Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

News Orleans Prostitute Charged in Mardi Gras Slaying of Businessman

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Mardi Gras slay suspect Megan Hall has a history of prostitution busts

NEW ORLEANS — A woman with a history of prostitution arrests has been charged in the hotel stabbing death of a Pennsylvania businessman who was in News Orleans for Mardi Gras, police said.

Megan Hall, 25, turned herself in to New Orleans cops  Sunday morning after being sought for questioning in the bloody slaying of Pennsylvania jewelry store chain owner, Patrick Murphy, on Thursday. She has been charged with second-degree murder.

Investigators have not yet said what they believe the motive was in Murphy’s slaying, but said Hall was seen on surveillance footage checking in with Murphy at the Empress Hotel early Thursday, and leaving alone two hours later.

Police were called around noon the next day after hotel staff found Murphy lying dead in bed in a pool of blood. An autopsy determined that Murphy had been stabbed to death.

Murphy, 62, had been in town with his wife for Mardi Gras. He owns Murphy Jewelers with stores in Pottsville, Tilden Township and Center Valley in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Murphy

Hall, of Munford, Tennessee, had several prior prostitution busts in Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; and Houston. If convicted, she faces life imprisonment.

Soldier, Girlfriend Busted After Dead Wife’s Body Found in Trunk of Car

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Logan Kyle (r) is accused of killing his wife, Shelena (l) in a bid to run off with another woman

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — A U.S. Army soldier was arrested after cops found his dead wife’s body in the trunk of a car he was driving in with his girlfriend and her kids.

Officers with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s office in Louisiana said they pulled over 22-year-old Logan Kyle and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Parker, near Lake Charles late Monday after getting a call from another department saying they were wanted for suspected murder.

In the trunk, officers found the body of Kyle’s 22-year-old wife, Shelena Kyle. Police say that under questioning, Kyle admitted killing Shelena at Fort Polk, where he is stationed on active duty. Parker admitted that she knew Kyle had killed his wife and was willingly helping him get rid of the body, cops said.

Parker’s two kids, aged 1 and 2, were in the car at the time of the stop and were taken into custody by the state’s department of children and family services. She was charged with failing to report a homicide and obstruction of justice.

Sarah Parker

Kyle was handed over to military investigators. A corporal, he joined the Army four years ago, and was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Polk in February, 2017, and served as an infantry fire team leader.

 

Man Busted for Child Porn When Worker Spots Sick Pics On Screensaver

By HardBoiledNews Staff

James Drew Taylor allegedly used child porn as a screensaver

WEST MONROE, Louisiana — A not-so-sharp sicko was busted for having child porn after building employees came into his apartment to inspect his fire extinguisher and spotted the twisted images he’d been using as a screensaver.

James Drew Taylor was hit with 10 counts of child pornography after a building worker came into his West Monroe, Louisiana apartment and called cops when he saw a child porn slideshow scrolling across the screen of a computer in the living room.

Cops came to check the pictures out and then tracked Taylor down at his job where he admitted the images were his, KNOE-TV reported. He said he had downloaded them from the Internet.

Tenants in Taylor’s building had been notified by email three days before the inspections that they should put their fire extinguishers outside for collection. They were told that if the fire extinguishers were not outside, employees would enter the apartments to get them.

 

 

Man Claims Axe-Wielding Ghost Planted Meth Cops Found In His House

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Michael Auttonberry turns ghostly when he smokes meth, apparently

WEST MONROE, Louisiana — Stay away from whatever this guy is smoking.

A Louisiana man was busted after claiming to cops that a ghost planted drugs on him after he was hit in the head with an axe.

Police say Michael Auttonberry, 59, had no visible wounds to his head when they responded to a report that he had been stabbed at his home in West Monroe, according to an arrest report from the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Smoking Gun reported.

When deputies arrived, Auttonberry not only shouted at them, but also at people “who were obviously not there,” the arrest record said. Officials noted in their report that Auttonberry had not been stabbed in the head with an axe as he’d claimed.

Deputies also were unable to locate the intruders Auttonberry said were in his home.

When officers discovered a pile of crystal meth on his nightstand, Auttonberry allegedly told them that it had to have been planted by a “ghost or intruders” who happened to be climbing out a nearby window.

Auttonberry was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and giving a false police report.

Mom Guns Down Estranged Hubby in Front of Their 3 Kids at Walmart

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Kayla Coutee shot her estranged husband when they met to exchange their kids

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana — A mother of three gunned down her estranged husband in front of their kids at a Walmart parking lot, cops said.

Kayla Coutee, 31, had gone to meet her ex, Thomas Coutee, 30, to exchange the children on Saturday morning, when she shot him once in the chest, the Alexandria police department said.

