List of All Articles with Tag 'americas'

Former President Donald Trump spoke out in favor of country singer Jason Aldean amid controversy around one of his new music videos. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!” the former president wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. Online critics blasted the “Try That In A Small Town” music video after discovering it was filmed outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where 18-year-old Black teenager Henry Choate was lynched in 1927, as well as where the Columbia race riot was held in 1946. As of Wednesday, Country Music Television said it refused to air the music video, USA Today reported. His music video was released Friday. Critics have accused the song of “promoting violence” and lynchings. Mr Aldean responded to the criticism in a lengthy tweet on Tuesday. He said for him, the song “refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.” He added, “while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music – this one goes too far.” The country singer is a mass shooting survivor. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, reacted to the song’s lyrics: Mr Aldean “who was on-stage during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 that killed 60 people and wounded over 400 more - has recorded a song called “Try That In A Small Town” about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.” Fellow 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis also chimed in with support for the country singer in an interview on “Fox & Friends”: “We need to restore sanity to this country. I mean, what is going on that that would be something that would be censored? I mean, give me a break. We’re off the rocker here.” South Dakota Republican Gov Kristi Noem posted a video on Wednesday with her reaction to the music video’s backlash: “I’m shocked by what I’m seeing with people attempting to cancel the song, cancel Jason.” She added, “Thank you for writing a song that America can get behind.” Read More ‘A modern lynching song’?: Jason Aldean and the most controversial song in country Jason Aldean responds as row continues over ‘Try That in a Small Town’ The Jason Aldean video is just the tip of the country music iceberg

A woman in Florida has been arrested on aggravated manslaughter charges after a 10-month-old child she was caring for was found unresponsive in a car. Temperatures inside the car were in excess of 113F, according to Baker County Sheriff's officials. Rhonda Jewell has been accused of leaving the child unattended in the car for "at least five hours" while temperatures outside rose to 98F. The child died as a result. Ms Jewell was babysitting the infant and three other children on the day of the incident, according to CNN. She picked up the 10-month-old girl from her parents' home and drove to another location, where she planned to babysit all the children together. Ms Jewell told investigators that when she arrived, the child appeared to be sleeping, so she left the baby and went inside to see the other children. She said she forgot about the baby in the car. “It wasn’t until the decedent’s mother arrived at the address (…) to pick up her child, that the decedent’s mother found her to still be strapped in a car seat inside the hot vehicle,” the police report said. The mother arrived around 1pm and saw her child in the car, not breathing and with blue lips. She then called 911. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital. A detective examining the baby said the child's skin was "still very hot to the touch" even after she was taken to a hospital for treatment. Medical staff took the infant's internal temperature, which was 110F, but noted that 110 was the highest the thermometer could measure. Ms Jewell was subsequently arrested for aggravated manslaughter of a child resulting in death. She was booked into the Baker County Detention Centre on Thursday. Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden issued a statement after the tragedy asking the community to be mindful of the victims when seeking out information about the incident. "Each of us are given the gift of life every morning we wake up and every evening when we finish our day, we are blessed if our family is safe and healthy. In the blink of an eye, our world can be turned upside down," he wrote. "Please be mindful of this when trying to understand the tragedy that took place in our small town yesterday." Read More Colorado police buy woman groceries after her partner made young children ‘watch him eat’ and go hungry Mother of kidnapped and murdered Alabama teen speaks out after she helped in search for Carlee Russell Father accused of killing his three sons ‘had plotted murders for months’

An 18-year-old Florida mother is accused of trying to hire someone to kill her three-year-old son. Jazmin Paez has been charged with first-degree solicitation of murder and third-degree using a communications device for an unlawful use, according to court documents obtained by NBC6. Ms Paez went on a parody website called rentahitman.com and requested a hitman to kill her son by Thursday, according to arrest documents obtained by the outlet. The publications spoke to the website’s owner, Robert Innes, who said Ms Paez sent pictures of the boy and the exact location of where the child was going to be — which he found to be unusually specific. Mr Innes told the outlet that the site sometimes receives fake requests but this one seemed to be a real one: “The ability to research names and addresses and verify the intended target lived in a particular