List of All Articles with Tag 'eric'

Three women were attacked in a string of Manhattan subway slashings in New York on Sunday, 18 June. Police on 19 June said they believed the same man was responsible for all three attacks, and released Metropolitan Travel Authority (MTA) surveillance footage of the alleged perpetrator. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the man attacked two women at the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station, before slashing the leg of a third woman while riding a southbound 4 train. The first attack took place shortly after 4pm on Sunday, when a man wearing a Boston Red Sox cap approached 19-year-old Bianchelli Diplan and slashed her right leg with a sharp object. “I started up the steps and then I felt something [on] the back of my leg. So I like, hold on to it. And I saw there was blood.” Ms Diplan, who was on her way to buy a Father’s Day cake, told ABC7. “So I turned around I saw him and, like, he just stared at me and I was crying. And he just walked away.” She reportedly needed 19 stitches and is recovering at home. The NYPD believes he also attacked a 48-year-old woman at the same station before riding the 4 train to Brooklyn Bridge Station where he slashed a 26-year-old woman’s left leg at around 4.32pm. The cut was so deep that a tourniquet had to be applied on her leg before she was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the New York Post. Surveillance footage shows the suspect jumping the turnstile at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station after slashing his third victim. During a briefing on 19 June, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said he was confident the perpetrator’s “identity will be obtained shortly”. “I’m also confident that he’ll be apprehended shortly,” Mr Kemper said. Ms Diplan urged commuters to “be aware of your surroundings” while travelling on the subway “because this could happen to anybody”. Anyone with information about the attacker, who is 5ft 8in and weighs 220 pounds, can send the NYPD a direct message on Twitter or call 800-577-TIPS. The attacks come one day after the death of a man who was found with fatal stab wounds on a 4 train at Union Square Station. Police have charged Claude White, a 33-year-old homeless man, with the murder of Tavon Silver. Charges against Mr White also include criminal possession of a weapon. While Mr White didn’t know the victim, police believe they became embroiled in a dispute which ultimately led to Mr Silver’s death. Read More Russia tried to kill ‘CIA informant’ in Florida, report says Missing Titanic submarine with five onboard may have 50 hours left as US accused of hampering rescue – live Inside Titan: Titanic-spotting submarine steered by video game controller Where is the Titanic wreckage? British Navy expert warns ‘timescale’ of missing Titanic sub is ‘very concerning’

Donald Trump was left speechless during his latest interview with Fox News journalist Bret Baier when the host pointed out that, had Mr Trump’s proposed policy of executing convicted drug dealers been active during his presidency, among its victims would have been Alice Johnson, a woman to whom Mr Trump granted clemency after being persuaded to do so by a campaign led by Kim Kardashian protesting her innocence. “No, no. No. Under my pl.... Under that? UHHHHHHHHHHH...” Mr Trump flubbed, subsequently accusing the host of being “hostile” to him. Meanwhile, a new CNN poll has recorded a six point drop in support for the former president among conservatives, his approval rating down from 53 per cent in mid-May to 47 per cent in mid-June in the wake of his 37 criminal count federal indictment over the classified documents scandal. All of which follows Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon moving on Tuesday to set a trial date of 14 August 2023 to hear that case in Fort Pierce, Florida. A federal grand jury indicted Mr Trump for allegedly willfully mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements, to which he pleaded not guilty at his Miami arraignment last week. Read More Trump drops below 50 per cent among GOP voters in new CNN poll following second indictment Fox News’s Bret Baier hits back at Trump conspiracy theorist after ex-president appears to incriminate himself in interview Attorneys spar in case of ex-Trump adviser who devised strategy to keep former president in power Trump claimed the Durham report would uncover the ‘crime of the century.’ Here’s what it really found

Florida governor and 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis continued his long-running rivalry with California governor Gavin Newsrom on Wednesday, claiming on Fox News that Californians are fleeing the state for Florida. “For decades in this country, people have beaten a path to California. It’s a beautiful state, great topography, all kinds diversity in terms of the different communities you can live in, and yet they never lost population until their current governor took office,” Mr DeSantis said. “Now they’re hemorrhaging wealth, now they’re hemorrhaging people…I never saw California license plates [in Florida] until the last 4 years.” Indeed, states like California and New York lost population in 2022, while Florida saw the biggest gains in in-migration, adding nearly 319,000 people, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Experts attribute the changes to factors like the pandemic and taxes. Mr DeSantis also claimed