USEC IM USA Edition

JODI ARIAS DEATH PENALTY VERDICT WATCH: Jurors Mull Life vs. Death

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:43:34 +0000

David Lohr

Jodi Arias pleaded for her life Tuesday, two weeks after proclaiming that she would prefer the death penalty over spending the rest of her days in prison.

Why the change of heart? Arias told The Associated Press that her family influenced her decision.

“I felt like by asking for death, it’s like asking for assisted suicide and I didn’t want to do that to my family,” Arias said in a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate.

Arias repeated many of her past claims and testimony to the AP. However, she did insist she was against having cameras in the courtroom for her murder trial.

“The prosecutor has accused me of wanting to be famous, which is not true,” she said.

Arias has been convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of her ex-lover, 30-year-old Travis Alexander. Arias stabbed Alexander nearly 30 times, shot him in the head and cut his throat from ear to ear in his Mesa home on June 4, 2008.

The jury heard 19 weeks of testimony and closing arguments in the case before reaching their guilty verdict on May 8.

The defendant, dressed in black on Tuesday, pleaded with the jury to spare her life. She referenced a statement she made to the media on May 8, that she would prefer the death penalty.

“I’ve made many statements I would prefer the death penalty over life in prison … To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome … but as I stand here now, I can’t in good conscious ask you to give me death,” Arias said.

Arias told the AP she changed her mind after a tearful meeting with family members. She said she realized her death would only serve to cause her loved ones additional heartache.

The Jodi Arias jury returns to court Wednesday for Day 2 of deliberations in the penalty phase of her capital murder trial.

The eight-man, four-woman panel, concluded their first hour of deliberations at about 7:30 p.m., Tuesday.

Deliberations resume at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

The jury will decide if Arias, 32, gets the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Nichole Cable Knew The Man Accused Of Killing Her, Friend Says

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:40:27 +0000

By DAVID SHARP AP

BANGOR, Maine — A 15-year-old girl found dead in woods north of Bangor knew the man charged with killing her, her best friend said, contrary to early reports that before her disappearance she’d headed outside her Glenburn home to see someone she recently met on Facebook.

Kyle Dube, 20, of Orono, had been friends with the victim, Nichole Cable, for a couple of months, and they’d made plans to see each other the weekend that she disappeared, said Tyler-Ann Harris, 16, who described herself as Nichole’s best friend.

Dube appeared in court Wednesday, a day after he was charged with murder when a body believed to be Nichole’s was found in Old Town. He didn’t show any emotion. A bail hearing will be held later.

Police so far have declined to reveal the circumstances of her death, describe her relationship with Dube or discuss the evidence they have against him. Nor is it clear whether a Facebook relationship had anything to do with her disappearance and homicide.

Justice William Anderson on Wednesday ordered a state police affidavit impounded at the request of Dube’s lawyer. He said he will issue a decision by the end of the day on whether the affidavit can later be released.

Dube was already in jail serving a sentence for fleeing police on a motorcycle at more than 100 mph when he was charged Tuesday, according to state police. Steve McCausland, a state police spokesman, said investigators believe Dube is “solely responsible for her death.”

Harris said Tuesday that Dube and Nichole planned to see each other the weekend she vanished, before he was required to report to jail. Harris, who attended Old Town High School with Nichole, said she was surprised that Dube was charged in her death because she thought the two got along.

She described Nichole as someone who enjoyed life.

“She was really happy even though she went through a lot of hard stuff in her life. She always knew how to see the bright side of things,” Harris said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Dube’s parents live in a tidy brick and white-sided house in Orono. A young man who answered the door Tuesday said the family didn’t want to talk and closed the door.

Dube had worked for The Getchell Agency, an organization that cares for people with disabilities in Bangor, since June until he quit last week. The agency’s CEO, Rena Getchell, said in an email to The Associated Press that his background check and employee reviews were satisfactory.

“He gave us no reason to believe that he might be capable of this crime,” she said. “This is devastating news to us as we truly are a family.”

The body believed to be Nichole’s was found at about 9:30 p.m. Monday by a warden who was searching the woods with a dog, officials said. The medical examiner took possession of the body to make a positive identification and issue a ruling on how she died.

Nichole’s mother, Kristine Wiley, said after she disappeared that Nichole had said she was going out to meet someone she knew from Facebook. But Wiley said she didn’t know the identity of the person.

