Crimes, Homicides & Suicides

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Man charged with murder in shooting of Oakland football coach and ‘Last Chance U’ star John Beam

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A 27-year-old man was charged Monday with murder in the shooting death of celebrated former football coach John Beam, who died Friday after being shot in the head on the junior college campus in Oakland where he worked.

https://apnews.com/article/john-beam-shooting-last-chance-u-oakland-a7a4ba4aa9406a1e9b64d16297e6688d?

Off-duty pilot who tried to cut a flight’s engines midair won’t serve prison time, judge rules

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ruled there would be no prison time for a former Alaska Airlines pilot who had taken psychedelic mushrooms days before he tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit.

https://apnews.com/article/pilot-mushrooms-alaska-airlines-horizon-air-flight-510e76580bbc658419e26f1c09c26136?

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Judge orders Central Florida man accused of starting deadly LA wildfire jailed while awaiting trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Central Florida man accused of sparking the deadly wildfire that ripped through a Los Angeles neighborhood in January must remain jailed while he awaits trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/18/california-wildfires-palisades-investigation/?

Alleged plot to bribe a juror with $100,000 upends former heavyweight boxer’s NYC drug trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Three men were arrested Monday for allegedly offering to pay $100,000 in cash to a juror at the Brooklyn drug trial of former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic, leading a federal judge to abruptly dismiss the jury just as it was about to hear opening statements.

https://apnews.com/article/jury-bribery-goran-gogic-brooklyn-c69a4cec203fee8ec97da18b5bda5cec?

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US Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida indicted on charges of stealing $5M in disaster funds

MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/cherfilus-mccormick-fema-theft-campaign-funds-35b99f987380c9509735c45dd36db1c8?

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Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget.

**This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.**

The girl pleaded not to go.

https://www.propublica.org/article/sexual-abuse-old-apostolic-lutheran-church-minnesota?

Federal prosecutors move to dismiss charges against woman shot by Border Patrol agent in Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to dismiss charges against a woman who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last month during the federal immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.

https://apnews.com/article/chicago-immigration-crackdown-woman-shot-border-e58ca635feeb2ef8ddb0b4dea22e9726?

Georgia police chief charged with using license plate readers to stalk and harass people

BRASELTON, Ga. (AP) — A police chief in suburban Atlanta has been arrested on charges that he used the city’s automated license plate recognition cameras to stalk and harass multiple people.

https://apnews.com/article/georgia-plate-readers-stalk-harass-chief-arrested-39adb6f89fc2074da61f2801fef3f180?

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Officer acquitted in death of Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother accused of shoplifting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother who had been accused of shoplifting, was acquitted on all counts Friday, including murder.

https://apnews.com/article/takiya-young-connor-grubb-officer-shooting-shoplifting-ab9b30a450f7cc2ed051f15c73305a34?

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Wisconsin woman in 2014 Slender Man stabbing is found a day after walking away from group home

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The search for a missing Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate more than a decade ago to please horror character Slender Man ended Sunday night when police discovered her sleeping outside an Illinois truck stop.

https://apnews.com/article/slender-man-stabbing-missing-woman-found-193ba2ceb6ef77a17b3d499e54e095ff?

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Death of Florida teenager on Carnival cruise ship ruled a homicide

The death of a Florida teenager on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month has been ruled a homicide, the latest development in a case that has drawn international attention and sparked intense speculation on social media.

https://apnews.com/article/miami-florida-carnival-cruise-ship-death-kepner-d5e655acb00e00a3ff7e7c5ba32e8842?

Prosecutors will retry man in death of Etan Patz, whose 1979 disappearance spotlighted missing kids

NEW YORK (AP) — A notorious 1979 missing-child case is headed to trial a third time after New York prosecutors vowed Tuesday to retry the man whose murder conviction was recently overturned in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.

https://apnews.com/article/etan-patz-1979-missing-child-hernandez-retrial-d773b414acdac401a1ef55e2393e22ef?

