List of All Articles with Tag 'crime'

By Daniel Trotta California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday announced he would give up trying to deny parole

The attacker may still face the death penalty if convicted for murder charges in state court.

The white gunman who shot and killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in a racist attack on Hispanic customers has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences for the 2019 massacre. More follows...

A Princeton doctoral student has been kidnapped in Iraq while doing field work in the country, according to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. “Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being,” Mr Netanyahu wrote in a statement. Ms Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, the Israeli prime minister wrote. She is also a fellow at the Washington DC-based think tank, New Lines Institute, and is a contributor to New Lines magazine. They wrote they hadn’t heard from her since 19 March, when she said she wanted to leave the Middle East and return to Princeton to write her dissertation. They added that just over a week after hearing from her, they “learned from our sources that a pro-Iranian militia had kidnapped her in Baghdad.” The writers underscored that Ms Tsurkov’s work “poses no threat to anyone.” The magazine also wrote that Ms Tsurkov “is an outspoken critic of all three of the major likely players involved in negotiating her release: Israel, Iran and Russia.” The group said that they reached out to US and foreign officials and will continue to do so. They urged the United States to get involved in her release, because despite the fact she is not a US citizen, she “is very much a part of America,” they wrote. “She works with a Washington think tank, writes for an American magazine and studies at Princeton University. She deserves America’s every effort to bring her to safety,” New Lines magazine writers said. Ms Tsurkov’s family also confirmed details of her disappearance in a statement. “She was kidnapped in the middle of Baghdad, and we see the Iraqi government as directly responsible for her safety,” the family’s statement said. “We ask for her immediate release from this unlawful detention.” Read More Missing two-year-old’s grandmother shares ‘mental torture’ after alleged kidnapper arrested Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich Death of student, 20, outside club ‘senseless and avoidable’, court told

A California man pleaded guilty last week to hiding his mother’s death from the federal authorities for over 30 years, collecting more than $800,000 in benefits under her name. Donald Felix Zampach, 65, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of Social Security fraud, according to the Justice Department. “This crime is believed to be the longest-running and largest fraud of its kind in this district,” US Attorney Randy Grossman said in a statement. “This defendant didn’t just passively collect checks mailed to his deceased mother. This was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse.” All told, beginning in 1990, the Poway man collected $830,238. He could face up to 25 years in prison, though US sentencing guidelines suggest it will more likely be a sentence of 30 to 37 months. “He is overwhelmed with regret,” Knut Johnson, Zampach’s lawyer, told The New York Times. As part of his plea deal, Zampach will forfeit the benefit, pay restitution to various lenders, and turn over the home he took possession of in his mother’s name. The benefits scheme was an elaborate one, according to the DoJ. When Zampach’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she left the US and returned to her native Japan, where she died in 1990 at age 61. Her son notified the US embassy in Tokyo of the death, but admitted to leaving blank a box for her Social Security number to avoid the government being aware of her passing, and he repeated this omission on forms for burial permits. Zampach kept up this ruse until September 2022, collecting his mother’s Social Security checks and payments from the Defense Finance Accounting Service, which pays survivors of military veterans. An audit of those over age 90 who hadn’t used their Medicare benefits helped reveal the California man’s scheme. This sort of fraud has happened in the past. In 2018, a Mexican man pleaded guilty to defrauding the government for even longer, spending 37 years collecting nearly $361,000 in government benefits after assuming the identity of a US citizen, according to The San Diego Union Tribune. In 2015, Dutch police learned that a man kept his dead mother’s body hidden for over two years and continued collecting her pension and social assistance payments. He was later caught and forced to repay 40,000 euros, according to 1 Limburg. Read More Real Housewives star Phaedra Parks reveals why she gave her son $150,000 for his 13th birthday Mastercard helping banks predict scams before money leaves customers’ accounts Vermont will pay $16.5M to settle lawsuits by foreign investors in fraudulent ski developments

