Police make appeal to women approached by online ‘modeling agent’

By Calvin Palmer
Police in Sydney are asking women who have been approached online by a man posing as a modeling agent to come forward after a woman was allegedly raped.
Paul Rajendran, 36, who poses as “James Carter” or “James” on his Facebook and MySpace profiles was arrested 14 days ago and charged with raping a [...]

F-22 Raptor crash kills test pilot

By Calvin Palmer
The pilot of the F-22 Raptor jet fighter that crashed this morning was killed, according to a statement released by the aircraft’s manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Test pilot David Cooley, 49, was flying a test mission from Edwards Air Force Base, California when the plane crashed at 10:00 a.m. local time in the high desert [...]

Connecticut bank robber’s day just went from bad to worse

By Calvin Palmer
As bank heists go, one in Connecticut earlier this year was not the most meticulously executed, at least not as far as the getaway was concerned.
David Maksimik entered the People’s United Bank in Darien on January 29 with a fake hand-grenade strapped to his waist and a gun.  That part of the plan [...]

Casey Anthony’s deal with lawyer does not allow the right to sell her story

By Calvin Palmer
Casey Anthony’s attorney does not have the rights to sell her story to collect legal fees, a judge heard today.
Anthony told Circuit Judge Stan Strickland that her agreement with Jose Baez, who is defending her against accusations that she killed her two-year-old daughter, does not give the attorney those rights.
Prosecutors had argued that [...]

Mystery surrounds status of F-22 crash pilot

By Calvin Palmer
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor jet fighter crashed in the high desert of southern California this morning.
The $140 million plane crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Pentagon spokesman Gary Strassburg said.
The jet left from Edwards Air Force base on a test mission, U.S. Air Force spokesman Richard Johnson told [...]

Six feared dead in sinking of fishing boat

By Calvin Palmer
Hopes of finding four missing fisherman alive faded today and the U.S. Coast Guard scaled back its search off the New Jersey coast.
Two members of the seven-man crew of the 71-foot scallop boat Lady Mary died when it sank in heavy seas yesterday. One man was rescued alive, the other four have remained [...]

Convicted burglar arrested over teenage girl’s 1998 disappearance

By Calvin Palmer
A Nevada man was arrested this morning in connection with a teenage girl who disappeared in 1998.
Dale Wayne Hill, 39, of Dayton, a convicted burglar, was arrested on suspicion of failing to register as a felon.
Hill is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Stephanie Condon, 14, who vanished on October 30, 1998, [...]

Mexican concerns halt plan to spray border zone with chemical

By Calvin Palmer
A $2.1 million project to poison all plant life along a mile-long stretch of the Rio Grande in Texas has been stopped because of concerns by the Mexican government.
The plan involved spraying the riverbank with the herbicide Imazapyr to eliminate hiding places used by criminals.
But Mexican officials raised concerns about the chemical and [...]

Wife took ‘two blows with axe’ to decapitate dead husband

By Calvin Palmer
A wife brought the axe down hard and fast twice to decapitate her dead husband, a jury at New South Wales Supreme court was told today.
Joyce Mary Chant, 57, of Revesby, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her 47-year-old husband, Wayne Robert Chant, but guilty to a charge of improper interference with human [...]

Second Florida priest handed prison sentence for theft from congregation

By Calvin Palmer
A second Florida priest was sentenced to four years in prison today for stealing money from his congregation.
Father Francis Guinan, 66, had been charged with stealing $488,000 from St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach, but jurors found him guilty on the lesser charge of stealing less than $100,000.
Circuit Judge Krista Marx called Guinan’s [...]