Dozens of law enforcement officers, using aircraft and dogs, and hundreds of civilian volunteers spent days searching for the teen.

Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross urged parents to keep an eye on their children’s online activities.

“This reminds us that parents should have oversight of Internet activities of their children. They should monitor what’s going on and then use normal precautions that we all know, as far as how much information we provide,” Ross said.

Cable’s stepfather, Jason Wiley, said Tuesday that he and Kristine Wiley were still processing Tuesday’s news and would take reporters’ questions Wednesday.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Michael Aaron Fay Enters Plea In Deaths Of Blake Romes, Blaine Romes

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:38:57 +0000

OTTAWA, Ohio — A 17-year-old boy charged with killing two teenage brothers in northwest Ohio has pleaded not guilty.

Michael Aaron Fay entered the pleas during an arraignment Tuesday in Putnam County Juvenile Court. He’s charged with delinquency in connection with aggravated murder.

Fay is accused of killing 17-year-old Blake Romes and 14-year-old Blaine Romes in their Ottawa trailer May 9.

An Amber Alert for all three teens was issued that day after the mother of the Romes teens discovered a gun and blood inside a trailer where the three boys lived with their mothers.

Fay told officers that the Romes brothers were dead and pointed authorities to their bodies after he was found with a stolen car in Columbus.

A prosecutor said both victims were shot once in the head.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Cops: arrest in anti-gay attack in East Village

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:37:08 +0000

By MYFOX NEW YORK STAFF

NEW YORK (MYFOXNY) -

The NYPD arrested a suspect in the latest anti-gay attack in the city, said police.

The incident Monday night involved two men, who police say, had met at the Bowery Mission and went out drinking together in the East Village.

After leaving a bar, the 45-year-old victim told police his drinking companion, “just snapped” and hit him many times, knocking him unconscious.

Roman Gornell, 39, was arrested on Wednesday.

The victim was taken to the hospital with facial injuries, but is expected to be okay.

In an attack early Tuesday morning, two suspects were arrested — a 32-year-old man and a 23-year-old man. Police said the men attacked two gay men walking along Broadway in SoHo, taunting them with gay slurs before pouncing on them. Those two men, aside from bruises and a black eye, were otherwise okay.

But Mark Carson did not suffer the same fate. He was shot and killed early Saturday morning while walking along West 8th Street in the West Village. His alleged attacker, Elliot Morales, 33, reportedly bragged to police about the crime after being arrested saying he shot Carson for being gay. Morales, an ex con, is now facing charges including second degree murder as a hate crime.

While overall, hate crime is down in the city, anti-gay violence is up 70 percent compared to last year. Officials say the spike may be generally under-reported incidents now being reported because of the intense exposure.

Whatever the reason, city leaders and many New Yorkers say they are not willing to tolerate any longer.

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Names of tornado victims released by medical examiner’s office

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:35:37 +0000

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

As the search for survivors in the grief-stricken suburbs of Oklahoma City ended Wednesday, the state’s chief medical examiner began releasing the names and ages of those who died in Monday’s devastating tornado, including two infants.

A four-month-old girl and a seven-month-old girl were the youngest victims, Oklahoma chief medical examiner Ron Craun said Wednesday. The oldest was a 65-year-old man.

Case Futrell was the four-month-old identified in the medical examiner’s report. Megan Futrell, 29, was also listed as a victim. It was not immediately clear what their relationship was, but The Daily Oklahoman said Megan was Case’s mother.

The 7-month-old girl was identified as Sydnee Vargys. Karrina Vargyas, 4, was on the list of victims as well

At least 24 people were killed in the tornado, which zeroed in on suburban Moore, decimating two elementary schools and the local hospital and wiping out entire neighborhoods. Gov. Mary Fallin said 237 people were injured by the twister, but authorities warned both the injured and death toll could rise.

Ten of the 24 people on the medical examiner’s victims’ list were children.

Among the child victims was Ja’Nae Hornsby, a 9-year-old girl who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore. She was described by her family as “always smiling” in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday.

Her father, Joshua Hornsby, tried to race to Plaza Towers after the tornado hit to pick up Ja’Nae, only to get stuck in traffic on his way from work. By the time he got to the elementary school, it was just a pile of rubble, and Ja’Nae was nowhere to be found. After a night of making calls to local hospitals, the family, by then gathered in a church in Oklahoma City, got the call they had been dreading from the medical examiner’s office.