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Luigi Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione watched stoically in court Monday as prosecutors played surveillance videos showing the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk last year and Mangione’s arrest five days later at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.

https://apnews.com/article/mangione-unitedhealthcare-killing-evidence-hearing-77d3b2add7f95341de179f31559eaba1?

Son of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ pleads guilty in US drug trafficking case in a plea deal

CHICAGO (AP) — One of the sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, months after his brother entered a plea deal.

https://apnews.com/article/chicago-el-chapo-chapitos-joaquin-guzman-lopez-9d0168ae881e42d6b595411360606ba9?

ps:Does pardon come to mind??

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Police bodycam footage played in court shows the minutes leading up to Luigi Mangione’s arrest

NEW YORK (AP) — Video shown in court Tuesday documented how police approached, arrested and searched Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s — moments that underlie key questions about what evidence can and can’t be used in the case surrounding the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

https://apnews.com/article/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-evidence-ceo-hearing-c04ec05de553f1399a8ff1c9ae06d6fc?

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Cold case solved?

Rhonda Fisher’s body was found along a quiet stretch of rural highway south of Denver, and her murder went unsolved for decades. DNA collected from paper bags now points to one of Colorado’s “most prolific serial killers.”

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Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore jailed hours after his firing Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was jailed on Wednesday, according to court records, hours after he was fired for what the university said was an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member.” Read more.

What to know: In response to media inquiries about Moore, the Pittsfield Township Police Department issued a statement that did not mention anyone by name. According to the statement, police were called to investigate an alleged assault in Pittsfield Township, a couple of miles south of Michigan Stadium, and took a person into custody.   Michigan said it fired Moore for cause after finding evidence of his relationship with the staffer, ending an up-and-down, two-year tenure that saw the Wolverines take a step back on the field after winning the national championship and getting punished by the NCAA.   Moore signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university will not have to buy out the remaining years of Moore’s contract because he was fired for cause.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Michigan fires special teams coach JB Brown after disappointing season

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OpenAI, Microsoft, Sam Altman sued for wrongful death in murder-suicide case

The estate of a woman killed by her own son after months of conversations with ChatGPT filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, Microsoft and Sam Altman in San Francisco Superior Court Thursday.

https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/openai-sam-altman-lawsuit-murder?

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Director convicted of scamming $11M from Netflix and going on lavish spending spree

NEW YORK (AP) — A Hollywood director was convicted Thursday on charges that he scammed Netflix out of $11 million for a show that never materialized, while he instead used the cash for lavish purchases that included several Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari and about $1 million in mattresses and luxury bedding.

https://apnews.com/article/carl-rinsch-netflix-white-horse-scam-6a9c73d380a68f586f753cba6bff99f0?

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Sherrone Moore charged with stalking, home invasion after being fired as Michigan football coach

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Fired University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore “barged his way” into the apartment of a woman with whom he had been having an affair and threatened to kill himself after she reported the relationship to the school and he lost his job, prosecutors said Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/michigan-sherrone-moore-5bbef9c47eb0a4048818e80c443a9767?

Man’s death on roller coaster at Universal Orlando Resort ruled accidental

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The death of a 32-year-old man after riding a high-speed roller coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park was accidental, and an investigation has been closed, according to a Florida sheriff’s office report released this week.

https://apnews.com/article/florida-orlando-theme-park-death-universal-studios-05b7aff3c2485a38984f5f1992e458b5?

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Jury says Johnson & Johnson owes $40 million to 2 cancer patients who used talcum powders

A Los Angeles jury awarded $40 million on Friday to two women who claimed that talcum powder made by Johnson & Johnson caused their ovarian cancer.

https://apnews.com/article/johnson-johnson-baby-powder-ovarian-cancer-3530102b312df155aa427e87770c952b?

Son Nick arrested after Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in Los Angeles home, AP source says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rob Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, was in police custody Monday after deaths of the director-actor and his wife Michele, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

https://apnews.com/article/rob-reiner-home-investigation-ed88cfde7c41be55803fa0c792f55cdc?

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4 charged with plotting New Year’s Eve attacks in Southern California, prosecutors say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple sites of two U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California after arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.

https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-new-years-eve-turtle-liberation-arrests-a84a26742ecbd5fe813ab959162268d2?

