Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Ex-MMA Star War Machine Sentenced to Life in Beating of Porn Star Girlfriend

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War Machine won’t see the light of day until he is at least 71 years old

LAS VEGAS — The former mixed martial arts star War Machine was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years for the brutal beating and sexual assault of his porn star ex-girlfriend in 2014.

The fighter, who legally changed his name from Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver during his MMA career, was convicted in March of the savage beating of former gal pal, Christine Mackinday — whose porn name was Christy Mack — and her friend Corey Thomas after finding them in bed in her Las Vegas home.

Koppenhaver had faced the possibility of life in prison with no chance of parole. Mackinday said it didn’t matter, as she would never feel safe.

“I don’t know how much time in prison would make me feel right,” she told the judge. “But I do know that when he gets out he will kill me.”

Koppenhaver, 35, said he was deeply remorseful for what had happened and his lawyers had asked for a 16-year-to-life sentence.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t seriously regret what I did,” Koppenhaver told the judge. “I hated the way I think. I hated my impulses. … I hate myself.”

Prosecutors said Koppenhaver beat Mackinday, 26, for nearly two hours during the August 2014 attack before she was able to escape and get help. At one point during the attack, Mack testified that Koppenhaver told her, “Now I have to kill you. I’ve gone too far.”

Mackinday had testified that she had endured an abusive relationship with Koppenhaver for 15 months but had called it off at the time of the attack. He savagely beat her in a fit of jealousy after storming into her home and finding her clothed in bed with Thomas, whom she had been dating for two months.

She suffered multiple serious injuries, including a broken nose, lacerated liver, two lost teeth and a fractured rib. She said the emotional damage she suffered may have been worse and that she continues to live in fear.

 

 

Crazed Trucker Rams 18-Wheeler Into Nevada’s Famed Bunny Ranch

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MOUND HOUSE, Nevada — A crazed ex-trucker stole an 18-wheeler and rammed it into the notorious Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada, causing extensive damage to the building’s facade, authorities said.

The brothel, which known after being featured in the HBO series “Cathouse,” was open for business at the time of the early morning crash, but no one was injured.

The suspect, identified as Brian Brandt, 40, of Reno, had allegedly stolen the truck from his former employer, before backing it through the front gate of the ranch around 4 a.m., the Lyon County Sheriff’s office said.

He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon (the truck), destruction of property and  possession of stolen property.

Ranch owner Dennis Hof said Brandt was wearing full body armor when he ran out of the truck following the crash. Hof said the episode appeared to be “an apparent sadistic attempt to gain notoriety,” but that business was unaffected.

“America’s most beloved working girls are shaken by this horrific incident, but they are not deterred from their mission to deliver incomparable sexual pleasure to horny people across the globe,” he said.

Mikki Lynn said she was in with a client when the crash occurred which caused the whole building to shake.

“I was totally on top of this guy, riding and all of sudden it felt like an earthquake and the whole building started shaking and I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m good, but I’m not that good. What’s going on?’ So I throw on a towel and run out and get out here and he put the whole damn truck in the back door. I tried to tell him that was a specialty party and he had to pay extra for that,” she said.

Brian Brandt

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that Brandt had been arrested a little over a week before the crash and charged with battery and conspiracy to destroy property, an episode that led to his dismissal from the trucking company where he had worked.

 

 

Killer Bee Attack Leaves Dog Dead and Two People Hospitalized

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LAS VEGAS — A swarm of killer bees left a dog dead and sent two people to the hospital after terrorizing residents of a Sin City street, authorities said.

The terrifying episode of Friday afternoon sent people “running down the street” in an effort to getting away from the swarming bees, the Clark County Fire Department said.

Officials said there was no indication that the bees had been provoked before going on the attack.

The dog, named China, was outside at the time of the attack and died despite efforts by its owner to get her inside.

“We just got attacked by bees. Hundreds of them. I don’t know where they came from,” the woman, named Rose, told KLAS-TV.

She said she and her husband were also attacked.

“I’m not sure how many times we were stung, but we were literally covered head to toe,” Rose said.

Two people were hospitalized and third person was treated at the scene by emergency personnel who donned protective gear.

Officials cordoned off the area and urged people nearby to stay indoors and keep their windows shut.

