True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Two Upstate NY Teens Indicted for Murder of Bystander in Halloween Party Shooting

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Cheyenne Farewell

LOCKPORT, New York — A pair of teens from Upstate New York have been indicted on murder charges for firing through a garage door into a Halloween party, killing an innocent bystander and wounding five others, authorities said.

They are accused of firing eight rounds from a handgun through a metal door on the side of a garage at 43 S. Niagara St.

Cheyenne Farewell, 20, of Medina, died on her way to the hospital. Five others, ranging in age from 15 to 21, were wounded, two of them seriously.

Prosecutors say Farewell was not part of the dispute that allegedly led to the Oct. 17 shooting. “She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek said.

The defendants, ages 16 and 17, pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Farewell’s family said she was a student at the College of Brockport and was working toward becoming a therapist.

“Her life’s work wanted to be reaching out to people that needed help,” her mother, Rochelle Horner told WIVB-TV.

“The one thing that she really wanted to do when she decided to switch her major to become a therapist was to work with inner city kids,” Horner told the outlet. “It always hurt her that – and she had a lot of friends that were in this boat, of not being able to afford a therapist. They’re expensive.”

Because the alleged gunmen aren’t adults, the court hasn’t released their names. Both defendants face two counts of second-degree murder; four counts of first-degree assault; five counts of second-degree assault; and one count of first-degree reckless endangerment.

The 17-year-old also was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, while the 16-year-old faces one count of the weapons charge.

Doreen M. Hoffmann, Niagara County first assistant district attorney, said the indictment includes two theories of murder: intentional killing and killing with “depraved indifference to human life.”

Horner said her daughter would have forgiven the suspects.

“I know right now she would not only forgive them. She’d be worried about if they’re doing okay, if they’re hurting, if they went through something as children that made them turn to this kind of life.”

Her mother says she, too, forgives the suspects.

“I’m in a place where I want to forgive them. I do forgive them. I’m at peace with that,” Horner said.

In early January, cops arrested 21-year-old Jonathan Frey, a level 3 sex offender from Lockport, and charged him with hindering prosecution for allegedly driving the shooters to and from the crime scene.

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.

Husband Charged in Murder of Pregnant Schoolteacher Wife

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Richard Guichelaar

KENTWOOD, Michigan — A Michigan man has been charged with murder for allegedly strangling his pregnant school teacher wife in their bed, police said.

Richard Guichelaar, 35, was ordered held on $2 million bail for the Nov. 16 slaying of his 32-year-old wife, Amber, in their home in Kentwood, Michigan.

At the time of her death, Guichelaar called the cops to say he found his wife — a teacher at Kentwood Public Schools — dead in their bed. The couple had two kids and Amber was pregnant with their third.

Investigators said they immediately found the scene suspicious and eventually the medical examiner ruled that Amber had been strangled and had injuries consistent with having been assaulted. 

Detectives determined that her husband was the only one in the house at the time capable of strangling his wife and that his explanations of what had happened didn’t add up.

Guichelaar, who works for a landscaping and snow plowing business, argued at his arraignment that he was not a flight risk.

“Just know that I will show up for everything I’m supposed to and I’m not a risk, your honor,” he said, according to MLive.com.

His lawyer argued for some bail as his client had strong ties to the community.

Granddaughter Fatally Stabs Grandfather in Fight Over Lock

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Eric Chamber bled to death after Kimberly Roberts stabbed him in the chest

NEW YORK — A Bronx grandfather was fatally stabbed by his transgender step-granddaughter after they got into a fight over her removing the lock to the family apartment, police said.

Eric Chambers, 53, bled to death after Kimberly Roberts allegedly stabbed him in the chest and left arm in their Bronx apartment as the fight raged on. 

“It’s a nightmare,” Christina Chambers, who is the victim’s wife and the grandmother of the suspect, told the Daily News. “Why should my husband be 53 in his grave? What’s the sense of that?” 

Chambers said she and her husband took the 26-year-old Roberts in after she got kicked out of her home. She said she believes Roberts had been using drugs recently. 

“We usually all get along,” Chambers said. “I don’t know what was wrong with Kim. Kim for the last few months would come here screaming, hollering.”

Late Sunday, Christina Chambers discovered that the top lock to their apartment door had been removed. Roberts only had a key to the bottom lock so when she came home at odd hours she would have to knock to be let in waking the family’s dogs, said Chambers, who still refers to Roberts as he even though she is a transgender woman.

