True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

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.”

1 Child Killed, Five Injured in Go-Kart Crash in Rural Texas

By HardBoiledNews Staff

COLLEGE MOUND, Texas — A child was killed and five others seriously injured when a go-kart they were riding in was hit by an SUV on a rural Texas road, authorities said.

The accident occurred Saturday afternoon in College Mound, Texas, about 40 miles east of Dallas, when a Chevrolet SUV slammed into the go-kart carrying six kids between the ages of 7 and 12 at an intersection, officials said.

One of the children was pronounced dead at the scene. Three others had to be airlifted to a hospital and two others were taken by ambulance. Their conditions were not immediately released.

The driver of the SUV was not injured, officials said. Police said no charges had been filed but that the investigation was ongoing.

Former Oregon Ministry Leader Sentenced to Life for Child Rape

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Edward Thompson was sentenced to 125 years in prison

EUGENE, Oregon — A former ministry leader at an Oregon church was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing a child. 

Edward Samuel Thompson, 40,  was sentenced to 125 years in prison after a jury unanimously found him guilty of four counts of first-degree rape, five counts of first-degree sex abuse and one count of first-degree sodomy, the Register-Guard reported.

He has been in custody since August 2018 when he was accused of abusing a young girl he babysat. Court documents said the abuse happened between 2012 and 2018.

At the time of his arrest, Thompson worked as a music ministry leader at Christ Fellowship Church and was a former member of Eugene Faith Center. Christ Fellowship Church put out a statement at the time saying Thompson had no duties that involved supervising children.

After Thompson’s arrest, the Christ Fellowship Church closed and its pastor retired.

Thompson had been held in a federal  prison after his arrest related to charges in a federal child pornography case.

Man Awaiting Trial in Teen Girlfriend’s Slaying is Killed in Prison Beating

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Zlatko Sikorsky (r) is accused of killing Larissa Beilby (l) whose body was found in a barrel

BRISBANE, Australia — A man awaiting trial in Australia for the brutal torture and slaying of his teen girlfriend has been killed in a prison beating, authorities said.

Zlatko Sikorsky, 37, was taken to a Brisbane hospital in critical condition last Tuesday after getting his head bashed during a brawl with another inmate. He spent several days on life support before being declared dead Thursday morning, News.com.au reported.

Sikorsky had been locked up on charges he brutally beat 16-year-old Larissa Beilby in June 2018 — before stuffing her body in a barrel and dumping it in the back of an abandoned truck.

The teen’s dad had reported her missing on June 22, and her body wasn’t found until days later.  She sustained blunt force trauma to her head, neck and limbs before she died. She may have asphyxiated, however a cause of death was not determined due to her body’s decomposition. 

Prosecutors said Sikorsky allegedly refused to take the girl to a hospital after he pummeled her.

The vicious brute was set to stand trial at a later date on charges of murder, torture, deprivation of liberty and interfering with a corpse.

Witnesses said they heard screams coming from Sikorsky’s car the day Beilby was killed.

A witness in Skiorsky’s committal hearing described him as “intimidating”, and that she had told the man he shouldn’t be in contact with the teenager, as he was more than 20 years older than her, reported the Courier Mail.

The same witness told the hearing she had smoked methamphetamine with both Sikorsky and Beilby prior to her death, and that he was “high 24-7”.

The court also heard that Sikorsky “always” carried a gun with him, and had told friends he was keeping drugs and money in the barrel where Beilby’s body was later found.

The court heard the teenager had run away from home, was staying in a safe house and “doing drugs with older friends” in the weeks before her death.

The Queensland Police Service said it would be investigating Sikorsky’s death.

Lawyers For Only Woman On Federal Death Row Seek Stay After Contracting Coronavirus

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Lisa Montgomery could be the first woman executed by the federal government in 67 years

WASHINGTON — Attorneys for a Kansas woman on death row for brutally killing a pregnant woman and cutting her unborn baby from her womb, are seeking a delay of her execution after they contracted COVID-19 while working on her case.

Lisa Montgomery was convicted of strangling a Missouri woman who was eight months pregnant in 2007 and taking her unborn baby, who survived.

She is currently the only woman facing federal execution after Attorney General William Barr recently scheduled her execution in Indiana for Dec. 8.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Montgomery’s attorneys revealed that they contracted coronavirus while travelling to work on her case, and are experiencing debilitating symptoms after visiting her.

