List of All Articles with Tag 'crime'

A suspect is in custody after several people were injured in a stabbing near The Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street in Manhattan’s West Village, according to a report. A 911 call came in reporting an incident at W 11th St & Bleecker St, the Citizen website stated at 9.58am on Thursday morning. First responders arrived at the scene to attend to several stabbing victims with non-life-threatening injuries and officers called a Level 1 Mobilization and request for additional units as the search for the suspect expanded. Officers said that the suspect was a Black man wearing a gold chain and a navy blue shirt who fled the scene in the direction of an E train station, according to the site, which stated at 10.27am that officers reported having detained the suspect. The Independent has reached out to the NYPD for comment. Eli Klein, an art dealer and publisher according to his bio on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, wrote shortly before 10am on Thursday that “Someone was just attacked in what looked like a stabbing a few feet away from me and my baby girl here in Manhattan’s West Village. NYC really needs to take broader steps to get violent criminals off of the streets”. “Looks like he just went on to stab more people, unless this is a different criminal, which wouldn’t surprise me. My description of the attacker I saw is: Black, male, 30s, 5’10, gray outfit,” he added in reference to the Citizen report. More follows...

Multiple people have been injured in a stabbing in New York City’s West Village that took place on Thursday morning, reports say. Initial reports suggest that the incident occurred outside the famous Magnolia Bakery on the corner of W11th Street and Bleecker Street in the heart of the wealthy neighbourhood on the west side of Manhattan. It is not clear how many people have been injured in the stabbing, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Reports on the Citizen app indicate that police quickly apprehended a suspect shortly after releasing a brief description of him as an African American male in a navy shirt and gold chain. More follows...

President Joe Biden has decided to allow the US to cooperate with the International Criminal Court's investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, two US officials and a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -British billionaire Joe Lewis has surrendered to U.S. authorities in Manhattan

By Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Joe Lewis, the British billionaire and owner of the Tottenham Hotspur

