Donors Sending Money to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Last week’s phone call between Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his mother keeps yielding new nuggets. The latest is that Dzhokhar told her that someone opened a bank account for him, and people have sent him $1,000 so far, reports ABC News. A TV station in the UK aired audio of the full call in Russian, though there’s no further details about the alleged donors. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who insists her sons are innocent, tells Channel 4 News that other donors have sent the family $8,000.

Asked by his mother during the call whether he was in pain, Dzhokhar replied: “No, of course not. I’m already eating and have been for a long time. They are giving me chicken and rice now. Everything is fine.”

 

 

John Wesley Morgan Killed Father With AK-47 At Family Auto Parts Shop, Georgia Police Say

A Georgia man fatally shot his father with an AK-47, because he claimed that his 79-year-old dad had threatened him at their family-owned car shop, authorities say.

John Wesley Morgan, Jr., 48, called 911 and waited to surrender to officers following the shooting last Wednesday afternoon at Morgan Auto Parts in Stockbridge, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

“I shot him with an AK-47,” Morgan told the emergency operator. “There ain’t no way he’s breathing,” he said during the recorded conversation released to Channel 2 Action News.

Morgan claimed during the 911 call that he acted in self-defense.

“He came in here wanting to fight me, and had his hands in his pocket and I didn’t have no choice but to shoot him,”

Asked if his father was alive, Morgan said, “No, he ain’t. He’s dead.”

Morgan cooperated with officers when they arrived on the scene.

“The shooter was actually located inside the garage area, sitting at a desk,” Henry County Police Major Jason Bolton told 11 Alive. “Officers encountered him, ordered him to the ground, he complied.”

It remains unclear if the father, John Wesley Morgan, was carrying a weapon, WSB reports.

Morgan is charged with murder.

Casey Anthony Evidence: Judge Belvin Perry Says There Was Enough For Conviction

The judge who presided over the trial of Casey Anthony said Monday he believed there was enough evidence to convict the Florida mother who was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter.

Judge Belvin Perry told NBC’s “Today” show that he thought there was sufficient evidence for a conviction on a first-degree murder charge, even though much of the evidence was circumstantial.

Anthony was acquitted almost two years ago of killing her daughter, Caylee, following a trial that attracted worldwide attention. She was convicted of making false statements to police and got credit for time served.

When he read the jury’s verdict, Belvin said he felt “surprise, shock, disbelief” and read it twice.

“I just wanted to be sure I was reading what I was reading,” Perry said.

Anthony’s attorney, Jose Baez, refused to say anything to The Associated Press about the interview when reached by phone. He said he would comment after a request had gone through his Los Angeles-based spokesman.

A spokeswoman for the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which oversees Florida judges, didn’t immediately return a phone call.

The judge said he saw two sides to Anthony. The one she showed to jurors was a wrongfully accused mother grieving for her child. The other was a woman wasn’t afraid to shout and swear at her attorneys, as she did when they talked to her about a possible plea deal for aggravated murder.

“There were always two sides to Casey,” Perry said. “The public persona that she wanted the jury to see and there was a side that she showed when the jury wasn’t there.”

Perry also said he thought prosecutors were better attorneys than Baez, who the judge described as “personable.” All the defense had to do was create reasonable doubt, which they did, he said.

“He came across as someone you would like,” Perry said of Baez. “Like someone trying to sell a used car. Who are you going to buy from? The most likable salesman.”

The judge also said he thought justice had been served with a jury verdict.

“Justice will finally be served one day by the Judge of Judges,” Perry said. “She is going to have to live with this and deal with this for the rest of her life.”

Ashley Blumenshine, High School Teacher, Has Sex With 16-Year-Old Student In Kohl’s Parking Lot

A high school physical education teacher will spend 10 years on the Illinois sex offender registry after she was caught having sex with a student in the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store.

Ashley Blumenshine, 30, apologized between sobs as she pleaded guilty on Friday, according to Patch. The former Plainfield North teacher was sentenced to 30 days in jail but will only have to serve 11.

“I will forever be humbled and remorseful for my actions,” she said as she was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom Friday morning.

She met up with the unidentified 16-year-old victim at the Plainfield Kohl’s in January 2011, and had sex with him in the back of the car. The two had texted to set up the rendezvous, and had been in a relationship for about a month.

