THIS JUST IN ~ CURRENT NEWS STORIES

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ONGOING CRIME BREAKING NEWS!

Starting in January 2020, this thread is about the news as it breaks!


Bernard Madoff says he is dying and is asking a judge for compassionate release from prison, where he is serving 150 years for orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, according to a Wednesday federal court filing.

Madoff, 81, has terminal kidney failure and a life expectancy of less than 18 months. When the court sentenced him, “it was clear that Madoff’s 150-year prison sentence was symbolic for three reasons: retribution, deterrence, and for the victims,” the court filing states. “This Court must now consider whether keeping Madoff incarcerated … is truly in furtherance of statutory sentencing goals and our society’s value and understanding of compassion.”

Madoff said in the request for compassionate release that he “does not dispute the severity of his crimes.”


IMO- stay in jail
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for rape and sex assault convictions

Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday for his rape and criminal sex act convictions following an emotional trial that was a landmark moment in the #MeToo era. Weinstein was convicted Feb. 24 of rape in the third degree for assaulting aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a New York City hotel room in 2013, and of committing a criminal sex act for forcing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006.

Harvey Weinstein juror: "There was nothing simple" about decision

Weinstein arrived in a wheelchair Wednesday morning to the Manhattan courthouse. He faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison on the criminal sex act count. The third-degree rape count carried a maximum penalty of four years, meaning Weinstein faced a maximum possible sentence of 29 years.

A judge sentenced him to serve 20 years on the first count and three years on the second count. He must also serve five years of post-release supervision and register as a sex offender.

Weinstein addressed the court before he was sentenced, saying "I wasn't about power, I was about making movies.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi thanked the six women who testified against Weinstein, all of whom were in the courtroom gallery.

"Without these women and others who were willing to come forward," Illuzzi said, "this matter would never have been able to be taken, it never would have been successful, and the defendant would never have been able to stop hurting or destroying other people's lives."

Illuzzi said Weinstein "got drunk on power."

"He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it," Illuzzi said.

Mann and Haley both also addressed the court, describing the impact of the assaults on the lives.

"I believe that when he attacked me that evening with physical force with no regard for anything I said," Haley said, "what he did… stripped me of my dignity as a woman."

Haley became emotional, describing how she felt "trapped" and unable to go to officials.

"At the time all of this happened I thought I was alone in this, I had no idea there were others, I didn't realize the extent of Harvey Weinstein's manipulative and calculated predatory behavior," Haley said.

She asked Burke to impose "whatever sentence is long enough for Harvey Weinstein to acknowledge what he's done to me and to others and to be truly sorry."

Haley, speaking with "CBS This Morning" after the trial, said hearing the guilty verdict was a "huge relief."

"I felt just very grateful that they — that I'd been heard and believed," Haley said.

In her impact statement on Wednesday, Mann asked the judge to "please understand" as she couldn't fight back during the assault. "My spirit and my emotions are the last things I have to control," Mann said. "I want to remind you that I told Harvey no."

Mann also emphasized the lasting impact on victims.

"Rape is not just the moment of penetration, it is forever," she said.

Sexual Misconduct Weinstein
Annabella Sciorra, right, walks arm-in-arm with Rosie Perez, as they arrive at court for the sentencing of Harvey Weinstein, in his rape trial, in New York, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.RICHARD DREW / AP
The sentencing comes after documents were unsealed in the case Monday that revealed correspondence from Weinstein in 2017 as the public allegations against him mounted. In one October 2017 email, Weinstein responded to an inquiry from The National Enquirer about an allegation that he had groped Jennifer Aniston by saying, "Jen Aniston should be killed."

A spokesperson for Aniston told media outlets Tuesday the claim Weinstein groped the actress was unfounded.

The correspondence also revealed that Weinstein reached out to about two dozen high-profile figures to ask for help that same month, including Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg.

"My board is thinking of firing me," Weinstein wrote to Bloomberg. "All I'm asking for is, let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, and allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance."

In December 2017, in an unpublished response to the allegations, Weinstein calls himself a sex addict and an anger addict and says he is "suicidal." And correspondence from the previous month shows his brother Bob Weinstein denounced the disgraced producer as a liar, writing to him: "U deserve a lifetime achievement award for the sheer savagery and immorality and inhumanness, for the acts u have perpetrated. Oh I forgot. They were all consensual."