Hermant Bhonde, 65, was also identified late Tuesday as a victim. His family told NBC News that he had become separated from his wife when the tornado hit their house, but that his wife survived the twister.

Nine of the 24 victims were male; 15 were female.

As of late Wednesday morning, 16 tornado victims had been identified by the medical examiner. Others were pending notification of next of kin.

“Our hearts go out to all the people affected by this tragedy,” said a statement from the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office. “Of the 24 confirmed fatalities, all but one are now positively identified and are ready for return to their families. All the children have been positively identified.”

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The shocking moment Disney Cruise Line dining room server, 33, ‘molested girl, 11, in ship elevator’

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:48:37 +0000

By Daily Mail Reporter

Surveillance video shows the shocking moment an 11-year-old girl was allegedly molested by a Disney cruise worker at Port Canaveral, Florida just hours before the ship set sail.

Milton Braganza, a 33-year-old dining room server from Goa, India, allegedly fondled the girl’s breasts and forcibly kissed her shortly after the Brazilian adolescent boarded the Disney Dream ship on August 5 with her grandmother and sister for a five-night journey to the Bahamas.

Since Florida authorities were not informed, the suspect stayed aboard the ship as it set sail and has since been released by police in the Bahamas to return to his home country, angering U.S.officials.

Onboard: Surveillance video shows 33-year-old Indian dining room server Milton Braganza (right) hold open an elevator door for the 11-year-old victim (left)

Encounter: From the video, it appears the man lifts up his hand to usher the girl into the elevator (left). She stands inside while the cruise employee has his back turned to the camera

Claims: Though the suspect’s back blocks the camera view, he is seen speaking to the girl and bending down at some point during the encounter

CCTV: Disney Cruise Line server ‘molesting’ girl of 11

Surveillance video shows the young passenger encountering the cruise line employee at 2:54pm, near the elevators shortly after she boarded the ship. According to estimates, a five day journey on a Disney cruises costs an average of $900 per person.

The girl boarded the elevator, where she said the man grabbed her breast, groped her and then kissed her, putting ‘mouth on mouth,’ she said according to a cruise security report.

In the video, the man’s back is to the camera blocking a view of the girl.

She informed her grandmother of the assault and minutes later video shows the girl, her grandmother and her sister emerging from an elevator and making their way to the ship’s customer service desk to report the crime.

Suspect: The manager of the ship’s dining facility identified the man in the surveillance video as Milton Braganza, a 33-year-old dining room server from Goa, India

Allegations: Police in Nassau, Bahamas say the suspect Milton Braganza confessed to touching the 11-year-old girl’s breast on August 7, two days after the incident

Security officers on the ship began investigating an ‘inappropriate sexual act’ at 3:22pm and at 4:40pm the dining room manager reviewed the video and identified the man in the footage as Milton Braganza.

There are more than 1,458 employees crew members who work on the ship.

The ship left the port at 5:02pm.

Braganza was called to report into security at 7:50pm.

Florida law enforcement were informed of the incident several hours later, on August 6.

Though the crime is alleged to have occurred nine months ago, details are just coming to light as the cruise line has been criticized for not immediately alerting Florida authorities of the molestation.

Because the incident occurred while the ship was docked, police in Port Canaveral would have jurisdiction because the ship was 1,000 feet from shore, Port Canaveral police chief Joseph Hellebrand told WKMG-TV.

Since they were not immediately informed, the suspect wasn’t questioned by U.S. police or apprehended.

Instead, Braganza was questioned by Bahamian police on August 7 in Nassau because the Disney Dream is flagged with the Bahamian flag.

Cruise: The Disney Dream cruise ship can accommodate 4,000 passengers. Estimates suggest the average fare costs $900 per person

Jurisdiction: When the kid-friendly cruise arrived in Nassau, Bahamas (pictured), the suspect was interviewed by local police

During the interrogation, Milton Braganza admitted to police in the Bahamas, ‘I touched her on her right breast with my left hand,’ according to a police report.

Two days into the trip though, the girl’s grandmother told authorities that she did not want the crime investigated.

Authorities in the Bahamas let Braganza go and Disney paid for the man’s airfare back to his native India.

If it had been investigated in Florida, charges would have proceeded against the man in spite of the grandmother’s opinion, Chief Hillebrand said.

Florida law enforcement are dumbfounded as to why officials would let the man go free.