Police reportedly noticed two cars parked alone together in the lot, and found the two “attempting to get dressed” in the back seat of one of the vehicles, a prosecutor told Patch. Blumenshine admitted at the time that the two had sex.

Police also found a used condom in the car, according to the New York Daily News.

The court heard excerpts from a letter Blumenshine wrote in January 2012, detailing her regrets about the incident.

“In my wildest dreams I never would have thought that this turn of events would have happened to me,” Blumenshine wrote. “Somewhere within a few months time, I lost Ashley.”

She apologized to the court and promised not to make the same mistake again.

An earlier charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse was knocked down to traveling to meet a minor, CBS Chicago reports.

 

 

Steven Smith, Man Who Killed 6-Month-Old Girl, Denied Plea For Mercy By Ohio Parole Board

The Ohio Parole Board on Wednesday rejected a plea for mercy by a condemned Ohio man who says he intended to rape his girlfriend’s 6-month-old daughter but not to kill her, calling his crime “among the worst of the worst.”

The board recommended unanimously that Gov. John Kasich allow the execution of Steven Smith to proceed next month.

The board said some arguments for sparing Smith, such as his turbulent childhood, were far outweighed by the nature of the crime.

“Smith took the life of an innocent 6-month-old infant while using the baby to sexually gratify himself,” the board said. “It is hard to fathom a crime more repulsive or reprehensible in character. It is clearly among the worst of the worst.”

The victim, Autumn Carter, died because Smith was too drunk to realize his assault was killing her, Smith’s attorneys argued in court filings with the Ohio Parole Board, which heard the case last week. And Ohio law is clear, they said: A death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.

“The evidence suggests that Autumn’s death was a horrible accident,” Smith’s attorneys, Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming, said in a written argument prepared for the board.

They continued: “Despite the shocking nature of this crime, Steve’s death sentence should be commuted because genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense.”

The parole board rejected this argument, saying the “ferociousness” of the attack on the baby, which trial evidence said lasted as long as 30 minutes, was proof of Smith’s intention to kill.

It “stretches credulity to think that Smith had no intention to kill Autumn when he assaulted her in a manner that made death a virtual certainty,” the board said.

Smith, 46, was never charged with rape, meaning the jury’s only choice was to convict or acquit him of aggravated murder, his attorneys say.

However, rape was included in the indictment against Smith as one of the factors making him eligible for the death penalty. Under Ohio law, an aggravated murder committed in the course of another crime – such as burglary, robbery, arson or the killing of a police officer or child – is an element that can make someone eligible for capital punishment.

Smith’s attorneys did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

The Richland County prosecutor said Smith continues to hide behind alcohol as an excuse and calls Smith’s actions “the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl.”

Prosecutor James Mayer told the board in his written statement that the girl’s injuries were consistent with a homicide that contradicts Smith’s claim he didn’t intend to kill her.

“The horrific attack upon Autumn Carter showed much more than Smith’s stated purpose,” Mayer said.

Mayer says he didn’t know why Smith wasn’t charged with rape, but he said it wasn’t part of a trial strategy.

The attack happened early in the morning of Sept. 29, 1998, in the Mansfield apartment of the girl’s mother, Kaysha Frye, whom Smith had been dating about six months.

Frye was awakened after 3 a.m. by a naked Smith, who placed Autumn beside her in bed, according to records. Frye realized the girl wasn’t breathing, told Smith he’d killed her and then ran to a neighbor’s house for help.

Smith, known to consume as many as 12 beers a day, had had several beers the previous evening and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.123, well above the legal limit for drivers, when he was tested almost eight hours later, records show.

Smith had unsuccessfully tried to have sex with his girlfriend the evening before the attack, according to records. The prosecutor argued that Smith’s assault of the girl was revenge for Smith’s failure to perform with Frye.

Smith’s attorneys dispute this, saying the girlfriend was not upset with Smith.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Smith’s attack lasted as long as 30 minutes, during which time Smith beat the girl to death.

Expert witnesses for Smith conclude he may have accidentally suffocated the girl within three to five minutes while he lay on top of her, according to Smith’s clemency petition.

If executed, Smith would become the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since the state resumed executions in 1999. The state has enough of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, to execute Smith and two other inmates before the supply expires. Eight more inmates are scheduled to die from November through mid-2015.

