True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Body Found in Freezer Leads to Arrest of Missing Oklahoma Woman’s Roommate

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Talina Galloway had been missing since April

WAGONER, Oklahoma — A woman has been charged with murdering her roommate who disappeared in Oklahoma last spring, after a freezer containing her remains was found hidden in the woods in Arkansas last week, authorities said

Investigators had been searching for Talina Galloway since April 17, when her roommate, Kore Bommeli, reported her missing from their Oklahoma home near Fort Gibson Lake, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s office said.

Police said they initially treated Bommeli as a witness but that she immediately began behaving suspiciously and as her story began to change, she became the top suspect in the case. She was eventually arrested for obstructing the investigation and destroying evidence.

The break in the investigation came last week when a woman walking in the woods near the Ouachita National Forest outside  Mena, Arkansas, spotted a freezer with its lid taped shut and a foul smell coming from it.

Investigators discovered dismembered human remains inside, Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott said. 

The same woman had in June spotted a suspicious pickup truck pulling an enclosed trailer in the same area that had similarly had a bad odor with a foul-smelling liquid pooled on the floor of the trailer, police said. She reported it to police at the time and a deputy came to investigate but never connected with the witness, Elliot said.

But the person had taken down the vehicle’s license plate number and when police checked it, that discovered that it belonged to Galloway. 

After several days, the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s office identified the remains as being Galloway and ruled the cause of death as homicide. 

Kore Bommeli

On Thursday, Wagoner County District Attorney Jack Thorp obtained an arrest warrant for Bommeli, who was out on bond and living in Wisconsin. 

She was arrested in Dane County, Wisconsin on Thursday where she will remain until she is brought to Oklahoma to face charges of first degree murder and desecration of a human corpse.

Sheriff Elliott stated that they are glad they are bringing closure to this case, but that it is still active and urged anyone with information to call the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Talina Galloway,” Sheriff Elliott said. “They are certainly in our prayers.”

Identical Twin Sisters Eyed in Arkansas Shooting Slay

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Cops are hunting for a pair of identical twin sisters they believe shot and killed a man on his front porch in Arkansas.

Police say Chamisha and Chamacia Rogers, both 19, of North Little Rock, are also suspects in an earlier aggravated robbery, cops said.

They are being eyed in the shooting death of Terrance Harris last Friday. He was found slumped over in a pool of blood on the front porch of a North Little Rock home, cops said.

A motive for the killing was not immediately clear.

Cow Suit-Wearing Shoplifter Offers to Let Cop Suck Udder to Avoid Arrest

By HardBoiledNews Staff

UDDER MADNESS: Ashley Curry tried to use her teats to get out of a shoplifting bust

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas — Sounds like a case of mad cow disease.

A woman dressed in a black and white cow costume was busted for shoplifting at an Arkansas Walmart and then told the arresting officer he could suck one of the pink udders hanging from the front of her suit.

Pine Bluff police say Ashley Curry, 27, tried to walk off with a pack of Flonase, but was spotted by security officers monitoring the store’s surveillance cameras, because of her not-so inconspicuous outfit, KATV-TV reported.

After being detained, Curry told a cop searching her, that he could “suck a pink cow udder,” as she thrust the nipples dangling from the front of her costume in the officer’s face.

It was unclear if the offer was meant as an insult or a bribe.

Either way, cops charged Curry with shoplifting and resisting arrest.

Handcuff Key in Cop’s Pocket Saves His Life in Police Shooting

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The bullet struck an officer’s handcuff keys, redirecting them into his bulletproof vest

VAN BUREN, Arkansas — It was the key to life.

An Arkansas police officer narrowly escaped death when a bullet fired at him struck his handcuff keys in his shirt pocket, deflecting the slug into his bulletproof vest, authorities said.

The chilling episode unfolded during a domestic dispute call in Van Buren between a husband and wife.

