True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Man Kills Wife With Fireplace Poker After She Admits Cheating on Him

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Daniel and Mary Barrett

PLYMOUTH, Pennsylvania — A  man who accused his wife of having an affair admitted beating her with a fireplace poker and stabbing her to death before hiding her body in the basement for days, police said.

Daniel Barrett, 40,  said he blacked out after his wife, Mary Susan Barrett, admitted spending time with another man, and when he came two he was pummeling her with the fireplace tool, cops said.

After leaving her body in the basement over the weekend, Daniel Barrett went to the Plymouth police on Monday and confessed that he had killed his wife of five years, cops said, according to the Wilkes-Barre Citizen’s Voice. 

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Mary Barrett had worked as a secretary for Plymouth Borough. She had a 14-year-old daughter from a prior relationship. 

According to the complaint, Daniel Barrett, who believed his wife was cheating on him, got into an argument with her near the fireplace of their home on Saturday.

Mary Barrett admitted “spending time” with another man, and Daniel Barrett punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground facedown, according to the complaint.

During questioning, Daniel Barrett claimed he blacked out and that the next thing he knew he was standing over his wife wielding fire tongs over his head, police said. After realizing he was holding the tongs, Daniel Barrett hit her again, the complaint read.

He then grabbed a knife and stabbed his wife repeatedly in the lower back, police said.

Daniel Barrett then dragged his wife’s body down the basement stairs and hid it in a room without a window, according to the complaint. That night, Daniel Barrett slept on a couch upstairs, police said.

On Sunday, Daniel Barrett covered Mary Barrett’s body with a sheet, the complaint says. He also considered going on the run or killing himself, and searched online for attorneys and how to take his own life, police said.

Minutes before turning himself in, Danel Barrett called his wife’s father and confessed what he had done.

Investigators went to the darkened house and found a blood trail from the living room to the basement, where they found Mary Barrett lying on the floor covered in blood, with a hole in her skull and a fireplace poker next to her body.

An autopsy conducted Tuesday determined her cause of death was blunt-force trauma and that the manner of death was homicide.

Detectives charged Daniel Barrett with a single count of criminal homicide, He was denied bail.

Chinese Lehigh U. Chemistry Student Admits Poisoning Black Roommate

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Yukai Kang faces up to 20 years for poisoning Juwan Royal who still suffers effects two years later

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania —  A former Lehigh University chemistry student from China has pleaded guilty to spiking his roommate’s food and drink with a toxic heavy metal once used as rat poison.

Yukai Yang, 24, acknowledged he purchased thallium in March 2018 and began giving it to his roommate, Juwan Royal. 

Yang had also been charged with vandalizing the dorm room he shared with Royal with racist graffiti, reading, “N****r get out of here,” but those charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Royal is Black. 

Royal testified that he had lost weight and suffered headaches and nausea as a result of the poisoning. He likened the pain from the poisoning to being stabbed with “hundreds of tiny knives.” 

Royal was diagnosed with heavy metal poisoning in April 2018. Thallium is odorless and tasteless, and can be fatal in humans. The metal is used internationally in electronics manufacturing and for other purposes. It once was used in rat poison in the US, but has been banned for that use since the 1970s.

Prosecutors said Yang spiked Royal’s food, beverages and mouthwash with small amounts of thallium from February through April 2018. 

Royal first called police in February that year when he drank from a water bottle in his room and his tongue began to burn. He said he woke up Yang to tell him what happened and washed his mouth out, but his tongue remained sore for a few days.

Then on March 18 Royal got sick again and police were called once more.

Prosecutors said Yang told officers that the milk in the refrigerator and Royal’s mouthwash had changed color. He told officers he believed someone was tampering with the belongings in their room.

Royal became sick again on the morning of March 29 when he began throwing up and shaking. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.

About a week later, the racist graffiti showed up on Royal’s bed and police were called again.

Yang provided a written statement that said he left the room and locked the door. But prosecutors said police compared the graffiti with Yang’s letters and saw similarities. 

After Yang’s computer was seized, he admitted to buying chemicals online but said it was intended to harm himself if his grades started to decline. He did admit to mixing the chemicals with food and drinks in the dorm refrigerator.

