USEC IM USA Edition

2 shot and killed in NJ park

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:48:25 +0000

MYFOXNY.COM -A man and a woman have been found shot dead inside a municipal park in Montclair, N.J., said police.

The bodies were discovered near a bench in Canterbury Park at around 10 p.m. on Thursday.

A man FOX 5 News spoke with says his daughter and the female victim are cousins.

“She used to go to church religiously. She’s highly educated and just a nice person. This is sad,”said Kurt Holloway.

The female victim was in her 20s and lived in East Orange, according to Holloway.

The victims’ names have not been released pending family notification.

This is a developing story.

Check back for updates.

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Soldier sentenced to life without parole for killing 5 at combat stress clinic in Iraq

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:47:25 +0000

An Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.

A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release.

Russell will be transferred within the next several days to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said late Thursday.

The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court-martial ended Saturday.

The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental stresses of serving repeated tours of duty.

Killed in the 2009 shooting in Baghdad were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, of Wilmington, N.C., and four Army personnel: Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., of Federalsburg, Md.; Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, of Paterson, N.J.; and Spc. Jacob D. Barton, of Lenox, Mo.

Russell’s lawyers argued that he was deluded by depression and despair at the time. An Army mental health board found that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress.

Russell had long sought help with sleep troubles and was stammering and crying for help in the days before the shooting. His commanders were so alarmed that they disarmed him and sent him for repeated visits to mental health clinics, said attorney James Culp.

However, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to paint himself as mentally ill in an attempt to win early retirement — just as he was facing a sexual harassment complaint that could derail his career and his benefits.

The day before the killings, psychiatrist Michael Jones told him that a mental disability retirement would require “some kind of suicidal psychotic crisis,” Maj. Daniel Mazzone said during closing arguments, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But when Russell saw Jones again the next day, the psychiatrist said he had no intention of giving him “a golden ticket” out of the Army.

When Russell returned about an hour later, prosecutors say, he was looking for Jones, but wound up killing two patients, a bystander and two other mental health workers, including Navy Cmdr. Springle, who had also briefly treated Russell in the days before the shootings. Jones escaped injury by jumping out a window.

The Associated Press

Source: worldnews.nbcnews.com

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100 Victims Sought After Man Is Arrested on Suspicion of Secretly Filming Up Women’s Skirts

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:45:30 +0000

By Samantha Tata

Authorities are asking for the public’s help after a registered sex offender was arrested on suspicion of secretly filming up hundreds of women’s skirts, including one instance in which he allegedly pretended to be a security guard and searched one of his victims.

Mylyn Johnson was arrested in March after a Target shopper in Lancaster noticed the man allegedly using his cellphone to take video under another customer’s skirt, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday afternoon.

Detectives found some 3,200 videos on Johnson’s cellphone and media-storage devices he had with him at the time, authorities said. A search warrant of Johnson’s home turned up more videos.

After reviewing the footage for two months and contacting 10 victims they could identify, investigators said they are still looking for more than 100 teen girls and women. The victims range in age from teen to about 50 years old.

One of the videos allegedly recorded by Johnson show him at a K-Mart in Lancaster. He allegedly tells a female shopper that he is a security guard and detains her for shoplifting, then orders her to expose part of her buttocks under the guise that he needs to search her, according to sheriff’s officials.

A registered sex offender, Johnson often would speak with the women he was recording, authorities said. He would identify himself as a tattoo artist, being with “Loyal Luck Television,” or as a rapper.

Detectives believe Johnson secretly recorded women at several locations in the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles.

Videos obtained by authorities show unsuspecting women at a Salvation Army Store in Antelope Valley and the Lancaster International Shopping Mall.

Johnson is also alleged to have secretly recorded women on a Metrolink train – most likely as it traveled from the Antelope Valley to Union Station in LA, at Union Station and nearby Olvera Steet.
Some of the videos are dated as far back as August 2012, authorities said, and they believe Johnson allegedly may have recorded at other locations.

The LA District Attorney’s Office has filed 15 counts against Johnson, including felony counts of false imprisonment and burglary, and several counts of unlawful recording of undergarments.

Women and girls who think they may have been victimized in this case are urged to call the LA County Sheriff’s Department Lancaster Station.

