbed, police said on Sunday.

    The incident took place three days back at Bhiali Kheda village under Piplod police station and the victim reported the matter on June 13 to police after her family members brought her to Khandwa district hospital, police said.

    Acting on the complaint, police on Saturday arrested all the ten people allegedly involved in the gang-rape, including the victim's husband, relatives and other villagers, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Women's Cell, Khandwa, Sunita Rawat told reporters in Khandwa on Saturday.

    In her police complaint, the woman also mentioned that before committing gang-rape, they allegedly manhandled her, paraded her naked and when she asked for water, they forced her to drink urine in front of her minor son, Rawat said quoting her complaint.

    Meanwhile, the woman's husband claimed before mediapersons that because of a land dispute, she was levelling baseless allegations against him and other villagers and also said that he doubted her character.

    Police have registered a case under IPC sections 376 (g) (gang-rape), 354 (b) (act with intent to disrobe a woman), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) against the accused and are further probing the incident.

    The victim was undergoing treatment at the district hospital where women constables and Piplod police station in-charge were deployed for her security, Rawat added.

    There has been nation-wide outrage on the string of incidents of sexual assault on women. The issue has come into fresh focus following the gang-rape and murder of two teenage cousins, whose bodies were found hanging from a tree in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh.

    15-Year-Old Amber Hellesten Charged As Adult In Fatal Stabbing Of 14-Year-Old Boy

    A 15-year-old Pennsylvania girl was charged Thursday as an adult in the death of a 14-year-old boy.

    Amber Hellesten faces charges of murder, aggravated assault and simple assault for the stabbing of Azim Chaplin, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

    The charges stem from a Feb. 11 incident in Point Breeze. Police say Hellesten, who reportedly lived down the street from Chaplin, stabbed him once in the chest at about 8 p.m. that night. The blade from the knife pierced the boy's heart and he was transported to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was admitted in critical condition.

    Witnesses at the scene allegedly identified Hellesten to police as the individual who stabbed Chaplin.

    The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing unnamed police sources, reported Chaplin was stabbed during an argument with Hellesten and other kids. Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, would not confirm that report. She told The Huffington Post the cause of the stabbing is "still under investigation."

    Authorities took Hellesten into custody the night of the stabbing and charged her with attempted murder.

    "When she was charged with attempted murder, directly after the stabbing, we charged her as an adult because of her actions and because she was 15," said Jamerson.

    Pennsylvania law prohibits charging anyone under the age of 15 as an adult in an attempted murder case. At 15, Hellesten met the standard.

    Girls Held Captive By Sophia And Fernando Richter Were Tortured With Music: Cops

    Police on Wednesday were poring over a journal they say a 17-year-old girl kept while she and her two younger sisters were imprisoned by their mother and stepfather for up to two years.

    Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said investigators were combing through the diary for evidence as they build a criminal case against the 32-year-old mother and 34-year-old stepfather.

    He declined to reveal the diary's contents but said the teen kept one of her most prized possessions — a photo of singer Enrique Iglesias — in the journal, which was kept inside a satchel.

    "It did contain a lot of information that I feel will be useful in helping us to determine the method and length of the imprisonment," Villasenor said.

    Investigators said the two younger girls, ages 12 and 13, escaped through the window of the bedroom they shared and alerted a neighbor Tuesday after the stepfather tried to break down the room's door and was brandishing a knife.

    Police later discovered the 17-year-old was being held separately from her sisters in another room. The three girls were malnourished and dirty and told officers they hadn't taken a bath in up to six months.

    Investigators were trying to determine the last time the girls attended a school. No schools in the area had a record of them, Villasenor said, and police haven't been able to verify the mother's claims that the children were home-schooled.

    The girls' accounts of being held in captivity were consistent, Villasenor said. They are now together at a group home in the custody of a state child welfare agency.

    A judge set bail of $100,000 for the stepfather, Fernando Richter, and $75,000 for the mother, Sophia Richter, at their initial court appearances Wednesday. They face multiple counts of kidnapping and child abuse, and the Fernando Richter also faces one count of sexual abuse.

    The brief court appearances made by video did not include entering pleas, and it wasn't immediately clear whether the man and woman had lawyers.

    The girls' maternal aunt, Chame Bueno, said outside of the court hearing that the mother had said the family was living in San Diego when they actually were in Tucson and wouldn't let her speak with her nieces on the phone.

