In this episode of True Crime News: Jeff German was a dogged investigative reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal who wrote an exposé about alleged misconduct in public administrator Robert Telles’ office. German was found stabbed to death outside of his home not long after the report came out. Plus, Marilyn Stanley’s life and body were forever changed when she started dating Zachary Gross.
OGDEN, Utah (TCN) — Police arrested a 21-year-old man who allegedly ran over a 63-year-old man cleaning a parking lot, then washed his car and fled.
According to the Ogden Police Department, on Oct. 30 at 5:11 p.m., officers received a call about an unconscious male in a parking lot and found the victim deceased. Police learned the victim, Stirling Kelso, had been struck while cleaning the lot even though he didn’t work there. The suspect left the area before police arrived.
Officers identified the suspect as Christian Palma and booked him on charges of hit and run — leaving the scene of an accident, driving without a license, and failure to maintain a safe and proper lookout.
KSL.com reports Palma told police that after hitting Kelso, he moved his car and started washing it “just feet from the victim.” Palma said he “was scared and didn’t know what to do.”
A witness reportedly spoke to Palma after the incident, but he claimed he did not know what happened. Investigators, however, found Palma’s car and noted it had damage to the bumper and undercarriage that was “consistent with an auto vs. pedestrian collision.” Palma reportedly does not have a driver’s license. He allegedly used a fake U.S. permanent resident card, and police said he “appears to be here illegally from Mexico.”
Kelso’s obituary described him as a “beloved member of our community” with a “friendly disposition and helpful nature.”
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PHOENIX (TCN) — A 48-year-old man will spend more than three decades behind bars after a missing man’s dismembered remains were found in his car nearly two years ago.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced Nov. 4 that John Cole pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of abandonment or concealment of a dead body in connection with the death of Antoine Smith. Cole will serve 31 years in prison.
Smith reportedly disappeared and was reported missing in 2022. Smith allegedly sent concerning text messages to his friends, claiming Cole had kidnapped him and shared his location. According to KTVK/KPHO-TV, Cole abducted Smith to collect a debt owed by one of his roommates.
Smith’s other roommate reportedly told Phoenix Police Cole called him and told him he planned to kill Smith if he didn’t get the money. Police tracked Smith’s phone from Phoenix to Tucson, where authorities searched Cole’s home and found “suspicious items, including cleaning supplies and a bloodstained shovel.”
According to the attorney’s office, investigators also tracked Cole’s phone near the Arizona-California border, where they took him into custody. Authorities located Smith’s dismembered body in the trunk of the vehicle.
Following his arrest, Cole reportedly claimed self-defense, telling police Smith attacked him when they stopped to use a restroom. Cole allegedly said he fatally strangled Smith before bringing his body to his residence and purchasing supplies to clean and dismember the victim.
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LENEXA, Kan. (TCN) — A 53-year-old man is facing murder charges for allegedly killing his wife and son during a lengthy standoff with police.
On Friday, Nov. 1, at 8:20 p.m., Lenexa Police Department officers responded to a home on the 7900 block of Hallet Street regarding an armed disturbance and heard gunshots from inside the residence. Officers made contact with Todd Donovan, the man suspected of firing his gun, but he “refused to comply with officers’ requests to come outside peacefully.” The Lenexa Tactical Team and other crisis negotiators arrived and communicated with Donovan for two hours. Donovan reportedly stopped speaking with them after that time.
According to Lenexa Police, tactical team members entered the home at 1:50 a.m. and took Donovan into custody, then transported him to a hospital for a possible overdose. Inside, police located 52-year-old Sheila Donovan and 22-year-old Tyler Donovan deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. Police also found out that Todd Donovan allegedly fatally shot his neighbor’s dog around the same time the call came in.
The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office is charging Todd Donovan with two counts of capital murder and one count of cruelty to animals.
WDAF-TV reports the district attorney could seek the death penalty against Donovan.
District Attorney Steve Howe told WDAF, “Because two individuals’ lives were taken, it does make this eligible for a capital murder case. That’s something that we don’t take lightly and it’s something that will take a considerable period of time working with the Lenexa Police Department before we ultimately make that decision.”
A judge set Donovan’s bond at $2 million.
Donovan and his family reportedly did not have any past history of domestic violence. Police did not reveal any details about a possible motive.
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HOUSTON (TCN) — A 21-year-old woman is in custody for allegedly trying to sell her unborn child in a Facebook group to “the highest bidder” because she did not want him going into foster care.
According to court documents, on Sept. 21, Juniper Bryson reached out to Jenna Daigle, whose late husband was Bryson’s second cousin. Bryson asked if Daigle knew anyone who wanted to adopt her unborn son. Daigle reportedly asked if Bryson wanted to keep the son in the family rather than going to a separate adoption agency, but Bryson said, “He will be positive. I can’t keep him at no point.”
Daigle asked if Bryson implied that she was positive for drugs.
That same day, Daigle reportedly posted on Facebook asking if any of her online friends wanted to take the baby. Some of Daigle’s friends reportedly messaged her and asked if the adoption was “legitimate.”