Brian Walshe found guilty of murdering his wife, who disappeared nearly 3 years ago

BOSTON (AP) — Brian Walshe was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the grisly death of his wife, whom he was accused of killing and dismembering nearly three years ago while he awaited sentencing in an art fraud case relating to the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings.

https://apnews.com/article/brian-walshe-wife-murder-trial-massachusetts-verdict-d161087a3385a018241422b8c7aa3dfc?

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Killings of Rob Reiner and his wife stun Hollywood as son skips court appearance for medical reasons

Los Angeles police are set to present a case to prosecutors following Nick Reiner’s arrest in the killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, which stunned their communities in Hollywood and Democratic politics, where both were widely beloved. Nick Reiner’s attorney Alan Jackson said his client will not be in court Tuesday for medical reasons. Jackson told reporters outside the courthouse that he did not know what the medical issue was, but he said Reiner will not appear before Wednesday. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

The killings of Rob and Michele Reiner shatter family’s gentle legacy Rob Reiner once made a film with his son Nick, now suspected of killing parents Rob Reiner’s life in photos   An MIT professor was fatally shot at his home and police launched a homicide investigation BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home near Boston, and authorities said Tuesday they had launched a homicide investigation. https://apnews.com/article/mit-professor-shooting-massachusetts-portugal-3ab1e3e7e369de5cef90c7c911995dbb? Doctor who helped sell ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his overdose death avoids prison time LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty in a scheme to supply ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his overdose death was sentenced Tuesday to 8 months of home confinement. https://apnews.com/article/matthew-perry-death-ketamine-doctor-sentencing-31a0d227960c970f995e7fe873843cfe?

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Arizona jury sentences man to death in string of killings in metro Phoenix during 2017

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona jury on Thursday sentenced a man to death in a string of killings in metro Phoenix during a three-week span in 2017, marking the end of a seven-month trial over attacks that targeted random victims and the defendant’s own mother and stepfather.

https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-murder-trial-04fb468c70da4b36b18e29a8f135b9bf?

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Tennessee governor pardons country star Jelly Roll, who has sought redemption from criminal past

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s governor pardoned country star Jelly Roll on Thursday for his criminal past in the state, acknowledging the Nashville native’s long road back from drugs and prison through soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for second chances.

https://apnews.com/article/jelly-roll-pardon-tennessee-governor-0985a1f8b0de64d78a84dd5244d860a0?

Actor James Ransone, known for his role in ‘The Wire,’ dead at 46

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Ransone, the actor who played Ziggy Sobotka in the HBO series “The Wire” and appeared in many other TV shows and movies, has died. He was 46.

https://apnews.com/article/james-ransone-actor-dies-967a2c37a1e93602570a112396452523?

Minnesota jury says Johnson & Johnson owes $65.5 million to woman with cancer who used talcum powder

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota jury awarded $65.5 million on Friday to a mother of three who claimed talcum products made by Johnson & Johnson exposed her to asbestos and contributed to her developing cancer in the lining of her lungs.

https://apnews.com/article/johnson-baby-powder-mesothelioma-cancer-b2bb347f856c5853d3beec2b5ffc08ad?

Man charged with murder after bow and arrow killing in New Jersey

KEARNY, N.J. (AP) — A man in New Jersey accused of killing a man with a bow and arrow and then barricading himself for hours and setting fires inside a house was charged Monday with murder.

https://apnews.com/article/new-jersey-bow-arrow-killing-47656ce91948c9fb4f7eb13b6ebe9eb5?

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Brown University police chief placed on leave after fatal shooting, feds launch investigation

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Brown University’s president on Monday placed its campus police chief on leave as the Rhode Island university reviews its security policies after a gunman killed two students and injured nine others earlier this month.

https://apnews.com/article/ella-cook-brown-shooting-funeral-a06c0d8502151c74bc11ddba1cdc81a3?

