UPDATE: Three people found guilty of setting fatal fire sentenced

This UPDATES the original article HERE

10-27-16 New York:

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — It began almost a year and a half ago when Troy fire and police found the Second Avenue apartment up in flames, but it ended in court on Thursday.

All three suspects were sentenced on Thursday for setting the fire and for causing the death of 82-year-old Grace Halpin.

“It was 3:20 a.m., the cops showed up at the door,” Halpin’s daughter read.

The daughter of Halpin trembled as she read her victim impact statement.

Her mother was killed in the Lansingburgh arson in May 2015.

“When my dad died when I was younger, I promised her that I would take care of her,” Halpin’s daughter read. “I felt like looking after her was my responsibility and I hadn’t been able to protect her from the crime that was committed that ultimately took her life.”

Two men sentenced to prison for 2013 murder

6-22-2015 New York:

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Two Albany men will spend at least 25 years in prison for a brutal 2013 murder.

Authorities said it was a revenge killing. The killers thought they were taking down a rapist but instead killed an innocent man.

Sylvester “Soup” Scott was shot and killed on Grand Street in December 2013 just days before Christmas. Russel Palmer and his nephew Kareem Murray were found guilty of the crime.

In court on Monday, Scott’s family members said Scott was a good guy and a dedicated father whose mission in life was to help out kids as a mentor and basketball coach. So it came as a huge shock to those who knew him that he was shot dead.

Albany police said Palmer and Murray believed Scott had raped Murray’s girlfriend, and they planned to hunt him down. But prosecutors said Palmer and his nephew got it wrong when they pegged Scott as the rapist.

Winston Co Sheriff: 2 of 4 people found dead were charged with child porn in Tennessee

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10-3-2013 Alabama:

WINSTON COUNTY, AL (WBRC) - The Winston County Sheriff saysthat two of the four people found dead in a vehicle near Double Springs were have been charged with child pornography and molestation-related crimes in Tennessee.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that four people who were found dead on Wednesday night near Double Springs were part of a murder/suicide.

Sheriff Rick Harris tells FOX6 News that those persons were set to go to trial Wednesday in Tennessee. Authorities now believe they were on the run and that these people have family in Empire (Walker County) and Hamilton (Marion County).

A forensics team has been on the case since late Wednesday evening. Harris says they are examining the vehicle in which the four bodies were found. At this time, is appears that all of the violence happened inside the vehicle, not outside.

Autopsies of the four bodies will be completed Thursday night in Huntsville.

Harris says the four bodies were found inside a vehicle off of County Road 327 Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, he said that the bodies have all been identified and their names will be released as soon as family members are notified.

According to Sheriff Harris, the four victims were three men and one woman, all from Tennessee. Their ages range from 25 to 50-something and the victims knew each other. Authorities in Tennessee are contacting family members of the victims to get more information and try to determine a motive.

Coroner releases identities of bodies found in East Side apartment

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5-20-2013 Indiana:

EVANSVILLE — A man and woman whose bodies were found in their northern Vanderburgh County apartment Monday afternoon were identified Wednesday by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as Holly L. Usrey, 56, and Thomas H. Zinni, 65.

Usrey died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Coroner Annie Groves, and her death is listed as being a homicide. Zinni died from a self-inflicted wound, Groves said.

The couple were found Monday in their apartment by a maintenance employee of the Delaware Trace Apartments, however, their date of death is listed as May 20.

Groves said they coroner’s office has not been able to find next of kin for Usrey. Anyone with information is asked to call the coroner’s office at 812-435-5746. ..Source.. by Courier Press

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Man in murder-suicide case was subject of child molestation investigation

Evansville Police have released new information about the bodies found in a Vanderburgh County Apartment complex.

They say based on the causes of death for the two people found in the apartment on June 3rd, the case has been classified as a murder-suicide.

Investigators say that Thomas Zinni killed Holly Usrey and then killed himself.

The department has also released that at time of the deaths, Thomas Zinni was being investigated for child molesting.