Two Van Buren Police officers arrived at the house and began speaking to the husband,  Johnny Fisher, 68, and asked him to step outside, but he refused, the Arkansas State Police said.

Fisher, who was standing with one of the officers, then pulled out two guns. When the second officer entered the room. Fisher pointed the guns at him and fired, prompting both cops to return fire, killing Fisher.

One of the bullets Fisher fired struck one of the officers in the chest, but the handcuff key in his pocket miraculously save his life, according to KHBS-TV.

The officer was taken to a local hospital and was later released with bruising to his chest. The second officer was unhurt.

Both officers have been put on administrative leave as the state police investigates the fatal shooting.

 

Wife Says She Gunned Down Husband Because He Watched Too Much Porn

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Patricia Hill was infuriated by her husband Frank’s porn habit

WHITE HALL, Arkansas — A 69-year-old Arkansas woman has been charged with capital murder after shooting her husband for watching too much porn, cops said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s office said Patricia Hill called 911 Saturday afternoon to report that she had fatally shot her 65-year-old husband, Frank Hill, in a utility shed on their property.

When authorities arrived at the house, they found Frank dead with a gunshot wound to his head and another to his leg. They detained Patricia and took her in for questioning.

There, she admitted that she went out to the shed to confront her husband over pornography he had ordered from their television provider.

“Mrs. Hill stated that she disagreed with her husband’s purchase of video pornography via the television guide, which she cancelled upon discovering the purchase but Mr. Hill managed to place a subsequent order,” Major Lafayette Woods, Jr., of the the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office said.

She said she demanded her husband leave the shed, but when he refused, she went back to the house to get a .22 caliber pistol. She then returned to the shed and shot her husband, cops said.

Patricia Hill went back to the house and then called police. She told investigators that there had never been any physical abuse between her and her husband.

Hill is currently being held without bound in Jefferson County’s detention center on capital murder charges, and will stay there until her court date next week.

Man Busted After Trying to Pay Waitress With Credit Card Stolen From Her

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Credit card fraudster Shamon West apparently doesn’t know the meaning of laying low

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas — It’s sort of like returning to the scene of a crime.

An Arkansas waitress was dumbstruck when a customer tried to pay for a meal using the credit card that had been stolen from her wallet two days earlier.

Police say 58-year-old Flora Lunsford’s car had been broken into Sunday outside a gas station, and her purse was stolen.

Two days later, she was working a shift at Shannon’s restaurant when a customer handed her a credit card that had her name on it, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

“Having no desire to pay for the fellow’s meal,” Lunsford called the cops.

When cops arrived they discovered that 21-year-old, Shamon also had Lunsford’s driver’s license, social security card and other credit cards.

Police were puzzled as to why West thought he could pull the stunt off.

“As a side note, the driver’s license, as all do, had her picture on it,” law enforcement officials said. “You would think he should have known what she looked like. Yet, he still handed her own credit card to her.”

 

West was charged with forgery and theft by receiving, police said.

 

Teenage Killer Who Shot a Mother in Front of Her Baby Gets 35 Years

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Kevin Williams was just 15 when he killed a mother in front of her 2-year-old daughter

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — A ruthless killer who at the age of 15 gunned down a mother in front of her 2-year-old daughter during a purse snatch robbery, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Kevin Williams Jr.,  who is now 17 and has been called a menace to society by prosecutors, received the sentence in a Little Rock court after pleading guilty to avoid a possible death sentence.

“I hope you use the rest of your life to ponder what you’ve taken and to understand what you’ve taken can never be replaced,”  Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen said after imposing sentence, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Prosecutors said Williams shot and killed 27-year-old Eunice Lopez Garcia in front of her home in January 2016, as she walked out carrying her toddler and her purse.

He was among a group of four teens who tried to steal her purse, causing her to drop her child. Police said Williams then shot her in her stomach and fled with the purse.

Investigators quickly caught up to some of Williams’ accomplices, who immediately fingered him as the gunman. Police say he eventually confessed.