Jose Katz Fraud: NY, NJ Doctor Admits Record $19 Million Scheme

A cardiologist with offices in New York and New Jersey has admitted taking part in a scheme that subjected thousands of patients to unnecessary tests and treatment and resulted in $19 million in bogus bills, what authorities call the largest case of health care fraud ever by a practitioner in either state.

Dr. Jose Katz pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Katz founded Cardio-Med Services LLC and Comprehensive Healthcare & Medical Services.

Prosecutors say he falsely diagnosed most of his Medicare and Medicaid patients with coronary artery disease and debilitating angina so he could treat them unnecessarily. They say he even prescribed treatment in cases in which doing so subjected the patients to risk of injury or death.

Katz is scheduled to be sentenced July 23.

John Marvin Jr. Gets Prison For Life In Alaska Officer Deaths

An Alaska man has been sentenced to prison for life in the 2010 shooting deaths of two Hoonah police officers, in a case that rocked the tiny community and galvanized the state’s law enforcement community.

State court Judge David George on Friday sentenced John Marvin Jr. to two consecutive sentences of 99 years in the deaths of Hoonah Police Sgt. Anthony Wallace and Officer Matthew Tokuoka.

Jurors in November found that Wallace was on duty at the time of the killing, which the judge said necessitated the 99-year term. He said that also made Marvin ineligible for parole on that count. Jurors did not make the same finding for Tokuoka, who was not yet on duty on Aug. 28, 2010, when Wallace pulled up in his vehicle behind Tokuoka and his family in front of Marvin’s home, shortly before the killings.

George said making the two prison terms run simultaneously, rather than one after the other, would have diminished the sentencing criteria he considered most critical – including the need to condemn Marvin’s actions. He said Tokuoka was killed as he tended to Wallace and tried to get help.

The judge called Marvin a “dangerous individual” and said he believed Marvin killed the officers in revenge for a prior run-in with them. He said he would recommend Marvin receive behavioral health services.

During the hearing, Marvin maintained his innocence and gave a rambling statement in which he referred to past cases against him, talked about insurance and due process and repeatedly referred to himself as a “high-ranking royal.” At times, he flipped through a law book and interrupted his attorney, Eric Hedland. Marvin wore an orange jumpsuit and blue slip-on shoes and had chains around his wrists and ankles.

Marvin, 47, was convicted in November of first-degree murder in the deaths of Wallace and Tokuoka, who were gunned down in front of Marvin’s home.

According to testimony at trial, the Tokuokas had stopped at a trash bin near Marvin’s home on the night of the shooting to get rid of scraps from an earlier family crab feast. Tokuoka’s widow, Haley Tokuoka, testified she saw Marvin through the window of his home, slamming a dark object, which she said looked like a military ammunition container. She said she told her husband, “It looks like John Marvin is going crazy.”

Wallace then pulled behind the couple’s vehicle, jokingly flashing his lights and sounding his police siren. His mother, Debbie Greene, visiting from out of town, was on a ride-along with him.

Haley Tokuoka said she told Wallace her concerns and he shone his flashlight toward Marvin’s house, drawing a rebuke from her husband. Wallace went to the couple’s vehicle to talk to their kids while the Tokuokas spoke with Greene. Soon after, shots rang out.

The case reverberated across Alaska, with the officers’ memorial televised statewide. Several police officers were present for Friday’s sentencing, as they were when the verdicts were read.

During trial, District Attorney David Brower argued that Marvin held a grudge against the officers after a 2009 run-in. That incident, which left Marvin beaten up, stemmed from a trespassing call and led to charges against Marvin that eventually were dismissed. Brower argued Marvin killed Wallace and Tokuoka “in cold blood,” and said bullets used matched a rifle in Marvin’s home.

Hedland called the state’s case circumstantial. He said no one saw who fired the shots, and said investigators zeroed in on Marvin because he “fit the profile,” from the prior run-in to the location of the crime scene and his odd behavior. In his opening statements, Hedland said Marvin suffered from a “serious mental disability,” but he called no psychologists or doctors who might have treated or examined Marvin.

On Friday, the judge heard statements from Greene, Haley Tokuoka and Tokuoka’s father, Dean Goodner. Haley Tokuoka and Greene were a constant presence at Marvin’s trial. Greene listened to Friday’s hearing by phone, and Haley Tokuoka read Greene’s heart-wrenching statement into the record for her.

“Only you know why you did what you did that night, and I really hope you can live with that,” the statement said. “I just want so much to know why.”