Northampton County Deputy District Attorney Richard Pepper said Royal spent about two years in physical therapy because of neurological damage from the poison, according to Lehigh Valley Live.

‘Two and a half years later he’s still having neurological issues with his toes,’ Pepper said.

Yang faces between six to 20 years in state prison when he’s sentenced on January 21. 

He is not a US citizen, and his student visa was revoked after his arrest. The judge told Yang he will likely face deportation to China upon completing his sentence.

Pa. Man Smashes Pal’s Car With Spiked Mace Over Sexual Remark to Wife

By HardBoiledNews Staff

 

EMMAUS, Pennsylvania — He got all medieval on his ass.

A Pennsylvania man faces assault charges for allegedly attacking an acquaintance with a spiked mace after the man made sexually-charged comments to his wife.

Cops say 38-year-old James Gleason Jr., 38, used the Dark Ages weapon to smash up his pal’s car after his wife said the man threatened to sexually assault her, the Allentown Morning Call reported.

Investigators say they spoke to the man and he told them that he simply told Gleason’s wife she was special and he was waiting for someone like her in his life. He said Gleason took the comment out of context and believed he wanted to harm Gleason’s wife.

Later that morning, Gleason pulled up next to the man’s vehicle at a traffic light near an eatery called Superior Restaurant, got out of his car and began wildly swinging the metal spiked mace at the other man’s car.

Gleason shattered the front and back windows of the man’s car and the man said he was worried that he and his 10-year-old son, who was in the back seat, would be hurt. When traffic began to move, cops say Gleason positioned his car to block the man from driving away and hit his car with the weapon several more times.

Authorities said the damage to the vehicle was estimated to be about $1,500.

The man told cops he was struck with the weapon several times and that he believed Gleason was capable of killing him and his son.

Gleason has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with extreme indifference, terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and several vehicle-related offenses.

He was released on $50,000 bail.

Elderly Wife Stabs Hubby Over Pot Smoking, Tells Cops She’s Sad He Lived

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Palma Conrad told cops she was disappointed her husband survived the stabbing

LITTLESTOWN, Pennsylvania — The ‘until death do us part’ bit couldn’t come soon enough for this fed-up wife.

A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with stabbing her husband as he slept because she was tired of him smoking medical marijuana and said she was disappointed when cops told her he had survived the attack.

Palma Ann Conrad, 70, told police her 69-year-old husband, Richard Conrad, 69,  had been smoking pot for health reasons and she had gotten “sick of it,” so when she saw the knife she decided to kill him, the Hanover Evening Sun reported.

She then plunged a knife into face, chest and neck as he slept in a recliner.

As he lay there bleeding, he asked her to call for help, so she dialed 911 and told the operator her husband was dying. When cops arrived, they found her covered in her husband’s blood and sporting a black eye.

They then found Richard Conrad lying on the living room floor, with his face covered in blood and asking for help. He told officers he had awoken to his wife stabbing him and punched her in the face in an effort to get her to stop.

He was flown by helicopter to York Hospital where he underwent surgery and was expected to live.

Palma Conrad told cops that the idea of killing her husband had “rattled around” in her mind for about a month and that she was disappointed to hear he was still alive, authorities said.

She had been charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault, and has been held on $100,000 bail.

 

Pervy Pol and Gal Pal Charged With Filming Woman After Spiking Drink

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Larry Weinstein and Kelly Drucker called filming a passed out drunk woman their ‘mission’

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — A former town supervisor and his gal pal have been charged with plotting to use spy glasses and a web camera to film a heavily intoxicated woman they had plied with booze, prosecutors said.

Lawrence Jay Weinstein, 44, and Kelly Drucker, 45, plotted last year to spike the victim’s drink with high-proof hooch so she couldn’t drive home, so they could bring her back to Drucker’s house where a webcam was hidden in the bathroom.

“Don’t let her go to the bathroom until she gets back to your place,” Weinstein wrote in a text message to appears to Drucker.

The couple began planning what they called their “mission,” in late October 2017, which led Drucker to have dinner with the victim at a Mexican restaurant  the following month. During the meal, Drucker encouraged the woman to drink heavily.