    Bethany Arceneaux, Kidnapping Victim, Rescued By Family Members Who Killed Her Captor

    A family determined to save their kidnapped relative tracked her down to an abandoned Louisiana house, saving her life and killing her captor after she went missing for almost three full days, according to multiple sources.

    Bethany Arceneaux, 29, was allegedly abducted Wednesday afternoon in Lafayette by her ex-boyfriend Scott Thomas, also 29, and the father to her 2-year-old son, The Daily Advertiser first reports.

    A witness to the abduction, Derrimetrie Robinson, said she saw Arceneaux honking her car horn for help in parking lot as Thomas forced his way into her car and attacked her. When Robinson rushed to the scene, Arceneaux begged the woman to take her son, according to the Advertiser.

    Robinson managed to grab the 2-year-old boy during the struggle, as Thomas shoved Arceneaux into his car and sped away, she said.

    Later Wednesday evening, police found Thomas' white Buick near a field.

    On Thursday morning, the Lafayette Police Department had little new information about the kidnapping.

    Family members began posting fliers of the missing mother and searched surrounding areas, according to the New York Daily News.


    “Based off the information officers received at the day care about the way the victim was confronted by Thomas, we believe she may be in a situation where she could be harmed,” spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton said Thursday as police continued to search.

    By dark, the rescue search was called off for the day.

    On Friday, as police and family members alike searched near Thomas' abandoned car, along with areas near his hometown, witnesses gave the family members a tip about a vacant house in a nearby field where the car was located.

    Daily Advertiser photographer Leslie Westbrook, who spent much of the day with the family as they searched, was there to capture the intense scenes that soon played out.

    A neighborhood resident and another man, along with almost half a dozen members of Arceneaux's family, took off on four-wheelers towards the house.

    As they got closer, family members said they heard the screams of their missing relative begging for help.

    The family converged on the house, kicking down the door as Thomas allegedly began stabbing Arceneaux multiple times, according to KLFY, a local news station.

    David Herman, Former NYC Rock DJ, Arrested In Child Sex Sting

    A retired New York radio personality has been charged in a sting operation with trying to transport a 7-year-old girl to the U.S. Virgin Islands for sex.

    David Herman, 77, of Airmont, N.Y., and St. Croix, was arrested Thursday at the St. Croix airport, where federal authorities said he had expected to meet the girl and her mother flying in from New York.

    Herman thought he'd been corresponding online with a woman about her child but was actually talking to an undercover officer from Bergen County in New Jersey, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

    The U.S. attorney's office confirmed Herman had worked at FM radio station WNEW, where he was a pioneering rock 'n' roll disc jockey. Herman was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Friday in St. Croix.

    Prosecutors said they had not been notified as of Thursday afternoon whether Herman had a lawyer. No phone listing was found for him in Airmont.

    Herman allegedly believed he was communicating with a 36-year-old single mother with a young daughter, according to court papers. He allegedly tried, in multiple telephone and online conversations, to arrange illegal sexual encounters with the child in New York and Bergen County, until indicating he wanted to fly the pair to St. Croix so he could engage in sexual activity with the child there, prosecutors said.

    Herman purchased airline tickets Sept. 30 for the woman and her child to fly from LaGuardia airport to St. Croix, according to prosecutors. He arrived at the airport Thursday to pick up the woman and child, according to the U.S. attorney's office, but was instead met by special agents of U.S. Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who placed him under arrest.

    Herman is charged with a count of attempting to transport a minor in interstate commerce with the intent that the minor engage in illegal sexual activity. If convicted, the charge can carry up to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

    Child Sex Trafficking Rescue FBI Saves 105 Victims in 'Operation Cross Country' (PHOTOS)

    The FBI has rescued 105 child sex-trafficking victims, FBI Assistant Director Ronald Hosko announced Monday.

    The youngest of the rescued children was 9 years old, according to Reuters.

    One underage victim told officials she became involved with prostitution when she was 11, according to CNN.
    "Many times the children that are taken in in these types of criminal activities are children that are disaffected, they are from broken homes, they may be on the street themselves," FBI Acting Executive Assistant Director Kevin Perkins said, according to the network. "They are really looking for a meal, they are looking for shelter, they are looking for someone to take care of them."

    Another victim, identified as "Alex," told interviewers she became a prostitute at the age of 16, when she felt she had no other options to feed and clothe herself.
    “At first it was terrifying," Alex told interviewers, "and then you just kind of become numb to it. You put on a whole different attitude—like a different person. It wasn’t me. I know that. Nothing about it was me.”

