Moscow court sentences gangster who faked own death to life in prison

Russian Gangster Sergei Butorin, who is suspected in at least 20 murders, was sentenced to life in prison by a Moscow court.

Butorin rose to power in the 1990s. After authorities began cracking down, he allegedly had plastic surgery and faked his own death, including organizing his own funeral in Russia.

| Bob Cronkleton

Godmother accused of killing 14-month-old with pipe

Mariann Harris, 23, Las Vegas faces multiple charges, including homicide and child abuse, for allegedly killing her 14-month-old goddaughter.

The coroner's office ruled that Dyon Johnson's death was a homicide caused by blunt head trauma. Harris is believed to have used a green metal pipe to beat the child.

She is expected to plead not guilty.

| Bob Cronkleton

Mother kills daughter with ax, then jumps to her death

An Australian mother is believed to have killed her daughter with an ax and then jumped to her death from one of Brisbane's busiest bridges.

The daughter has been identified as Sidonie Thompson, 14. Her father, who had just returned from a game of tennis, discovered her lifeless body.

| Bob Cronkleton

Yale sued for wrongful death

Remember Annie Le? She was the 24-year-old grad student at the Yale School of Medicine who was strangled in September 2009 by a male lab technician where she performed experiments for her course work.

Her family is suing Yale University for allowing a "culture of tolerance" of aggressive male behavior toward women.

| Bob Cronkleton

Casey Anthony not guilty of murdering her two-year-old daughter

The jury did find Casey Anthony guilty on four counts of providing false information to law enforcement.

|Bob Cronkleton

Rap star mourns death of counsin

The cousin of rapper Nicki Minaj was shot to death early Monday in Brooklyn.

Minaj tweeted shortly after the death of Nicholas Telemaque: "My cousin Nicholas. Also goes by Juse, or @brolicalcoholic* Murdered. Last nite. Near his home. Brooklyn,NY."

|Bob Cronkleton

It's Day 2 of deliberations for Casey Anthony jurors

A behind the scenes look by ABC Action News - WFTS-TV - Tampa, Fla.

 

Jurors in the Casey Anthony murder trial returned today for their second day of deliberations.

The Florida mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter.

| Bob Cronkleton

About 130 years later, a British corner has closed a cold murder case

A British coroner has identified the victim whose skull was recently found in a garden. The skull was that of Julia Thomas, a wealthy widow who was killed in 1879.

Not to play a spoiler, but the butler didn't do it.

| Bob Cronkleton

71-year-old ex-cop held in 1957 cold murder case had troubling past

Jack Daniels McCullough , former police officer arrested last week for a 1957 murder of a Illinois girl, has a history of sexually abusing young girls, court records show.

As an adult, he was fired from the Milton Police Department after he being accused of sexually assaulting a teenage runaway and pleading guilty to unlawful communication with a minor.

| Bob Cronkleton

Woman believed to have photographed her killer

A 67-year-old Lake Geneva, Wis., woman who had told a hairdresser she was going to hand out $100 in quarters to the needy at a laundromat might have photographed her killer.

Sandra Teichow's body was found Thursday afternoon. On Monday, authorities charged Wilbert Leonard Thomas, 65, with first-degree intentional homicide, theft from person or corpse and two counts of felony bail jumping, for allegedly killing her.

Police found a camara next to her body. On the memory card was a photo of a man walking away from the camera wearing blue jeans, a black jacket with a lime green collar and black shoes. He had white hair and used a silver cane with four small circular feet at the bottom.

Some of her injuries included small circular marks on her body. An investigator recognized Thomas from the photo.

Mug shot here.

| Bob Cronkleton

Conflicting stories arise in death of football player killed by police gunfire

Police contend that Pace University football player Danroy "D.J." Henry, 20, had a parked in a fire lane outside a bar in Thornwood, N.Y. When officers rapped on his window, Henry sped away, hitting an officer who clung to the hood, and headed toward another one.

The father of the passenger said Henry took off because officers asked him to move and denied that an officer was struck.

| Bob Cronkleton

Commander of Canada’s biggest air force base pleads guilty to 2 murders

David Russell Williams pleaded guilty to murdering two women.

But that was just the begining of the crimes he committed. It took 36 minutes to read all the charges he faced. In addition to the murders, he admitted to two sexual assaults that involved forcible confinement, and 82 break ins.

From The Toronto Star:

By day, Russell Williams was the commander of Canada’s biggest air force base, CFB Trenton. By night, he broke into homes, taking pictures of himself modeling the bras and panties of little girls.

He escalated quickly, from fetish break-ins, to sex assaults with no penetration to rape and murder. He logged his crimes, kept track of police reports of his crimes and left notes and messages for his victims.

And story from the Winnipeg Free Press.

Hat tip to Keith G. in P.V.

| Bob Cronkleton

Woman kills ex-boyfriend with bat; claims self defense

Thelina Kincaid told police that she beat her ex-boyfriend with a baseball bat in self defense.

| Bob Cronkleton

Pharmacist to stand trial for shooting death of would-be robber

An Oklahoma judge has refused to dismiss a first-degree murder charge against the pharmacist.