In a letter delivered to Judge James Burke on Monday, Weinstein's defense asked Burke to sentence Weinstein to the minimum term of five years, arguing the trial "did not fairly portray who he is as a person."

READ MORE ................

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvey-weinstein-sentenced-today-rape-sex-assault-case-2020-03-11/
 
Two weeks after changing his plea to guilty in the Russian roulette-style shooting death of St. Louis police officer Katlyn Alix, former officer Nathaniel Hendren said he owes her family no damages because she "voluntarily engaged in [the] activity" and knew the risk she was taking.

The statement came in a response Wednesday to a wrongful death lawsuit that Alix's mother, Aimee Wahlers, filed against Hendren; his partner, officer Patrick Riordan; the officers' supervisor, Sgt. Gary Foster; and the City of St. Louis.

da92dc1e-8cfb-40c5-814d-b884e1c0b0f1_750x422.jpg


b1026ca2-ebf8-4c9b-af38-c0675d8f1214_750x422.jpg


Much more at link.
 
Two weeks after changing his plea to guilty in the Russian roulette-style shooting death of St. Louis police officer Katlyn Alix, former officer Nathaniel Hendren said he owes her family no damages because she "voluntarily engaged in [the] activity" and knew the risk she was taking.

The statement came in a response Wednesday to a wrongful death lawsuit that Alix's mother, Aimee Wahlers, filed against Hendren; his partner, officer Patrick Riordan; the officers' supervisor, Sgt. Gary Foster; and the City of St. Louis.

da92dc1e-8cfb-40c5-814d-b884e1c0b0f1_750x422.jpg


b1026ca2-ebf8-4c9b-af38-c0675d8f1214_750x422.jpg


Much more at link.

What an arse hole.
 
"Heroic" officer among 4 killed in Missouri gas station shooting
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Five people including a police officer and a gunman have died in a shooting at a Missouri gas station after the gunman went inside and opened fire, police said Monday. The dead also include three citizens, Springfield police Chief Paul Williams announced Monday, and an officer was injured along with another citizen.
The gunman (not identified)was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police received reports of "multiple shooting calls throughout the city" late Sunday. As officers were responding, witnesses reported a vehicle crashed into a Kum & Go. gas station and convenience store, and the gunman ran inside and began shooting customers and employees, Williams said. The first two officers who arrived were shot.

Other officers pulled the injured officers from the store and then went inside, finding three citizens dead. Officer Christopher Walsh died at a hospital, Williams said. He was with the Springfield police for 3 1/2 years, was an Army veteran and was active in the Army reserves. Officer Josiah Overton, whose injuries are not life-threatening, has been with Springfield police for two years.

"Both officers showed significant bravery and were heroic in their actions," Williams said.

The identifies of the other victims have not been released pending notification of relatives.

Police are still working to determine a motive for the shooting, the chief said.


 
 
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for rape and sex assault convictions

Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday for his rape and criminal sex act convictions following an emotional trial that was a landmark moment in the #MeToo era. Weinstein was convicted Feb. 24 of rape in the third degree for assaulting aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a New York City hotel room in 2013, and of committing a criminal sex act for forcing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006.

Harvey Weinstein juror: "There was nothing simple" about decision

Weinstein arrived in a wheelchair Wednesday morning to the Manhattan courthouse. He faced a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison on the criminal sex act count. The third-degree rape count carried a maximum penalty of four years, meaning Weinstein faced a maximum possible sentence of 29 years.

A judge sentenced him to serve 20 years on the first count and three years on the second count. He must also serve five years of post-release supervision and register as a sex offender.

Weinstein addressed the court before he was sentenced, saying "I wasn't about power, I was about making movies.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi thanked the six women who testified against Weinstein, all of whom were in the courtroom gallery.

"Without these women and others who were willing to come forward," Illuzzi said, "this matter would never have been able to be taken, it never would have been successful, and the defendant would never have been able to stop hurting or destroying other people's lives."

Illuzzi said Weinstein "got drunk on power."

"He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it," Illuzzi said.

Mann and Haley both also addressed the court, describing the impact of the assaults on the lives.

"I believe that when he attacked me that evening with physical force with no regard for anything I said," Haley said, "what he did… stripped me of my dignity as a woman."

Haley became emotional, describing how she felt "trapped" and unable to go to officials.