he witnessed shocking street crime during a recent visit to what he’s taken to calling the “once-great city” of San Francisco. “I saw people defecating on the side walk. I saw people in an open-air drug market using fentanyl,” Mr DeSantis said. In a campaign ad released on Tuesday, Mr DeSantis blamed vague “leftist policies,” including a supposed refusal to prosecute criminals, and “riff raff running around” for San Francisco’s “collapse.” The remark was a likely reference to the false notion that progressive prosecutors in San Francisco refused to go after crime because they sometimes sought prison diversion programmes. Analysis from Mission Local shows that prosecutors like the recalled Chesa Boudin filed about as many charges as any other prosecutor in the city since 2011, while city police data shows overall crime and larceny theft on a downward trend in the years before and during when Mr Boudin was in office. In fact, violent crime rates have largely been declining in San Francisco since peaking in the 1990s, with the beginning of 2022 marking the lowest level of reported violent crime since 1985, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. According to data compiled by the CDC, Florida has a higher homicide rate per capita than California and a higher rate of drug overdose mortality. Read More ‘Small, pathetic man’: Inside the bitter rivalry between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom New study says high housing costs, low income push Californians into homelessness Trump faces questions about whether he'll drag down the Republican Party after his indictments

One of Fox News’s star journalists found himself battling his own viewers after an appearance by former President Donald Trump on his show that many independent observers said was damaging for the ex-president’s credibility. Bret Baier won compliments from his colleagues in the media this week for the no-ground-given interview with the ex-president, which aired in two parts over Tuesday and Wednesday. But the reaction from the twice-indicted ex-president’s fanbase was less enthusiastic. One commenter, a blue-check Trump supporter, wrote a tweet attacking both the interview and Baier’s upcoming gig moderating the first Republican primary debate, set to be held on 23 August. They attacked Baier as a “Murdoch mouthpiece” and suggested that Mr Trump should skip the Fox debate. A second commenter then seemingly admitted that Mr Trump had said something incriminating during their discussion, while questioning whether the journalist had coordinated with the Department of Justice. “Bret and Martha [MacCallum], two anti-Trumpers, will be moderating the first GOP debate. Why the hell would Trump show up to that? Especially after this interview that was actually a debate between Trump & Murdoch mouthpiece. Remember Murdoch’s are all in for DeSanctimonious!” wrote the first critic, Alex Bruesewitz. The second tweeter added: “The big question is did @BretBaier have any contact with the DOJ to try and entrap @realDonaldTrump into incriminating himself. Who wrote his questions. The DOJ will be using his interview against him.” Baier flatly rejected that conspiracy in a short statement: “I’ll answer that. No. I wrote my own questions. And frankly I didn’t know that I would get much on the indictment questions assuming he might say he couldn’t talk about it. Thanks for watching.” He would later go on to approvingly retweet another viewer who took a mocking shot at a third critic of the Trump interivew. The comments are a sign of the increasingly tight spot that Baier and others on Fox’s news side find themselves in. Their network faces a ratings slide following the ouster of star opinion host Tucker Carlson, and increasing disfavour from the channel’s largely pro-Trump audience over any journalism that conflicts with the former president’s conspiracy theories. Baier struck a nerve with the former president in the segment of the interview which aired on Tuesday, as he rejected Mr Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen and pressed him to admit that all of his efforts to prove otherwise had failed. But that wasn’t the only moment when the two men clashed during the discussion. Baier would also question Mr Trump about his new push to expand use of the death penalty to those convicted of selling narcotics, a plan that would likely have little if any chance of success of being passed into law. The Fox journalist noted that a woman Mr Trump took public credit and admiration for having her sentence commuted would have instead been executed under his plan, forcing the ex-president to back off his hardline stance and qualify that degrees of severity would ideally be considered under this imaginary system. Read More Trump claimed the Durham report would uncover the ‘crime of the century.’ Here’s what it really found Capitol rioter filmed shocking police officer with stun gun shouts ‘Trump won!’ as he is sentenced Ousted incumbents, key matchups set: Takeaways from Virginia's primary election Trump drops below 50 per cent among GOP voters in new CNN poll following second indictment Television veteran Geraldo Rivera says he's quitting Fox News' political combat show 'The Five' John Eastman’s expert witness in disbarment hearing is barred for not being an expert

