True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Fighting Bird Kills Owner in Illegal Cockfight in India

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LOTHUNUR, India — A fighting cock with a three-inch blade strapped to its foot killed its owner as it tried to escape his grasp during an illegal cockfight in southern India.

The bird was struggling to break free when the blade slashed the 45-year-old Thanugula Satish’s groin before the fight in the village of Lothunur in India’s southern Telangana state.

He died from blood loss as he was being rushed to a hospital in the rural area, the New Indian Express reported.

Police seized the rooster and held it at a local police station for a day before transferring it to a poultry farm and are now hunting for at least 15 other people who were involved in the illegal event.

Cockfighting has been banned in India since 1960 but the gruesome events are still common in some areas. Many fights occur around the Hindu festival of Sankranti.

Police said the knife was attached to one of the rooster’s legs as it was being prepared for a fight on the grounds of a temple. When the bird tried to escape and Satish tried to catch it and in the ensuing struggle, he was slashed by the blade.

Police called the death a “freak accident.”

The others involved in the event could face charges of manslaughter, illegal betting and hosting a cockfight.

Thousands of roosters die each year during the fights.

Last year, a man died when his rooster’s blade hit him in the neck as he carried the bird to a fight in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

California Man Busted for Trying to Bury Wife Alive

By HardBoiledNews Staff

CORONADO, California — A 23-year-old parolee was busted for allegedly attacking his wife during a stroll on the beach and trying to bury her alive in the sand, police said.

Cops in Coronado, California say the woman called 911 to report that her husband, Jose Luis Mares III of Moreno Valley, had just tried to kill her.

Officers arriving at Coronado beach found the badly injured women on a sidewalk and took her to a San Diego hospital for treatment of serious trauma.

The victim told investigators her husband had become enraged during a quarrel at the Coronado waterfront, assaulted her and then tried to drag her into the surf. He then took her near a lifeguard tower and tried burying her in the sand.

“She said there was a hole in the ground and the hole had previously been there from probably kids digging it during the day. But during the struggle, she said he threw her in that hole when he began putting sand on top of her,” said Det, Ryan Brennan of the Coronado Police Department.

Jose Luis Mares III

The victim told police her husband repeatedly kicked her — then stopped and ran off.

“We don’t know what scared him away. Perhaps it was someone walking by,” Brennan said.

Police searched the neighborhood and found Mares a short time later in the backyard of a nearby home.

Mares was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault causing great bodily injury, domestic violence, false imprisonment and violating terms of his parole. He was being held without bail.

 Mares had previous convictions for carjacking and burglary.

Suspect in Triple Homicide Admits Cooking Victim’s Heart for Supper

By HardBoiledNews Staff

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma — A triple murder suspect who had recently been released on parole,  admitted he killed his neighbor and cut her heart out to eat at home, authorities said.

Lawrence Paul Anderson is accused of killing neighbor Andrea Lynn Blankenship, 41, at her home and then returning to his home , where he allegedly killed his uncle and his 4-year-old niece. Anderson is also accused of stabbing his aunt, but she survived.

“He took the heart back to 214 West Minnesota, Chickasha,” an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation told a judge in a request for a search warrant.

“He cooked the heart with potatoes to feed to his family to release the demons,” the agent wrote.

The case has sparked outrage because, Anderson, a repeat felon, had been released early from prison in January, the Oklahoman reported. He had been sentenced in 2017 to serve 20 years behind bars but got out after Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence.

The governor commuted the sentence to nine years at the recommendation of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board and Anderson served a little more than three years. He had been staying with his uncle, Leon Pye, and aunt, Delsie Pye, since his release.

Anderson, 42, now faces possible death penalty charges.

Chickasha police went to Anderson’s uncle’s house on Feb. 9 after a woman called 911 for help. An officer forced his way into the house after hearing a woman yelling. Inside they found Leon Pye, 67, dead and his granddaughter, Kaeos Yates, injured. “She was pronounced deceased in the ambulance on scene,” the OSBI agent wrote in the search warrant request.

Delsie Pye suffered stab wounds to both eyes, police said

Anderson was arrested inside the Pye home. “Chickasha Police Officers observed Anderson throwing up in the living room into some pillows,” officers wrote in their report.

Blankeship was discovered Feb. 11 after investigators interviewed Anderson at an Oklahoma City hospital where he was being treated for injuries and he confessed to the additional slaying.

Anderson was first sentenced to prison in Oklahoma in 2006 for four years for attacking his girlfriend, pointing a gun at her and possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, records show. He was out in less than two years.

