List of All Articles with Tag 'crime'

Two Florida police officers were shot and critically injured during an Orlando traffic stop involving a car linked to a homicide case. The Orlando Police Department officers stopped a vehicle around 11pm Friday as part of an investigation of a Miami homicide and were shot by a suspect in the car, Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said during a press conference early Saturday. The officers, who were not immediately identified, were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, Mr Smith said. The suspect carjacked another vehicle and police pursued, but did not immediately catch the suspect. A search for two suspects was ongoing early Saturday, Mr Smith said. “This is a sad day for our department,” Mr Smith said. “For the suspects out there, we will find you and you will be brought to justice.” At around 9.30am local time, Orlando Police put out a press release advising of a large police presence in the 5900 block of Caravan Court that is connected to the search for the shooting suspects. WESH reported that officers were seen walking into a Holiday Inn, where guests were forced to evacuate their rooms amid “loud sounds”. A news conference was scheduled for 12.30pm.

The sons of a newly-identified Gilgo Beach murders victim reportedly were not notified by Long Island police before her name was revealed to the public. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney held a press conference on Friday to announce that the victim known only as Jane Doe 7 had finally been identified as Karen Vergata, more than 26 years after her partial remains were first discovered along the Long Island shores. Vergata, 34, was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort. The huge breakthrough in the case comes almost three decades after some of Vergata’s remains were first discovered – and just weeks after Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old father-of-two architect, was arrested and charged with the murders of three other Gilgo Beach victims. Mr Tierney told reporters that Vergata had been positively identified via DNA in August 2022 but investigators kept the development under wraps due to the ongoing investigation into Mr Heuermann. Officials refused to comment on whether or not her murder may be linked to the suspected serial killer. The district attorney also attributed the delay to the need to contact Vergata’s family members. However, it has since emerged that Vergata’s two biological sons - Eric and Gary Doherty - apparently were not informed before Friday’s announcement. Eric’s girlfriend Michelle Nolan told the New York Post that he only found out after the press conference when they were contacted by the woman who adopted them as young children a few years before Vergata’s death. Ms Nolan said Eric was distraught, having believed that Vergata was only missing. Mr Tierney’s office did not return the Post’s request for comment about family notification, the outlet reported. Ms Nolan said Eric and Gary grew up with little knowledge of their biological mother after having been adopted by Edward and Diane Doherty in 1992. She explained that Vergata had been struck by a truck while she was pregnant with Gary in the late 1980s, which is thought to have led to him being born with cerebral palsy. Shortly after Eric was born in 1990, Vergata “took off”, Ms Nolan said. “She was a drug user and their father took her and helped her,” she said. Ms Nolan said the boys’ father was believed to have died from tuberculosis, but she wasn’t sure when. She said that Gary is now living in an facility for adults with special needs and has not been informed about his mother’s death. Vergata vanished without a trace around 14 February 1996 – Valentine’s Day, according to officials. She lived on West 45th St in Manhattan and is believed to have been working as an escort at the time of her disappearance. Police said that no missing persons report was filed at the time. On 20 April 1996, a woman’s legs were found wrapped in plastic at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. Almost exactly 15 years later on 11 April 2011, the woman’s skull was then found off Ocean Parkway during the search for Gilgo Beach victims. The skull was located close to the remains of another unidentified victim – Jane Doe 3, also known as Peaches. The two sets of remains in Fire Island and Ocean Parkway were later found to belong to the same person. Before now, investigators had long been unable to identify Jane Doe 7 – and the victim became known as Fire Island Jane Doe. She was described only as a white woman aged 18 to 50 years old who had several notable scars including evidence of surgery on her left ankle. She was one of 11 victims whose remains were found dumped along the shores of Gilgo Beach back in 2010 and 2011 – several of whom are also yet