Weinstein, a lawyer who resigned as a Northampton Township Supervisor last month, was not at the dinner, but kept in communication with Drucker throughout the night via text message, coaching her to convince the victim to come back to Drucker’s home, the complaint said.

“Keep sober so you can make it happen and aren’t too drunk to win,” Weinstein’s texts said, according to prosecutors.

When Drucker got the woman back to her house, Weinstein bombarded her with messages about keeping her there and asking her sexually-charged questions as Drucker gave her more to drink.

The woman eventually got sick and passed out in a bathroom, prompting Weinstein to urge Drucker to use the spy glasses to take photos of the victim.

“Don’t worry about her. Get glasses on now,” the texts read. “Get her naked and get [sic] door open.”

Weinstein later told cops he was “concerned” for the victim, and was not sure if he should call an ambulance, according to court papers.

A few days later, Weinstein and Drucker discussed by text plans for a future “mission,” which police believe meant finding additional victims.

The victim told cops, she remembered little from the evening, although she did recall going to dinner and noticing  her wine “didn’t taste right,” and that she was “so sick” the following morning. She told detectives she does not recall the rest of the night after commenting on the wine.

During their investigation, detectives recovered photos of the victim taken while she was in the bathroom at Drucker’s home. The investigation began after a man in August discovered illicit messages on a phone that once belonged to Drucker.

Detectives say they found photos on an iPad showing Weinstein sexually assaulting a woman in late 2012 while she was unconscious. That victim told police she was not aware of the incident and did not consent to Weinstein touching her or taking the photos.

Both Weinstein and Drucker are being held on $300,000 bond.

Crazed Dad Shoots Football Coach in Front of Pee Wee Team

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Coach Antoine Lester was back on the field with the kids just days after being shot

PITTSBURGH — A youth league football team were left screaming when a man angry that a relative wasn’t getting enough playing time shot their coach during practice.

Cops say Anthony Lamont Hines, Jr. walked up to coach Antoine “Fizzy” Lester during practice on Friday night at a Pittsburgh park and shot him several times in the back and arm. No one else was hit, and Hines fled the scene.

At least 15 players on the East End Raiders between the ages of 7 and 12 were on the field at the time and watched as their coach fell to the ground.

“Bullets don’t have names on them, and there were multiple shots fired here, and through the grace of God, no one else got hit,” Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Mike Pilyih said, according to KDKA-TV.

Hines was caught on Sunday by U.S. Marshals in nearby Monroeville, Pennsylvania and charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangerment.

Anthony Hines was caught after a 2-day manhunt

Lester was hospitalized for his injuries but was released and back on the field on Tuesday.

“On the field, we want them to be strong,” Lester told WTAE-TV. “In life, we want them to be strong and not let anybody hold you back from doing what you want to do.”

“Bullets hurt. Like, honestly, they hurt,” he said. “But I still made it.”

 

Three Men Killed in Mysterious Pennsylvania Car Bombing

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Authorities say they believe the bomber was killed in the explosion along with two others

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — Three men were blown to smithereens in a mysterious Saturday night car bombing that scattered body parts across a central city street.

Authorities were tight-lipped about the possible motive, but did say they believed the person responsible was killed in the explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The identities of the dead were not immediately released.

“We know there’s been a criminal incident,” District Attorney James Martin said. “We have a high degree of confidence that the perpetrator was probably killed in the incident.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is leading the investigation along with the FBI, state police, and city and county authorities.

The explosion rocked a street near a sports arena just minutes before a hockey game ended.

Witnesses described a gruesome scene, with the car ripped in two by the blast and scorched body parts littering the street, the Allentown Morning Call reported.

“This is real life and I’m shaking and freaking out while I’m running,” Stephanie Connelly said. “Every place we looked, there was a body part or something there.”

Authorities said they would release more details about the blast as soon as they could.

“We understand the public interest in this matter,” U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain said. “We will share with you what we can when we can, but I think you can also appreciate that we’re at the beginning of trying to piece this all together.”

 

Man Caught in Slay of Playboy Model in Her Home Near Philly

By HardBoiledNews Staff

 

Playboy model Christina Carlin-Kraft was found beaten to death in her home last week

ARDMORE, Pennsylvania — Cops have nabbed the brutal killer allegedly behind the brutal slaying of a Playboy model in her apartment last week.