address. That to me is a red flag. If that information is corroborated, to me that is something that needs to be looked at and that’s why I referred it.” Investigators used the information Ms Paez provided on the website, like the address and the child’s photo. They visited the address and spoke to the boy’s grandmother, and saw that the boy was safe at home. Police also traced the IP of the computer that was used to make the request with the website to track down Ms Paez, according to CBS News. They then pretended to be the hired hitman and talked to Ms Paez, who agreed to pay $3,000 to have her son murdered, the outlet added. NBC6 reported that her bond was set for $15,000. She bailed out of jail as of Thursday, according to CBS News. Read More Daughter of British expat accused of murdering terminally-ill wife in Cyprus issues plea for his release Mother of kidnapped and murdered Alabama teen speaks out after she helped in search for Carlee Russell Father accused of killing his three sons ‘had plotted murders for months’

After years of speculation and observation, residents of a leafy section of Brooklyn managed to discover that a veteran New York police officer was behind a string of bizarre littering incidents on a street in Greenpoint. “Now, I’m sure we all have random papers in our weekly recycling bin,” one resident wrote on the local site Greenpointers. “But I need to stress to those who have yet to experience this phenomenon with their own eyes the SHEER VOLUME of papers floating down the street. It looks like the work of someone with an enormous collection of old books who spends their weekend tearing apart pages before scattering them in the wind.” Residents told Gothamist that for years on end, they would wake to find find pile after pile of meticulously sliced book pages strewn across Noble Street, ranging from selections of the Bible to 1970s porn magazines to a book on Greco-Roman art. “Sometimes things would be underlined or highlighted on the pages, and we would try to figure out if there was a message,” former block association president Molly FitzSimons told the outlet. “We really could not imagine who would do this … It was just this shadowy mystery.” “It made me just feel compassion for this person who clearly was processing something difficult.” Others didn’t take so kindly to the document dumps. Neighbours began actively trying to catch the person they dubbed the “book bandit,” with one resident deploying their surveillance camera to the effort, and another arranging for a private security firm to stake out the street in the hopes of catching the serial litterer. Security footage obtained by WNYC shows the man in action, driving slowly in the dark and dumping an armful of paper into the road. Eventually, the citizen efforts helped yield a licence plate number, prompting the NYPD to investigate Sergeant John Trzcinski, a veteran officer who joined the force in 1994 and earned $177,516, according to public records. When asked about the littering allegations, the NYPD directed The Independent to a database of disciplinary actions, which showed Sergeant Trzcinski was disciplined on 30 May for littering, losing a vacation day. The Independent has contacted the officer and the police union for comment. The city Department of Sanitation confirmed to Gothamist that Sergeant Trzcinski, who lives in Long Island, hasn’t been fined for littering or illegal dumping. Litterers need to be caught in the act by police or sanitation personnel, and the bundles of papers Sergeant Trzcinski left in the street weren’t large enough to qualify as illegal dumping. Sergeant Trzcinski has been awarded multiple awards for police service, and hasn’t been previously disciplined, according to public records. Read More Veteran police official Edward Caban becomes first Latino to head the NYPD Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect named as Rex Heuermann after arrest for Long Island murders New York City's Rikers Island, facing possible federal takeover, found violating safety standards

A New Jersey con man who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump has been arrested and is accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars. Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein was charged alongside four others with a number of crimes, including conspiring to defraud investors of more than $35m and conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to a statement from the office of the US attorney for New Jersey. Each of the five defendants was charged with one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Mr Weinstein was given a 24-year federal prison sentence after being convicted of two separate investment fraud schemes — one that ran from 2004 through 2011, the other from 2012 through 2013 — across both of which he defrauded investors of roughly $230m, according to a court document. On 19 January, 2021, after Mr Weinstein had served less than eight of the 24 years, Mr Trump pardoned him. Shortly after his release from prison, Mr Weinstein started up a new scheme, the statement said. “We allege Mr. Weinstein took part in a new scheme to rip off investors by hiding his real identity,” Special Agent in Charge James E Dennehy of the Newark FBI said. Mr Weinstein allegedly used the alias “Mike Konig” in this new scheme outlined by the FBI. Mr Weinstein allegedly said in a “surreptitious audio” obtained by investigators August 2022: “We collectively did not tell everyone who I was, no one would ever give you a penny if they knew who I was . . . because I have a bad reputation.” He worked