“I told him to bring the lock back so we could put it back on,” she said. “I wasn’t gonna do nothing to him — he is my first grandson.”

Roberts returned to the apartment angry.

“Eric asked him where’s our lock, so we can put it back on,” Chambers said. 

Chambers said Roberts responded, “Yeah, motherf—er, I took it off, what you gonna do?”

“Next thing you know, they were scuffling in the living room,” Chambers said. “I was coming down the hallway, I banged on my son’s door so he could break up the fight. He came out the room, he broke up the fight, and Kim left. My husband came to me, back to my room, and showed me the gashes on his arm and on his chest.”

Paramedics came and tried to stabilize her husband but by the time he got to Lincoln Hospital, he was dead.

“He lost a lot of blood in my room and all over the house,” she said. “I can’t believe my husband is just dead. It happened so quick.”

Roberts ran but came back after police arrived and Chambers called her.

“Kim answered the phone,” Chambers said. “I put him on speaker and I said, ‘You know something? You murdered your grandfather when you stabbed him.’ He started crying. And he said, ‘I’m on my way back to the house.’ And they arrested him.”

Police said they were questioning Roberts.

“I didn’t think he was coming to kill my husband and fight. Why, why would you do that?” Chamber said. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

“I didn’t know he had a knife,” she added. “I mean really, you gonna do that to your grandfather, after we done raised you?”

Indian Hospital Tragedy Leaves 10 Infants Dead in Fire

By HardBoiledNews Staff

BHANDARA, India — A fire tore through the intensive care unit of a government-run hospital in western India tragically leaving 10 infants dead, authorities said.

Staff rescued seven of the newborn infants at the Bhandara district hospital but were forced back before they could get to the 10 others, police said.

A preliminary investigation suggested the fire was caused by an electrical short-circuit, police said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the infants were between a few days to three months old.

The fire brigade stopped the blaze from spreading to other parts of the hospital and other patients were moved to safety.

“Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the deaths “extremely tragic”.

Bhandara is about 625 miles south of New Delhi.

Hubby Kills Wife After Being Let Out of Jail on Domestic Violence Rap

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Damon Mathews

IGNACIO, Colorado — A Colorado man has been charged with killing his wife on New Year’s Eve shortly after being released from jail on a domestic violence charge, authorities said.

Damon Mathews, 44, was arrested on Saturday and charged with the murder of his wife, 47-year-old Rachel Matthews..

He had been previously arrested twice for allegedly beating his wife and she had an order of protection against him.

Mathews’ former wife, April Shawl, told the Durango Herald that Mathews was a dangerous person.

“I always knew he’d never be stopped until he murdered a woman. It’s haunted me,” she said.

Rachel Mathews

The Mathews had been celebrating New Year’s Eve together in their Ignacio home when they started to argue. Mathews then strangled his wife, took her car keys and a gun before shooting her in the head, police said.

He then fled the scene, taking his wife’s car and driving to the Denver-metro area, where he was arrested New Year’s Day.

Mathews told investigators that despite a protection order against him, he was living in the back house at his wife’s home. The two were celebrating New Year’s Eve together when they started to fight, he told cops.

“Damon said he knew if the police came, he would go to jail again because of the protection order and because he was on bond for the previous domestic violence with Rachel,” the investigating officer wrote.

Mathews said he then started to strangle Ream. He then went into the main house, took Ream’s car keys and money, got a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and shot Ream one time in the head, Mathews told police.

Mathews said he then drove to Grand Junction and to the Denver area where he got high on methamphetamine. After a car tire blew out, he called 911 and told officers he believed there was a warrant for his arrest for murder.

Mathews had previously been arrested Nov. 24 for third-degree assault in an incident that sent his wife to the hospital with a gash above her left eye, according to court records.

Cops then arrested him and put him in jail for the domestic violence incident in November.

Mathews is being held without bond.

Family Renovating S.C. Home Find Baby’s Remains Hidden in Wall

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The bones were found hidden in the wall of this house

PACOLET, S.C. — A family remodeling a house in South Carolina found bones from a baby inside a wall, the county coroner said.

Authorities gathered the remains on Saturday from the home in Pacolet, an old mill town. and will send them to a forensic anthropologist to study, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said in a statement.

It wasn’t immediately apparent how long ago the baby died, or how old it was at the time. The coroner described the bones as “fetal human skeletal remains.”

