KCPD finds pipe bomb during drug raid

From John Shultz's report:

Kansas City police serving a narcotics warrant found a pipe bomb along with a stash of drugs this morning.

Officers made the discovery in the 4000 block of Bellefontaine Avenue about 10 a.m., police said. They arrested two people and seized an undisclosed amount of marijuana, crack and money.

The apparent explosive device was safely handled by the police department’s bomb and arson unit. No one was injured.

Cookie-torture suspects banned from school, for now

Southern Illinois University has told two students to stay away from campus while they're facing accusations of holding a man captive and torturing him with hot cookies. (Police say they were trying to collect on a drug debt.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jesse B!

WA man uses shotgun to loosen wheel's lug nut

In Washington State, a 66-year-old got so frustrated when he was trying to remove a wheel from his Lincoln Continental that he used a shotgun to loosen a lug nut.

It did not end well, the local sheriff's office reports.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Florida continues to see wave of armored-car robberies

Robbers held up an armored car earlier today and shot a security guard in the leg near Miami Lakes, Fl. This is actually the third armored-car stickup they've had in South Florida over the past three days, station WPLG reports. And this has sort of been a trend since May.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Spencer!

Lawrence woman says she was held captive in apartment

Police are still investigating. The woman, age 22, says it started on Saturday evening and she escaped on Sunday morning. During the incident, she told police, a 27-year-old man threatened her at gunpoint and a 32-year-old woman hit her with a kitchen utensil, the Journal-World reports.

Police: Teen boys were behind sex offender's murder

Last week, we had a story about a headless, charred corpse found in Michigan. It belonged to Daniel Sorenson, a 26-year-old who was also a convicted sex offender. Friends said the victim was going to take care of a debt when he was last seen.

Now? Authorities say the murder was committed by two teenage boys, ages 17 and 18, who allegedly did it as a thrill killing. (Though it sounds like they did a fair amount of prepwork.) From the prosecutor:

"Anytime anyone kills just because they want to, and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here, is bone-chilling. Why anyone would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society."

Photos of the suspects via The AP.

Police investigating 3 dead at Sedalia trailer park

Not many details yet. The bodies were discovered this morning, and police haven't released a cause. Could be carbon monoxide poisoning for all anyone knows right now.

SD man wins appeal of man-on-mannequin sex

The South Dakota Supreme Court has intervened in the case of a young man accused of having sex with a mannequin in public. A lower court convicted the man of indecent exposure, but the S.D. Supremes said that he technically didn't "flash" his genitalia.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Quote of the day: Did Mary Winkler get away with murder?

So a reporter did a long interview with the prosecutor in the Mary Winkler case. The last question: Did Mary Winkler get away with murder? Here's his response:

No. She did not, because she was convicted of a voluntary manslaughter, which is a knowing and intentional homicide. Understand that most people think that we lost this case. Remember, she got a conviction.

She didn't get a "not guilty." She spent some time in jail. And she will forever be a convicted felon ... She was just convicted of a lesser-included offense than what we indicted her for.

Riiiight.

WI mom pleads guilty to giving TOO MUCH information about sex

So ... a Wisconsin mother decides to have the sex talk with her kids, ages 11 and 15, and she apparently gets pretty detail-oriented. She talks about her own adventures, gives instructions on oral sex and, as a visual aid, shows one of her own sex toys, Court TV reports.

The 11-year-old goes to school and tells his counselor, who tells police. Junior reportedly says that he wishes Mom would "keep that kind of information personal."

Amazingly, the prosecutors bring charges -- "exposing children to harmful descriptions," a felony punishable by up to 3 years. Defense tries to get the charges kicked on First Amendment grounds, but the judge refuses. Mom pleads guilty so her kids -- even the little narc -- wouldn't have to testify.