Neil Wallis, the former News of the World executive editor, has become the ninth person to be arrested over alleged phone hacking and payments to police officers by the paper.

Detectives from Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan police investigation into mobile interceptions by News International, are understood to have raided an address in west London on Thursday.

Wallis was taken for questioning at a local police station on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

He is the ninth arrest Scotland Yard has made since the fresh investigation into phone hacking was launched in January.

A Scotland Yard statement confirmed the arrest was carried out at 6.30am. "The man is currently in custody at a west London police station," the Met said. "It would be inappropriate to discuss any further details at this time."

Wallis joined the News of the World from the People in 2003 as deputy to then editor Andy Coulson. In mid-2007 he became executive editor and left the News International title in 2009. He is now a senior consultant at PR firm Outside Organisation.

Coulson and former NoW royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed in January 2007 for intercepting the voicemail messages of members of the royal household, were arrested and bailed on Friday as part of Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden, the separate Scotland Yard investigation into alleged illegal payments to police officers.

Coulson resigned as NoW editor in January 2007 after Goodman was jailed, saying he accepted responsibility. He has always maintained that he was unaware of phone hacking at the paper.

On the same day a 63-year-old man, who has not been named, was arrested and bailed as part of the phone hacking and police payments investigations.

The others arrested and bailed as part of Operation Weeting are Laura Elston, Press Association's royal correspondent, freelance journalist Terenia Taras, senior News of the World journalists James Weatherup and Neville Thurlbeck, and former NoW assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson.

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The broker, the bank and the £3m con

Broker who stole homeowners’ identities in an attempt to defraud banks out of £3 million has been jailed for five years.

Financial advisor Feruza Mettrick, 33, plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud lending institutions of more than £500,000 during a hearing at Leeds Crown Court.

Mettrick’s double con involved using fake documents and utility bills so that she could rent properties and apply for loans from financial institutions.

She used her extensive knowledge of mortgage applications in order to act as if she was the real owner of the properties she targeted.

Helped by two men, she attempted to convince banks and building societies to give her cash advances for mortgages and loans.

The court heard how Mettrick, who managed to defraud banks and building societies successfully of £515,900, attempted to steal up to a total of £3 million from financial institutions, reports the Yorkshire Post.

Via letting agents, Ms Mettrick reportedly targeted properties that had no outstanding loans or borrowing against them.

Judge James Spencer said of Merrick: “She is a conman. I don’t accept anything she says.”

Targeting homes in Leeds, Harrogate and Batley, Merrick made attempts to sell properties without the actual owners’ knowledge.

In one of her deceptions, 33-year old Mettrick even took on the identity of a 67-year-old woman who owned a large detached bungalow on Chelmsford Road, Harrogate in order to gain a £120,000 home improvement loan.

Mettrick was arrested at the Harrogate branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in September last year, wearing a wig and glasses disguise.

Prosecutor Nick Worsley said: “This is sophisticated, repeated and professional offending by a defendant adept at using disguise and subterfuge.”

He revealed that her failed attempts to secure funds through mortgage loans exposed financial institutions to potential losses of £2,459,250.

After her initial arrest, Mettrick refused to co-operate with the police or comment on the charges she faced, but later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

She now faces a proceeds of crime investigation.

 

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Ex-EastEnders star Billy Murray will not face trial over assault allegations.

The 69-year-old actor was arrested in April, accused of beating his wife Elaine and daughter Lizzie "during a boozy late-night family row" at their Essex penthouse.

However, The Mirror reports that the Crown Prosecution Service has said that no further action will be taken.

A spokesman confirmed: "We can confirm that the case has been discontinued and no further action will be taken."

Murray, who also appears in advertisements for Injury Lawyers 4 U, had apparently put his career on hold following the arrest.

The London-born actor appeared as gangster Johnny Allen in EastEnders from January 2005 to October 2006. He had previously starred in axed ITV police drama The Bill as the corrupt DS Don Beech.