Rex Heuermann’s arrest came as a shock to nearly everyone in the Long Island community of Gilgo Beach – but not for a man who came face to face with the alleged murderer and had reported him to law enforcement. For more than a decade, residents anxiously awaited new developments on a trail of murders that had gone cold, despite overwhelming evidence the slayings were the work of a serial killer. Most of the victims were sex workers in their 20s who went missing in 2009 and 2010 before their bodies were discovered wrapped in burlap along the stretch of a roadway. The Suffolk County police department led an unsuccessful 13-year investigation into the case amid a litany of internal scandals, before announcing earlier this month that Mr Heuermann was in custody. Police commissioner Rodney Harrison touted the work of a revamped task force as the reason behind the arrest, but largely glossed over the fact that the very detail that cracked the case was handed to authorities in the early stages of the probe. Dave Schaller told the Associated Press in an exclusive interview that, by the time Mr Heuermann’s mugshot was plastered on every local and national news channel on 13 July, he was very familiar with the Frankenstein-like figure with an “empty gaze” he had long ago described to investigators. In the winter of 2010, Mr Schaller told police that he had seen the man fleeing the house he shared with Amber Costello, whose body was among those found in Gilgo Beach. “When they told me she was dead, he was the first person who jumped in my head,” Mr Schaller told the AP. “I’ve been picturing his face for 13 years.” Mr Heuermann met with homicide detectives on multiple occasions during the initial years of the investigation. Two years after the bodies were found, Mr Schaller said he picked Mr Heuermann’s first-generation Chrysler Avalanche out of a line-up of photographs provided by the detectives. “I gave them the exact description of the truck and the dude,” Mr Schaller, who said he was angered by the delay in investigating his tip, told the AP. “I mean come on, why didn’t they use that?” Suffolk County district attorney Ray Tierney, who inherited the investigation when he took office in 2022, said the key to unravelling the case was the description of the truck, rediscovered by a state investigator after the launch of the new task force that took a fresh look at the evidence. Mr Tierney told the AP he did not know why police had not run a search earlier, but suggested the tip may have been “lost within a sea of other tips and information”. He stressed there were other elements that ultimately helped investigators arrest Heuermann, including new technology that helped match samples of DNA to the suspect. “This was a dark cloud over the community,” former police commissioner Tim Sini, who later became the county’s district attorney. “When you have the police department and the district attorney’s office blocking the FBI, that does not engender trust in law enforcement.” The arrest, Sini said, was the result of painstaking detective work that spanned multiple administrations and relied on a wide range of evidence. “[However,] I wouldn’t call it a major success. The case should’ve been solved earlier,” he said. “This was crucial information, and I don’t know why they didn’t share it,” Rob Trotta, a county legislator who worked as a Suffolk County police detective until 2013, also told the AP. “They made some serious blunders here.” Two high-ranking officials who worked closely on the case and attended briefings between 2011 and 2013 told the AP they never heard Mr Schaller’s witness statement. Mr Heuermann bought the pickup at a Chevrolet dealer on Long Island in 2002 and transferred ownership to his brother Craig in South Carolina in 2012. Authorities seized the vehicle last week. A search warrant stated investigators were looking for other clues in the vehicle or at property the brothers owned in Chester County, such as DNA, fluids, fingerprints, phones and what they described as possible “trophies” that may have belonged to the victims. Mr Heuermann is charged with the murders of Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. As law enforcement closed in on Mr Heuermann, they served more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants that uncovered cellphone records for burner phones used to arrange meetings with three of the “Gilgo Four” victims before they went missing. Further analysis also allegedly linked Mr Heuermann to taunting calls made to family members of the victims, according to investigators. The calls were made from the Midtown Manhattan area, where the offices of Mr Heuerman’s architecture business are located. Among the evidence linking Mr Heuermann to the murders was a hair found on burlap material used to wrap Waterman’s corpse, according to court documents. DNA analysis had not been possible in the early stages of the investigation, but new technology allowed testing. A team surveilling Mr Heuermann collected a discarded pizza box that then confirmed a DNA match with the suspect on 12 June. Records also showed several online accounts under fictitious names linked to Mr Heuermann were used for illegal activities. Mr Heuermann allegedly used those accounts and burner phones to contact women for prostitution services, as well as making chilling online searches. The searches included sadistic, torture-related pornography, child pornography and disturbing content. Mr Heuermann is also accused of searching “why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the long island serial killer,” “why hasn’t the long island serial killer been caught” and “new phone technology may be key to break in case”. Mr Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. Authorities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Las Vegas and South Carolina are looking into possible links between Mr Heuermann and unsolved cases. The Associated Press contributed to this report Read More Missing paddle boarder’s body pulled from Martha’s Vineyard pond next to Obama mansion Manhattan architect, family man and accused serial killer: Who is Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann? How the Gilgo Beach serial killer turned the Long Island shore into a graveyard

By Nate Raymond BOSTON A former employee of a federal prison in Massachusetts has agreed to plead guilty

Before 25-year-old Carlee Russell went missing for a mysterious 49 hours – a disappearance, she admitted on Monday, that was staged – she posted a series of bizarre tweets. On the day she went “missing” on 13 July, she tweeted at 8.55pm: “today was a GREAT day God be looking out im telling you!!” One minute later, Ms Russell wrote: “someone to tell you ‘i love you’ and don’t got a reason.” Finally, she tweeted, “yeah i want a family now” at 9.19pm. Just moments later, around 9.30pm, the Alabama woman called 911 and told detectives that she was following a lost toddler along the interstate. After she returned home, Ms Russell claimed was abducted by a man with “orange hair,” before escaping. She later turned up on foot at her parent’s home with $107 tucked in her right sock, and alleged she had barely survived the encounter. Her tweets, in combination with her search history prior to her vanishing, raised doubts about the Alabama woman’s story. Police revealed that Ms Russell’s internet search history gave hints she could have staged her own kidnapping, as she looked up Amber Alerts, the movie Taken, booking a bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville and “how to take money from a register without being caught.” A tweet on 10 July adds colour to this complicated picture, and indicates potential problems in her relationship. Ms Russell wrote, “I always say one thing i WONT do is stay with someone who cheated on me like you went and had sex with someone else and think it’ll be sweet one day?? hellll no.” Days earlier, she also tweeted: “everyone wants to feel wanted.” Her boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, had posted on Facebook upon Ms Russell’s miraculous return, and supported her story that she had been abducted. She had been “fighting for her life for 48 hours,” he wrote, but has since taken down the post. Two days earlier, her tweet revealed she may have been unhappy at work: “my job is really starting to get on my dang nerves.” She worked at Woodhouse Spa, the owner of which said on Thursday that he provided the police with “everything we uncovered.” According to the New York Post, Ms Russell tweeted on 19 July, “I’m thankful I know how to identify when the enemy coming for me now, makes life a lot easier.” But the post has been taken down. Police began expressing their doubts last week, saying Wednesday they were “unable to verify” most of Ms Russell’s claims regarding the events leading up to and during her disappearance. Read More Carlee Russell – latest: Confusion reigns over ‘kidnapping’ case after missing woman’s search history revealed Carlee Russell claimed she was kidnapped by a man with orange hair. Police say they can’t verify any of it Carlee Russell’s internet searches suggest she staged her own kidnapping, Alabama police say