with four others, the court document states: Aryeh “Ari” Bromberg , Joel Wittels, Shlomo Erez, and Alaa Hattab. The men were accused of taking “tens of millions of dollars from investors” through the firm Optimus Investments Inc. Most of these investors were “family, friends, or close associates,” the document said. Mr Weinstein, Mr Bromberg, and Mr Wittels received a large portion of the money through Tryon Management Group LLC — another company that was owned and operated “by two other conspirators” — which promised investors opportunities to invest in deals involving Covid-19 face masks, “scarce baby formula,” and first-aid kits “bound for Ukraine,” according to the statement. However, unable to pay the investors with legitimate investment returns, the men decided to combine the funds from both Optimus and Tryon investors and “use it to make monthly payments to other investors in a Ponzi-like fashion” starting in February 2022, the document states. “Once the Tryon owners learned that Mike Konig was actually Weinstein, they agreed with the defendants to continue concealing Weinstein’s identity from investors and to raise additional money to pay off existing Tryon investors, all in an effort to stop the Ponzi scheme from falling apart and to cover up the fraud,” the statement said. The men are also charged with obstructing justice after allegedly “hiding Mr Weinstein’s assets” — $200m in restitution — owed to his previous victims, as well as allegedly “concealing his myriad business activities, which were expressly prohibited by the terms of his supervised release,” according to the court document. If convicted on both charges, each of the five men face a maximum of 25 years in prison and fines of “either $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest,” according to the statement. On top of this, the Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil complaint against the men and two other individuals “based on the same and additional conduct,” the statement said. Mr Weinstein was one of the 143 people pardoned by former President Trump in the final hours of his term. Read More Donald Trump is the first former president arrested on federal charges. Can he still run in 2024? An inmate was pardoned by Oregon’s governor. Two years on he’s a person of interest in four suspicious deaths Egypt pardons jailed activists, including two prominent rights defenders, official reports say

Hours after former President Donald Trump announced that he was a “target” in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Mr Trump told Sean Hannity that he was “bothered” by the news but it doesn’t “frighten” him. In a radio interview in Iowa though, the former president said he thought it would be “very dangerous” for Mr Smith to jail him prior to any trial because of his “tremendously passionate group of voters”. Mr Trump spoke to Mr Hannity in a pre-recorded town hall interview on Fox News. The former president faces a potential third indictment over the events of January 6 – on top of other ongoing criminal cases. He faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan District Attorney’s case regarding hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The former president already faces a 37-count federal indictment in connection to his handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. The Fox News host suggested Mr Trump remained untroubled by the investigations: “It doesn’t seem to bother you like I think it would bother so many other people. What is it about you that it doesn’t?” “No, it bothers me. It bothers me for everybody in this incredible sold-out audience,” the former president disagreed, speaking to the people of Des Moines, Iowa. He added that the ongoing probes into him are an example of “election interference,” and that the Department of Justice is politicised. “They want to try to demean and diminish and frighten people,” Mr Trump said. “But they don’t frighten us because we’re going to make America great again. That’s all there is.” Mr Trump had written on Truth Social earlier in the day: “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” In an interview with The Simon Conway Show on Tuesday after the news of the target letter broke, the former president was asked by host Doug Wagner (filling in for Conway) what his message to supporters would be should Mr Smith imprison Mr Trump ahead of any trial. Said Wagner: “Is it something that concerns you of the people making sure that they don’t go out of their right mind if something like that happens, if that, for example, they do say — Jack Smith says, OK, I’m going to put Donald Trump in jail?” The former president replied: “I think it’s a very dangerous thing to even talk about because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters, much more passion than they had in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016.” He reiterated: “I think it would be very dangerous.” Mr Trump has a record of trying to whip up his supporters ahead of legal action against him, telling supporters before his first indictment in Manhattan over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels to “protest” and “take our nation back”. Later he warned of “death and destruction” if he were charged. Only a small number of supporters showed up in Lower Manhattan to protest. Read More All the lawsuits and criminal charges involving Trump and where they stand Trump news – live: Trump claims he’s ‘not frightened’ by Jan 6 target letter as potential indictment looms Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ Undue influence? Anonymous donations to World Health Organization's new foundation raise concerns The US and North Korea have no diplomatic ties — but they still have ways to talk about US soldier Biden pushes a strong role for unions in tech jobs, even as potential strikes are on the horizon

