Weinstein trial: prosecutor says ‘hotels were his trap’ in closing arguments

Six-week Los Angeles trial wrapping up after graphic testimony from four women accusing ex-producer of rape and sexual assault

Closing arguments began on Wednesday in the Los Angeles rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, following weeks of emotional testimony that saw multiple women take the stand, including the wife of California’s governor.

Marlene Martinez, a prosecutor in the case, began her final arguments with a photograph of Weinstein smirking at the camera, at the height of his power as a “titan of the film industry”. Seated in the courtroom, Weinstein, looking shrunken and pale as a corpse, stared at the photograph of himself on the screen.

Continue reading...

Triple homicide suspect was sheriff’s deputy who drove across US to meet girl, police say

Suspect met teen online and ‘catfished’ her before killing three members of her family, according to officers

The suspect in a triple homicide in southern California who died in a shootout with police was a Virginia law enforcement officer who police believe drove across the country to meet a teenage girl before killing three members of her family.

Austin Lee Edwards, 28, also probably set fire to the family’s home in Riverside, California, on the day of the shooting on Friday before leaving with the girl, the Riverside police department said in a news release.

Continue reading...

University of Idaho killings: police receive over 260 digital submissions

Idaho governor also directs up to $1m in state emergency funds for investigation after four students killed

Police hunting who is behind the shocking killings of four University of Idaho students have now received hundreds of digital media submissions via an FBI internet link as they continue to seek clues for the unsolved crime.

In a statement released on Friday, the Moscow police department said that more than 260 digital media submissions have been sent in by community members since authorities launched an investigation into the quadruple homicide that happened on 13 November.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Continue reading...

Crime coverage on Fox News halved once US midterms were over

Just a week after elections, number of weekly segments focused on crime slashed in half on Rupert Murdoch’s flagship network

In the weeks leading up to the US midterm elections, the message from Fox News was clear: violent crime is surging, cities are dangerous hellscapes and Democrats are responsible.

With the vote over, however, the rightwing news channel appeared to decide things weren’t that bad after all, and decreased its coverage of violent crime by 50% compared with the pre-election average.

Continue reading...

Colorado Springs shooting shows LGBTQ+ people facing ‘different kind of hate’

Co-owner of Club Q, where five people were killed, says targeting of drag event is linked to hate fostered by lies about the community

The co-owner of the Colorado Springs gay nightclub that was the scene of a mass shooting believes the attack is a reflection of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment that has evolved from prejudice to incitement.

Authorities haven’t said why the suspect allegedly opened fired at the club on Saturday, killing five people and wounding 17 others. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, has not entered a plea or spoken about the incident but is facing possible hate crime charges.

Continue reading...

Names of six victims released in shooting at Virginia Walmart

Walmart employee says gunman, who police say killed himself, was manager who opened fire on workers gathered in break room

Six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in southern Virginia late on Tuesday, in the latest mass shooting to strike the US, this time shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. The gunman killed himself, police said.

A witness, Jessie Wilczewski, told a local TV station, WAVY, the gunman began shooting at a group of about 14 employees gathered in a meeting room at the start of their shift in the store, located in the city of Chesapeake.

Continue reading...

Lack of clues about University of Idaho killings fuels fear and rumors

The baffling murders of four students at an off-campus home last week have sown frustration and alarm in the small city of Moscow

Col Kedrick Wills, director of the Idaho state police in the small northern Idaho city of Moscow, had a simple message. “We know that people want answers. We want answers, too,” he said a recent press conference.

A manhunt has now been underway for more than a week in this remote college town where a still-unidentified suspect stabbed four University of Idaho students to death in the early morning hours of 13 November.

Continue reading...

Colorado Springs shooting: suspect faces murder and hate crime charges

Shooter faces five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, records show

The suspect in a weekend gun attack on a LBGTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs will face five murder charges, and five additional hate crime counts of causing injury with “bias motivation”, records released on Monday afternoon show.

The details came as police updated the number of injured in the Saturday night rampage at Club Q to 18, and said the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, remained in custody at a local hospital.

Continue reading...

White Milwaukee man charged after allegedly attacking disabled Black man

Video shows Robert Walczykowski wrapping hand around neck of 24-year-old and accusing him of stealing neighbor’s bike

A white Milwaukee man has pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge filed against him after video captured him with his hand around the neck of a Black man with special needs in a case many are calling an example of racial profiling.

Robert Walczykowski, 62, recently pleaded not guilty to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor charge after video went viral of him wrapping his hand around the neck of 24-year-old Trevon Burks, who is Black and has a disability.

Continue reading...

New Orleans priest accused of child rape now under scrutiny for financial crimes

Audit details potential irregularities in which nearly $400,000 of church congregants’ funds were allegedly misused

A Catholic priest who led one of New Orleans’ best-known inner-city churches until being accused of sexually molesting a child has been reported to federal authorities for possible financial crimes after an audit found he spent nearly $400,000 of his congregants’ money in questionable ways.

John Asare-Dankwah ran the St Peter Claver church in New Orleans’ historic Treme neighborhood from 2014 until early 2021, when a lawsuit alleging that he raped a boy on an out-of-state overnight trip years earlier prompted church officials to indefinitely suspend him from his role.

