crime – News Stories About crime - Page 63

Aug 1, 2008 4:17 AM CDT

Mom Begs: Bring Snooks Home

Rockefeller's ex makes emotional video appeal

(Newser) - The ex-wife of fugitive millionaire Clark Rockefeller, the man on the run with their 7-year-old daughter, has videotaped an emotional appeal for the child's return. "Please, please bring Snooks back. There has to be a better way for us to solve our differences," pleads Sandra Boss, using the...

Missing Girl's Dad Bought Gold

Jul 31, 2008 4:41 AM CDT

Missing Girl's Dad Bought Gold

Converted cash to bullion to use anywhere in world, say cops

(Newser) - The wealthy businessman accused of abducting his 7-year-old daughter has apparently exchanged cash for gold as part of his elaborate kidnapping plot, reports the Boston Globe. Clark Rockefeller, a man with a mystery history who lied about his connections to the Rockefeller family, can use the gold anywhere in the...

Fla. Actor Sues Rape Accuser

Jul 30, 2008 1:30 PM CDT

Fla. Actor Sues Rape Accuser

Arsenault alleges hundreds of thousands of dollars lost

(Newser) - An actor accused of drugging and raping a woman in his Florida home is now suing his accuser, saying the allegations cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in business deals, the Saratota Herald-Tribune reports. Joseph S Arsenault says he was evicted from his home while in jail last year,...

Facebook Pulls Stabbing App Amid UK Knife Deaths

Jul 30, 2008 12:07 PM CDT

Facebook Pulls Stabbing App Amid UK Knife Deaths

Britain concerned about spate of knife violence

(Newser) - A surge in knife crime has shaken Britain, ABC News reports. Twelve people—six of them teenagers—were stabbed to death in a single week this month. Public concern has caused Facebook to yank a third-party application where users could send each other "virtual stabs," and Nike has...

Accomplice Helping Cops
in Kidnap Case

Jul 29, 2008 5:22 PM CDT

Accomplice Helping Cops in Kidnap Case

7-year-old, father who lied about Rockefeller ties still missing

(Newser) - As more details emerge about the man thought to have kidnapped his 7-year-old daughter in Boston on Sunday, police said today the driver of the SUV used in the abduction is cooperating with the investigation, the Globe reports. Police believe Clark Rockefeller—one of several names the man uses—and...

Kidnap Suspect May Be Fleeing NY by Yacht

Jul 28, 2008 5:41 PM CDT

Kidnap Suspect May Be Fleeing NY by Yacht

Cops: Bahamas could be destination for Rockefeller, 7-year-old

(Newser) - The man believed to have kidnapped his daughter after a custody visit in Boston yesterday could be trying to flee the country on his yacht, authorities said today. Clark Rockefeller might have been dropped off, along with 7-year-old Reigh, at New York’s Grand Central Station last night, aiming to...

Young Gospel Singer
Killed in Tampa

Jul 28, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Young Gospel Singer Killed in Tampa

Levi Dixon Jr. may have been mistaken for someone else: family

(Newser) - A promising 17-year-old gospel singer was shot to death early yesterday morning in West Tampa while staying at a friend’s house, the St. Petersburg Times reports. An unknown assailant burst through the door at 4 am and shot Levi Dixon Jr., whom relatives speculate he mistook for someone else....

Son Charged
in Parents'
Hoe Deaths, Cesspool Burial

Jul 28, 2008 4:09 AM CDT

Son Charged in Parents' Hoe Deaths, Cesspool Burial

No motive revealed in 'horrid' attack

(Newser) - A 24-year-old Rhode Island man has been charged with bludgeoning his parents with a grub hoe in the home they shared and dumping their bodies in the backyard cesspool. Suspicious authorities recovered the corpses of the missing couple with a backhoe last week, reports the East Bay Rhode Island newspaper....

Gunman Charged in Deadly
Attack on Tenn. Church

UPDATED

Jul 27, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Gunman Charged in Deadly Attack on Tenn. Church

Children were performing Annie when attack occurred

(Newser) - A gunman opened fire at a Knoxville, Tenn., Unitarian church today, killing two and wounding seven others before he was subdued, CNN reports. He was later charged with first-degree murder in the death of the first victim. The attack occurred about 10am while children were performing the musical Annie, church...

Iran Hangs 29 Convicts,
Calls Deaths Crime Deterrent

Jul 27, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

Iran Hangs 29 Convicts, Calls Deaths Crime Deterrent

Denies rights groups' charges of excessive use

(Newser) - Amid charges of excessive use, Iran hanged 29 convicts this morning in Tehran. The Iranian Supreme Court approved the death sentences, variously on charges of murder, rape, armed robbery, or drug trafficking, the BBC reports. Last year, the country carried out 317 executions, second only to China. Tehran, however, insists...