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said she was "uncomfortable" showing graphic, sexually explicit photos of Hunter Biden to Congress, but insisted that "the American people deserve to see" the photos. Ms Greene showed the images during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday. The photos appeared to show the president's son having sex with sex workers. Black boxes were used to cover the genitals and faces of the individuals who aren't Mr Biden. The committee was discussing the claims of IRS whistleblowers who said Mr Biden received preferential treatment during a federal tax investigation when Ms Greene unveiled her photos. The stunt drew expected criticism from Congressional Democrats, many who offered scathing rebukes of the congresswoman's judgement. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the display "pornographic" and said Republicans had reached a "new low" before taking a barely-veiled shot at Congressman Matt Gaetz. “If the gentlelady from Georgia wanted to follow evidence, we should also take a look at, hypothetically, a case where sex trafficking charges against a 17-year-old girl, potentially,” she said, referencing the fact that Mr Gaetz was under investigation by the DOJ in connection with a child sex trafficking case. Mr Gaetz has denied the allegations and his attorneys said in February that the DOJ had dropped the investigation without issuing charges. Aaron Fritschner, the deputy chief of staff and comms director for Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, noted that Ms Greene included the explicit photos in her email newsletter, and questioned whether or not children were sent those images. "Marjorie Taylor Greene just sent this email to her constituents (yes this using official, taxpayer-funded resources). I clicked the link so you don't have to, it is exactly what you think," he wrote in a tweet, showing a screenshot of Ms Greene's newsletter. "I double checked and there isn't an age screen on her eNewsletter subscription page. So a distinct possibility that Marjorie Taylor Greene just emailed links to video containing nude images of Hunter Biden to minors using taxpayer-funded resources." The Independent has reached out to Ms Greene for comment. Congressman Jamie Raskin told the Washington Post that more than anything, Ms Greene's stunt was "completely irrelevant" to the day's discussion. He said that it "did not advance in any way the putative objective of the hearing" and described the incident as an "assault to the dignity of the committee." Read More Marjorie Taylor Greene sparks outrage by showing explicit photos of Hunter Biden at congressional hearing GOP lawmakers predict imminent ‘fistfight’ between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert Marjorie Taylor Greene accidentally refers to ‘Israel’s apartheid wall’ in speech praising barriers Marjorie Taylor Greene faces backlash after showing explicit photos of Hunter Biden Biden’s latest campaign video is a Marjorie Taylor Greene speech GOP lawmakers predict ‘fistfight’ between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert

A woman who says that the recently detained person of interest in the suspected Oregon serial killer case Jesse Lee Calhoun lived with her and her children for a year and a half, has shared allegations that there may have been connections between the 38-year-old and some of the victims. In a video interview shared on YouTube, Krista Senor said Calhoun was linked to at least two of the four murdered women and that he had sex and sold fentanyl to other women during their relationship, according to Oregon Live. “I’m still in shock over this. It’s just surreal,” Ms Sinor, 43 told The Oregonian on Wednesday. “It’s very strange. I can’t wrap my mind around any of it. Neither can his family or friends.” Police spent three days searching her apartment in Milwaukie, Oregon after they arrested Calhoun on 6 June. Former Oregon Governor Kate Brown commuted Calhoun’s sentence for several burglaries on 23 June 2021, about a year before he was set to be released, for his work fighting wildfires. Ms Sinor said Calhoun was connected to two of the victims, Ashley Real, 22, from Portland, and Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, from Milwaukie. The other two victims are Charity Perry and Kristin Smith – police said on Monday 17 July that their deaths are connected and that a person of interest had been identified. “No charges have been filed against anyone in connection with any of these four death investigations,” the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies said in a press release. “Investigators have interviewed multiple people in connection with these cases and have identified at least one person of interest that is linked to all four of the decedents.” A man who saw Calhoun being arrested told KGW that “There’s craziness in the world. You hope it doesn’t happen too often. It was pretty nuts to see it happen in my backyard”. Calhoun was arrested on 6 June as he and his girlfriend were at a gas station in Milwaukie. The arrest didn’t occur without incident. “I don’t know how he made it through the 10 officers but he made it through and across traffic and down to the river and hopped in,” the witness told KGW. “I was like, ‘I wonder what this guy did,’” the witness added. “It seems