Source: nbclosangeles.com

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Disabled students injured when bus rolls over on Indiana highway

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:44:21 +0000

By Charles Wilson, The Associated Press

A school bus carrying severely disabled students home from a trip to the zoo rolled over Thursday on a highway near Indianapolis, injuring a dozen people, including five children, state police said.

A truck was changing lanes on Interstate 65 near Zionsville about 2 p.m. Thursday when it cut in front of the special-needs school bus, Sgt. Rich Myers of the Indiana State Police said.

The bus driver, Audrey Kitchel, 55, of Lafayette, veered left into the grass median to avoid the collision and lost control of the bus, which rolled over and came to rest on its wheels in the median, Myers said.

All 12 passengers, seven adults and five children ranging from kindergartners to fourth-graders, were transported to Indianapolis hospitals where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including neck and back pain, Myers said. All were wearing seat belts or other restraints.

None of the 12 was expected to be held overnight, hospital representatives said.

An inspection of the bus after the accident revealed no mechanical failures that would have contributed to this crash, Myers said.

Tippecanoe School Corp. Superintendent Scott Hanback said the bus was a Lafayette School Corp. bus carrying special-needs students from Mintonye Elementary School in southern Tippecanoe County. The students had gone to Indianapolis Zoo for a field trip.

“The bus was filled with students from the life-skills class,” Hanback said, meaning they had severe and profound disabilities and multiple impairments — physical as well as developmental. At least one was in a wheelchair, he said.

All five students were elementary age, from 4 to 10 years old, Hanback said. He also said most of the seven adults were parents.

The truck that caused the crash did not stop, Myers said. The truck was described as either a white box truck or a white semitrailer, he said. The vague description of the truck made locating it difficult, Myers said.

Source: usnews.nbcnews.com

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Compton Firefighter Arrested on Suspicion of Arson

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:42:46 +0000

By Samantha Tata

A Compton firefighter is expected to appear in court Friday to face charges he allegedly set his fire department’s headquarters ablaze in an effort to destroy evidence of his suspected theft.

Marcel Melanson, 37, was arrested at his Torrance home Wednesday morning on suspicion of arson and grand theft, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday evening.

A former deputy chief, Melanson was taken into custody in connection with a suspicious fire at the Compton Fire Department Headquarters (map) on Dec. 11, 2011.

Investigators believe Melanson stole thousands of dollars in Motorola radios from his employer and sold them online. Then, authorities said, the 15-year veteran of the department is suspected of setting fire to the department headquarters to destroy the evidence.

Melanson is being held on $250,000 bail. His arraignment is set for Friday morning at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

In 2009, Melanson was featured on a realtiy show about the Compton Fire Department that aired on BET.

NBC4′s Jane Yamamoto contributed to this report.

Source: nbclosangeles.com

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Man Sentenced For Throwing Fatal Punch at Beach Party

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:40:45 +0000

An Chicago man was sentenced Thursday morning in connection with a beach party fight that turned deadly.

James Malecek, 19, waived his right to a trial and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

A judge accepted the plea agreement, and Malecek will serve 145 days in jail beginning July 1.

Malecek punched Mt. Carmel high school student Kevin Kennelly during a July Fourth disturbance in Long Beach, Ind., in 2011.

Malecek had just graduated from Loyola Academy and was set to begin college at Texas Christian University in Forth Worth. Both families owned second homes in Long Beach.

A teary-eyed Malecek apologized to the victim’s family in court, saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Kennelly, I never intended to injure your son, Kevin. It truly was a terribly accident.”

But the Kennelly’s aren’t happy with the plea deal.

“He’s been given a gift,” Kevin Kennelly, Sr. said outside the courtroom. “He did it, he’s been very lightly sentenced for it, he believes it was an accident, I don’t know how anyone could believe that.”

Malecek will have to wear an electronic monitoring device for up to three-and-a-half years after he’s released.

Source: nbcchicago.com

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Cops: Kidnap suspect held after snatched girl’s mom rams car

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:39:20 +0000

By John Newland and Tracy Connor, NBC News

A 31-year-old man was charged with kidnapping Thursday, a day after the mother of a snatched 4-year-old girl chased down a car and rammed it with her own.

Albuquerque police said David Jesus Hernandez ran away after the crash. According to authorities, the victim’s mother did not realize he had pushed the child from his car while fleeing the apartment complex where the girl had been taken.

A manhunt for Hernandez ended Thursday night when he turned himself in.