Prosecutors claim that during the robbery attempt, Jerome Ersland shot the 16-year-old boy in the head. As he was laying unconscious on the floor, Ersland then allegedly shot the boy five more times.

Hat tip to kevin for link to video

| Bob Cronkleton

Worse than a Wild West card-game shootout

The suspects weren't even playing.

In Miami, someone walked up and opened fire on a group of men playing cards on a street corner, killing two and injuring three. Police don't have a motive. From the Herald:

The men have gathered to play cards outside the bombed-out coin laundry for years, laughing and telling jokes.

"They are good guys, older men who don't hurt anybody,'' said Charles Black, who owns a clothing store two doors away. ``When I was growing up, there used to be men like that on street corners. Younger men would hang out there, and they'd teach them how to be good men. It's a really sad situation.''

| Sara Shepherd

Maybe you should fear the 14-yr-old girl with a gun

In Baltimore, authorities believe a 14-year-old girl set out to rob two men as part of a gang initiation.

But then one of them laughed at her because of her age...

| Sara Shepherd

Authorities find 72 bodies on Mexican ranch

CNN describes the find as a "gruesome, makeshift burial ground," where the bodies of 58 men and 14 women were found inside a structure on the ranch.

Members of the Mexican navy were led to the ranch by a man seeking medical help for a gunshot wound. When they got there, they encountered gunfights -- that killed one soldier and three civilians -- before discovering the stash of bodies.

No details on who the victims were, but the navy called it one of the largest discoveries of bodies in Mexico's 4-year-old war on organized crime.

| Sara Shepherd

Say cheese: van der Sloot prison party pic under investigation

It looks like some jailers may be in trouble after snapping a picture of Joran van der Sloot in a Peruvian prison -- smiling, with his arms around a couple of other guys charged in high profile killings.

Recall:

Van der Sloot faces a murder charge in the death of college student Stephany Flores, who was found dead in his Lima hotel room in May. The 22-year-old Dutch national was a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway on Aruba. He was arrested twice but released both times for lack of evidence.

| Sara Shepherd

Eight people die in standoff in Phillipines

China started demanding answers today as to why eight Hong Kong residents were killed in a bus standoff in Manila yesterday. A disgruntled Filipino police officer, fired on charges of corruption, hijacked a bus and demanded his job back, but after hours of negotiations decided to open fire on the bus passengers. The standoff went down on live television and is expected to put a damper on the tourism industry in the Phillipines.

Texas mayor commits murder-suicide

In Coppell, Texas, the Dallas suburb's mayor killed her 19-year-old daughter and then committed suicide, police say. Their bodies were found Tuesday. It now appears that Jayne Peters had been in financial trouble. Her house had been put up for foreclosure, and the city was investigating some charges on her city-issued credit card. Then there's this:

An envelope taped to the front door of Mayor Jayne Peters’ home contained a key to the house and a typed note advising police they would discover something unpleasant inside, Coppell Deputy Police Chief Steve Thomas said.

Three other notes contained instructions for handling affairs, such as taking care of the family dogs, but did not provide explanations for the deaths of Peters and her 19-year-old daughter, Corinne.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, FanDanGo and Patty PV!

Bay Area cop guilty of killing man

A jury has found Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area transit cop who shot and killed an unarmed man, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had tried to convict Mehserle for murder in the death of Oscar Grant, who was shot while lying facedown on a rail platform on New Year's Day 2009. Mehserle could get five to 14 years in prison. As the San Francisco Chronicle notes, it's pretty rare for a police officer to be convicted for an on-duty shooting. Grant's family says Mehserle should have been convicted of murder.

A man puts up a huge sign in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Bracing for the Mehserle verdict

A verdict could be coming soon in the trial of Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area Rapid Transit cop who's charged with shooting a man, Oscar Grant, in the back while Grant was lying on a transit platform. (An incident that was caught on cellphone camera.) Mehserle is white, Grant was black and Oakland police are warning people to stay calm, no matter which way the verdict lands. From CNN:

"We anticipate that regardless of the verdict reached by the jury, demonstrations could occur in downtown Oakland, and potentially throughout the city," one of the messages said. "We will not tolerate destruction or violence. We live here, and we love Oakland. We understand that the community is grieving, and we are in this together. We will get through this together."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Flowers and pictures of Oscar Grant are on display in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 1, 2010 during a gathering to stop the violence in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Girl, 2, killed for crying during World Cup game, Texas cops say

The suspect is the little girl's stepfather, authorities in McAllen, Texas, say. The attack allegedly happened during the U.S.-Ghana match over the weekend.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Searching!

French convict eats cellmate's lung

He thought it was the dead man's heart. They'd gotten into a fight because the victim failed to wash his hands after going to the bathroom.

Another way to prevent D.V. murders?

More states are starting to make it a felony to choke someone because experts say that victims who suffer these kinds of attacks will eventually get killed by their abusers, USA Today reports. The hope is that -- by punishing choking attacks more seriously -- they can prevents more murders.

A 2008 study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine found 43% of women who were murdered in domestic assaults and 45% who were victims of attempted murder had been choked in the past year by their male partners.