whatever he did was really important — or required that much law enforcement, I should say.” The four women were all found dead across the region since the middle of February. Ms Sinor said in the YouTube interview that Calhoun and Ms Real had been seeing each other on and off for about a year and that he would provide Ms Webster with drugs in exchange for sex, but Ms Sinor added that she didn’t know how Calhoun was linked to Ms Perry or Ms Smith. When Ms Sinor was asked if Calhoun is a serial killer, Ms Sinor said “My first thought is that maybe a fentanyl overdose and he freaked out”. “He’s a family guy. He seems like a family guy. He’s really close with his family and he would do anything for them and stuff but like my kids ... he loves my kids and my kids love him,” she added in the YouTube interview, according to KGW. The witness who saw Calhoun being arrested told KGW: “I don’t want to see him come out from bars ever again.” Read More Portland ‘serial killer’ – live: Jesse Calhoun got prison pardon for fighting wildfires before deaths of women An inmate was pardoned by Oregon’s governor. Two years on he’s a person of interest in four suspicious deaths Jesse Calhoun identified as person of interest in suspicious deaths of four women in Portland

The wife of accused Gilgo Beach serial killerRex Heuermann has filed for divorce just six days after New York police arrested him on suspicion of murdering at least three women and dumping their bodies along Long Island. Online court records show that Asa Ellerup – the accused serial killer’s wife of two decades and mother of his children – filed a matrimonial complaint in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday. The filing – titled Asa Ellerup v Rex Heuermann – states that the divorce is “uncontested”. The case records include a complaint, summons and a “notice concerning continuation of health care coverage” all filed on Wednesday, though the contents have not been made public. Ms Ellerup is said to have been “shocked” and “disgusted” when she learned that her husband had been arrested and charged with three of the string of unsolved killings that have haunted Long Island for more than a decade. He is also the prime suspect in a fourth murder. Shocking court documents, released by Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office last week, revealed that her hair had been found on the bodies of three of the four victims – but that she was out of town on each of the occasions that her husband allegedly struck. Ms Ellerup’s attorney Bob Macedonio told Fox News Digital outside Suffolk County Jail that she had filed for divorce after her life was “turned upside-down” by her husband’s alleged actions. “This is all still a whirlwind,” he said. “Her and her children’s lives have been completely turned upside-down.” Mr Heuermann has an adult daughter and stepson with Ms Ellerup. Their daughter worked at her father’s architecture business with him in Manhattan. Mr Macedonio said that police carried out a coordinated raid on the family home in Massapeua Park on Thursday night at the same time that they arrested Mr Heuermann as he left his office in Midtown Manhattan. He was charged with three counts of murder in the first degree and three in the second degree over the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes – who together with the three is known as the “Gilgo Beach Four” and was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City. The four women were found within one-quarter mile of each other, bound by belts or tape and some wrapped in burlap. He pleaded not guilty to the charges as he appeared in court on 14 July and was ordered to be held without bond. Ms Ellerup and her two adult children were informed about the accusations against him and had their passports, computers, phones and iPads seized as police swooped on their home, her attorney said. “They were home and the cops came in, and they were completely blindsided, and they told them what was going on,” he said. Court documents, filed as part of prosecutor’s request that bail be denied, revealed that hair belonging to Mr Heuermann’s wife was allegedly found on the bodies of three of the four victims. Prosecutors say that two female hairs had been found on Waterman, one of them on the tape which the killer wrapped around her head. One female hair was found on tape used to wrap burlap around Costello and one hair was found in a belt buckle used to bind Brainard-Barnes – who Mr Heuermann is yet to be charged over. To identify the female who the belonged to, investigators trawled through the trash at the Heuermann home in Long Island. In July 2022, they recovered 11 bottles from the trash and they were swabbed for DNA. Forensic testing found that the DNA on the bottles matched the female hair found at the crime scene, concluding that the hair belonged to Mr Heuermann’s wife. The accuracy is such that more than 99 percent of the North American female population can be ruled out, according to the court documents. Prosecutors found that the suspect’s wife was out of town at the time of the three murders for which he has been charged but that her hair could have transferred to the crime scene through her husband’s clothing or through him using items such as tape taken from the family home. She has not been named as a suspect and there is no suggestion that she was involved – or knew about – the murders. As well as his wife’s DNA, Mr Heuermann’s DNA was also found on one of the victims – tied to him through a discarded pizza crust. Mr Heuermann was also linked to the killings through a pimp’s tip about his