to be identified. Decades later, investigators were finally able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe using genetic geneaology and her surviving relatives’ DNA. In August 2022 – around six months after the new Gilgo Beach taskforce was launched – a DNA profile suitable for genealogical comparison was developed from the remains of the victim, officials said in a press conference on Friday. The next month, the FBI was able to presumptively identify the victim using genetic genealogy as Vergata. Then, that October, investigators tracked down a relative of Vergata and took a buccal swab. Using this, they were able to definitively identity the victim as Vergata. At Friday’s press conference, Mr Tierney said investigators kept that breakthrough hidden until now due to both the ongoing investigation into Mr Heuermann and the need to contact all of Vergata’s family members. “Prior to disclosing, we needed to contact all Vergata’s family members and around the same time we were beginning the grand jury confidential investigation into the murders of the victims known as the Gilgo 4,” he told reporters. ”So we decided not to make it public... until the results of that investigation became public and we had made notice to Vergata’s family.” He added: “Today we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo taskforce’s reexamination of all evidence in the case we are able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe as Karen Vergata.” “It is important that we remember and honour not only Ms Vergata but all the vicitms on Gilgo Beach,” he added. While this marks a major breakthrough in the case, many questions still remain. In Friday’s press conference announcing her identity, Suffolk County officials refused to take any questions and would not comment on whether or not Vergata’s murder could be the linked to Mr Heuermann – who has so far been tied to four of the victims found along the Long Island shores. At this time, no one has been charged in connection to her homicide and her cause of death is unknown. DA Tierney said that while there are “no charges at this time”, that the “confidential investigation” is ongoing. He would not confirm or deny any ties to accused killer Rex Heuermann – or say if there was any potential suspects on his radar. “We are going to continue to work this particular case as we did the Gilgo Four investigation,” he said. “We’re not going to comment on what – if any suspects – we developed at this time. This is a confidential investigation so I’m not going to be taking any questions.” This major development comes as prosecutors are seeking to obtain a swab of DNA from Mr Heuermann, the man arrested and charged with the murders of three of the victims and suspected of a fourth killing. In a court filing this week, prosecutors said that the DNA sample would “provide further relevant evidence of the defendant’s identity as the perpetrator of the crime”. Prosecutors have so far obtained hundreds of hours of footage from the suspect’s home in Massapequa Park and his office in Midtown Manhattan, 2,500 pages of documents, crime scene photographs and autopsy reports in the high-profile case. The trove of evidence was turned over to Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei and Mr Heuermann’s attorney Michael Brown on Tuesday as the accused killer appeared in court for a brief preliminary hearing. Suffolk County DA Tierney said last week that a “massive amount of evidence” had been recovered from the home which Mr Heuermann grew up in as a child – and which he went on to share with his family up until his sudden arrest. No human remains were discovered, but a trove of around 270 guns were seized from the home. The DA previously revealed that they believe at least some of the murders may have taken place inside the home. Mr Heuermann’s wife and two adult children were out of town at the time of each of the three murders he is charged with, according to court records. The 59-year-old architect was taken into custody on 13 July, almost 13 years after the bodies of at least 11 victims were discovered along the shores of Gilgo Beach on Long Island. He was charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City and who, with the three other women, is known as the “Gilgo Four”. All four women worked as sex workers and disappeared after going to meet a client. They were all found in December 2010 within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap – their bodies dumped along Gilgo Beach. They are among 11 victims whose remains were found along the shores of Long Island in 2010 and 2011, sparking fears of one or more serial killers. As well as looking into his connection to the murder of Brainard-Barnes and the other Gilgo Beach victims, law enforcement agencies are now also looking into unsolved murders and missing persons cases all across the