Democrats booed and heckled Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday as the GOP voted to censure California representative Adam Schiff for his efforts to investigate the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. On cameras of the House floor, Democrats could be seen rallying near the lectern and chanting, “Shame!” as the Speaker announced the result of the vote, which he said was punishment for “misleading the American public.” On Wednesday, the House voted 213-to-209 largely on party lines to censure Mr Schiff. In a speech from the floor, the California Democrat remained defiant, saying he was being punished for pursuing the truth by a party that’s attached itself to conspiratorial thinking about the election. “You who are the authors of the big lie about the last election must condemn the truth tellers and I stand proudly before you,” Mr Schiff said. “No matter how many false justifications or slanders you level against me, you but indict yourselves,” he added. “As Liz Cheney said, there will come a day when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain.” New York Democrat Dan Goldman agreed, calling the censure vote a “phony ploy to punish Adam Schiff for speaking truth to power” in a floor speech of his own. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly tore into her fellow conservative Lauren Boebert on the House floor on Wednesday, calling the Colorado rep a “little b****” and accusing her of copying articles of impeachment against Joe Biden. C-SPAN cameras captured the two MAGA Republicans having what appeared to be a heated conversation on Wednesday after Ms Boebert lay the groundwork to force a procedural vote on her impeachment articles in the coming days. Multiple people witnessed or were apprised of the exchange, including an anonymous GOP lawmaker, and reported its alleged contents to The Daily Beast. The argument reportedly began when Rep Boebert approached Rep Greene and was upset about “statements you made about me publicly.” The Georgia representative then allegedly called her counterpart a “little b****” and accused her of piggypacking on the idea to impeach Joe Biden, though Ms Boebert reportedly denied ever reading Ms Greene’s impachment resolution. “I’ve donated to you, I’ve defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little b**** to me,” Ms Greene reportedly said. “And you copied my articles of impeachment after I asked you to cosponsor them.” “OK, Marjorie, we’re through,” Ms Boebert allegedly responded, to which Ms Greene reportedly said, “We were never together.” The Colorado Republican didn’t deny the heated exchange when contacted by The Daily Beast. “Marjorie is not my enemy. I came here to protect our children and their posterity. Joe Biden and the Democrats are destroying our country,” she told the outlet. “My priorities are to correct their bad policies and save America.” The Independent has contacted Ms Greene’s office for comment. On the same day as the alleged argument, Ms Greene appeared to publicly criticise Ms Boebert’s impeachment plan. “I’m different than what Lauren Boebert did,” Ms Greene said, CBS News reports. “She just went and did it. I just addressed the conference about impeachment and said that it is the right thing to do.” Ms Boebert has attempted to impeach Joe Biden multiple times. “I am bringing my articles of impeachment against Joe Biden to the House Floor in a privileged motion, meaning that every Member of Congress must vote on holding Joe Biden accountable,” she tweeted on Tuesday evening. The far-right Colorado rep has said she wants to impeach Mr Biden because of his “dereliction of duty” at the southern border. Read More AOC implores Greene and Boebert to not waste time with Biden impeachment: ‘We should actually be working’ Exclusive: Marjorie Taylor Greene names her price for McCarthy – impeach Joe Biden Boebert’s latest attempt to impeach Biden had Republicans ‘rolling eyes’, says Democrat AOC implores Greene and Boebert to not waste time with Biden impeachment Marjorie Taylor Greene names her price for McCarthy: Impeach Joe Biden Boebert’s latest attempt to impeach Biden had Republicans ‘rolling eyes’

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by journalists and open government advocates who sought to require her office to respond to public record requests, and a state panel agreed Wednesday to pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees. Reynolds settled the lawsuit about two months after the Iowa Supreme Court refused to dismiss the case filed by two media organizations and a nonprofit advocacy group. The court unanimously rejected the governor's argument that her office wasn't required to respond in a timely manner to record requests and that she could bypass the state's open records law by simply ignoring the requests. The organizations filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming the governor had violated Iowa’s open records law by ignoring government record requests. The reporters had emailed the governor’s office with eight different open-record requests between April 2020 and April 2021 and renewed each request at least once. In each case, they received no response until filing a lawsuit in December 2021. In a statement, the governor's office acknowledged the settlement but said problems stemmed from demands during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The COVID-19 response put unprecedented demands on the governor’s team to meet the immediate needs of Iowans," Kollin Crompton, the governor's deputy communications director, said in a statement. "As a result, responses