pickup truck, a stash of burner phones, “sadistic” online searches and phone calls taunting victims’ families. Investigators continue to comb through the family home for evidence – including body parts and trophies taken from the victims – as well as storage units connected to him two miles away in Amityville. So far, a trove of around 200 guns have been seized as well as his pickup truck. Over in South Carolina, police seized the pickup truck at the centre of the murder investigation from his brother’s home this week. Mr Heuermann owns a property in Chester next to his brother Craig. The Chester County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it “was requested by the Gilgo Beach Task Force to assist in gathering evidence in Chester County relevant to their investigation” – as law enforcement agencies are now also looking into unsolved murders and missing persons cases all across America. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told The Independent on Tuesday that they are reviewing unsolved murders and missing persons cases around Sin City after becoming aware that the suspect owns a time share property in the area. “We are aware of Rex Heuermann’s connection to Las Vegas. We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement,” the department said. The horrific serial killer case has captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade. The Gilgo Beach murders had long stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway. The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach. She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again. During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman. Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by. By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Police have long thought that it could be the work of one or more serial killers. Gilbert’s body was then found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered. Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers while some are yet to be identified. Read More Gilgo Beach murders – live: Rex Heuermann’s wife files for divorce as work at NYC Trump building emerges Pizza crust, burner phones and his wife’s hair: How Long Island police tied Rex Heuermann to the Gilgo Beach murders Rex Heuermann’s wife ‘didn’t talk to anyone’ in Long Island community, neighbour says

Rex Heuermann’s wife has filed for divorce just six days after New York police arrested her husband over the notorious Gilgo Beach murders. Court records show that Asa Ellerup – the accused serial killer’s wife of two decades and mother of his children – filed a matrimonial complaint in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday. His family are said to have been left “shocked” and “disgusted” after the Long Island native, 59, was arrested on Thursday and charged with the murders of three women. It has now also emerged that his Manhattan-based architecture company was once hired for a project at the Trump Building in New York City. New York City Department of Buildings records obtained by real state publication The Real Deal show Mr Heuermann’s firm was hired by a third party for a $200,000 plumbing job on 40 Wall Street in 2018. “Mr Heuermann has never worked for the Trump Organization in any capacity,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told the outlet. “He was hired by a third-party tenant, who vacated years ago, to perform minor architectural work in their individual space.” It’s unclear whether Mr Heuermann ever visited the building. Read More Pizza crust, burner phones and his wife’s hair: How Long Island police tied Rex Heuermann to the Gilgo Beach murders Rex Heuermann’s wife ‘didn’t talk to anyone’ in Long Island community, neighbour says How the Gilgo Beach serial killer turned the Long Island shore into a graveyard Las Vegas police reviewing unsolved cold cases for links to Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann

Chad Doerman, an Ohio father accused of murdering his three sons, had been plotting the killings for months, according to court documents. “The defendant gave a statement during an audio and video recorded interview, during which he admitted to having been thinking about shooting his sons since October,” said the bill of particulars which was obtained by WCPO. Mr Doerman hadn’t slept in the three or four days leading up to the murders because “the thoughts of having to kill his sons was so heavy on him,” it added. The document sets out the series of events that led up to when the father allegedly killed his sons aged three, four and seven. After Mr Doerman came home from work early, he asked his wife and the three boys to join him for a nap in the master bedroom, the bill states. While the rest of the family were situated in the master bedroom, Mr Doerman’s 12-year-old stepdaughter was watching television in the family room. That room housed a Marlin Model HC .22 rifle, WCPO reported. As his family lay down to nap, Mr Doerman removed the rifle from its safe and began loading a magazine into it, the outlet said, before shooting one of his sons twice. His wife reportedly tried to help the child while yelling for her other boys to run. The 12-year-old moved to the master bedroom in time to witness the first shots fired, according to the document. She ran after one of her brothers, yelling for him to run away, but Mr Doerman shot the boy as he ran, causing him to fall, and allowing his father to shoot him again at close range, the outlet wrote. The 12-year-old then picked up another of her brothers and carried him out of the house, the document