    The raids also resulted in the arrests of 150 "pimps" and other individuals, according to an FBI press release.

    The rescues were the product of Operation Cross Country, a three-day nationwide initiative to aid victims of underage prostitution.

    Operation Cross Country is a part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, a joint program by the FBI, the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created to fight child sex trafficking in the United States.

    Since 2003, the Innocence Lost National Initiative has netted the rescue of more than 2,700 children.

    Nick Gilronan, Brooklyn's Smallest Penis Contest Winner, Says He's Proud Of Victory

    "The size of a man's penis does not matter for who he is as a person or in a relationship," he told Gothamist after his victory Saturday at Kings County Bar.

    Gilronan told the website he wanted to "put on a good show for the audience. Looks like my efforts were successful."

    Visit Gothamist for more on Gilronan and his wee-ner.

    According to the New York Post, a crowd of about 100 watched New York City native Gilronan match members with five other contestants, including a 55-year-old from Minnesota who called himself "Rip van Dinkle."

    The competition included a swimwear round of "skimpy mesh mankinis" and a Q&A, the Post wrote.

    Gilronan was proclaimed the champ and the recipient of $200 as someone sang Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."

    “I’m hoping this will look brave to guys who have self-esteem issues and make them feel better about themselves,” he said, according to the tabloid.

    In a previous Huffington Post report, one of the event's promoters dubbed the contest as "a pageant for confident people with a sense of humor."

    Gilronan's triumph perhaps illustrates that size does indeed matter -- at least, when it comes to self-esteem.

    Marc Fucarile, Last Hospitalized Boston Bombing Victim, Heads Home Today

     The last hospitalized Boston Marathon bombing victim hobbled gingerly on crutches and stopped to hug nurses, therapists and two rescuers before he got into a waiting car that took him home Wednesday, exactly 100 days after the attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260.

    Marc Fucarile lost his right leg above the knee, broke his spine, as well as bones in his left leg and foot, ruptured both eardrums and suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds when the second of two bombs exploded near him and a group of friends who were at the finish line to watch another friend complete the run. Two other people in his group also lost right legs.

    Fucarile's relatives, doctors and therapists joined two of his rescuers at the lobby of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to say farewell as he headed home for the first time since the April 15 bombings. He has made 16 trips to the operating room for a total of 49 surgical procedures.

    "Today marks the 100th day of me in the hospital, not being able to spend the night with my boy or fiancee. You know, it's been tough," he said as his 5-year-old son, Gavin, stood next to him and giggled happily.

    Fucarile, a 34-year-old roofer who wore a "Boston Wicked Strong" T-shirt, said going home does not mean the end of an arduous and painful medical journey.

    "I, like many other survivors, still have more surgeries and other procedures to go through," he said. "I'll be needing prosthesis and adaptation for the rest of my life, like many others from that day."

    His fiancee, Jennifer Regan, joked that the family got a front-load washer and dryer so he can do laundry from his wheelchair.

    "No, it means the world, just the simple things that . you sort of brush aside, maybe, in your everyday life – like family dinners, you know what I mean," she said. "Gavin hasn't had his dad home for dinner in 100 days ... yeah, I'm excited, it's really good."

    Fucarile was unable to bathe, dress himself, walk or even transfer himself to a wheelchair when he arrived at the rehabilitation hospital eight weeks ago. He is now able to do that, including walking on crutches.

    Malia Brooks, 6th-Grade Teacher, Arrested For Alleged Sex Crimes On Minor Student

    A former sixth-grade teacher at a Simi Valley, Calif., elementary school turned herself in to police Tuesday after being accused of committing sex crimes on a student under the age of 14.

    Malia Brooks, 32, was booked on suspicion of five sex-related counts. Authorities would not divulge the age of the victim or whether he was a student in Brook's class, although NBC Los Angeles reported that he was a student at the school, which serves children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

    Officials said the relationship began in late 2012 and lasted four months, according to CBS Los Angeles.

    Investigation of Brooks began in February 2013, after Simi Valley Unified School District officials learned of alleged inappropriate conduct between the teacher and a student. Brooks was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, and resigned June 5.

    In court Wednesday, Brooks pleaded not guilty to charges of lewd acts on a child, oral copulation of a person under 14 years of age and three counts of genital penetration by a foreign object, according to CBS Los Angeles.

    Brooks' attorney said his client suffers from mental illness.

    "We've had her diagnosed and she's in treatment," Bamieh told NBC Los Angeles. "My guess is a lot of the charges precipitated from that illness."