Hernandez was being held Friday on charges of kidnapping and child abuse, according to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque.

Police said they were investigating a “possible connection” between Wednesday’s incident and one last week in which a 6-year-old girl was kidnapped, driven away in a car and sexually assaulted.

In the latest incident, the victim was playing in her yard about 6:30 p.m. when a man forced her into a silver Buick, police said. As he took off, some teenagers hanging around outside ran inside and alerted the child’s mother, police said.

As she jumped into her own car to chase the Buick, the suspect pushed the little girl out of his vehicle. The mother didn’t notice and kept going after the man.

“She was involved in a high-speed pursuit,” Police Chief Ray Schultz said.

After tearing down several streets, the mother rammed the Buick to get it to stop, police said. The driver jumped out and fled on foot.

“This appears to be a complete stranger abduction,” Schultz said.

The 4-year-old was found wandering near the apartment complex.

Last week’s incident also involved a man driving a silver or gray car, police said.

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Ricardo Woods Convicted Of Murder By Dying Man’s Eye Blinks

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:18:08 +0000

By LISA CORNWELL AP

CINCINNATI — An Ohio man was found guilty Thursday of fatally shooting a man who authorities say identified his assailant by blinking his eyes while paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator.

A jury convicted Ricardo Woods, 35, of murder and felonious assault for the death of David Chandler who was shot Oct. 28, 2010, as he sat in a car in Cincinnati.

Police interviewed the 35-year-old Chandler after he was shot in the head and neck. He was only able to communicate with his eyes and died about two weeks later.

Woods had no obvious reaction to the verdict on the third day of jury deliberations as it was read in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. But as he was being led to jail, he said: “I’m innocent.”

Woods’ sentencing is set for June 20. He faces up to life in prison.

During the trial, jurors viewed the videotaped police interview that prosecutors say showed Chandler blinked three times for “yes” to identify a photo of Woods as his shooter. The defense had tried to block the video, saying Chandler’s blinks were inconsistent and unreliable.

Defense attorney Kory Jackson said Thursday there would be an appeal.

“We’re disappointed in the verdict,” he said. “We have said since the beginning that the video should not have been allowed into evidence.”

Jocelyn Chess, an assistant county prosecutor, said justice was served.

“They looked at all the evidence, and the evidence showed that Ricardo Woods was guilty,” she said.

Judge Beth Myers, who ruled that jurors could see the video, said Chandler’s identification was made by pronounced, exaggerated movement of the eyes. A doctor who treated Chandler later testified that Chandler was able to communicate clearly about his condition.

In the video, police had to repeat some questions when Chandler failed to respond or when the number of times he blinked appeared unclear. But Chandler blinked his eyes hard three times when police asked him if the photo of Woods was the photo of his shooter. He again blinked three times when they asked him if he was sure.

The defense argued that Chandler’s condition and drugs used to treat him could have affected his ability to understand and respond during the police interview.

Woods’ lawyer also argued that showing Chandler only one photo – that of Woods – instead of presenting a lineup of photos was “suggestive.” Jackson said the case against Woods was about misidentification and “a misguided investigation.”

Chandler’s half-brother, Richard Tucker, said after the verdict that Chandler’s family was satisfied with the outcome and also agrees that “justice has been served.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Tucker, 50, of suburban Cincinnati.

A jailhouse informant testified that Woods told him he shot at Chandler because he caught him buying drugs from someone else while still owing Woods money for drugs.

The defense argued that the informant, who faced armed robbery charges, was trying to use testimony against Woods to get a lighter sentence for himself. The defense also said Chandler had stolen drugs from dealers, was considered a police “snitch” and had many enemies.

The defense insisted that Woods was a victim of misidentification and misinformation.

Legal experts say such cases – where prosecutors attempt to show a defendant was identified by a gesture – are not unheard of but are unusual. Dying identifications relying on gestures rather than words are often not used in trials because of concern over reliability or differing interpretations. But some have been used in murder cases around the country that have ended in convictions.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Samantha Alexander To Jodi Arias Jurors: ‘Our Minds Are Permanently Stained’

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:16:25 +0000

David Lohr

Travis Alexander’s siblings stood in open court and sobbed Thursday as they described the emotional devastation caused by his murder at the hands of his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias.

Nearly five years of anger, frustration and grief were shared in court by Alexander’s brother, Steven, and his sister, Samantha, when they read their emotional victim impact statements.

