Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Rotting Body of Police Suspect Found Hidden in Building Column After Chase

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The man’s rotting body was found hidden deep within the column’s outside the shop

LANCASTER, California — Cops made a grisly find when a supermarket manager reported a strange smell coming from a column which turned out to be the decomposing body of a man officers had been chasing near the store earlier in the week.

The manager of a California WinCo Foods initially thought the smell was a sewage leak and called a plumber. But when they removed some brick from the upright, they saw a leg and shoe so called cops.

It was not immediately clear who the dead man was, but cops believe he may have been a suspect they had given chase nearly a week earlier, who they thought had gotten away after running on the roof of the supermarket.

Instead, the man found his way inside the entryway column and could not get out. It’s unclear if he fell to his death or became trapped and couldn’t get out.

“He may have gotten inside there and somehow gotten down the column, trying to hide from the deputies and then couldn’t get out,” Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Corina, told KABC-TV.

“It’s been over 100 degrees up here everyday. I can’t imagine being inside that column and just baking. It’s a strange development, and if he died that way, it’s a horrible way to die,” he added.

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Missing Woman Found 7 Days After Plunging Down 200-Foot Cliff in California

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Angela Hernandez survived by drinking water from her radiator after plunging down a 200-foot cliff

BIG SUR, California — A woman who had been missing for seven days was miraculously found alive at the bottom of a 200-foot cliff where her car had landed after plunging off of a windy and remote stretch of coastal road.

Angela Hernandez, 23, had sat injured and dazed for a week on a small craggy beach at the bottom of a steep cliff along Central California’s picturesque coastline. She had survived by drinking water from her wrecked Jeep’s radiator.

She was finally found on Friday when a pair of hikers spotted her Jeep, which was partially submerged in the Pacific Ocean. When they came down for a closer look, they discovered Hernandez alive.

“My sister is alive, she’s talking, and she’s still trying to come to understand everything,” Angela’s sister Isabel Hernandez wrote on Facebook early Saturday. “She’s a fighter and she fought this long and she will continue to. It’s not going to be an easy recovery. I hope everyone will have patience for her and her recovery.

Hernandez’s disappearance had triggered a wide search. She had last been seen leaving a gas station in Carmel on July 6 as she drove from Portland, Oregon to visit her sister near Los Angeles.

Her family had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts as authorities searched on the ground and by air. Fog in the area had limited visibility for several days which likely slowed finding Hernandez.

She told rescuers that she had lost control of her Jeep Patriot along Highway 1 after swerving to avoid hitting an animal that morning and then plunged 200 feet over a cliff

After being found, crews worked for hours to hoist her back up the cliff face to the roadway.

Rescuers said Hernandez was found to be in fair and stable condition and was treated for a concussion and an injured shoulder. She was then airlifted to Twin Cities Community Hospital in San Luis Obispo County.

 

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Serial Nude Masturbator Busted After Terrorizing Calif. Community For Year

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Joseph Ironteeth Agnelle was IDed as a serial nude masturbator

FREMONT, California — Cops finally caught up to a serial nude masturbator terrorizing a California community for more than a year as he  ran naked from an apartment building.

Fremont Police detectives say Joseph Ironteeth Agnelle, a 31-year-old homeless man, admitted to at least 25 incidents over the past year in which he would accost woman while naked and masturbate in front of them.

Cops received a flood of tips about Agnelle in recent weeks after going public with the investigation and releasing images of the naked man darting across a field sporting a distinctive tattoo on his arm of a feather dangling from a ring.

Eventually, detectives were able to identify Agnelle, who works as a car mechanic, as their suspect. They then obtained an arrest warrant for him and waited outside two homes to which he had connections.

While staking out one of the addresses in Fremont, cops spotted what they believed was Agnelle’s car, and then saw him running naked out of the building.

Agnelle then ran into some bushes and refused to come out, so police used a Taser to subdue him.

He was charged with indecent exposure, burglary and resisting arrest. He has been held on $102,000 bond. More charges are expected.

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Serial Nude Masturbator Hassling Women in California

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Cops say this is the serial masturbator they are looking for

FREMONT, California — Cops are on the hunt for a serial nude masturbator who has been lurking around northern California.

Police first caught wind of the pervert perp on June 21, when an 18-year-old woman in Fremont reported waking up in her home with a naked man masturbating in front of her. When she screamed, he ran. After cops put out information about the incident, other women came forward.

Now cops think the first time the sicko struck was on June 15, when two Fremont women noticed someone moving around in their backyard.  A closer look revealed a naked man touching his genitals and then waving at them before he took off, cops said.