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Rescuers rushed into flames to save nursing home residents after deadly explosion

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — Rescuers braved shooting flames, falling debris and the threat of more explosions to evacuate dozens of nursing home residents after a blast ripped through a Pennsylvania facility, killing a resident and an employee, and setting off a frantic search of the wreckage.

https://apnews.com/article/nursing-home-gas-explosion-pennsylvania-bristol-177e76bc77732de1de24c5d0f2e30623?

Grand jury declines to indict man in shooting that killed teen at Kentucky State University

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A grand jury has declined to indict the father of two Kentucky State University students who was charged with murder in an on-campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.

https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-state-university-campus-shooting-840d80965a3094024edef03623d9f62a?

Delaware trooper killed at DMV in ‘act of pure evil’ is remembered as dependable, devoted to family

A Delaware state trooper who was shot to death at a DMV office was described Thursday as dependable and professional on the job and steady and kind at home.

https://apnews.com/article/delaware-shooting-dmv-trooper-8c8a1111b95f562919e4579d2cdbb18c?

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? Historic murder drop

Data: Real Time Crime Index. Chart: Axios Visuals The U.S. is on pace for the largest one-year drop in murders the nation has ever recorded, Axios' Julianna Bragg writes from an analysis by crime stats expert Jeff Asher. Why it matters: The decline in murder is part of a broader decrease in violent crime following the COVID-era spike. Mass killings in the U.S. also fell in 2025 to their lowest level since 2006. The Real-Time Crime Index, which compiles data from 570 law enforcement agencies, shows a nearly 20% decline in murders through October this year compared with the same period in 2024. Other major crime categories measured by the index were also down nationwide and across locations of all population sizes, including motor vehicle thefts (23.2%), aggravated assaults (7.5%) and robbery (18.3%). ? Zoom in: New York City and Memphis recorded nearly a 20% drop in murders compared with 2024, and Chicago saw them fall almost 28%. New Orleans saw a decline of 7.5%, while murders dropped in Los Angeles County by nearly 19%. ? Zoom out: President Trump has prioritized cracking down on violent crime. Crime rates have been declining since 2021, according to data from both the RTCI and FBI. ps:But yet we're told that crime is running rampart!!

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Harvey Weinstein accuser Kaja Sokola is being sued for defamation. The plaintiff: Her sister

NEW YORK (AP) — Two sisters testified at Harvey Weinstein’s most recent criminal trial. Kaja Sokola accused the disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault. Ewa Sokola was called as a witness to boost her claims, but ultimately ended up helping the defense.

https://apnews.com/article/harvey-weinstein-sexual-assault-trial-lawsuit-9dd6f26349cee5570319e859ba3c8b03?

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? America's quiet progress

Data: Real Time Crime Index. Chart: Axios Visuals The U.S. quietly made historic progress this year on some of its deadliest and most difficult problems — from murder and overdoses to traffic fatalities and mental health: Crime: The U.S. is on pace for the largest one-year drop in murders the nation has ever seen, according to an analysis by crime stats expert Jeff Asher. Crime is down in every major category (charted above). Overdoses: Both overdose deaths and non-fatal overdose emergency department visits appear to be down from a year before, according to early — albeit incomplete — CDC data. One heartening stat from the most recent available figures: Overdose deaths fell 25% in the 12 months that ended in April versus the same period a year earlier. Traffic deaths: Preliminary data revealed a sharp drop in traffic fatalities during the first half of the year — an 8.2% decline over the same period in 2024. Mental health: Far fewer teens reported depression and suicidal thoughts in 2024 compared to 2021, according to a federal survey released this summer. ? Derek Thompson — co-author of "Abundance" and a Substacker whose work is always smart and useful — distills the optimist's case: "I think this was a really bad year for American politics, a mediocre year for the American economy, and an exceptional year for America." Go deeper.

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Oysters, crab and $400,000 worth of lobster meat stolen in New England

Forty-thousand oysters, lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat all were stolen in separate incidents within weeks of each other in New England.

https://apnews.com/article/lobster-seafood-stolen-new-england-fdec139a25b80ea05981d1ce09f5940a?