She then remained at the scene with the three children, ages 7, 5 and 2, until police arrived to find Thomas laying on his back in a pool of blood at an outer area of the parking lot. Paramedics tried to save Thomas, but he was declared dead at the scene.

Kayla was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with second-degree murder. The children were not injured and were taken to police headquarters before being released to a relative.

Thomas Coutee had filed for divorce from Kayla earlier this year, court records show.

Jaguar Escapes at New Orleans Zoo, Kills Seven Other Animals

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Valerio the jaguar killed four alpaca, a fox and an emu before being tranquilized

NEW ORLEANS — Animal instinct can’t be caged.

A 3-year-old jaguar escaped its enclosure at a Louisiana Zoo and rampaged through the nearby habitats of several other animals, killing four alpaca, an emu and a fox, before being sedated with a tranquilizer dart.

The male jaguar, named Valerio, got out of its habitat at around 7:20 a.m. Saturday morning, officials at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans said, and was on the loose for about an hour before zookeepers were able to stop him.

“Our animals are our family. We are devastated by this loss,” the zoo said in a statement. The zoo was closed Saturday while officials conducted an investigation.

The zoo said they believe the wild cat got out of its habitat through a break in its roof. A second jaguar living in the enclosure — a female named  Ix Chel — remained in a separate indoor habitat during the incident.

After Valerio got out, he killed the alpaca named Noel, Micia, Alexandria and Lil Melody, as well as a fox named Maggie May and an emu named Elmo. Another alpaca named Daisy and two foxes named Copper and Rusty, were injured but survived.

The zoo said that veterinarians responded immediately after Valerio broke free, but it took some time to prepare the tranquilizers and to get a good line of sight to dart the cat. Once darted, Valerio was sedated within minutes. The cat was moved to a secure location at the zoo and was in good health.

“Nothing is going to happen to the jaguar itself. Unfortunately, it was doing what jaguars do and we are not going to euthanize the jaguar over this,” said Joel Hamilton, the zoo’s vice president.

Valerio was born in March 2015 at San Diego Zoo and moved to Audubon Zoo in New Orleans last October.

‘Nigerian Prince’ Scammer Caught in Louisiana and He Sure as Hell Ain’t Nigerian

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Michael Neu played a role in duping victims out of $250,000 in a ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam

SLIDELL, Louisiana — Ladies and gentlemen, here is your Nigerian prince.

Police in Louisiana have zeroed in on a 67-year-old local man who they say played a key middle-man role helping dupe hundreds of people out of $250,000 through the notorious Nigerian prince email scam.

Michael Neu, of Slidell, allegedly served as a go-between between the victims and the foreign-based hoaxters, receiving payments into his accounts and then wiring the money overseas and keeping a cut of the cash.

The scam consists of sending dubious emails from a “Nigerian Price” who claims you are the beneficiary of a will and stand to inherit a large sum of money. They ask their marks to send personal financial information and make a security deposit to “prove” they are the beneficiary. While most people delete such emails, police say enough people fall for it to make it lucrative.

Slidell Police say they caught wind of Neu in May 2016, when contacted by authorities in Dodge City, Kansas where one of the victims lived.

Following a long-running investigation, with the aid of the Secret Service, they determined Neu had gotten roped into the scam through a “romance scheme.” He met a woman on Facebook named Maria Mendez, who investigators believe likely doesn’t exist, and she convinced him to help process payments for a cut of the action.

Mendez would then send out would thousands of emails to unsuspecting recipients each day,  consisting of “Nigerian Prince” scams, fraudulent IRS scams, reshipping scams and advance pay scams. When someone would fall victim to one of the scam’s, Mendez would  direct them to wire or mail money to Neu.

He would then transfer the money to “Maria Mendez” in Nigeria via Western Union or MoneyGram. He said he was conducting around three to four such transactions each week.

 

Neu being arrested in November

Investigators say  scammers use people like Neu as a middle man in an attempt to conceal their true identities, and to launder money. At first they believed Neu was a dupe himself but under questioned they discovered he was a willing participant who said he “needed the money.”

They say Neu had over 10 bank accounts, most of which had been frozen or closed because bank officials suspected fraudulent transactions. Western Union also banned Neu from using their wire transfer services, forcing him to use other companies, cops said.

In all, detectives estimate Neu made over $250,000 worth of fraudulent transactions, but believe the figure could be substantially higher.

Man Seeking Voodoo Doctor Wrecks Car, Strips Off Clothes, Blames Snakes

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Kevin Bolton Crashed at the Slidell Airport after an imagined police chase

SLIDELL, Louisiana — It’s a pretty good bet drugs were involved.