Daigle sent Bryson a screenshot of one of the inquiries, and Bryson reportedly responded, “Yeah it’s legitimate but there [sic] at some point gonna have to compensate. I’m not asking anything at all up front.”
Daigle asked, “What do you mean compensate? Like pay you $ for the baby?” to which Bryson replied, “Yes that why there [sic] thinking it’s a scam because there is an agreement half up front and half later but I’m not asking for anything until they have the baby. It’s a different kind of adoption.”
Daigle told her that was illegal, but Bryson claimed it was surrogacy. “You sound crazy,” she told Daigle.
Bryson said she wanted enough move “to move into an apartment so I can work a job” and get money for a car.
The affidavit says Bryson was a member of the Facebook group “Birth Mothers Looking for Adoptive Parent(s)” and posted on Sept. 22 that she was in Houston but willing to travel elsewhere for the adoption. She wrote, “I do have a lot of pain and am contracting so it needs to be soon.”
On Sept. 26, Daigle shared on Facebook that she “had no intention of helping [Bryson] sell her baby.”
Daigle later told investigators that she did not initially know Bryson’s “true intentions, which were to sell her baby.”
Bryson gave birth on Sept. 24 and was at a Houston-area hospital “while she awaits for the highest bidder.”
Daigle provided police with the name and number of a woman, Wendy Williams, who was at the hospital with Bryson because she wanted to adopt the baby boy.
The woman told police she has a license to foster and adopt children, and she had a “lengthy conversation through Facebook Messenger” with Bryson.
According to the affidavit, Bryson refused to sign documentation about the birth until the hospital tested the newborn for drugs. The results came back positive. Bryson posted about the adoption on Facebook and tagged Williams, but then several people messaged Williams asking, “Did you buy her baby?” Williams provided screenshots and other messages to nurses, who contacted Child Protective Services.
Bryson made Williams leave the room and refused to allow her access to her son. Williams told police she “could not understand what was going on but stated that after viewing Defendant Bryson’s phone she learned that Defendant Bryson was waiting for the highest bidder in exchange for her son.”
Investigators obtained a warrant to look through Bryson’s two phones and found messages to other hopeful couples about adopting the baby. One couple sent Bryson $25 via Apple Pay to cover food delivery. They drove from Louisiana to adopt the child, but Bryson reportedly began ignoring their texts.
Police shared six other messages from people asking about adopting the boy, and in all of them, Bryson asked if they were “willing to compensate.”
Harris County Jail records show Bryson was arrested on a charge of sale or purchase of child.
KTRK-TV spoke with Williams, who said she stayed in the hospital with Bryson for three days. Williams and her husband reportedly named the baby and even had notarized documents giving them the rights to make legal decisions for the child.
Williams told the station, “It was very heartbreaking, not just because we didn’t get a baby out of this, because I think his safety is definitely above all.”
The boy is reportedly in the custody of Bryson’s friend.
Williams shared, “I felt a real bond between a mom and a baby. I felt a connection as if he were biologically mine.”
You can read Bryson’s full criminal complaint at the link above.
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UINTAH COUNTY, Utah (TCN) — Investigators recently identified a second suspect in the death of an Army soldier nearly 52 years ago.
According to the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, on Nov. 26, 1972, a man knocked on 21-year-old Gregory Nickell’s car window as he and his 18-year-old date were parked at a scenic overlook. Nickell had recently been discharged from the Army.
Nickell rolled down his window, and the man reportedly told him there had been a car crash and asked him to drive to Vernal to report it. Deputies said Nickell turned from the window and the man allegedly shot him before firing at least three more times into his body.
Investigators allege the man pushed Nickell onto his date in the passenger seat and then got into the car and drove away. The woman in the vehicle reportedly told authorities the man aimed a gun at her head as he drove. Another suspect in a separate care reportedly pulled up behind them and then pulled around them. The woman called them “Tex” and “Johnny” during interviews.
In a recent news release from the sheriff’s office, officials said Nickell’s vehicle was set on fire with his body inside. The suspects then allegedly left the area and drove around with the woman for several hours. They each allegedly raped the woman and left her on the side of a highway. The woman made it to a nearby house to call law enforcement and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.
According to the sheriff’s office, the woman said the men covered her head during the incident, so she wasn’t able to provide a detailed description of the suspects, and the case went cold.
In January 2020, investigators submitted evidence for testing and found two male DNA profiles. In September 2020, the sheriff’s office said one of the DNA profiles matched Daniel Bell, who died in March 2019 in Washington. He had previously been convicted of rape in Oregon in 1988 and was paroled in 1999 before moving to Washington state.
The sheriff’s office announced Nov. 1 that they identified the second suspect as 74-year-old Darrel Choate. Authorities issued a warrant for him on a charge of murder.
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On this episode of True Crime News: Jamie Dickerson refused to believe how the coroner classified her daughter April Holt’s death, so she started investigating on her own and ended up solving the case. Plus, Daniel Wozniak, a community theater member, couldn’t act his way out of getting caught for the violent and gruesome murders of Army vet Steve Herr and Herr’s friend Julie Kibuishi.