Zinni had been interviewed by a sex crimes detective a week before the deaths.

Detectives were preparing a case file in an effort to get an arrest warrant based on information gathered during the investigation.

Both investigations will be closed due to the suspect in both cases being deceased. ..Source.. by Brad Conaway

Cops: Slain teen was to testify against man found dead with her

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10-29-2010 Michigan:

He had been charged with sexual assault against her

Taylor Manley was found in a minivan with Raymond Bush, 38. The teen was supposed to testify against him Wednesday morning in trial for allegedly sexually assaulting her, but she disappeared before that happened, police and prosecutors say.

Bush died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Taylor's father told the Free Press earlier he believes his daughter wouldn’t have committed suicide. She was afraid of Bush, he said.

Robert Manley said Bush had threatened her against testifying.

The bodies of the two were found in Bush’s minivan parked in St. Charles Cemetery, on North Dixie Highway in Newport, according to State Police.

Autopsies are scheduled for today by the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The 15-year-old moved in with her father two weeks ago because of the ongoing sexual assault case, Robert Manley said. He said it was time for her to be a kid again and added he was “trying to take her away, trying to hide her, so this kind of thing wouldn’t happen.”

He said he doesn’t think his daughter left willingly with the 38-year-old and said she didn’t seem to have a problem with testifying against Bush, who police said had a tattoo on the back of his neck with Taylor’s name.

Robert Manley came home Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. after working an overnight shift and said he knew something was wrong because his daughter wasn’t there. She was scheduled to testify at 10:30 a.m and wasn’t supposed to go to school for that reason, he said.

Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said Bush never showed in 80th District Court in Harrison on Wednesday to face a charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge from Aug. 22 for an alleged sexual relationship with Taylor.

Because of fears he might stop her from attending that hearing, an Amber Alert was issued Wednesday when she went missing, Michigan State Police Sgt. Joe Cairnduff said

'Incestuous' Sex Images Found on Josh Powell's Computer Before Murder-Suicide

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2-10-2012 Washington:

(NewsCore) - Images depicting incestuous sex between a parent and child were found on Josh Powell's computer and handed over to Washington investigators just days before he brutally murdered his two children and then killed himself.

The material stored on the computer was deemed to be so disturbing that one psychologist working on the Powell's custody case recommended that the court prevent the children from being returned to their father, KING 5 reported late Thursday, citing Thomas Shapley of Washington's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

The images included very realistic "lifelike" simulations of incestuous sex acts, Pierce County officers said, and may have prompted a judge to order that Josh Powell undergo a psychosexual evaluation, according to the report.

Police in West Valley, Utah, discovered the documents and sent them to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department under a restrictive court order Feb. 1.

2 Killed in Gulfport, Suspected Shooter Found Dead

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10-11-2011 Mississippi:

GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Police in Gulfport are investigating a double murder-suicide.

Gulfport Police say the crime happened on Monday around 1pm at a home on Kent Ave.

The victims have been identified as a minister's wife 45-year-old Karen Ferguson, and her son 21-year-old Trevor Cole, who has cerebral palsy. Both were found shot to death inside their home.

The alleged shooter, 70-year-old Paul Buckman, was found dead inside an apartment at Creekwood North Apartments on Oneal Road just blocks away. Police say Buckman died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators say Karen Ferguson is the wife of Minister Les Ferguson who works at the Orange Grove Church of Christ. Police say Buckman previously attended their church, but was accused of molesting their disabled son Trevor. Buckman was sent to jail, but bonded out a few days later.

Investigators say the couple's 5 year-old son was also home when the suspect entered the house, but Mrs. Ferguson told the child to run. The child was able to escape to a neighbors house. The neighbor called police.

Police are still investigating the case. News 5 will bring you more details as they are released on wkrg.com and News 5 at 5pm and 6pm. ..Source.. by WKRG Staff

Report clears Fond du Lac officers

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3-20-2011 Wisconsin:

Fond du Lac - The Fond du Lac County prosecutor says Officers were justified in defending themselves and firing at a gunman who had shot and killed a police officer in March, the Fond du Lac County district attorney's office ruled Monday.

