The Museum of Witchcraft

The world's largest collection of witchcraft regalia

When one thinks of persecuting and burning witches, one imagines long-ago rural England or Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690s. However in England persecution of "witches" lasted well into the 1950s , at least in the form of attacks on the Museum of Witchcraft.

As a young man Cecil Williamson stayed with his uncle, the vicar of North Bovey, in Devon. It was there he met a woman accused of witchcraft and, after intervening to stop local teens from harassing her, the he and the "witch" became friends.

Williamson later is said to have been the "occult advisor" to the British secret service during the war.

Cecil went on to start the Museum of Witchcraft with his friend and occultist Gerald Gardner, but during its early years the museum faced some harsh persecution as well as problems from within. Eventually, Gardner and Williamson had a falling out, resulting in the museum being split into two entities.

Williamson's new Museum of Witchcraft was forced to move three times due to vandalism and pressure from the locals in the towns. In Bourton-on-the-Water dead cats were strung up outside the museum and the museum was set on fire, a kind of modern day witch burning.

Finally, Williamson settled the museum in the picturesque fishing port of Boscastle where it remains today.

Williamson died in 1990 leaving the museum in the hands of Graham King, who organized a burial for the skeleton (which was in the museums collection) of accused witch Joan Wytte, which had been on display in the museum for many years.

Today the museum has a very large collection of Occult and Witch related history and artifacts and among the exhibits are "Images of Witchcraft," "Devil Worship and Satanism," "The Hare and Shape Shifting" and appropriately an exhibition on "Persecution of Witches."

From: http://atlasobscura.com/place/the-museum-of-witchcraft-boscastle-cornwall

Man Dies Of Caffeine Overdose

Updated: Friday, 29 Oct 2010, 11:42 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 29 Oct 2010, 9:43 AM EDT

By NewsCore

A British man died after poisoning himself with two spoonfuls of caffeine powder bought over the internet, local media reported Friday.

Michael Lee Bedford, 23, from Mansfield, central England, was at a party in April when he swallowed caffeine powder that a friend bought online for £3.29 ($5.26), Nottingham Coroner’s Court heard Thursday.

He washed the powder down with an energy drink, and around 15 minutes later began sweating and vomiting blood. He later died at King’s Mill Hospital in Nottinghamshire, central England, the Nottingham Post reported.

The court heard that Bedford ignored the product's recommendation to take no more than one sixteenth of a teaspoon and instead took two spoonfuls of the powder -- ingesting a level of caffeine 70 times more than is usually found in a high-energy drink.

Speaking outside the court, Bedford’s aunt Sue Burton said, "I think there should be a warning on it saying it can kill."

Nottingham Coroner Dr. Nigel Chapman said, "Caffeine is so freely available on the internet for £3.29, but it's so lethal if taken in the wrong dose, and here we see the consequence. So many people are upset and distraught by the death of Michael."

He also criticized the product, which was not named in the inquest, for recommending such a small dosage, which could be easily ignored. "Who would take [one sixteenth of a teaspoon]? It's such a small dosage -- the warning is so small on the front of it," Chapman said. "If you're sharing a bag, carrying it around, and if you hadn't seen the warning -- it could be that anyone at the party could have taken it. It's so dangerous to take something like this."

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.

From: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/health/man-dies-of-caffeine-overdose-ncxdc-102910

Oxfordshire woman jailed for drowning eight cats

29 October 2010 Last updated at 16:31 GMT

An Oxfordshire woman who admitted drowning eight cats in a bath has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Julie Carter, 43, of Bicester, told RSPCA staff she could not afford a phone call to have the cats rescued so killed them one by one over a week.

The cats were all aged between one and three years old. Another three were later rehomed.

Carter told Banbury magistrates she had killed the cats because housing officials had told her to remove them.

The RSPCA said that when an inspector later visited her property, she had initially lied, saying the animals had been put to sleep by a vet.

'No choice'
She later confessed, saying she had not had enough money to contact any animal charities, and had drowned the pets in a baby bath instead.

She told the inspector "she felt she did not have any other choice," the RSPCA said.

Carter, of Herald Way, who had admitted a charge of causing unnecessary suffering at an earlier hearing, was also banned from keeping animals for life.

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Doug Davidson said: "The callous and brutal drowning of her eight pet cats is not acceptable in the 21st Century.

"She did not even attempt to seek help to rehome the animals, and instead caused them unnecessary suffering by drowning them."

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-11653149

Rochdale man jailed after letterbox urine row killing

29 October 2010 Last updated at 13:14 GMT

A householder who stabbed another man to death after catching him urinating through his letterbox has been jailed for five years.

Anthony Kershaw, 25, died a day after being attacked at the home of Michael Williams in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in April.

Williams "flipped" after a previous attack at his home on the Smallbridge estate, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 53-year-old, described as a "good neighbour", admitted manslaughter.

The court heard that residents were too frightened to go out at night because of a gang of teenagers terrorising the estate in Rochdale.

Williams heard a bang on the front door of his ground-floor flat and went to investigate, to be greeted with the sight of urine pouring through the letterbox, he told police.

He grabbed a knife from his kitchen and, as Mr Kershaw urinated, swung open the door and stabbed him.

Williams then dialled 999 as friends of Mr Kershaw smashed his windows and threatened to "burn him alive" inside his flat.

The court heard that Williams had suffered a previous similar attack and also had his front door covered in paint.

Mr Kershaw had been drinking and smoking cannabis at a friend's flat above Williams on the night of 19 April.

The householder heard someone kicking at his front door and believed someone was trying to break-in, said Peter Wright QC, prosecuting.

Estate problems
"He went to investigate and saw someone urinating through his letterbox and, in his own words, 'just flipped'.

"He went to the kitchen, armed himself with a knife, returned to the hallway, opened the door and stabbed the figure outside the door."

Andrew O'Byrne QC, mitigating, read out a series of police and council reports involving friends of Mr Kershaw in anti-social behaviour on the estate.

Mr O'Byrne said: "The evidence is that because of the behaviour of people on that estate the lives of a great many people, otherwise thoroughly decent in their day to day dealings, were made extraordinarily difficult.

"It is difficult to imagine what it's like when there is this constant drip, drip intrusion into your quiet enjoyment of your own property."

Since being in custody, Mr O'Byrne said Williams had been assaulted after "coming to the attention of friends" of Mr Kershaw in jail and had been segregated for safety.

Mr Justice Keith, sentencing, said he had taken into account the "frightening and intimidating" nature of where Williams lived and noted the "violence, abuse and other anti-social behaviour" which he had been subjected to.

"You were responsible for his death, however drunk and high he was and however badly he was behaving that night," he added.

Mr Kershaw had a young son, Stevie-Lee, with his girlfriend Natalie.

His family reacted angrily to the sentence and walked out of court as the judge addressed them.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11653189

Man Busted For Waterboarding Girlfriend

Suspect had accused victim of “spending time with another guy”

OCTOBER 28--After accusing his girlfriend of cheating on him, a Nebraska man allegedly tied the woman to a couch in their apartment and waterboarded her, according to police.

Trevor Case, 22, has been charged with domestic assault, false imprisonment, and making terroristic threats in connection with the bizarre incident early Saturday morning at the Lincoln home he shared with the 22-year-old victim.

Police allege that Case stuffed "hospital socks" into Danielle Stallworth's mouth and bound her wrists with belts and hair ties before placing a shirt over her head and dousing it with water, according to a Lincoln Police Department report. “He poured a pitcher of water on her head, and she started freaking out and thought she wasn’t able to breathe,” cops noted.

The waterboarding practice, of course, leaves victims with the sensation that they are drowning.

"As she was trying to get up, she clawed Case on his chest," cops reported. When the couple's young daughter awoke and came into the living room, "the situation calmed down." When questioned by police, Case admitted arguing with Stallworth, but denied tying her up. He claimed that a scratch on his chest occurred while "wrestling with a friend."

An officer noted observing injuries on Stallworth's wrist, arm, and thigh, all of which were photographed.