The lawyers, Amy Harwell and Kelley Henry, said in a lawsuit that because Barr scheduled Montgomery’s execution during the pandemic, they had to travel from Nashville to Texas twice, after which both of them tested positive for the virus.

“They are sick because Defendant Barr recklessly scheduled Mrs. Montgomery’s execution in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the federal lawsuit.

The court documents said Harwell and Henry are now both bedridden and unable to work on the case.

The suit asks Montgomery not be put to death until her attorneys recover and can prepare her clemency application. The Trump administration has rejected the request for a reprieve due to their illnesses.

The 52-year-old Montgomery, of Melvern, Kansas, was convicted in 2007 of strangling 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in northwest Missouri and kidnapping her unborn baby after cutting her from her womb. The child was later found safe.

Montgomery would be the first woman to be executed by the federal government in 67 years. She is the only woman among the 55 prisoners on federal death row and is scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 8.

Texas Infant Dead With Needle Marks, Heroin in Blood, Family Charged

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Drugs were found in the home the baby lived in with her mother, grandmother and granny’s boyfriend

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A 2-month-old baby who was found unresponsive with needle marks on her body and heroin in her bloodstream has died, police said. 

Brixlee Marie Lee had been rushed to a San Angelo, Texas hospital in the early morning hours on Nov. 7 after officers found her unconscious at her mother’s home.

Hospital staff found injection sites on her extremities and head, police said, and she later tested positive for heroin.  Due to the severity of the infant’s condition, she was moved to a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas and placed on life support, but died three days later, cops said.

Lee’s mother, 21-year-old Destiney Harbour, her grandmother, 37-year-old Christin Chanelle Bradley, and Bradley’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Dustin Wayne Smock, were arrested and charged with first-degree felony injury to a child.

Detectives say Harbour had given birth to the infant at  home in late August but that the baby had never received any kind of medical care since birth.  

Investigators also found drug paraphernalia  and a small quantity of suspected heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and pills at the home. 

Harbour is being held on $100,000.00 bond.  Smock is being held on $50,000.00 bond.  Bradley was released on November 8, 2020, after posting bond.  

Lee’s body was sent for autopsy.  The results are pending.

Massive Explosion Destroys 87,000 Smoked Turkeys Ahead of Thanksgiving

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The early morning blaze devastated Greenberg Smoked Turkeys in Tyler, Texas

TYLER, Texas — Not much to be thankful for here.

A fire and massive explosion at a smoked turkey production facility in Texas incinerated 87,000 of the birds just ahead of Thanksgiving, officials said.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the disaster at the Greenberg Smoked Turkeys Inc. facility in Tyler in the early morning hours on Friday that rattled homes all around the city. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The company typically sells 200,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving, but says it will be unable to ship any this year due to the destruction at the plant. In 2003, the company’s turkeys landed on Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things” list.

“Both our inventory and our ability to ship this season have been destroyed,” owner Sam Greenberg wrote on the company’s Facebook page. “We are thankful this occurred after hours and no one was injured!” 

He said the blaze was caused by  a mechanical failure in one of the company facilities and caused a freezer holding the 87,000 turkeys to explode. It also burned boxes and bags nearby, which are used to ship hundreds of thousands of turkeys during the company’s busiest season.

Paul Findley, Tyler’s fire marshal told the Dallas Morning News that the heaviest damage was inside a large freezer, which he described as “not just walk-in freezers; they’re drive-in freezers.” He said the room was stacked, front to back, almost to the ceiling, with smoked turkeys in boxes.

Greenberg said while the fire would set the company back, it would not knock them out of business.

“We will rebuild. We will be smoking turkeys in 2021,” he said. “And to hell with 2020.”

Woman Charged With Drugging Her Grandad to Death to Steal His Lake House

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Candy Jo Webb (L) is accused of killing her grandfather, AJ Harden, and dumping his body in a trash pit

FORT SUMNER, New Mexico —  A New Mexico woman has been busted after a week on the lam for allegedly killing her grandfather in a bid to steal his lake house, authorities said.

Candy Jo Webb, 27, was picked up in Jacksonville, Florida after going on the run when cops became suspicious of her story that her missing grandfather was living in a made-up nursing home.

The body of 83-year-old AJ Harden was found stuffed in a tool box dumped into a trash pit behind a Fort Sumner house on October 15. New Mexico State Police say they believe the body had laid there since August, when Harden disappeared.  

