Paradise News

Tag: Americas

  • Man accused of fatally stabbing woman in 1992, dumping body in vacant lot

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. (TCN) — A recent traffic stop led to the arrest of a 59-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 31-year-old mother of two nearly 32 years ago.

    A deputy with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office pulled over a vehicle in Avon on Nov. 4 for violating New York traffic laws. Authorities spoke with a passenger, Arthur Jason Jr., and suspected he was involved with drug activity. During a search of the vehicle, Jason had around 6.5 grams of crack cocaine in his possession and was taken into custody.

    Jason was arrested and charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance. Deputies also learned he had an active warrant out of Monroe County for second-degree murder in connection with the death of a woman, identified by the Democrat & Chronicle as Victoria Jobson.

    Jobson was last seen in October 1992, and her family reported her missing. In December 1992, her body was found in a vacant lot near railroad tracks with multiple stab wounds. According to the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester Police said she had been deceased for “a period of time.”

    Investigators determined Jason allegedly fatally stabbed Jobson at another location before her body was moved to the field. Jason pleaded not guilty and was remanded to the Monroe County Jail without bail.

    Per the Democrat & Chronicle, U.S. Marshals and the Hamilton Police Service arrested a second suspect in Canada in connection with Jobson’s death, but they did not disclose the individual’s name.

    MORE:

    • News Release – Livingston County Sheriff’s Office
    • Man charged in 1992 cold case murder of woman stabbed to death – The Democrat & Chronicle

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  • Adam Fravel convicted of suffocating, killing ex Madeline Kingsbury, hiding her body

    WINONA, Minn. (TCN) — A jury returned multiple guilty verdicts against a man who killed his 27-year-old ex-girlfriend, wrapped her body in sheets, then buried her in a rural area.

    Court records show Adam Fravel was found guilty of first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse with past pattern of abuse, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree murder, and second-degree murder without intent in connection with the death of Madeline Kingsbury. KMSP-TV reports Fravel faces life in prison and will be sentenced in January.

    Kingsbury was reported missing to the Winona Police Department on April 1, 2023, after she had not been seen or heard from since March 31. Officials searched for Kingsbury for months until June 7, 2023, when a deputy in Fillmore County located her remains in a heavily wooded area. The Winona County Attorney’s Office announced charges against Fravel on June 9, 2023, and he was indicted in October 2023.

    According to Fravel’s probable cause statement, Fravel told police he had not heard from Kingsbury since the morning of March 31, 2023, and that she was scheduled to pick up their two kids, ages 5 and 2, from day care, but she never showed up. The two reportedly dropped them off at school together at 8:05 a.m., but only Fravel went in the afternoon. Detectives searched Kingsbury and Fravel’s home and did not see any signs of a struggle but noted that Kingsbury left her phone, wallet, jacket, and computer behind. She sent a last text to her sister at 8:15 a.m.

    Fravel and Kingsbury had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for seven years. Kingsbury worked in Winona and Rochester, and Fravel “acknowledged that Madeline was the primary income producer for the family.” She paid the bills and sent Fravel money. The two broke up and Kingsbury was in the process of searching for a new apartment in the area. Kingsbury told Fravel not long before she disappeared that she started dating someone new.

    Fravel reportedly claimed he was running errands and packing the day Kingsbury vanished.

    According to the statement, Kingsbury expressed worry to some of her friends about her relationship with Fravel. One person informed police that “Fravel told Madeline that if she did not listen up that she would end up like Gabby Petito.” Fravel was reportedly “‘infatuated’ with the Gabby Petito case,” the woman who was strangled to death while traveling with her boyfriend.

    One friend reportedly saw Fravel hit Kingsbury in the face, and others reportedly noticed bruising and red marks on her body.

    Video footage from the day of Kingsbury’s disappearance reportedly showed Fravel driving on Highway 43, but he took a 45-minute detour. Deputies searched the area near where his car was last seen and learned it was close to his parents’ house. Kingsbury’s remains were found in a culvert near a gravel road and they were wrapped in a bed sheet and Gorilla tape. Investigators noted that the sheet and tape matched items at Kingsbury and Fravel’s home.

    The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and said a towel had been wrapped about Kingsbury’s head and neck, and her cause of death was homicidal violence.

    KMSP reports Kingsbury’s father said after the verdict, “It’s a bit of a Pyrrhic victory. We’re not going to get Madeline back. Fravel can’t be punished enough.”