Ex-con Jonathan Wesley Harris, 30, was picked up after getting off a bus in Pittsburgh and charged with the murder of model Christina Carlin-Kraft, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.

Carlin-Kraft, 36, left her Ardmore, Pa., apartment in the early morning hours of Aug. 22, and took a Lyft into Philadelphia – where she met up with Harris, Steele said.

The two got back to her pad at about 3 a.m., where she was killed, the prosecutor said.

“Christina was beaten, and the beating was substantial. Her nose was broken, she had black eyes, there was a lot of blood,” Steele said, according to WPVI. “Then she died of strangulation. Something was put around her neck.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how Kraft knew her killer. Harris had just been released from prison on July 15.

“Whether it was a chance meeting or something else, I can’t say,” Steele said.

Jonathan Wesley Harris

Investigators were able to zero in on Harris after they released surveillance video of a man spotted near the model’s building. Steele said police received a “substantial tip” from the video release, leading to Harris’ ID.

“When we got that name, we were able to work a number of angles,” the prosecutor said.

 

Woman Killed After Boyfriend Cuts Brake Line to Make Crack Pipe

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Tammy Fox lost control and crashed into a tree after her brake lines had been cut

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania — A 38-year-old mother of five was killed in a terrifying car crash after her brake lines had been cut by her boyfriend as he searched for something to forge into a makeshift crack pipe.

Tammy Fox was driving through Scranton, Pennsylvania on August 22 when “her vehicle began to accelerate,” police said.

The out-of-control car then tore through an intersection before slamming into a tree. Fox died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

Her boyfriend, John Jenkins,  told cops he had cut into the brake lines in an attempt to obtain a metal pipe that could be used to smoke crack cocaine,” Pennsylvania state police said.

Jenkins told investigators that Fox had been “driving him crazy” the evening before the crash because she wanted a pipe to smoke crack. So he “cut anything from underneath the vehicle that could be used to smoke crack.”

The following day, she drove off from her home and quickly lost control.

“We saw the car going through and she hit the two parked cars to there and she hit the tree,” said Richard Hein. “Everybody was there … and they were trying to get the door open.”

John Jenkins

Fox’s family was skeptical of Jenkins’ story, staying Fox had been drug-free for months and suggesting the couple’s relationship had taken a bad turn and that he had become abusive, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune.

Earlier this year, Fox had been a witness in a court case against a corrections officer accused of corruption and sexually assaulting female inmates.

 

Ex-Prosecutor Spared Jail Time for Trading Lesser Sentences for Sex

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Ex-District Attorney William Higgins admitted he’d taken sex in exchange for better sentences

BEDFORD, Pennsylvania — A former top prosecutor was spared any time in jail after he pleaded guilty to forcing female drug defendants to give him sexual favors in return for lesser sentences.

William Higgins, Jr., 43, had served as district attorney in the Pennsylvania town of Bedford for 14 years. He was charged earlier this year with with protecting female drug defendants and revealing the identities of confidential informants to them in exchange for sex.

He was disbarred last month.

Instead of serving any time behind bars, Higgins was sentenced to $9,700 in fines, eight years of probation, 1,125 hours of community service and 120 days of house arrest.

“We’re extremely pleased with the results of the sentencing hearing,” his attorney, Steven Passarello, told the Altoona Mirror. “We believe the sentence was fair, and we believed it balanced the sentencing factors appropriately.”

State attorney general Josh Shapiro said now, “Higgins will never again be able to use the tools of a prosecutor’s office to commit these crimes.”

Bedford resident Robert Lewis, whose daughter died of a drug overdose, said he was appalled at the decision because Higgins had allowed pushers to remain on the streets.

“Your everyday citizen is not going to get that kind of consideration,” Lewis said. “Who else is going to get that kind of favoritism? Nobody. Nobody.”

In court, Higgins argued that he had made poor choices during a time when he was abusing alcohol and hand mended his ways.

“I’m deeply sorry,” he told the court room. “I’ve accepted full responsibility for my actions.”