country. Police in Las Vegas and South Carolina – where Mr Heuermann owns properties – and Atlantic City – where several sex workers have been found murdered – have confirmed they are eyeing the suspect in cold cases. Court records show that Mr Heuermann was linked to the “Gilgo Four” murders through a tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches, phone calls taunting victims’ families, his wife’s hair found on the victims’ bodies – and a pizza crust. The first piece of the puzzle came when a witness in the Amber Costello case revealed details about a vehicle that a client was driving when she was last seen alive. Costello, who worked as a sex worker, was seen alive on the evening of 2 September 2010 when she left her home in West Babylon. A witness said she had gone to meet a client who was driving a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. Last year, a registration search showed that local man Mr Heuermann owned a first-generation model of the truck at the time of Costello’s disappearance. He also matched the witness’ description of the man believed to be the killer: a large, white “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, around 6’4’ to 6’6” tall, with “dark bushy hair,” and “big oval style 1970’s type eyeglasses”. The discovery of the car led investigators to hone in on Mr Heuermann including executing 300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence to determine his potential involvement in the killings. Among this was Mr Heuermann’s alleged use of burner phones, with prosecutors saying that he used burner phones to contact the three women and arrange to meet them at the time when they went missing. He also allegedly took two of the victims’ cellphones – and used one to make taunting phone calls to one of their families where he boasted about her murder, court documents state. Mr Heuermann’s DNA was found on one of the victims, while his wife’s hair was found on three of the four women he is connected to. Following his arrest, his wife Asa Ellerup filed for divorce. She has since told The New York Post that she has been left filled with “anxiety” and their two children “cry themselves to sleep” over the horror. “I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering... anxiety,” she said. “My children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they’re not children. They’re grown adults but they’re my children, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep.” Mr Heuermann’s sudden arrest comes after the horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade. The Gilgo Beach murders had long stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway. The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach. She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again. During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman. Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by. By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Police have long thought that it could be the work of one or more serial killers. Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered. Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers, while some are yet to be identified. Read More Gilgo Beach murders - live: Police identify victim Karen Vergata but won’t comment on Rex Heuermann link Gilgo Beach murders victim Jane Doe 7 identified as Karen Vergata 26 years after remains discovered More families await answers in Gilgo Beach killings – and the names of other victims How the Gilgo Beach serial killer turned the Long Island shore into a graveyard

A driver accused of causing a crash that killed Treat Williams knew the actor and considered him a friend but denied wrongdoing and said charges are not warranted. Ryan Koss, the managing creative director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, said he knew Williams for years as a member of the tight-knit community, as well as a fellow theater member. He said he was devastated by Williams' death and offered his “sincerest condolences” to the actor's family. “I considered him a friend,” Mr Koss said. Mr Koss, 35, of Dorset, issued a statement Friday evening, three days after being issued a citation for grossly negligent operation causing death. He was ordered to appear in court in September to be formally charged. A Vermont State Police investigation concluded Mr Koss’ vehicle pulled in front of Williams’ motorcycle on June 12 in Dorset, but Mr Koss said he’s “confident the facts will show I obeyed all relevant traffic laws, and the state’s charges are unwarranted.” Williams, 71, of Manchester Center, was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center in New York. Richard Treat Williams starred in the TV series Everwood and the movie Hair. He appeared in more than 120 TV and film roles, including the movies The Eagle Has Landed, Prince of the City and Once Upon a Time in America. Read More Treat Williams’ cause of death in fatal crash revealed as driver involved is accused of ‘gross negligence’