    MORE:

    • State of Minnesota vs. Adam Taylor Fravel
    • Madeline Kingsbury case: Adam Fravel found guilty of murder – KMSP
    • Probable Cause Statement
    • Missing Person, 4/1/2023 – Winona Police Department
    • Press Release, 6/7/2023 – Winona Police Department
    • Winona County Attorney’s Office Announces Charges Against Adam Taylor Fravel, 6/9/2023 – Winona County Attorney’s Office
    • Winona County Grand Jury Returns Indictment in Homicide Case, 10/2/2023 – Winona Police Department

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  • Pa. man allegedly fatally stabbed girlfriend because he didn't like her haircut

    EAST HEMPFIELD, Pa. (TCN) — A 49-year-old man was taken into custody for allegedly killing his girlfriend and injuring her brother because he did not like her haircut.

    On Sunday, Nov. 3, at approximately 1:40 p.m., East Hempfield Township Police Department officers responded to a home on Dell Lane regarding a stabbing. Medics transported two people, one of whom was the suspect, to Lancaster General Hospital for laceration wounds. A third victim died at the scene.

    Lancaster Online reports police located the suspect, Benjamin Garcia Gual, in his vehicle with a kitchen knife. His girlfriend, Carmen Martinez-Silva, was found dead in a yard. Her brother was reportedly the third victim and sustained stab wounds to the base of skull. Officials believe he will survive.

    According to WHP-TV, Martinez-Silva’s daughter told police that Martinez-Silva slept over at her house on the night of Nov. 2 because she was “scared” of Garcia Gual. The daughter cut Martinez-Silva’s hair, and it allegedly upset Garcia-Gual so much that he threatened to stab her. Martinez-Silva reportedly left her daughter’s house and went over to her brother’s on Dell Lane.

    Martinez-Silva reportedly asked someone to inform Garcia Gual that she wanted to end their relationship, but he was not home when that witness went by. Garcia Gual reportedly showed up at the brother’s house looking for his girlfriend, but the person who answered the door claimed she wasn’t there. He left and came back a few minutes later. Martinez-Silva’s brother answered, and Garcia Gual allegedly stabbed him.

    WHP reports Martinez-Silva started defending her brother, which led Garcia Gual to stab her repeatedly.

    Court records show Garcia Gual was arrested on charges of criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, three counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of recklessly endangering another person.

    MORE:

    • Homicide – East Hempfield Township Police Department
    • East Hempfield man stabbed girlfriend to death over a haircut: police – Lancaster Online
    • Lancaster County man allegedly stabbed girlfriend to death over short haircut – WHP
    • Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Benjamin Garcia Gual

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  • Woman divorces husband before she disappears on trip; Clerk killed by predator in a van

    In this episode of True Crime News: Ana Maria Knezevich was an adventurer who loved to travel. She moved to Spain amid a divorce from her husband, but right before her best friend was supposed to visit, she disappeared. Plus, a teen’s kidnapping and near-death experience led detectives to Jeffrey Willis and his dark obsessions.

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  • California man sentenced for stabbing several strangers, 2 fatally

    EUREKA, Calif. (TCN) — A 26-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a series of stabbings in 2017 and 2020, causing the deaths of two people.

    The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office announced Nov. 1 that a judge sentenced Wesley Lee Starritt to four life sentences for the murders of Roger Clark and Charles LeVaugh, as well as the attempted murders of Bryon Tatum and Ciuleandra Smith. Prosecutors described the defendant’s victims as “strangers.” Starritt will be eligible for a parole hearing after serving 25 years.

    According to the North Coast Journal, on Dec. 4, 2017, Starritt fatally stabbed 56-year-old LeVaugh, a homeless man, while he was sleeping on the street. Starritt allegedly broke into 84-year-old Clark’s home in May 2020 and stabbed him more than 90 times, killing him.

    Starritt allegedly approached 43-year-old Tatum on April 20, 2020, and began stabbing him and then stopped the attack when his knife broke. The following month, police allege the defendant asked Smith for a cigarette and also stabbed her until the knife broke.

    According to the North Coast Journal, Starritt admitted to the attacks and claimed he was “Lucifer.” While in jail, he allegedly attacked guards and threw human feces and other bodily fluids at them and was charged in connection with those actions. He was eventually deemed competent to stand trial and pleaded guilty to the two murders and two attempted murders.