Case, pictured in the above mug shot, is being held on $150,000 bond at the Lancaster County jail. The police report reveals that Case was convicted last November of domestic assault against Stallworth, with whom he has been involved in a relationship for about five years.

From: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/man-busted-waterboarding-girlfriend

Two teenage boys used texting, online chats to plot brutal assault, murder of Kimberly Proctor

The 16-year-old “had dreamed about killing someone ever since he was young"

By Louise Dickson, timescolonist.com October 28, 2010

Editor’s note:

The discovery of 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor’s charred body on the Galloping Goose Trail on March 19 shocked this community. The details of her murder are even more horrifying.

In our coverage of today’s guilty plea we have left out some of the most graphic details out of respect for Proctor and her family. However, we believe it is important that the true nature of this crime is revealed to understand how and why the youths involved have been tried and will be sentenced.

Throughout our coverage, we refer to the young men involved as “the 16-year-old” and “the 18-year-old” because their identities are shielded under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Two teenagers pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor, whose badly burned body was found under a bridge on the Galloping Goose Trail in March, admitting in chilling detail to planning and executing her rape and murder.

Under tight security, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old — who was 17 at the time Proctor was killed — were led into a packed courtroom at B.C. Supreme Court and placed in separate booths. Both stood, lawyers by their side, and pleaded guilty to the crime that RCMP investigators had described as "horrendous" and "disturbing."

The plea by the 16-year-old, a skinny teen who appeared nervous and subdued, was inaudible. His defence lawyer, Robert Jones, had to repeat his guilty plea.

The teens also pleaded guilty to indignity to human remains. It is expected that charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement will be stayed by the Crown at their next appearance.

Neither of the boys can be named as their identities are shielded under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Neither teen looked at the other during the 40-minute proceeding. Their families did not appear to be in the packed courtroom, nor did their usual group of friends.

Sheriffs blocked off the front row of the courtroom for security reasons. The second row was filled with grim-faced investigators and members of Proctor's family including her mother Lucia, father Fred, her aunt Jo-Anne Landolt and both sets of her grandparents.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston accepted the guilty pleas, and ordered the teens detained in custody. Johnston issued a no-contact order, prohibiting the teens from contacting three people who could be called as witnesses at future hearings.

Johnston also ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports required for sentencing. These will take about eight weeks to prepare and will be heard in court when a two-week sentencing hearing begins on March 28. At previous court appearances, Crown prosecutor Peter Juk filed notice to have the 16-year-old and 18-year-old sentenced as adults, which would mean a stiffer penalty.

As part of the proceedings Wednesday, Juk read a five-page statement of agreed-upon facts into the court record, signed by both Crown and defence lawyers, that set out the gruesome facts of what happened to Proctor on March 18.

As Juk read the details, Fred Proctor began to cry, wiping tears from his eyes. Sitting pressed beside him, his wife bowed her head and held tightly to his hand.

The grim statement makes clear that the teenage boys planned Proctor's death well in advance.

Through text messages and online chats, they created code words to initiate the attack, outlined how they would tie her up and assault her, discussed what types of fuel to use to burn her body, and drew up a map of possible places to dispose of her body.

The statement suggests that the two killers were not remorseful about what they did. After they raped and asphyxiated Proctor, and then mutilated and burned her body, the 16-year-old met up with his girlfriend and the 18-year-old went shopping and for brunch with his mother.

But the statement is short on details for a motive. Proctor had flirted with both boys in the fall of 2009 before declining their advances; they killed her four months later.

According to online chats with a female friend outlined in the statement, the 16-year-old offered two reasons for the murder. First, Proctor was "an easy target." Second, "he had dreamed about killing someone ever since he was young," although he admitted to the friend that "it didn't feel like what he thought it would."

Proctor, a Grade 12 student, was reported missing after she didn't show up at a babysitting job the afternoon of March 18. She had been last seen at 10:30 a.m. at the bus exchange in Colwood, talking to the two boys who would later kill her.

When Proctor could not be reached on her cellphone and did not return home, friends and family began a desperate search, putting up posters and handing out photos of her wearing a distinctive black sweatshirt with a large number 13 decal on the front.

On the evening of March 19, a body was found beneath a bridge over Millstream Creek. The body had been burned beyond recognition, and it would take a few days to positively identify Proctor through dental records.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Proctor knew her killers through school. In the summer and fall of 2009, Proctor had dated one of the 16-year-old's best friends. During that time, the 16-year-old talked to Proctor online through MSN chat and text messages. At times, their correspondence was "quite personal and intimate." When Proctor broke off with her boyfriend, the 16-year-old asked her to go out with him. At first she accepted but, shortly after, she called it off.

From May to November, the 18-year-old also chatted with Proctor on MSN. The chats were, at times, "quite flirtatious and suggestive," according to the statement. Although she participated in the chats, Proctor declined his advances.

On March 16, two days before Proctor went missing, the 16-year-old sent a text message to a female friend, asking: "What would your opinion be on me if I killed, raped or brutalized someone?"

The next night, the 16-year-old sent Proctor a message, telling her he wanted to meet her in person the next day and explain why he, the 18-year-old and "everyone" had been mean to her lately.

They agreed to meet at 10 a.m. the next day. They exchanged phone numbers. Then Proctor and the 16-year-old had a lengthy telephone conversation that ended on the early morning of March 18.

Without her knowledge, the 16-year-old had allowed the 18-year-old to listen in on the conversation.

The two teens communicated online. "In their exchange of computer messages, they discussed their plan to lure her to the 16-year-old's house, to seduce her, bind her, sexually assault her, murder her, then burn and dispose of her body. It was a plan they had discussed before," according to the agreed statement of fact.

"Their plan, as detailed in their text messages, included specifically planning when and where to meet, how to get money and buy a specific brand of fuel with which to burn the body, how to get back to the 16-year-old's house, whether to take the bus or walk, what buses to take, and what they would say and do to carry out their attack, including the use of code words to initiate the attack. Their text messages included graphic descriptions of how they would bind and sexually assault Kimberly Proctor over an extended period of time, and a discussion of various possible sites at which to dispose of her body, including making reference to a detailed annotated map they created for this purpose."

On the morning of March 18, they met Proctor at the bus exchange. The 18-year-old went to a store to buy fuel, then the three went back to the 16-year-old's house, arriving just after 11 a.m.

The boys attacked Proctor, grabbing her around the neck, binding her hands and ankles with duct tape. Her mouth was gagged by a sock and secured with duct tape. The teens removed her clothes.

During the next several hours, both youths repeatedly sexually assaulted Proctor while she was bound and gagged. She was beaten and kicked.

"She was choked and suffocated and eventually died. A knife was used to mutilate her body," said the statement. When Proctor's body was recovered, investigators found a plastic bag covering her head, and noticed her neck was injured from attempted strangulation.

After the youths killed her, they placed her body in a freezer in the garage of the 16-year-old's house.

At 6:24 p.m., the 16-year-old sent three text messages to Proctor's phone: "Hey"/ "I thought you had babysitting"/ "Did you finish early." Proctor would have been at his home at the time, although it's not clear if she was alive or dead when the messages were sent.

Later that night, over a period of about three hours, the 18-year-old sent text messages to another female high school student with whom he'd had a sexual relationship, trying to convince her to sneak out of her house and join him at the 16-year-old's house. These messages were sent while Proctor's body was at the house.

The next morning, the boys put Proctor's body and the fuel from the house into a large duffle bag, boarded a bus and went to the bridge beneath the Galloping Goose Trail where her body was doused with fuel and set on fire. Investigators would later recover fabric, zippers, and grommets consistent with a duffel bag at the scene, and during the autopsy.

Later that morning, the 18-year-old's mother bought him a video game and took him for brunch. The 16-year-old spent the day with his girlfriend at his house.

A week later, the 16-year-old sent a text message to a female friend — the same one he'd texted two days before Proctor went missing — asking her to meet him online on World of Warcraft, an Internet game, to chat because he needed "to tell her something he could not tell her over the MSN chat lines."

In their online discussion, the 16-year-old told the girl that he had killed "Kim." The girl knew he was talking about Proctor because he also sent her links to news articles about her death and said that was her.