to requests were unintentionally delayed, which is not acceptable. Our office has assessed our internal processes and we continue to reevaluate the process to improve timeliness.” Earlier Wednesday, the State Appeal Board approved $135,000 to cover legal fees for the organizations, though the one Democrat on the three-member board objected. Auditor Rob Sand said state law intends that those who violate the open records law should pay fees related to the violation and a fine. The settlement, he noted, pays the fees with public money and doesn't include a fine. “These insiders have no shame," Sand said in a statement. “They abuse your rights, and then want to use your money to pay for having abused you.” The organization are the liberal-leaning Bleeding Heartland blog, Iowa Capital Dispatch and Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which focuses on open government issues. The ACLU of Iowa, which represented the organizations, said the settlement will be official later this month when the court accepts the agreement. The ACLU said the agreement also required a year of judicial oversight over the governor's office's compliance with the state open records law as well as court fees. The governor also settled separate lawsuits filed by an attorney who sued after not receiving records about COVID-19 testing contracts. The State Appeal Board approved about $40,000 to settle that case. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Multiple NBA rumors have been reported on the Mavericks seeking a win-now role player in exchange for the No. 10 pick. Now they may be working with Boston.According to Tim Cato and John Hollinger of The Athletic, the Mavericks are looking at getting Grant Williams this offseason. Williams is a p...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has apparently decided that "cis" and "cisgender" will now be considered a slur on the social media platform. "Cisgender" typically refers to individuals whose gender identity matches their birth sex. If an individual is born male and has a male gender identity then they would be considered "cisgender." The proclamation was made in the replies of James Esses, an Irish right-wing media figure, who was complaining that commenters on social media were calling him a "cissy." "Yesterday, after posting a Tweet saying that I reject the word ‘cis’ and don’t wish to be called it, I receive a slew of messages from trans activists calling me ‘cissy’ and telling me that I am ‘cis’ 'whether or not I like it,'" he wrote. "Just imagine if the roles were reversed." Mr Musk responded with an announcement that "repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions." Mr Musk then took it a step further. "The words 'cis' or 'cisgender' are considered slurs on this platform," he wrote, prompting backlash on the platform. NYT bestselling author Seth Abramson doubted that Mr Musk knows what the word means. “I’m 102.3% sure Elon has no idea what ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ mean, either connotatively or denotatively or etymologically,” he wrote. “Threatening to suspend users on your ‘free speech’ platform because they uttered a word you don’t understand but fear emasculates you is quite the fascist flex.” Joe Walsh, a conservative commentator, criticised Mr Musk from the right. “‘Cis’ & ‘cisgender’ will be considered slurs on this platform? Look, it’s his company, he can do whatever he wants, but the truth is that @elonmusk is fundamentally a dishonest person and a coward,” Mr Walsh wrote. “He says he believes in free speech, but he doesn’t really believe in free speech. He’s pushing an agenda, a right wing agenda, but he doesn’t have the balls to admit that. Elon is too afraid to be honest with his intentions. So he lies and says he’s for free speech. But you can’t say ‘cisgender.’ No, Elon is just like most everyone else. He’s pushing an agenda. He just lacks the honesty & the courage to admit it.” It’s not the first time Mr Musk has expressed his disdain for language relating to gender identity. Last July he tweeted that “pronouns suck” — suggesting he either dislikes gender identity or just the English language in general — and later that year insisted that he was not transpohobic. “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare,” Mr Musk, creator of the Cybertruck, argued. However, in defending his dislike of “cis” and “cisgender,” Mr Musk leaned on a decades old bigoted ideas that LGBT communities and ideas are deeply infected with pedophilia. “The contemptible creep that manufactured the term ‘cis’ has serious problems. Ignore him,” Mr Musk wrote, referencing a right-wing conspiracy theory that the term “cisgender” was coined by a paedophile doctor in the 1990s. However, cis— with “cis” being the Latin opposite to “trans” — has been used as a dichotomic descriptor since at least the early 20th century. Read More Musk vows to bring Tesla to India ‘as soon as possible’ after meeting Modi Elon Musk stays mum on Titanic submarine disappearance despite Starlink connection Elon Musk and Joe Rogan challenge Covid vaccine scientist to ‘debate’ anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr Elon Musk stays mum on Titanic submarine disappearance despite Starlink connection India’s Modi to meet Elon Musk during US state visit Vaccine scientist hounded by conspiracists after Joe Rogan targeted him on Twitter