He went back to prison in 2012 to serve a 15-year sentence for selling crack cocaine near an elementary school in Chickasha. He also was ordered to spend 20 years on probation after his release. He was out in less than five years and four months.

He was sent back to prison in December 2017 to serve 20 more years when a judge both revoked his probation in full and sentenced him for new crimes.

He had been out less than five months in 2017 when police arrested him after he confronted a woman at her car in a church parking lot in Chickasha. Police reported he was carrying a handgun, which was illegal for him to have because of his past convictions.

At the jail, a detention officer found a vial of PCP hidden in his underwear. He pleaded guilty to gun and drug offenses.

Arizona Man Charged With Faking Own Abduction to Get Out of Work

By HardBoiledNews Staff

COOLIDGE, Arizona — He could have just called in sick.

An Arizona man was busted for making a false report after faking his own abduction in order to get out of having to go to work.

Police in Coolidge, Arizona say they found 19-year-old Brandon Soules on Feb. 10 with his hand tied behind his back and a bandana stuffed in his mouth lying on the ground near the town’s water tower.

Soules told them that two masked men had kidnapped him, hit him over the head, knocking him unconscious and then drove him around before dumping him where he was found.

He said the men had abducted him because his father kept a large amount of cash hidden around town.

But after conducting an extensive investigation, cops say they eventually determined that Soules had made the whole thing up. During an interview, Soules admitted he’d fabricated the story as an excuse to get out of work and he was arrested.

Soules was also fired from his job at a tire shop.

Gun Battle at New Orleans Gun Store Leaves Three Dead

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW ORLEANS — Three people were killed and two others wounded when a raging gun battle erupted inside a News Orleans gun store and then spilled into a parking lot, police said.

The deadly fire fight at Jefferson Gun Outlet, a firearms store and shooting range, began when one man inside shot two people to death, sparking numerous customers, employees and other armed passersby to open fire,  the Jefferson Parish Sheriff office said.

Police say the man who triggered off the shootout was ultimately killed in the parking lot. Two others were injured as the gunfight moved outside, police said, but their injuries were not thought to be critical.

Police sources told Nola.com that detectives believed  the gunfire may have been sparked when the initial shooter argued with store employees who ordered him to unload an extended magazine from a pistol he carried into the business. Gun ranges generally forbid patrons to carry loaded weapons in the lobby.

Texas Trucker Nabbed in Slaying of Model Found on Side of Pennsylvania Highway

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Rebecca Landrith’s body was found with 18 bullet wounds

MILTON, Pennsylvania — A Texas truck driver has been charged with the murder of model whose bullet-riddled body was found near the interstate in Pennsylvania after cops found the man’s name and number in the dead woman’s pocket.

Rebecca Landrith’s body was found in a wooded area near Interstate 80 on Sunday, with 18 gunshot wounds to her face, neck, chest and hands, police said. The 47-year-old was a native of Virginia and had worked as a model in New York. 

Investigators found a note in her coat pocket with 28-year-old Tracy Ray Rollins Jr.’s name, telephone number and email address written on it, PennLive.com reported. He was arrested Wednesday in Connecticut and charged with homicide and abuse of a corpse.

Investigators have not revealed what the possible motive may have or if a weapon was recovered.

Landrith had been a professional model in New York City, a finalist for Miss Manhattan in 2014, an accomplished violinist and a champion for numerous charities. She had appeared in numerous product advertisements, video commercials and in multiple runway shows including Fashion Week.

Tracy Rollins was busted at a truck stop in Connecticut

Police say that using receipts found in Landrith’s pockets and Rollins’ cell phone records, they were able to trace his travels from Wisconsin to Maine with a stop at the interchange late Saturday where Landrith’s body was found. 

According to an affidavit, a search of Rollins’ truck ound flesh and brain-like matter on the bottom bunk mattress behind the passenger seat and flesh-like matter beneath the exterior top stair gate. There was evidence that a cleaning agent had been used on the front seat to cover up signs of blood. And investigators found six 9mm shell casings on the floorboards and signs of bullet strikes on the rear wall behind the passenger seat and above the bottom bunk.

Rollins was tracked down in Mildale, Connecticut, where state police stopped his rig after it left a truck stop.

Rollins told investigators he did not know Landrith or recognize her from a picture but that he had traveled with a woman named Leslie he had met at a truck stop near Milford, Conn.

Police in Milford have determined that Landrith made hotel reservations there in December under the name Leslie Myers.

According to Rollins, “Leslie” accompanied him to Maine, back to Connecticut, then Brooklyn and on to Wisconsin where he picked up a load to be delivered in Maine.