The teens were later charged with an August 2015 holdup in which a couple were ambushed with their 2-year-old son in the driveway of their home. During the robbery, one of the suspectes punched the child and pistol-whipped the father.

Williams was also charged in the robbery of a maintenance worker at a mobile home park, but the charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Man Inspired by ‘Breaking Bad’ Busted for Making Deadly Ricin

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Alexander Jordan thought he was clever in how he produce his own lethal ricin, but was promptly caught

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — A man who was inspired to produce the deadly toxin ricin by watching episodes of “Breaking Bad,” was busted after he accidentally ingested in the lethal agent and fell ill.

Alexander Joseph Jordan, 21, of Little Rock, called for help on Feb. 22 after developing heart problems, diarrhea and blurred vision, federal prosecutors said. He was rushed to a hospital where he warned authorities he had two mason jars filled with the lethal substance at home.

That amount could have proven fatal to dozens of people, as even the most minute amount of ricin, which is derived from castor beans, can cause excruciating death.

“Any time there is information that a deadly substance like ricin is present in our communities, our law enforcement partners will work together to take immediate and decisive action to eliminate the threat,” said U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland.

Jordan told police that he learned how to make the substance on the internet and got the idea from watching the television show “Breaking Bad.” He insisted that he had only considered committing suicide with the substance and had no plans to harm others.

Cops found a blender smeared with ricin ingredients as well as a receipt from Amazon for castor beans and other key ingredients.

Jordan was indicted on a single count of possessing ricin and faces up to five years in prison. Prosecutors said they believed Jordan suffered from mental health issues so agreed for him to be released to his stepfather.

Woman Raids Ex’s House Unaware He’d Moved and She Was Stealing From a Stranger

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Amanda Korenek thought she would teach her ex a lesson by stealing his stuff, but the joke was on her

TEXARKANA, Texas — Timing is everything.

An angry Arkansas woman was caught by cops pillaging her ex-husband’s house only to discover that he had moved out and she was stealing a stranger’s things.

Police in Texarkana say Amanda Korenek, 43, had called her ex-hubby in advance early on Wednesday morning to tell him she was going to clean out the house where she used to live with him.

The husband then called police who found Korenek struggling to lift a dresser into her car into which she had already loaded numerous random items, cops said.

The officers soon realized that Korenek appeared to be under the influence of drugs and then informed her that her husband had moved out and that she was stealing someone else’s things.

Cops also found a prescription bottle and a $1,000 check that belonged to other people in her car. She was arrested on charges of burglary, possession of a dangerous drug, and fraudulent possession of identifying information. Korenek was held on $45,000 bond.

Later that morning, investigators received a call from the son of 90-year-old man who had awoken in the night to find an unknown woman in his apartment, offering to clean for him.

She then moved dishes and other small items around the apartment before he told her to leave. When he got up later that day, he realized his cell phone, a frying pan, and a cutting board were missing.

Police say those items were found in Korenek’s car and man’s name was the same as the name on the prescription bottle she was carrying. They expect to file further charges against in that case.

Man Fatally Stabs Wife After She Changed Channels Away from the Football Game

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Tony Thomas blew his top when his wife tuned away from the game

CARLISLE, Arkansas — He took being a diehard football a bit too far.

An Arkansas man has been charged with capital murder for fatally stabbing his wife after she changed the channel away from a football game when he stepped outside for a smoke, prosecutors said.

Tony Thomas, 58,  told cops he asked his wife what the score of the game was when he came back into their Arkansas house on Nov. 19, sparking an argument that led to bloodshed, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

He told cops his wife, Elke Thomas, began yelling at him, so he grabbed a knife from the wall and started stabbing her.

“He claimed he’d blacked out and when he ‘came to,’ he was over her with a knife in his hands,” according to the criminal affidavit.

Immediately afterwards, Tony Thomas called police and asked them to send a “meat wagon,” and some officers as he had just killed his wife.