On June 27, the man allegedly struck twice. At one point, the naked man approached a couple in a parked car and tried to speak to them. When they refused to engage, the man hopped into a Cadillac SUV a sped off.

An hour later, cops say he struck again when he walked naked up to a woman walking her dog through an apartment complex. She ran away from him and the man disappeared.

That wasn’t the last of it. On July 5, a surveillance camera caught the naked man masturbating in nearby Pleasanton. That gave a cops a clear sense of what the man looked like and the details of a distinctive tattoo on his right shoulder that show a feather hanging from a ring.

 

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Three Busted in Chilling Kidnapping of Hollywood Actress and Boyfriend

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Actress Daisy McCrackin and her boyfriend were kidnapped and the man beaten until she paid a ransom for his release

LOS ANGELES — Three people have been arrested in the terrifying kidnapping and beating of a Hollywood actress and her boyfriend, authorities said.

Prosecutors say the three suspects went to the South Los Angeles home of actress Daisy McCrackin in May, pistol-whipped her boyfriend, Joseph Capone, put black bags over their heads and forced them out of the house.

Keith Andre Stewart, Johntae Jones and Amber Neal then drove the victims to Jones’ home in Compton, where they stripped Capone naked and held him without food in a bathtub for the next 30 hours, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, Jones and Neal allegedly drove McCrackin in her 2011 red Lexus, to several banks, demanding she withdraw $10,000 to secure Capone’s release. They then forced McCracking to write a $10,000 check to Neal, who deposited in her account.

The following day, the suspects drove McCrackin back to her home where she managed to escape their clutched and call police.

All three were eventually located and arrested. A video showing Neal’s arrest, in which numerous cops surrounded her with guns drawn, went viral and sparked some public outcry because she was unarmed.

The Los Angeles Police Department later put out a statement about the video, reading: “We are aware this video has raised concerns from the community. Although we are limited in what info we can release, we can confirm this individual was arrested on a felony kidnapping warrant & taken into custody without a use-of-force. She is being held on 1 million dollars bail.”

The three suspects were charged with 17 felony counts, including kidnapping, assault with a firearm, grand theft, mayhem, conspiracy and possession for sale of a controlled substance, methamphetamine.

Stewart and Jones face a maximum possible sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged. Neal faces up to life in prison.

Bail for Jones and Neal was set at $1 million, and Stewart’s bail was $2.08 million.

McCrackin’s film credits include roles in “Halloween: Resurrection,” and “3000 Miles to Graceland.”

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Cops Find Massive Stash of 553 Illegal Guns at Ex-Con’s California Home

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This stash of guns gives new meaning to the word arsenal

AGUA DULCE, California — He was ready to be an army of one.

Police in California were stunned to discover over 550 firearms stashed in the home of an ex-con after receiving a tip that he was amassing a large arsenal of weapons.

Officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff found the weapons cache last week when they executed a search warrant at the home of Manuel Fernandez in a rocky, mountainous community 45 miles north of LA.

In the first search, cops uncovered 432 handguns, long rifles and assault rifles at the 60-year-old Fernandez’s home. Fernandez is a convicted felon and is therefore barred from legally possessing guns.

A warrant executed at a second home belonging to a female acquaintance of Fernandez’s netted another 30 illegal firearms. A subsequent search of Fernandez’s home revealed an additional 91 guns that were hidden within the house.

Detectives also seized computers, cell phones, and hard drives from the residence.

Due to the large number of firearms found, detectives called in the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to help trace where they all came from.

Fernandez has been charged with felony possession of firearms, possession of an assault rifle, felon in possession of ammunition and possession of a large capacity magazine. He was released on bond.

 

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Air Force Captain Who Disappeared With Top Secrets Found After 35 Years

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Air Force Capt. William Hughes deserted in 1983 and had been feared to have defected to Russia

FAIRFIELD, California — An Air Force captain with top secret clearance whose disappearance 35 years ago raised the specter he had given sensitive missile secrets to the Russians, has been found, authorities said.

Capt. William Howard Hughes, 66, was declared missing in 1983 after failing to return to Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque, New Mexico following  a temporary assignment at NATO headquarters in the Netherlands.

A probe revealed that Hughes had withdrawn $28,500 from his accounts at 19 different bank locations in Albuquerque before he disappeared. His car was found at the Albuquerque airport.

He was finally located on June 5, when investigators conducting a passport fraud probe in California interviewed a man who claimed to be Barry O’Beirne. But after questioning him about inconsistencies in his story, he admitted he was Hughes.

He told investigators that at the time of his disappearance, he had been depressed about being in the Air Force and decided to leave. He said he moved to California and had lived there since as Barry O’Beirne.