James Holmes Death Penalty

Prosecutors in Colorado sent a clear message to James Holmes and his defense team on Monday: Only the ultimate punishment will suffice.

George Brauchler, the Arapahoe County district attorney, said that the state would pursue the death penalty for the alleged shooter in the Aurora movie theater massacre.

Brauchler said that his office reached out to more than 800 victims and family members to make a decision.

“It’s my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death,” Brauchler told the court.

The announcement wraps up days of maneuvering between the prosecution and defense attorneys.

In a court document released Thursday, prosecutors rejected the defense offer of a plea deal for life in prison without parole. At the time, prosecutors insisted that the defense denied the state information necessary to complete a comprehensive evaluation of Holmes and his alleged acts, making it “extremely unlikely” that a plea deal would be reached, according to court documents.

The prosecution also argued that defense lawyers acted in bad faith by making the offer in a public court filing. Brauchler suggested that the motion, filed Wednesday, violated the case gag order, characterizing the move as “unusual and unprecedented.”

Still, the door remains open that attorneys could reach a plea deal that would send Holmes to prison for life. The defense is expected to argue that Holmes is not guilty by reason of insanity.

Holmes, 25, faces 166 charges of murder and attempted murder for the massacre at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises that left 12 people dead and another 58 injured last July.

Colorado has executed one person since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977. The state currently has three individuals on death row, all residing in Arapahoe County.

Victims and their families have expressed a “mix of emotions” surrounding Holmes’ fate, the Denver Post reported last week. Several relatives expressed their wishes — some calling for the death penalty, others for life in prison — in private meetings with the prosecution.

Kaitlin Gerber, Ohio Woman, Killed By Ex-Boyfriend Jashua Prez As She Drove To Work

A 20-year-old woman who, family members said, had endured months of “stalking, threats and harassment” was killed by her ex-boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Toledo Blade reports that Kaitlin Gerber was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend Jashua Prez, 29, as she drove to work in Toledo on Sunday.

Sgt. Joe Hefferman said Gerber called 911 and reported she was being shot at. It’s unclear whether Gerber was struck by any of Prez’s bullets before her car crashed in a gym parking lot. Witnesses said that after Gerber’s car crashed, Prez drove his car up to hers and “fired several more rounds,” Steve Kahle, a Lucas County Coroner’s Office investigator, told the paper.

Police arrived to find Gerber dead at the scene. They then traveled to Prez’s home where he had barricaded himself inside, according to WNWO.

After several hours of attempted negotiations, a SWAT team broke down Prez’s door and found him dead from a “self-inflicted gun shot wound,” the station reports.

One of the victim’s friends, Alyse Hayes, told WTVG that Gerber “wasn’t just a pretty girl with a pretty smile. She was so much more than that.”

Joanna Weaver, another friend of Gerber’s, called Prez a “monster.”

“There are no words to describe abusive men,” she said. “She did not deserve what he did to her. He did so much stuff to her and she lived in fear every single day because of this man.”

The Blade reports that Gerber had taken out a restraining order that was repeatedly violated by Prez, according to her father, Jeff.

Sylvania City Solicitor James Moan said Prez pleaded guilty to one count of violating a protective order on February 27 and was released on his own recognizance. There was a pre-sentence report scheduled for April 1.

Angelica Vazquez Murders Husband And Two Children Before Suicide In Mesquite, Texas

A Texas mother shot and killed her two children and her husband before turning the gun on herself this week, according to police.

Police say they found the body of suspected killer Angelica Vazquez, 43, and her three family members in their Mesquite home on Wednesday. The victims are identified as her husband, Marcelo Vazquez, 44, and her two kids, Paulina Vazquez, 21, and Alejandro Vazquez, 18.

A handgun was found on the floor near Angelica’s body, according to WFAA. Police were still searching for a motive on Thursday.

Police responded on Saturday after a woman called 911 to report that she’d heard gunfire coming from the Vazquez home. They knocked on the door and spoke to a neighbor, but found no reason to force their way in, according to the Associated Press. The same officers returned on Wednesday and discovered newspapers and mail piling up, so they entered the home.

“I’m just shaking… I can’t even express it right now,” Gustavo Herrera, a family friend, told WFAA. Another person close to the family told the network that Angelica recently endured chemotherapy treatments in her fight against cancer.

Angelica’s death was ruled a suicide, while the other three were ruled homicides, KWTX reports.