A report issued by the DA's office says the gunman, James Cruckson, 30, sexually assaulted his girlfriend and refused to return her 6-year-old daughter. Several police officers responded. The report says Cruckson shot and wounded one officer who entered the home, and he riddled another officer's squad car with bullets.

As a third officer ran to investigate the sounds of gunfire, Cruckson shot him twice and killed him. One shot hit Officer Craig Birkholz, 28, in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and the second hit the top of the vest with fragments entering his torso.

Police: Killer accused man of molestation, gunned him down

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1-26-2012 Washington:

A Des Moines man accused of killing a man after accusing him of molesting children has been charged with murder.

King County prosecutors contend Denzil R. Moore shot Thomas R. Humphries at point-blank range during an argument inside Moore’s pickup truck on Jan. 10. The Des Moines man and a purported accomplice are alleged to have then dumped Humphries’ body at a vacant house in Auburn, where it lay undiscovered for days.

“Moore effectively executed a man,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz told the court. Moore, 41, has threatened to kill others who know the details of the killing and is believed to have a list of people to kill, the prosecutor added.

A review of court records showed Humphries has not been arrested for or convicted of sex crimes in Washington. He was not listed on the county sex offender registry.

Man killed while trying to stop rape

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In essence, the offender (Lema) shot and killed an innocent person (Zephyrine).

2-28-2012 Georgia:

POOLER, GA (WTOC) - A man is dead and one of his co-workers is being charged in connection with his death.

Police said that on Friday afternoon, inside the OA Logistics warehouse on Clyde Alexander Way, Christopher Lema, 23, fatally shot 28-year-old Nickifor Zephyrine.

According to the police report, Lema was trying to rape a female employee when Zephyrine interceded, causing Lema to shoot him.

A former employee of OA Logistics, who doesn't want to be identified, said that according to another source: "[Zephyrine] was trying to get [Lema] off the girl and [Lema] turned around and punched [Zephyrine] in the eye and [Lema] just pulled a gun out and shot [Zephyrine] in the head."

Updates On The Jefferson County Courthouse Shooting; One Dead

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3-14-2012 Texas:

At least one person is dead and several people injured in a shooting outside a courthouse in Beaumont. Latest update 2:23 p.m.

Authorities say a man involved in a court case opened fire outside the courthouse during a break in the case, killing a female relative and injuring at least two others.

The suspect then drove away and was arrested nearby.

One of the victims was shot and run over by the suspect as he fled the scene.

The suspect is being treated at a Beaumont hospital and may have been shot during his capture. The shootings took place outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Beaumont. Beaumont is about 90 miles east of Houston.

Killings of 2 men based on 'total bogus lie,' Sacramento prosecutor tells jury

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4-13-2011 California:

Priscilla Ramirez did have a bruise on her eye, police and prosecutors said, and she did cry with conviction when she called her cousin on the phone and asked him to pick her up near Florin Road.

She told Philip Perez Gonzales Jr. and his pal, Michael Lee Armstrong, that her boyfriend had raped her and beat her, according to authorities.

Now she wanted Gonzales and Armstrong to deliver a little payback, they said, and she got in the car and took them to her boyfriend's place at the Seavey Circle housing project.

There was one big problem with Ramirez's rape story.

It was "a complete and total bogus lie," Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall told a Sacramento Superior Court jury Tuesday.

Kindall's comment came in his closing argument in the Gonzales-Armstrong murder trial.

Desert Hot Springs man sentenced to life in prison in rape rumor case

8-15-2011 California:

A Desert Hot Springs man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday for gunning down a friend over what turned out to be a false rape rumor.

Concepcion Rodriguez, 35, was convicted April 28 of the 2006 killing of Anastacio “Taquito” Torres, with a special circumstance allegation of murder in the commission of a kidnapping.

Co-defendant Mingus Chavarria, 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in May to 15 years to life in prison.

