PITTSBURGH -- A SWAT team surrounded a home in Pittsburgh's Observatory Hill neighborhood Thursday afternoon, only to find a man dead inside from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officers spent two hours outside the man's Baytree Street residence, but when they finally entered, they found 38-year-old Brian McHale dead inside, police said.
McHale recently appeared in court on domestic violence charges and failed to comply with a judge's orders to turn over his firearms, police said.
That's when officers were sent to his home shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday.
Neighbors told WTAE Channel 4 Action News' Keith Jones that they heard a single gunshot not long after.
"Three minutes after the police knocked on the door, I heard this 'boom' go off. (I) never heard a cry out. I never heard any noise after that, nobody walking anywhere," said nearby resident Doug Smith.
No other injuries were reported.
Friday, April 22, 2011
East Knox. TX: Death of elderly couple ruled murder-suicide
KNOX CO., Tenn. (WVLT) -- Authorities are calling the deaths of an elderly couple in east Knox Co. an apparent murder suicide.
According to the Knox Co. Sheriff's Office, seventy year-old William Smith stabbed his wife, Lois, while she slept shortly after six o'clock Wednesday night. He then stabbed himself in the chest.
The couple was found in their Thorngrove Pike home.
In July 2006, police responded to the Smith's home following reports by Mrs. Smith that her husband was bleeding with a knife in his chest. In 2009, William Smith was rushed to the hospital after an icepick pierced his chest.
According to the Knox Co. Sheriff's Office, seventy year-old William Smith stabbed his wife, Lois, while she slept shortly after six o'clock Wednesday night. He then stabbed himself in the chest.
The couple was found in their Thorngrove Pike home.
In July 2006, police responded to the Smith's home following reports by Mrs. Smith that her husband was bleeding with a knife in his chest. In 2009, William Smith was rushed to the hospital after an icepick pierced his chest.
Battle Creek, MI: Expert testifies murder victim had 24 wounds
An Ypsilanti woman killed in a Marshall truck stop nearly two years ago suffered 24 knife wounds, including a slashed throat.
Dr. Michelle Elieff, a pathologist at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, said she found stab wounds on the head, neck, chest, back and hands of Aloysia St. Ange during an autopsy on Aug. 5, 2009.
The woman died the day before in the parking lot of Love's Travel Stop at 18720 Partello Road in Marshall. Her husband, Kentish St. Ange, 28, is charged with open murder in his wife's death. Elieff's testimony came during the second day of his trial in Calhoun County Circuit Court.
Elieff said during questioning by Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Buscher and defense attorney John Vincent that she found 12 defensive wounds on the woman's hands, apparently as she tried to fight off the knife attack about 4 a.m.
The final and fatal wound was likely a 3½-inch cut across the woman's throat that silenced her screams and ended her life, probably in seconds, Elieff said.
Police and prosecutors allege that Kentish St. Ange and his wife, 33, spent the night together at an Albion motel and then returned to the Marshall truck stop, where St. Ange, a long-distance trucker, had left his semi.
A cashier at the truck stop, Connie Farmer, testified that St. Ange came in and pre-paid $20 for gasoline for his wife's car about 4 a.m.
"Then he asked if we sold knives," Farmer said. "I pointed to them, he went over and glanced at them and then left like he was in a hurry."
She said he didn't buy a knife and the knife St. Ange was holding after the attack was unlike any sold at the truck stop.
Outside, police said, the couple argued and a trucker, Mark Tibbe, testified he was awakened by a woman's screams.
Tibbe said he saw a woman and then a man run in front of his truck. Moments later they walked back together toward a small car.
"He had his arm around her shoulder," Tibbe said.
After hearing another scream, Tibbe said he saw the woman run back in front of the truck again.
"She stopped and turned around and I noticed her shirt was bloody," he said. "I just remember blood on the front of her."
Tibbe next noticed the man using a cell phone and holding what Tibbe thought was a knife.
Marshall police arrested Kentish St. Ange, still standing in the parking lot, after he called a 911 emergency dispatcher at 4:17 a.m. and said he had stabbed his wife in the neck. Her body was found a short distance away.
During an interview with Marshall Police Department Sgt. Tim Bryant, St. Ange was sometimes crying and quiet, sometimes talking about hearing voices and about conspiracies against him and about numerous affairs he believed his wife was having with other men, Bryant said.
Bryant said St. Ange told him he stabbed his wife after they hugged and she asked about a knife in his pocket.
When Bryant asked St. Ange if he intended to kill his wife, Bryant said "he said he thought about it but didn't plan it."
Testimony continues today before Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt.
Dr. Michelle Elieff, a pathologist at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, said she found stab wounds on the head, neck, chest, back and hands of Aloysia St. Ange during an autopsy on Aug. 5, 2009.
The woman died the day before in the parking lot of Love's Travel Stop at 18720 Partello Road in Marshall. Her husband, Kentish St. Ange, 28, is charged with open murder in his wife's death. Elieff's testimony came during the second day of his trial in Calhoun County Circuit Court.
Elieff said during questioning by Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Buscher and defense attorney John Vincent that she found 12 defensive wounds on the woman's hands, apparently as she tried to fight off the knife attack about 4 a.m.
The final and fatal wound was likely a 3½-inch cut across the woman's throat that silenced her screams and ended her life, probably in seconds, Elieff said.
Police and prosecutors allege that Kentish St. Ange and his wife, 33, spent the night together at an Albion motel and then returned to the Marshall truck stop, where St. Ange, a long-distance trucker, had left his semi.
A cashier at the truck stop, Connie Farmer, testified that St. Ange came in and pre-paid $20 for gasoline for his wife's car about 4 a.m.
"Then he asked if we sold knives," Farmer said. "I pointed to them, he went over and glanced at them and then left like he was in a hurry."
She said he didn't buy a knife and the knife St. Ange was holding after the attack was unlike any sold at the truck stop.