Authorities in Idaho have revealed an alleged quadruple murderer opened fire on his victims after one of them exposed himself to the suspect’s daughters. Majorjon Kaylor, 31, has been charged with the killings of Kenneth Guardipee, 65, his daughter Kenna 41, and her sons 18-year-old Devin Smith and 16-year-old Aiken Smith on Sunday. The victims lived below the suspect and his family in a duplex at 515 W Brown Ave in Kellogg. The carnage last week shocked the community of Kellogg, with court documents shedding some light on the circumstances surrounding the shooting. According to an affidavit unsealed on Tuesday, Mr Kaylor reportedly told law enforcement that he “snapped” and “lost it” during an argument with his neighbours. Mr Kaylor and his wife, Kaylie Kaylor, told police that they were upset because several days earlier, Devin had allegedly masturbated in front of his bedroom window in full view of the Kaylors’ young daughters. The families shared a duplex, and the girls were playing outside in the yard when the exposure allegedly occurred. The incident was reported to the police, and the report was forwarded to the county prosecutor so a criminal charge of indecent exposure could be filed. But on Sunday evening, the Kaylors had an argument with the Guardipees over how the allegations were being handled. Police arrived at the house after reports of a shooting at around 7.20pm on Sunday. Mr Guardipee, his daughter and youngest grandson were found shot in the temple at close range, while Devin was shot multiple times in the head. Kaylor is being held without bond and has not yet entered a plea. A preliminary hearing has been set for 3 July. This is a developing story ... check again for updates.

Ukraine’s biggest telecom operator pledged to boost spending by a third to rebuild systems destroyed by Russian forces,

It’s been 10 months since the name Harmony Montgomery first hit headlines across the US when a missing persons investigation was launched to find the seven-year-old girl. Since then, her father and stepmother have both been arrested and charged. A home where she used to live in Manchester, New Hampshire, has been searched for days on end. And a reward for information leading to her discovery has topped $150,000. But, despite the national attention and the painstaking efforts to find the missing child, who is blind in one eye, investigators made little headway. In a press conference in mid-January, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg admitted he was a “little discouraged”. Though concerning, the lack of progress was perhaps unsurprising as whoever had information about what happened to the little girl had a more than two-year head start on investigators. Manchester Police said Harmony has not been seen since around October or November 2019 when she was five years old. Yet, a missing persons investigation was only launched in December 2021. However, on Monday a definitive move was finally made on the case, possibly bringing the years-long investigation closer to a close; Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, was charged with murdering his daughter. When was Harmony Montgomery last seen? The last confirmed sighting of Harmony by law enforcement was on 11 September 2019 when Manchester police officers were called to the home on 77 Gilford Street in Manchester where she lived. Harmony was living with her father Adam Montgomery, who had been given custody of his daughter in February 2019, as well as his wife Kayla Montgomery and their children at the property at the time. The little girl had been in and out of foster care for much of her life. Then, in 2018, her mother Crystal Sorey lost custody of her due in part to substance abuse. Ms Sorey lived in Massachusetts so the child was moved to New Hampshire where Mr Montgomery lived. Chief Aldenberg previously said the last police callout to the property was in October 2019 but confirmed he had muddled the dates in a press briefing on 12 January. Despite the date change, the police chief said investigators are still working to the belief that Harmony was last seen in October or November of that year. This timeline appears to be based on police interviews and statements from various family members. Ms Sorey told police she had not been able to contact her since they spoke on a video call in April 2019. After that, she said Mr Montgomery cut off all contact between her and her daughter. Mr Montgomery claimed to investigators he last saw his daughter around Thanksgiving 2019, claiming that Ms Sorey had picked her up from Manchester to take her to live with her. The criminal complaint says that Mr Montgomery claimed to believe his daughter was living with his ex and did “not show much emotion or reaction” when officers said they were concerned whether Harmony was alive when they contacted him in December. His story was also contradicted by Ms Montgomery’s account, who said she last saw Harmony the day after Thanksgiving when her husband said he was driving her to see Ms Sorey. Mr Montgomery’s uncle Kevin Montgomery told investigators he has not seen Harmony or his nephew since late 2019 when she was five years old. Who has been charged? On Monday, Harmony’s father, Adam, was charged with murdering his daughter. Attorney General John Formella made the announcement Monday at the Manchester Police Department. “Earlier this morning, Adam Montgomery was arrested for the murder of Harmony Montgomery in 2019 and other related charges,” Mr Formella said. According to Mr Formella, Mr Montgomery is facing