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LANDOVER, Md. (TCN) — A woman has been convicted of killing and dismembering her 71-year-old mother after an argument they had over fraudulent credit card charges.
The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Nov. 1 that a jury found Candace Craig guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and disposing of a body in an unauthorized place in connection with the death of her mother, Margaret Craig.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said the case “rocked this entire region.”
According to an initial press release from the Prince George’s County Police Department, on June 2, officers responded to a home after a worried individual reported that they had not spoken with Margaret Craig for several days. Police made contact with Craig’s daughter, Candace Craig, at the scene, and she allowed them to search the residence.
Law enforcement officials reportedly went into the basement and “immediately smelled the odor of decomposition.”
Braveboy said Candace Craig “senselessly killed” her own mother, and according to WRC-TV, she used a chain saw to dismember her body.
Charging documents reviewed by WRC allege Candace Craig’s 19-year-old daughter, Salia Hardy, found the victim’s remains in a blue bin in her bedroom. Candace Craig and Hardy allegedly tried to burn Margaret Craig’s remains on a barbecue grill and used seasoning to mask the smell. Hardy reportedly told investigators Margaret Criag threatened to report Candace Craig for fraudulent use of her credit card, leading to the fatal attack.
The state’s attorney said the defendant’s “actions seemed very intentional.”
In a statement, Braveboy said, “It was insulting for this 71-year-old woman, who was a hardworking woman collecting Social Security, collecting a pension, she was someone who worked hard all her life. She was providing for her grown daughter who was living with her, her grandchildren, and she even allowed her daughter’s boyfriend to live in the home.”
Earlier this year, Hardy reportedly pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the murder after the fact.
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This Week on True Crime News The Podcast: Owen Skyler Shover killed his classmate and former friend, Aranda Briones, and disposed of her body as payback for an incident that got them both expelled. Plus, a pet squirrel and media sensation seized and euthanized by New York state officials.
Luis Bolaños joins host Ana Garcia.
YouTube: Teen murdered in cold-blooded revenge killing by classmate a judge called ‘the face of pure evil’
The U.S. military’s health insurance plan is discriminatory and violates Equal Protection rights under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution by failing to cover costly gender transition surgeries, an Obama-appointed federal judge ruled days ago. Two transgender women sued the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Defense Health Agency, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the agency’s Tricare Health Plan over a provision that bans surgical coverage of procedures that improve physical appearance without a significant restoration of functions, including “sex gender changes.” The biological males, who want to be female, claim in their lawsuit that denying coverage of medically necessary gender transition surgeries violates their Constitutional Equal Protection rights, a guarantee that requires the government “to treat alike all persons similarly situated.”
In court documents the plaintiffs are identified as Jane Doe and Susan Roe and they receive health insurance through Tricare as dependents of former servicemembers. The health plan covers more than 9.6 million active-duty servicemembers, retirees, and their families providing services at military hospitals and clinics around the world as well as a civilian network of providers. Tricare offers transgender patients services that include hormone therapy and psychological counseling for gender dysphoria, which is identified as “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.” However, it does not cover surgery for the treatment of gender dysphoria, the insurance plan’s website states, adding that active-duty service members may request a waiver for “medically necessary gender affirming surgery.”
The transgender plaintiffs in this case have both received at least one surgery to treat gender dysphoria and say they will need more surgeries in the future. One has been enrolled in Tricare since 2002 and the other since 2023 and both “were assigned male at birth and have female gender identities,” according to the recently issued ruling. Neither procedure was paid for by Tricare, but the men took legal action to get the military insurance to cover future surgeries by claiming its policy discriminates based on sex and transgender status. An Obama-appointed federal judge in Maine, Nancy Torresen, agreed, writing in her decision that the exclusion violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause because it “expressly excludes sex gender changes from Tricare coverage.” Furthermore, Judge Torresen writes that gender transition surgery is not “cosmetic,” but rather “medically necessary” because the goal is to effectively treat a serious medical condition not enhance beauty or appearance. “In other words, surgery treats gender dysphoria by addressing the incongruence between a transgender person’s anatomy and their immutable brain-based gender identity,” according to the judge.
The 28-page ruling provides detailed information about gender identity and dysphoria and cites standards of care issued by an international nonprofit, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), considered to be an authority on the issue. The misalignment between gender identity and birth sex, known as “gender incongruence,” means a transgender person feels “wrongly embodied” due to their anatomy, the ruling explains, adding that it may be medically necessary for the health and wellbeing of some transgender people to take steps to live consistently with their gender identity. “If untreated, gender incongruence may lead to gender dysphoria, which can be a serious medical condition,” Torresen’s ruling states. The judge also writes that WPATH considers medically necessary treatment for people with gender dysphoria to range from hormone therapies to surgical procedures that include chest reconstruction, facial feminization, and genital reconstruction. Torresen points out that the same procedures also treat conditions other than gender dysphoria. “For example, mastectomies, hysterectomies, salpingo-oophorectomies, and orchiectomies can treat cancer, and genital reconstruction may be performed after removing a patient’s genitalia due to cancer, injury, or infection,” she writes.