Feds Confiscate Hathaway's Diaries

Jul 24, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

Feds Confiscate Hathaway's Diaries

Actress could be drawn into fraud case against ex-boyfriend

(Newser) - Anne Hathaway could be drawn into the scandal surrounding her ex-boyfriend. The FBI has seized the actress’ diaries, looking for evidence in the fraud investigation against Raffaello Follieri. They also confiscated personal photos of the pair, along with other documents, a Tiffany clock, watches, and an antique Bible. Hathaway hasn’...

Facebook, MySpace Offer Prime Evidence

Jul 20, 2008 7:13 PM CDT

Facebook, MySpace Offer Prime Evidence

Profiles, photos can haunt defendants, help prosecutors

(Newser) - Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have offered crime-solving help to detectives and become a resource for employers vetting job applicants. Now the sites are proving fruitful for prosecutors, who have used damaging Internet photos of defendants to cast doubt on their character during sentencing hearings and argue for...

Woman Faces Murder Rap After Baby Is Cut From Teen

Jul 20, 2008 12:32 PM CDT

Woman Faces Murder Rap After Baby Is Cut From Teen

She told cops she didn't want miscarriage to upset her mom

(Newser) - Pittsburgh investigators believe a newborn boy brought to a hospital by a woman claiming to be his mother actually was sliced from the uterus of a dead teenager found in the imposter's apartment. Police have identified the victim, who was18 years old and due at the end of the month,...

'Ironclad' Authority of
DNA Evidence Questioned

Jul 20, 2008 11:47 AM CDT

'Ironclad' Authority of DNA Evidence Questioned

Experts debate odds of coincidental matches

(Newser) - With odds of a definite match to suspects often cited as high as 1 in 100 billion, the power of DNA evidence in a criminal case is rarely disputed. But new studies are leading some to question whether DNA evidence should be an ironclad determination of guilt, the Los Angeles ...

Phone Dragnet Redefines 'APB'

Jul 18, 2008 3:50 PM CDT

Phone Dragnet Redefines 'APB'

Cops in Boston suburb use reverse 911 calls to 24K in search for hit-and-run driver

(Newser) - Foiled in their attempts to track down a hit-and-run driver by conventional means, cops in a Boston suburb are enlisting the help of thousands of city residents—by phone. A BMW struck a 9-year-old girl Saturday, leaving her with a fractured skull and investigators with little info. They sent a...

DA to Prison Board: Don't Free Ailing Manson Killer

Jul 15, 2008 9:30 AM CDT

DA to Prison Board: Don't Free Ailing Manson Killer

Terminally ill Atkins is seeking release

(Newser) - The Los Angeles County district attorney has asked the California parole board to deny Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins' request for compassionate release from prison. Atkins, who was convicted of seven 1969 murders, is terminally ill with brain cancer. The DA noted that Atkins stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, tasted...

How a
Forger Fooled
Vermeer-Lovers

Jul 13, 2008 12:23 PM CDT

How a Forger Fooled Vermeer-Lovers

20th-century painter made millions and tricked a powerful Nazi

(Newser) - Johannes Vermeer created only a few dozen paintings in his lifetime, while other major 17th-century artists cranked out 10 times that. That helped a mediocre Dutch painter create convincing forgeries in the 20th century, NPR reports in a look at a new book on one of art's great hoaxes and...

Where Does
All That Seized
Money Go?

Jul 13, 2008 5:42 AM CDT

Where Does All That Seized Money Go?

Asset forfeiture: an ugly side of the drug war

(Newser) - What would you do with a few million in drug money? Last year, state and federal authorities seized about $2 billion from Mexican smugglers. The feds have to put any seized money into a dedicated fund, but the rules are looser for states. In Texas and Georgia, for example, sheriffs...

Imposter Priest Confessor Nabbed at Vatican

Jul 6, 2008 8:00 AM CDT

Imposter Priest Confessor Nabbed at Vatican

'Strange behavior' tipped off authorities

(Newser) - A phony priest was stopped just as he was about to hear confessions in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the BBC reports. The man had on the right clothes and produced valid-looking priestly documents and Vatican ID—"but the expert eye of our personnel didn't need much to...

ATM Thefts On the Rise

Jul 3, 2008 7:25 PM CDT

ATM Thefts On the Rise

Non-bank teller machines make easy targets, police say

(Newser) - ATM theft is a labor-intensive crime: You have to steal a pickup, slam it through a gas station storefront, and haul the ATM out. But that’s exactly what an increasing number of criminals are doing, MSNBC reports. From 2000 to 2006, thieves nabbed about 120 ATMs a year across...