Outside, police said, the couple argued and a trucker, Mark Tibbe, testified he was awakened by a woman's screams.
Tibbe said he saw a woman and then a man run in front of his truck. Moments later they walked back together toward a small car.
"He had his arm around her shoulder," Tibbe said.
After hearing another scream, Tibbe said he saw the woman run back in front of the truck again.
"She stopped and turned around and I noticed her shirt was bloody," he said. "I just remember blood on the front of her."
The same man went after her and again they returned to a spot near a small car.
"He was making her go back and then it got quiet," he said, adding the whole incident lasted between two and four minutes.Tibbe next noticed the man using a cell phone and holding what Tibbe thought was a knife.
Marshall police arrested Kentish St. Ange, still standing in the parking lot, after he called a 911 emergency dispatcher at 4:17 a.m. and said he had stabbed his wife in the neck. Her body was found a short distance away.
During an interview with Marshall Police Department Sgt. Tim Bryant, St. Ange was sometimes crying and quiet, sometimes talking about hearing voices and about conspiracies against him and about numerous affairs he believed his wife was having with other men, Bryant said.
Bryant said St. Ange told him he stabbed his wife after they hugged and she asked about a knife in his pocket.
When Bryant asked St. Ange if he intended to kill his wife, Bryant said "he said he thought about it but didn't plan it."
Testimony continues today before Circuit Judge Conrad Sindt.
San Bernadino, CA: Woman charged with murdering husband takes the witness stand
SAN BERNARDINO - An Ontario woman who shot and killed her husband nearly four years ago spent the day on the witness stand Thursday in her murder trial.
In wide-ranging testimony in San Bernardino Superior Court, Mia Joleen Gonzales detailed the deterioration of her relationship with Abel Gonzales, and said she didn't intend to hurt her husband the night she fatally shot him.
Mia Gonzales, 36, testified that her husband beat her severely during an argument shortly after midnight on Oct. 27, 2007, and she feared for her safety and the safety of her three daughters.
She said she retrieved a revolver from a dresser drawer and pointed it at her husband, but he continued to fight her and they fell together onto their bed.
Mia Gonzales said she tried to get up from the bed and the weapon inadvertently fired. She said she was "almost 100 percent sure" that her finger wasn't on the trigger.
"I said, `Babe, are you OK?' but he didn't answer me," Gonzales testified. "He just made this weird gurgling noise."
The bullet struck Abel Gonzales below the chin and entered his brain, killing the 44-year-old state parole agent within seconds.
Mia Gonzales' account of her husband's death came after she spent more than an hour on the witness stand explaining how her marriage changed drastically over the span of 10 years.
She said her husband's attitude seemed to change the night of their wedding in 1997. He became
mean and critical of her, and the abuse worsened over the years, Mia Gonzales testified.
"It was hard," she testified. "I had to make a lot of adjustments."
When the couple's son died within minutes of his birth, Mia Gonzales said her husband blamed her.
"He was very angry," she testified. "He wanted a little boy, and he didn't handle it very well."
The couple moved into a home in the 1900 block of South Almond Street in Ontario in early 2007.
Mia Gonzales said that by June of that year she'd decided to leave her husband. The couple was rarely intimate, and she said her husband also was physically abusive.
When she told her husband of her plans to leave, he responded by opening up to her about his past, she testified.
"It was the beginning of his relinquishing information in hopes that he could keep me there with him," she said.
Abel Gonzales spent the next five to seven evenings disclosing secrets to his wife, including the disclosure that over a four-year period in his childhood he was sexually abused by an older boy.
He also said he had a sexual affair with a male roommate in the years prior to his marriage. Mia Gonzales said she believed her husband occasionally saw the ex-roommate during their marriage.
Mia Gonzales said that after her husband's disclosures, she felt her marriage was a lie.
"I didn't know who I was married to," she said.
She decided not to leave her husband because she felt sorry for him, but she also became severely depressed and attempted suicide twice by cutting herself, she testified.
She said her husband also seemed suicidal. She said she once saw him sitting on the edge of his bed holding a gun to his head.
During her cross-examination of Mia Gonzales, Deputy District Attorney Mary Izadi sought to paint Mia Gonzales as a liar.
Mia Gonzales said that friends and family members often saw bruising on her body from physical altercations with her husband.
But when they asked her about the markings, she would lie and say they weren't caused by her husband, she testified.
Mia Gonzales is set to retake the witness stand on Monday.
In wide-ranging testimony in San Bernardino Superior Court, Mia Joleen Gonzales detailed the deterioration of her relationship with Abel Gonzales, and said she didn't intend to hurt her husband the night she fatally shot him.
Mia Gonzales, 36, testified that her husband beat her severely during an argument shortly after midnight on Oct. 27, 2007, and she feared for her safety and the safety of her three daughters.
She said she retrieved a revolver from a dresser drawer and pointed it at her husband, but he continued to fight her and they fell together onto their bed.
Mia Gonzales said she tried to get up from the bed and the weapon inadvertently fired. She said she was "almost 100 percent sure" that her finger wasn't on the trigger.
"I said, `Babe, are you OK?' but he didn't answer me," Gonzales testified. "He just made this weird gurgling noise."
The bullet struck Abel Gonzales below the chin and entered his brain, killing the 44-year-old state parole agent within seconds.
Mia Gonzales' account of her husband's death came after she spent more than an hour on the witness stand explaining how her marriage changed drastically over the span of 10 years.
She said her husband's attitude seemed to change the night of their wedding in 1997. He became
mean and critical of her, and the abuse worsened over the years, Mia Gonzales testified.
"It was hard," she testified. "I had to make a lot of adjustments."
When the couple's son died within minutes of his birth, Mia Gonzales said her husband blamed her.
"He was very angry," she testified. "He wanted a little boy, and he didn't handle it very well."
The couple moved into a home in the 1900 block of South Almond Street in Ontario in early 2007.