A man on his way to find a “voodoo doctor,” crashed his car through a fence at a Louisiana airport and was later found stripped down to only his underwear because he claimed snakes had been crawling up his pants, police said.

Kevin Bolton, 43, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi said he had been running from police when he slammed his Chevy Tahoe through the fence of the Slidell Municipal Airport Monday morning and causing a telephone pole to fall on his car.

Police, however, say no law enforcement agency had been pursuing Bolton. Things got even weirder after the crash.

Bolton then fled into the woods near the airport, but turned up a couple of hours later in a nearby subdivision clad in only his underwear, cops said.

Bolton

“Bolton alleges that he had to strip off his clothes because snakes were crawling up his pants,” the Slidell police said in a statement.

Cops said they believed Bolton was under the influence of some type of narcotic. He was booked on charges of careless operation of a motor vehicle and hit and run.

Trial Starts in Horrific Drowning of Couple Tied to Weights and Thrown Off Bridge

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Prosecutors say Lakeitha and Kenneth Joseph were still alive when they hit the water

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana jury heard the horrific details of a drowning of a couple who were tied to 30-pound kettle bells and thrown off  bridge to a nightmarish death.

Prosecutors in New Orleans laid out the terrifying final hours of Kenneth and Lakeitha Joseph’s lives in opening statements Tuesday in the murder trial of Horatio Johnson.

Authorities allege that Johnson, who is Kenneth Joseph’s cousin, put together the elaborate plot to kill the couple that began with them being beaten with chairs in a Metairie recording studio on the night of Feb, 18, 2014, and ended with them being thrown off a bridge into the murky waters of the Intercoastal Waterway.

“They were helpless, unable to help each other, only able to watch each other drown,” Orleans Parish prosecutor Kevin Guillory told jurors, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The couple were reported missing the next day after failing to return a van to a relative. The van was later found near Atlanta with blood splattered all over its interior.

Lekeitha Joseph’s body surfaced on March 10, 2014, and her husband’s body was found 12 days later. Their bodies were still bound by the blue nylon rope that allegedly been used to tie them to the heavy weightlifting bells.

While prosecutors laid out in fine detail how the killings happened, they didn’t discuss motive. Johnson faces life in prison if convicted.

Horatio Johson faces life in prison for the murder of his cousin and his cousin’s wife

Two others face charges in the case. Amir “Blue” Ybarra, who operated the recording studio, has been a fugitive wanted on obstruction charges since May 2014. Steven Bradley, 31, is awaiting a separate trial on murder charges.

Two others have already pleaded guilty to charges in the case. Prison guard Brittany Martin has admitted to his role in the killing and faces up to 40 years when he is sentenced. Frank Mike Jr., admitted dumping the blood-stained van after being told by Bradley that  they “had to pull off a little move” using the vehicle.

Guillory told the jury that when the Josephs went to meet Johnson at Ybarra’s recording studio, they were lured inside one by one, where they were beaten with chairs.

Prosecutors said they would present video surveillance footage from a Walmart showing  Johnson and Martin purchasing a “murder kit,” of gloves, shoes, hoodies, degreaser, the nylon rope and kettlebells, using Lakeitha Joseph’s credit card.

They then drove the couple to Paris Road Bridge in Chalmette, and threw them in the water to die.

Johnson’s attorney, Bradley Phillips, argued that prosecutors had ignored piles of other evidence in pointing the finger at his client, and had largely built their case around the testimony of Martin and Mike, who he said had changed their stories several times and should be considered unreliable witnesses.

“They are people with literally everything to lose — their life,” he said. “They ignored mountains of other things, and they created a narrative, and that’s exactly what the evidence is going to show.”

Fugitive Accidentally Turns Himself in By Flagging Down Cop for a Ride

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jansen Simon should be charged with being criminally stupid

RACELAND, Louisiana — Criminal mastermind, he wasn’t.

Police caught up to a wanted fugitive in Louisiana when he flagged down a passing patrol car after his friends dumped him out on the side of the road.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s office says Jansen Simon made their jobs easy early Sunday morning, when he signaled a passing deputy to stop.

Simon, 30, had been wanted since 2013 on charges that he hit a man on the head with a hammer during a bar fight, fracturing his skull. He fled the scene and had been on the lam ever since. He also had been wanted on two contempt of court warrants as well.

When Simon stopped the deputy along the road in Raceland, he explained that his friend shad abandoned him and he needed a lift. But when the deputy checked Simon’s ID and ran it through the system, he ended up in cuffs instead.

Simon was charged with second-degree battery and two counts contempt of court and is being held without bail.