four new charges in addition to others brought against him in early 2022. Those charges are one count of second-degree murder for recklessly causing the death of Harmony; falsifying physical evidence for altering, destroying, concealing or removing the girl’s body; abuse of a corpse for unlawfully removing, concealing or destroying Harmony’s body; and tampering with witnesses or informants, which he allegedly did by attempting to coerce his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, to lie to investigators. “I do want to again express my deepest sympathies to Harmony’s family, friends and loved ones,” Mr Formella said at the news conference in Manchester. “We understand that today’s news, while significant for purposes of this investigation, is yet another difficult moment for those who loved Harmony and those who have followed this case.” The charges accuse Mr Montgomery of repeatedly striking Harmony with his fist sometime around 7 December, 2021. His arraignment is scheduled for 25 October, according to the Department of Justice. In early January, Harmony’s father and his wife were both arrested and charged on counts related to the missing child. Mr Montgomery was arrested on 4 January and charged with second-degree felony assault, two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and one misdemeanor count of interference with custody. On the assault charge, he is accused of “striking [Harmony] in the face” sometime in July 2019, giving her a black eye, according to the criminal complaint. Police interviews with other family members revealed Mr Montgomery was allegedly abusive toward his daughter, including giving her a black eye, forcing her to clean the toilet with her own toothbrush and making her stand in a corner for hours as a punishment. Mr Montgomery’s brother Michael Montgomery told investigators he “had concerns that Adam was physically abusive” to the child and was “super short” with her. Kevin Montgomery said he noticed Harmony had a black eye in July 2019, which his nephew confessed to causing by hitting her in the face, according to the criminal complaint. “I bashed her around this house,” he said his nephew told him. Kevin said he contacted DCYF that time and had also noticed Mr Montgomery subject Harmony to other forms of “abusive discipline” including scrubbing a toilet with her toothbrush and her being “spanked hard on the butt”. Officials said Mr Montgomery was not cooperating with the investigation into his daughter’s disappearance and has refused to say where she is. The day after her husband’s arrest, Ms Montgomery was arrested on one felony charge of welfare fraud for allegedly fraudulently collecting welfare benefits for the missing child between December 2019 and June 2021. Ms Montgomery, who has three children with her husband, is accused of fraudulently obtaining $1,500 in food stamp benefits meant for Harmony between December 2019 and June 2021 even though the girl was not living with them. Prosecutors have now dropped that welfare fraud charge and added three new charges - one count of theft by deception and two misdemeanor charges of welfare fraud. The charges accuse Ms Montgomery of making intentional false statements about her stepdaughter’s whereabouts in February and March 2021 in order to claim benefits. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Mr Montgomery has a history of violence and a long criminal record including convictions for shooting a man in the head in a drug deal just six months before Harmony was born. He was also convicted in 2010 for attacking two women at gunpoint. It has also emerged that Mr Montgomery is a suspect in the cold case murder of a 28-year-old man in Lynn, New Hampshire, back in February 2008. Darlin Guzman was found shot in the chest in the parking lot of the former White Hen Convenience store in Lynn’s Austin Square on the night of 10 February 2008. He was pronounced dead in hospital. A law enforcement source told Boston 25 Newsthat Mr Montgomery, who was 18 at the time, and two members of his family, who were not named, have been the focus of the murder investigation since day one. The three family members had been in contact with the victim earlier that day and planned to meet with him at the convenience store, before the meeting culminated in gunfire, according to the source. The victim’s car was later found abandoned in the direction of Bedford, New Hampshire, where Mr Montgomery lived at the time. No one has ever been charged with the Mr Guzman’s murder but the source said Mr Montgomery remains the focus of the investigation to this day. Almost 14 years on from that killing, Mr Montgomery and his wife are now charged on counts related to his missing daughter, including, in her father’s case, her murder. Why was she not reported missing for two years? Questions arose over how a little girl could not be seen for more than two years without any action being taken by authorities. Multiple family members have said they raised concerns for Harmony’s safety with New Hampshire’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) over the last two years. Ms Sorey accused the authorities of “failing” her daughter. She said she made multiple attempts to report concerns to child services. On November 18 she contacted Manchester Police saying she believed her daughter was missing. Police officers contacted the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) about the location of the missing