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Iconic Mexican bar is oasis in crime central

Al Capone came across the border to Mexico during Prohibition for a tipple here as he stocked up on booze. Stars like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and a young Ronald Reagan have also sat at the bar for a drink.
The Kentucky Club & Grill in Ciudad Juarez, a stone's throw from the Santa Fe bridge to the United States, remains an oasis of calm in a city considered the most dangerous on the planet outside established war zones.
The bar has survived the crossfire of unprecedented levels of violence involving Mexican drug cartels that killed 3,100 people in 2010 alone and created a warlike atmosphere in the city of 1.2 million people.
While some establishments have closed due to the drug war, the Kentucky -- which claims to be the birthplace of the margarita cocktail -- has so far held on.
It opened in 1920 on Avenida Juarez when the US introduced the prohibition of alcohol, an era that lasted until 1933 and prompted a surge of bootlegging and related violence.
"The bar highlights that the prohibition of any substance is a failure, and simply shifts the problem," said Rutilio Garcia, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Juarez and a local historian.
Those in search of a legal drink of tequila or whiskey had an easy time crossing the border from El Paso, Texas and traveling the 600 meters (yards) to the Kentucky.
This flow of people turned the border city into a glamorous Roaring 20s destination with casinos, nightclubs and led to a train line connecting Juarez with California.
The prohibition of alcohol in the United States led some distilleries to relocate in the Ciudad Juarez region, which at the time became the world's largest producer of bourbon, a whiskey made primarily from corn.
Local lore holds that Capone crossed the bridge from El Paso to negotiate deals for liquor, and before returning sat with his men for a drink at the Kentucky.
Garcia said this "is just a legend," and that the last person who could personally vouch for the visits, a retired bar waiter, died a decade ago.
Ronald Reagan visited in the 1960s when he was still a young actor, years before he switched to politics and became US president. Jim Morrison, the lead singer for The Doors, was also among the numerous celebrities who dropped in.
Now, the spacious wood-paneled bar is lucky to get any tourists let alone celebrities.
"The visitors don't come like they used to. People are afraid," said Luis Chavez, whose job is to protect cars for the bar customers.
The bar owners say they have avoided paying protection money to extortion gangs like Los Aztecas and others that keep the city gripped by fear.
Yet with much of Mexico reeling from the violence since the government declared war on the drug cartels in 2006, people still have a place to relax and can get the bartender to shake a margarita or pour a cold beer.
"Whiskey is best, beer only masks the thirst," said one customer while lifting his glass.

 

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Wife and baby murderer Neil Entwistle appeals against his convictions in US court

BRITISH man serving life in the US for shooting dead his wife and baby daughter is seeking a retrial.

Neil Entwistle, 32, claims evidence taken from his home by police was seized illegally and the jury may have been biased due to intense media coverage.

He was jailed in 2008 for the murders of American Rachel, 27, and nine-month-old Lillian Rose in 2006 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.


In his appeal at the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, his lawyer Stephen Maidman argued: “Two warrantless entries violated the federal and state constitutions.”

But prosecutors said police were justified in entering the home in response to the pleas of worried relatives. Officers found the bodies during their second search.

District attorney Gerry Leone said at the hearing it was “a fair and just trial”.

IT consultant Entwistle, from Worksop, Notts, fled to Britain after the murders.

 

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Looking for answers, Casey Anthony's father bought gun

The father of accused child killer Casey Anthony sobbed on the witness stand on Wednesday as he testified that he bought a gun in August 2008 and planned to force his daughter's friends at gunpoint to tell him what happened to his then-missing granddaughter.

George Anthony, called back to the witness stand by the defense, also said he tried to commit suicide in January 2009, a month after 2-year-old Caylee's skeletal remains were found.

"It just felt like the right time to go and be with Caylee," he told jurors in the sixth week of the highly publicized first-degree murder trial in Orlando.

Prosecutors say Casey, 25, smothered her young daughter with duct tape on June 16, 2008 so she could "live the good life" free of the demands of motherhood. They say Casey stored the child's body in her car trunk, then dumped it in woods near her home.