    According to KTLA, Brooks, who had worked at the school district since 2004, was once married with two children, but is now divorced.

    In a statement obtained Wednesday by NBC, school district Superintendent Kathy Scroggin said that Brooks had "been evaluated until now as an exemplary teacher" and reassured parents that "the district has taken every precaution to ensure the safety of students."

    Judy Viger, New York Mother, Arrested For Buying Strippers For Underage Son's Birthday Party

    As it turns out, strippers and underage teens do not the perfect birthday party make.

    At least that's the opinion of the South Glens Falls Police, who arrested New York mother Judy Viger on Monday for allegedly organizing and paying for a stripper surprise for her son's 16th birthday.

    Viger, 33, was charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Associated Press. The incident reportedly occurred at Spare Time Bowling Center in South Glens Falls, N.Y., in November.

    The AP reports that Viger is accused of hiring two women to dance with -- and on -- teens at the upstate bowling alley. The news outlet notes that pictures from the party appeared to show a "scantily clad, tattooed woman clinging upside down to a seated teen."

    Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy told The Post Star that police had interviewed numerous witnesses and parents. Officials said some children at the party were as young as 13.

    WRGB called Tops in Bottoms, the company that reportedly supplied the strippers, and the man who answered the phone told the station the incident was “blown out of proportion.”

    Similarly, a man who said he was Viger's friend argued "police have it all wrong," Fox23 News writes.

    Naked Teen Whipped On Newark Street, Police Search For Suspects

    A graphic video appears to show a teenager forcibly stripped naked and repeatedly whipped while a group heckled and cursed at him -- all because of a $20 debt.

    The video (below) was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday has received almost 40,000 views. And Newark, N.J. authorities are up in arms.

    Police are now searching for the victim and assailants in attack, The Star-Ledger reported.

    In the disturbing two-minute scene, a man screams, "Where my money at?" at a naked boy on a public street. The hunched-over victim responds, "I don't know," before he is ruthlessly beat with a belt.

    For the 90-second whipping, a small crowd laughs, yells obscenities, and tells the victim to say it's a "dog eat dog world" to the camera.

    In the end of the video, one of the bystanders reveals that the debt -- apparently owed by the victim's father -- is 20 bucks.

    "The perpetrator as well as those who stood idly by laughing and videotaping this act of savage brutality should be brought to justice," said Newark City Council President Anibal Ramos.

    Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio told the Star-Ledger investigators might know where the attack took place.

    He also said police know that two Twitter handles were instrumental
    in making the video viral.

    If caught, the assailants will most likely be charged with aggravated assault.

    Chris Kyle Dead: Author Of 'American Sniper' Shot And Killed At Gun Range

    Chris Kyle, an ex-Navy SEAL who wrote the best-selling book American Sniper about his service in Iraq, was shot and killed at a gun range in Texas, multiple outlets reported Saturday night. A second man was also killed.

    According to local TV station KHOU, officials said that Kyle was shot at point-blank range "while helping another soldier who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome" at a range near the town of Glen Rose.

    The Dallas Morning News reports that Lancaster, Texas police arrested a suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, after a brief chase.

    Kyle had become well-known for his exploits in Iraq, where he deployed four times, set the record for sniper kills at 150, received numerous commendations, and, according to the Stephenville Empire Tribune, was given the nickname "The Devil of Ramadi" by insurgents

    Police Solve Mystery of Missing Bollywood Star Laila Khan And Her Family

    Police in India have recovered the skeletal remains of half-a-dozen people from a pit at missing Bollywood starlet Laila Khan's luxury Igatpuri farmhouse.

    According to Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police, Himanshu Roy, the pit containing the human remains -- a pit they believe was initially intended for an underground water tank -- was 12 feet long, 8 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Inside it, three sets of remains were found covered with mud and stones on top of a blood-soaked mattress. Beneath the mattress, authorities recovered three additional sets of skeletal remains, another mattress, and possible murder weapons.

    "We recovered one iron rod with blood stains on it and two knives with bloodstains on them," Roy said at a Thursday press conference.

    Roy added that "substantial injuries, including head injuries" were observed on the victims.

    A positive identification of the victims -- one male and five females -- is pending DNA testing; however, Roy said it is "reasonably likely that these skeletons belong to Laila Khan and her family."

    Laila Khan, born Reshma Patel, was best known for her role opposite Rajesh Khanna in the 2008 Bollywood film, "A Deadly Love Story." At the time of her disappearance, she was in the process of shooting a film with Bollywood film director Rakesh Sawant.