 

Couple High on Drugs Open Fire On Fireflies They Thought Were Aliens

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jesse Shields and Katherine McCloskey thought the warming glow of fireflies was a harbinger of an alien invasion

LOGANTON, Pennsylvania — A couple high on bath salts opened fire at a swarm of fireflies that they thought were laser beams being shot by aliens, police said.

Katherine McCloskey, 22, and Jesse Shields, 30, both of Mill Hall, were driving around in a pickup truck near Loganton last Friday when they spotted the glowing insects, state police said.

Thinking the lights were supernatural, Shields pulled out a .357 Magnum belonging to McCloskey’s father, and fired it to scare off “whoever was messing with them,” PennLive reported.

Shields then allegedly ran to a nearby home and demanded the homeowner call police, saying they were under attack. While the homeowner was on the phone, Shields used his gun to smash in the window of a screen door.

After waiting 20 minutes for cops, Shields and McCloskey ran off to another home. There, the couple woke up a family who found Shields in their living room screaming about being attacked and asking them to call 911. McCloskey was there crying as well.

As the homeowner’s wife dialed 911, the homeowner wrested the gun away from Shields.

Shields then asked if he could take a shower to get the “goo” off him that was burning his skin.

He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He was held on $250,000 bail.

McCloskey was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, DUI, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness and held on $15,000 bail.

 

Pennsylvania Motorist Busted For Pooping on Man in Road Rage Incident

By HardBoiledNews Staff

This driver was pooping mad!

HEIDELBERG TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — That’s one hell of a way to end a fight.

A Pennsylvania motorist has been arrested for allegedly pooping on another man during a heated road rage incident, cops say.

“The accused and the victim got into a road rage argument, leading the accused to defecate on the victim,” Pennsylvania State Police said in a press release, according to LehighValleyLive.com.

Henry George Weaver of New Tripoli, was charged with harassment for the incident which occurred Friday morning in Heidelberg Township.

Police did not give further detail on what led to the episode.

15-Year-Old Student Driver Runs Over and Kills Two Men in Parking Lot

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The student driver got a lead foot at the worst time

PHILADELPHIA — A 15-year-old student driver accidentally killed two homeless men in a shopping center parking lot where her mother was giving her a lesson behind the wheel, cops said.

The incident occurred Monday evening in the parking lot of a Dollar Tree store in Philadelphia.

Witnesses say the two men were trying to help the teen navigate into a parking spot when the SUV suddenly lunged forward, pinning them against a wall.

“She was navigating into a parking spot and made a mistake. The vehicle lunged forward, striking two men who were seated at the wall of the dollar store,” Philadelphia Police Capt. Mark Overwise told WPVI-TV.

“My heart is ripped out. I lost two of my best friends,” pal Tim Stewart said.

Cops haven’t filed charges against the girl. Student drivers must be 16-years-old to receive their learner’s permit. The girl was in the car with her mother and two others at the time of the accident.

 

University Love Triangle Ends in Dramatic Murder-Suicide With ‘Blood Everywhere’

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Murder-Suicide: Jennair Gerardot (l) shot Meredith Chapman (r) in the head after discovering she was having an affair with Mark Gerardot (c),

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — An illicit extramarital affair ended in a blood-soaked murder-suicide when the enraged wife of a University of Delaware official broke into his lover’s house, then shot her in the head when she came home, before turning the gun on herself.

Police say the bloodshed appeared to the result of a well-planned out murder-suicide plot hatched by 47-year-old Jennair Gerardot, after she discovered that her husband, Mark, had been carrying on with a younger woman he used to work with.

Cops discovered the two women’s bodies Monday night in the quiet suburban home of Meredith Chapman, a 33-year-old assistant vice president at Villanova who had, until recently, worked as a communications officer at the University of Delaware with Mark Gerardot.

In a 911 call, police were told “there’s blood everywhere,” by a person who had initially found the scene, according to the Wilmington News Journal.

Investigators believe that the scorned wife had broken into Chapman’s home earlier in the evening, wearing a wig and carrying a Taurus Tracker .357 revolver. She then lay in wait until her husband’s lover came home.

When Chapman opened the door, police say Jennair shot her once in the head, and then shot herself.

“You had a man who was married that was having an affair with this other woman. The wife knew about it. And this was a calculated, planned attack,”  said Bill Colarulo, superintendent of the Radnor Township police. “She broke into the house. She was lying in wait, and she shot her as soon as she walked in, and then she shot herself.”