continues. But Mr Doerman caught up to the pair as they approached the road. He raised his weapon and told his stepdaughter to put her brother down, it said. Apparently out of ammunition, Mr Doerman tried to fire again but it the gun didn’t work, allowing the boy to run to his mother, who was trying to help her son who had been shot outside. The step-daughter ran toward the local fire department, telling a passerby who stopped her that “her father was killing everyone.” Mr Doerman then went up to his wife and the third boy. He bit his wife to try to get to his son, the document says. As they fought, Mrs Doerman was able to grab hold of the rifle but her husband fired, shooting her through her thumb. This caused her to drop the third boy, who Mr Doerman allegedly then shot in the head. “After the defendant executed all three boys, he sat on the side stoop of the residence” and watched his wife try to save her children, the outlet reported. The document says that the father fired nine shots: one boy was shot once, the other two were each shot four times. According to the sheriff’s office, Mr Doerman faces 21 counts: 9 counts of aggravated murder, 8 counts of kidnapping, and 4 counts of felonious assault. His first court appearance was on June 16, one day after the killings. Mr Doerman pleaded not guilty; the judge ordered his bond to be set for $20 million. “This is the most serious offense that we have on the books, judge,” said David Gast, assistant Clermont County prosecutor, during the first court appearance. “This is it. You can’t commit a more serious offense.” Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve announced in June that his office plans to seek the death penalty for Mr Doerman. “My goal is to have this man executed for slaughtering these three young boys,” Mr Tekulve said. “It is an incomprehensible act of horror that he perpetuated on this family.” Read More Ohio father accused of killing his 3 young sons indicted on murder charges Heartbreaking 911 calls reveal mother’s panic after husband ‘executed’ three young sons Father of man who executed his three young sons shares disbelief: ‘He just snapped’

In March, unable to legally obtain abortion care in Texas, Samantha Casiano was forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy to term, and gave birth to a three-pound baby who died hours later. Ms Casiano is among 13 women denied emergency abortion care under state law who are suing the state in a landmark case that is now in front of a Texas judge. In harrowing, historic courtroom testimony in Austin on 19 July, Ms Casiano and two other plaintiffs described their agony, isolation and heartbreak as they detailed their traumatic, life-threatening pregnancies and the state’s failure to care for them. As she described her experience to the court through tears, Ms Casiano vomited from the witness stand. “I watched my baby suffer for four hours,” she said in her testimony. “I am so sorry I couldn’t release you to heaven sooner. There was no mercy for her.” Abortion rights legal advocacy group Center for Reproductive Rights Texas filed the lawsuit on behalf of the women in March to force Texas authorities to clarify emergency medical exceptions to the state’s overlapping anti-abortion laws, marking the first-ever case brought by pregnant patients against such laws. Their testimony has underscored the depth of impacts from Texas laws and similar anti-abortion laws across the country, with abortion access stripped away for millions of Americans who are now exposed to dangerous legal and medical minefields during their pregnancies. The conflicting exemptions for medical emergencies in Texas have resulted in widespread confusion among providers and hospitals fearing legal blowback or severe criminal penalties, according to abortion rights advocates. Healthcare providers in the state found in violation of those laws could lose their medical license, face tens of thousands of dollars in fines, or receive a sentence of life in prison. The plaintiffs “suffered unimaginable tragedy” directly because of the state’s anti-abortion laws, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane said in her opening arguments. Texas officials and the state’s medical board have “done nothing” to clarify the law, she said. “I feel like my hands are tied,” said Houston obstetrician-gynecologist Dr Damla Karsa. “I have the skill, training and experience to provide care but I’m unable to do so. It’s gut-wrenching. I am looking for clarity, for a promise that I’m not going to be prosecuted for providing care.” Attorneys for the state have sought to dismiss the case altogether, arguing in court filings that the women lack standing to challenge the law because it is ultimately uncertain they will face similar complications again, that their “alleged prospective injuries are purely hypothetical”, and that some of the plaintiffs admitted they have since “struggled to become pregnant” again after their traumatic experiences. Amanda Zurawski, the lead plaintiff in the case, is still hoping to become pregnant after her life-threatening pregnancy. She called the state’s argument “infuriating and disgusting and ironic.” “Do they not realise the reason why I might not be able to get pregnant again is because of what happened to me as a result of the laws that they support?” she told the court. “Anybody who’s been through infertility will tell you it is the most isolating, grueling, lonely, difficult thing a person can go through.” ‘I wished I was dreaming. I knew I wasn’t’ Ms Casiano, a mother of four, was hoping for a girl. When she visited her