A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight. The case of Jacob Brown was the first to emerge from a series of FBI investigations into troopers’ beatings of Black men during traffic stops in Louisiana and underscored the challenges prosecutors face convicting law enforcement officials accused of using excessive force. After a three-day trial in Monroe, jurors found Mr Brown not guilty of depriving Aaron Bowman of his civil rights during a 2019 beating that left Mr Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and a gash to his head. Mr Brown, who defended the blows to investigators as “ pain compliance,” would have faced up to a decade in federal prison if convicted. Mr Brown’s defence attorney, Scott Wolleson, told The Associated Press he was grateful for the verdict. "The men and women of the jury recognized the risks law enforcement officers like Jacob Brown face on our behalf every day,” he said. Mr Bowman’s attorney, Ron Haley, said the acquittal “shows it’s incredibly hard to prove a civil rights violation in federal court.” He added that the attack had “fundamentally changed” Mr Bowman’s life. “He was low-hanging fruit for Jacob Brown,” Mr Haley said. “Because he’s looked at as just a drug user, he was treated like he wasn’t human.” The acquittal comes as federal prosecutors are still scrutinizing other Louisiana state troopers caught on body-camera video punching, stunning and dragging another Black motorist, Ronald Greene, before he died in their custody on a rural roadside. That federal probe is also examining whether police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers who beat Greene following a high-speed chase. Body-camera footage of both the Bowman and Greene beatings, which took place less than three weeks and 20 miles apart, remained under wraps before the AP obtained and published the videos in 2021. The cases were among a dozen highlighted in an AP investigation that revealed a pattern of troopers and their bosses ignoring or concealing evidence of beatings, deflecting blame and impeding efforts to root out misconduct. State police didn’t investigate the MrBowman attack until 536 days after it occurred and only did so weeks after Mr Bowman brought a civil lawsuit. It ultimately determined Mr Brown “engaged in excessive and unjustifiable actions," failed to report the use of force to his supervisors and “intentionally mislabeled” his body-camera video. The AP found Mr Brown, who patrolled in northern Louisiana, was involved in 23 use-of-force incidents between 2015 and his 2021 resignation — 19 of which targeted Black people. Mr Brown still faces state charges in the violent arrest of yet another Black motorist, a case in which he boasted in a group chat with other troopers that “it warms my heart knowing we could educate that young man.” In the wake of the AP's reporting, the US Justice Department last year opened a sweeping civil rights investigation into the state police that remains ongoing. On the night that Mr Bowman was pulled over for “improper lane usage,” Mr Brown came upon the scene after deputies had forcibly removed Mr Bowman from his vehicle and taken him to the ground in the driveaway of his Monroe home. Video and police records show he beat Mr Bowman 18 times with a flashlight in 24 seconds. “I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” Mr Bowman can be heard screaming between blows. Mr Brown is the son of Bob Brown, a longtime trooper who oversaw statewide criminal investigations and, before retiring, was the agency’s chief of staff. The elder Mr Brown rose to the agency's second in command despite being reprimanded years earlier for calling Black colleagues the n-word and hanging a Confederate flag in his office.

A 17-year-old who police believe fatally stabbed a man dancing outside a gas station in Brooklyn has reportedly turned himself in to authorities. The teenager is now in police custody, according to CNN. Police believe the teen stabbed O'Shae Sibley, a man who was dancing and posing to a Beyonce song at a gas station with his friends on the day of the attack. A large group of men reportedly approached Mr Sibley and his friends and began hurling homophobic slurs at them. The slurs and harassment eventually caused a confrontation, according to an NYPD spokesperson. Otis Pena, a witness, told police one of the men stabbed his friend, Mr Sibley, in the torso. He died in the hospital. Police are investigating whether or not the fatal stabbing was a hate crime.

(Reuters) -A sea drone attack damaged a Russian tanker near the strategic bridge linking Russia to the annexed peninsula of

The ship's engine room is damaged after the strike, Russian maritime officials are quoted as saying.