He said investigators had uncovered “emails and text messages indicating what she planned to do.”

“We believe the husband was in the area under the belief that he was meeting the other woman for dinner, and when she didn’t show up, that’s when he got concerned and showed up at the house,” he said.

In the weeks before the shooting, Jennair said on an online forum that her husband wanted a divorce and asked for advice finding a good divorce lawyer or marriage counselor.

Chapman was married to a city councilman  in the Delaware city of Newark, but the two were no longer living together, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Chapman ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a state Senate seat in Delaware in 2016. In her bio on her campaign website Chapman said she had worked as a communications manager for former Congressman Mike Castle, R-Del.

Woman Shoots Husband in Fight Over Her Refusing to Make Breakfast

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Rachel Eutsey wasn’t down to cook breakfast for hubby, John Maki, prompting him to attack her and her to shoot him

NORMALVILLE, Pennsylvania — There isn’t enough marriage counseling in the world for this pair.

A Pennsylvania woman called police to say she had shot her husband in the head after he started choking her because she refused to cook him breakfast, cops said.

Rachel Aarold Eutsey, 36, told cops she and her husband, John David Maki, had been smoking crack for several evenings in a row leading up to the fatal altercation.

When the couple woke up Thursday morning, Eutsey said they got into an argument because she wouldn’t cook him breakfast.

She says he then began to choke her, but she got away and got a gun from her father’s bedroom and loaded it. She said Maki had a baseball bat, and was walking down the hall yelling when she “pointed the gun at him to scare him,” according to a police affidavit, the Uniontown Herald Standard.

“She related that she fired the gun, but didn’t intend to strike the victim,” the affidavit said.

He was hospitalized in critical condition.

John Maki

Eutsey is charged with criminal attempt to commit homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. She is being held on $100,000 bond.

Woman Fakes Pregnancy to Get Lift Home From Ambulance

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Leeann Armstrong needed a lift home so called an ambulance, faking a pregnancy

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania — A woman is accused of faking a pregnancy and being in medical distress to get an ambulance to give her a lift back to her hometown.

Leeann Armstrong, 25, was at a home in the Pennsylvania town of Latrobe when she called 911 complaining of having complications from her pregnancy, police said.

When an ambulance arrived, Armstrong and a male companion were driven to Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg and brought to a room to wait for her to be be examined.

“Before Armstrong could receive treatment, she walked out of the hospital,” Patrolman Kerry Dieter wrote in a criminal complaint, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Cops then went to Armstrong’s home where they found her hiding in the attic. They also detected the strong smell of marijuana in the apartment and saw what appeared to be a bag of pot and pipe laying on a table, police said.

Upon questioning, Armstrong admitted that she wasn’t pregnant, but that her ride had left her in Latrobe the night before and she needed a lift back to Greensburg.

She was charged with theft of services, which carries an $800 fine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 

Man Who Stole Pot of Meatballs Caught With Sauce All Over Face

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The pot of meatballs was too hard to pass up for one hungry thief

HAZLE TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — This gives a whole new meaning to getting caught red handed.

Police were easily able to pin the theft of a pot of steaming meatballs on a Pennsylvania man when they found him with red sauce smeared all over his face.

Leahman Potter, 48, was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and theft for swiping the pot from a man’s garage.

Cops in Luzerne County say the victim reported the missing meatballs on Monday  and told officers that he saw Potter standing in front of his house with red sauce on his face and clothes.

The empty pot was found on the street.

Woman Shows Up Dead Drunk to Court for Public Drunkenness Hearing

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Showing up drunk in court is a good sign of a drinking problem

NEW HOLLAND, Pennsylvania — It might be time to admit you have a drinking problem.

A Pennsylvania woman was arrested after showing up dead drunk to a court hearing for a earlier public drunkenness arrest, police said.

New Holland police say Jennifer Amanda Jones, 36, was under the influence when she arrived for a hearing at a district judge’s officer on did Feb. 9.

Jones was in court for a public drunkenness hearing and also has an open DUI case against her. She has had numerous arrests over the years for drunk driving and public drunkenness, court records show.