Rudy Farias returned home the day after he went missing in 2015, and despite “numerous” false statements being made to police no charges are planned, the Houston police say. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told a press conference on Thursday that police interviews with Mr Farias and his mother Janie Santana on Wednesday had found no evidence of sexual or abuse during the eight years he was supposedly missing. Mr Farias, 25, was reported missing in March 2015, and an open police investigation into his disappearance continued until his mother Ms Santana said he had been discovered outside a church in Houston, Texas on 29 June. However, Houston police said he was not in fact missing, and had given false names and date of births to avoid detection when spoken to by police. “Both Janie, Rudy’s mother, and Rudy himself gave fictitious names while interacting with various patrol officers,” Lieutenant Christopher Zamora, a detective with Houston Police Department (HPD)’s missing persons unit, told reporters. “After investigators talked with him yesterday, it was discovered that Rudy returned home the following day on March 8 2015. “Mother Janie continued to deceive police by remaining adamant that Rudy was still missing. She alleged her nephew was the person friends and family were coming and going.” Mr Zamora said the district attorney had declined to lay charges “at this time” for making fictitious reports to police. “Being missing is not a crime,” Mr Zamora told the press conference. Mr Farias, who was 17 when he was first reported missing, was considered an adult under Texas state law. Mr Zamora also contradicted claims made by Houston activist and counsellor Quanell X, who alleged that Mr Farias had suffered sexual and physical abuse during. “We do take all allegations seriously and any new information or facts that we receive will be investigated.” Read More Houston police deny Rudy Farias was abused by mother but confirm he was never missing - latest update Rudy Farias’ mother says she expects to be arrested amid bombshell claims she hid and abused him for years An eight-year search for Rudy Farias came to a miracle conclusion. But was he actually missing?

At least three people are dead and six more have been injured in a mass shooting that took place at an annual Fourth of July block party in Shreveport, Louisiana on Tuesday evening. It is unclear how the shooting unfolded, how many shooters were involved or how many more people may be injured. Shreveport police lieutenant Van Ray told local news outlet KSLA that when authorities arrived at the scene on Pearl Avenue, two people were found dead. A third person died at the hospital. Mr Ray was unsure what conditions the six injured people were in. Police had a difficult time reaching the victims because there was still “an enormous amount” of people and vehicles at the scene when authorities arrived. “Getting here and getting EMS here was a difficult thing. A lot of us had to park our cars and take off running because there were so many cars on the side of the street,” Mr Ray said. Shreveport District A Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor expressed her frustrations with the shooting to KSLA. “This should not happen. Now we are the victims of a mass shooting in our community,” Ms Taylor said. “It is trauma for those individuals that only wanted to have a very good time on this holiday,” she added. Louisiana joins several states in experiencing a deadly mass shooting over the holiday weekend. Three people died in Forth Worth, Texas and five others were killed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday, 3 June. Nine people were injured during a drive-by shooting in Washington DC on Wednesday. There are been 350 mass shootings in the US this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. The Independent has reached out to the Shreveport Police Department for comment. Read More Fourth of July travel weekend in disarray after airport meltdowns, wildfire smoke and extreme heat Fort Worth shooting – live: Dramatic video captures chaos at ComoFest two of three victims identified Nine victims including two children injured in drive-by shooting in Washington DC

Nine people, including two children, have been injured in a “targeted” drive-by shooting in Washington DC while the nation’s capital was celebrating the July 4 holiday. The DC Metropolitan Police Department said that residents were still enjoying Independence Day festivities when gunfire broke out at around 1am ET on Meade Street in the northeast area of the city. Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons told ABC News that a dark SUV was driving through the area when it suddenly “stopped and it fired shots in the direction of some of our residents that were outside, just celebrating the fourth of July”. Nine people were wounded in the shooting, all suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Among the victims were two children aged just nine and 17. The shooting is believed to have been a targeted attack.