When Casey's mother reported the child missing a month later, Casey claimed Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton told Judge Belvin Perry that George's testimony rebutted the defense contention that George was somehow complicit in Caylee's disappearance.

"This man had no idea who killed Caylee Marie Anthony," Ashton said.

Defense attorney Jose Baez said at the start of the trial that Caylee accidentally drowned in the Anthony family's backyard pool. He said George found her body, but the death went unreported.

Baez also claimed that George had sexually abused Casey starting at age 8. George has denied any sexual abuse or involvement in Caylee's death.

As her father broke down on the stand, Casey continued to write in a legal pad and whispered to her lawyers.

NEVER USED GUN

George said he never used the gun he bought. At the time he purchased it, Casey was under house arrest after being charged with lying to detectives during their investigation into Caylee's disappearance.

Within hours of bringing the gun home, someone from the jail arrived to tell him the weapon violated the terms of Casey's house arrest and took the gun away, George said.

He said his intent was to force answers from Casey's friends and associates, whom he did not name.

"I wanted to get answers from people that I believed were involved with my granddaughter (being) missing," he said.

George testified he continued to believe Casey's account of a kidnapping even after Caylee's remains were found in woods near their home on December 11, 2008.

George said he checked into a motel in Daytona Beach on January 22, 2009 with prescription pills and beer. He found it hard to accept that Caylee was dead, he said.

He described calling some relatives one last time and writing a multiple-page suicide note for his wife, telling her, "how I didn't want to be in this world anymore".

George said he would have died if law enforcement hadn't found him and taken him to the hospital.

Ashton told Perry he intends to introduce George's suicide letter into evidence, but the judge said he hadn't yet decided whether to allow jurors to read it.

Baez tried to stop George's testimony about the gun and suicide letter from being heard by the jury. Perry acknowledged that the testimony and letter normally would not be allowed, but ruled that prosecutors could ask George about his state of mind because Baez had "opened the door."

Earlier on Wednesday, Baez brought up the suicide letter and asked George: "You expressed some guilt, did you not?"

 

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On The Run In Amsterdam

Our cabbie pointed out a canal bridge as we trundled through the narrow streets of Amsterdam.
"Under there," he said, "they used to put prisoners in cells and leave them to be eaten by rats."
The nine British fugitives the cops are hunting in Holland will be spared that fate, but the Dutch police don't mess about.
They gave us some footage which shows the arrest of a British robber suspect a few months ago and it shows a paramiltary squad storming the guy's hideout with machine guns.
That's just after they've blown his door in with explosives.
Amsterdam may be on its way to becoming the new Costa del Crime - and the weather this week certainly rivals Spain - but the Dutch cops are not slow in responding to appeals for help from Crimestoppers and our own Serious Organised Crime Agency.
In the past three years, 83 British fugitives have been arrested in Holland, most of them in the Amsterdam area.
Spain and Holland are the big drugs gateways into Europe (and so the UK) and I guess even a criminal on the run needs to keep his hand in.

UK criminal element have probably participated in the soft drug, marijuanha cafe scene that abounds your thinking about keeping their hand in as major drug dealers would appear gross speculation Martin. The local "aannemers" [entrepreneurs] together with the chinese mafia have it all stitched up and I am sure would react to any outside interference.
That said the majority of major or minor criminals that arrive can easily blend into a very cosmopolitan folk. English spoken everywhere [most TV is English with subtitles for the locals which means from 12 years of age, most can speak it] and a large immigrant population would benefit the UK's foreign trash that escapes there. [Don't recognise any of them pictured but am seldom now in Amsterdam]
Sad to think that you will be getting them back, but with Amsterdam prisons today resembling 5 * hotels for the inmates, they might eventually receive their due sentences.

 

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Stewart "Specky" Boyd, who is suspected of ordering the deaths of at least nine people.

