Murder suspect has long criminal history

The California native and parolee accused of killing his Muskegon Heights girlfriend Tuesday has a long history of criminal activity stemming back to the early 1980s, authorities said.

But it's unclear whether any of his nine felony convictions rose to the level of physical violence that authorities say led to the death of Dianne Joy Preston-Aguilar, 47, of 3036 Eighth.

The accused, Robert Lee Shine, 49, who lists the same address as his alleged victim, was arraigned Wednesday on the charge of open murder and as a fourth-time habitual offender before Muskegon County 60th District Court Judge Maria Ladas Hoopes...

Professor makes 'Most Wanted' list

Accused murderer George Zinkhan III now is one of America's Most Wanted.

Authorities don't know where the University of Georgia professor fled after he shot and killed his wife and two men in Athens on Saturday, or even if he still is alive.

But the "America's Most Wanted" television show added Zinkhan to a list of fugitives on its Web site Wednesday, and the program might produce a segment about the slayings...

2 students dead in murder-suicide at Michigan community college

A 20-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man were killed during a murder-suicide at Henry Ford Community College Friday, police have confirmed.


The two were in a theater class together today, but police were unable to substantiate any relationship between the two, Dearborn’s deputy police chief, Gregg Brighton, said.
Dearborn police identified the two as 20-year-old Asia McGowan of Ecorse, Mich., and 28-year-old Anthony Powell of Detroit.

Earlier Friday, police responding to a 12:40 p.m. report of a campus assault were inside the fine arts building when a shotgun blast was heard. Police then entered Room F-111 and found the bodies...

Two die in apparent murder/suicide at Braintree motel

Two people died in an apparent murder-suicide at a Union Street motel notorious for drawing drugs and prostitution to town.

The victims were identified as a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s. A motel worker discoved the bodies after entering a room in the rear of the Motel 6 at 125 Union St. about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Evidence at the scene indicates the male may have been the aggressor,” said David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William Keating. “The man and woman are known to each other.”..

Man gets life term for wife's murder on daughter's testimony

Relying primarily on the testimony of a nine-year-old girl, a sessions court here has convicted her father, a naval officer, for murdering his wife.

Upendra Rai (35) was been sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for murdering his wife Vandana (32) on October 24, 2005 on suspicion of having an illicit relationship.

On the day of the incident, the accused came to his residence in an inebriated state around 2330 hours and picked up a fight with his wife and started assaulting her physically...

Ewa man convicted of murder, again

An Oahu jury convicted Darnell Griffin, 50, of second-degree murder in the strangulation death of Evelyn Luka in 1999.

The jury returned its verdict this afternoon after getting the case Friday afternoon.
Griffin had no reaction as the verdict was read in court.

Griffin was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault. On the morning of Sept. 6, 1999, Luka was found unconscious near the Ka Uka Boulevard onramp of the H-2 freeway.

Luka remained in a coma at the Queen’s Medical Center with brain damage. She was taken off life support on Oct. 2 after she failed to regain consciousness...

Alabama police kill man they say killed 3, wounded 1

A man who blamed his estranged wife for their 4-year-old son's death in a traffic accident shot her and killed three people she'd been staying with, then died in a gunbattle with police, authorities said Monday.

The initial shootings late Saturday happened within sight of a small white cross on the side of a rural highway marking where the boy had chased a skateboard into the path of a neighbor's pickup truck.

William Odell Wood II tried to elude officers who spotted him a county away Sunday and opened fire on them after getting out of his car on Interstate 10, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said...

Prosecutor Wants To Charge Sex Offender In 4th Death

A prosecutor in Cincinnati says he is seeking another murder charge against a registered sex offender already scheduled for trial in the strangulation death of a teenage girl.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says he will take new evidence to a grand jury involving the death of a woman whose charred bones were found about 10 months ago. The woman’s name has not been released...

20-Year Sentence in Virginia Baby's Death

Michelle Leete dropped off her 21-month-old son at a day-care provider's home, then got a phone call four hours later saying he had been beaten to death.

