Rapist May Be Sentenced— Even Though He's Dead

A former police detective was convicted of kidnapping and rape last year—but before he could be sentenced, he committed suicide. But he's not off the hook: A California judge could still sentence Anthony Orban despite his death. "The only reason he is not here is because he volunteered to...

Prison Ordered to Give Files to Tsarnaev Lawyers

Prison files on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—including suicide watch logs—are to be turned over to the Boston bombing suspect's lawyers by order of a federal judge, Reuters reports. His defense team says it wants to track his condition while he is in prison for evidence of "voluntariness of his statements"...

OJ Got Legal Help From 'White Supremacist' Cellmate

OJ Simpson is back in court—and you can thank his allegedly racist cellmate for that, sources tell the New York Post . Early in his sentence, the Juice complained that his cellmate was "a white supremacist," her daughter told a Post "spy" at the time. But within a few months...

Gov't Spied On Fox Journalist, Too

Of all the news organizations the government could spy on, it chose to tangle with ... Fox News. And this one goes further than the AP . The Justice Department examined Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails, phone records, and visits to the State Department, the Washington Post reports. The move...

Mob Chases Down Guy Thought to Be Sex Attacker

Residents of a Colorado neighborhood went full-on vigilante recently, chasing down a man they thought had been sexually assaulting children and throwing rocks at him until authorities intervened. The Pueblo residents were upset that police hadn't done enough, in their estimation, to catch the person responsible for two recent sex...

Man Kills 4 After Bank, ATM Deny Him Cash

A pretty horrific story out of southern Israel today, where a man apparently became enraged after visiting the bank with the intention of taking care of a $1,640 debt—which failed to happen, reports Ynet : His request denied, he "came back with a pistol and shot dead four people...

Man Arrested in Hate Killing Was Laughing: NYC Cops

A man has been charged with a hate crime in the murder of a gay man in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Elliot Morales, 33, was "laughing on the ground" as police arrested him in the killing of Mark Carson, 32, officials say. "Yeah, I shot him in the head," Morales allegedly...

Homophobia Drove Statutory Rape Charge: Mom

A Florida teen has been charged with statutory rape and kicked out of school, and her mother says the case hinges on homophobia, the Raw Story reports. The parents of the alleged victim—some three years younger than suspect Kaitlyn Hunt, 18—"are bigoted, religious zeolites (sic) that see being...

Kardashian in Legal Brawl With NY Guv

If you thought perhaps New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had better things to do than concern himself with the Kardashians, you'd be wrong. His administration recently ordered Khloe Kardashian and hubby Lamar Odom to stop selling a T-shirt that's currently available through their clothing line, Rich Soil, the New York...

'Hero Cop' Charged With Rape, Assault

In 2007, now-former Philadelphia police officer Richard DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero for chasing down a suspect after being shot in the face. Yesterday, he was arrested on charges of rape, sexual assault, and terroristic threats, as police raided his home, also confiscating guns and drugs, NBC Philadelphia reports....

Guy Mad at Neighbor's Tall Grass Torches House: Cops

There's probably all kinds of good ways to resolve an argument with a neighbor about mowing the lawn, but none involve two cans of gas and a match. That's what 58-year-old Phillip Roger Bennett used to set his neighbor's house ablaze, say police in Cartersville, Ga. Luckily, the neighbor and...

Cops Fired Bullet That Killed Hofstra Student

The Hofstra University junior who died early Friday in a home invasion was killed by a bullet fired by police, reports the New York Daily News in a sad coda in the death of Andrea Rebello. Police say the fatal bullet was one of eight fired by a veteran cop...

Town Sued for Requiring Residents to Own Guns

The tiny town of Nelson, Georgia, is facing a court battle after passing a law that requires all households to own a gun and ammunition. The DC-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence had filed a federal lawsuit against the town on the grounds that the law, which was passed...

Judge Blocks Arkansas Abortion Ban—for Now

A federal judge granted a request today to temporarily block enforcement of a new Arkansas law that bans most abortions 12 weeks into a pregnancy. District Judge Susan Webber Wright granted a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit that the ACLU of Arkansas and the Center for Reproductive Rights...

New Suspects Found in McCann Case

And the search for Madeleine McCann is on again: Police have produced a new list of suspects in the case of the toddler who went missing in Portugal in 2007, following a lengthy and expensive new review, the Telegraph reports. "There is more than a handful of people of interest...