Boyd, 40, died in a suspicious car fireball smash with five other people in Marbella, Spain, in 2003 when the Audi TT he was driving crashed with a BMW being driven in the opposite direction.



The mobster had flooded the south side of Glasgow with heroin and is believed to have been forging links with the Russian mafia based on the Costa del Sol prior to his death.

MacKintosh said: "Stewart was a pal of mine. I liked him and got on well with him, despite what people say and how things turned out.

"He was one of the gamest guys I ever knew. He never had any fear.

"He was a clever guy, quite likeable, but has been made out as this ruthless killer.

"He ran a really tight crew, one of the top mobs in Scotland, and he knew how to operate.

"The thing with Boyd's time is that a lot of people around him were being killed.

"But I was an associate of Stewart's so I never had any reason to fall out with him. He was always all right with me."

He added that he believes Boyd's death was an accident and not, as some in gangland would say, the result of an underworld hit. MacKintosh said: "I don't believe there was anything sinister behind Stewart's death in that car crash.

"I believe it was simply a tragic accident that led to the deaths of six people.

"One thing is for sure, Stewart was well on his way to becoming a wealthy man when he was killed in that car crash."

Underworld sources have revealed that when Specky died, a lot of his money remained hidden away, forcing a desperate gangland struggle to find his lost stash.

MacKintosh said: "One thing that has led to an incredible lot of hassle is that Stewart's money never showed up.

"This has led to a lot of trouble. I don't how much he had planked away. I don't know where it is.

"But people have been trying hard to find it."


MACKINTOSH struck up an alliance with Ian "Blink" McDonald when the rising enforcer pleaded with him for a spot on a prison football team.

McDonald approached him at Barlinnie in 1985. MacKintosh said: "I met Ian because he was after a place in the football team.

"He came up to me because he knew I was a good player. I pretty much decided who got a start. But he was rubbish at football."

He joked: "In fact, even now he is still s***e at football. But it didn't stop us becoming good mates and we have been friends since.
"Ian was there for me recently after I was attacked. He's been through a lot himself, he survived attempts on his life and came through it all. He knows how to handle it." Convicted armed robber McDonald was targeted three times in May 2009.

First a bomb was planted under his black Mercedes motor, then days later he was battered and slashed in an attack close to his mother's home in Provanmill, Glasgow. Thugs then firebombed his £30,000 Mercedes, which is nicknamed the "Blink-mobile", as the gangland vendetta against him raged on.

McDonald, who served ten years of a 16-year stretch following an armed robbery at a bank in Torquay, Devon, in 1991, was also attacked by Jamie "Bull" Stevenson's enforcer David "Mincey" McKenzie, at a gangland funeral last November.

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Inside the mind of a teen killer is a scary place.

That's according to researcher and speaker Phil Chalmers, who has interviewed more than 200 teens who look just like their peers, yet each has caused the death of another human being.

Chalmers was one of three presenters at a recent two-day seminar for law enforcement and educators that focused on teen killers, school shootings and preparedness.

Teen murders peaked in 1993, when 3,800 juveniles were arrested for homicide. Today, about 1,800 teens kill every year, said Chalmers, noting the trend is not new. The first teen murder recorded dates to 1786, when a 12-year-old Connecticut girl killed a 6-year-old by strangling and beating her with a rock. The deadly assault was triggered by a dispute over strawberries.

The youngest shooter, who shot and wounded his 18-year-old babysitter for stepping on his foot, was 4 years old. Police were so incredulous the child could have committed the offense, despite his confession, they returned the gun to him to test his knowledge of loading the weapon. They were shocked the boy was able to do so.

The top triggers for teen homicide are suspension, expulsion or arrest, said Chalmers, encouraging educators to seek aid from law enforcement when disciplining students.

The first school shooting occurred in 1956, said Chalmers. The first fatal school shooting happened 10 years later.

The first female school shooter opened fire on an elementary school across the street from her San Diego home. She killed two and injured nine. When asked about her motive, the girl answered, "I hate Mondays."

Like many other teen shooters, the girl's father armed her when he gave the gun to her as a Christmas present.