A witness who ran into the room after hearing glass breaking, told cops he saw Tony Thomas stabbing his wife repeatedly.

Cops found Elke Thomas’ body outside in the backyard, partly covered by a blanket, and recovered a knife nearby.

Tony Thomas had a long rap sheet with several felony convictions and was held without bail.

Counterfeit Ring Busted When One Tries to Use Bogus Bills to Bail Out Pal

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Stults, Nichols and King are charged with passing off bogus bills

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — Criminal masterminds, they weren’t.

A trio of cash counterfeiters were busted in Arkansas after one of them tried to use the bogus bills to pay an accomplice’s bail, police said.

Fayetteville Police say they picked up April Stults, 26, and Mary King, 47, over the weekend after discovering several counterfeit $10 and $20 bills in Stults’ apartment while investigating a rash of phony notes that had been turning up in town lately.

But the plot completely unravelled the next day when Garrett Nichols, 30, was spotted leaving Stults’ apartment with two printers which cops found in his car when they pulled him over a short time later.

Nichols told police that he knew Stults had been printing off the bogus cash and that he removed the printers following her arrest to avoid her getting in even more trouble, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.

Nichols had also carried out a garbage bag full of phony bills which he admitted to have been using to buy methamphetamine and fast food meals, police said. He said he intended to use some of the bills to bail Stults out.

King told cops she had used the bunk bills to pay off debts.

All three have been charged with forgery, while Nichols was hit with charges of criminal possession of a forgery device, drug possession and tampering with physical evidence.

Day Care Operator Charged With Trying to Kidnap Infant to Put Up for Adoption

By HardBoiledNews Staff

JOPLIN, Missouri — It’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

A woman running a Missouri day care center has been charged with plotting to kidnap a 5-month-old baby in her care and give her to another family in Arkansas in an illegal adoption, authorities said.

Lasonya Poindexter, 30, ran the daycare out of her home with her younger sister and began taking care of Ashley and Christian Still’s daughter a few days a week in April, federal prosecutors said.

In June, Poindexter allegedly contacted a couple in Lincoln, Arkansas and began making arrangements for them to adopt the little girl she was caring for even though her parents had no intention of giving her up, prosecutors said.

Over the coming months, authorities say Poindexter made at least four 100-mile trips to Arkansas to bring the baby to meet the prospective new parents, who were unaware that she had no authority to do so. The duped couple went so far as to build a nursery in their home.

Lasonya Poindexter

Investigators say Poindexter told the couple that the baby had been the product of a rape and that the mother had left the child with Poindexter asking her to find it a home. She told them that the mother wanted a “closed adoption” and didn’t want to meet them.

But the couple eventually grew suspicious as Poindexter’s story about who would pay for the adoption changed and she repeatedly declined the couple’s offer to drive to Missouri to see the child.

The plot unraveled in July when the prospective mother spotted a photo of Ashley Stills with the baby through Poindexter’s daughter’s Facebook page. Further review of other photos revealed that Stills appeared to be the baby’s mother. When the woman messaged Stills, she discovered the baby had not been put up for adoption and the Stills contacted authorities.

When confronted by the prospective mother, Poindexter later told authorities that she considered offering them another child in her care.

She has been charged with attempted kidnapping.

Cops Hunt Forklift Bandits Caught on Camera Snatching Entire ATM

By HardBoiledNews Staff

UPDATE: The Conway Police Department located the ATM from this theft. The empty machine was dumped by the thieves at a dirt lot on Dave Ward Drive. The property owner alerted police. It was inspected by the CPD in order to recover any evidence. It was also inspected by bank employees who rendered it useless in the condition it was found in. At this time this case is still under investigation. We do not have any suspects in this case. *******************************************The Conway Police Department needs your help identifying the person/persons responsible for stealing an ATM from First Service Bank around 3:00 Wednesday morning. The suspects cannot be seen but if you recognize the truck or you were in the area when this happened or have some information you want to share on this case, please call Detective Williams at 450-6130. Thanks in advance for your help.