 

At the time of his disappearance, Hughes had top secret security about matters relating to NATO. His family told reporters at the time that they thought he had been abducted.

In 1984, a report in the Los Angeles Times speculated that Hughes had possibly defected to the Soviet Union and given them sensitive information about NATO defense systems.

Authorities say they have no reason to believe at this point that Hughes had given information to the Russians but were continuing to investigate.

He is being held at Travis Air Force Base in California.

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Lovesick Killer Charged With Gunning Down Fiance of Woman He Tried to Woo

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Airport worker Kevin Prasad was quietly obsessed with Thandel Seinn and shot her fiance to profess his love

DALY CITY, California — A lovelorn airport worker gunned down the fiance of a colleague he was smitten with in a bizarre bid to win her heart, prosecutors said.

Kevin Prasad, 31, had spent months trying to convince Thandel Seinn, a fellow security worker at San Francisco International Airport, to dump her boyfriend and date him instead, the San Mateo District Attorney’s office said.

Seinn consistently told him she wasn’t interested and pointing out she had a 3-year-old child with her long-time boyfriend, Mark Mangaccat.

“We were friends. At the airport we work in same job; [my] boyfriend, me and him, we were friends,” she told KPIX-TV.

But a day before she and Mangaccat were preparing to move to Las Vegas to start a new life, prosecutors say Prasad lay in wait outside his love interest’s home and shot her  fiance in the driveway.

“As our victim was backing the car in, with his girlfriend in the car, Mr. Prasad jumped out of the car and came running up and fired through the window while they were both there,” said San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. “It is just through great fortune that she wasn’t also struck by one of the five or six bullets that were fired.”

Prasad was fixated on Thandel Seinn (l) and wasn’t going to let Mark Mangaccat (r) stand in his way

Seinn said it didn’t immediately occur to her that Prasad could be the killer as he had seemed so harmless.

“He just tell me, ‘Don’t go’ and ‘I want to be with you,’”  she said. “He would just say something like a friendly joke.”

Prasad and his pal, Donovan Rivera, who served as a getaway driver, have been charged with murder and could face life in prison if convicted.

 

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2nd Mistrial in Rape Case Where Woman Told Navy Commander to Stop 90 Times

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Former Navy Commander John Neuhart said he thought he had permission to enter the woman’s home and have sex

SAN DIEGO — A second mistrial has been declared in the trial of a former Navy commander accused of raping a junior officer who was captured on tape telling him 90 times to stop trying to have sex with her.

John Neuhart, 41, was accused of forcing his way into the woman’s San Diego home in 2016 and attacking her. He fled when her screams attracted the attention of a neighbor. He was later caught after he fell into a canyon and broke his leg while trying to get away.

The judge declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the top three counts against Neuhart, An earlier trial also ended with a hung jury in December. Prosecutors said they would review the case before deciding whether to try again.

Neuhart was relieved of his command following his arrest but is still in the Navy. He testified at the first trial but didn’t take the stand during the retrial.

Neuhart had testified in the earlier trial that the woman, a helicopter pilot who had been a lieutenant under his command in Guam, had given him permission to come to her home and have sex.

The two had repeatedly hugged and kissed each other earlier in the night, according to surveillance footage from a hotel they visited and testimony from a taxi driver that took them to the woman’s apartment, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

He said the woman told him earlier in the night that if she said “no” to him, she meant “yes.” During the encounter, Neuhart turned his cellphone’s camera on, he said to record the episode in case she later accused him of rape.

Jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 10-2 for guilty on the charge of attempted rape. They split 7-5 for guilt on a charge of assault with intent to commit rape during a burglary and 2-10 for guilt on a charge of resisting or delaying an officer.

 

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Secret Service Agent Held Up at Gunpoint in Phony Money Sting

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Two forgers discovered the hard way that they were shaking down an undercover Secret Service agent

LOS ANGELES — Two California money forgers were arrested for an alleged gunpoint robbery of an undercover Secret Service who was working to bust up their counterfeit cash ring.

Federal prosecutors say Richard “Profit” Taron Henderson, and Tyre “Reckless” Jordan Simmons, both 22, had been under investigation for months for forgery when an undercover agent for the Secret Service arranged to meet them in late March to buy $40,000 in bogus notes.

On March 26, Henderson arrived at a rendezvous spot in South Los Angeles with a bag stuffed with clothes to stand in for a sack of money, prosecutors said. When the agent showed up, Simmons allegedly pulled out a 9mm handgun and pointed it in the officer’s face.

The pair then made off with $4,500 the agent had brought along for the bogus deal. They also stole the agent’s secret service vehicle.

Simmons had served time after being convicted of robbery in the Los Angeles in 2016.

 

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