Mia Gonzales said that by June of that year she'd decided to leave her husband. The couple was rarely intimate, and she said her husband also was physically abusive.
When she told her husband of her plans to leave, he responded by opening up to her about his past, she testified.
"It was the beginning of his relinquishing information in hopes that he could keep me there with him," she said.
Abel Gonzales spent the next five to seven evenings disclosing secrets to his wife, including the disclosure that over a four-year period in his childhood he was sexually abused by an older boy.
He also said he had a sexual affair with a male roommate in the years prior to his marriage. Mia Gonzales said she believed her husband occasionally saw the ex-roommate during their marriage.
Mia Gonzales said that after her husband's disclosures, she felt her marriage was a lie.
"I didn't know who I was married to," she said.
She decided not to leave her husband because she felt sorry for him, but she also became severely depressed and attempted suicide twice by cutting herself, she testified.
She said her husband also seemed suicidal. She said she once saw him sitting on the edge of his bed holding a gun to his head.
During her cross-examination of Mia Gonzales, Deputy District Attorney Mary Izadi sought to paint Mia Gonzales as a liar.
Mia Gonzales said that friends and family members often saw bruising on her body from physical altercations with her husband.
But when they asked her about the markings, she would lie and say they weren't caused by her husband, she testified.
Mia Gonzales is set to retake the witness stand on Monday.
Columbus, OH: Ohio woman accused in husband's murder won't be retried after discovery that key witness lied
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Prosecutors will not retry a central Ohio woman who spent 20 years in prison in the poisoning death of her husband before being released because a toxicologist lied when he testified in her case.
The case was dismissed by a Licking County judge on Thursday. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt says there's not enough untainted evidence for a retrial.
Virginia LeFever was sentenced to life in prison in 1990. She was released in November after investigators found that Franklin County toxicologist James Ferguson had lied.
Ferguson testified he received a biochemistry degree from Ohio State in 1972, but records show he received it in 1988. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail for falsification in a related civil case.
The 59-year-old LeFever could be recharged if new evidence surfaces. She says her husband, William, committed suicide because the Newark couple was divorcing.
The case was dismissed by a Licking County judge on Thursday. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt says there's not enough untainted evidence for a retrial.
Virginia LeFever was sentenced to life in prison in 1990. She was released in November after investigators found that Franklin County toxicologist James Ferguson had lied.
Ferguson testified he received a biochemistry degree from Ohio State in 1972, but records show he received it in 1988. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail for falsification in a related civil case.
The 59-year-old LeFever could be recharged if new evidence surfaces. She says her husband, William, committed suicide because the Newark couple was divorcing.
Article: Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend
Ira Einhorn was on stage hosting the first Earth Day event at the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on April 22, 1970. Seven years later, police raided his closet and found the "composted" body of his ex-girlfriend inside a trunk.
A self-proclaimed environmental activist, Einhorn made a name for himself among ecological groups during the 1960s and '70s by taking on the role of a tie-dye-wearing ecological guru and Philadelphia’s head hippie. With his long beard and gap-toothed smile, Einhorn — who nicknamed himself "Unicorn" because his German-Jewish last name translates to "one horn" —advocated flower power, peace and free love to his fellow students at the University of Pennsylvania. He also claimed to have helped found Earth Day.
But the charismatic spokesman who helped bring awareness to environmental issues and preached against the Vietnam War — and any violence — had a secret dark side. When his girlfriend of five years, Helen "Holly" Maddux, moved to New York and broke up with him, Einhorn threatened that he would throw her left-behind personal belongings onto the street if she didn't come back to pick them up.
And so on Sept. 9, 1977, Maddux went back to the apartment that she and Einhorn had shared in Philadelphia to collect her things, and was never seen again. When Philadelphia police questioned Einhorn about her mysterious disappearance several weeks later, he claimed that she had gone out to the neighborhood co-op to buy some tofu and sprouts and never returned. It wasn't until 18 months later that investigators searched Einhorn's apartment after one of his neighbors complained that a reddish-brown, foul-smelling liquid was leaking from the ceiling directly below Einhorn's bedroom closet. Inside the closet, police found Maddux's beaten and partially mummified body stuffed into a trunk that had also been packed with Styrofoam, air fresheners and newspapers.
After his arrest, Einhorn jumped bail and spent decades evading authorities by hiding out in Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and France. After 23 years, he was finally extradited to the United States from France and put on trial. Taking the stand in his own defense, Einhorn claimed that his ex-girlfriend had been killed by CIA agents who framed him for the crime because he knew too much about the agency's paranormal military research. He was convicted of murdering Maddux and is currently serving a life sentence.
Although Einhorn was only the master of ceremonies at the first Earth Day event, he maintains that Earth Day was his idea and that he's responsible for launching it. Understandably, Earth Day's organizers have distanced themselves from his name, citing Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist and former Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator who died in 2005, as Earth Day's official founder and organizer. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sen. Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day in the spring of 1970 as a way to bring national awareness to the fact that, at the time, there were no legal or regulatory mechanisms in place to protect the environment. About 20 million participants at various Earth Day events across the U.S. made Earth Day a success, and in December of 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues — the EPA.
St. Petersburg, FL: "He killed Kelly Rothwell," says ex-wife of missing police cadet's boyfriend
St. Petersburg, Florida - Kelly Rothwell was ready to end her relationship with what she called a controlling boyfriend, David Perry. Perry is a retired corrections officer, 11 years her senior.
That was March 12th.
Kelly was on her way to their Indian Rocks Beach condo to end the relationship. She had just finished eating at a Clearwater Chili's with a girlfriend. After she left the restaurant, Kelly was never seen again.
Perry took off for New York shortly after Kelly's disappearance. He has not helped detectives in the investigation. He has not given a DNA sample. He has not given any interviews.
He has not searched for her in Florida, detectives say.
Perry's ex-wife, Luana Greenfield, is now speaking out and telling the story of a dangerous man.
