Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Crazed Kansas Councilwoman Bites Cop Hard Enough to Break His Thumb

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Councilwoman Carol Fowler leads by bad example

HURON, Kansas  — This is what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum.

Police in the small Kansas town of Huron were forced to use a Taser to subdue a town councilwoman who later bit a deputy’s thumb so badly she broke it, officials said.

Cops had gone to arrest Carol Fowler last Friday on a warrant for failing to show up to court for a prior drunken disorderly bust. But instead of going quietly, Fowler kicked and scratched officers, forcing them to tase her, the Atchison Globe reported.

She was held over the weekend, and when officers tried to complete the booking process on Monday, Fowler fought with them again, biting and officer’s thumb with such force it broke.

“They had five officers in there and it was a struggle for all of them to get her to comply,” Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie told MSC News. “She was able to get a hold of one of the correction officer’s thumbs with her teeth and actually broke the bone in his thumb.”

Fowler is one of five people on the city council of Huron, a town in eastern Kansas with a population of 73 people. She was elected last November after receiving two votes, and took office in January.

She remains in jail on $25,000 bond on charges of felony battery on a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor battery on a law enforcement officer and an additional misdemeanor charge of interference with law enforcement.

 

Cops Hunt for Sick Prankster Loosening Lug Nuts on First Responders’ Cars

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The lug nut bandit has been targeting first responders in a Kansas town

ELLSWORTH, Kansas — That’s a sinister plot, indeed.

Police in Kansas have fielded numerous reports from people discovering that the lug nuts on their vehicles have been loosened.

In some cases, wheels have even popped off while driving, although no one has been hurt, the Ellsworth police department said.

The only thing the targets have had in common is that they either are or are related to first responders, the department said, meaning police officers, firefighters and EMTs.

None of the cases involved city-owned vehicles, but rather the personal cars belonging to the first responders.

Police urged city residents to inspect their tires and said they will find the culprit.

“It may seem like a funny or minor thing to do. But when we find you, you can and will be charged with any damage caused by your mischievous behavior and also take note if anyone is injured as a result you will be charged with that as well,” said Ellsworth Police Chief Emil Halfhill.

Mysterious Missing Person’s Case Reveals Body of 3-Year-Old Encased in Concrete Block

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The block was found in Miranda Miller’s Wichita home where her son, Evan Brewer (r), had gone missing

WICHITA, Kansas — Police are investigating the chilling discovery of the body of a 3-year-old child encased in a concrete block found in a recently vacated house.

The mysterious block was found on Saturday when the landlord went to clean out the home and noticed a foul odor coming from it, Wichita police said.

Investigators removed the block using a forklift and later discovered the remains of the boy inside, the police said.

Two adults who had lived in the house had been arrested last Wednesday — before the boy’s body was found — on different charges related to a child custody case, the Wichita Eagle reported.

Stephen Bodine, 40, was arrested at the home on suspicion of aggravated assault and aggravated interference with parental custody and was ordered held on $260,000 bond. Miranda Miller, 36, was arrested at a different location on suspicion of aggravated interference with parental custody and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

Police say they have a tentative identification on the boy, but were waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner’s office.

Neighbors told the paper that a few weeks earlier, fliers had turned up in the neighborhood seeking help finding a missing boy named Evan Brewer who lived in the home. The fliers identified Miller as his “non-custodial” mother.

Around that time, a group of protesters showed up outside the house, chanting “Give us, Evan.”

 

Man Who Robbed Bank to Get Away from Wife Sentenced to House Arrest

By HardBoiledNews Staff

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Sometimes, the punishment truly fits the crime.

A 71-year-old man who told authorities he robbed a bank because he preferred to spend the rest of his life behind bars rather than with his wife, has been sentenced to six months house arrest — in the home he shares with his wife.

Lawrence John Ripple  had faced up to 20 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in January but his attorneys had asked the judge for leniency, saying Ripple had been suffering from severe depression at the time of the robbery and had sought treatment and has undergone couple’s counseling with his wife.

They also argued that he has health problems and is unlikely to re-offend.

Ripple had walked into the Bank of Labor across from police headquarters in Kansas City, Kansas last September with a note stating, “I have a gun, give me money.”

But after the teller handed him $2,924 from the drawer, he went and sat down on a chair in the bank lobby. When a bank security guard approached Ripple, he said he was the guy they were looking for and handed back the cash, according to court documents.

While being interviewed by investigators, Ripple said he had gotten into a fight with his wife at home “and he no longer wanted to be in that situation.” He said he wrote the demand note in front of his wife and told he he’d rather be in jail than continue living with her.

His lawyers said the episode amounted to a “cry for help.” In court, Ripple apologized for scaring the bank’s employees, the Kansas City Star reported.

 

 

Innocent Man Released After 17 Years as Lookalike Suspect is Discovered

By HardBoiledNews Staff

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — A man was freed after spending 17 years in jail for a purse snatching he didn’t commit when authorities found out he had a dead lookalike with the same name who may have been responsible for the crime.

The eerie coincidence landed Richard Jones behind bars in 1999 for a 19-year stretch for the Kansas robbery in which the only evidence pinning him to the crime was the victim identifying him as the thief.

At the time, prosecutors and the witness didn’t know there was another man out there who bore an uncanny resemblance to Jones, shared his first name and also lived near where the crime occurred, while Jones lived across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri.

But when Jones’ lawyers caught wind of the other man, they showed the witness the other man’s picture and he admitted he could not tell the two men apart.