Several of the victim's family members were on hand for Rodriguez's sentencing at Larson Justice Center in Indio.

“On behalf of my family, I want to thank the court for bringing us justice,” said Ernest Torres Jr., the victim's brother. “And we pray to God he has mercy on Mr. Rodriguez. We pray he finds the Lord in prison.”

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Erwood denied defense attorney Demitra Tolbert's new trial and acquittal motions, and a request that Rodriguez not be required to pay restitution to the victim's family.

Inmate charged with murder

6-30-2011 Indiana:

Joseph Brown confessed to killing Charles Miller, documents say

Bunker Hill — Joseph W. Brown drank a cup of coffee and packed his personal belongings after killing his cellmate on June 19 at the Miami County Correctional Facility, according to court documents.

Brown, 56, has been charged with murder and criminal confinement in the strangulation death of Charles Miller, 62, Center.

Brown is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Miami County Prosecutor Bruce Embrey said Wednesday.

Brown has been transferred from the Miami Correctional Facility to the Westville Correctional Facility. Embrey said Wednesday he has 60 days to decide if he will seek the death penalty.

“I will review the evidence before making a decision,” he said.

Possible motive released in Albany landlord-tenant homicide

7-3-2011 Oregon:

Possible motive released in Albany landlord-tenant homicide

ALBANY, Ore. (KMTR) -- New information and a possible motive has been released in an Albany homicide, as the female suspect in the case makes her first appearance in court on Thursday.

35-year-old Melissa Amber Haley of Albany is charged with murder in the shooting death of 49-year-old Derrick Miller of Albany. Haley was arraigned on the charge Thursday, June 30th, 2011.

Albany Police say Miller and Haley lived in the same house. Miller was Haley’s landlord. Police say Haley admitted to shooting Miller just before noon on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011.

According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, at least four people lived in the home where the shooting happened, on the 600 block of Montgomery Street in southeast Albany.

In the affidavit, Albany Police say Haley rented two rooms in the home, one for herself and one for her 12-year-old child, starting in December 2010. Police say Miller and his wife also lived in the home.

Man kills girlfriend, self

Folks may remember the recent British report which shows a link between, people involved with the criminal justice system and suicide. Well here is an example of such a case, and where there is also a "Other Death," the innocent girlfriend of the person accused of a sex offense.

2-14-2011 Indiana:

Local man was facing felony child molestation charges

CHESTERFIELD, Ind. — A local man who shot his girlfriend before killing himself at her Chesterfield home Sunday morning was facing charges for child molestation, police said Sunday.

At 6:39 a.m. Sunday, police responded to reports of a shooting at 419 Vassbinder Drive in Chesterfield.

Inside the home, police found the body of 36-year-old Aaron L. Wagers, who had been living at the location with his girlfriend, Megan Rider, 25.

Police also found Rider in critical condition at the home. She’d been shot, and was rushed to Saint John’s Hospital where she died at 7:30 a.m.

Liberty killings prove puzzling

2-26-2010 Ohio:

WARREN — One of the five Youngstown residents charged in the aggravated murder of Liberty residents Wilneice L. Green, 28, and her 13-year-old daughter, Ja-Brajasia, told his girlfriend that Melvin L. Turner, 36, of Maryland shot and killed Green — but he didn’t know why.

Marquese J. Floyd, 25, of Atkinson Avenue, told his girlfriend he was part of a group of five that went to Green’s house on Northgate Drive in Liberty on Nov. 15, 2009, but “it wasn’t supposed to go down that way and that he didn’t know why [Turner] had killed Wilneice and Ja-Brajasia,” according to an affidavit submitted Thursday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

James M. Christian, 20, another of the five, told police they went to the Green residence, just north of Northside Medical Center, to kill a male acquaintance of Wilneice Green. That acquaintance had been accused earlier Nov. 15 at the Liberty Police Department of having sexual contact with a child, the affidavit said.

Liberty Police Chief Richard Tisone has said Ja-Brajasia and her mother were “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and were not the intended targets of the crime.