The 16-year-old told the girl, in disturbing detail, what he and the 18-year-old had done to Proctor: raping her, strangling her and mutilating her body.

The girl asked if he "pre-planned it." The 16-year-old said "yes."

The 16-year-old went on to say "he had dreamed about killing someone ever since he was young and it didn't feel like he thought it would," according to the agreed statement of facts.

He told the girl he thought he would get away with it and he didn't feel bad.

The 18-year-old also sent messages to the same girl about the killing. He told the friend he was "aware" they were going to target Proctor. The 16-year-old had approached him and asked him if he wanted to do it.

"When she asked him if he felt bad about it, he said he felt bad he was going to get caught, but said he did not feel bad for Proctor's family or friends," the statement said.

The youths will undergo psychiatric assessments and both the Crown and defence will prepare reports on recommended sentences.

The teens could be sentenced either as adults or youths.

Youths sentenced as adults get a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for 10 years for a first-degree murder conviction. (In comparison, adults convicted of first-degree murder get a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years).

Youths sentenced as youths for first-degree murder get a 10-year sentence, consisting of a maximum of six years in custody and the remaining four years to be served in the community under conditional supervision.

Usually, the ban on identify is lifted when youths are sentenced as adults. Youths under 18 at the time of sentencing, usually serve the sentence in a youth facility. A person who is 18 or older at the time of sentencing, usually serves their sentence in an adult facility.

From: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/teenage+boys+used+texting+online+chats+plot+brutal+assault+murder/3735225/story.html

Baby killed for interrupting mom's Facebook time

Woman became angry because son wouldn't stop crying

WJXT-TV
updated 10/28/2010 10:46

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 22-year-old woman charged with shaking her baby to death pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of second-degree murder and faces 25 to 50 years in prison.

Alexandra Tobias was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse and murder after her 3-month-old son, Dylan Lee Edmondson, died in January. Prosecutors said Tobias admitted to becoming angry because the baby would not stop crying while she was playing Farmville on Facebook.

"He's only 14 weeks old; he's not breathing," Alexandra Tobias frantically told a 911 operator.

Shortly after that 911 call was made, Tobias told investigators a dog knocked her child off a couch, he hit his head and he stopped breathing. Court documents show that Tobias later admitted to shaking her baby violently because the 3-month-old would not stop crying while she was playing a game on Facebook.

Prosecutors said they also have a statement from a cellmate who said Tobias confessed to her.

"I asked her 'What you here for?' and she said, 'Murder,'" inmate Lois Hay said. "I said, 'Murder? Who who did you murder?' She said, 'I my murdered my baby, my own baby.' And I was, like, 'Why did you do that?' She said she shook her baby and during the shaking of the baby, the baby hit his head on the computer."

In recorded telephone calls Tobias made to family members, she said the recent death of her mother affected her psychological state, and it may have been a contributing factors to her aggression on the night of her son's death.

"Ever since I found my mother dead, I just haven't been the same," Tobias said.

From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39890549

Woman loses head in riding accident

Last updated 14:27 28/10/2010

A British woman had to pick her own head up off the ground after badly breaking her neck in a horrific fall from a horse, according to reports.

The Daily Express newspaper reports that 26-year-old Thea Maxfield suffered a horrific "hangman's fracture" - a clean break of her upper cervical vertebra - after she was bucked six metres into the air in the accident.

After she fell off the horse Ms Maxfield tried to get out of the animal's way, but found that when her body moved her head stayed where it was.

She was forced to cup her hands around her head and lift it back into place to avoid damaging her spinal cord after her vertebrae shattered.

"I had to literally pick my head up and carry it in my hands. I didn't have much hope of a recovery," she told the newspaper.

Doctors initially warned she would be paralysed and have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

But seven months after the fall she is back in the saddle, thanks to revolutionary technology developed for Formula 1 racing.

Ms Maxfield was fitted with a special head brace connected to a computer, which used sensors to assess the strength and weakness of her neck.

The same technology is used to monitor elite racing cars to assess steering, suspension and air-flow factors affecting performance.

From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/4282323/Woman-loses-head-in-riding-accident

US mum 'killed twins with samurai sword'

By MSN NZ
28 oktober 2010 10:00:00

A Californian mother has faced court accused of killing her twin daughters with a samurai sword.

Monica McCarrick, 28, allegedly stabbed her three-year-old girls, set fire to her apartment and then stabbed herself on October 12.

Neighbours of the Fairfield woman smelled smoke eminating from her home and ran to help, the New York Daily News reports.

One neighbour managed to break in through a sliding glass door that led to Ms McCarrick's bedroom.

"Once I actually got past her room there was a sword, a bloody katana-style Japanese fighting sword, in the hallway and a bottle of pills," the neighbour, Andre Douglas, said.

Firefighters arrived shortly after and rushed Ms McCarrick to hospital where she was placed on suicide watch.

She has since left hospital and been sent to prison, where she is bound to a wheelchair and wears bandages for her injuries.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, child abuse, arson, and destruction of evidence.

The District Attorney's office has not confirmed whether they will pursue the death penalty in the case.

From: http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8114253/us-mum-killed-twins-with-samurai-sword

Dead man 'fed to dog, left in freezer'

By MSN NZ
27 oktober 2010 14:30:00

The girlfriend and children of a US man have been charged with his murder after his remains were found inside a freezer.

David Reuben Green Jr's de facto partner Wendy Edmond Green and his teenage children of are accused of feeding parts of his body to their pit-bull, as well as bringing friends to their home in North Carolina to show off "their father's mutilated and quartered body", the News & Observer reports.

Ms Green, who took on her wealthy partner's surname despite them never marrying, also posed as his wife to withdraw money from his bank accounts, police say.

The 41-year-old told family that her boyfriend was overseas — but after a long absence, his extended family began to suspect something was amiss and hired a private investigator to track him down.

Mr Green was formally reported missing on September 1. His decapitated body was found stuffed inside the freezer earlier this month.

It is believed the 52-year-old died of blunt force trauma as early as January.

"A piece of your heart just breaks," cousin Shawn Thornbill was quoted as saying.

"My aunt (Mr Green's mother) spent last week taking down the children's pictures."

David Reuben Green III, 15, and Alexis Green, 17, have both been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.

The pair will be tried as adults if a judge finds probable cause for the charges.

Ms Green is facing the same charges.

From: http://news.msn.co.nz/article/8113687/dead-man-fed-to-dog-left-in-freezer

Fox bites off man's nose and fingers in cemetery

Published Date:
27 October 2010

By DAVID McCANN

A MAN who blacked out in a village cemetery had his nose and fingers bitten off in a suspected fox attack

The 37-year-old is recovering from his injuries at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after the incident in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The wounded man was discovered by police at St Michael's Parish Church Cemetery, Inveresk.

A source said: "He was attacked by a fox in a cemetery near Musselburgh as he was lying unconscious. His nose was chewed and two-and-a-half fingers were bitten off. He was taken away to hospital unconscious but breathing."

It is not clear how the man, who has not been named, came to be unconscious in the cemetery.

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police can confirm it is carrying out inquiries after a 37-year-old man was found in the Inveresk area in the early hours of Sunday, October 24, with injuries to his face and hand.

"These injuries may have been caused by animals. He is being treated for his non-life-threatening injuries at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary."

A spokesman for the ambulance service confirmed an unconscious man with facial injuries was taken to hospital from the Inveresk cemetery.

Village resident Jack Fraser said the grisly incident had shocked the community.

"People are certainly talking about it - that he had been found in the cemetery and looked like he had been punched in the face a few times. I also heard there were a few tops of his fingers missing.

"No-one I've spoken to has any idea what happened to him but when people start talking they often get the wrong idea. I just hope he recovers all right."

John Caldwell, councillor for Musselburgh and Carberry said: "I stay not far from that area and the only animals around capable of doing such a thing are the foxes."

One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said she saw police at the scene late on Saturday night. She said: "I was walking my dog at about midnight and saw two police cars and thought they must be looking for someone."