child. Then, on 27 December, the DCYF reported that it was also unable to locate Harmony. Manchester Police announced a search was launched on 31 December. Ms Sorey was so conviced that her daughter was in trouble that she sent emails to the Manchester mayor’s office, begging for help in finding the girl. “Please, I’m begging for help in finding my daughter,” she wrote on 29 December. Ms Sorey said Mr Montgomery had never enrolled their daughter in school and that she has missed “important doctor’s appointments she’s had since a baby due to a disability in her eye”. The emails were sent just two days before police finally reported Harmony missing. As well as the repeated attempts to raise the alarm, the family was well-known to child services. Records released on 12 January showed that police officers were called to the Gilford Street home at least 10 times between February 2019 - when Mr Montgomery got custody of Harmony - and when she was last seen in the fall. Reports ranged from claims of domestic disturbances to animal welfare and concerns about the living conditions in the home. The DCYF was notified about some of the incidents. A neighbour told The Independent that it was a “bad situation” at the property, describing lots of people living there at different times, adults seen arguing in the street, junk left piled up in the yard, and the electricity being switched off at one point. “We didn’t intermingle with them as it was a bad situation,” she said. “There was lots of different people living there, piles of junk in the driveway, junk outside. “The electricity was turned off and they ran the generator all summer with the wiring running through the window.” The neighbour said the Montgomerys were “basically squatting” at the home when it had fallen into foreclosure and Mr and Ms Montgomery were refusing to leave. She said she went away for the Thanksgiving holidays in 2019 and returned to find the family had finally packed up and moved out. This coincides with when Mr and Ms Montgomery claimed they last saw the little girl. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu announced on 12 January that the DCYF is carrying out an internal review of its handling of Harmony’s case. However, the governor defended the state’s work saying: “As soon as we found out that this child may not have been showing up for school for quite some time, it was reported up to us. “The team got right on it. It wasn’t a delay. It didn’t sit in a file on somebody’s desk.” An independent investigation was also launched by the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate after Harmony was moved from Massachusetts into the custody of Mr Montgomery in New Hampshire in February 2019. Officials in New Hampshire and Massachusetts passed the blame between each other. The New Hampshire governor sent a letter to Massachusetts court officials slamming a judge for placing Harmony in the care of her “monster” father, given his violent past and long rap sheet. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker responded to the criticism saying he “felt his pain” but said he wants to wait to see the results of the independent review by the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate. The report, released in May, found placed the blame on state agencies failing to consider Harmony’s needs above her parent’s rights to her custody. “The central and most important finding in this investigation and report is that Harmony’s individual needs, wellbeing, and safety were not prioritized or considered on an equal footing with the assertion of her parents’ rights to care for her in any aspect of the decision making by any state entity,” Maria Mossaides, Director, Office of the Child Advocate, said in the report. “When children are not at the center of every aspect of the child protection system, then the system cannot truly protect them. This report describes the ripple effect of miscalculations of risk and an unequal weight placed on parents’ rights versus a child’s wellbeing.” Mr Baker responded to the report a day later by saying “everybody failed in this case,” and pushed a bill that included $50 million to recruit, train and pay guardian ad litems within the Massachusetts court system. “There are a lot of lawyers who are in the room on this case, and none of them at the end of the day had just Harmony Montgomery’s interest as a primary concern,” Mr Baker said. Where is Harmony? Investigators have revealed little detail about what they think may have happened to Harmony. The girl’s remains have still not been found. The Gilford Street property was the focus of much of the search with investigators seen in the home and the backyard for multiple days. However, Manchester Police said the search concluded there. It is not clear if anything of interest was uncovered and no other locations for searches have been identified. Around 300 tips have been received from the public so far and the reward for information about Harmony’s disappearance has topped $150,000. Anyone with information is asked to call or text 603-203-606 Read More Harmony Montgomery last seen one month before first thought as police chief says ‘somebody knows something’ Stepmother faces new charges in case of missing girl Harmony Montgomery Harmony Montgomery’s mother says daughter was ‘failed by everybody’ as police search home Harmony Montgomery neighbour says family moved on Thanksgiving 2019 – the same time dad says he last saw missing child