    The judge presiding over the case said, “There are no words. These killings are inexplicable, cowardly, monstrous, and all I could think was even these adjectives don’t describe it well enough.”

    During sentencing, LeVaugh’s sister reportedly “detailed the effects that the loss of her brother has had on her family, including her mother, who unfortunately passed away before she could see Mr. Starritt sentenced.”

    Clark’s son and niece also attended the sentencing and “addressed the profound loss to their family at the hands of Mr. Starritt,” prosecutors said. Clark reportedly served in the armed forces and worked as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.

    Clark’s son reportedly said his father “gave generously to many charities, both locally and nationally. For example, he bought bicycles for local underprivileged children at Christmas every year. He was a wonderful, generous man who did not deserve to die this way.”

    MORE:

    • Wesley Starritt Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murders of Charles LeVaugh and Roger Mitch Clark – Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office
    • Eureka Man Sentenced to Life for Brutal, Random Stabbing Spree – The North Coast Journal

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  • Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department on Records on AI Robocall Controversy

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records regarding the Justice Department’s involvement in the League of Women Voters’ National Voting Rights Act lawsuit concerning fake Biden robocalls conducted during New Hampshire primary (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-03109)).

    Judicial Watch sued after the Department of Justice failed to respond to a September 24, 2024, Judicial Watch FOIA request for:

    • Records of the Office of Legal Counsel, including emails, text messages, voicemail messages, video conferences, briefings, notes, or other form of record regarding the Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. § 10307(b)); robocalls; Steve Kramer; Lingo Telecom, LLC; Voice Broadcasting Corporation; or Life Corporation.

    In February, during this year’s presidential primary season in New Hampshire, an elections consultant, Steve Kramer, commissioned a fake robocall using artificial intelligence (AI) to impersonate Joe Biden’s voice to urge New Hampshire voters not to participate in the state’s January 23 primary. New Hampshire’s attorney general charged Kramer with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate.

    Subsequently, the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit against Kramer and other firms involved in the fake call.

    “The Biden Justice Department clearly has something to hide. Was there selective prosecution and collusion with allied leftist groups as a favor to the Biden-Harris campaign?” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

    Judicial Watch is a national leader in voting integrity and voting rights. As part of its work, Judicial Watch assembled a team of highly experienced voting rights attorneys who stopped discriminatory elections in Hawaii, and cleaned up voter rolls in California, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, among other achievements.

    Robert Popper, a Judicial Watch senior attorney, leads its election law program. Popper was previously in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, where he managed voting rights investigations, litigations, consent decrees, and settlements in dozens of states.

    In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion reversing a lower court ruling on Mississippi’s election law that permitted absentee ballots to be received as late as five business days after Election Day. Earlier this year, Judicial Watch filed the civil rights lawsuit challenging the Mississippi election law on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Mississippi. (Judicial Watch filed the first challenge to require all ballots be received by Election Day in 2022 against Illinois.)

    In a similar lawsuit, in 2022, Judicial Watch, on behalf of Congressman Mike Bost and two other registered voters, sued Illinois for allowing vote-by-mail ballots (even those without postmarks) to be counted if received up to 14 calendar days after Election Day if the ballots are dated on or before Election Day.

    In May 2024, Judicial Watch sued California under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to force it to clean up its voter rolls. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Judicial Watch and the Libertarian Party of California, asks the court to compel California to make “a reasonable effort to remove the registrations of ineligible registrants from the voter rolls” as required by federal law.

    In March 2024, Judicial Watch, Breakthrough Ideas, Illinois Family Action, and Carol J. Davis sued Illinois officials under the NVRA to force them to clean the State’s voter rolls.

    In December 2023, a notice letter was sent to election officials in the District of Columbia notifying them of evident violations of the NVRA, based on their failure to remove inactive voters from their registration rolls. The letter pointed out that D.C. publicly reported removing few or no ineligible voter registrations under a key provision of the NVRA. The letter threatened a federal lawsuit unless the violations were corrected in a timely fashion. In response to Judicial Watch’s inquiries, Washington, DC, officials admitted that they had not complied with the NVRA, promptly removed 65,544 outdated names from the voting rolls, promised to remove 37,962 more, and designated another 73,522 registrations as “inactive.”