A spokesman for Disney Cruise Line told the local TV station that the company ‘took proper action’ in responding to the passenger’s allegations.

The company has maintained that cruise line officials did not know an alleged crime had occurred until after the ship had left Florida.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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Jodi Arias Says She ‘Deserves A Second Chance At Freedom Someday’

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:42:23 +0000

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and JOSH HOFFNER AP

PHOENIX — In a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate, Jodi Arias spoke out Tuesday about her murder trial, her many fights with her legal team and her belief that she “deserves a second chance at freedom someday.”

Arias spoke to The Associated Press as part of a series of interviews with media outlets. She repeated many of her claims from previous interviews, testimony on the witness stand and her statements to the jury earlier Tuesday as she pleaded for mercy.

But she provided some new information about her case and how she believed her lawyers let her down by not calling more witnesses who could have bolstered her claims that she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Travis Alexander.

Arias was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of her one-time lover in what prosecutors described as a cold, calculated killing carried out in a jealous rage. Arias has maintained all along it was self-defense.

The jury began deliberating Tuesday as they worked to determine whether she should live or die for her crime. If the jury opts for a life sentence, the judge will have the option of determining whether she spends the rest of her days behind bars or is eligible for release after 25 years. Arias acknowledged it was unlikely she would ever be released, but believed she deserves a second chance.

Following her conviction last week, she told a local TV station that she preferred the death penalty. She said Tuesday night that she changed her mind after a tearful meeting with family members that same day, realizing that her death would only cause them more pain.

“I felt like by asking for death, it’s like asking for assisted suicide and I didn’t want to do that to my family,” she told the AP.

Arias said she fought from the beginning to keep cameras out of the courtroom to limit the media spectacle, and believes that the jury should have been sequestered. She stated flatly that she did not receive a fair trial.

“The prosecutor has accused me of wanting to be famous, which is not true,” she said.

However, Arias has sought the spotlight at every turn, providing TV interviews and even using a third-party to tweet throughout the trial.

Arias repeated her claims that she never wanted to go to trial in the first place but instead wanted to reach a deal with prosecutors on a second-degree murder count that would have carried a maximum of 22 years in prison. However, she said, “no deal was offered.”

She gave the interviews Tuesday after the judge lifted an order barring jail officials from arranging any media requests. The judge did not elaborate on the reason for the ruling, but Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office quickly began making the media arrangements that lasted late into the night.

A shackled Arias wore makeup for the interviews and showed up in a jail classroom with a comb in hand as she fixed her hair for the cameras. When pressed for details on some of her conflicting stories, she was mostly evasive, citing advice from her attorneys and possible pending appeals.

She was also asked about the conflicts she had had with her two court-appointed lawyers, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott.

Arias said she wanted at least three people called as witnesses who could have testified to having seen bruises on her neck “when I was choked out” by Alexander but she said she was rebuffed by her lawyers. The prosecutor insisted her claims of self-defense were an exaggerated attempt to avoid being convicted.

She said her lawyers “felt a little betrayed” and blindsided by her post-conviction interview but that they gave their blessings for Tuesday night’s interviews, warning her to be cautious.

Arias said she sometimes wishes she’d never met Alexander, “just because of how ultimately everything ended and I say that for his sake and mine – not just a selfish thing.”

She said if the attack never occurred and she never crossed paths with the victim, she would likely now be a happily married 32-year-old with children, good finances and a successful wedding photography business.

Earlier Tuesday, Arias told jurors she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made into wigs for cancer victims, helping establish prison recycling programs and designing T-shirts to raise money for domestic abuse victims.

Arias became emotional as she displayed for jurors photos of her friends, boyfriends and family members, including newborn relatives she has met only from behind bars.

She asked jurors to reject the death penalty for the sake of her family.

“I’m asking you to please, please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so badly, along with so many other people,” she said. “I want everyone’s healing to begin, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”

Arias stabbed and slashed Alexander nearly 30 times, shot in him in the forehead and slit his throat, nearly decapitating him, before leaving his body in his shower to be found by friends about five days later.

“To this day, I can hardly believe I was capable of such violence. But I know that I was,” Arias told jurors. “And for that, I’m going to be sorry for the rest of my life.”

Her speech to jurors came a day after her attorneys asked to be removed from the case, saying the five-month trial had become a witch hunt that prompted death threats against a key witness in the penalty phase. They also argued for a mistrial. The judge denied both requests.

