Blogs

April 25, 2013 ABC News

Four female correction officers were impregnated by the reported leader of a Maryland prison gang, which used a network of female prison guards to help launder money, run drugs and smuggle contraband into state detention facilities, according to a federal indictment.

One of the guards was twice impregnated by Tavon White, identified in court papers as the alleged leader of the Black Guerilla Family.

Two of the female correction officers tattooed "Tavon" on their bodies, one on her neck and another on the wrist, according to the indictment.

In one incident, one guard kept watch over a closet, in which White and another guard had sex, according to authorities.

Thirteen female and two male prison guards are facing federal corruption charges following a months long investigation into corruption and conspiracy at Maryland's correctional facilities.

The indictment portrays a prison system run by inmates, including members of the Black Guerilla Family gang.

James Richardson

by Michael Thomas Barry

On April 25, 1989, James Richardson walks out of a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of killing his seven children. Special prosecutor Janet Reno agreed to the release after evidence showed that the conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor. In addition, neighbor Betsy Reese had confessed to the crime to a nursing home employee.

Colin Ross

by Michael Thomas Barry

On April 24, 1922, Colin Ross is executed in Australia for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Alma Tirtschke. Ross was one of the first criminals in Australia to be convicted based on forensic evidence. On December 30, 1921, Tirtschke was reported missing in Melbourne. The next day, a constable patrolling Gun Alley, a well-known area for prostitutes, found the young schoolgirl's body bundled up in a blanket.

Sirhan Sirhan

by Michael Thomas Barry

On April 23, 1969, Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death penalty after being convicted in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972, Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty.

April 23, 2013 Associated Press

George "Baby Face" Nelson

by Michael Thomas Barry

On April 22, 1934, George "Baby Face" Nelson kills Special Agent W. Carter Baum during an FBI raid in northern Wisconsin. Nelson was holed up with notorious bank robber John Dillinger's gang at the Little Bohemia resort but didn't follow the planned escape route. As he was stealing a car to escape, he shot several agents.

Robert Alton Harris

by Michael Thomas Barry

On April 21, 1992, Robert Alton Harris is executed in California’s gas chamber after 13 years on death row. This was California's first execution since former Chief Justice Rose Bird and two other California state Supreme Court justices, Joseph Grodin and Cruz Reynoso, had been rejected by California voters. From 1979 to 1986, the Bird court had reversed 64 out of the 68 death penalty cases on appeal.