    Khan, 30, her mother Saleena Patel, older sister Hashmina, twin siblings Imran and Zara, and cousin Rehshma have been missing since February 2011. The family had been staying at Khan's farmhouse -- a holiday home -- since late the previous month.

    The family was reported missing by Sawant and Patel's ex-husband, Nadir Shah Patel. Authorities were unable to find any trace of Khan or her family and the case soon went cold.

    On June 21 of this year, authorities got their first break when they questioned Khan's stepfather, Parvez Iqbal Tak. During the interview, Tak allegedly told police several stories, including one that he and the house watchman, Shakir Hussain, had killed Khan and her five family members and buried their bodies behind her holiday home.

    Tak, who claims to be Patel's third husband, allegedly said he was jealous of her second husband, Asif Sheikh.

    Mickey Shunick Missing As Police, Family Search For Louisiana College Student

    Authorities in Louisiana are searching for a college student who disappeared while bicycling Saturday. Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, a 22-year-old senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana, was last seen at about 1:45 a.m. Saturday, when she left a friend's home on Ryan Street in Lafayette. Shunick was cycling to her home on Governor Miro Drive, a distance of about four miles, when she vanished without a trace, the Lafayette Police Department said. Shunick is an avid cyclist and had regularly made the trip, her mother, Nancy Shunick, told The Huffington Post. "She has a car but she likes to rides her bike," Nancy Shunick said. "She rides her bicycle everywhere, and the route she would have taken Saturday is not a bad area. It is one residential neighborhood after another." Family members reported Mickey Shunick missing Saturday. They told police it was "uncharacteristic" of her to be out of contact with them. Shunick was also a no-show at her younger brother's high school graduation Saturday, an event her family said she was looking forward to attending. "She is just a nice, normal kid. She has hung out with the same group of friends since kindergarten," Nancy Shunick said. "She works teaching horse-riding lessons to little kids and she attends school."

    Darlene Mayes, 73-Year-Old, Sold Pot And Had Illegal Guns In Oklahoma, Cops Say

    This granny's ganja wasn't for glaucoma -- turns out she might have been the biggest pot dealer in town.

    When cops kicked down the door of an elderly woman's Oklahoma home on Monday, they said they knew they'd find some marijuana. What they didn't expect was that 73-year-old Darlene Mayes was packing 4 pounds of pot, $276,000 in cash, a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver, The Daily reported.

    Investigators had been following Mayes' alleged drug ring for years, but they didn't know she was the kingpin until Monday, KJRH-TV reported. They believe she supplied about 40 percent of the marijuana circulating in the vicinity, which includes Tulsa and parts of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri.

    "That was quite a surprise," Vinita Police Chief Bobby Floyd told The Daily, an iPad-only news site. "She is in very good shape for her age."

    Cops alleged that Mayes had plenty of dealers working for her -- including her son Jerry, who was arrested Monday, accused of carrying thousands of dollars in cash and nearly 2 pounds of pot that he intended to sell.

    In Mayes' house, cops found the supply in her bedroom, which reeked of weed. A vacuum-sealed bag full of the stuff was found in the closet, and bundles of bills labeled "$15,000" were found under her box spring. They found a pipe and another bag of weed in the bathroom, and a total of $200,000 in more vacuum-sealed bags in a guest room where Mayes' grandchildren reportedly slept.

    Mayes allegedly first told officers that the money was for her retirement fund.

    "She knew exactly what she was doing and supplying and exactly who she’s profiting from," Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, told The Daily.

    The granny was charged with marijuana possession with intent to distribute, maintaining a dwelling where drugs are kept or sold, and firearm possession in commission of a felony.

    Troy Davis Execution Approaches As Calls For Clemency Continue

    Behind razor wire and thick concrete walls, Troy Davis spent what may be his final hours Wednesday with friends and family, awaiting his execution at 7 p.m. for the murder of a police officer over 20 years ago, a crime he maintains was committed by another man.

    "Troy is in good spirits," said Amnesty International spokeswoman Wende Gozan Brown, who visited with Davis on Tuesday, after he received news that a final plea for clemency to a state pardons board had been rejected. "He is steadfastly maintaining his innocence, as he always has."

    (SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST UPDATES)

    Davis's pending execution has sparked an extraordinary outcry nationally and internationally that continued Wednesday, with thousands of people expected to participate in evening protests and vigils at Georgia's death row prison and the state capitol. By early afternoon, dozens of protesters were already singing and praying in a small cordoned-off area on the prison grounds.