“Based on our limited information, it is believed the remains have been concealed for a long period of time,” Clevenger said.

Coroner’s Office investigators will work with an anthropologist to determine the identity of the baby, how the child might have died and how the remains ended up inside the wall of the home.

It will likely take several months to finish the work, the coroner said.

15-Year-Old Charged in Beating Death of Mom that was Caught on Tape

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Stacy Barney was found dead in the family home in McKinney, Texas

McKINNEY, Texas — A 15-year-old Texas boy has been charged with murder after he allegedly beat his mother to death in the family’s home — a shocking act cops say was recorded by surveillance cameras. 

Stacy Ellen Barney, 50, of McKinney, Texas, was found dead inside her home on Sunday shortly before 1 a.m,, after police were called to the home by the boy’s father.  

Police said that surveillance video showed the boy — who has not been named because he is underage — beating Barney to death.  

The teen had left the home by the time officers arrived, but they soon caught up with him after searching the area.

He was taken into custody and charged with murder. 

Authorities have not yet revealed any details about the attack, and are continuing to investigate. 

‘Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this extremely difficult time,’ police said in a statement.

Dine and Dash Ends in Fatal Shooting at Colorado Restaurant

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jacqueline De Paz faces second-degree murder charges

AURORA, Colorado —  A 28-year-old woman shot and killed a man who stepped in to intervene  after she tried to dine and dash at a Colorado restaurant, authorities said.

Jacqueline De Paz has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of 18-year-old Rudy Arguello-Rios outside the Mariscos El Rey 2 restaurant in Aurora on Dec. 22, the Sentinel reported.

Police said De Paz and her party had berated a waitress and refused to pay for their meals, claiming an open door at the restaurant left their food too cold to eat.

The group, which included children, left the restaurant without paying. They were followed by the waitress and several other diners who had witnessed the argument, including Arguello-Rios, cops said.

Rudy Arguello-Rios died while trying to break up the fight

A wild brawl then broke out in the parking, during which De Paz allegedly pointed a gun at Arguello-Rios as he bent down to help a person injured in the fray, police said.

“Back the f–k up … I got the strap now,” the unhinged woman yelled.

As Arguello-Rios tried to wrestle the gun away from her, she shot him, according to an arrest affidavit.

The waitress described the young hero as “a peacekeeper who was yelling at the others to stop being rude and to be respectful.”

Officers arrested De Paz two days later during a traffic stop. She was being held at the Arapahoe County jail on $1 million bond.

A GoFundMe page set up by Arguello-Rios’ brother to help pay for his funeral described him as “a young and loved soul.”

“He passed away too young and now he’s looking after all of us.”

Killer 13-Year-Old Girl Charged With Gunning Down 35-Year-Old Man in NJ Street

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Niles Holmes was found bleeding to death in the street

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — A 13-year-old girl was busted on Christmas Eve with gunning down a man who was found bleeding to death on a New Jersey street weeks earlier, prosecutors said.

Niles Holmes, 35, was shot multiple times in his upper body on Dec. 10 , on a street corner in Jersey City. By the time cops got to him, he was unconscious and bleeding heavily. 

He was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center where he died a few hours later, cops said.

Authorities did not release the name of the suspect in the shooting because she is being charged as a juvenile. They also didn’t release a motive. 

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office says a second victim of the shooting survived with graze wounds to the arm.

Man in Covid Ward Bludgeoned 82-Year-Old Patient to Death For Praying: Cops

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LANCASTER, California — A crazed Covid patient in a California hospital allegedly bludgeoned his 82-year-old ward mate to death with an oxygen tank because the man started to pray, police said.

Jesse Martinez, 37, was receiving treatment at the Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster on Dec. 17, when he blew his top after the man he shared a room with knelt down to pray, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office said.

“The suspect became upset when the victim started to pray. He then struck the victim,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The victim– who was described by police only as Hispanic — died the next day. Investigators say the men didn’t know each other.

Martinez has been charged with murder as a hate crime and elder abuse and was held on $1 million bond.

Police said they are continuing to investigate.

Serial Killer Charged in Cold Case Murder of 9-Year-old Girl in California

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Michaela Joy Garecht and David Misch

OAKLAND, California — A jailed serial killer has been charged with the kidnapping and murder of a 9-year-old girl who disappeared without a trace from a store parking lot 32 years ago, authorities said.