East Lothian Council, whose landscape and countryside division tends to the cemetery, said none of its staff had knowledge of the incident and Reverend Andrew Dick, minister at the kirk where the man was found, said he had nothing to add to the facts already known.

Earlier this year a fox attacked twin baby girls while they slept in their cot at home in London. At the time, John Bryant, a pest control consultant who specialises in foxes, said such attacks were not typical fox behaviour.

From: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Fox-bites-off-man39s-nose.6600939.jp

Grandad stabbed boy's puppy after it urinated on the carpet

By Richard Smith 22/10/2010

A cruel grandad stabbed a boy's puppy with a kitchen knife after it peed on his lounge carpet.

Raymond Yorath, 54, was furious with nine-month-old terrier Max and plunged the 12-inch blade into his side.

Police found the puppy, owned by Yorath's grandson Simon, 14, bleeding and with his intestines hanging out.

Vets managed to save Max after a two-hour operation. Yorath, of Cardiff, told police: "It's not even my dog. It pees on the carpet - it cost me £200."

At Cardiff magistrates' court yesterday, he pleaded guilty to causing suffering to an animal and was given a 10-week suspended jail sentence and a five-year pet ban.

Inspector Nicola Johnson, of the RSPCA, which has re-homed the puppy, said: "Max is extremely lucky to be alive. The knife somehow missed every vital organ."

From: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/10/22/grandad-stabbed-boy-s-puppy-after-it-urinated-on-the-carpet-115875-22650127/

Baby Injured During At-Home Circumcision

Infant Expected To Survive, Officers Say

POSTED: 3:35 pm PDT October 25, 2010
UPDATED: 9:23 pm PDT October 25, 2010

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A 3-month-old child was taken to a hospital in critical condition after his mother attempted to circumcise him at home, police said.

Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson said officers arrived at a home at Northeast 127th Avenue and Burnside Street at about 2 a.m. Sunday to assist medics after a call of an injured child.

Police said they learned the mother had attempted to perform a medical procedure on the infant.

The child was taken to a hospital, Simpson said, and is expected to survive.

Detectives from the police bureau’s child abuse team and state officials are investigating.

No arrests have been made at this point, Simpson said.

From: http://www.kptv.com/news/25508096/detail.html

Man Arrested For Allegedly Ejaculating on Woman in School Library

Updated: Wednesday, 27 Oct 2010, 11:14 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 27 Oct 2010, 10:58 AM EDT

TAKOMA PARK, Md. - A man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly ejaculated on a woman and exposed himself to her as she was reading in a school library.

The incident happened on October 9 at the Montgomery College Library in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Police say the female was sitting in the library when a man walked past her and ejaculated on her arm. When the female turned to the subject, he was standing behind her with his genitals exposed.

The male fled the library, returned briefly, and fled again as the woman was reporting the incident to police.

Campus security chased the man but he was able to flee in a car.

DNA evidence was obtained from the woman. She did not know the man but was able to provide a description of him to police.

Officers used the victim’s description and surveillance video to identify the suspect as 29-year-old Oritse Ayu of Baltimore, Maryland

Ayu was arrested and is facing charges of 2nd degree assault and indecent exposure.

Disturbingly similar incidents occurred in Montgomery County in July of 2010 when a man was arrested for throwing semen on women who were shopping.

In this case police believe the suspect, Michael Wayne Edwards, Jr., used a spray bottle to spray the semen on the women’s backs as they were shopping in stores in Gaithersburg.

In August, a California man was arrested for ejaculating twice into a female co-worker’s water bottle.

From: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/man-arrested-for-allegedly-ejaculating-on-woman-in-school-library-102710

Police hunt 'sick' slasher who killed horse in frenzied knife attack

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:59 AM on 28th October 2010

Police were hunting a maniac who stabbed to death a horse in a 'frenzied' knife attack in a field.

The butchered 18-month-old Lagdon cob called Rascal was discovered dead by members of a riding school.

Today police and the RSPCA were investigating the stabbing - and had not ruled out the possibility that it had been a 'ritualistic' killing.

Just 10 miles away from the scene in rural Alfriston, East Sussex, nine horses were fed apples that had been spiked with pins and screws last month.

Detective Constable Annie Nash, from Sussex Police said: 'We are working closely with the RSPCA to investigate this mindless act of animal cruelty and find those responsible.

'This horrific incident has caused much distress to the horse's owner and local community but it does appears to be an isolated attack, the motive for which is unknown at this stage.'

Two other horses in the same field had not been touched by the killer.

The owner of the butchered horse, who did not want to be named, said: 'We are devastated by the loss of our beautiful horse. We would urge anyone with information to please contact Sussex Police.'

A post-mortem examination revealed the horse had been stabbed multiple times in its face, neck and body with a sharp instrument - probably a knife.

The animal was found by a riding school member on Sunday morning at Alfriston Horse Riding Centre.

A spokeswoman for the centre said: 'Its injuries were sick. Everyone is very upset and the owners are devastated."

An RSPCA spokesman said: 'This was a very nasty attack. It is being treated very seriously and we are working with the police to find out who is responsible.'

Ray Savage, chairman of Alfriston Parish Council and a former police officer who saw the body in the field, said the horse might have been tortured.

'I have never seen anything like it,' he said. 'People are talking abut ritual abuse and torture but who knows what the motive was at this stage.

'There is a lot of fear in the village over this. People are upset.'

Last month, nine showjumping horses in nearby Rottingdean were fed apples spiked with pins and screws by a group of youths.

10 of the 15 tampered pieces of fruit had been partially eaten by the animals and owner Sarah Williams faced an agonising 48 hour wait to see if there were any serious injuries.

Distraught Sarah said at the time: 'It's really sick. I despair that anyone would want to do this to innocent animals.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1324442/Police-hunt-sick-slasher-killed-horse-frenzied-knife-attack.html

Sex offender: Woman 'had to die'

09:06 AM PDT on Tuesday, October 26, 2010

By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise

A self-described Satanist who drove his dead girlfriend to the Lake Elsinore sheriff's station last week admitted in a jailhouse interview Monday to strangling the woman.

Jason Richard Budrow, 30, a registered sex offender who lives in the unincorporated Good Hope area near Lake Elsinore, said he feared the 48-year-old woman was a police informant.

"She had to die," Budrow said.

Budrow is jailed on suspicion of murder at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley.

Resting his heavily tattooed arms on the counter in front of him and gazing through the glass divider into the visitors' room, Budrow spoke calmly as he described how he killed the woman.

She came over to his trailer behind a liquor store off Highway 74, he said. The woman, with whom he said he had a sexual relationship, got scared after realizing that he had "discovered her." She was on her way to her car when he strangled her about 2 or 3 a.m. Friday, Budrow said.

"I desecrated her body," he said, declining to elaborate.

Budrow said he shoved her body into the trunk of her white Chrysler Sebring convertible, then napped until his "curfew" -- an apparent reference to a parole requirement -- expired at 5 a.m.

Budrow said he drove away in the Sebring and at some point cut off the GPS-monitoring ankle bracelet that he must wear as a registered sex offender on parole.

"I murdered her while I was wearing that bracelet," he said.

Budrow declined to say what else he did in the hours before he arrived at the sheriff's station. If he had access to a gun, he said, he would have killed several other people. He did not explain why.

After pulling into the station parking lot and flagging someone down about 7:25 a.m., Budrow said he knelt on the pavement and put his hands in the air.

"I told them I had a body in my trunk," he said.

At first, he said, sheriff's officials were incredulous and asked if he was "playing games." He said they thought the trunk might have been booby trapped.

Budrow said he believed undercover law enforcement officers had been watching his every move and that he turned himself in because he was convinced they would eventually catch him.

The woman, Budrow said, knew he was involved in drug dealing and pimping and he thought she was going to reveal the names of "important people."

Sheriff's officials have said Budrow showed up at the sheriff's station and told a sergeant there was a body in the trunk. They declined to comment Monday on Budrow's statements.

Coroner's officials have not released the woman's name. Sheriff's officials said only that she was dating Budrow.