One telling exchange, according to the affidavit, was when Rollins replied to questions about his travels by saying: “I hate to start lying to you cause this is a murder investigation.” Police say that at that point Rollins had not been told it was a murder investigation.

High-End Kicks Nabbed in Drug Raid to Hit the Auction Block

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ALBANY, New York — If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live in a drug kingpin’s shoes, now is your chance.

The New York State Office of General Services is auctioning off 188 pairs of high-priced, collectible sneakers and 14 pieces of sports memorabilia seized by the State Police in a drug bust on Long Island.

Many of the sneakers are Nike Air Jordans and LeBron James brands, as well as other rare shoes.

Authorities say the items were seized as part of an investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs on Long Island. The state regularly auctions off items either owned by the state, such as furniture and tools, or what it takes possession of in, say, a drug raid.

Other items from the raid include Upper Deck-authenticated Michael Jordan jerseys from the Bulls and the University of North Carolina. There are also items from athletes like Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre,Mike Schmidt, Mark McGwire and Vinny Testaverde.

The state said that all items are being sold as is, and bidders are encouraged to inspect items for sale before bidding.

Vegas Nail Salon Killer Sentenced to Up to 25 Years for Killing Beautician

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LAS VEGAS — A woman who fatally ran over a Las Vegas nail salon manager after trying to skip out on a $35 manicure bill has been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

Krystal Whipple, 23, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after admitting she killed Nhu Nguyen outside Crystal Nails and Spa in Las Vegas in December 2018.

The judge sentenced Whipple to 10 to 25 years in prison for the murder.

Investigators said Whipple tried to pay her bill with a fake credit card and when it was rejected, she told Nguyen she had to go to her car to get some cash, police said.

Instead, Whipple hopped in her black Chevrolet Camaro and began speeding away. Nguyen, who had followed Whipple outside with another store employee, gave chase and jumped in front of the car. Whipple accelerated, striking the beautician, running her over and dragging her across the parking lot, police said.

Cops later said the black Chevrolet Camaro had been stolen from a rental company.

Whipple fled Nevada and headed to California and was eventually arrested a month later in Phoenix, Arizona.

95-Year-old Gunman Charged With Killing Assisted Living Employee

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LAFAYETTE, Colorado — A 95-year-old resident of a Colorado assisted living facility has been charged with gunning down an employee there he believed had been stealing from him.

Police in Lafayette say Okey Payne had confronted the employee, Ricardo Medina-Rojas, in the facility’s lobby and then pulled out a handgun and opened fire. He then aimed the gun at two other employees before walking back to his room.

Deputies took Medina-Rojas to a nearby hospital where he was later declared dead. A small handgun was recovered from Payne, who told cops he was sorry to have killed Medina-Rojas but was happy “the thievery would stop.”

Payne had told the facility’s administrators about the alleged thefts, but police say the matter was investigated by adult protective services and no evidence was found. Payne had also said he believed the facility’s employees were trying to kill him.

Cops say Payne had been told he couldn’t have a gun in the facility and that two pistols had earlier been taken from him and put into a safe. He told cops that the .45 caliber gun he allegedly used for the shooting had been given to him by his father when he was 23-years-old after the father used it in World War I.

The officer who interviewed Payne noted that other than difficulty hearing, there were no other apparent issues. Payne was “clear headed” and “lucid” while providing detailed information about what happened and did not appear “confused or unable to comprehend questions.”

Payne has been charged with first-degree murder.

Woman Sues Neo-Nazi Who Shot Her For Stealing His Swastika Flag

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Alexander Feaster is a fan of Hitler

ENID, Oklahoma — A woman who was shot in the back with an AR-15 by an Oklahoma Neo-Nazi after she tore down a Nazi flag flying in front of his house has filed a lawsuit accusing him of negligence, according to court documents.

Kyndal McVey, 26, was at a party across the road from Alexander Feaster’s house last June in the town of Hunter, Oklahoma, when she ran over around 3 a.m. and grabbed one of the two swastika flags he had flying outside his residence.

As she ran off with the flag, Feaster ran out of his house with an AR-15 and began firing.

Cops say the 45-year-old Feaster fired at least seven shots at McVey, striking her several times in the lower abdomen and legs. She required multiple surgeries and several weeks of hospitalization, authorities said.

In her lawsuit, McVey accuses Feaster of “reckless disregard” and asks for more than  $75,000 in damages for “mental and physical pain and suffering,” and medical expenses.

Kyndal McVey

Feaster was arrested following the shooting and charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon, a felony. Investigators allege that Feaster, was lying in wait for someone from the party to try and steal his Nazi flags. The shooting was captured by Feaster’s home security system, which, cops say, recorded him running out the front door “with a large AR platform rifle on a sling and at the ready.”