“We’re kind of just waiting until they pick a new spot,” assistant fire chief Larry Haydu told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Vegas Cops Catch Man Attacking Decoy in Hunt for Killer of 2 Vagrants

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Shane Schindler used a hammer to beat a mannequin staged to look like a homeless person

LAS VEGAS — A hammer-wielding lunatic was arrested in a Las Vegas police sting after attacking a mannequin staged to look like a sleeping homeless man by investigators trying to solve the recent beating deaths of two homeless men.

Police say they watched as Shane Schindler walked up to the dummy which had been covered with blankets on a sidewalk near where one of the homeless men was bludgeoned to death, pull out a 4-pound hammer out of Little Caesar’s Pizza bag and scan the area.

He then brought the hammer down several times on the dummy’s head, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Police captured the beating on surveillance camera.

Schindler, 30, admits he struck the mannequin, but insists he knew it was not a real person all along.

“When close enough to strike his victim, Schindler removed the hammer from the bag then struck what he thought was a human being in the head with the hammer with the intent to kill,” the police report states. “The decoy mannequin was staged in a manner which would have made it impossible for Schindler to have determined the mannequin was not a human being before he struck. Schindler swung the hammer using both arms to generate maximum force to his blow.”

Police had set up the trap near where the two men had been beaten to death earlier this year.

Daniel Aldape, 46, was found dead with his body on the ground wrapped in blankets on Jan. 4 after having been struck “four or five times” on the head with a heavy object, police said. David Dunn, 60, was found dead a month later of head trauma at the same intersection, cops said.

At the time, cops said they had no leads, but hadn’t ruled out the possibility of “thrill kills,” which is why they staged the trap using a mannequin.

Schindler has so far been charged with carrying a concealed weapon, but the judge in the case ordered him held on $50,000 bond — 10 times the usual amount for such a charge.

His lawyer argued the figure was excessive and that Schindler insists he is innocent.

Brothers Brawl Over Packers-Cowboys Game Turns Deadly

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Robert (l) and Justin Boyer’s sibling rivalry came to a head over a heated football game

LAS VEGAS  — This gives a whole new definition to the term “sports nut.”

A fight between a pair of brothers over the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys game turned deadly when one of them pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed his sibling, police said.

The skirmish broke out after Green Bay scored a stunning victory with a last-second field goal on Sunday and the two brothers, Robert and Justin Dale Boyer, began arguing.

Things got so heated between the men, one of whom is a die-hard Cowboys fan and both of whom had been drinking, that the two had to be separated, cops said.

But moments later, 40-year-old Justin, who was visiting from North Dakota,, ran at his 46-year-old brother, prompting Robert to pull out a knife and stab Justin several times, police said.

Justin Boyer then fled the house and began pounding on neighbors’ doors, prompting a call to police. When cops arrived they found him covered in blood and rushed him to a local hospital where he later died.

Police have not yet arrested Robert Boyer, who was taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries he suffered in the fight, as they say they believe he was acting in self defense, although the investigation is ongoing.

KSNV-TV reported that Justin Boyer may have suffered from some kind of mental illness, citing police sources.

Man Pleads Guilty in Terrorist Plot to Create Separatist State in India

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Balwinder Singh, aka Happy, had some sinister plans for India

Balwinder Singh, aka Happy, had some sinister plans for India

RENO, Nevada — A man named Happy has pleaded guilty to helping organize an assassination attempt on an Indian official and supporting terrorist attacks aimed at creating an independent Sikh state there.

Federal prosecutors in Nevada say Balwinder Singh — who is also known as Jhaji, Happy, Possi and Baljit Singh — had been in contact with a group of Sikh nationalists in India to arrange sending a supporter from the United States to kill a government official.

Singh, 42, is an Indian citizen and a permanent U.S. resident living in Reno. Prosecutors say that in October 2013, Singh had plotted with the others to send the man to India to carry out the attack and acquired two sets of night vision goggles for him to use. In December of that year, the co-conspirator was arrested trying to board a flight from San Francisco to Bangkok, foiling the plot.

Following the bust, Singh and the others continued to discuss and plan a terror attack in India until Singh’s arrest later that December. He has been in custody since.

“National security is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to locate, identify, and prosecute those who conspire and attempt to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist activities,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden.

Singh pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists with the intending of it being used to commit terrorist attacks overseas. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in February.

The cause Singh admitted supporting aims to create a separate Sikh nation called Khalistan — or the land of the pure — in the Indian state of Punjab.