She was later hit again with a public drunkenness charge for her tipsy appearance in court.

 

Philly Knucklehead Steals Thumb From Priceless Statue, Snaps Selfies With It

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The stolen thumb came from a famed terracotta warrior statue on loan from China

PHILADELPHIA — It was only a matter of time before they fingered their man.

Federal agents have tracked down a knuckleheaded thief who snuck out from an after-hours party at a Philadelphia art museum and managed to steal the thumb from a $4.5 million, third-century statue of a Chinese warrior.

The FBI says Michael Rohana, 24,  of Bear, Delaware, was a guest at an “Ugly Sweater Party” at the Franklin Museum in December, when he made his way into an exhibit on loan from China of some of the country’s famed terracotta soldiers.

He then walked out with the snapped-off finger in his pocket. Museum staffers didn’t notice the missing digit for a week, but the whole episode was captured on surveillance video, which showed Rohana in a fuzzy, green sweater and Philadelphia Phillies go in and out of the room, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

An investigation revealed that he sent  Snapchat messages to friend the next day featuring pictures of the finger. And the friends he as with that night told investigators he had talked about stealing the finger.

When agents showed up weeks later at Rohana’s house where he lives with his parents, he fessed up and produced the finger he had kept in a drawer. He was charged with art theft.

The museum said the thumb has been reunited with the statue and will be reattached. Meanwhile, the museum says it is reviewing its security protocols.

 

Cartoon Sketch Draws Laughs Online But Still Helps Cops Name Suspect

By HardBoiledNews Staff

It didn’t take a master sketch artists to help nail Hung Phuoc Nguyen

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania — The crime was in the eye of the beholder.

Police in Pennsylvania were somehow able to zero in on a suspect working off a laughably bad eyewitness sketch that made the man look like a cartoon stick figure.

But it turns out the bad sketch was good enough.

“While the sketch provided by the witness may have appeared amateurish and cartoonish, it, along with the distinctive physical descriptors, jogged the memory of at least one investigator to provide a potential suspect name,” the Lancaster police said in a statement. “This was not done in jest.”

When investigators showed a photo array to the witness, they immediately picked the suspect, Hung Phuoc Nguyen, 44, a homeless man who allegedly pretended to be an employee at a vendor’s stand while a real employee was away and then made off with a wad of cash.

Nguyen has been charged with 2 counts of theft by unlawful taking and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Cops have checked the last known addresses for Nguyen, but so far haven’t been able to locate him.

Bumbling Thief Busted After Accidentally Calling 911 During Break-In

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Alleged thief Brendan Weaver had an accidental pang of conscience when he butt dialed 911 on himself during burglary

EPHRATA, Pennsylvania — Here is an early entry for the dumbass criminal of the year contest.

Police in Pennsylvania say they caught a stark naked and high as a kite thief ransacking an office building after he accidentally called 911.

The Ephrata police say they responded to the building after getting a 911 hangup from inside early Tuesday morning. When they arrived, they found a smashed glass door at the side of the building.

Once inside they encountered Brendan Weaver, 28, wandering around the building wearing no clothes “and clearly under the influence of a controlled substance.”

Cops say the office area of the building had been ransacked causing more than $5,000 worth of damage.

Investigators say they suspect Weaver accidentally called 911 from an office phone when he was ransacking the building.

He has been charged with burglary.

 

Three Teens Arrested in Pennsylvania Pineapple Attack

By HardBoiledNews Staff

BUTLER, Pennsylvania– A group of teen girls have been charged with attacking a fellow student with a severe pineapple allergy by soaking their hands in pineapple and giving her a high-five, police said.

Cops say the teens hatched the nefarious plan during the lunch period at Butler Intermediate High School and later snuck in a fruit cup containing pineapple  which has been banned from the school due to  the 14-year-old victim’s condition.

The three attacked, one of whom is also 14, poured the pineapple juice on their hands and then high-fived the victim, triggering a severe allergic reaction, the Butler Eagle reported.

The victim quickly broke out in hives and was rushed to the nurse’s offices where she was given an dose from an epinephrine pen after which she was taken to a hospital. She is expected to survive.

The three perpetrators  who allegedly had a role in the assault face felony charges in juvenile court. They were also disciplined by the school.