The deadliest school shooting in the United States was in 1999, when two students plotted and carried out a massacre at their high school in Littleton, Colo. Thirteen died and 23 were wounded in the attack on Columbine High School.

"School shooters are no different than terrorists," said Chalmers, noting the two killers planned the attack for 18 months. It would have been much more devastating had they been able to carry out their intent to detonate a bomb in the crowded cafeteria.

Statistics aside, Chalmers said, it's important to realize the phenomenon is nothing new, teen killers are getting younger every day and "they don't look like killers."

There are six types of teen killers, according to Chalmers.

There are family killers, who murder family members, and school shooters. Gang/cult killers are motivated by an outside group. Crime killers commit murder secondary to another crime, such as burglary or rape. Baby killers take the lives of newborns and thrill killers kill just "to feel what it feels like," Chalmers said.

Chalmers also has identified 10 causes of teen murder.

A 16-year-old from Minnesota was mentally ill and suicidal when his mother made him run errands for her and his dad assigned him the chores of shoveling snow and chopping wood. Motivated by a fight with his father over a record, the boy took up the ax he'd used to chop the wood and slaughtered his mother, father, brother and sister.

Some teens, without spiritual guidance and proper discipline, feel they have nothing to live for and nothing to lose.

"Prison to a lot of kids is good," said Chalmers, noting a bed, regular meals and health care is more than they may get outside custody.

Others are fascinated with the criminal lifestyle, as was the case with two New Hampshire teens who under the guise of taking a survey, entered the home of a couple who they killed by stabbing and cutting their throats.

Peer pressure motivates some, while others are nudged into killing through a fascination with guns, bombs and knives. An Oregon teen killer, following a suspension from school, used weapons purchased for him by his father to kill his parents. Returning to his high school, he shot several students, killing two and injuring 22.

"Innocent kids are victims because the shooter was bullied by other students," said Chalmers of the 15-year-old's 1988 shooting spree.

An Ohio boy had turned to Satanism and set up an altar in his bedroom before killing his parents. He decapitated his father and, short of the strength to lift her onto nails bored into the wall, killed, but failed to crucify his mother. The teen, who initially wanted to be a priest, was determined to break all 10 commandments.

Substance abuse causes others to murder. A Tennessee boy shot and killed his principal with a gun he'd taken to school as trade for prescription drugs.

"We need to tell schools what to do," said Chalmers.

Anger, depression and suicidal tendencies are a great motivator, according to Chalmers, who said, "Every homicide is subconsciously suicide and every homicide is, in a sense, a psychological killing." Awareness to the signs of suicide -- talk about a plan, giving away prized possessions, risky behavior -- can help to prevent both suicide and homicide, he said.

Media is the catalyst that throws some over the edge, said Chalmers, who said increasingly violent media, video games and music gives kids ideas. A 14-year-old quoted a line from a Stephen King book after killing his algebra teacher and two students at his Moose Lake, Wash., high school.

"We need to tell schools what to do," said Chalmers, referencing the case of the Tennessee case that was facilitated by a teacher who, after hearing rumors the boy was armed with a gun, sent him to the office.

"We need to be the protectors of our kids," Chalmers said. "Many victims come from families that are naive."

The top causes for teen murder are an unstable family life or school bullying.

It is with the face of a 16-year-old Pearl, Miss., teen that Chalmers paints the picture of a victim-turned-killer.

Yelling, "This ends now," the boy, after beating his mother to death, entered his school with a gun and started shooting.

"I guess the world's gonna remember me now. I'm gonna get pretty famous," the boy said.

In retrospect, he, as many others, say they were seeking attention and had demonstrated previous warning signs that, if identified, could have prevented mass murder, according to Chalmers, who said cruelty to animals, a fascination with setting fires and bedwetting into adolescence are behaviors that can warn of future homicide.