    In July 2023 Judicial Watch filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, supporting the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, which struck down Maine’s policy restricting the use and distribution of the state’s voter registration list (Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Shenna Bellows (No. 23-1361). According to a national study conducted by Judicial Watch in 2020, Maine’s statewide registration rate was 101% of eligible voters.

    Judicial Watch in July 2023 also settled a federal election integrity lawsuit on behalf of the Illinois Conservative Union against the state of Illinois, the Illinois State Board of Elections, and its director, which now grants access to the current centralized statewide list of registered voters for the state for the past 15 elections.

    In April 2023, Pennsylvania settled with Judicial Watch and admitted in court filings that it removed 178,258 ineligible registrations in response to communications from Judicial Watch. The settlement commits Pennsylvania and five of its counties to extensive public reporting of statistics regarding their ongoing voter roll clean-up efforts for the next five years.

    In March 2023, Colorado agreed to settle a Judicial Watch NVRA lawsuit alleging that Colorado failed to remove ineligible voters from its rolls. The settlement agreement requires Colorado to provide Judicial Watch with the most recent voter roll data for each Colorado county each year for six years.

    In February 2023, Los Angeles County confirmed the removal of 1,207,613 ineligible voters from its rolls since last year, under the terms of a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit Judicial Watch filed in 2017.

    Judicial Watch settled a federal election integrity lawsuit against New York City after the city removed 441,083 ineligible names from the voter rolls and promised to take reasonable steps going forward to clean its voter registration lists.

    Kentucky also removed hundreds of thousands of old registrations after it entered into a consent decree to end another Judicial Watch lawsuit.

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  • Judicial Watch Statement on President Trump’s Election Victory

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement on President Donald Trump’s election victory:

    Judicial Watch congratulates President Trump on his remarkable election as 47th president of the United States. The voters broadly and directly repudiated the lawfare targeting Trump, as well as the dangerous government abuses and contempt for the rule of law endemic here in Washington, DC.

    President Trump had to overcome unprecedented abuse by corrupt and partisan prosecutors, politicians and judges – all of whom tried to rig the election by smearing, raiding, investigating, prosecuting, trying, convicting, and gagging President Trump.

    In short, President Trump needs to clean house. The FBI and Justice Department are irredeemably corrupt. And the government abusers who targeted Trump and other innocent Americans should be subjected to criminal investigation. And, as sunlight is the best disinfectant, President Trump should open wide the Deep State files on politicized Deep State lies and corruption – especially its war on the rule of law, constitutional government, our First Amendment and other civil rights.

    Judicial Watch is ready, willing and able to help (and sue) for government accountability as we continue our mission to uncover what the government is up to and enforce the rule of law for election integrity, immigration, and against woke discrimination and racism.

    In his new book Rights and Freedoms in Peril Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton details a long chain of abuses officials and politicians have made against the American people and calls readers to battle for “the soul and survival of America.” The book details how the progressive movement threatens America’s most venerable institutions, undermining the core principles that make this country a beacon of hope to the world.

    Judicial Watch, through open records laws, frequently requests records from the government and sues when it refused to release them, for example:

    • Recently, Judicial Watch it uncovered records from the Department of Homeland Security which show, contrary to what it told media, that least one U.S. Secret Service agent broke in to a hair salon and taped over the salon’s security camera in Pittsfield, MA, during a July 27, 2024, campaign fundraising visit by Vice President Kamala Harris.
    • In October, Judicial Watch sued on behalf of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (STARRS) against the U.S. Department of Defense for records regarding the U.S. Air Force Academy’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans.
    • In August, Judicial Watch received records from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA – a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)) revealing that CISA is trolling on social media and reporting on alleged “domestic violent extremism” (DVE).
    • In May, Judicial Watch reported on a phone message left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
    • The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that has been targeting President Donald Trump and other Americans.

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  • Kentucky police find naked 2-year-old locked in caged area reportedly filled with urine and feces

    CARROLLTON, Ky. (TCN) — Police recently arrested five people after finding a naked toddler locked in a home this week.

    According to the Carrolton Police Department, authorities responded to a residence on 7th Street, where they found a boy under the age of 3 “locked behind a wooden and metal enclosure that was secured with a padlock.” Police executed a search warrant on the property.

    Court documents reviewed by WDRB-TV allege police observed urine and feces in the area where the boy was in. Officers said family services removed two children from the home.