David Misch, 59, was connected to the unsolved disappearance of Michaela Joy Garecht in Hayward, California on November 19, 1988, through a partial palm print and two eyewitnesses who picked his photo out of a lineup.

The brazen kidnapping occurred in broad daylight outside the Rainbow Market after she and a friend had taken their scooters there to buy snacks. Her body has never been found. 

“The kidnap and murder of a child is horrific. The pain to the family and friends is indescribable, especially when their child is not found. This crime shocked not just the local community, but the entire Bay Area and the nation,” said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley. 

After Garecht and her friend came out of the shop, they found that one of their scooters had been moved behind a car parked in a nearby space. When Garecht went to retrieve it, the driver of the car grabbed her as she walked past his door. He forced her screaming into the front seat of the car and sped away, authorities said.

All detectives had to work with was a partial palmprint found on the scooter.

Prosecutors say that around the 30th anniversary of the kidnapping, they took another look at the evidence and had a fingerprint examiner review a list of names of persons of interest, one being Misch’s.The print was a match.

Authorities say their ability now to compare prints has been significantly advanced through software and technology.

Misch, who is currently incarcerated for a 1989 murder of a woman. He has also been charged with two other notorious cold case killings — the 1986 slayings of Michelle Xavier, 18, and Jennifer Duey, 20, who were brutally raped and murdered on their way back from a birthday party.

When police tried to interview Misch about Garecht’s disappearance, he refused. He also refused to comply with a warrant for his fingerprints and DNA, even after being told it could exonerate him from the crime, police say.

His attorney, Ernie Castillo, described his client as a “loving father, a caring son and a good brother.”

“He is not someone who would hurt or kill a child. David denies the allegations against him and will fight these charges,” Castillo said in a statement to this the East Bay Times.

Man Steals Salvation Army Kettle, Poses as Worker to Pocket Donations

By HardBoiledNews Staff

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — This Grinch really did steal Christmas.

Cops in Montgomery, Alabama are on the lookout for a man who stole a Salvation Army Christmas donation kettle and has been using it to collect contributions for himself.

Lt. Bryan Farrington of the Salvation Army says the man has been seen in downtown Montgomery posing as an employee trying to collect money from unwitting donors.

When the suspect was confronted, he fled  on foot. Police said the suspect was last seen on Thursday.

Farrington is now asking the community to be sure that when you donate, you are dropping your cash in the right kettle.

“We felt like it was our responsibility to let the community know that if you see somebody out there that doesn’t have on a red apron, that’s not standing in front of one of the stores – the Walmart’s, the Winn-Dixie’s, the Belks, the Hobby Lobby’s, that doesn’t have a stand with a sign on it and the kettle will be chained to it. That’s not us,” Farrington told WFSA-TV.

Every year, the Salvation Army relies on the money they collect from their Red Kettle Campaign to support the community.

“The funds that we raise during this time make up about a third of our operating income, so it’s huge,” Farrington said.

This year, they started collecting donations even earlier because they knew it would be challenging with the pandemic. But with fewer volunteers this year, Farrington said so far they have still fallen short on their usual donation goal of $250,000.

“There’s a real gap this year,” Farrington said.

The Salvation Army says if you see someone on a street corner posing as a Salvation Army volunteer to report it to police immediately.

Killer Mom Drives For Hours in Utah With Body of Slain 2-Year-Old Son

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Valerie PEck

VERNAL, Utah — A woman drove for hours through the Utah countryside with her dead 2-year-old son’s body sitting next to her after fatally shooting him and then turning the gun on herself but surviving, cops said. 

Valerie Peck, 40, has been charged with aggravated murder and child abuse in connection with the shooting death of her son, Zack.

The Uintah County Sheriff’s office said they received a report of a shooting in the area of Fantasy Canyon in northeast Utah. The initial report was that a woman and a boy had been shot.

Deputies eventually found Peck and her son in a car driving along a back country road. The boy was dead when deputies arrived. Peck was transported to a local hospital, where she was treated for her injuries, cops said..

During the investigation, deputies learned that Peck had taken her son on a drive to the Dry Fork Canyon area earlier in the day. She then stopped at a camping area where she put her son back in the vehicle and shot him with a .22-caliber rifle. Peck then shot herself, but survived.

Cops say she then drove around Uintah County for several hours with her son’s body in the vehicle before officers caught up with her. 

Upon Peck’s release from the hospital, she was taken into custody and transported to the Uintah County Jail, where she is currently being held.