The pain has scarcely subsided for the Fairfax County woman since that day in September 2006. She wept again in court yesterday as she recalled Myles Simon as a "jovial child who loved to smile and giggle and was a delight to his parents and grandparents."

After her testimony, a Fairfax Circuit Court judge sentenced Mohammad A. Ahmad to 20 years in prison as part of a plea bargain on a second-degree murder charge. The sentencing concluded a tortuous case that featured one murder trial, the erasure of its verdict, the dismissal of its prosecutors and the arrest of its main witness on perjury charges on the eve of the retrial...

Ex-soldier bragged about Iraqi rape, deaths

A former U.S. soldier on trial in the gang rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her and her family in the war zone in 2006 was caught in a "perfect storm of insanity," his lawyer told a jury on Monday.

But government prosecutors in the same courtroom said former Private 1st Class Steven Green, alleged ringleader of the slayings, was only interested in killing Iraqis "nonstop" and bragged during a barbecue celebration later that what he had done was "awesome."

Green, 23, is being tried in federal court as a civilian since his arrest came after he was discharged from the U.S. Army later in 2006 for a "personality disorder."...

$300,000 bail set in stabbing

The Superior man accused of stabbing three people in a Catlin Court residence Wednesday remains in Douglas County Jail on $300,000 cash bail.

A bail hearing for Donald L. Christopher, 40, took place Thursday. No criminal complaint has been filed in the case, which is set for an initial appearance Friday. Christopher is expected to face three charges of attempted homicide, according to Sgt. Derrick Hughes of the Superior Police Department...

Man confesses to killing ex-wife, another man

New Orleans police have arrested a man in connection with the late Saturday night slaying of his ex-wife and another man.

NOPD Deputy Chief Marlon Defillo said they arrested 43-year-old Jackie Green after spotting his vehicle, which matched reports of the purple vehicle fleeing the crime scene, on I-10 near the Twin Spans.

Police initially found 40-year-old Marilyn Green lying on the sidewalk outside of a home in the 13600 block of North Cavelier Street in New Orleans East. Police pronounced her dead on the scene after she was found with a gunshot wound to the chest. They also found found 51-year-old Lionel Nelson inside of the home with a gunshot wound to the chest, Defillo said. They transported him to a hospital, where he later died...

Two dead in Castro Valley shooting

Two people are dead in a murder and officer-involved shooting at a Castro Valley triplex today.

Authorities are still at the scene of the shooting which occurred at 22415 North Fifth Avenue around noon.

Deputies were called by friends of the female victim who were concerned about her welfare. The triplex was locked when deputies arrived, but they later entered the unit by climbing a ladder provided by the Alameda County Fire Department...

Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide

A Roanoke Rapids man shot and killed his girlfriend in front of a daycare, then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide Friday afternoon, said Police Chief Jeff Hinton.

Authorities said that Dawn Taylor, 38, of Roanoke Rapids, picked up a young child from a daycare in the 800 block of Franklin Street and put the child in her car around 4 p.m....

Boston University med student arrested in Craigslist slaying

A Boston University medical student was arrested Monday in the shooting death in a hotel of a masseuse and the robbery of another woman who both advertised their services on Craigslist.

Phil Markoff, 22, was arrested during a traffic stop Monday afternoon on Interstate 95 in Walpole, south of Boston, Police Commissioner Ed Davis said at a news conference to announce the arrest. He is also suspected of being connected to an assault on a Las Vegas exotic dancer in Rhode Island last week.

"We are very, very happy to have this man off the street in such a timely way," Davis said...

Murder-suicide claims city workers

An 11-year-old girl was forced to watch yesterday as her mother was killed in a murder-suicide in West Oak Lane around 7:30 a.m.

Angela Jeffreys, 34, was shot in the head after she got into her car to take her daughter to school. Police said Aleem Ali, 45, who had a previous "domestic relationship" with Jeffreys killed her and then turned the gun on himself in the middle of the street.

Homicide Capt. James Clark said that the two had a previous relationship and that there was a disturbance a week ago. Jeffreys and Ali worked together in the city's Department of Human Services — along with Ali's wife — before Jeffreys transferred to a job as a court clerk...