    Earlier this week, the state's pardons board was bombarded by hundreds of thousands of petitions to spare Davis's life, including calls from former FBI director William Sessions and Bob Barr, a four-term Republican congressman from Georgia and death penalty supporter. Many of those opposed to the execution noted the lack of physical evidence tying Davis to the crime and the recantation of critical eyewitness, many of whom told attorneys for Davis that they had been pressured by police to testify that Davis was the shooter.

    "Imposing an irreversible sentence of death on the skimpiest of evidence will not serve the interest of justice," Barr wrote in an editorial on the case last Wednesday.

    On Wednesday morning, Davis offered to submit to a lie detector test, but the request was denied by prison officials. "I guess Troy Davis felt like he had enough witness testimony in his favor that he felt that the polygraph would not be necessary," said Laura Moye, director of Amnesty International's U.S. death penalty abolition campaign, when asked why Davis had not submitted to a polygraph before.

    The Davis defense's last-minute petition to the Superior Court was rejected by a state judge late Wednesday afternoon.

    As the hours until the execution dwindled, calls for clemency continued from around the nation and the world, including from a group of former death row wardens, who wrote to Georgia authorities calling on them to halt the death sentence due to doubts about Davis's guilt. Among the group was the former warden in charge of the Georgia death chamber.

    "While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end," the wardens wrote in a press release. "It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner."

    Meanwhile, the family of the murdered policeman, Mark MacPhail, and the case's original prosecutor have argued strenuously for Davis's execution, and have asserted that there is no doubt that he is guilty of the murder.

    Casey Anthony Trial: Prosecutors, Defense Make Closing Arguments

    Casey Anthony's lead defense attorney has finished his closing argument insisting that the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee was an "accident snowballed out of control."

    Jose Baez spent most of his four-hour argument Sunday concentrating on holes in the prosecution's forensic evidence, saying it was based on a "fantasy."

    The judge overseeing the case indicated that the jury will begin deliberating on Monday.

    Prosecutors contend Caylee was suffocated with duct tape by her mother, who then crafted elaborate lies to mislead investigators and her parents.

    Baez says the toddler accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and that her father made the death look like a murder, which he denies.

    Casey Anthony's Mom: I Googled 'Chloroform'

    Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy, made a shocking revelation in court today when she said that she, not Casey, had conducted Internet searches for "chloroform" in March 2008.
    The bombshell testimony came during day 25 of the trial. Casey Anthony is accused of multiple charges, including capital murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and misleading law enforcement for the death of her daughter, two-year-old Caylee.
    The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
    Called to the stand on behalf of the defense, Cindy Anthony explained she conducted the computer searches in an attempt to figure out why her Yorkshire terrier was "extremely tired all the time." The dog was known to eat bamboo plants, so Cindy Anthony said she started out searching for chlorophyll, a green pigment that is found in most plants.
    The search for chlorophyll led to a search for “chloroform” because some species of algae produce a natural form of chloroform, Anthony said.
    Anthony also told defense attorney Jose Baez that she conducted searches for "chest injuries" and "head injuries" around that same time because a friend of hers had been in a car accident.
    "[I was] looking up specific terminology that someone had asked me to look up," Anthony testified

    Two Arrested In Seattle Terror Plot, Justice Department Says

    Two men intent on attacking a military recruiting station to inspire Muslims to defend their religion from U.S. actions abroad were snared by FBI agents in a terror plot sting, authorities said Thursday. Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, of Seattle, and Walli Mujahidh, also known as Frederick Domingue Jr., of Los Angeles, were arrested Wednesday night after they arrived at a warehouse garage to pick up machine guns to use in the attack, an FBI agent wrote in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
    The machine guns had been rendered inoperable by federal agents and posed no risk to the public.
    The two suspects appeared in federal court Thursday in tan prison garb and listened as prosecutor recited the charges against them. Detention hearings were set for Wednesday.
    Their court-appointed defense lawyers declined to comment. The suspects could face life in prison if convicted.
    Authorities learned of the plot early this month when a third person recruited to participate alerted the Seattle Police Department, the complaint said. Investigators immediately began monitoring the men, and the confidential informant continued to string them along by promising to obtain weapons.
    The building, the Military Entrance Processing Station on East Marginal Way in Seattle, also houses a daycare. Recruits for all military branches are screened and processed there.

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