During a search of Feaster’s home, cops noticed that a chair was placed at the front of the residence facing the door. A large ashtray containing several cigarette butts was nearby, as was a pair of handcuffs. “It appeared that Mr. Feaster was anticipating an incident to take place and had been watching from that spot,” a sheriff’s deputy reported.

Feaster, free on $75,000 bail, is scheduled for a March 5 preliminary hearing in the shooting case. He claims to have “acted in self-defense,” adding that he was in fear of “imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.”

In court filings, Feaster–who spent 10 years in the military and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq–has portrayed himself as a “patriotic citizen” and “loyal American” whose political beliefs had subjected him to threats, harassment, and the frequent theft of his Nazi flags.

Feaster claims McVey is the real criminal and that he is actually a hate crime victim. The AR-15, Feaster contends, is a “precautionary weapon” that he aimed below McVey’s “center mass” so that the fusillade would not prove fatal.

Feaster’s profile page on Gab, a social network favored by the alt-right, is decorated with a Nazi flag and the German phrase “Meine Ehre Heisst Treue” (“My Honor, is Loyalty”), which was the motto of the Waffen-SS.

In a court filing, Feaster argued that there should be no negative implications from his public display of the swastika flags. While he “does not subscribe to all the tenets of National Socialism,” Feaster “believes that the United States’ economic situation, as it is now, is not dissimilar from the Weimar Republic of Germany in the early 1930’s when Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor.”

Black Sheriff’s Deputy Denied Burial at ‘Whites Only’ Cemetery in Louisiana

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Darrell Semien’s widow was told the cemetery where he wanted to be buried was for whites only

OBERLIN, Louisiana  — It was a grave insult.

 A Louisiana widow was stunned when a small cemetery in her community  denied her the right to bury her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, because he was Black and that the burial ground was for whites only.

Karla Semien of Oberlin wrote on Facebook that a woman at the Oaklin Springs Cemetery in southwest Louisiana told her that her husband could not be buried there because it was for whites only.

“She stood in front of me and all my kids wow what a slap in the face. I just can’t believe in 2021 in oberlin Louisiana this is happening,” Semien wrote.

“To be told this is like we were nothing. He was nothing? He put his life on the line for them,” Semien told KPLC-TV on Wednesday. 

Days later, the board of the cemetery held an emergency meeting to remove the shocking clause that had been in their sales contracts since the 1950s.

This was the offending clause in the contract

H. Creig Vizena, board president for the cemetery said he was stunned and ashamed to learn that the family of Allen Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Darrell Semien, who died of cancer at age 55, had been told that he could not be buried at the cemetery because he was Black.

“It never came up,” says Vizena. “I take full responsibility for that. I’ve been the President of this board for several years now. I take full responsibility for not reading the by-laws.”

Vizena said when he told other members about the language, they all agreed it had to be fixed.

He said a relative of his was the woman who told the family about the race clause, and she was “relieved of her duties.”

Vizena said he apologized to the family and offered one of his own plots in the small cemetery, but the offer was turned down. The family said Semien couldn’t rest easily there.

“My dad wasn’t any man, he was a phenomenal man,” daughter Shayla Semien told KATC-TV. “He was a police officer in this same community for 15 years. He was denied a place to lay because of the color of his skin.”

Vizena said the episode is “a stain that’s going to be on our cemetery and our community for a long time.”

Missing Michigan Family Found Dead in Remote Woods

By HardBoiledNews Staff

WEST BRANCH, Michigan — A missing Michigan couple and their 8-month-old son were found dead after their truck appeared to have gotten stuck on a boulder, stranding them in a remote wooded area.

Amanda Pomeroy, Douglas Dougherty and their son, Jacob Dougherty, were found by a snowmobiler outside of their vehicle some seven days after they were reported missing, police said.

The couple had last been seen on Jan. 12 when they visited relatives in nearby Rose City, Michigan. They were not reported missing until four days later, police said.

On Saturday, a snowmobiler stumbled upon the family’s pickup truck in the woods. He stopped to investigate and found all three people dead outside the vehicle, cops said. It appeared the truck was stuck on a large rock and Dougherty was trying to get it unstuck, the Ogemaw County Sheriff’s office said.

Details of how the family got stuck and how they died, remained unclear.

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions that we need to know,” Ogemaw County Sheriff Brian Gilbert told MLive. “We’re doing autopsies right now, so we’ll have some final answers soon.”

A GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the family, said the couple had a daughter who survives them. 