Capt. Dave Fontneau said that, so far, there is no indication the woman was sexually assaulted. He declined to say how she was killed.

Fontneau said an autopsy is scheduled for today.

'666'

Budrow said he has worked various jobs, including a stint selling time shares by phone. Riverside County court records show he served in the Army years ago but was discharged after testing positive for drugs.

The numbers "666" are tattooed above his right brow because he is a "Satanist," he said. At one point, Budrow lifted up his orange jail shirt to display a scar on his chest that he said was from ritual bloodletting.

While he hopes to spend the rest of his life leading an "Ozzie and Harriet" existence in a prison cell, Budrow said he's sure that he will be sentenced to death.

Budrow said he doesn't fear execution. He doesn't believe in an afterlife.

Though Budrow is on parole and a registered sex offender, his name, photo and other information did not appear Friday on the Megan's Law online database of registered sex offenders. By Monday, after sheriff's officials pointed out the omission, an entry was added. State Department of Justice officials could not explain Monday why Budrow was not listed.

Until Friday, sheriff's officials said Budrow had complied with his registration requirements. He had been checking in at the Lake Elsinore station since June 2006.

Budrow said he had been sent back to prison for parole violations, including a "rampage" at a halfway house. Terry Thornton, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman, declined to release details, saying the department gave the information to the Sheriff's Department. It was up to them to decide whether to disclose it, she said. Fontneau declined to do so on Monday.

Riverside County court records show Budrow pleaded guilty in 2004 to sexual penetration by force and was sentenced to three years in prison.

A probation officer's report says Budrow was staying with his grandparents in 2003 at a property they managed in Lakeland Village, near Lake Elsinore. He slipped into the bedroom of a 14-year-old neighbor one night and performed sex acts on the girl, court records say. The girl said she told him to stop but did not yell or resist out of fear for her safety, the report says.

Budrow told authorities he had been intoxicated from beer and marijuana, that he thought the girl was 17 and the encounter was consensual.

"He said if he did not confess, he could not live with himself, or run from the truth," the report says.

The probation officer wrote that Budrow would have been suitable for probation had he been eligible. He had no prior convictions and "demonstrated what appeared to be sincere remorse for his offense," the report says.

At the property where the sex assault occurred, his uncle, Eric Sisneros, said Monday he hasn't seen much of Budrow since his nephew got out of prison. Still, he couldn't believe he was capable of murder.

"He was always a gentle, kind person," Sisneros said. "Timid."

From: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webjailhouse.78db9c.html

Escaped crocodile sparked panic which brought down passenger plane killing British pilot and 19 others

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:31 AM on 22nd October 2010

An escaped crocodile caused a plane crash that killed a British co-pilot and 19 others on board, it emerged yesterday.

The small plane was thrown off balance by a stampede of passengers trying to avoid the reptile.

First Officer Chris Wilson, 39, died alongside Belgian pilot Danny Philemotte, 62, when the twin-engined plane crashed into a house a few hundred yards from its destination in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It has only now emerged that a lone survivor apparently told investigators about the crocodile.

The plane came down despite no apparent mechanical problems during an internal flight from the capital, Kinshasa, to Bandundu regional airport on August 25.

A report by news organisation Jeune Afrique stated: 'According to the inquiry report and the testimony of the only survivor, the crash happened because of a panic sparked by the escape of a crocodile hidden in a sports bag.

'One of the passengers had hidden the animal, which he planned to sell, in a big sports bag, from which the reptile escaped as the plane began its descent into Bandundu.

'The terrified air hostess hurried towards the cockpit, followed by the passengers.'

The plane was then sent off-balance 'despite the desperate efforts of the pilot', said the report.

'The crocodile survived the crash before being cut up with a machete.'

The occupants of the property the plane crashed into were away.

Mr Wilson's mother Jean, 78, paid tribute to her son in her local paper in Shurdington, Gloucestershire.

She said: 'He loved flying and he worked hard to fulfil his dream of becoming a pilot. He had three jobs at once just to pay for his training. He absolutely adored flying.

'I’m very proud of him for working so hard. He loved life and did everything he could to achieve his dream.

'There have been so many messages from people he has known through the years. We didn’t realise so many people cared for him.'

The plane was a Czech-made Let L-410 Turbolet, one of more than 1,100 produced as short-range transport aircraft and used mainly for passenger services.

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322580/Aircraft-crashes-crocodile-escapes-killing-British-pilot-19-others.html

Would-be bomber said he'd die for bin Laden

Oct 20, 4:04 PM EDT

By JEFF CARLTON
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) -- Before he pushed the button that he hoped would blow up a 60-story office tower and kill thousands of people, Hosam Smadi did two things that still bother FBI officials 13 months later.

An undercover agent posing as an al-Qaida terrorist offered Smadi ear plugs. He declined, saying he wanted to hear the explosion. Then he used his cell phone to secure a ghastly souvenir - a final picture of the building before it blew.

The inside story of the investigation, compiled from court documents and interviews with FBI officials in Dallas, is a tale of how the FBI stayed ahead of the would-be terrorist, giving him a decoy bomb and preventing him from harming anyone.

FBI officials offer a different portrayal of the meek, mild and apologetic young man who spoke politely to the judge during his two day sentencing hearing, which ended Tuesday with Smadi receiving 24 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

"He absolutely believed he had found al-Qaida, was committing an act on the scale of 9-11 and that he was going to get away with it," Tom Petrowski, the supervisory agent who led the FBI operation, told The Associated Press. "He loved (Osama) bin Laden more than his parents. He said he would die for him, intended to die for him, expected to die for him. He believed to the core that this was his destiny."

The 20-year-old Jordanian man was arrested in September 2009 after Smadi left what he thought was a truck bomb in a garage beneath the Fountain Place building in downtown Dallas.

In his plea agreement, Smadi said he parked the truck, activated a timer connected to the decoy provided by undercover FBI employees, then rode away to watch the building fall.

When Smadi dialed a cell phone number from the roof of a nearby parking garage, he thought he was setting off his truck bomb. But it was the FBI's final trick. Instead of blowing up the building, the call alerted tactical agents hiding in a stairwell, who swarmed the rooftop and arrested the teenager.

"It went like clockwork," said Robert Casey, the special agent in charge of the Dallas division.

Thus ended months of surveillance and planning that began when the FBI first took note of a teenager south of Dallas posting angry messages on a website frequented by Islamic extremists. Smadi, typing out his hatred for Americans and Jews, was looking for a group to help him wage a holy war.

"Where he stood out was that he said, "I want to act,'" Petrowski said. "People have the right to speak the unspeakable, but he was actively looking for help."

Still, the FBI wasn't convinced Smadi meant business. He was a teenager working at a travel stop barbecue joint along the interstate near Italy, Texas. He had no criminal history, no terrorism ties and no means to carry out his vague plans.

After communicating by e-mail, an undercover FBI employee posing as a terrorist arranged the first of six in-person meetings with Smadi. It was a make-or-break moment. Either Smadi was blowing off steam on the Internet, or he was a genuine wannabe terrorist.

"At the first in-person, he really blew us away. His gut level of commitment was amazing," Petrowski said. "When he left that day, there was no question he was real. He had an ice-cold, unhesitating commitment to commit mass murder."

The bureau discussed simply deporting Smadi, whose visa paperwork was not in order. It would have been a simple and inexpensive solution, certainly less complex than trying to covertly monitor a teenager in small-town Texas.

But Smadi explicitly told undercover agents that, had he not met them, he would have continued his search for al-Qaida sleeper cells. And the FBI's behavioral analysts also predicted that Smadi, if sent home, would try to connect with terrorists.

So the FBI tried something else: talking him out of it. The undercover employees told Smadi there were many ways he could commit jihad that didn't involve killing Americans. If Smadi had any "hesitation, doubt or fear ... we would depart now as friends and brothers in Islam without any anger at all," an agent wrote.

But Smadi said he wanted to cause "an attack that shakes the world," he wrote. The harder the FBI tried to talk Smadi out of it, the more firm he became.