The Gilgo Beach murders victim previously known only as Jane Doe 7 has finally been identified more than 26 years after her partial remains were first discovered along the Long Island shores. In a press conference on Friday, Long Island officials announced that they had identified the victim as Karen Vergata. Vergata, a 34-year-old woman, was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort. Police refused to take any questions and would not comment on whether or not she is linked to serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann. This comes as prosecutors have asked the court to obtain a swab of DNA from Mr Heuermanna and as his wife broke her silence in her first interview since his shock arrest to reveal she is filled with “anxiety” and their two children “cry themselves to sleep” every night over the horror case. Mr Heuermann, 59, was arrested on 13 July and charged with the murders of Amber Castello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. He is also the main suspect in Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ killing. The women all went missing in 2009 and 2010 before their remains were found along Gilgo Beach. Read More Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect’s contact with wife revealed Daughter of Happy Face Killer launches GoFundMe for Gilgo Beach murders suspect’s wife Rex Heuermann’s defence buried in mountain of evidence as he faces court in Gilgo Beach murders case

The Gilgo Beach murders victim previously known only as Jane Doe 7 has finally been identified more than 26 years after her partial remains were first discovered along the Long Island shores. Karen Vergata, a 34-year-old woman who was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort, was named on Friday by Long Island officials. The huge breakthrough in the case comes almost three decades after some of her remains were first discovered – and weeks after 59-year-old father-of-two architect was arrested and charged with the murders of three other victims. It was 20 April 1996 when the woman’s legs were found wrapped in plastic at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. Almost exactly 15 years later on 11 April 2011, the woman’s skull was then found off Ocean Parkway during the search for Gilgo Beach victims. The skull was located close to the remains of another also unidentified victim – Jane Doe 3, also known as Peaches. The two sets of remains were found to belong to the same person. Before now, investigators had been unable to identify Jane Doe 7 – also dubbed Fire Island Jane Doe. She was described only as a white woman aged 18 to 50 years old who had several notable scars including evidence of surgery on her left ankle. In total, the remains of 11 victims were found dumped along the shores of Gilgo Beach back in 2010 and 2011 but, more than a decade later, several are yet to be identified. This major development comes as prosecutors are seeking to obtain a swab of DNA from Rex Heuermann, the man arrested and charged with the murders of three of the victims and suspected of a fourth killing. In a court filing this week, prosecutors said that the DNA sample would “provide further relevant evidence of the defendant’s identity as the perpetrator of the crime”. Prosecutors have so far obtained hundreds of hours of footage from the suspect’s home in Massapequa Park and his office in Midtown Manhattan, 2,500 pages of documents, crime scene photographs and autopsy reports in the high-profile case. The trove of evidence was turned over to Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei and Mr Heuermann’s attorney Michael Brown on Tuesday as the accused killer appeared in court for a brief preliminary hearing. Suffolk County DA Tierney said last week that a “massive amount of evidence” had been recovered from the home which Mr Heuermann grew up in as a child – and which he went on to share with his family up until his sudden arrest. No human remains were discovered, but a trove of around 270 guns were seized from the home. The DA previously revealed that they believe at least some of the murders may have taken place inside the home. Mr Heuermann’s wife and two adult children were out of town at the time of each of the three murders he is charged with, according to court records. The 59-year-old architect was taken into custody on 13 July, almost 13 years after the bodies of at least 11 victims were discovered along the shores of Gilgo Beach on Long Island. He was charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City and who, with the three other women, is known as the “Gilgo Four”. All four women worked as sex workers and disappeared after going to meet a client. They were all found in December 2010 within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap – their bodies dumped along Gilgo Beach. They are among 11 victims whose remains were found along the shores of Long Island in 2010 and 2011, sparking fears of one or more serial killers. As well as looking into his connection to the murder of Brainard-Barnes and the other Gilgo Beach victims, law enforcement agencies are now also looking into unsolved murders and missing persons cases all across the country. Police in Las Vegas and South Carolina – where Mr Heuermann owns properties – and Atlantic City – where several sex workers have been found murdered – have confirmed they are eyeing the suspect in cold cases. Court records show that Mr Heuermann was linked to the “Gilgo Four” murders through a tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches, phone calls taunting victims’ families, his wife’s hair found on the victims’ bodies – and a pizza crust. The first piece of the puzzle came when a witness in the Amber Costello case revealed details about a vehicle that a client was driving when she was last seen alive. Costello, who worked as a sex worker, was seen alive on the evening of 2 September 2010 when she left her home in West Babylon. A witness said she had gone to meet a client who was driving a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. Last year, a registration search showed that local man Mr Heuermann owned a first-generation model of the truck at the time of Costello’s disappearance. He also matched the witness’ description of the man believed to be the killer: a large, white “ogre”-like male in his mid-40s, around 6’4’ to 6’6” tall, with “dark bushy hair,” and “big oval style 1970’s type eyeglasses”. The discovery of the car led investigators to hone in on Mr Heuermann including executing 300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence to determine his potential involvement in the killings. Among this was Mr Heuermann’s alleged use of burner phones, with prosecutors saying that he used burner phones to contact the three women and arrange to meet them at the time when they went missing. He also allegedly took two of the victims’ cellphones – and used one to make taunting phone calls to one of their families where he boasted about her murder, court documents state. Mr Heuermann’s DNA was found on one of the victims, while his wife’s hair was found on three of the four women he is connected to. Following his arrest, his wife Asa Ellerup filed for divorce. She has since told The New York Post that she has been left filled with “anxiety” and their two children “cry themselves to sleep” over the horror. “I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering... anxiety,” she said. “My children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they’re not children. They’re grown adults but they’re my children, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep.” Mr Heuermann’s sudden arrest comes after the horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade. The Gilgo Beach murders had long stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway. The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach. She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again. During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman. Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by. By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Police have long thought that it could be the work of one or more serial killers. Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered. Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers, while some are yet to be identified. Read More Rex Heuermann press conference – live: Long Island police to give ‘update’ in Gilgo Beach murders case Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect’s contact with wife revealed Daughter of Happy Face Killer launches GoFundMe for Gilgo Beach murders suspect’s wife

A Florida man who recently dropped all legal appeals was executed Thursday for the 1988 murder of a woman who was sexually assaulted, killed with a hammer, and then set on fire in her own bed. James Phillip Barnes, 61, was pronounced dead at 6.13pm following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. Lying on a gurney, Barnes appeared to already have his eyes shut when the curtain was opened for witnesses. He didn't respond when prison officials asked if he had a final statement, and he remained motionless except for breathing for about 10 minutes until that stopped. A doctor then pronounced him dead. The 61-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the murder of nurse Patricia “Patsy” Miller. It was the fifth execution in Florida this year. One of the victim's siblings, Andrew Miller, witnessed the execution and said he came to remember his sister. “I did not come here to watch someone die. I came here to honor our sister, Patricia Miller,” he told reporters afterward. “No one should live in fear within the safety of their own home. No woman, no child, no animal should have that fear. We did.” Barnes was serving a life sentence for the 1997 strangulation of his wife, 44-year-old Linda Barnes, when he wrote letters in 2005 to a state prosecutor claiming responsibility for killing Miller years earlier at her condominium in Melbourne on Florida’s east coast. Barnes represented himself in court hearings where he offered no defense, pleaded guilty to killing Miller and did not attempt to seek a life sentence rather than the death penalty. Miller, who was 41 when Barnes killed her on April 20, 1988, had some previous unspecified negative interactions with him, according to a jailhouse interview he gave German film director Werner Herzog. “There were several events that happened (with Miller). I felt terribly humiliated, that’s all I can say,” Barnes said in the interview. When he pleaded guilty, Barnes told the judge that after breaking into Miller’s unit, “I raped her twice. I tried to strangle her to death. I hit her head with a hammer and killed her and I set her bed on fire,” according to court records. There was also DNA evidence linking Barnes to Miller’s killing. After pleading guilty, Barnes was sentenced to death on 13 December 2007. He also pleaded guilty to sexual battery, arson, and burglary with an assault and battery. Barnes killed his wife