Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Sicko Pinned to 2001 Rape Through DNA Found on Dentures Left at Scene

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Thomas Maupin

MEMPHIS — A deranged sicko pleaded guilty to a 2001 rape after investigators were able to link him to it through DNA collected from a set of dentures left behind at the scene.

Thomas Maupin, 67, pleaded guilty to raping the 31-year-old woman 16 years ago in Memphis and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

“The victim, who remains emotionally traumatized by the case, did not want to testify in a trial, and approved the settlement,” said the Shelby County district attorney.

Maupin came to Memphis after serving 12 years in Washington State for the murder of a 6-year-old girl. He had been convicted twice of murder in that case and sentenced to 40 years but had his convictions overturned on appeal. He then pleaded guilty in exchange for 12 year sentence. The dentures he left behind were made for him in prison, prosecutors said.

In August, 2001, police say Maupin hopped out of his car and chased down the victim, forcing her into an alley and stabbing her “with a metal object under her chin with such force that it struck the roof of her mouth,” the district attorney said.

“He also used the object to sexually assault her after forcing her to perform oral sex.and then raping her,” the DA added.

Investigators later turned up a pair of dentures and collected them as part of the sexual assault kit.

But the dentures remained untested until 2016 as part of a huge backlog of evidence waiting to be tested. Not only did investigators obtain a partial match to Maupin’s DNA, they found his name inscribed on the inside of the denture set.

Felon Hit With Gun Charge in Tragic Shooting of 7-Year-Old By Toddler

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Harmony Warfiled was fatally shot by her 2-year-old cousin using Anthony Sanders’ gun

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A convicted felon has been charged with illegally possessing a gun that a 2-year-old boy got his hands on and used to accidentally shoot and kill his 7-year-old cousin in Tennessee.

Anthony Patrick Sanders, 27, was released from prison last year after serving eight years for kidnapping. As a convicted felon he is legally barred from owning a gun.

Federal authorities say Sanders had been carrying a gun when he came to stay in an apartment in the J.C. Napier Houses in Nashville on June 6, where the little girl, Harmony Warfield, was killed.

Sanders faces 10 years

The tragic incident unfolded when Sanders — who regularly carried a gun when he stayed in the public housing development — stepped outside of the apartment, leaving the firearm inside where a toddler picked it up, prosecutors said.

When he heard the gun go off, Sanders allegedly ran back into the apartment, saw Warfield lying bleeding on the kitchen floor, grabbed the gun and took off, saying he did not want to go back to jai.

“Another innocent child has died because the defendant, a convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing a firearm, chose to ignore the law and arm himself with handguns, said Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith.

Sanders faces up to 10 years in prison for the gun rap.

 

Bounty Hunters Charged In Fatal Killing of Innocent Man Mistaken for a Fugitive

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CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee — Seven bounty hunters were charged with first degree murder for fatally shooting an innocent, unarmed man in a wild chase in Tennessee after they mistook him for a wanted fugitive.

Police say 24-year-old Jalen Johnson was killed and another man wounded when the bounty hunters descended upon a car they were in with two others in a Walmart parking lot on April 23.

Investigators say none of the men in the car were the person the bounty hunters were looking for and that Johnson, a father of three, was unarmed and had done nothing wrong.

The men took off in their vehicle after the bounty hunters opened fire. They gave chase for seven miles, ramming the vehicle and continuing to fire. The gunfire left Johnson dead and wounded a second passenger, cops said.

Johnson’s uncle, Toni Jenkins, told The Associated Press that his nephew and the others in the car thought they were being attacked by gang members, causing them to flee.

Bail bondsmen have the authority to hire or act as bounty hunters to bring in bail jumpers, but they can only use deadly force unless in self-defense.

The men charged include: William L. Byles, 31; Kenneth Chiasson, 38; Antwon D. Keesee, 32; Jonathan Schnepp, 31; Roger D. West, 31; Prentice L. Williams, 34 and Joshua Young, 27.

They face a charge of first-degree felony murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated assault, employing a firearm in commission of a dangerous felony and felony reckless endangerment, police said.

Six Tennessee Inmates Break Out of Prison Through Busted Toilet

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Five of the six men were recaptured quickly, but the sixth man, David Wayne Frazier (top center), the hardest criminal of the bunch, remains at large

 

NEWPORT, Tennessee — Six hardened criminals pulled off a Christmas Day breakout from a Tennessee jail, crawling out through a busted toilet in a scene straight out of the film, “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Investigators say the men managed to escape from the Cocke County Jail in the early morning hours of Christmas morning by tearing a toilet away from a wall.

“The inmates escaped after a water leak occurred behind a wall unit stainless steel toilet,” the Cocke County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Apparently the bolts holding the unit rusted out and there was prior damage to the concrete due to plumbing repairs. The inmates vandalized the lavatory removing it from the wall and gained access to a hole which led outside of the facility,”

Most of the men didn’t get very far.

Authorities say Steven Lewis, 37, was quickly nabbed after a foot chase and John Mark Speir, 38, was captured at a nearby home. Two men, Jarred Schoondermarks, 30, and Daniel Speir, 29, were charged with harboring a fugitive.

Two other inmates, Eric Click and Harce Wade Allen, were captured the following day. Police say Allen was taken into custody by undercover narcotics officers. Later that day, a fifth inmate,

John Shehee, turned himself in after his father convinced him to give himself up.

The sixth man, David Wayne Frazier, 54, is considered to be the most dangerous of the group, and was awaiting trial on aggravated robbery and weapons charges.