Hotel Dead Were N.Y. Family in Murder-Suicide

The four people who were found dead Monday in a Towson hotel room were identified yesterday as William Parente, 59, his wife, Betty, 58, and their children, Stephanie, 19, and Catherine, 11. Police said the deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide.

The family lived in Garden City, N.Y., and the father was a lawyer with a Manhattan firm. Stephanie was a sophomore at Loyola College in Maryland in Baltimore, and the other three had apparently come to the area to visit her...

Broward Sheriff's Office identifies woman killed in Deerfield Beach murder-suicide

Broward Sheriff's Office officials have released the identity of a woman killed in a murder-suicide over the weekend in a retirement community.

The woman victim is Emilia Debrophy, 57, according a news release by the Sheriff's Office late Tuesday.

Debrophy and her live-in boyfriend Francisco Dacunha, 68, were found dead Sunday inside their Century Village condominium in the 1000 block of Farnham N.

Someone who looked through the couple's window that morning saw blood and called 911 to check on the couple...

Couple, their 3 kids found dead in Maryland home

A father killed his wife and their three young children before fatally shooting himself in a northwest Maryland home, authorities said Saturday.

Christopher Alan Wood, 34, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Frederick County sheriff's office spokeswoman Jennifer Bailey said. His wife Francis Billotti Wood, 33, and their three children suffered "traumatic cuts," but the causes of their deaths weren't immediately confirmed.

Two boys ages 5 and 4 were found in their beds, and a 2-year-old girl was found with the mother in the master bedroom. The father's body lay on the floor at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom...

Police arrest boyfriend suspected of killing Cal State Long Beach student

Police have arrested a 20-year-old Mission Viejo man suspected of killing his girlfriend, authorities said Saturday.

Kate Sue Yi, a 20-year-old Cal State Long Beach student, was found dead in her apartment on the 700 block of Bellflower Boulevard at about 7:20 p.m. Thursday, said Long Beach Police Officer Jackie Bezart.

Bezart said Yi's roommate discovered the body...

Mexico arrests US man accused of raping 19 women

A Texas man has been arrested for allegedly raping 19 women across the border in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, authorities said Monday.

Jorge Alberto Mendez, 42, was arrested Saturday while trying to cross into Mexico from El Paso, Texas, where he lives, said regional Deputy Attorney General Alejandro Pariente.

Pariente said the investigation began in April 2008 with the rape of a 15-year-old girl. Similar cases were subsequently reported.

One of the victims managed to write down the license plate number of her assailant, which eventually led to Mendez's arrest, Pariente said...

61yo guilty of wife's murder

Sixty-one-year-old Richard Watson was charged last year with the murder of his wife Anne by burning down their house in Pyramid Hill, north of Bendigo, in 2003.

Watson did not show any emotion when the verdict was given this afternoon but his late wife's family members gasped and cried in court...

Pennsylvania man, 73, accused of killing wife of few weeks

A 73-year-old western Pennsylvania man was charged with killing his 73-year-old wife after authorities said he was upset by her decision to end their marriage of just a few weeks.

Relatives found the body of Ruth Anne Henderson-McTonic on the back porch of her home Friday, police said. She had been shot twice in the chest with a .22-caliber firearm.

William McTonic, of Jerome, is charged with homicide. He was arrested in nearby Somerset after he was pulled over by police Friday and is in the Somerset County Jail...

Dad killed kids because wife was leaving

Investigators believe a man fatally shot his five children in their home and killed himself after he found out his wife was leaving him for another man, a sheriff's spokesman said Sunday.

The bodies of James Harrison's children were found Saturday in the family's mobile home in Graham, about 15 southeast of Tacoma. Harrison had been found earlier in the day, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot, behind the wheel of his car in Auburn, about 18 miles north of Graham.

Authorities haven't released the family's name, but relatives have identified them as the Harrisons.

The man and his 16-year-old daughter had found his wife with another man at a store in Auburn on Friday night, Pierce County Sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer told The News Tribune of Tacoma...