In a phone interview near Syracuse, New York, Greenfield told 10 News about her ex-husband of 10 years.
We asked, "Do you think that Dave killed Kelly?"
Greenfield replied, "Yes, I do. I really truly do in my heart, I know he did. He's very, very evil. I can't even describe him. I used to call him Satan, because that's who he is."
Greenfield says Perry has a history of violence with women. She detailed years of abuse with Perry.
She says Perry punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant, causing her to miscarry. She says Perry choked her, put a gun to her head, and cheated on her with her friends and their babysitters.
She added that he even threatened to kill their children if she fought him on custody of their three children when they divorced.
Greenfield believes that Kelly's body is in New York.
"I think that's she probably up here somewhere. He knows places. She could be up here anywhere. Anywhere he used to hunt even. Why would he race up here?" Greenfield said.
One question that's been asked over and over again: why can't Dave Perry be forced to talk? After all, he was the boyfriend of this young woman who went missing and he still hasn't spoken.
And, the answer is simple. He doesn't have to. At this point, he's well within his rights not to incriminate himself. And at this point in the case, Kelly is only considered a missing person.
Detective Michael Bailey with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says, "It is highly irregular for somebody not to cooperate, even if you would have just broken up with somebody, you'd probably try to assist the police."
Greenfield also tells the story of Perry's upbringing. She says that he grew up with an abusive father that used to "beat him" as a child.
"He was a liar," Greenfield said. "He lied from day one." She also says that Perry's mother "hated him" when she died.
Greenfield says she lived in fear for the decade that she was married to Perry.
"If I didn't leave him, I would be dead today," she told us. "The worst thing Kelly could have done was go home [to break up with him] alone."
For now, Perry remains in Elmira, New York.
He is said to be hanging out at home and going out to eat alone. "His friends do not want to spend time anymore with him. They know what he did," Greenfield says.
"He told someone at a bar that she was killed by her ex-boyfriend," says Greenfield. "That was just a week ago."
Detectives have not said when they will travel to New York to try and talk with Perry. They are currently preparing their case and searching for Kelly.
That was March 12th.
Kelly was on her way to their Indian Rocks Beach condo to end the relationship. She had just finished eating at a Clearwater Chili's with a girlfriend. After she left the restaurant, Kelly was never seen again.
Perry took off for New York shortly after Kelly's disappearance. He has not helped detectives in the investigation. He has not given a DNA sample. He has not given any interviews.
He has not searched for her in Florida, detectives say.
Perry's ex-wife, Luana Greenfield, is now speaking out and telling the story of a dangerous man.
In a phone interview near Syracuse, New York, Greenfield told 10 News about her ex-husband of 10 years.
We asked, "Do you think that Dave killed Kelly?"
Greenfield replied, "Yes, I do. I really truly do in my heart, I know he did. He's very, very evil. I can't even describe him. I used to call him Satan, because that's who he is."
Greenfield says Perry has a history of violence with women. She detailed years of abuse with Perry.
She says Perry punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant, causing her to miscarry. She says Perry choked her, put a gun to her head, and cheated on her with her friends and their babysitters.
She added that he even threatened to kill their children if she fought him on custody of their three children when they divorced.
Greenfield believes that Kelly's body is in New York.
"I think that's she probably up here somewhere. He knows places. She could be up here anywhere. Anywhere he used to hunt even. Why would he race up here?" Greenfield said.
One question that's been asked over and over again: why can't Dave Perry be forced to talk? After all, he was the boyfriend of this young woman who went missing and he still hasn't spoken.
And, the answer is simple. He doesn't have to. At this point, he's well within his rights not to incriminate himself. And at this point in the case, Kelly is only considered a missing person.
Detective Michael Bailey with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says, "It is highly irregular for somebody not to cooperate, even if you would have just broken up with somebody, you'd probably try to assist the police."
Greenfield also tells the story of Perry's upbringing. She says that he grew up with an abusive father that used to "beat him" as a child.
"He was a liar," Greenfield said. "He lied from day one." She also says that Perry's mother "hated him" when she died.
Greenfield says she lived in fear for the decade that she was married to Perry.
"If I didn't leave him, I would be dead today," she told us. "The worst thing Kelly could have done was go home [to break up with him] alone."
For now, Perry remains in Elmira, New York.
He is said to be hanging out at home and going out to eat alone. "His friends do not want to spend time anymore with him. They know what he did," Greenfield says.
"He told someone at a bar that she was killed by her ex-boyfriend," says Greenfield. "That was just a week ago."
Detectives have not said when they will travel to New York to try and talk with Perry. They are currently preparing their case and searching for Kelly.
Plano, TX: Police seek ex-boyfriend of murdered Frisco fitness instructor
PLANO - Police have been probing the details of Susan Loper's life since the body of the missing Frisco instructor was found in a wooded area Wednesday morning.
From talking with her friends to probing two dating sites and looking over surveillance videos, police say they are getting closer to answers in her murder.
Investigators went to East Texas Thursday as they searched for an ex-boyfriend (named later, Terrance Black) of Loper's. However, Plano police would not go into further detail.
Loper disappeared from her job at Gleneagles Country Club on Tuesday. Her purse and cell phone were left behind. Authorities said evidence was found inside and outside the country club and in her abandoned vehicle.
Plano police said they are tracking a number of leads to who killed Loper. They said they are researching every former acquaintance in their search for a suspect.
"I can tell you that if there is anybody that has left the area that is a suspect ... we are trying to keep as close of tabs as possible on those individuals," said Rick McDonald, Plano Police Department.
Plano police said they plan on releasing more information Friday morning.
Meanwhile, extra grief counselors are on hand at Gunstream Elementary School, where Loper's only son is a second grader. The 8-year-old is also autistic.
School principal David Smolka told News 8 his students and staff are really struggling this week. He said Loper's murder is the second time a parent has been murdered in two months. In February, the father of two sisters in the second and fifth grades was found shot to death in the family driveway.
