American crime roundup for week ending December 20
A son allegedly dismembers his parents, a man shows up at his neighbor's with an arrow in his back, and the body of an abducted child is found. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
A son allegedly dismembers his parents, a man shows up at his neighbor's with an arrow in his back, and the body of an abducted child is found. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
Lawyers for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh want to release to the public statements he made to the FBI about what happened to million of dollars he stole from clients and his South Carolina law firm and who might have helped him steal the money. Murdaugh's attorneys made the request in a court filing Thursday after federal prosecutors asked a judge earlier this week to keep the statements secret. Prosecutors think Murdaugh is trying to protect an attorney who helped him steal and that his assertion that more than $6 million in the stolen money went to his drug habit is not true.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will not appeal a judge’s ruling on Constitutional grounds that would have delayed his May trial, his lawyers said Thursday. The Democrat’s lawyers notified the Manhattan federal judge who will preside over the May 6 trial in a letter that the senator’s decision was “principally motivated by his desire to proceed to trial and establish his innocence without further delay.” Prosecutors say the gold and cash resulted from bribes that he and his wife received in exchange for favors Menendez carried out for three New Jersey businessmen.
Several central and Eastern European countries began marking on Thursday the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion of the NATO military alliance when formerly socialist countries became members of the bloc. At the main airbase hosting Spanish and Portuguese fighter jets tasked with NATO air policing missions in the Baltic region, officials gathered to commemorate the event.
A nonprofit organization said Thursday that it sued the U.S. National Park Service over a plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats from a historic district in the U.S. territory. The lawsuit filed by Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies comes four months after the federal agency announced it would contract an animal welfare organization to remove an estimated 200 cats that live in an area surrounding a historic seaside fortress in Old San Juan. The organization would decide whether the trapped cats would be adopted, placed in foster homes, kept in a shelter or face other options.
Army Corps of Engineers divers will be working in darkness 50 feet below the surface to cut apart 4,000 tons of wreckage.
Puerto Rico dengue fever cases "have exceeded historical figures," Puerto Rico Health Secretary Carlos Mellado stated, declaring a public health emergency in an effort to curb the rising cases.
In November 2022, Romero, of Fort Myers, Florida, said she started taking the medication Mounjaro for weight loss. Around two weeks after starting the medication, Romero said she discovered she was pregnant. Romero is part of a growing number of women reporting they were able to become pregnant after taking Mounjaro or other drugs used for weight loss, including Ozempic and Wegovy.
Erin Andrews was inspired by Kristen Welker's journey to motherhood with a surrogate. Now she's helping other families afford infertility treatments.
The United States will partner with Mexico to explore semiconductor supply chain opportunities, the State Department said on Thursday, as the Biden administration pushes to reduce reliance on China and Taiwan for the technology. The collaboration will take place as part of the U.S. CHIPS Act, a 2022 law that created a $500 million fund for developing the semiconductor supply chain through initiatives with allies and partners. "Manufacturing of essential products ranging from vehicles to medical devices relies on the strength and resilience of the semiconductor supply chain," the department said in a statement.
New research suggests these two types of killer whales found off the Pacific coast could actually be different species.
Alex Murdaugh failed a lie detector test administered as part of the plea agreement for the disgraced former attorney’s raft of financial crimes, federal prosecutors said, violating the deal, which required his truthfulness, according to a court filing Tuesday.
Russia on Thursday blocked the renewal of a panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea, weeks after the body said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.It added that it is investigating reports of arms shipments from Pyongyang to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Victor Sharrah woke up one day in November 2020 to a terrifying reality. People's faces began to appear stretched out and "demonic."
Endangered smalltooth sawfish, marine creatures virtually unchanged for millions of years, are exhibiting erratic spinning behavior and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. Federal and state wildlife agencies are beginning an effort to rescue and rehabilitate sawfish to find out why. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced what it calls an “emergency response” focused on the Florida Keys starting next week.
South Africa's electoral officials said Thursday that they had excluded former president Jacob Zuma from May elections, further stoking tensions in the run-up to the polls.Zuma cannot in theory seek re-election as he has already served two terms as president.
Health officials are alerting doctors to be on the lookout for certain types of rare but serious meningococcal infections that are on the rise in the United States.
In a personal essay, Theo Padnos views the Moscow attacks through his experience as a captive of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Thursday -- a stunning descent for a figure who seemed poised to lead an emerging sector less than two years ago. Kaplan set a sentence of 25 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
A group of Republican-led states is suing the Biden administration to block a new student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, 11 states led by Kansas argue that Biden overstepped his authority in creating the SAVE Plan, which was made available to borrowers last year and has already canceled loans for more than 150,000. It argues that the new plan is no different from Biden's first attempt at student loan cancellation, which the Supreme Court rejected last year.
The two pilots of a mammoth cargo ship that crashed into and destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge are expected to be interviewed by authorities Thursday as crews prepare for a risky salvage mission ahead.