"At the time all of this happened I thought I was alone in this, I had no idea there were others, I didn't realize the extent of Harvey Weinstein's manipulative and calculated predatory behavior," Haley said.

She asked Burke to impose "whatever sentence is long enough for Harvey Weinstein to acknowledge what he's done to me and to others and to be truly sorry."

Haley, speaking with "CBS This Morning" after the trial, said hearing the guilty verdict was a "huge relief."

"I felt just very grateful that they — that I'd been heard and believed," Haley said.

In her impact statement on Wednesday, Mann asked the judge to "please understand" as she couldn't fight back during the assault. "My spirit and my emotions are the last things I have to control," Mann said. "I want to remind you that I told Harvey no."

Mann also emphasized the lasting impact on victims.

"Rape is not just the moment of penetration, it is forever," she said.

Sexual Misconduct Weinstein
Annabella Sciorra, right, walks arm-in-arm with Rosie Perez, as they arrive at court for the sentencing of Harvey Weinstein, in his rape trial, in New York, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.RICHARD DREW / AP
The sentencing comes after documents were unsealed in the case Monday that revealed correspondence from Weinstein in 2017 as the public allegations against him mounted. In one October 2017 email, Weinstein responded to an inquiry from The National Enquirer about an allegation that he had groped Jennifer Aniston by saying, "Jen Aniston should be killed."

A spokesperson for Aniston told media outlets Tuesday the claim Weinstein groped the actress was unfounded.

The correspondence also revealed that Weinstein reached out to about two dozen high-profile figures to ask for help that same month, including Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg.

"My board is thinking of firing me," Weinstein wrote to Bloomberg. "All I'm asking for is, let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, and allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance."

In December 2017, in an unpublished response to the allegations, Weinstein calls himself a sex addict and an anger addict and says he is "suicidal." And correspondence from the previous month shows his brother Bob Weinstein denounced the disgraced producer as a liar, writing to him: "U deserve a lifetime achievement award for the sheer savagery and immorality and inhumanness, for the acts u have perpetrated. Oh I forgot. They were all consensual."

In a letter delivered to Judge James Burke on Monday, Weinstein's defense asked Burke to sentence Weinstein to the minimum term of five years, arguing the trial "did not fairly portray who he is as a person."

READ MORE ................

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvey-weinstein-sentenced-today-rape-sex-assault-case-2020-03-11/

And now he has the Coronavirus while at Rikers. Karma?
 
PAIGE JOHNSON'S REMAINS HAVE BEEN FOUND! :(

COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - The remains of a northern Kentucky teenager who went missing nearly a decade ago have been found, Covington police announced Wednesday.

Paige Johnson was 17-years-old when she last seen on Sept. 23, 2010, when her friend Jacob Bumpass said he dropped her off at 15th and Scott streets in Covington.

Human remains were found Sunday morning near Williamsburg Township in Clermont County, near East Fork State Park.

“We are all shocked. We are incredibly sad,” said Paige’s cousin, Alicen Franks of Covington. “Unfortunately, we always feared this would be the outcome.”

A woman called 911 and said her husband was deer hunting in the woods and found a burned human skull at a location near Ohio 276, according to a recording of the call released Wednesday.

The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, Covington police and the Clermont County Coroner investigated the scene and found additional items likely associated with the body, police said.

It was all sent to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office in hopes the remains could be identified. The identification was made using dental records, police said.


 
PAIGE JOHNSON'S REMAINS HAVE BEEN FOUND! :(

COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - The remains of a northern Kentucky teenager who went missing nearly a decade ago have been found, Covington police announced Wednesday.

Paige Johnson was 17-years-old when she last seen on Sept. 23, 2010, when her friend Jacob Bumpass said he dropped her off at 15th and Scott streets in Covington.

Human remains were found Sunday morning near Williamsburg Township in Clermont County, near East Fork State Park.

“We are all shocked. We are incredibly sad,” said Paige’s cousin, Alicen Franks of Covington. “Unfortunately, we always feared this would be the outcome.”

A woman called 911 and said her husband was deer hunting in the woods and found a burned human skull at a location near Ohio 276, according to a recording of the call released Wednesday.

The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, Covington police and the Clermont County Coroner investigated the scene and found additional items likely associated with the body, police said.

It was all sent to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office in hopes the remains could be identified. The identification was made using dental records, police said.