Man Sentenced to Life for $20 Marijuana Sale Set Free After 12 Years

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Fate Winslow got out of prison with help from the Innocence Project

NEW ORLEANS —  A homeless Louisiana man who was sentenced to life in prison for selling a $20 bag of marijuana to an undercover cop has been freed after 12 years behind bars.

Fate Winslow had been sentenced under the state’s repeat offender law, even though he had only committed nonviolent crimes. Has case attracted attention due to the harshness of his sentence for a minor crime. He spent more than a decade incarcerated at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

“I was so happy to get out,” Winslow told WWL-TV after his release. “A life sentence for two bags of weed? I never thought something like that could happen.”

In 2008, Winslow was approached in Shreveport by undercover officers who asked him where they could get some marijuana. Winslow borrowed a bike, went and found some marijuana and came back to give it to the officers who then gave him $5 so he could buy some food, according to his attorneys at the Innocence Project New Orleans.

He had no history of selling drugs and his supporters said he was simply hungry and trying to get some food.

But Winslow had already been convicted of three previous non-violent crimes stretching from when he was a 17-year-old to when he was 36, making him susceptible to the state’s repeat offender law.

The Innocence Project New Orleans took up his case, appealing his life sentence on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. He was eventually re-sentenced to time served. 

The director of the Innocence Project New Orleans, Jee Park, said Winslow received an “obscenely excessive sentence given his life circumstances and crime, and today, we are correcting that unconstitutional, inhumane sentence.”

15-Year-Old Charged in Carjack Murder of Retired Chicago Firefighter

By HardBoiledNews Staff

These carjackers fatally shot retired firefighter Dwain Williams

CHICAGO — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the carjacking slaying of a retired Chicago firefighter earlier this month outside a Chicago popcorn shop.

Prosecutors say the teen, who is not being identified because he is charged as a juvenile, was part of a carjacking crew that had been working the area. On Dec. 3, the gang set their sites on 65-year-old Dwain Williams, following him in a stolen car to Let’s Get Poppin’.

“The time it took to follow and lay in wait for the victim shows a calculated plan,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Sophia David.

Surveillance camera video showed Williams walking toward his Jeep with a bag of popcorn in his hand, when is approached by two people with guns, authorities said.

Williams then retreats behind his car as one suspect rushes toward him with a gun. Williams pulls out his own gun and fires. The suspect falls to the ground, fires off a shot and jumps back in the car and flees.

In the altercation, Williams was shot in the stomach. He later died at a local hospital.

Authorities say the teen was unarmed at the time of the shooting and doesn’t appear to be the gunman who killed Williams. Police, however, have recovered a weapon and are testing it to see if it was used in the shooting.

The judge ordered him held in custody.

The gang’s stolen vehicle was found abandoned two days later. Prosecutors said DNA and fingerprints recovered from the car, as well as witnesses who identified him in still photos taken from surveillance footage, eventually led to the teen’s arrest.

He faces multiple counts of first-degree murder, as well as a count of armed robbery, officials said. No charges against any other suspects have been announced.

Cops say detectives are interviewing an adult, allegedly involved in the murder, and were still searching for two other adults.

Williams was a Chicago Fire Department lieutenant and retired about two years ago, officials said. He was about to return to work as a civilian employee at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

Man Who Killed Wife, Sister to Protect Them from Covid-19 Gets Life in Mental Institution

By HardBoiledNews Staff

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin — A man obsessively concerned about coronavirus will spend the rest of his life in a mental health institution for stabbing four of his family members — two fatally — to protect them from the disease.

Adam Roth, 36, of Waukesha, was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in the attack, which authorities said was linked to his concerns about coronavirus. He told a detective the day after the stabbing that coronavirus “was coming and I had to save them.”

In March, Roth began stabbing his wife, Dominique Roth, as they say in their kitchen eating, according to a criminal complaint. When her mother, Gilane Popanda, and Gilane’s other daughters, Desiree and Deidre, tried to stop him, he “turned on everybody,” the complaint said.

Dominique Roth, 34, her sister, Deidre Popanda, 26, and a family dog died from their injuries. Desiree Popanda, 36, and Gilane Popanda, 62, also suffered significant injuries in the stabbing, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Waukesha County Deputy District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz asked for a lifetime commitment for Roth, requesting institutional care as opposed to conditional release.

“There is clear and convincing evidence that if Mr. Roth would be conditionally released, he would pose a significant risk. And that’s not a risk, at this point, I think anyone would hope the court would take,” he said.