CT- Son accused of killing mother, burning house waives hearing

Here we have something unusual although its happened now twice in the past month or so, someone attempts to justify murder saying "I was sexually abused by them as a child." We regularly see politicians use sex offenders to further political goals, businesses do the same to further income, and now we see "unproveable sex offenses" to justify serious crimes. True, I don't know, but how long will society allow sex offenses and offenders to be used to justify everything under the sun?

3-4-2009 Connecticut:

Carson J. Mueller, who is accused of fatally strangling his mother and blowing up her house in Griswold a week later while trying to kill himself has waived his right to a probable cause hearing.

Mueller, 34, is charged with first-degree arson and murder. He allegedly strangled Denise Mueller, 69, and hid her body under leaves in Pachaug State Forest. A week later, on Jan. 5, he told police he was attempting to commit suicide when he doused his mother’s house at 74 Richardson Hill Road with gas and lit a match. The explosion blew him through a second-floor wall and onto the lawn.

As a murder defendant, Mueller had a right to a hearing in which the state introduces testimony and other information in an effort to convince a judge that there is enough evidence to prosecute the case. Mueller, standing with attorney Peter E. Scillieri in New London Superior Court this morning, told the judge he was waiving the hearing.

Mueller’s father, Ned Mueller, came to Connecticut from Washington State this week to visit with his son and grandchildren. On Wednesday, Mr. Mueller met with the son’s attorney at the courthouse to discuss the case, then waited in the hallway while Mueller stood before the judge. He said he has been staying at the local hotel where his ex-wife, to whom he was married for 23 years, worked. Upon learning of the crime, he told The Day that his son could not break away from Denise and that he had continued to live with her for financial reasons.

Mueller, who has two young daughters, left a suicide note in his mother’s mailbox. When he survived the explosion, he left the property in his car, only to call police a short time later from a Franklin gas station to say he had been in a car accident. Mueller told police he killed his mother “because he had suffered years of sexual and physical abuse from her” and he feared his two children would suffer a similar fate.

He is being held at the Garner Correctional Institution on a medical and suicide watch. He told Judge Susan B. Handy this morning that he would like to remain in protective custody at the prison rather than being housed in general population. The judge said put his request on the record, though she has no say over where the Department of Correction houses inmates.

Mueller’s next court appearance is April 3. ..News Source.. by Karen Florin

Man found dead with former Harrison girl faced sex charge in Clare County

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10-28-2010 Michigan:

A 15-year-old Clare County girl was remembered Thursday as a kind, caring girl who was in Mid Michigan Community College’s Students of Promise program before moving to Osceola County a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Newport man accused of killing Taylor E. Manley before killing himself Wednesday was out of jail on bond after being charged with having sex with the girl in July.

Christy McKinney of Clare said Manley was a friend of her son’s and often spent time at their home.

“She was a great kid,” McKinney said. “She was a very sweet girl.”

Tammy Alvaro, MMCC’s Students of Promise coordinator, said Manley was well known among students and that she was a sweet girl.

Alvaro saw Manley at MMCC’s Fall Festival and Barbecue recently and spoke to her about her plans for college in a few years, offering to help her in any way she could.

Man Killed In Retaliation After Sex Assault Alleged

11-22-2010 Texas:

Shawn Phillips Is Accused Of Killing Mark Gabler

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio police said a man accused of killing another man in retaliation for an alleged sexual assault of one of his family members while they were all living together was arrested over the weekend.

Police said 32-year-old Shawn Phillips is charged with murder in connection with the killing of 33-year-old Mark Gabler.

According to the arrest affidavit, Phillips was upset over an alleged sexual assault and told a woman that was "going to take care of it his way."

"Obviously, we don't want people to take matters into their own hands," said Linda Tomasini, a spokesperson with the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. "That's why we have law enforcement here."

Gabler's badly decomposed body was found on May 20 in a hayfield off of the 13400 block of Donop Road in Southeast Bexar County, the affidavit states.