Warning signs of violence also include threats of harm, violent or threatening schoolwork or artwork, a fascination with deadly weapons, obsession with violent media, journaling or blogging about thoughts, threats and plans, showing a fascination with other school shootings or violent books, the commission of petty crimes, dressing the part of a school shooter, self-abuse and implementing a drastic change in appearance.

"Keep your eyes open," Chalmers said, noting by pulling a seemingly troubled teen aside to talk may be all it takes to derail a mass murderer's plan.

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The death of a policeman gunned down during an armed robbery won't affect the Gold Coast's chances of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games

The death of a policeman gunned down during an armed robbery won't affect the Gold Coast's chances of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the evaluating committee says.

The Evaluation Commission (EC) of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) arrived on Queensland's tourist strip on Monday.

EC members will check details supplied in the bid, from the ability of state and federal bodies to provide the required level of security, to the quality of the Gold Coast's air and water, its existing and future event facilities, accommodation, transport and even food.

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But they said they won't be taking into account things like the death of detective Damian Leeding who was gunned down trying to stop an armed robbery at the Pacific Pines Tavern last month.

"It's not a major issue as far as I'm concerned," EC chair Louise Martin said.

"It's not a concern because I've read the event security documents and we've had a presentation from the top people.

"When you put (on) a major Games ... you can plan and plan and plan, but you can only do as much as required, know you've covered every part of the whole thing, and you have to trust and go with that.

"Cops get shot in other countries as well, and I'm quite sure your police force and security people will have it well under control."

CGF Chief Executive Mike Hooper agreed the commission would not give weight to the incident.

"It's a one-off criminal offence and while it's shocking and tragic, clearly in the context of delivering a safe and secure environment for the Games, we're comforted by the guarantees we've been given by the federal government of Australia and the state government of Queensland."

Premier Anna Bligh said everyone remembers what the Commonwealth Games did for the city of Brisbane, and the opportunity to do the same for the Gold Coast is a chance her government doesn't want to miss.

"This is an opportunity not only for jobs in construction, but it's another chance to put the Gold Coast on the international radar," she said.

"It is a great sporting event and we want the Gold Coast to be leading it."

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Druggist Vinoda Kudchadkar collapses after arriving at his store to find four people slain by this savage killer, who was caught on surveillance

coldblooded robber fatally gunned down two terrified customers and two employees at a Long Island mom-and-pop drugstore yesterday in a chilling morning bloodbath.

The gaunt, glowering gunman stole prescription drugs from the pharmacy and then fled on foot toting a backpack, surveillance video shows.

He was still at large early this morning.

"This is a vicious, horrible crime," said Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone. "Right now, our primary interest is apprehending the individual . . . involved."


Mercilessly gunned down in the shocking siege were Haven Pharmacy druggist Raymond Ferguson, 45, of Centereach; cashier Jennifer Mejia, 17, of East Patchogue, and customers Bryon Sheffield, 71, of Medford, and Jamie Taccetta, 33, of Farmingville.

Mejia's slaying devastated her relatives, who described her as devoted to her family, friends and church.

The perky teen was excited about her upcoming prom, on Wednesday, and her high-school graduation, on Thursday, grieving relatives said.

Her sister Leslie also had been scheduled to work at the pharmacy, but opted not to work on Father's Day, her family said.

"[Jennifer] was not only beautiful physically but also in her heart," said the slain girl's shattered dad, Rene. "She was a nice, quiet family girl who went to church and worked hard in school . . . It's very hard for us."

A neighbor of Ferguson described the pharmacist as "really pleasant," saying he'd gotten married about five years ago to a nurse who works in Queens, and moved to Centereach at that time.

"It's such a shame," said Rich Adell, 66. "He was a nice guy."

The tragedy unfolded at the Medford pharmacy at around 10:20 a.m., when the killer -- wearing a baseball cap, his skeletal features covered by scrubby facial hair, and his eyes hidden behind shades -- walked into the store with a handgun, apparently intent on stealing drugs, authorities said.

A police source said investigators are theorizing the assailant was an addict seeking narcotics like OxyContin.