Roth’s attorney, Cameron Weitzner, did not challenge the prosecution’s requested sentence.

“This case is about an individual who is suffering from mental illness and was suffering in a way that I don’t think any of us can understand,” Weitzner said.

Roth earlier pleaded guilty but not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Bad First Date Ends With Man Fatally Shooting Woman and Her Father

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jamal Harris’ date said she thought he had a ‘pumpkin head’

NEW ORLEANS — An aggrieved ex-con gunned down a Louisiana woman and her father after a lousy first date in which she tried to beat a hasty retreat after texting a friend that the man had a “pumpkin head,” investigators said.

Jamal Harris, 36, of New Orleans, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 3 shooting deaths of Jessica Troulliet, 35, and her 56-year-old father, Robert Templet Jr., whose bodies were found in her Mercury Mountaineer which was abandoned in Marrero, NOLA.com reported.

Both had been shot in the back in the head. Detectives suspect Harris — who was convicted of armed robbery in 2007 — killed the pair following an internet meetup that had gone south, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s homicide Det. Steven Keller testified in court.

Keller cited text messages sent by Trouillet to a friend — as well as Harris’ statements to investigators — that showed the pair has gotten into a fight at her home during the date, which they set up on a dating app called Tagged.

“She said he did not look like his profile pic, and she [said] he looked like a pumpkin head,” the detective said of the woman’s texts. “She told him she had another date, and he had to leave.”

Keller said Harris admitted feeling insulted.

“He admitted being upset with her because she was speaking to another individual on the phone,” the detective testified.

Harris claimed he left Trouillet’s home at 9:30 p.m. and headed to his father’s house in Marrero, where his cousin, Jamal Gabriel, 34, picked him up, Keller testified.

But phone records showed that Trouillet picked up Harris in her SUV some 45 minutes later, and then texted a friend for help to “come to the house” to make Harris leave, Keller said.

The friend balked at the request and detectives believe Trouillet agreed to take Harris back to where she was picked up while her father went along for the ride, NOLA.com reported.

Investigators think Trouillet and Templet were fatally shot sometime after 1:10 a.m., based on surveillance video.

Harris was later arrested at Gabriel’s home in Avondale on Oct. 21. Gabriel was also charged with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, NOLA.com reported.

An attorney for Harris argued that no direct evidence linked him to the slayings.

“This is a completely circumstantial case,” defense attorney Richard Bourke said. “All of it is based on GPS records … He could have left before the shooting. Someone else could have been the shooter. There’s a lot of things that can happen.”

A judge on Tuesday found probable cause to hold Harris, who was ordered back in custody without bail, NOLA.com reported.

Alleged Serial Killer Now Charged With 17 Murders in Texas Retirement Homes

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Billy Chemirmir allegedly posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to his victim’s homes

DALLAS — An alleged serial killer accused of sneaking into retirement homes to smother elderly residents and steal their belongings has been indicted in three new deaths, bringing the total number of capital murder cases against him to 17.

Billy Chemirmir, 48, has been accused in indictments, lawsuits and medical examiner reports with the deaths of 24 elderly people in North Texas. If convicted, Chemirmir could face the death penalty. He has pleaded innocent and is being held in lieu of $11.6 million bail.

The new charges against Chemirmir involved three elderly women killed at the Tradition-Prestonwood luxury senior living complex in Dallas in 2016 and 2017. The women had all been previously identified as possible victims of Chemirmir in civil lawsuits against the facility.

In previous cases, Chemirmir is believed to have smothered his victims with a pillow or choked them to death. Investigators say Chemirmir often posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to the victim’s apartments and later sold or pawned their jewelry.

Many of the deaths now attributed to Chemirmir were initially listed as natural causes with the deaths often not investigated because there was no suspicion of foul play.

In all three of the new cases, jewelry and other valuables were reported missing from the women’s rooms after they were found dead.

Chemirmir’s lawyer, Phillip Hayes, told the Dallas Morning News that much of the evidence against his client is circumstantial, and that while it may put him in the area of an alleged murder, it doesn’t prove he was the killer.

“It seems like every unexplained death they come up with, they’re pinning on him,” Hayes said. “If you look at all of it, it doesn’t stand up.”

The Tradition-Prestonwood home said in a statement that it relied on investigators who initially ruled the deaths as natural causes.