Smolka told News 8, a handful of students met with grief counselors earlier Thursday. He said they are having a hard time, but the school has tried to help them have as normal a day as possible.
Close friends of Loper said she and her only son were especially close. They said the two had a bond tighter than any mother and child they'd ever seen before.
The school principal at Gunstream says Loper's son is now with his Dad. Apparently, Loper divorced in 2008.
Loper was a Pilates instructor who turned up missing from her job at a Plano country club on Tuesday.
Police found her body in a wooded area of Frisco Wednesday just east of the Dallas North Tollway between Warren Parkway and Lebanon Road. Her vehicle was found two miles south about eight hours earlier.
From talking with her friends to probing two dating sites and looking over surveillance videos, police say they are getting closer to answers in her murder.
Investigators went to East Texas Thursday as they searched for an ex-boyfriend (named later, Terrance Black) of Loper's. However, Plano police would not go into further detail.
Loper disappeared from her job at Gleneagles Country Club on Tuesday. Her purse and cell phone were left behind. Authorities said evidence was found inside and outside the country club and in her abandoned vehicle.
Plano police said they are tracking a number of leads to who killed Loper. They said they are researching every former acquaintance in their search for a suspect.
"I can tell you that if there is anybody that has left the area that is a suspect ... we are trying to keep as close of tabs as possible on those individuals," said Rick McDonald, Plano Police Department.
Plano police said they plan on releasing more information Friday morning.
Meanwhile, extra grief counselors are on hand at Gunstream Elementary School, where Loper's only son is a second grader. The 8-year-old is also autistic.
School principal David Smolka told News 8 his students and staff are really struggling this week. He said Loper's murder is the second time a parent has been murdered in two months. In February, the father of two sisters in the second and fifth grades was found shot to death in the family driveway.
Smolka told News 8, a handful of students met with grief counselors earlier Thursday. He said they are having a hard time, but the school has tried to help them have as normal a day as possible.
Close friends of Loper said she and her only son were especially close. They said the two had a bond tighter than any mother and child they'd ever seen before.
The school principal at Gunstream says Loper's son is now with his Dad. Apparently, Loper divorced in 2008.
Loper was a Pilates instructor who turned up missing from her job at a Plano country club on Tuesday.
Police found her body in a wooded area of Frisco Wednesday just east of the Dallas North Tollway between Warren Parkway and Lebanon Road. Her vehicle was found two miles south about eight hours earlier.
Newport, TN: Cocke County woman gets probation in stabbing death of boyfriend
NEWPORT - A Cocke County woman who pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide in connection to the stabbing death of her long-time boyfriend will serve six years on probation, authorities said.
Paula Marie Anderson, 59, of Newport, had been slated to go to trial April 14 on a manslaughter charge for the Oct. 10, 2009, slaying of her live-in boyfriend, Bobby Leroy Anders.
Instead she accepted a plea offer from the office of District Attorney General James "Jimmy" Dunn. The plea agreement and sentencing took place last week during a hearing before a Cocke County judge, Assistant State Attorney General Brownlow Marsh said today.
Anders, 68, died after being stabbed once in the chest at the couple's home in the Irish Cut community, Marsh said.
Prior to the killing, Marsh said, Anderson and Anders had been arguing over Anderson's brother being drunk inside their home.
More details as they develop online and in Friday's News Sentinel.
Paula Marie Anderson, 59, of Newport, had been slated to go to trial April 14 on a manslaughter charge for the Oct. 10, 2009, slaying of her live-in boyfriend, Bobby Leroy Anders.
Instead she accepted a plea offer from the office of District Attorney General James "Jimmy" Dunn. The plea agreement and sentencing took place last week during a hearing before a Cocke County judge, Assistant State Attorney General Brownlow Marsh said today.
Anders, 68, died after being stabbed once in the chest at the couple's home in the Irish Cut community, Marsh said.
Prior to the killing, Marsh said, Anderson and Anders had been arguing over Anderson's brother being drunk inside their home.
More details as they develop online and in Friday's News Sentinel.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Article: Four fatal stabbings of women ‘overwhelm’ city
Four women have been brutally stabbed to death in the last two weeks.
Cops have considered domestic violence in every case, something that does not surprise advocates who say they see this abuse all too often.
State legislators are trying to battle the crimes with the Domestic Violence Registration Act, introduced recently by Brooklyn state Sen. Eric Adams. The bill would require offenders with felony domestic violence convictions to register online.
“These cases have overwhelmed the public,” Adams told Metro, adding that he hopes the spotlight on crime will propel the bill into committee within the month. “I believe that this is going to help push this bill through.”
Just yesterday, Brian Sohtz, 36, was arraigned on murder charges for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend Daniella Mannino, 34, and leaving her for dead in his Bensonhurst apartment. Sohtz yelled “I’m sorry” and “I loved Daniella” as he left a Brooklyn police station.
Sunday, police found a mother and daughter stabbed to death in Sheepshead Bay. Cops are now pursuing the mother’s husband.
Sarah Coit, slashed in her Lower East Side apartment April 10, was killed by boyfriend Raul Barrera, police say, who will face state murder charges May 12.
The murders are “staggering,” said Beth Silverman-Yam at Sanctuary for Families.
Tracking domestic violence
The registry, introduced by Brooklyn state Sen. Eric Adams, would list an offender’s address, workplace and property. A registry might scare offenders and hold them accountable, Silverman-Yam said, adding that many victims who come to Sanctuary are fighting back against violated orders of protection and repeat abuses. “The next thing you know, you’ve got severe abuse or murder,” she said.
Cops have considered domestic violence in every case, something that does not surprise advocates who say they see this abuse all too often.
State legislators are trying to battle the crimes with the Domestic Violence Registration Act, introduced recently by Brooklyn state Sen. Eric Adams. The bill would require offenders with felony domestic violence convictions to register online.