What started out as a routine stickup suddenly turned deadly as the intruder trained his handgun on everyone in the store. He shot at least one of his victims in the head, officials said.

Mejia's friends and family set up a memorial Facebook page and flooded the site with words of condolence and sorrow.

More than 1,300 people had signed into the page by last night.

"Being at her house tonight with her family, broke my heart," wrote Claudia Barreiro. "We lost such a wonderful girl, but we gained a beautiful angel."

Another friend, Kristen Velasquez, wrote of the teen, "One of the most genuine girls I know."

"I would always come into Haven and have a chat with you," wrote another, Carly Cook. "You were so nice and so beautiful. You didn't deserve this."

A family friend, Efrain Villefane, praised the Mejias as a loving, "excellent" family, adding that the teen had three siblings.

"The kids don't go anywhere without the parents. They were brought up to never drink and to never smoke," he said.

Another relative said Mejia's mom, a native of El Salvador, was inconsolable.

"Her mother is crying her eyes out -- she's devastated," the relative said.

Suffolk cops were alerted to the chaos after receiving a 911 call from Taccetta's boyfriend, James Manzella. He said she entered the store and didn't come out as he waited for her in a car in the parking lot.

Manzella then went in to check on her and discovered the carnage.

Police launched a massive manhunt for the killer and had K-9 units canvassing nearby blocks.

"We are dedicating a great number of resources," Chief Varrone said. "Certainly, a crime of this magnitude, where four people are shot, is very unusual."

The pharmacy's owner, Vinoda Kudchadkar, showed up to his store with his wife after the murders and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital.

"He came here and fainted from the shock," said a friend, John Ramirez, who added that Kudchadkar has owned the pharmacy for many years. "They're his employees and his patients."

The pharmacy is located in a medical park roughly one block from the Tremont Elementary School.

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UK is creating a National Crime Agency, similar to the American FBI.

UK is creating a National Crime Agency, similar to the American FBI. The new service will be coordinating the work of police and other law-enforcement organizations. British agents will start their work by dealing with the Internet.

Ordinary constables used to fight against organized crime and terrorism in the UK. Now this will be the responsibility of agents. British Home Secretary Theresa May has declared that the special agency being established in the country will stand above the police and other departments responsible for the country’s security.

At the first stage the agency will face three tasks: the struggle against organized crime, and there are about 6,000 gangs in the UK according to official data, tidying up the cyber space, and solving crimes against minors.

The Home Secretary said that the new agents will have more authority than ordinary constables, they will not have to ask for permission for their each step, like now.

First, the National Crime Agency will sort out the Internet situation and start searching for the sites of extremist and terrorist groups. No effort will be spared to block access to suspicious resources from computers belonging to schools, libraries and universities.

The government will allocate a substantial sum of 46 million pounds for the work of the agency. However, critics from law-enforcement ranks condemn the idea of creating a “British FBI”.

They say that it is ridiculous to talk about the consolidation of services responsible for order in the country and simultaneously  to carry out mass cutbacks in the number of policemen. This year, 12,000 policemen will be forced to retire. These people say that the government wants to establish an American-style agency which is out of place in the UK.

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'Psychic' call sparks huge police hunt