"He kept coming back and reinforcing his commitment that he would do this," Casey said. "We created the opportunities. He bit on them."

Peter Fleury, one of Smadi's public defenders, contended that Smadi was ill but harmless. The FBI cultivated Smadi, Fleury argued, encouraging a lonely and isolated teenager every time he expressed interest in violence. They transformed a busboy into a terrorist, he said.

"He wouldn't build a bomb," Fleury said dismissively.

But he did push its button. The office tower was not Smadi's first target. He first checked out a National Guard armory but decided he was setting his sights too low. Then he considered an airport but decided security was too high and that "it was not a good time to do airports," Petrowski said.

He settled on Fountain Place, a distinctive office tower of green reflective glass easy to identify in the Dallas skyline. Smadi liked the "beauty and conspicuousness" of the building, and believed that taking out a bank that leased space there would shake the U.S. economy, Petrowski said.

At his sentencing, Smadi denounced bin Laden as "a bad man." But as the day of the bombing neared, he made a martyrdom video in the hope that it would be played for the terrorist leader. He took hours to prepare his speech, fought back tears as he selected religious verses and then donned a kaffiyeh, an Arab headdress, before hitting record.

On Sept. 24, 2009, Smadi took possession of a black, four-door Ford Explorer pickup truck furnished by the FBI. In the bed of the truck were three large storage bins, with a fourth in the back seat secured by a seat belt. Inside were 550 pounds of explosives-grade fertilizer, along with nails and screws for shrapnel.

On top of the bins were fake C-4 plastic explosives and blasting caps, with green and yellow wiring. A timing device connected to a cell phone was in the console in between the front seats.

Smadi, wearing a valet uniform, drove the truck into the visitor's garage beneath the office tower, parking beneath a "Bank Customers Only" sign.

As he walked up the ramp and out of the garage, however, Smadi realized a mistake. The visitor's lot was not directly beneath the building, but just off to the side. When he met with the undercover FBI employee who was parked in a nearby vehicle, he three times said he wanted to go back in and move the car to make sure it would drop the building.

The agent convinced him the bomb would work anyway, so the men drove to an aboveground parking garage, where Smadi dialed the phone that signaled the FBI to move in.

"I harbored hope that at the 11th hour, he just wouldn't do it," Petrowski said.

There's another question that still bothers agents.

"How many Hosam Smadis are out there that we don't know about?" Petrowski said. "If a person like that lives in Italy, Texas, where are the others?"

From: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOMB_PLOT_DALLAS?SITE=NYONE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Stalked to her death: Jilted teenager gets life for 'executing' his ex-girlfriend

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:16 AM on 23rd October 2010

A jilted teenager who stalked and then ‘executed’ his ex-girlfriend was jailed for life yesterday.

Gulamyr Akhter, 19, stabbed A-level student Asha Muneer, 18, on a towpath in Reading in January ‘because he could not tolerate her rejection’.

She was stabbed in the face, head and neck more than 30 times in a killing so brutal it broke the handle of the knife and bent its blade.

Akhter was found guilty of murder by a jury at Reading Crown Court and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years.

The Judge Zoe Smith told him: 'This was nothing less than a deliberate execution.

'This was a brutal attack with a knife which you carried with you to kill her.

'The killing was carefully premeditated and planned.'

The prosecution alleged that Akhter, of Reading, murdered the young woman 'because he could not tolerate her rejection of him'.

He had bombarded Ms Muneer with more than 600 calls and texts in the two weeks before her death.

He also lied to police, claiming he did not have her number on the mobile he gave them and had not contacted her for weeks.

He was 'embittered by rejection' after the student ended their relationship in July last year, the court was told.

Following the split he sent her a long list of abusive text messages.

One read: 'I'm going to make your life hell.' Another said: 'I wish you go through hell and you die.'

John Price QC told the court Akhter had two phones, one of which he had kept secret from police.

He said Akhter used one of these phones to harass Ms Muneer and that both handsets could be traced to the location and time of her death on January 18 this year.

Akhter was accused of repeatedly stabbing Ms Muneer as she walked through Reading after a shift at a Laura Ashley store, where she worked as a part-time sales assistant.

Mr Price said Akhter had arranged to be dropped off by friends near the Brunel Retail Park.

He then followed her, attacking her on a towpath beside the River Kennet, near the retail park.

Asha Muneer, 18, who was stabbed to death by Gulamyr Akhter, 19, on a tow path in Reading on a freezing January evening this year after she rejected him

Video footage revealed that, during the journey, she was joined by a man in dark clothes and a hooded top, carrying a rucksack.

The last sighting of her on CCTV footage is shortly before 6.30pm. She is seen walking towards the underpass where her body was found nearly two hours later.

Akhter then arranged to be picked up from the retail park at around 7pm.

He travelled with friends to a deserted field, where he set fire to clothing, his rucksack and a mobile phone he had used to harrass his victim.

Home Office pathologist Kenneth Shorrocks said she died as a result of multiple wounds to the neck.

Cuts to Ms Muneer's hand were consistent with defence injuries, he said.
Giving evidence in his defence, Akhter denied killing her, saying he was 'shocked and devastated' by her murder.

The knife Gulamyr Akhter used to kill Asha Muneer, 18, a sixth-former who worked part-time at Laura Ashley in Reading

He told the jury: 'I feel devastated and devastated about myself that I am getting wrongly accused of something I ain't done.'

However he admitted lying to police when they went to his home in the early hours of January 19, claiming he had not seen Ms Muneer for a long time and had not been out during the evening.

He told the jury: 'I was paranoid smoking cannabis. If I told them the truth, I thought I might get the blame for it.'

The jury of six men and six women delivered the unanimous guilty verdict in four hours, 13 minutes.

Judge Smith added: 'Asha Muneer was a beautiful and popular girl who was embracing life. She wanted to go to university and have a career."

Judge Smith said she had read the impact statement from Miss Muneer's parents and brother.

She said: 'The extent of their grief is great and their loss has been devastating to them.'

As the verdict was read out, Miss Muneer's parents wept in the public gallery.

In a statement released through Thames Valley Police Ms Muneer's family: 'We have been torn apart by the loss of Asha, who was a beautiful young lady who had so many dreams and hopes for her life, now those dreams will never come true all because of one man's pure evil and jealousy eaten up with rage.

'Because of this man we have lost everything and as a family the pain and suffering we feel only gets worse as days go by.

'The trial has been a terrible ordeal for us all but we are happy to see that justice has been done.'

Det Supt Karen Trego, who led the investigation, said: 'This was a determined attack which left a young girl dead and has caused a family to suffer the loss of their much loved daughter.

'Akhter has shown no remorse for killing his former girlfriend and his denials of any involvement has forced Asha's family to endure a lengthy trial.

'Asha's family have maintained a quiet dignity between her death and the trial and they have asked for some privacy to come to terms with what has happened.'

Supt Stuart Greenfield, the Reading Local Policing Area Commander, paid tribute to

Ms Muneer's family who he said had 'acted with great dignity in deeply distressing circumstances'.

He also extended his thanks to the investigating officers, those who gave evidence and the community.

CPS prosecutor Alan Blake added: 'Asha Muneer was a vibrant and popular young woman with her whole life ahead of her. She had ended her relationship with ex-boyfriend Gulamyr Akhter last summer and moved on with her life, but he could not accept this, and harassed her by bombarding her with threatening text messages.

'On January 18 this year, Gulamyr followed Asha after work and stabbed her in a pre-meditated and vicious knife attack, on a cold, dark night in an isolated spot on a riverside path in Reading.

'Gulamyr Akhter can only be described as manipulative and controlling. He lied to police and gave a false alibi, then sought to cover up his actions by burning his clothes.

'The evidence was overwhelming - there was CCTV footage, witness accounts and mobile phone call and cell site analysis. The CPS had no hesitation therefore in bringing this man before the courts.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322897/Jilted-teenager-stabbed-Asha-Muneer-death-facing-life-jail.html

Man, 19, hanging out truck window killed in crash with pole

Police say he was motioning to friends walking near Davidsonville road

By Baltimore Sun staff
11:18 a.m. EDT, October 19, 2010

A 19-year-old Silver Spring man was killed Monday when he leaned out of a truck traveling on a Davidsonville road to motion to friends walking in an adjacent field and the vehicle sideswiped a telephone pole, according to Anne Arundel County police.