Alexander’s family showed little emotion as Arias’ mother, father and sister looked on from the other side of the gallery and cried.

After Arias finished speaking, Judge Sherry Stephens explained to jurors that their finding would be final.

The jury heard closing arguments later Tuesday, with Willmott citing Arias’ mental health problems and lack of a criminal record among the reasons to spare her life.

“The question now before you is: Do you kill her? Do you kill her for the one act that she did, the one horrible act, or can you see that there is a reason to let her live? Can you see that there is value in her life?” she said.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez said that despite Arias’ claims, there were no factors in the case that would warrant a sentence other than death.

He implored jurors to look at the “whole panorama” of the case, not just Arias’ statement Tuesday, and explained how Alexander’s family will live with the pain of their loss for the rest of their lives.

“They can’t forget that what happened on that afternoon, Travis Victor Alexander suffered immense physical pain,” Martinez said. “They can’t forget that.”

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Ibragim Todashev, Questioned In Connection With Marathon Bombings, Shot And Killed By Police: Reports

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:40:42 +0000

By Benjamin Hart

NBC News reports that an FBI agent shot and killed a man who had been interviewed over ties to April’s Boston Marathon bombing.

The suspect, identified by friends as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, reportedly knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older, deceased Boston suspect through the world of Mixed Martial Arts. He had been initially cooperative with police, according to WESH-TV in Orlando. But at some point during the interview process, he allegedly attacked an officer, who then fired his weapon.

The station quotes a friend of Todashev, Khusn Taramiv, who said he was also interviewed.

“(The FBI) took me and my friend, the suspect that got killed. They were talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back,” Taramiv said.

Taramiv also said that Todashev “felt inside he was going to get shot” by the FBI.

“We are currently responding to a shooting incident involving an FBI special agent,” FBI spokesman Dave Couvertier said in a statement, according to NBC. “The agent encountered the suspect while conducting official duties. The suspect is deceased.”

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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Uzbek national facing terror charges to remain jailed in Idaho

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:38:41 +0000

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho – An Uzbek national facing terrorism-related charges in Idaho will remain jailed pending his trial after waiving his right to a detention hearing.

Lawyers for Fazliddin Kurbanov on Tuesday waived a hearing where a U.S. District Court judge was to have considered whether he should stay in Ada County jail in Boise until his July 2 trial.

Kurbanov is a refugee from Uzbekistan in Central Asia who arrived in Boise in 2009. He was arrested last Thursday.

The 30-year-old truck driver was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that included teaching people to build bombs intended to target public transportation.

It’s unclear whether the alleged targets were in the United States or elsewhere.

Prosecutors say they’ve contained Kurbanov’s threat, but haven’t said if more arrests are pending.

Source: foxnews.com

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FBI agent kills man linked to Boston bombing suspects

ollado — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:35:43 +0000

By Richard Esposito and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

An FBI agent was involved in a deadly shooting connected to the Boston Marathon bombing case.

The man who was shot, Ibragim Todashev, had been interviewed about his connections to the bombing suspects before by the FBI and started out cooperative, NBC sources said.

The suspect then went to attack the agent and was shot, the sources said.

The suspect is deceased, the FBI said.

“We are currently responding to a shooting incident involving an FBI special agent,” FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier said in a statement to NBC News.

“The incident occurred in Orlando, Florida. The agent encountered the suspect while conducting official duties,” Couvertier said. “We do not have any further details at this time. We expect to have more information later this morning.”

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USEC IM USA Edition

JODI ARIAS DEATH PENALTY VERDICT WATCH: Jurors Mull Life vs. Death

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Nichole Cable Knew The Man Accused Of Killing Her, Friend Says

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Michael Aaron Fay Enters Plea In Deaths Of Blake Romes, Blaine Romes

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Cops: arrest in anti-gay attack in East Village

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Names of tornado victims released by medical examiner’s office

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The shocking moment Disney Cruise Line dining room server, 33, ‘molested girl, 11, in ship elevator’

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Jodi Arias Says She ‘Deserves A Second Chance At Freedom Someday’

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Ibragim Todashev, Questioned In Connection With Marathon Bombings, Shot And Killed By Police: Reports

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Uzbek national facing terror charges to remain jailed in Idaho

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FBI agent kills man linked to Boston bombing suspects

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