Hofstra Student Dead in Home Invasion

A Hofstra University student who lived in an off-campus house with her twin sister is dead after an armed burglar broke into the house overnight, reports the Daily News . The gunman also was killed. The details of what happened were unclear this afternoon, but the gunshots apparently began after police...

Bought Cigarettes in NY? You May Have Funded Terror

Police have uncovered a cigarette-smuggling operation whose proceeds may have gone to terrorist groups, they say. Sixteen Palestinians were indicted yesterday (and all but one arrested) in the East Coast effort, which saw some 1 million cartons of cigarettes trucked into the state from Virginia, where they were sold to...

Cannes Hit With $1M Jewelry Heist

If the Cannes red carpet looks a little less fabulous this year, blame jewel thieves. Someone made off with more than $1 million worth of jewelry that was supposed to be lent out to the stars yesterday, smashing the security box where it was being kept in a Novotel Hotel...

Kai the Famous Hitchhiker Arrested on Murder Charges

"Kai the hitchhiker" became an Internet celebrity in February when he intervened in a gas station attack in Fresno, California, hitting a man on the back of the head with a hatchet to stop him from assaulting a woman, then giving a very entertaining (and profanity-laced) interview to a local...

Uzbek Man Nabbed in Idaho Over Terror Plot

An Uzbek man has been arrested in Idaho and charged with helping a foreign terrorist organization make a bomb. "Any potential threat posed" by Fazliddin Kurbanov has been "contained," federal agents say. He was also charged with possessing bomb parts, the New York Times reports, and he's set to appear...

Army Anti-Harassment Honcho Busted for Stalking

And Lt. Col. Darin Haas makes three . Haas ran a program to fight sex harassment at Fort Campbell in Kentucky—until he was arrested in a domestic dispute. Haas, who turned himself in in Tennessee, faces charges of stalking and violating an order of protection, the AP reports. He's been...

Mother of Victims in Nanny-Stabbing Case Is Pregnant

The New York couple whose nanny allegedly murdered two of their children is having another baby, mother and father announced on Facebook . "We are very happy to let you know that Marina is expecting a baby in the fall," Marina and Kevin Krim wrote on a page devoted to a...

Holmes Judge to Hear Challenge to Insanity Law

The judge in the Aurora movie theater shooting case will listen to defense lawyers' arguments against the constitutionality of Colorado's insanity defense law, Reuters reports. The law is unconstitutional, lawyers say, because it says James Holmes can't summon mental health experts of his own choosing—rather than court-appointed ones—at...

Cops Follow Trail of Coins to Thief's House

Burglary pro tip of the day: You're not going in for the spare change. This lesson appears to have been lost on Michael Sherman. When police responded to a burglary call at his neighbor's Vero Beach, Florida, house they found roughly 40 coins strewn on the ground outside it, forming...

Man Convicted of Murder Based on Victim's Blinks

An Ohio man was convicted of murder and felonious assault today, in a case that hinged in large parts on the videotaped blinks of a dying man . Prosecutors on numerous occasions offered a plea deal to Ricardo Woods that would have seen him spend just 5 years in prison, the...

Mom Rams Suspect's Car After Daughter Is Taken

An amazing story out of Albuquerque, where police say a mother foiled the kidnapping of her young daughter by giving chase in her car. She eventually rammed the suspect's vehicle with her own. A suspect is in custody, and he matches the description of an assailant in a previous sexual...

2nd Suspect Arrested in New Orleans Shooting

A second suspect has been arrested in the New Orleans shooting that injured 20 people at a parade on Mother's Day. Shawn Scott, 24, was nabbed today, said police Chief Ronal Serpas. He is the brother of 19-year-old Akein Scott , who was arrested last night in the shooting. Both face...

The Angry World of Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius returns to court next month for his murder trial, notes the Huffington Post , and anyone interested in the case should make a new Vanity Fair piece required reading. The article by Mark Seal doesn't have any bombshell revelations on the main question—did the amputee Olympian murder girlfriend...

Tsarnaev Wrote Confession on Wall of Boat: Report

As he lay wounded in a boat in a Watertown backyard, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scribbled a note on the vessel's wall claiming culpability for the Boston bombing and explaining his motive, sources tell CBS News correspondent John Miller. Tsarnaev allegedly wrote that the attack was in retaliation for the US invasions...

Dzhokhar Investigation Turns Up ... Not Much

Had counterterrorism officials been monitoring Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the days leading up to the Boston marathon bombing, they wouldn't have found much to raise suspicions—other than Dzhokhar's relationship to Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Authorities have found no evidence that Dzhokhar frequented jihadist websites, bought suspicious items, posted radical rhetoric, or did...