“I cannot sleep alone in the dark anymore. I’ve had dreams of my brother all curled up in the shower — thrown in there to rot for days … Now when I want to talk or see my brother … I have to go to a hole in the ground,” Steven Alexander said.

“I don’t want these nightmares anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to see my brother’s murderer anymore.”

Travis Alexander’s younger brother read from a blog post he had posted online in April 2008 –- less than two months before he was brutally murdered.

The blog post read, in part: “This is the year that will eclipse all others. I will earn more, learn more, travel more, serve more, love more, give more and be more than all the other years of my life combined … This year will be the best year of my life.”

Unfortunately for Travis Alexander, in 2008 his life was cut short. On June 4, he was stabbed almost 30 times and shot in the head inside his Mesa, Ariz., home. His killer was Jodi Arias, a woman he had once loved and still maintained a physical relationship with.
“Travis Alexander was my big brother,” Steven Alexander told the jury. “He was killed … How much did he suffer. How much did he scream?”

Travis Alexander’s sister, Samantha, spoke of the brutality of the killing in her heartrending statement, and the pain of seeing the crime scene photos that were shown in court during Arias’ 19 week trial.

“I am a police officer and some of these photos are more gruesome than any I have ever seen in my 11 years of law enforcement,” she said, as friends and family quietly cried in the courtroom. “Our minds are permanently stained with images of our poor brother’s throat slit from ear to ear. Our minds are stained with images of Travis’ body.”

Samantha Alexander added, “To have Travis taken so barbarically is beyond any words we can find to describe our loss.”

Arias, a photographer from California, was convicted May 8 of first-degree murder in Alexander’s slaying.

The capital murder verdict, reached after more than 15 hours of deliberations, was a clear rejection of both Arias’ self-defense claim as well as defense psychologist Richard Samuels’ contention that she suffered from PTSD and acute stress disorder.

On Wednesday, the same Phoenix jury that convicted Arias declared she was eligible for the death penalty. The jury made their decision after less than three hours of deliberation.

With the verdict and aggravating phase both complete, the jury will next determine whether Arias deserves the death penalty or a life sentence.

Arias’ defense lawyer, Kirk Nurmi, acknowledged his client’s fate is in the jury’s hands during Thursday’s court proceedings.

“The verdict you render at this phase of the trial will determine whether Jodi Arias spends the rest of her life in prison or if she’s sentenced to be executed … That is the decision before you,” Nurmi said.

He suggested the sentence should not be death.

“Life is the appropriate penalty,” Nurmi said.

The defense lawyer pointed to Arias’ lack of a prior criminal record and said she was a talented artist.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez was unmoved by Nurmi’s plea for leniency.

“What does that have to do with what happened on June 4, 2008? … The fact that she’s talented … indicates nothing more than the defendant trying to gain sympathy … The only appropriate sentence is death,” Martinez said.

The trial resumes Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Hatchet-wielding hitchhiker who intervened in California attack arrested in NJ slaying

ollado — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:59:40 +0000

Associated Press

ELIZABETH, N.J. – They were an unlikely pair — an itinerant hitchhiker turned Internet celebrity and a lawyer three times his age.

Now the hitchhiker is charged with beating the lawyer to death.

Caleb “Kai” McGillvary was arrested in Philadelphia Thursday and charged with killing 73-year-old Joseph Galfy, Jr.

Authorities say the two met in Times Square Saturday and went to Galfy’s Clark, N.J., home. Galfy was found dead there Monday, wearing only his underwear and socks.

Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow (Ro-MAN-Ko) says statements posted on 24-year-old McGillvary’s Facebook page after the homicide were sexual in nature.

McGillvery was known “Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker” after intervening in a February attack on a California utility worker.

Romankow said he used his celebrity to travel.

McGillvary is being held on $3 million bail.

Source: foxnews.com

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USEC IM USA Edition

2 shot and killed in NJ park

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100 Victims Sought After Man Is Arrested on Suspicion of Secretly Filming Up Women’s Skirts

By Samantha Tata

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Disabled students injured when bus rolls over on Indiana highway

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Man Sentenced For Throwing Fatal Punch at Beach Party

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Samantha Alexander To Jodi Arias Jurors: ‘Our Minds Are Permanently Stained’

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Hatchet-wielding hitchhiker who intervened in California attack arrested in NJ slaying

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