When friends notified police that Harden had gone missing, Webb told investigators that her grandfather was in a nursing home in Texas. She later changed her story, giving the name of a retirement home that didn’t exist.

Investigators say Webb told some people that her grandfather died in his sleep, KRQE-TV reported. But she allegedly told her boyfriend, Garrett Beene, that she killed her grandfather by giving him Xanax and Ambien, after he had asked her to do it. 

The boyfriend told detectives Webb had been receiving money from Harden and that he believed she killed him to gain control of his lake house.

Harden’s body was found in a pit in the backyard of the house where Webb had once lived.

Harden grew up in Fort Sumner, served in the Navy, married, and became a truck driver. In his later years, he and his wife ran a hamburger stand.

Webb was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after having fled to Florida, where she’s being held pending extradition to New Mexico. She faces first degree murder charges along with charges of tampering with evidence. 

‘Sociopath’ Bodybuilder Charged With Tossing Girlfriend Out of Sixth-Floor Window

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Shmuel Levine is accused of tossing gal pal Danielle Marrano out the window of her apartment

NEW YORK — A barbarous bodybuilder has been charged with brutally beating his girlfriend and then throwing her to her death out a six-story window.

Shmuel Levine, 34, was indicted Monday in the murder of 37-year-old Danielle Marrano a week after cops found her dying on the sidewalk outside her apartment in Queens, prosecutors said.

Friends who knew the pair, described Levine as a steely-eyed sociopath who showed little emotion.

“He seemed like a sociopath,” Joe Falcone, a friend of the victim since childhood told the Daily News. “He was a weird and cold person with no personality that I could put a finger on.”

Prosecutors say the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Levine spiralled out of control on Oct. 26, putting Marrano in a chokehold and pulling her hair so hard that clumps came out in his hands. He slammed her into her apartment’s walls and then allegedly threw her out the window.

Investigators initially believed she jumped to her death in a suicide bid, but later determined she had been thrown. Prosecutors said the dental hygienist had four fatal skull fractures, at least two of which were caused by Levine’s beating.

Marranos’s neighbors said she and Levine, whom she had dated for about five years, had a volatile relationship.

“They were always screaming all day,” said neighbor Phyllis Reggio. “The neighbors told us they always heard them fighting, all the time.”

Levine claimed to cops that the fatal argument started when Marrano told him she had cheated on him, according to court records.

Man Claims Golf Club Stabbing Death of Ex-Gal Pal Was an Accident

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Yosandra Munoz-Corporan died from stab wounds after her ex, Alexander Acosta-Quezada, wielded a broken golf club

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — A likely excuse.

A Pennsylvania man on trial for the murder of the mother of his two kids says he didn’t mean to stab her to death with a broken-off golf club — he was simply trying to defend himself.

Alexander Acosta-Quezada, 27, stands accused of dragging the woman, Yosandra Munoz-Corporan, out of her new boyfriend’s car her hair after she arrived late on March 31, 2019, to pick up their kids 

Prosecutors say Acosta-Quezada then punched her in the face and started swinging wildly with the golf club and a baseball bat. The club head broke off after he smashed the vehicle’s windows and he then allegedly stabbed Munoz-Corporan in  the thigh and abdomen with its jagged end.

“The defendant, acting out of both anger and rage, did take an everyday item, a golf club, and turned that item into a murder weapon,” Lehigh County Deputy District Attorney Kevin McCloskey said, according to the Allentown Morning Call.

Acosta-Quezada’s has argued that he was merely fending off multiple assailants who had hopped out of the car and began wrestling with him, and accidentally gored the woman with the fractured club.

“He explained that this was a tragedy, that this was horrible, but that he would never take the life of the mother of his two children,” his attorney, Robert Sletvold, said.

He said his client didn’t realize Munoz-Corporan was standing behind him when he swung the club. He said Acosta-Quezada immediately turned himself in when he discovered that she had died.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

$60K Worth Of Exotic Monkeys And Birds Boosted From FL Store

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Dozens of animals flew the coop in the HSL Animal Paradise pet heist

KISSIMMEE, Florida — That was one wild heist.

A central Florida pet store owner is heartbroken after thieves broke into her store and made off with $60,000 worth of exotic animals.