“Those rulings stood for more than 27 months,” the statement says. “The Tradition-Prestonwood has cooperated with all the authorities and will continue to do so.”

Chemirmir’s reign of terror ended in March 2018, when a 91-year-old woman survived an attack by him and reported it to police. She said the man told her to “Go to bed and don’t fight me,” before putting a pillow over her head and then making off with her jewelry.

Cops were able to connect Chemirmir to the attack through his license plate number which a witness had taken down after spotting a suspicious vehicle in the area. Over time, investigators have been able to connect him to many other cases.

North Carolina Mom Stabbed to Death by Husband in Front of Kids

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Alexander Dzikowski faces first-degree murder charges in the slaying of his wife

BATTLEBORO, North Carolina — A North Carolina mom was fatally stabbed by her husband in front of her terrified children who were forced to run to a neighbor’s house for help, authorities said.

Alexander Dayton Dzikowski, 33, faces first-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of his wife, Tiara Dzikowski, after a violent domestic disturbance at the couple’s home, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies responded to the Battleboro residence after getting a call about an unconscious person early Sunday, authorities said.

“While en route, deputies were advised that the children of the residence had gone next door to a neighbor’s house and stated that the victim had been stabbed by the suspect,” police said in a statement.

Deputies then found Tiara Dzikowksi, 34, with multiple stab wounds in the home. She was pronounced dead at the scene, sheriff officials said.

Cops say at least one of Tiara Dzikowski’s kids witnessed the slaying.

It’s unclear exactly what sparked the attack, but cops say the couple had argued before the bloody altercation. Deputies said the kids — who are Tiara’s children — are between the ages of 5 and 12 years old.

Alexander Dzikowski was taken into custody without incident, cops said. He was hospitalized with minor injuries sustained during the stabbing and will be charged with first-degree murder once he’s released, sheriff officials said.  

Domestic Abuser Fatally Stabbed, Beaten With Golf Club by Vic’s Mom, Sis

By HardBoiledNews Staff

SOUTH PASADENA, California — Don’t mess with this family.

A California man who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house to attack her was stabbed and beaten to death with a golf club by the woman’s mother and sister, police said.

The man, identified as 40-year-old Justin Goss, of Glendale, had thrown a concrete block through the window of the home in South Pasadena on Saturday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Goss then ran inside and began punching and choking his ex, police said. That’s when her mother and sister jumped in and stabbed Goss with a kitchen knife and beat him with a golf club.

South Pasadena police officers responding to a domestic violence call at the house, found the front window shattered and heard a screaming woman inside. When they went inside they found the bleeding Goss stabbed and beaten.

He  was pronounced dead at the scene. 

His former girlfriend, described by police as being in her 30s, was hospitalized for facial lacerations and contusions and later released. Investigators believe her mother and sister acted to save her life, and they have not been arrested following the incident, cops said.

“They were well within their rights to defend her by using deadly force against him,” Lt. Barry Hall with the Sheriff’s Department said.

Boy, 1, Killed After Cops Open Fire on Alleged Kidnapper

By HardBoiledNews Staff

KAWARTHA LAKES, Canada — A 1-year-old child who had been abducted by his old man in Canada, was fatally shot as cops opened fire on the father’s vehicle after he ran down and seriously injured an officer.

Investigators have not yet confirmed if police gunfire killed the boy.

“It’s too early for us to know why officers fired at the vehicle, and it’s too early for us to know exactly what transpired,” said Monica Hudon, a spokeswoman for the province’s police watchdog.

Early on Thursday morning, officers in the community of Kawartha Lakes in Ontario were alerted to a domestic dispute involving a firearm and the suspected abduction of the 1-year-old by his father.

Police soon located the father’s vehicle along a rural country road. After police attempted to stop him, the truck collided with a police car and another vehicle. An officer who was standing near the police car was struck by the truck and injured.

Three officers then fired their guns towards the vehicle, according to the Special Investigations Unit, an agency that investigates when police are involved in the death or injury of civilians. The child was in the back seat of the pickup truck.

“Inside the pickup truck was a one-year-old boy,” the SIU said in a statement. “He had sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

The 33-year-old father was struck by police gunfire and brought to a hospital “in grave condition”. The officer who was hit by the truck is recovering at a Toronto hospital.

A later SIU statement said investigators had seized the guns from each of the three officers involved plus a fourth weapon found inside the vehicle of the abductor.