Officers were called about 5:40 p.m. Monday to Governor Bridge Road near Patuxent River Road and found David Shigeru Yamamoto Hepner of the 900 block of Devere Drive suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Investigators said Hepner was the right rear passenger in a 2004 Chevy truck traveling east on Governor Bridge Road and driven by Zachary Taylor Bennett, 18, of the 3900 block of Bayside Drive in Edgewater. There were two other passengers in the vehicle, identified by police as Amanda Dawn Scott, 19, of the 3700 block of Eighth Ave. in Edgewater and Julia Sophianna Rubin, 18, of the 900 block of Devere Drive in Silver Spring.

When the truck's occupants saw some friends walking in a field on the south side of the roadway, they yelled and waved, with Hepner hanging out the window from his waist up, police said. The truck moved to the right, and Hepner struck the telephone pole, according to police.

From: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-fatal-accident-20101019,0,282782.story

Man in domestic dispute kills puppy by slamming it against pavement by the hind legs, police say

Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 BY TIM CHITWOOD

A Columbus man arguing with his child's mother Sunday grabbed her children's puppy by the hind legs and slammed the dog against the pavement three times, killing the pet, police said.

Devon Bell, who had just marked his 22nd birthday Friday, faces charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, terroristic threats, obstructing police and disorderly conduct, according to jail records.

Police were summoned about 6 p.m. Sunday to a home on Winifred Lane, where Jimea Williams told them she had an argument with Bell, her child's father. It was during this dispute that Bell grabbed the puppy and bashed it against the pavement. "The puppy suffered severe injuries to his neck, spine and ribs," police reported, saying the dog later died.

Bell ran from officers, who arrested him about an hour later at Blueridge Drive and Blueridge Court.

Investigators said multiple witnesses told them that during the altercation Bell "stood in the street cursing and using profanities as he killed the dog," and that he "threatened to kill all other animals in the yard." Bell's home address was the same as Williams', according to police and jail reports.

From: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/10/18/1311292/man-in-domestic-dispute-kills.html#storylink=omni_popular

Horror as five kittens found hanged

Five kittens were found hanged outside an Aberdeenshire shopping centre on Tuesday.

20 October 2010 10:29 GMT

Five dead kittens were discovered hanged outside a shopping centre in Aberdeenshire.

The kittens were found by a caretaker at Westhill Shopping Centre, off Old Skene Road, on Tuesday.

It is understood three of the animals were found behind the Chalmers bakery shop and two were by a nearby gate.

Employees at the centre are said to be “horrified, shocked and sickened” by the incident.

Grampian Police confirmed officers are investigating and appealing for witnesses.Inspector Andrew Todd said: “Our officers are making inquires and will be liaising with the SSPCA.

“Our inquiries are at an early stage and we are currently trying to establish full circumstances surrounding the incident.

“We urge anyone who saw the kittens or has any information to contact the police immediately.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 0845 600 5700 or call the Scottish SPCA animal helpline on 03000 999 999.

Last month leading animal charities reported an increase in cruelty to cats cases.

From: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/north/203799-horror-as-five-kittens-found-hanged/

Drunk was going to eat kittens

Monday, October 18, 2010

A drunken Chester man who brought two blood-soaked kittens home with him last night told his roommate he planned on eating them for dinner, Delaware County SPCA officials said.

Francis McGinley, 44, told his roommate he'd run over the 4-week-old kittens with his truck "So I could eat them for dinner," according to the police report.

He then brought the kittens - one black and one white - inside of the house and placed them in the bathtub, SPCA spokeswoman Justina Calgiano said.

"I don't know if the intent was to clean them up so he could eat them, but at that point, his roommate called police," Calgiano said.

The kittens - believed to be siblings - were taken to a vet where emergency technicians bestowed them with the names Karma, for the black, male kitten and Nirvana, for the white, female one. They are doing well and are expected to be placed in foster care tomorrow and placed up for adoption in four weeks, when they are of age.

Calgiano said she doubts McGinley actually ran them over with his truck, because it's unlikely they could have survived. Dave Schlott, the Chester animal control officer who took the kittens to the vet, said he was told they had been squeezed.

"The barbaric acts that people do today," he said. "It's like animals are a disposable commodity."

McGinley has been charged with cruelty to animals, public drunkenness and related charges.

From: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/delco/105206654.html

Teen arrested for ‘pleasuring himself’ in Harris Teeter parking lot

Submitted by Chris Dyches
Wednesday, October 13th, 11:08 am

FORT MILL, SC - A York County teenager was arrested after deputies say he was caught gratifying himself in the parking lot of a Fort Mill grocery store.

Joseph Varalli, 19, was arrested on Monday morning after a woman called 911 to say the teen was masturbating while sitting in his car. According to a York County Sheriff's Office report, the incident happened in the Harris Teeter parking lot on Highway 160.

When the deputy arrived he noticed Varalli "fumbling with his pants, the report states. When the deputy asked what he was doing, Varalli originally told him that he "was a college student and he was early for a class and was killing time," the report said.

Varalli later told deputies that he was looking at nude pictures of a female on his phone and "began to masturbate."

Varalli was arrested and taken to the York County Detention Center where he was charged with indecent exposure.

From: http://fortmill-baxter.wbtv.com/content/teen-arrested-pleasuring-himself-harris-teeter-parking-lot

No charges to be filed after man shoots intruder/ex-wife

written by: Jeffrey Wolf 10/23/2010

COLORADO SPRINGS - Investigators say no charges will be filed in a case where a man shot and killed his ex-wife because it falls under the Make My Day Law.

The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's office says 46-year-old Cristen Ann Cox went over to her husband's house at just after 1 a.m. on Oct. 9. She had a handgun and investigators say she fired four shots into the front door of the apartment and broke in. She then fired another shot in the living room.

The gunfire woke up Richard Cox and his girlfriend, according to investigators. Richard Cox did not know who was in his home so he got his 12-gauge shotgun and fired a shot at a silhouette that entered the bedroom.

Investigators say the shot struck Cristen Cox, killing her instantly.

Richard Cox then turned on the lights and discovered his ex-wife and called 911.

He had divorced her in June after they separated in October 2009. He had gotten a restraining order against her in January.

From: http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=159479

Denver officer accused of sexual assault

10/21/2010

DENVER - A Denver Police officer is behind bars after investigators say he coerced a woman under arrest into performing a sex act to avoid going to jail. The officer was on paid leave for five months before his arrest.

Hector Paez, 31, had been on paid leave for five months, but when he was arrested on Monday, he was placed on unpaid leave.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey's office and police say Paez has been formally charged with second-degree kidnapping, sexual assault and attempt to influence a public servant. Paez will appear in court again Friday morning.

"These are very serious charges," Denver DA spokesperson Lynn Kimbrough said.

The 36-year-old woman told investigators that on May 16, Paez pull over in his squad car next to the woman, who was walking. He began questioning her and found out she had an active warrant out of Jefferson County.

"The allegation is that using that information, he coerced her to perform a sexual act to avoid taking her to jail," Kimbrough said.

Paez, who appeared in court Tuesday, is being held at the Douglas County Jail on $100,000 bail.

"If convicted on a sexual assault count and convicted on the kidnapping, there would be a lengthy prison term that would be set as the minimal number of years, but potentially it could be a life sentence," Kimbrough explained.

The charges follow an internal affairs investigation prompted by a call by the victim. Kimbrough credits the victim with pushing this case forward.

"Were it not for her coming forward to share her complaint, the internal affairs bureau would have had no way of knowing and would not have been able to start an investigation," Kimbrough said. "Certainly the credit goes to our victim who came forward and the result will be criminal charges that will be filed tomorrow."

Paez has been with the force since 2006, and worked out of the District 4 substation. He declined an interview request made through jail administrators.