physician for a checkup last September, “all of a sudden the room went cold” and quiet, she testified. Her daughter was diagnosed with anencephaly, a fatal birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of a brain or skull. “My first thought was … ‘maybe it’s a surgery, maybe she can be fixed,’ and then she said, ‘I’m sorry, but your daughter is incompatible with life, and she will pass away before or after birth,’” Ms Casiano said. “I felt cold,” she said. “I was hurt. I wished I was dreaming. I knew I wasn’t. I just felt lost.” A case worker at her obstetrician’s office gave her a pamphlet with funeral homes. She was prescribed antidepressants. She could not be referred for abortion care anywhere in the state. Texas was the first to implement a near-total ban on abortion, months before the US Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion last June, a decision that triggered a wave of state laws and legislation from anti-abortion lawmakers and governors to restrict care and threaten providers with criminal penalties. Amanda Zurawski endured several rounds of fertility treatments, tests, surgeries and misdiagnoses before learning she was pregnant in May of last year. “We were at first in shock … we were over-the-moon excited,” Ms Zurawski said. But her obstetrician discovered that she dilated prematurely, and soon after her membranes ruptured, draining amniotic fluid and endangering the life of her expected child. Doctors informed her there was nothing they could do under what was recently enacted state law, despite knowing with “complete certainty we were going to lose our daughter,” she said. The condition led to life-threatening sepsis. Doctors ultimately induced labor. Her daughter, which she named Willow, was not alive when she delivered. Ms Zurawski and her husband are still trying for pregnancy, but the trauma has closed one of her fallopian tubes, and a doctor had to surgically reconstruct her uterus. They also are considering in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and adoption. She previously testified to members of Congress about her experience, a story she will continue to tell, even if it is “excruciating” to do so, she told the Texas courtroom. “I know that what happened to me is happening to people all over the country. … So many people are being hurt by similarly restrictive bans,” she said. She has spoken out “because I can, and I know a lot of people who are experiencing or will experience something similar who can’t speak out, and it’s for those people I will,” she said. Healthcare providers caring for pregnant patients in the months after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade have faced severe obstacles for providing standard medical care in states where abortion is effectively outlawed, leading to delays and worsening and dangerous health outcomes for patients, according to a first-of-its-kind report released earlier this year. Individual reports from patients and providers like those named in the Texas lawsuit have shed some light on the wide range of harm facing pregnant women in states where access to abortion care is restricted or outright banned. But reporting from the University of California San Francisco captures examples from across the country, painting a “stark picture of how the fall of Roe is impacting healthcare in states that restrict abortion,” according to the report’s author Dr Daniel Grossman. More than a dozen states, mostly in the South, have effectively outlawed or severely restricted access to abortion care after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization last June. The decision has also opened new legal challenges, ones that could once again reshape the future of abortion access in America, while anti-abortion lawmakers and Republican candidates face a public that is overwhelmingly against such bans. ‘I don’t feel safe to have children in Texas anymore’ Ashley Brandt sent a picture of an ultrasound to her husband when she found out she was pregnant with twins. But after her 12-week ultrasound last May, doctors discovered one of the twins had acrania, in which the skull of the fetus is not formed, and brain tissue is exposed to amniotic fluid. The condition is fatal. Despite no chance of the twin’s survival, Ms Brandt was not eligible under Texas law for a procedure called a selective fetal reduction; Twin A still had some signs of life, like muscle spasms and cardiac activity. They traveled to neighbouring Colorado for care, and she returned home the day after the procedure. She gave birth to her daughter in November. “If I had not gone out of state and just done what was legal in Texas, my daughter … would likely have been in the [neonatal intensive care unit],” she said. “All of my ultrasounds leading up to labor I would have had to watch twin A … deteriorate more and more, every ultrasound. … I would have to give birth to an identical version of my daughter without a skull, without a brain, and I would have to hold her until she died, and I would have to sign a death certificate, and hold a funeral.” She said the state has failed to account for medical emergencies like hers. “I don’t feel safe to have children in Texas anymore,” she said. “It was very clear that my health didn’t really matter, that my daughter’s health didn’t really matter.” Read More ‘I felt I couldn’t tell anyone’: The stigma of abortion keeps women silent. It’s time for us to shout Ohio voters are likely to decide the future of abortion rights One year after Roe v Wade fell, anti-abortion laws threaten millions. The battle for access is far from over