Court Rejects Inmate’s Claim That Drugs Found in His Rectum Didn’t Belong to Him

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The contraband was found in Edwin Wylie-Biggs’ rectum during a strip search

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — This is the judicial equivalent of telling someone to take their appeal and stick it where the sun don’t shine.

A judicial panel has rejected an appeal by a Pennsylvania inmate who claimed that a bag of dope jail guards found inside his rectum wasn’t actually his.

Prison guards moved to strip search Edwin Wylie-Biggs, 36, after spotting another inmate pass something to him in a state prison.

When he was ordered to bend over and spread his buttocks, the guards found a small plastic bag sticking out of his rectum. Inside that bag was a blue balloon containing the synthetic marijuana known as K-2.

In April, he was hit with an additional three-to-six years in prison on top the two-to-four year term he was serving for possession of heroin and running from cops and jumping off a 100-foot tall bridge in a bid to escape.

But he quickly filed an appeal saying that jail officials couldn’t prove the drugs were his.

Edwin Wylie-Biggs

In a five-page ruling, Pennsylvania Superior Court deemed the argument absurd and dismissed Wylie-Biggs’ claim.

Husband-Wife Plead Guilty in Bizarre Teen Sex Blackmail-Murder For Hire Plot

By HardBoiledNews Staff

There was little marital bliss in Keith (l) and Robin Transue’s home

STROUDSBURG, Pennsylvania — They were a match made in hell, but were absolutely made for each other.

A Pennsylvania husband and wife have pleaded guilty to dueling charges surrounding her trying to hire a hitman to kill him and end his years of blackmailing her over an affair she had had with a 14-year-old boy, prosecutors said.

Robin Transue, 43, pleaded guilty to to solicitation to commit aggravated assault and statutory sexual assault, while her 43-year-old husband, Keith Transue, a cop with the Bushkill Township Police, pleaded guilty to criminal coercion.

The malevolent marital machinations came to light when Robin Transue approached a friend, Richard Warner, seeking help to kill her husband. Warner immediately went to police, but they asked him to wear a wire to get Robin on tape discussing the plot, the Monroe County district attorney said.

Over several conversations, Robin discussed a variety of possible ways to kill her husband, including staging a hunting accident, tampering with his car to cause an accident, giving him drugs to make it look like he had a heart attack or giving him a fatal dose of Valium and make it appear he had committed suicide.

“It’s down to the wire, I have to do something,” she was caught on tape telling Warner. She also discussed the possibility of splitting her husband’s $250,000 life insurance payout with Warner if he were to die in a fire in their home.

But when Warner asked her why she wanted her husband dead, the depravity of the situation became clear. It turned out that several years earlier, Keith discovered his wife had had sex with a 14-year-old boy on several occasions, but instead of reporting it as he was required to as a police officer, he held it over his wife’s head to prevent her from trying to divorce him.

“As problems in the marriage continued to mount, Robin became more desperate. She had looked up the statute of limitations for her sexual crimes and realized the time wasn’t close to running out,” the district attorney’s office said in statement.

Investigators later determined that Robin had indeed had the sexual relationship with the boy and decided to file the additional charges against her. They also decided to charge Keith as his efforts to blackmail his wife led directly to her plotting to kill him.

Both are scheduled for sentencing on March 20.

Pa. Man Waves Gun After Wife Trips Over Child’s Mini Supermarket Cart

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Galileo Francisco didn’t care how cute the kid was

READING, Pennsylvania — This guy might want to consider leaving his guns at home in the future.

A Pennsylvania man was arrested after pulling out a gun at a supermarket after his wife tripped over a mini shopping cart being pushed by a small child, police said.

Hot-tempered Galileo Francisco, 60, blew his top after his wife stumbled over the cart in a C-Town Supermarket in Reading, Pa. on Friday, WFMZ-TV reported.

Witnesses said Francisco began waving the gun around after getting into an argument with another adult. A manager then pushed the gun away, police said.

.Officers arrived as Francisco was checking out. They say he resisted arrest initially but the gave in as he was taken into custody.

He was charged with  possession of a weapon, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest, simple assault, and disorderly conduct. He was freed on $20,000 bond.