Pretty safe to say she didn't burn herself.
 
PAIGE JOHNSON'S REMAINS HAVE BEEN FOUND! :(

COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - The remains of a northern Kentucky teenager who went missing nearly a decade ago have been found, Covington police announced Wednesday.

Paige Johnson was 17-years-old when she last seen on Sept. 23, 2010, when her friend Jacob Bumpass said he dropped her off at 15th and Scott streets in Covington.

Human remains were found Sunday morning near Williamsburg Township in Clermont County, near East Fork State Park.

“We are all shocked. We are incredibly sad,” said Paige’s cousin, Alicen Franks of Covington. “Unfortunately, we always feared this would be the outcome.”

A woman called 911 and said her husband was deer hunting in the woods and found a burned human skull at a location near Ohio 276, according to a recording of the call released Wednesday.

The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, Covington police and the Clermont County Coroner investigated the scene and found additional items likely associated with the body, police said.

It was all sent to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office in hopes the remains could be identified. The identification was made using dental records, police said.



Always so bittersweet. An answer to whether she is alive, but not the one anyone wants.
 
I don't know if this was a thread or not, but they have identified an infant found dead. Genetics and DNA does it again. Poor baby. Mother arrested.



 
Nevada Highway Patrol trooper killed Friday morning, shooter arrested

A northern Nevada Highway Patrol trooper was shot early Friday morning, according to NHP.

The trooper had stopped to assist a motorist on U.S. 93 shortly before 6 a.m. in White Pine County near Ely. Multiple shots were fired and the trooper was shot.

 
So Krystal Kenney Lee is being considered for release to a halfway house program after barely serving 60 days. Here is the DA's response to that possibility. I so feel for Kelsey's family, how can they even consider her for such a thing?? She flippin' just got sentenced.

"4th Judicial District Attorney's Office
4 hrs ·
To whom it may concern:
The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office has been informed that the above named offender is being referred, according to Colorado Law, for consideration of placement in a community corrections program (halfway house).
THIS PROCESS IS SEPARATE FROM, AND IN ADDITION TO, PAROLE AND THE PAROLE BOARD HEARING PROCESS.
Offenders placed in community corrections may progress to the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) to be monitored electronically and reside outside of the halfway house.
“On behalf of Kelsey Berreth’s family and friends, along with a still-healing community, we vigorously oppose moving this defendant to any community-based alternative, such as community corrections. It shall never be forgotten that his defendant – who worked as a nurse - was aware of convicted murderer Patrick Frazee’s intent to kill Kelsey Berreth, and had she notified anyone – any law enforcement agency or even the victim herself – Ms. Berreth would likely be with her family today. She further drove to Colorado from her home state of Idaho to assist Mr. Frazee after the fact, and proceeded to clean up a gruesome, bloody crime scene. When Judge Scott Sells handed down a three year prison sentence he said what she did was “cold, calculating and cruel” and that if he sentenced her to probation it would minimize the depravity of her actions. We believe that sending her to a halfway house would do just that. This defendant was sentenced to serve three years in prison for her participation in a horrible, depraved crime – 1,095 days. To date she has served barely sixty.
The fact that this defendant is even being considered for “step-down” placement demonstrates once again that Colorado’s sentencing scheme is outrageously, dishearteningly distorted – with an utter lack of truth in sentencing - and is in desperate need of reform.” - District Attorney Dan May and Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Viehman."
 
I don't know if there is a thread for this? But they found Joey Peterson's body.

 
I don't know if there is a thread for this? But they found Joey Peterson's body.



:cry:
 
The retrial of Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena set to begin this week, will be delayed until July because of the shelter-in-place order due to the coronavirus.

Almena, 49, is charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of three dozen people who died in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire on Dec. 2, 2016. On Monday, in a teleconference with attorneys, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson moved the trial date to July 6, according to the district attorney’s office.

The chief justice of the California supreme court has ordered that all criminal matters be continued in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the courts closure. If all goes as planned, July 6 will be the first day of trial, when attorneys meet to discuss logistics or motions. A jury would still need to be selected, which could take several weeks, before opening statements are presented by the defense and prosecution.
 
I don't think this one has been posted. Another cold case, 40 years old I think it said, solved by DNA and genealogy. Baby now identified, was buried as a "Doe"

 

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