The five people killed in a mass shooting in the Kingsessing neighbourhood of Philadelphia have been identified. Philadephia police issued a statement on Tuesday naming the victims as follows: Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; Daujan Brown, 15; and Joseph Wamah Jr, 31. Two children – aged two and 13 – were also injured in the shooting but are in stable condition. Police have not released their names yet. The shooting unfolded at around 8.30pm Monday when police said the 40-year-old suspect, dressed in a bullet-proof vest and armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, left his home and began shooting at victims. On Wednesday, following a rash of shootings in recent days, President Biden called on Republican lawmakers in Congress to “come to the table on meaningful, commonsense reform”. Read More Five adults dead and two children wounded: What we know about mass shooting in Philadelphia Philadelphia shooting: At least five dead as heavily armed gunman opens fire at random on streets Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings America’s mass shooting crisis, in numbers: More than halfway through 2023, US on pace for record-setting year

At least 17 people have been shot – three of them fatally – across four shootings in Fort Worth, Texas, on the eve of July 4. Two of the victims were identified Tuesday as Cynthia Santos, 22, and Paul Willis, 18, who were killed hours after the ComoFest event ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The shootings in the area took place at a range of locations, including ComoFeset, a residential home, an AMC movie theatre, and in a car. Following a wave of shootings this week, Joe Biden renewed his calls to reinstate the assault weapons ban. In a Wednesday statement, he called on Republicans in Congress to “come to the table on meaningful, common sense reform”. Read More America’s mass shooting crisis, in numbers: More than halfway through 2023, US on pace for record-setting year Three people killed and eight wounded in mass shooting at July 4 fireworks event in Fort Worth Philadelphia shooting: At least five dead as heavily armed gunman opens fire at random on streets Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings

Some families of those killed in the 2018 massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school will get a chance to visit the site where their loved ones lost their lives beginning Wednesday, the Broward County state attorney's office said.

Jurors in Pittsburgh have begun considering whether the gunman in a white supremacist 2018 shooting at a local synagogue complex should get the death penalty. In June, Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue, was convicted on 63 federal counts. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, experts called by his attorneys have been arguing in court in recent days that he was so mentally damaged by the time of the shooting he shouldn’t face the death penalty, which is forbidden against people with certain intellectual handicaps. They pointed out how Bowers had been in multiple psychiatric hospitals by the time he was 13 years old, diagnosed with depression and other ailments. As a teenager, he also attempted to kill his mother by spraying an aerosol toward her and trying to light it on fire. By 16, he was voluntarily committed again to a mental facility and had made “repeated suicide attempts,” according to the defence. Richard Rogers, a forensic psychologist who met with Bowers four times while he was in prison, told jurors the gunman showed signs of delusional thinking tied to his white supremacist ideas. “He did not just believe [his conduct] to be correct,” Mr Rogers said, “he believed it absolutely had to be done.” A majority of families whose loved ones died in the shooting have voiced their support for the death penalty in the case. “We are not a ruthless, uncompassionate people; we, as a persecuted people, understand when there is a time for compassion and when there is a time to stand up and say enough is enough — such violent hatred will not be tolerated on this earth,” they wrote in a 2022 letter in the Pittsburg Jewish Chronicle. “Our beloved 11 were taken from us in a brutal, cold-blooded act of hatred and violence. We, the undersigned, will feel further violated by letting the defendant have the easy way out. His crimes deserve the death penalty.” Others tied to the tragedy, the deadliest antisemitic shooting in US history, argued the death penalty violates Jewish tradition. “Jewish practice as I understand it does not — outside of self-defense — allow humans to take the lives of other humans. Not even the life of a murderer whose guilt is beyond doubt,” Beth Kissileff, whose husband, a rabbi, was in the Tree of Life facility during the shooting, wrote in The New York Times. “The death penalty does nothing to promote healing; it only continues more killing,” she added. The Independent and the nonprofit Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for an end to the death penalty in the US. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to their Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty - with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high-profile executives like Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage. Read More A copycat Zodiac Killer terrorised New York years after the California original. This is how he got caught Pittsburgh synagogue killer has extensive history of mental illness, defense expert testifies Doctors give mixed testimony on whether tests show brain damage in the Pittsburgh synagogue killer