Crime Newswire

It was a bizarre and brutal kidnapping that lasted more than a month, but at least it has a happy ending. Police say the kidnappers grabbed a 52-year-old businessman in Queens as he was walking to his car last month and brought him to a neighborhood warehouse, reports the Daily...

Christian Science Monitor
British police ponder conspiracy after soldier murder
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - Police investigating the murder of a soldier hacked to death on a busy London street were looking on Friday into whether the two suspected killers, British men of Nigerian descent, were part of a wider conspiracy. The two suspects ...
London murder highlights 'lone wolf' terrorist concernsChristian Science Monitor
Peres writes to the Queen after UK soldier's murderJerusalem Post
UK: Soldier's murder may be terror-relatedAljazeera.com
USA TODAY
all 1,260 news articles »

Both sides rest in Burger King murder trial
Chicago Tribune
Both sides rested their case today during the trial of a man accused in the notorious murder of a Lindenhurst Burger King manager in 2006. Prosecutors presented various witnesses over three days to support their argument that James Ealy, 48, used a bow ...

and more »

A coalition of Canadian drug policy experts is calling on the country to decriminalize the use of drugs—not just, say, marijuana or other "soft drugs," but all drugs. Thanks to a "stunning display of unimaginative thinking," Canada has been cracking down on drug users, which has done nothing to...

New Orleans' murder problem is its crime problem: Jarvis DeBerry
NOLA.com
A 2011 Department of Justice report saying that New Orleans compares favorably to Orlando when it comes to violent crime has given the Landrieu administration leave to categorize murder as if it's something altogether different. No, that's not logical ...

NPR (blog)
Murder suspect's death, accusations shock to Orlando neighbors
MiamiHerald.com
KISSIMMEE -- Ibragim Todashev, the Chechen martial-arts fighter killed by an FBI agent in Orlando on Tuesday, was a bit of a mystery to his neighbors in his modest gated community in Kissimmee. They knew little about his lifestyle, his travels or his ...
Triple Murder May Link Tsarnaev And Man Killed In FloridaNPR (blog)
DA: Waltham triple-murder `by no means closed'Boston Herald
Boston Marathon bomber accused of 2011 murderTelegraph.co.uk
CNN -Wall Street Journal -Times of India
all 522 news articles »

NPR (blog)
Abortion Opponents Try to Spin Murder Case Into Legislation
NPR (blog)
As predicted, abortion opponents on Capitol Hill are wasting no time in their efforts to turn publicity over the recent murder conviction of abortion provider Kermit Gosnell to their legislative advantage. Their latest goal: A federal ban on most ...

and more »

St. John Parish sheriff hosts prayer breakfast to combat rising crime rate
NOLA.com
Scores of clergy members gathered in St. John Parish on Thursday morning at the request of St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre, who invited pastors, deacons and reverends to brainstorm ways to fight crime and reduce the violence plaguing the community.

and more »

Local lawyer named to corruption fighting Chicago prosecutor job
Yahoo! News
A graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and a former federal prosecutor in both Chicago and Tennessee, Fardon has experience prosecuting violent crimes and public corruption. He worked on the trial team that prosecuted Ryan and currently heads the ...
New federal prosecutor nominated for ChicagoBellingham Herald

all 20 news articles »

A Wisconsin man's 1994 rape conviction was overturned in a Winnebago County Circuit Court Wednesday based on DNA testing pointing to another man. Wisconsin Innocence Project client Joseph Frey was convicted of a 1991 rape based on the victim's identification and sentenced to 102 years behind bars despite a lack of DNA linking him to the crime. New DNA tests requested by the Wisconsin Innocence Project matched convicted sex offender James E. Crawford, who committed additional sexual assaults after the 1991 crime. Crawford has since died.

The LaCrosse Tribune reported that at the hearing, Judge Daniel Bissett agreed that Frey's conviction must be vacated "in the interest of justice." Although the conviction was overturned, Frey will remain behind bars until prosecutors decide whether there will be a retrial.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Levin acknowledged that the new DNA test implicating Crawford who matched the description of the assailment was "significant."

"The state will follow the evidence where it leads," he said. And unless new evidence emerges implicating Frey, Levin said, "likely this case will be dismissed, and this defendant will go free."

In its brief, the Wisconsin Innocence Project sites improper destruction of physical evidence and improper eyewitness identification procedures for leading to Frey's wrongful conviction. After initial testing excluded Frey before his 1994 trials, all the physical evidence was reportedly destroyed. Simultaneous and repeated lineups with the same suspect were also shown to the witness who identified at least two other men before saying that Frey "looked similar" to her attacker.

Last month, Levin requested a Winnebago County Sheriff's investigation that revealed Crawford may have tried to confess prior to his death in 2008.

Read the full article.

Understand the causes of eyewitness identification.

Genivar unveils growth plan, asks employees to look past Quebec corruption ...
Globe and Mail
He urged employees, particularly the 2,200 workers in Quebec, to “keep their heads high.” Shoiry conceded that employee morale had been hurt by testimony at a corruption inquiry, including by a former senior executive, about $500,000 in illegal ...

and more »

WRTV Indianapolis
Crime knocks out Internet, cable TV across indianapolis
WRTV Indianapolis
Police said thieves are now focusing their attention on batteries because they can be easily sold on the black market, and because the batteries can rarely be traced to a specific crime if they are sold to metal scrap yards for cash. In other recent ...