in 1997 after she discovered that he was dealing drugs. Her body was found stuffed in a closet after she was strangled, court records show. Barnes has claimed to have killed at least two other people but has never been charged in those cases. Barnes had been in and out of prison since his teenage years, including time served for convictions for grand theft, forgery, burglary and trafficking in stolen property. In the Miller case, state lawyers appointed to represent Barnes filed initial appeals, including one that led to mental competency evaluations. Two doctors found that Barnes had symptoms of personality disorder with “borderline antisocial and sociopathic features.” However, they pronounced him competent to understand his legal situation and plead guilty, and his convictions and death sentence were upheld. After DeSantis signed the inmate’s death warrant in June, a Brevard County judge granted Barnes’ motion to drop all appeals involving mitigating evidence such as his mental condition and said “that he wanted to accept responsibility for his actions and to proceed to execution (his death) without any delay,” court records show. Though unusual, condemned inmates sometimes don’t pursue every legal avenue to avoid execution. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that about 150 such inmates have been put to death since the US Supreme Court reaffirmed the death penalty as constitutional in 1976. The Florida Supreme Court accepted the Brevard County ruling, noting that no other motion seeking a stay of execution for Barnes had been filed in state or federal court. In the Herzog interview, Barnes said he had converted to Islam in prison and wanted to clear his conscience about the Miller case during the holy month of Ramadan. “They say I’m remorseless. I’m not. There are no more questions on this case. And I’m going to be executed,” Barnes said. Read More Grieving families confront Pittsburgh synagogue shooter at death penalty sentencing Singapore executes third prisoner in just 8 days. What explains this fresh wave of death sentences? Robert Bowers killed 11 in a Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. A jury ruled that he deserves death

Michigan police arrested a male suspect on Thursday who allegedly carried out a shooting across multiple locations in the town of Saline, including an assisted living home. Saline police vehicles were seen at a United Auto Workers hall, as well as at the Linden Square Assisted Living Center, Fox 2 Detroit reports. Two victims were taken to local hospitals in critical condition, according to Huron Valley Ambulance, WXYZ reports. “Saline Police responded to an active shooter situation at Linden Square Assisted Living Center. Additional details are forthcoming,” police wrote on Facebook. “City and school facilities went on a temporary lock down in response. At this time, it is believed there is no further threat to the community.” A local resident told Detroit News the shooting appeared to be a domestic incident between residents who live across from the assisted living centre. All residents of the facility are safe and accounted for, CBS News reports. City and state buildings in Saline went on temporary lockdown during the shooting. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.

Former Auburn football player Robert Shiver, whose wife Lindsay Shiver was charged with plotting to murder him, helped her and her alleged accomplices post bail. On 21 July, Lindsay Shiver, 36, her alleged lover Terrance Bethel, 28, and the purported hired hitman Faron Newbold, 29, were charged with plotting to murder the former football player. After their application for emergency bail was rejected on 28 July, the prosecution withdrew an objection to the trio’s release after hearing from Mr Shiver, according to Bahama Court News. All three of the accused were granted emergency bail on 1 August. According to Fox News, the three have been held at the Fox Hill Prison – the only detention centre in the Bahamas – since their arrest. Ms Shiver was granted $100,000 bail, and is required to wear an ankle monitor and stay in the Bahamas until her next court date: 5 October. The other two men each posted $20,000 bail, Bahama Court News reported, and also must wear monitoring devices. Mr Bethel and Mr Newbold will also be required to check in at the Marsh Harbour Police Station three times a week before 6pm. The men were also forced to stay in the Bahamas, as they had to surrender their travel documents. The accused will have to stay in detention until the court approves their bonds, the outlet said. Mr Shiver posting bail for his wife is a shocking turn of events as the Shivers are in the midst of a contentious divorce and custody battle over their three children. In addition to their home in the Bahamas, the couple also have a mansion in Georgia valued at $2.5m, which the pair are also arguing over. Mr Shiver filed for divorce for “adulterous conduct,” according to reports, while attorneys for Lindsay Shiver denied the affair, writing: “Any extramarital relationship defendant has had was during the parties’ separation and legally condoned by husband.” The next divorce hearing will be held on 31 October, Fox News previously reported. Read More A football star’s wife bragged of her ‘perfect marriage’. Now she’s charged with hiring a hitman to kill him American mother-of-three arrested in Bahamas over alleged plot to kill ex-football star husband Mother, 18, accused of trying to hire hitman to kill three-year-old son