Carlee Russell’s story about being abducted after stopping at the side of a road to help a distressed toddler was a lie, her lawyer has said in a statement. The 25-year-old from Alabama told police she was kidnapped after stopping to help a toddler in diapers who was walking alone on Interstate 459 on the evening of 13 July. She came back home two days after the alleged abduction. Her family had stuck by her story, even after police publicly expressed scepticism. However, Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis on Monday said Ms Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, had now provided a statement on Monday saying there was no kidnapping The statement in part read: “There was no kidnapping on Thursday July 13. My client did not see a baby on the side on the road.” Earlier CrimeStoppers walked back a pledge to return almost $63,000 in donations to help find Carlee Russell after the 25-year-old’s kidnapping story fell under suspicion. More than $63,000 was raised during the two-day search for the Alabama woman. But the organisation that offers anonymous tips about criminal activity now said the money will not be returned after initially making the promise. Read More Carlee Russell sent several bizarre tweets before disappearing Alabama lawyer says police is using ‘every other synonym for lie except saying she lied’ in Carlee Russell case Boyfriend of Carlee Russell deletes social media posts after police cast doubt over her kidnapping story Police doubt Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claims. Could she face consequences?

An on-duty security guard was fatally shot at a hospital in Oregon by a suspect who was later killed by police. Forty-four-year-old Bobby Smallwood was working at the birthing centre of Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland when the tragic events unfolded around 11am on Saturday. A suspect who has yet to be identified entered the building armed with a firearm and shot Smallwood and another hospital worker before fleeing the scene, according to the Portland Police Bureau. As terrified staff followed shelter-in-place protocols, Smallwood was transferred to a trauma facility, where he was pronounced dead. The second victim remains in stable condition, police said. Police said that officers responding to the scene set up a perimeter around the neighbourhood and attempted to locate the suspect. Officers also evacuated and searched a Fred Meyer after learning information that suggested the shooter may have been inside but he was not found. The suspect’s car was eventually traced to the city of Gresham, about 16 miles east of Portland. He was killed by law enforcement after his vehicle was stopped. The motive behind the shooting is still unclear. “During the incident, shots were fired by police. The suspect is deceased. No officers were injured,” a statement by the Portland Police Bureau read. On social media, coworkers remembered Smallwood as a devoted security guard. “I remember him fondly from his early days as a COVID screener in our building at Mt. Hood. What a sacrifice he made protecting others,” Elana Schaff, who worked with Smallwood at Legacy Mt Hood Medical Center, wrote in a Facebook post. “My heart is there with everyone who had to endure this insane situation.” Smallwood’s family has created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for funeral costs. Mr Smallwood’s father Walter Smallwood told The Oregonian that his son enjoyed being surrounded by children at the hospital and wasn’t fearful of his job, despite not being armed. “He loved children. Adults, he tolerated,” Mr Smallwood said. “He wasn’t [scared about the job]. I was.” Smallwood had initially done administrative and computer work at Legacy Health after graduating from Portland State University in 2020. His parents told Oregon Live that he had recently been promoted to a supervisory role. “This is a sad day for the staff at Legacy Health, and our hearts go out to the family, friends, and coworkers of the employees affected by today’s tragedy,” Chief Chuck Lovell, who responded to the scene, told The Associated Press. “By all accounts, hospital staff and law enforcement did great work responding to this incident, and I’m grateful for the coordinated efforts by all.” Kathryn Correia, Legacy Health president and CEO, also said in a statement: “Words cannot express the profound grief we are experiencing. “We offer our unwavering support to Bobby’s loved ones, to our patients in our care, to the staff at Legacy Good Samaritan and to all our employees and providers suffering today.” Read More Joe Biden is breaking his promise to end the federal death penalty Lauren Boebert blames her AirPods after she threw away photo of 10-year-old Uvalde victim Gunman who killed co-workers at New Zealand building site died from self-inflicted wound, police say