A published obituary said Pomeroy, 32, worked as a waitress and in a food store and loved camping. The notice said Dougherty, 35, loved to camp and fish. Their son, who was born in May, was described as a “happy and joyful baby.”

Oklahoma Legislator Proposes Bill to Establish Bigfoot Hunting Season

By HardBoiledNews Staff

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma — It’s Bigfoot hunting season.

An Oklahoma state legislator has filed legislation to establish an official Bigfoot hunting season as a way to draw tourists.

The bill proposes to have the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Division establish annual dates of the season and set specific hunting licenses and fees.

“Tourism is one of the biggest attractions we have in my House district,” said State Rep. Justin Humphrey, a Republican from Lane, in southeast Oklahoma. “Establishing an actual hunting season and issuing licenses for people who want to hunt Bigfoot will just draw more people to our already beautiful part of the state. It will be a great way for people to enjoy our area and to have some fun.”

Humphrey said he doesn’t want people to actually kill Bigfoot, so he will be working with the state wildlife and tourism departments to craft final language for his bill that specifies only the trapping of Bigfoot. He also hopes to secure at least $25,000 that can be used as a bounty for the first person to trap the creature.

“A lot of people don’t believe in Bigfoot, but a lot of people do,” Humphrey said. “Just like some people like to go deer hunting, while some don’t.”

Humphrey said the town of Honobia, Oklahoma, already has an annual Bigfoot festival each October, so the hunting season ideally would coincide with that.

“Having a license and a tag would give people a way to prove they participated in the hunt,” Humphrey said. “Again, the overall goal is to get people to our area to enjoy the natural beauty and to have a great time, and if they find Bigfoot while they’re at it, well hey, that’s just an even bigger prize.”

Son of Texas ‘Honor Killer’ Dad Admits Helping Him Hide for 12 Years

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Yaser Said was on the run for 12 years for the honor killings of his daughters

DALLAS — The son of a Texas cab driver who allegedly committed “honor killings” of his two daughters, has pleaded guilty to helping his father elude capture for more than 12 years, prosecutors said.

Islam Yaser-Abdel Said, 32, admitted he and his uncle had helped his father Yaser Said, who had once been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, move from house to house for years to avoid being arrested.

“Islam Said prioritized the whims of his father, an alleged killer, over justice for his own sisters. Thanks to the dogged work of the FBI and its law enforcement partners, however, Mr. Said’s efforts were ultimately in vain,” said U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. “We are grateful to the many agents and officers who worked to apprehend Mr. Said, along with his father and uncle. Sarah and Amina deserve justice.” 

The elder Mr. Said had been a fugitive from justice since New Year’s Day 2008, when he allegedly murdered his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah. According to law enforcement, he shot the girls to death inside his taxicab and abandoned their bodies inside the vehicle. 

The deaths have widely been believed the have been “honor killings” because Yaser Said disapproved of his daughter’s less stringent adherence to Islam. He was captured by the FBI in August 2020, and is currently in state custody.

Islam Said

Prosecutors say the younger Said and his uncle, Yassein Said, harbored his father, in an apartment in Bedford, Texas for nearly a decade. But after a maintenance worker spotted Yaser in 2017 and reported it to the FBI, Islam scrambled to further evade the authorities. 

When an agent was dispatched to interview him,Islam refused to cooperate, and later called his uncle to say, “we have problem,” prosecutors said.  

Investigators say he later harbored his father inside a home in Justin, Texas that belonged to his cousin. 

Islam Said pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, one count of concealing a person from arrest, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.  He faces up to 30 years in federal prison. 

Islam’s uncle, Yassein Said, is set for trial on Feb. 1, 2021.

Railway Spike Killer Gets Life in Murder Spree That Targeted the Homeless

By HardBoiledNews Staff

SAN DIEGO — A Southern California man who killed four people and attacked more than a dozen by setting them on fire or impaling them with railroad spikes, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Jon David Guerrero, 43, pleaded guilty last year to murder, attempted murder and arson in more than a dozen attacks in 2016 of mostly homeless men he targetted as they slept on the street

Some were set on fire with gasoline and others had railroad spikes driven through their heads or chests. One survivor of a spike attack was blinded in one eye, prosecutors said.

Three murder victims were homeless: Angelo DeNardo, 53; Shawn Longley, 41; and Dionicio Vahidy, 23. Another victim, 83-year-old Molly Simmons, wasn’t homeless. Authorities said she was fatally struck in the head from behind while walking to a bus stop on her way to volunteer at a YMCA.

Although a motive wasn’t disclosed, trial testimony indicated that he told one survivor, “because you’re a bum.”