Marijuana is drug most often linked to crime, study finds
MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON -- Marijuana is the drug most often linked to crime in the United States, the U.S. drug czar said Thursday, dismissing calls for legalization as a “bumper-sticker approach” that should be avoided. Gil Kerlikowske, the White House director of ...

and more »

An independent review of the New York City medical examiner's office suggests a management change, legislation in Minnesota attempts to require accreditation for crime labs, and Ohio law enforcement addresses a backlog of DNA cases. Here is the round up of news for the week:

An independent review found that recent problems at the New York City medical examiner's office should lead to a wide-ranging management change. After missing and mixing biological evidence in numerous cases, and the resignation of various staff, the review showed systemic problems dating back several years.

In Minnesota, the problems with a lack of protocols at the St. Paul crime lab spurred a bill that would require accreditation for crime labs throughout the state. The author, Senator Ron Latz, believes the bill will "prevent wrongful convictions and increase public confidence in the criminal justice system."

Due to numerous problems with management, evidence processing, and a DNA backlog, local law enforcement agencies in Ohio are no longer sending biological samples to the Canton-Stark County Crime Lab. Law enforcement officials still support the crime lab but feel the Ohio Bureau of Investigation crime lab can do a more effective job conducting DNA testing.

A New Zealand researcher is determining how the psychology of juries is impacted by expert forensic evidence and how that interaction affects the integrity of the justice system. The research will examine how juries deliberate conflicting interpretations of evidence given by prosecutor and defense experts.

New York Daily News
Paul McCartney asks Russian court to release Pussy Riot
New York Daily News
A Russian court denied parole on Thursday to a member of the Pussy Riot punk group. The ruling came despite letters that singers Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Patti Smith have sent, urging Russia's courts to free Maria Alekhina and the other Pussy ...
Paul McCartney Supports Pussy Riot in Letters to Russian AuthoritiesRollingStone.com
Pussy Riot member denied parole despite Paul McCartney pleaCBC.ca
Pussy Riot's Alyokhina denied parole, Paul McCartney voices support for bandRT
Entertainment Weekly -BBC News -Yahoo! News
all 95 news articles »

Sister of Charlestown murder suspect charged with threatening witnesses
Boston Globe
Suffolk County prosecutors have charged the sister of an accused murderer with threatening two witnesses in his case over the phone and on Facebook. Jelaine Flores,18, of Boston, was arraigned Wednesday in Charlestown Municipal Court on two counts of ...

and more »

Sister of Charlestown murder suspect charged with threatening witnesses
Boston.com
In the days after Jones's murder, Jelaine Flores allegedly threatened to harm one witness to the crime in a phone call and called another a “snitch” in a Facebook posting, prosecutors said. She is due back in court June 19. Todd Feathers can be reached ...

and more »Google News

Dad is identified as MARTIN ANGEL ESPITIA. No mention of a mother in the home.

http://www.kbtx.com/news/local/headlines/Father-Arrested-for-Allegedly-Sexually-Assaulting-His-Own-Daughter-208664781.html

Father Arrested for Allegedly Sexually Assaulting His Own Daughter

By: KBTX Staff

Posted: Thu 11:03 AM, May 23, 2013

BRYAN

An investigation from January leads to the arrest of a father accused of sexually assaulting his daughter.

33-year-old Martin Angel Espitia was arrested overnight Thursday.

According to the investigators, the victim was his daughter. She was 11 when the assaults started.

She told investigators that it started out as touching and escalated. The victim never told anyone because she was scared.

Espitia denied the allegations. He was given the opportunity to take a polygraph, but refused.

He was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child and is being held in the Brazos County Jail under $50,000 bond

Dad is identified as ALEX GILBERT. No mention of a mother in the home.

http://fox4kc.com/2013/05/22/10-week-old-babys-death-ruled-homicide/

Father charged in death of 10-week-old girl

Posted on: 11:26 am, May 22, 2013, by Sarah J. Clark, Macradee Aegerter and Barrett Tryon, updated on: 02:56pm, May 22, 2013

LEXINGTON, Mo. — The father of a 10-week-old girl who died after suffering a fractured skull and brain damage has been charged in her death.

Prosecutors charged Alex Gilbert, 24, with one count of second-degree murder.

According to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a home on Linn Road in southwestern Lafayette County on May 17. An infant was reported to be unresponsive and was having trouble breathing.

The child was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Blue Springs were medical staff discovered the infant had sustained a number of injuries. She was then transferred to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., where she died on May 20.

According to the Jackson County Medical Examiner who performed an autopsy, the infant suffered numerous broken bones, including a fractured skull, contusions and brain damage. Due to his findings, the medical examiner ruled the child’s death a homicide.

Gilbert’s father told FOX 4 his son would never harm a child and believes investigators are just looking for someone to blame.

Gilbert is being held on $500,000 bond.

Congratulations to Texas exoneree David Wiggins who quietly married his girlfriend Rhonda earlier this month in a private civil ceremony. Wiggins becomes the third Texas exoneree in as many months to tie the knot. Michael Morton was married in March and Randy Arledge followed suit in April.