Continue reading...

Paul Pelosi attack suspect told police he was on a ‘suicide mission’ and had list of targets

David DePape appeared in San Francisco court where he pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder

The man accused of breaking into Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacking her husband with a hammer made his first courtroom appearance on Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder.

David DePape was arraigned in San Francisco, where he is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, elder abuse and threatening a public official. He appeared with his arm in a sling due to a dislocated shoulder, his public defender said.

Continue reading...

Paul Pelosi attack suspect charged with attempted kidnapping and assault

Suspect who faces state and federal charges told police he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and ‘break her kneecaps’

The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told police he wanted to hold the congresswoman hostage and “break her kneecaps”, authorities in California said on Monday afternoon.

David DePape, 42, confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi in the couple’s San Francisco townhouse bedroom shortly before 2.30am last Friday morning, according to a federal affidavit filed in court on Monday.

Continue reading...

‘Somebody’s going to die’: Democrats warn of political violence after Paul Pelosi attack

Dire warnings after hammer assault on speaker’s husband and amid concern that security does not adequately reflect threats

Democratic politicians have ramped up their warnings about the threat of political violence in America after a man bludgeoned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband with a hammer in their California home on Friday.

The dire warnings come amid longstanding concern that security services provided do not adequately reflect ongoing threats, especially as midterm elections loom. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Paul Pelosi’s assailant had been carrying zip ties when he broke in.

Continue reading...

Biden says it appears attack on Paul Pelosi intended for House Speaker

Speaker’s husband underwent surgery for skull fracture as political figures unite in condemnation of violence

A man accused of clubbing the husband of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, over the head with a hammer and threatening his life while demanding “Where is Nancy?” now faces charges of attempted murder and other felonies a day after the violent break-in at the couple’s San Francisco home.

Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands, though doctors expect a full recovery. The 82-year-old House speaker herself was in Washington with her protective detail at the time of the assault, but she flew back to San Francisco on Friday afternoon and went to the hospital.

Continue reading...

Pamela Moses sues officials after voter fraud conviction overturned

Tennessee woman was serving six-year sentence before prosecutors’ withholding of crucial document came to light

A Tennessee woman who had a six-year prison sentence for voter fraud overturned this year is suing state and local officials for damages, claiming she was wrongfully prosecuted and incarcerated.

Pamela Moses, a 44-year-old Memphis activist, was sentenced to six years in prison in January after prosecutors said she tried to register to vote knowing she was ineligible because of a prior felony conviction. She was convicted even though two government officials, including a probation officer who conceded he made an error, signed off on a state form affirming her eligibility. The case prompted national outrage.

Continue reading...

Trump Organization to face criminal tax fraud charges in New York court on Monday

Former CFO is expected to testify about off-the-books compensation scheme to evade paying payroll taxes

The Trump Organization is set to face criminal tax fraud charges on Monday in New York in a trial that could start to tease out the many allegations against the company and by extension its patriarch, Donald J Trump.

It comes as the former US president faces a maze of legal troubles and mounting costs – by some estimates running at close to $4m a month to his leadership PAC – over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, the removal of government documents from the White House when he left office and a defamation case relating to a rape allegation.

Continue reading...

Danny Masterson’s rape trial opens with tearful accuser testimony

That ’70s Show star faces three counts of sexual assault in case that also shines spotlight on Church of Scientology

The trial of actor Danny Masterson began this week with emotional testimony from one of the women who has accused the TV star of rape – marking the latest of several high profile cases now under way in Hollywood, and one in which the Church of Scientology has come under scrutiny.

Inside a Los Angeles courtroom, just down the hall from the trial of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the first of Masterson’s accusers took the stand on Tuesday and Wednesday. She tearfully recounted a 2003 incident when she says that the actor, best known for his role in That ’70s Show, raped her.

Continue reading...

Police investigate car buried in yard of Silicon Valley home in 1990s

Car was discovered Thursday morning by landscapers in affluent town of Atherton with unused bags of concrete inside it

Police are investigating why someone buried a car in the yard of a multimillion-dollar northern California home in the 1990s – and left unused bags of concrete inside.

The car was discovered on Thursday morning by landscapers in the affluent town of Atherton in Silicon Valley, police said in a news release.

Continue reading...

Washington state woman survives being stabbed and buried alive

Victim was able to alert contacts via smartwatch after attack by estranged husband, then escape from early grave to seek help

A woman in Washington state managed to escape after allegedly being bound, stabbed and buried alive by her estranged husband.

Thurston county police officers were dispatched to a home around 1am local time on Monday, where they found a distressed woman hiding behind a shed screaming, “My husband is trying to kill me,” reported NBC News, citing a court document.

Continue reading...

Police make arrest in suspected Stockton serial killer case

‘We are sure we stopped another killing,’ Stockton police chief says

A man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings in northern California was arrested before dawn on Saturday as he drove through the streets of Stockton, armed with a handgun and possibly searching for another victim, police said.

Investigators began watching the suspect after receiving tips and stopped him in a car at about 2am in the Central Valley city where five of the shootings took place, the police chief, Stanley McFadden, said at a news conference.

Continue reading...