Guerrero, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, had a history of arrests and mental competency hearings. He was initially declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in 2017 and sent to Patton State Hospital but later was ruled able to stand trial.

He was  sentenced in San Diego Superior Court to life without possibility of parole with an additional 143 years to life in prison. 

Sicko Son Kills Dad, Stepmom With Machete For Trying to Stop Sex Assault

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Jesus Medrano III

KENOSHA, Wisconsin — A deranged sicko has been charged with killing his father and stepmother with a machete after they tried to stop him sexually assaulting a young relative, police said,

Investigators in Wisconsin say Jesus Medrano III, 24, had brought the weapon into the bedroom where he planned his assault with the intention of using it if anyone tried to stop him.

“This is as violent, assaultive and tragic a set of crimes that one can commit against their own family members,” said Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley, according to the Kenosha News. 

Police called to the house encountered a horrific scene with “blood all over the floor and along the walls.” According to the criminal complaint, Jesus Medrano Jr., 49, was lying in front of the door with his arm nearly severed and a stab wound to his stomach. His wife, Latrice Meyers-Medrano, 36 was lying face-down on a mattress. The scene was soaked with blood.

Cops say Medrano III confessed to having sexual thoughts about one of his young relatives, and went into her bedroom that night planning to sexually assault her, bringing a sock to gag her and a machete he planned to use in case his father tried to stop him.

According to the complaint, when he woke the sleeping girl she struggled, waking up another sibling that shared the room and alerting Medrano Jr., who came to find out what was wrong.

Graveley said that as soon as Medrano III realized his father did not believe him when he said nothing was wrong, so he stabbed his father in the stomach, then struck him in the shoulder. When his stepmother came into the room, he stabbed her as well.

Jesus Medrano Jr. and Latrice Meyers-Medrano

Medrano III said he fled when he heard his father saying they would call police, running to the home of a relative who lived a few blocks away. Other kids ran from the house to a neighbor who called 911.

Cops later found Medrano III, covered with blood and with a machete in his right hand. “Just kill me,” Medrano said, according to police who took  him into custody without incident.

Medrano III has been charged wiith two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree sexual assault and child abuse. He was held on $2.5 million bond.

Sick Border Agent Charged With Pouring Urine on Boss’ Desk on Last Day on Job

By HardBoiledNews Staff

TONAWANDA, New York — He crossed some serious borders here.

A former Border Patrol agent has been hit with federal charges after allegedly spraying urine on his supervisor’s desk on his last day on the job at a station on the Canadian border.

Prosecutors say Eduardo Flores Jr. was caught on camera splashing urine all over Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Brandon Steele’s desk, chair, keyboard, clothing, books and personal items, including picture frames, in the cubicle at the station in Tonawanda on Aug. 24.

Flores retired from the Border Patrol four days later and the day of the alleged vandalism was  Flores’ last day in the office.   

Steele, upon returning to work after three days off, “noticed an unpleasant scent” at the cubicle, according to the criminal complaint.

Video surveillance footage showed that Flores “began to spray/pour a substance throughout the cubicle” and over the supervisory agent’s belongings and “continued this action for about one minute,” the complaint states.   

Authorities said it cost $458 for a cleaning company to sanitize the cubicle.

Flores was charged with destruction of property. He faces up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

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?”

Tomb Raiders Busted Stealing Skulls from Florida Cemetery for Religious Rituals

By HardBoiledNews Staff

MOUNT DORA, Florida — Cops nabbed a pair of ghoulish grave robbers who had been stealing skulls from a Florida cemetery for use in religious rituals.

Investigators with the Lake County Sheriff’s office managed to track the suspects down with the help of DNA evidence recovered from cigars found around the busted open crypts at the Edgewood Cemetery in Mount Dora.

The reprehensible robberies date back to Dec. 6, when cemetery workers found four tombs broken open and the bodies within mutilated, cops said.

When crime scene investigators found the cigar butts, they sent them off to the lab as possible evidence. In early January, analysis of the DNA retrieved from the cigars came back with a hit: 43-year-old Brian Montalvo Tolentino, of Davenport.

On Jan. 6, detectives obtained a search warrant for mouth swabs from Tolentino for a direct DNA comparison. When detectives interviewed Tolentino, they say he confessed to going to the cemetery with his pal, 39-year-old Juan Burgos Lopez, of Lake Wales, and committing the crimes. 

Tolentino stated that Lopez used a crowbar to open the vaults and then removed the skulls that were taken to be used for religious practices.

