Tag: murder

Woman Sentenced to 30 Years to Life for South Bay Murder

SAN DIEGO—A woman who pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges for her part in a 2018 South Bay crime spree that left one man dead and a woman paralyzed after she was shot multiple times was sentenced Dec. 8 to 30 years to life in state prison. Britney Canal, 34, was sentenced Thursday…


Thousands Gather in Small Texas Community to Mourn 7-Year-Old Athena Strand

Thousands gathered Tuesday night in a small rural North Texas community to mourn, pray, and comfort the family and friends of Athena Strand, a 7-year-old girl who was murdered a week ago. Church leaders from across the community led the emotional event on the lawn at the First Baptist Church of Cottondale, where hundreds had…


Aspiring Model Tells UK Trial How Friend Confessed to Murder During Car Journey

LONDON—An aspiring model has told a murder trial her friend confessed to murdering an elderly Chinese woman durng a car journey from London to Coventry. Maria Amariucai, a Romanian national who had come to London the day before to meet a photographer about a possible modelling job, said she struggled to believe Mohammed El-Abboud’s confession…


Oklahoma Man Charged in Killings of 4 Men Found in River

OKLAHOMA CITY—A Oklahoma man accused of killing and dismembering four men in eastern Oklahoma was charged Monday with four counts of first-degree murder. Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski announced the charges against Joseph Kennedy, 67, at a news conference. The dismembered bodies of Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex…


11 Sentenced to Death Over Conservationist’s Murder in Tanzania

NAIROBI, Kenya—A high court in Tanzania on Friday sentenced 11 people to death for the murder of a conservationist in the East African country more than five years ago. Anti-poaching activist Wayne Lotter, a South African national, was shot dead in August 2017 while riding in a taxi in Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es…


Pomona Man Gets Life in Prison for Fiery Murder in Domestic Dispute

POMONA, Calif.—A man who doused the mother of his four children with gasoline and set her on fire during a domestic dispute in Pomona on Christmas Day 2015 was sentenced Nov. 30 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Clarence Durell Dear, 58, was convicted in October of first-degree murder, and jurors found…


Bodies-in-Suitcases Suspect Appears in New Zealand Court

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—A woman who was extradited from South Korea this week after the bodies of her two children were found in abandoned suitcases made her first court appearance in New Zealand on Wednesday. The 42-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of murder. She was not required to enter a plea during the…


Records: Bullet Found Near 2 Teens’ Bodies Came From Suspect

INDIANAPOLIS—An unspent bullet found between the bodies of two teenage girls slain in 2017 “had been cycled through” a pistol owned by the suspect in their deaths, according to court documents an Indiana judge ordered released Tuesday. Court records were sealed last month at the request of the local prosecutor, after Richard Matthew Allen, 50,…


Suspect in Australia Murder Arrested in India 4 Years Later

CANBERRA, Australia—The prime suspect in the murder of a woman on an Australian beach four years ago was arrested in New Delhi’s outskirts three weeks after he was targeted with a 1 million Australian dollar ($677,000) reward, authorities said Friday. Indian national Rajwinder Singh, 38, flew from Sydney to his homeland the day after 24-year-old…


Former UFC Champion Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez pleaded not guilty Monday to felony attempted murder, assault and weapons charges in a case involving a man who allegedly sexually abused one of Velasquez’s children. Velasquez was charged in March in San Jose, California, after he allegedly shot at a pickup truck carrying a man…