Hilda Matheus, owner of HSL Animal Paradise Pet Store in Kissimmee, says she came to work Friday morning and found her shop had been ransacked.

Among the animals that had flown the coop were a pair of tamarin monkeys and scores of tropical parrots and macaws.

Upon further inspection, she discovered a rear wall to the store had been broken through to let the thieves in. Surveillance video showed a person dressed in dark clothes making their way through the store with a flashlight and opening cages. 

Mathus believes the thief will try to resell the animals, and is devastated. 

“I’m very heartbroken. This is not only my business, these are animals that we truly care for,” she said. “This is animal cruelty. This is something that should not happen. Animals were taken the wrong way, feathers were all over the place. They left a dead bird. This is just heartbreaking. It’s sad, it’s hard.”

Man Dies in Freak Fall Sliding Down Banister While Helping Pal Move

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Kyle Wolf slipped while sliding down a banister

GRAPEVINE, Texas — A man helping a pal move met a freak end when he decided to slide down a banister but slipped and fell to his death, police said.

Kyle Wolf, 26, had been helping his friend move into a third floor apartment the Marquis at Silver Oaks complex in Grapevine, Texas on Friday when he tried to slide down the banister to the second floor, cops said.

On his way down, he lost his balance and landed hard on the concrete floor. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

Authorities ruled that Wolf died from multiple blunt force injuries from the fall and determined that his death was an accident with no foul play suspected.

Wolf was engaged to be married, according to a GoFundMe page set up for his fiancee.

 

 

 

Teen Who Killed Mom in Fight Over Pizza Delivery Gets 15 Years

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Arnav Uppalapati (r) strangled his strict mother after she slapped him for ordering a pizza

RALEIGH, North Carolina — A teen who killed his mother after getting into a fight with her over him ordering a pizza has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Arnav Uppalapati was 16-years-old when he strangled his strict 51-year-old mother in 2015 after she slapped him for ordering in the food to their home in Cary, North Carolina, authorities said.

“His mother was strict,” Assistant District Attorney Howard Cummings said, according to the Raleigh News Observer. “She wanted him to put his emphasis on his education. It was all just bottled up inside.”

Uppalapati then dragged Nalini Tellaprolu’s body into the garage and placed a plastic bag over her head. The following day, he called police saying he found his mother dead in the garage after he returned home from school.

It took cops a year to charge Uppalapati after they discovered his DNA on the tightly tied knot of the plastic bag.

The arrest shocked North Carolina’s Indian community, in which Tellaprolu, who worked at Duke Medical Center, was well known.

Now 19, Uppalapati will serve between 12 and 15 years in prison, a sentence officials described as “the absolute most lenient” considering his age and immaturity.

Disgraced Judge Kills Ex-Wife He Brutally Beat in Front of Kids in 2014

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Disgraced judge Lance Mason had served nine months for beating his ex-wife in 2014

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — A disgraced former judge has been arrested for fatally stabbing his ex-wife after serving time for brutally beating her in front of their kids, cops said.

Lance Mason, 51, allegedly stabbed his estranged wife, Aisha Fraser Mason, a sixth-grade school teacher, at his home on Saturday, police said. He then fled the scene in his SUV and rammed a police cruiser, severely injuring a Shaker Heights police officer as he got out of the vehicle.

The officer, Adam Flynt, is expected to live.

Mason was thrown off the bench after the vicious attack on his wife in 2014 that left her with a broken orbital bone that required reconstructive surgery.

Investigators said Mason punched Fraser Mason 20 times and slammed her head against the dashboard of his car five times, while the couple’s children were in the back of the car. Mason, who previously served in the state legislature, was a sitting Cuyahoga County judge when the attack took place.

After his 2014 arrest, police found a large arsenal of weapons and ammunition in his home.

Mason served nine months of a two-year prison sentence and went to work as a minority business development director for the mayor of Cleveland’s office after his release. He was fired after his arrest on Saturday.

Fraser Mason filed for divorce two days after the attack. The divorce case was still pending at the time of her death.  She also won a $150,000 judgement in a civil case against her ex-husband.

As part of his petition for release, Mason penned a letter to Fraser Mason saying he “failed as a husband, father, and a man,” and promised that once he realized he was “broken” he became a better father and man.”

“My responsibility was to love and protect you,” Mason’s letter said. “Instead of loving, protecting and providing for you and our daughters, I have provided a terrible example, and exposed you to rage and violence.”