Detectives then obtained a search warrant for Lopez’s residence where they say they recovered the human remains from what appeared to be some sort of religious shrine. 

Both men were charged with four counts of disturbing the contents of a grave and four counts of abuse of a dead human body. They were each held on $40,000 bond.

Treasure Hunter Pleads Guilty to Digging in Yellowstone Cemetery

By HardBoiledNews Staff

CASPER, Wyoming — A fanciful fortune hunter has pleaded guilty after being caught digging in a cemetery in Yellowstone National Park in search of a fabled hidden treasure.

Rodrick Dow Craythorn, 52, of Syracuse, Utah, was searching for a treasure chest containing coins, gold and other valuables left somewhere in the Rocky Mountains a decade ago by Santa Fe, New Mexico, art and antiquities dealer Forrest Fenn, who published a book with a poem containing clues to where the treasure could be found.

The Fenn legend  has led dozens to search for the treasure — estimated to be worth as much as $1 million — but has resulted in several rescues of people who got stuck in dangerous situations. Six deaths have been attributed to the hunt. 

“The hunt for the Forrest Fenn treasure was often viewed as a harmless diversion, but in this case it led to substantial damage to important public resources,” Wyoming U.S. Attorney Mark Klaassen said Tuesday.

Craythorn admitted digging within the Fort Yellowstone Cemetery in Yellowstone National Park on two separate occasions in Oct. 2019 and May 2020. Prosecutors say he caused more tham $1,000 in damage.

He pleaded guilty in federal court in Casper, Wyoming to illegally excavating or trafficking in archaeological resources and to damaging federal property. He faces up to 12 years in prison 

Fenn died at age 90 in September, three months after announcing the treasure had been found. A grandson of Fenn confirmed in December the finder was Jonathan “Jack” Stuef, 32, a medical student from Michigan.

Fenn said before his death the treasure was in Wyoming but neither Stuef nor Fenn’s relatives have said where exactly

Fenn for years hinted the treasure was north of Santa Fe in the Rocky Mountains of either New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. 

Conspiracy Theorists Mistake Guitar Pedal Design for Proof of ‘5G Covid-19 Microchip’

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The only thing getting injected into anyone’s veins here is the ability to shred!

Guitarists have been getting an amped-up laugh after spotting a diagram being passed around online that purports to be for a microchip being secretly injected into people with the Covid-19 vaccine that is actually the schematic for the Boss Metal Zone guitar pedal.

A staple of hair metal bands since the early 1990s, its ability to make guitars scream has caught the attention of conspiracy theorists in Italy who claim its for a 5G chip secretly being implanted into people to track their motions, Guitar World magazine reported.

“It features a section labelled “5G frequency” – clearly the source of many a theorist’s eureka moment – as well as terms guitarists will find familiar: “MT-2 Gain”, “Footswitch” among the most recognizable,” the magazine reported.

Mario Fusco, an engineer at Redhat Inc. who spotted the dubious design, quipped: “In reality it is the electric circuit of a guitar pedal and I believe that putting it in the covid vaccine has been an excellent idea.”

Others online similarly riffed on the joke.

“Excellent. Reassured to know that 5G relies on op-amps and some 1n4148 diodes. Proper old school. None of that digital and microprocessor nonsense. I’ll take one in each arm,” posted one user.

Another replied, “This is a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, and trust me, that ain’t curing anybody of anything, except maybe good tone.”

Man Kicks In Ex-Boss’ Door Over Slow Reply to Facebook Friend Request

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Caleb Burczyk just wants to be friends

WILLISTON, North Dakota — There’s a reason this guy doesn’t have many friends.

A North Dakota man has been charged with terrorizing his ex-boss by kicking in his door after the man didn’t respond to his Facebook friend request quickly enough, authorities said.

Police say Caleb Burczyk, 29, started sending aggressive Facebook friend requests to his former employer starting the day before Christmas, some which included threats.

“Accept my friend request or I’m going to murder you,’” investigators quoted Burczyk as writing in an affidavit filed in court, according to the Williston Herald.

On Dec. 26, Burczyk said there would be trouble for his former boss if Burczyk had to fire up his pickup and come find him, the document said. That message included a photo of his truck.

Later that day, the victim’s door was kicked in.

Burczyk layer posted a photo of himself on Snapchat with a message about his boss’ family needing a new door. That photo showed him in a black cap, black vest and red and black plaid long-sleeve shirt, court documents state.

Security footage from Dec. 26 showed the man who kicked in the door of the home on Creekside Drive wearing the same outfit.

Burczyk has been charged with counts of burglary and terrorizing. He was held on $25,000 bond and  is due back in court Jan. 27.