    Upon further investigation, authorities arrested and charged five people, 71-year-old Brenda Chilton, 72-year-old William Mahoney, 29-year-old Codey Johnson, 52-year-old Tammy Simmons, and 28-year-old Shelby Turocy.

    The five suspects each face charges of first-degree criminal abuse and first-degree wanton endangerment, while Turocy also faces charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana.

    Police did not disclose the relationship between the children and the suspects.

    MORE:

    • News Release – Carrollton Police Department
    • 5 northern Kentucky people charged with abuse after 2-year-old boy found locked in ‘caged area’ – WDRB

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  • S.C. parents, son convicted of killing daughter who 'showed extreme signs of disintegration'

    SPARTANBURG, S.C. (TCN) — A jury found a married couple and their 21-year-old son guilty of multiple charges related to the death of a 14-year-old girl with special needs who was “left to rot to death” in a dirty home filled with trash and insects.

    The 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office announced in a statement that David Baynard, 55, Bobbie Jo Baynard, 45, and Edward Baynard, 21, were all convicted of murder, felony child abuse, and unlawful neglect of a child in connection with Heather Baynard’s death. As a result of the convictions, a judge sentenced Bobbie Jo Baynard and David Baynard to life in prison for murder, 20 years for child abuse, and 10 for child neglect. The terms will run consecutively. Edward Baynard received 30 years for murder, 20 for child abuse, and 10 for child neglect, which he will serve concurrently.

    According to the solicitor’s office, on April 11, 2022, David Baynard took his daughter to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center and carried her in “like a sack of potatoes.” The 14-year-old was reportedly “listless and unresponsive” with gray, cold skin that “showed extreme signs of disintegration.” Neither David Baynard nor Bobbie Jo Baynard “showed any emotion or urgency when bringing their child to the hospital that night.” David Baynard reportedly sat on his phone in the waiting room while his daughter was with the doctor. Heather Baynard died that night.

    Edward Baynard reportedly worked as his sister’s home health aide and even got over $25,000 for that job.

    Investigators went to the Baynard residence on April 12, 2022, and reportedly “found junk piled multiple feet high in the home.” The floors were covered in animal feces and insects lived in the trash that had been strewn around the home. Police officers needed to wear respirators and safety suits when they went inside.

    The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said Officials also found multiple animals suffering from extreme neglect.

    According to the warrants, Heather Baynard’s parents continuously canceled or rescheduled her doctors’ appointments “despite the protests of physicians.” She had not seen a doctor since fall 2021. The warrant described the home as being in “deplorable condition.” Heather Baynard reportedly slept in a crib.

    At their trial, Heather Baynard’s doctor and the local coroner testified that they “had never seen anything like Heather’s horrible condition during the entirety of their careers.” They said Heather Baynard’s skin “broke down” because she was left in feces and urine. One person said Heather Baynard’s legs “looked like raw meat.”

    The statement said another person testified at the trial that Heather Baynard “would have been better off if she had been killed swiftly instead of suffering through the abuse she was forced to live with every day.”

    Solicitor Barry Barnette said after the trial, “Nobody in the world — especially a child with special needs — should have to go through anything like this. It was horrible. Heather was left to rot to death.”

    MORE:

    • Gaffney Couple and Son Found Guilty for the Murder of Special Needs Daughter – 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office
    • SLED Charges Cherokee County Parents and Son in Death of Child, Son Also Facing Ill Treatment of Animal Charges, 8/9/2022 – South Carolina Law Enforcement Division

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  • Pennsylvania man allegedly killed his girlfriend with hammer

    PERKIOMEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (TCN) — A 46-year-old man stands accused of killing his girlfriend in their shared home by allegedly hitting her on the head with a hammer.

    According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, in the early hours of Nov. 2, Pennsylvania State Police responded to an apartment to a report of a deceased female. Troopers located 34-year-old Jessica Zipkin dead at the scene with a “fatal wound to the back of her head.”

    Prosecutors said authorities recovered a hammer near the victim’s body. An autopsy determined Zipkin died of blunt force trauma to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide.

    On Nov. 2, the district attorney’s office announced that Zipkin’s boyfriend, William Carey, was arrested on suspicion of her death and faces charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime.

    Carey appeared in court for his arraignment on Nov. 2 and was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail. He is set to appear in court again for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 13.

    MORE:

    • District Attorney and PSP Announce Homicide Arrest in Perkiomen Township – Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office

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