“These cases have overwhelmed the public,” Adams told Metro, adding that he hopes the spotlight on crime will propel the bill into committee within the month. “I believe that this is going to help push this bill through.”
Just yesterday, Brian Sohtz, 36, was arraigned on murder charges for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend Daniella Mannino, 34, and leaving her for dead in his Bensonhurst apartment. Sohtz yelled “I’m sorry” and “I loved Daniella” as he left a Brooklyn police station.
Sunday, police found a mother and daughter stabbed to death in Sheepshead Bay. Cops are now pursuing the mother’s husband.
Sarah Coit, slashed in her Lower East Side apartment April 10, was killed by boyfriend Raul Barrera, police say, who will face state murder charges May 12.
The murders are “staggering,” said Beth Silverman-Yam at Sanctuary for Families.
Tracking domestic violence
The registry, introduced by Brooklyn state Sen. Eric Adams, would list an offender’s address, workplace and property. A registry might scare offenders and hold them accountable, Silverman-Yam said, adding that many victims who come to Sanctuary are fighting back against violated orders of protection and repeat abuses. “The next thing you know, you’ve got severe abuse or murder,” she said.
Putnam, NY: Another chapter in the story of murder-suicide gets written in Putnam
The story behind the story of the murder-suicide in Lake Peekskill is emerging as another textbook case of a man coming undone and taking his family into the abyss with him. Could anything have been done to stop his free fall? Could his workplace or relatives have intervened sooner? Just how many fairies dance atop the head of a straight pin? The questions and answers are beyond comprehension, even though this is all-too familiar and painful terrain.
Steven Lessard ordinarily attracted little notice from co-workers at the Indian Point nuclear power plants, where he worked since 1995, first as an outside contractor and then as an employee. The emerging story yesterday was that something went noticeably awry Thursday; there was a flat tire and Lessard became "inordinately concerned about getting the car fixed," is how Entergy Nuclear Northeast spokesman Jim Steets put it. He "was clearly having difficulty with relatively minor issues."
To the credit of Indian Point - a place where you really want co-workers to notice the ordinary as well as the out-of-sorts - other workers noted Lessard's state, informed a supervisor and steps were taken to get Lessard help; of course, those efforts, better than most could probably expect on their non-nuclear power plant jobs, were tragically insufficient. Lessard, 51, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, killed his wife Kathy, 48, and their daughter, 14-year-old Linda, before taking his own life. Their bodies were found by police in the home on Maple Road, this after worried relatives asked for help.
"The mother was a sweetheart. She always did things for the kids at school," Debbie Weeks-Petranchik, a Putnam Valley Middle School PTA official, told LoHud.com. "He was very quiet and polite. There was nothing you would have said, 'Hmm.' They were just an average family."
And now part of a continuing riddle - one that doesn't begin to take shape until all the violent headlines are strung together. According to the Violence Policy Center, which claims the most comprehensive data on the subject, more than 10 murder-suicides occur in the U.S. each week, accounting for some 591 deaths in the first six months of 2005, an estimated 1,182 for the year. Other studies place the yearly toll as high as 1,500 deaths. They come one after the other and in a steady stream.
The murderers are almost always male - 94 percent of the time. The most common scenario: an "intimate partner" murder-suicide wherein a woman is the murder victim, the reality in 96 percent of the cases. When women are the killers, they "tend to kill their children and themselves . . . Men, on the other hand, tend to kill their children, themselves and their intimate partners as well." Preferred weapon of choice is hardly surprising: a firearm, 94 percent of the time. "Every major murder-suicide study ever conducted has shown that a firearm - with its unmatched combination of lethality and availability - is the weapon most often used."
What to do? Fixing boys and men would help. The center calls for better domestic-violence programs and laws, including "programs that assist men with coping with issues of control and separation." And it should be plain as day that fewer guns - though not a factor in the Lake Peekskill deaths -would mean fewer dead women and children, and fewer male murderers. Not much of a riddle, really; we just pretend that some of the answers are so elusive.
Steven Lessard ordinarily attracted little notice from co-workers at the Indian Point nuclear power plants, where he worked since 1995, first as an outside contractor and then as an employee. The emerging story yesterday was that something went noticeably awry Thursday; there was a flat tire and Lessard became "inordinately concerned about getting the car fixed," is how Entergy Nuclear Northeast spokesman Jim Steets put it. He "was clearly having difficulty with relatively minor issues."
To the credit of Indian Point - a place where you really want co-workers to notice the ordinary as well as the out-of-sorts - other workers noted Lessard's state, informed a supervisor and steps were taken to get Lessard help; of course, those efforts, better than most could probably expect on their non-nuclear power plant jobs, were tragically insufficient. Lessard, 51, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, killed his wife Kathy, 48, and their daughter, 14-year-old Linda, before taking his own life. Their bodies were found by police in the home on Maple Road, this after worried relatives asked for help.
"The mother was a sweetheart. She always did things for the kids at school," Debbie Weeks-Petranchik, a Putnam Valley Middle School PTA official, told LoHud.com. "He was very quiet and polite. There was nothing you would have said, 'Hmm.' They were just an average family."
And now part of a continuing riddle - one that doesn't begin to take shape until all the violent headlines are strung together. According to the Violence Policy Center, which claims the most comprehensive data on the subject, more than 10 murder-suicides occur in the U.S. each week, accounting for some 591 deaths in the first six months of 2005, an estimated 1,182 for the year. Other studies place the yearly toll as high as 1,500 deaths. They come one after the other and in a steady stream.
The murderers are almost always male - 94 percent of the time. The most common scenario: an "intimate partner" murder-suicide wherein a woman is the murder victim, the reality in 96 percent of the cases. When women are the killers, they "tend to kill their children and themselves . . . Men, on the other hand, tend to kill their children, themselves and their intimate partners as well." Preferred weapon of choice is hardly surprising: a firearm, 94 percent of the time. "Every major murder-suicide study ever conducted has shown that a firearm - with its unmatched combination of lethality and availability - is the weapon most often used."