Newlywed Nascar Team Member and Bride Killed in Florida Keys Honeymoon Crash

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LOWER MATECUMBE KEY, Florida —  A Nascar pit crew member and his newlywed bride were tragically killed in a head-on collision while on their honeymoon to the Florida Keys.

William “Rowdy” Harrell, 30, who was a pit crew member for Hendrick Motorsports, was driving with his wife, Blakley, 23, when he veered over the center line on US 1 into oncoming traffic Tuesday night in Lower Matecumbe Key, according to authorities.

The car slammed head-on into a Ford F-250 pickup truck, killing the couple instantly. The 62-year-old driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries, while his two passengers — a 58-year-old woman from Tennessee and a 62-year-old Florida woman — were critically injured and airlifted to hospitals.

Hendrick Motorsports, based in Concord, North Carolina, said Harrell had been a “stand out tire carrier” for eight seasons, most recently working in the pit crew for driver Alexa Bowman.

“Our entire team is absolutely devastated at the loss of Rowdy and Blakley,” said Greg Ives, who was Harrell’s crew chief for the past six seasons. “Rowdy had an energetic and infectious personality. He was the heart and soul of our team and always kept us motivated, no matter the circumstance.”

The Harrell’s had been visiting the Florida vacation destination for their honeymoon after tying the knot Nov. 22, the team said.

Prior to his NASCAR career, Harrell won three championships as a linebacker for the University of Alabama football team. He also played football at Hale County High School in Moundville, Alabama.

Dad, 50, Killed by 3 Separate Hit-and-Run Drivers Who All Fled Scene

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LOS ANGELES — Cops are searching for three hit-and-run drivers who mowed down the same man one after the other on a Los Angeles street, leaving him dead in the road.

The incident occurred in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Florence when a motorcyclist travelling north struck 50-year-old Jose Fuentes as he crossed the street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

In surveillance video released by the LAPD, Fuentes can be seen lying in the road after being struck by the motorcycle as it speeds away. Just seconds later he is then hit by a white sedan which also fled the scene after the collision, according to cops.

In a separate video released by cops, the man on the motorcycle can be seen stopping further down the road before getting back on his motorcycle and fleeing.

“Nobody stopped and helped out Mr. Fuentes as he lay there,” said LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno. “The guy on the motorcycle, he kind of went out onto the street, maybe he could have stopped to block traffic and prevented even the second or third collision from happening. But he elected to get on his motorcycle and took off and left and fled the scene.”

Fuentes was subsequently hit a third time, but that motorist didn’t stop either, cops said.

Authorities are searching for all three suspects and say that they are looking for a dark colored sports bike being driven by a man as well as a white colored sedan. Anyone with information is asked to contact the LAPD’s South Traffic Division.

Two Dead, Man Arrested in Nebraska Sonic Shootout

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr. has been charged with first-degree murder

BELLEVUE, Nebraska –A 23-year-old psycho has been arrested after allegedly shooting up a Nebraska Sonic Drive-in fast food restaurant, killing two employees and wounding two others, cops said.

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., of Omaha, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree arson following the attack at the restaurant in Bellevue, and held without bond.

Cops were alerted to the scene after they received a call late Saturday evening about a possible bomb in a U-Haul truck parked outside of the restaurant in the Omaha suburb. A minute later, the call was updated to a possible shooting.

Officers arrived to find a moving truck on fire and four restaurant employees with gunshot wounds. Two were declared dead at the scene and the other two were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment.

Police identified those killed as Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28. The two employees taken to the hospital are Zoey Reece Atalig Lujan, 18, and Kenneth Gerner, 25. A fifth Sonic employee suffered a minor injury but declined treatment at a hospital.

The Omaha Police Department’s bomb squad determined that the so-called “device” supposedly on the flaming truck was not a bomb.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that the attack came days after Silva was arrested outside of the restaurant for allegedly using someone else’s Sonic app account to buy a total of $57 worth of hamburgers and corn dogs at that location. Silva was released on bail on Thursday. At the time of that arrest, police seized three firearms from Silva, which they still hold.

After the shooting, police say they seized four firearms, though Silva was unarmed and didn’t resist when he was arrested outside the restaurant.

Cops say the investigation was in its “infancy,” and he couldn’t explain what led to the shooting.

Sonic Drive-in, said in a statement that the company was “stunned and saddened by what occurred at the Bellevue, Nebraska, Sonic Saturday night. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the franchise owner and the families and friends impacted by this horrific tragedy.”