Posted by Conway Police Department on Friday, August 18, 2017

CONWAY, Arkansas — Most people would just use a mask and a threatening note.

Cops in Arkansas are searching for a band of brazen bank thieves who used a giant forklift to rip an ATM from the ground and drive off with it from outside a bank.

Surveillance cameras captured the bold robbery at 3 a.m. on Wednesday with the forklift crashing through the First Service Bank’s drive-thru lane in Conway.

The theft wasn’t discovered until the next morning when an employee discovered the ATM was missing.

Cops not surprisingly say they believe the suspects likely work in the construction industry.

 

Cop Sentenced to 11 Years For Dealing Drugs in Uniform

By HardBoiledNews Staff

James Edgerson had been a Dumas police officer for 14 years

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — A former small town cop was sentenced to more than a decade in prison for his role in a multi-state drug operation which saw him at times selling cocaine and methamphetamine while in uniform.

James Edgerson, 39, had been with the Dumas police department in Arkansas for 14 years when he was arrested along with five others in 2015 for dealing drugs, federal  prosecutors said.

Investigators say Edgerson sold drugs while in uniform and carrying his department-issued weapon on numerous occasions and in one instance, dealt drugs while standing next to his police cruiser.

“Police officers take an oath to protect and serve their communities,” said acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris. “Edgerson’s significant sentence reflects his absolute violation of this oath, and his abuse of the trust placed in him by members of his community. This sentence also demonstrates that no one is above the law.”

Edgerson pleaded guilty in February. Four of his co-conspirators had previously pleaded and Edgerson’s cousin, Kendrick Lamar Edgerson is scheduled to go to trial in September.

Prosecutors say Edgerson admitted to participating in the conspiracy from May 2015 through through September 2015. He had been charged with buying and selling multi-ounce quantities cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana by the pound.

 

8-Year-Old Arkansas Boy Killed in Tragic Tombstone Collapse

By HardBoiledNews Staff

An 8-year-old boy died after an old tombstone fell on him

LYNN, Arkansas –An 8-year-old boy died in a freak accident when a tombstone toppled over and crushed him in an Arkansas church graveyard.

The tragic mishap occurred during a birthday party Saturday afternoon at the Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Lynn, when the boy wandered into the graveyard out back.

Officials believe the boy had been playing on a large tombstone when it broke and fell on him, KAIT-TV reported.

The boy was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared dead. Authorities have deemed the death an accident.

Members of the church said they were devastated by the accident.

“Just an eight-year-old rambunctious young man, just like many eight-year-old young men and full of life,” the church’s Pastor Jeff Neely told the station.  “There is definitely a lot of prayer being sent up on behalf of their family.”

The boy’s name has not been released.

 

Scientist Cops to Top-Secret Rice Theft

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Ark. was the scene of the crime

The Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Ark. was the scene of the crime

 

STUTTGART, Arkansas — The theft of a few grains of rice grains has landed one scientist in as much trouble as if he’d pinched a bag of diamonds.

Geneticist Wengui Yan, 61, was aware of a plot to steal the top secret rice from a government plant in Arkansas and deliver it to China — yet did nothing to stop it. The plant researches and produces genetically modified rice. That’s valuable scientific knowledge to a huge and growing population such as China.

Wengui Yan

Wengui Yan

Yan was working as a geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart in 2013, when a delegation from China came seeking to steal samples. He picked up the Chinese delegation from a motel in town, on July 22, 2013, and took them to the center. He traveled with them to a rice farm where he knew they would have an opportunity to steal seeds, the Department of Justice said.

Yan originally faced up to 10 years behind bars, but pleaded guilty to the offence and faces up to 20 months in federal prison.

Co-defendant Weiqiang Zhang, 50, of Manhattan, Kansas, is awaiting trial, according to the Dept. of Justice.