What to do? Fixing boys and men would help. The center calls for better domestic-violence programs and laws, including "programs that assist men with coping with issues of control and separation." And it should be plain as day that fewer guns - though not a factor in the Lake Peekskill deaths -would mean fewer dead women and children, and fewer male murderers. Not much of a riddle, really; we just pretend that some of the answers are so elusive.
Norwalk, CT: Connecticut court rejects wife's appeal of manslaughter conviction in husband's fire death
NORWALK, Conn. — Connecticut's appeals court has upheld a Norwalk woman's manslaughter conviction for setting her husband on fire because he was unfaithful.
The judges unanimously rejected 61-year-old Mary Ann Langley's argument that evidence was taken illegally from the couple's house after the Dec. 14, 2006, fire.
James Langley died of his burns 12 days later.
Prosecutors alleged Mary Ann Langley threw a cup of gasoline on his stomach and ignited it as he slept. Her attorney and supporters believe James Langley accidentally caused the fire during a daze brought on by his unregulated diabetes.
Langley was convicted in 2008 of manslaughter, but acquitted of a murder charge. She is serving a 20-year sentence.
The appeals court's decision was released Monday. Her attorney says they will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The judges unanimously rejected 61-year-old Mary Ann Langley's argument that evidence was taken illegally from the couple's house after the Dec. 14, 2006, fire.
James Langley died of his burns 12 days later.
Prosecutors alleged Mary Ann Langley threw a cup of gasoline on his stomach and ignited it as he slept. Her attorney and supporters believe James Langley accidentally caused the fire during a daze brought on by his unregulated diabetes.
Langley was convicted in 2008 of manslaughter, but acquitted of a murder charge. She is serving a 20-year sentence.
The appeals court's decision was released Monday. Her attorney says they will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Lynnwood, WA: Husband arrested in his wife's shooting death
LYNNWOOD -- Sheriff's detectives have arrested the husband of a woman who was found shot to death in her Lynnwood-area home Saturday.
The night before Cristy Ann Larsen was found slain, her husband reportedly passed out in his car on a Highway 99 offramp in Edmonds. The man, 49, was taken to a Seattle hospital. A handgun later was found in the car.
The man remained at the hospital Wednesday afternoon, Snohomish County sheriff's Lt. Kathi Lang said.
The man is expected to be taken to jail when he is released from the hospital, but Lang was unsure when that might happen.
After the man was taken to the hospital Friday night, a deputy went to his home in the 1700 block of 215th Street SW, off of Cypress Way. The deputy tried multiple times to contact his wife or other kin.
When the man's wife didn't show up for work on Saturday, deputies went into the home to check on her.
They found Larsen, 47, dead inside the home.
She had multiple gunshot wounds, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's office reported Thursday.
The night before Cristy Ann Larsen was found slain, her husband reportedly passed out in his car on a Highway 99 offramp in Edmonds. The man, 49, was taken to a Seattle hospital. A handgun later was found in the car.
The man remained at the hospital Wednesday afternoon, Snohomish County sheriff's Lt. Kathi Lang said.
The man is expected to be taken to jail when he is released from the hospital, but Lang was unsure when that might happen.
After the man was taken to the hospital Friday night, a deputy went to his home in the 1700 block of 215th Street SW, off of Cypress Way. The deputy tried multiple times to contact his wife or other kin.
When the man's wife didn't show up for work on Saturday, deputies went into the home to check on her.
They found Larsen, 47, dead inside the home.
She had multiple gunshot wounds, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's office reported Thursday.
Phoenix, AZ: Police: Killing Suspect Caught At Border
PHOENIX -- A man accused of killing his girlfriend's friend was caught trying cross the border into Mexico, Phoenix Police said.
Since Wednesday, police said they were looking for Armando Medrano after witnesses said he shot and killed Crystal Pineda at an apartment near 25th Avenue and Highland.
Police said Medrano got into a fight with his girlfriend and during the argument he pulled out a gun and shot Pineda.
Later that evening, U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the Phoenix Police Department saying agents had caught Medrano trying to get into Mexico.
He was taken in by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be returned to Phoenix.
Since Wednesday, police said they were looking for Armando Medrano after witnesses said he shot and killed Crystal Pineda at an apartment near 25th Avenue and Highland.
Police said Medrano got into a fight with his girlfriend and during the argument he pulled out a gun and shot Pineda.
Later that evening, U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the Phoenix Police Department saying agents had caught Medrano trying to get into Mexico.
He was taken in by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be returned to Phoenix.
LaVergne, NJ: Grand jury gets homicide case
Grand jurors will hear the details of a 2010 case involving a man accused of killing his girlfriend at her La Vergne home, a judge decided Wednesday.
Maximillian Ocon appeared before a Rutherford County judge to hear prosecutors make their case against him in the murder of Rafela Ortiz, according to DNJ news partner WSMV-TV. The woman was found deceased, the result of blunt-force trauma and strangulation, in her Lake Forest Estates home in La Vergne in November 2010.
Ocon claimed self defense and a fuzzy memory in court Wednesday, as his attorney explained that Ocon and Ortiz were in an argument the day of the incident when she approached him with a hammer. Ocon claimed he blanked out at that point and later woke up and found his girlfriend dead.
It was Ocon's own son who called police, concerned after his father told him he believed he had killed someone. Authorities checked out Ocon's story and found the victim in her bed.
On a nearby wall, police found a satanic message written in the victim's blood. It read something to the effect of, "The devil within." Authorities say Ocon told them he believed the devil came out of his girlfriend when the two argued.
At the end of Wednesday's hearing a judge determined there was enough probable cause to send the case on to the July meeting of the grand jury
Maximillian Ocon appeared before a Rutherford County judge to hear prosecutors make their case against him in the murder of Rafela Ortiz, according to DNJ news partner WSMV-TV. The woman was found deceased, the result of blunt-force trauma and strangulation, in her Lake Forest Estates home in La Vergne in November 2010.