SAO PAULO Brazilian police on Monday arrested another suspect in connection with the 2018 murder of popular Rio

Bryan Kohberger has claimed that the DNA evidence tying him to the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students may have been planted at the crime scene – as the deadline for him to give an alibi for the slaying looms. In a recent court filing in Latah County Court, the 28-year-old criminology student suggested that police officers could have somehow placed his DNA on the knife sheath which was left behind by the killer at the college rental home in Moscow, Idaho. “The State’s argument asks this Court and Mr Kohberger to assume – is that the DNA on the sheath was placed there by Mr Kohberger, and not someone else during an investigation that spans hundreds of members of law enforcement and apparently at least one lab the State refuses to name,” Mr Kohberger’s attorneys wrote. Prosecutors fired back at the suggestion that the evidence was “rigged”, writing in a filing that “the State is at a loss as to how that theory supports a claim that the lGG information is material to the preparation of his defense”. Mr Kohberger was tied to the 13 November murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin through a knife sheath left at the scene. The sheath – for a military or Ka-Bar style knife – was found partly under Mogen’s body after she and Goncalves were found stabbed multiple times on Mogen’s bed on the third floor of the home. DNA on the button clasp of the sheath was then found to match that of the 28-year-old accused killer. Mr Kohberger’s attorneys have sought to cast doubts on the strength of this DNA evidence, in particular the use of genetic genealogy. According to the affidavit in the case, the FBI used genetic genealogy databases to try to identify the DNA source. Trash was then collected from the suspect’s parents’ home in the Poconos Mountains and a familial match – from Mr Kohberger’s father – was made to the sheath, according to the criminal affidavit. Following Mr Kohberger’s arrest on 30 December, DNA samples were then taken directly from the suspect and came back as “a statistical match”, say prosecutors. Mr Kohberger’s attempts to cast doubts on the evidence come ahead of a looming deadline for the accused mass killer to offer an alibi for the night of the murders. Under Idaho law, defendants have 10 days to provide a written statement about where they claim to have been at the time of the alleged crime and offering information about any witnesses who can support their claim. On 23 May – one day after he was arraigned on four murder charges – Latah County Prosecutor’s Office put in a demand for Mr Kohberger’s notice of alibi. Back then, Mr Kohberger’s legal team asked Judge John Judge for an extension to this deadline, saying that they needed more time due to the wealth of evidence in the high-profile case. The judge extended the deadline through to 24 July. As of Monday morning, the Idaho cases of interest website – where the latest filings in the case are shared – had gone down. Mr Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the murders of Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20. He is scheduled to stand trial on 2 October after being indicted by a grand jury on four counts of first-degree murder and one burglary charge. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus student home on King Road in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death with a large, military-style knife. Two other female roommates lived with the three women at the property and were home at the time of the massacre but survived. One of the survivors – Dylan Mortensen – came face to face with the masked killer, dressed in head-to-toe black and with bushy eyebrows, as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders, according to the criminal affidavit. For more than six weeks, the college town of Moscow was plunged into fear as the accused killer remained at large with no arrests made and no suspects named. Then, on 30 December, law enforcement suddenly swooped on Mr Kohberger’s family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania and arrested him for the quadruple murders. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger was tied to the killings through his DNA on the knife sheath, surveillance footage showing his white Hyundai Elantra close to the crime scene and cellphone activity. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Read More Bryan Kohberger’s criminology professor weighs in on Rex Heuermann’s arrest in Gilgo Beach murders probe Plan to demolish home where four University of Idaho students were murdered is delayed Bryan Kohberger could face the firing squad for the Idaho murders. What would this mean?