Neighbors say he kept to himself.

Many of them were wondering why Paez hadn't been driving his squad car home since mid-May.

"I think you have to say it's a sad day, it's a sad day, but we have a victim that we are going to advocate for, the charges are going to be formally filed tomorrow, and we'll go forward," Kimbrough said.

From: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=158846&catid=339

The Die-Off On James Island

Excerpt from the book The Hidden Dimension by Edward T. Hall, Chapter II: Distance Regulation In Animals

About fourteen miles west of the town of Cambridge, Maryland, and less than a mile out in Chesapeake Bay lies James Island, approximately half a square mile (280 acres) of uninhamited land.

In 1916 four or five Sika deer (Cervus nippon) were released on the island. Breeding freely, the herd built up steadily until it numbered between 280 and 300, a density of about one deer per acre.

At this point, reached in 1955, it was apparent that something would have to give before too long.

In 1955, Christian began his research by shooting five deer for detailed histological studies of the adrenal glands, thymus, spleen, thyroid, gonads, kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and other tissues.

The dder were weighed, the contents of their stomachs recorded, and age, sex, and general condition, as well as the presence or abscence of deposits of fat under the skin, in the abdomen, and between the muscles, were noted.

Once these records were made, the observers settled down to wait.

In 1956 and 1957 no change occurred. But in the first three months of 1958, over half of the deer died, and 161 carcasses were recovered.

The following year more deer died and another drop took place. The population stabilized at around eighty. Twelve deer were collected for histological study between March 1958 and March 1960.

What was responsible for the sudden death of one hundred ninety deer in a two-year period?

It wasn't starvation, because the food supply was adequate. In fact, all of the deer collected were in excellent condition , with shining coats, well-developed muscles, and fat deposits between the muscles.

Carcasses collected between 1959 and 1960 resembled those taken in 1956 and 1957 in every outward respect but one. The deer taken after the population collapse and stabilization were markedly larger in body size than those taken just before and during the die-off.

The 1960 bucks averaged 34 per cent heavier than the 1958 bucks. Does taken in 1960 were 28 per cent heavier than the 1955-57 does.

The weight of the adrenal glands of the Sika deer remained constant from 1955 to 1958, during the period of maximum density and die-off.The weight decreased 46 per cent between 1958 and 1960.

In immature deer, who formed a large proportion of the casualties, adrenal weight dropped 81 per cent after the die-off.

There were also important changes in the cell structure of the adrenals that pointed to great stress, even in the survivors.

While two cases of hepatitiswere discovered , it was thought that these were a result of decreased resistance to stress due to overactive adrenals. In interpreting Christian's data, it is important to clarify the significance of the adrenal glands.

The adrenals play an important part in the regulation of growth, reproduction, and the level of the body's defenses. The size and weight of these important glands is not fixed but responds to stress.

When animals are too frequently stressed, the adrenals, in order to meet the emergency, become overactive and enlarged. The enlarged adrenals of characteristic cell structure showing stress were therefore highly significant.

An added factor which undoubtedly contributed to stress was the fact that freezing weather in February of 1958 prevented the deer from swimming to the maninland at night, as was their custom, a journey which afforded at least temporary respite from crowding.

The major die-off followed this freeze.

Lack of relief from confinement, combined with cold, which is also known to cause stress, may have been the last straw.

Summing up at a symposium on crowding, stress, and natural selection in 1961, Christian stated:

"Mortality evidently resulted from shock following severe metabolic disturbance, probably as a result of prolonged adrenocortical hyperactivity, judging from the histological material. There was no evidence of infection, starvation, or other obvious cause to explain the mass mortality."

Ladue police find answer to burglary at bottom of quarry

BY KIM BELL | Posted: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 12:30 am

LADUE • Police looking for whoever burglarized a Ladue home Saturday night think they found their answer at the bottom of a rock quarry.

A man's body was found Monday morning at the Rock Hill Quarries along with loot from the burglary: stolen jewelry in the victim's pockets and electronic equipment in a bag nearby. The man also had a flashlight and was wearing gloves.

On Tuesday, Ladue police identified the dead man as Donald Zakrzewski, 42, of St. Louis.

Police believe Zakrzewski was burglarizing a home in the 9700 block of Old Warson Road just before midnight Saturday when he was startled by the returning homeowner. The man walked in his front door and heard noises, Ladue Police Chief Richard Wooten said.

"He calls out, 'Hey, who's there?' and he hears someone leaving," Wooten said.

The burglar left in a hurry, on foot, the chief said. As best as police can tell, Zakrzewski scaled an 8-foot-high chain-link fence surrounding the quarry and ran through a heavily wooded area in the dark before plunging off the cliff.

"He was probably trying to escape the crime scene, running at full speed when he ran off the edge," Wooten said. "It's one of the most unusual cases in my 26 years here."

Zakrzewski fell 50 to 60 feet to his death. An autopsy determined that Zakrzewski died of trauma consistent with a fall from that height.

Police called for a police dog to track the scent, but they ended their search that night without finding the burglar.

Employees of Rock Hill Quarries, on about 70 acres west of McKnight Road and south of Tilles Park, found Zakrzewski's body about 9 a.m. Monday on the west end of the quarry — the deepest end. The old quarry is now used as a landfill for building and demolition waste.

Because Zakrzewski was wearing gloves, police can't use fingerprints to verify he was inside the Ladue home. And the homeowner didn't have a security camera to record the bandit.

But police believe the items found in Zakrzewski's pockets and near his body are proof enough that he was the burglar. Police are now researching his criminal past and trying to determine whether other burglaries in the area could be the work of Zakrzewski as well.

Court records show that Zakrzewski has a history of peace disturbance, marijuana possession and misdemeanor assault. In 1986, he was charged with burglary in St. Louis County. In that case, he pleaded guilty of receiving stolen property and was fined $500.

Zakrzewski was sentenced to five years in prison on eight counts of second-degree burglary, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of attempted second-degree burglary and three counts of stealing over $150.

All of those crimes happened in either St. Louis or St. Louis county, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.

He was in a Missouri prison for two years, from 1987 to 1989. In 1990, he violated parole and returned to prison. He was released from prison again on Sept. 18, 1991, to be supervised by electronic monitoring. He completed his sentence on March 12, 1993.

Just this summer, the St. Louis collector of revenue filed suit against Zakrzewski for failure to pay property taxes, as the city had done at least two years previously. He was due in court for the most recent case on Oct. 31.

From: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_da077713-9ad8-5c3d-8352-df32d145b093.html

Muncie man arrested after eight-week-old beaten

Posted: Oct 21, 2010 6:25 PM
Updated: Oct 21, 2010 11:01 PM

Muncie - A 19-year-old Muncie man faces child abuse charges. Ethan Ogden was arrested Wednesday after police say he injured his girlfriend's eight-week-old daughter.

The baby had a black eye and a broken leg.

According to the police report, Ogden was looking after the baby while his girlfriend - the baby's mother - went to pay bills. When she returned, Ogden told her the baby fell from a bouncy seat and thought her leg was hurt. They took the baby to the hospital.

Later during a police interview, Ogden changed his story, saying he was walking in the apartment with the baby when he dropped her on the floor and accidentally stepped on her leg.

Eventually he admitted to officers that the first two versions of his story were not true, and that he became angry because his girlfriend was gone longer than he expected.

Ogden said he was "really frustrated and lost control, dropped [the baby] on the floor and stomped on her leg."

Ogden also told police he wanted to hurt the baby but not seriously injure her "because he loved her," according to the report.

It's the second time in less than two weeks that a Muncie infant has suffered abuse.

In a separate case, Michael Wihebrink, 25, and Crystal Saunders, 19, have been charged in connection with the brutal beating of their five-week-old son.

Doctors say that Brayden Wihebrink was brought into the hospital with six major fractures. He also suffered previous injuries to the ribs and a broken wrist that were healing. He had a brain injury perhaps from someone covering his mouth and preventing him from breathing.

From: http://www.wthr.com/story/13364722/muncie-man-arrested-on-child-abuse-charges