Inmate Who Survived Botched Execution Dies on Death Row of Covid-19

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Romell Broom

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio death row inmate who survived a botched execution in 2009 has died of possible complications of COVID-19 while waiting on death row, the state prisons system said.

Ohio unsuccessfully tried to put Romell Broom to death by lethal injection on Sept. 15, 2009. The execution was called off after two hours when technicians could not find a suitable vein, and Broom cried in pain while receiving 18 needle sticks.

Broom returned to death row, where he fought unsuccessfully to avoid a second execution, but his most recent execution date, set for June, was postponed until March 2022 after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine issued a reprieve.

At the time of the 2009 procedure, Broom was only the second inmate in the U.S. to survive an execution.

The 64-year-old Broom is suspected to have died of COVID-19, but an official ruling will come when the coroner issues a death certificate.

Broom’s attorneys had filed arguments with the U.S. Supreme Court that he should be spared a second execution attempt.

Broom survived the 2009 execution “only to live with the ever-increasing fear and distress that the same process would be used on him at his next execution date,” attorneys Timothy Sweeney and Adele Shank said in a statement.

“Let his passing in this way, and not in the execution chamber, be the final word on whether a second attempt should ever have been considered,” they said.

Broom was sentenced to die for raping and killing 14-year-old Tryna Middleton after abducting her in Cleveland in 1984 as she walked home from a football game with two friends.

Hungry Thieves Make Off With Brooklyn Restaurant’s Pasta

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK —  Pasta la vista, baby.

A bolognese-loving burglar broke into a Brooklyn restaurant and made off with all its homemade pasta while leaving behind its pricey booze and kitchen equipment.

Workers at Borsalia — a recently opened eatery in Williamsburg — say the thief got inside the night of Christmas Eve by breaking the lock on a hatch on the sidewalk and then drilling a hole into the wall that separated the entrance from the kitchen.

Once inside, the thieves cleared out all 15 pounds of the restaurant’s pasta, which had been made the day before by the kitchen staff. The purloined pasta included ravioli, cappelletti, tagliatelle and gnocchi.

The haul was so unusual, that staffers didn’t even notice the pasta was gone until the cops arrived and were taking a close look around.

“We went downstairs and found this big hole in the wall…but everything in the restaurant was perfect,” Manager Cristiano Rossi told Patch. “When the police came we went into the kitchen and we opened the pasta storage — it was empty.”

He said that aside from the carbo-haul, the only other thing missing was about $40 from a tip jar

Rossi said cops fingerprinted the kitchen and collected camera footage from nearby businesses, but have not had any updates in the case since. He said Borsalia had not yet set up its own camera system since it opened only a month ago.

The heist left Borsalia’s kitchen crew working all day and night on Christmas to replace the pasta supply.

Rossi said the only reason he could imagine why someone would go to the trouble is because their pasta is so good.

“Our pasta is in high demand and is of the highest value,” he said.

Gunman Wearing Trump Mask, Santa Hat Shoots Brother-in-Law

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ROHNERT PARK, California — A man donning a Santa Claus beard and hat and rubber Donald Trump mask walked up and shot his estranged 77-year-old brother-in-law right in front of his house, cops said.

The victim was hospitalized with two gunshot wounds which were considered serious but not  life-threatening, the Rohnert Park police said. Gerald Jacinth, 75, of Las Vegas, was caught soon after and charged with attempted murder.

The bizarre encounter unfolded Saturday morning when Jacinth drove up to his brother-in-law’s home in Sonoma County north of San Francisco wearing the goofy get-up while carrying a .380 handgun. He then walked up to the victim and tried to hand him a present.

“He had parked his black Dodge car across the street from the victim’s house wearing an over the head mask resembling Donald Trump, white long curly beard and a Santa hat as he made his way up the driveway,” the Rohnert Park authorities said.

The 77-year-old victim, whose name was not released by police, met Jacinth outside but did not recognize him, police said. He would not take the package, which the suspect said was a “special delivery.” Jacinth then raised a duffle bag he was carrying and opened fire, cops said.

“Even though the victim was suffering from two gunshot wounds,” police said, “he was still able to take a photo of Jacinth getting into his vehicle as he was fleeing.”

The victim’s wife dialed 911, and officers were in the area almost immediately and caught up to Jacinth driving nearby. He was quickly cornered and surrendered, police said.

“While searching the vehicle, the officers found a .380 handgun in a duffle bag,” the department said. They also found the mask, beard and hat police said.

A box found in the victim’s driveway was deemed suspicious and the bomb squad was called, but its contents were later determined to be a towel.