Last week, a judge agreed and tossed Jones’ conviction out.

While there was no evidence that the other man committed the crime — he denied any role during a hearing before the judge — the bizarre situation poked holes in the sole bit of evidence against Jones.

The judge ruled that the photo array that was used by police to show the robbery victim was improper as it  included no one else who remotely looked like Jones.

“Everybody has a doppelganger,” Jones lawyer, Alice Craig told the Kansas City Star. “Luckily we found his.”

 

Man Who Prefers Prison to Living With Wife Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Lawrence Ripple finds married life to be more like prison than prison itself

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — He’s trading one ball and chain for another.

A 70-year-old Kansas man who told authorities he robbed a bank last year because he’d rather live behind bars than with his wife has pleaded guilty and could face up to 20 years in prison.

Lawrence John Ripple walked into the Bank of Labor across from police headquarters in Kansas City, Kansas last September with a note stating, “I have a gun, give me money.”

But after the teller handed him $2,924 from the drawer, he went and sat down on a chair in the bank lobby. When a bank security guard approached Ripple, he said he was the guy they were looking for and handed back the cash, according to court documents.

While being interviewed by investigators, Ripple said he had gotten into a fight with his wife at home “and he no longer wanted to be in that situation.” He said he wrote the demand note in front of his wife and told he he’d rather be in jail than continue living with her.

He then walked over to the bank to commit the robbery.

Ripple pleaded guilty without making any agreement with prosecutors for how much time he will serve. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

That means it will be up to the judge to decide what Ripple’s fate will be when he is sentenced at a later date.

Kansas Militia Men Charged with Bomb Plot Targeting Mosque

By HardBoiledNews Staff

mosque-plot

Militia men Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright and Patrick Stein

 

GARDEN CITY, Kansas — Three Kansas militia members driven by a hatred for Muslims were charged with plotting to blow up an apartment building that is home to a mosque and dozens of Somali immigrants.

The stunning terrorist attack was only foiled as the result of a months-long investigation by the FBI who kept tabs as the men stockpiled automatic weapons, tons of ammunition and the material for deadly homemade bombs.

“These charges are based on eight months of investigation by the FBI that is alleged to have taken the investigators deep into a hidden culture of hatred and violence,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Beall. “Many Kansans may find it as startling as I do that such things could happen here.”

Curtis Allen and Gavin Wright, both 49 and from Liberal, Kansas, and Patrick Eugene Stein, 47, of Wright, Kansas, were charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in the planned attack on the housing complex in Garden City, Kansas.

Authorities said the men planned to launch their attack the day after Election Day and were putting together a manifesto in order to “wake people up.”

Federal investigators said the men identified themselves as “the Crusaders,” a sovereign citizen group that holds strongly anti-government, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim beliefs and was part of a larger militia group known as the “Kansas Security Force.”. The men were caught on tapes recorded by a paid government informant regularly calling Somalis “cockroaches.”

They also discussed how to build bombs similar to that detonated by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City in 1995, that destroyed a federal office building and killed 168 people.

Garden City is home to a Tyson Foods beef slaughterhouse and has become a magnet for immigrants seeking work. There are an estimated 500 to 600 Somalis living in the area.

For several months, the man allegedly scouted out locations in southwest Kansas near where they lived to carry out an attack that would cause the maximum damage. Among the ideas considered were engaging in a shooting rampage at a place where Muslims gathered, attacking churches that helped refugees and firing rocket-propelled grenades into an apartment complex where many Somalis live.

“If you’re a Muslim I’m going to enjoy shooting you in the head,” Stein was recorded saying. “When we go on operations there’s no leaving anyone behind, even if it’s a one-year old, I’m serious. I guarantee if I go on a mission those little fuckers are going bye-bye.”

For several months, the group attempted to gather materials to construct powerful bombs and in August, settled on detonating four bombs at each of the corners of the apartment building where hundreds of Somali immigrants lived and where a mosque was located.

Authorities moved to bust up the plot after Allen’s girlfriend called Liberal, Kansas police on Oct. 11 to report domestic abuse and showed them a large stockpile of ammunition and weapons-making equipment he had gathered. When police later  took Allen into custody, he allegedly had a large amount of ammunition, magazines for automatic weapons and tools for making silencers in his car. They also discovered bomb-making residue at his home.

The next day, Stein allegedly told an undercover FBI agent he was attempting to buy the explosive compound ammonium nitrate, from that Allen’s girlfriend “needs to disappear” because he believed she was giving information to the authorities.

Stein and Wright were arrested on Oct. 14. If convicted, the men face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

 

 

Mexican Charged with Rape after Being Deported 10 Times

By HardBoiledNews Staff

 

deport-rape

JUNCTION CITY, Kansas — A Mexican national who had been deported from the United States 10 times over the past six years, has been charged with raping a 12-year-old girl on a bus.

Tomas Martinez-Maldonado, 41, was arrested in late September when the Greyhound bus pulled into Kansas City and the girl reported the alleged assault.

A Greyhound bus had made a stop in Kansas City and there was an alleged rape that occurred on the bus, however they had no idea where this rape took place,” Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf told the Hays Post.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation determined the assault took place in Geary County and Martinez-Maldonaldo was charged there. He was jailed on $100,000 bail.

In the interim, he was handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement which said he had previously been deported 10 times since 2010, the Kansas City Star reported. In 2013, he had a felony conviction for illegal re-entry into the U.S., the agency said.