Ocon claimed self defense and a fuzzy memory in court Wednesday, as his attorney explained that Ocon and Ortiz were in an argument the day of the incident when she approached him with a hammer. Ocon claimed he blanked out at that point and later woke up and found his girlfriend dead.
It was Ocon's own son who called police, concerned after his father told him he believed he had killed someone. Authorities checked out Ocon's story and found the victim in her bed.
On a nearby wall, police found a satanic message written in the victim's blood. It read something to the effect of, "The devil within." Authorities say Ocon told them he believed the devil came out of his girlfriend when the two argued.
At the end of Wednesday's hearing a judge determined there was enough probable cause to send the case on to the July meeting of the grand jury
Cincinnati, OH: Westwood Man Calls 911, Says He May Have Killed Woman
Cincinnati Police have now filed murder charges against a Westwood man who called 911 early this morning to report his girlfriend's death.
Police say 51 year old Alfonso Williams called 911 around 5 a.m. and told dispatchers he feared that he killed his girlfriend. Police went to a home in the 3300 block of Queen City Avenue and found the woman, 61 year old Diana Hutsell, dead. A preliminary autopsy on Hutsell shows she died of strangulation.
The victim's granddaughters told Local 12 that Williams is Hutsell's on-again, off-again boyfriend. Her family says the victim also goes by the name Diana Green.
Williams is now charged with murder.
Local 12 has a crew on the scene and we'll post new information here as soon as we receive it.
Police say 51 year old Alfonso Williams called 911 around 5 a.m. and told dispatchers he feared that he killed his girlfriend. Police went to a home in the 3300 block of Queen City Avenue and found the woman, 61 year old Diana Hutsell, dead. A preliminary autopsy on Hutsell shows she died of strangulation.
The victim's granddaughters told Local 12 that Williams is Hutsell's on-again, off-again boyfriend. Her family says the victim also goes by the name Diana Green.
Williams is now charged with murder.
Local 12 has a crew on the scene and we'll post new information here as soon as we receive it.
Yachats, OR: Wanted OR fugitive found dead with girlfriend
YACHATS -- A man wanted after a gunfight with Oregon police officers was found dead south of Yachats, along with his girlfriend, who police think he murdered.
The bodies were found April 9 and then identified weeks later as Nathan Miles Dix, 31, and Annie Jo Welch, 31, both of the Eugene area. Police believe Dix shot Welch in the head and then shot himself.
The identification was made through items at the scene and skeletal evidence, according to Oregon State Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Gunson.
The couple was last seen on Dec. 24, 2008. Dix had failed to appear in Lane County on Dec. 29 after making bail six days earlier.
Dix was arrested back in September of 2008 after a gunfight with police responding to a report of a suicidal person with a shotgun. Dix was injured in the exchange of gunfire. He was jailed and later posted bail, then fled.
On Dec. 30, the Lincoln County sheriff's office found a vehicle registered to Welch parked at the Cape Perpetua Lookout. The car had been there four days. A search of the area yielded nothing and the vehicle was towed. Police were searching for Dix as a wanted fugitive.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Dix, who had been in custody after being charged with two counts of attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon against a person.
The bodies were found April 9 and then identified weeks later as Nathan Miles Dix, 31, and Annie Jo Welch, 31, both of the Eugene area. Police believe Dix shot Welch in the head and then shot himself.
The identification was made through items at the scene and skeletal evidence, according to Oregon State Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Gunson.
The couple was last seen on Dec. 24, 2008. Dix had failed to appear in Lane County on Dec. 29 after making bail six days earlier.
Dix was arrested back in September of 2008 after a gunfight with police responding to a report of a suicidal person with a shotgun. Dix was injured in the exchange of gunfire. He was jailed and later posted bail, then fled.
On Dec. 30, the Lincoln County sheriff's office found a vehicle registered to Welch parked at the Cape Perpetua Lookout. The car had been there four days. A search of the area yielded nothing and the vehicle was towed. Police were searching for Dix as a wanted fugitive.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Dix, who had been in custody after being charged with two counts of attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon against a person.
Haynesville, MS: Wife charged in stabbing death
HAYNESVILLE — A domestic dispute between a couple Tuesday night ended in the stabbing death of the husband, Haynesville Police Chief Anthony Smith said Wednesday.
Kenneth Reynolds, 47, was pronounced dead at Homer Memorial Hospital. His wife, Betty Reynolds, 36, is in the Claiborne Detention Center, where she is charged with second-degree murder and attempted arson. Her bond is set at $150,000.
Betty Reynolds told investigators her husband walked into the 8-inch kitchen knife while the two argued. "But there is evidence showing he did not walk into the knife," Smith said.
Prior to Kenneth Reynolds' fatal stabbing, Betty Reynolds piled his clothes in the middle of the floor, added an accelerant and tried to set them on fire, Smith said.
Police had not been called to the Reynolds' residence before, Smith said. However, family members reported troubles between the couple have been ongoing.
Betty Reynolds told police she had asked her husband for a divorce prior to the stabbing. There were no witnesses to the incident.
Kenneth Reynolds, 47, was pronounced dead at Homer Memorial Hospital. His wife, Betty Reynolds, 36, is in the Claiborne Detention Center, where she is charged with second-degree murder and attempted arson. Her bond is set at $150,000.
Betty Reynolds told investigators her husband walked into the 8-inch kitchen knife while the two argued. "But there is evidence showing he did not walk into the knife," Smith said.
Prior to Kenneth Reynolds' fatal stabbing, Betty Reynolds piled his clothes in the middle of the floor, added an accelerant and tried to set them on fire, Smith said.
Police had not been called to the Reynolds' residence before, Smith said. However, family members reported troubles between the couple have been ongoing.
Betty Reynolds told police she had asked her husband for a divorce prior to the stabbing. There were no witnesses to the incident.
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