Former soldier gets life sentence for rape and murder in Iraq

By Calvin Palmer
Former U.S. Army soldier Steven Dale Green was today sentenced to life in prison for raping and killing an Iraqi teenage girl and murdering her family.
Jurors who convicted Green on May 7 deliberated for 10 hours over the course of two days but could not agree on an appropriate sentence. Their choice was [...]

Woman attacked flight attendants after downing wine, drugs and soap

By Calvin Palmer
A British woman today pleaded guilty in Maine to assault after scuffling with flight attendants aboard a flight from Los Angeles to London, which was diverted to Bangor.
Galina Rusanova, 54, of London, punched and kicked attendants on a United Airlines flight on April 29 after downing a concoction of prescription drugs, wine and liquid [...]

Five dead as boat runs into moored barge at night

By Calvin Palmer
Five men died when their 24-foot aluminum boat ran under one end of a barge on the Falgout Canal near Houma, Louisiana.
The accident happened late Wednesday night but was not discovered until this morning, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Capt Samuel Martin said.
The men were killed when their heads hit the moored barge’s [...]

Intruder murders couple and unborn child at beachfront home

By Calvin Palmer
Police believe the murder of a Californian couple and their unborn child at their multi-million dollar beach front home may be a random killing.
Brock Husted, 42, and his five months pregnant wife, Davina, also 42, were stabbed multiple times by an intruder at their home overlooking Faria Beach last  night, sheriff’s Capt Ross [...]

Body pulled from river near to homes of missing women

By Calvin Palmer
An autopsy is being performed today on the badly decomposed body found in the Des Plaines River near to the homes of two missing women.
A cleanup crew found the remains yesterday afternoon in the Will County area of Illinois.
State police today said the remains were “severely deteriorated” and “mainly skeletal,” adding that DNA [...]

Defense calls no witnesses for mother of untreated diabetes daughter

By Calvin Palmer
The Wisconsin mother accused of second-degree reckless homicide in her daughter’s death from untreated diabetes decided today to call no witnesses in her defense.
Leilani Neumann, 41, is standing trial for the death of her 11-year-old daughter Madeline Kara Neumann, on March 23, 2008, at the family’s rural Weston home.
Her attorney, Gene Linehan, said [...]

Mother arrested over boy found buried in playground

By Calvin Palmer
The mother of the three-year-old boy found buried in the sandpit of a playground in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been arrested.
Police Chief Ray Schultz said Tiffany Toribio, 23, called police last night and told them she was walking to the police station to turn herself in. Police picked her up.
She told detectives she [...]

Terror plot suspect wanted to do “something to America”

By Calvin Palmer
The four men arrested last night for allegedly planning to blow up two synagogues in New York and shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base were petty criminals acting alone, the New York City police commissioner said today.
Speaking at the Riverdale Jewish Center, one of two synagogues targeted in the [...]

Couple go missing after bank error makes them millionaires

By Calvin Palmer
In response to a request for an overdraft, a New Zealand bank mistakenly deposited NZ$10 million ($6.1 million) into a couple’s account. They have gone missing and so has some of the money.
The couple from Rotorua, about 150 miles south of Auckland, applied to Westpac bank for a NZ$10,000 ($6,000) overdraft but 1,000 [...]

Doctor describes the worst case of emaciation he had seen in 35 years

By Calvin Palmer
A forensic pathologist told a court in New South Wales today that neglect and starvation caused the death of a seven-year-old girl in the worst case of emaciation he had seen in his 35 years experience.
Dr Kasinathan Nadesan was testifying at the New South Wales Supreme Court, sitting in East Maitland, in the trial [...]