Texas authorities are investigating a report from a ‘psychic' who claimed up to 30 bodies, including children, were buried in a mass grave at a rural home east of Houston — but no corpses were found.
Police launched a search operation in Hardin after a caller to the Sheriff's office, claiming to be psychic, said scores of bodies had been buried at a house.
Texas Rangers arrived on Tuesday with a search warrant to allow authorities to search the home where the woman had claimed was a mass grave of dismembered bodies.
Liberty County Sheriff's Captain Rex Evans said authorities have a name and number for the caller and were working to track the person down. Asked if authorities thought the tip was a hoax, Evans said only that they found no bodies or anything to indicate a homicide had occurred there. "We are going to continue our investigation and find out how this individual had this information in the first place," he said.
County Judge Craig McNair told reporters the psychic had called the Liberty County Sheriff's Office late on Monday and Tuesday morning claiming bodies were at the scene, and deputies decided to investigate because they found what appeared to be blood on a door.
McNair also said deputies noticed an odour in the backyard but could not identify it. By Tuesday evening, deputies were milling around the house near Hardin, Texas, about 82km east of Houston, and there was even talk of FBI agents being called in.
Joe Bankson, the reported owner of the home, told the Houston Chronicle from Dallas he and his wife left on Sunday and he didn't know why police were there.
"I haven't killed anybody," he told the newspaper. "And I have a lot of friends, but I haven't helped anybody bury any bodies."
Blood on the porch
Bankson said he and his wife were long-haul truck drivers en route to Georgia. McNair confirmed the couple hadn't been at the home for at least two days and were truckers. Bankson also told Khou-TV in Houston that there was blood on the porch and in the house because his daughter's former boyfriend tried to commit suicide two weeks ago. "He got drunk and cut his wrist," Bankson said.

 

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'Open-and-shut case': Alleged thief hides in suitcase

man in Spain allegedly stuffed himself into a suitcase in order to steal valuables from other passengers' luggage on an airport shuttle bus, the BBC reports.
On Friday, a bus company employee noticed a passenger struggling to put a heavy suitcase into the luggage hold and notified authorities. The shuttle service had previously alerted police to a string of thefts aboard its buses.
Police officers noticed the suspicious suitcase was warm, so they opened it. Inside, they found the alleged thief doubled up like a contortionist and dripping with sweat. The man was also found with a head lamp, a sharp tool that police believe was used to open zippers and locks, a small bag and a cell phone. 
"Once the trip began, he would get out of the suitcase, search for valuable objects and hide them in a smaller bag he carried with him," regional Catalan police told the AFP news agency.
Police believe the alleged thief was loaded onto the bus by an accomplice, who would then retrieve him 90 minutes later when the shuttle arrived at Barcelona's Girona airport.
The two men, Krzysztof Grzegorz, 29, and Jouoastaw K, 31, were arrested, the Daily Mail reports.
"I believe this is what the British call an open-and-shut case," a police spokesman said.
And just in case you are still wondering how the purported pilferer managed to pull off the heist, the Spanish-language El Periodico newspaper posted a diagram of the bus-burglary scheme on its website.

 

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Raids on film provider in Germany, France and Spain

Police carried out coordinated raids in Germany, France and Spain Wednesday in connection with a probe into an Internet film provider suspected of breaching copyright rules, German authorities said.
Police investigating the German-language Kino.to company, used by four million customers daily, raided some 20 premises in Germany, the prosecutor's office in Dresden, southeastern Germany, said.
Thirteen people have been detained and one is still being sought, the statement said. It did not specify where the arrests had taken place.
The firm, which streams films over the Internet, is suspected of being involved with a criminal organisation and of breaching copyright laws over one million times, the prosecutor's office said.

 

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Chinese student who murdered a woman to try to cover up a road accident has been executed

Chinese student who murdered a woman to try to cover up a road accident has been executed, say state media.

Yao Jiaxin, 21, was put to death in Xian, Shaanxi province in northern China on Tuesday.

Yao is said to have stabbed 26-year-old mother Zhang Miao to death, fearing she would pursue him for compensation after he hit her with his car last October.

The case - called "odious" by the Supreme Court - sparked a debate about the morality of young people.

It caused renewed hand-wringing about the morals of the so-called "rich second generation" - the offspring of those who have prospered with China's economic expansion, say correspondents.

Yao's parents reportedly worked in China's booming defence industries.

Yao was a student at the Xian Conservatory of Music when he is said to have knocked over Zhang, a waitress, on her bicycle while driving in the city.

According to reports she suffered only minor injuries in the collision but, believing she would report him to the police, Yao stabbed her eight times with a knife and fled the scene.

'Peasant woman'
He is reported to have handed himself in to the authorities four days later, accompanied by his parents.

But that was not considered grounds for leniency when he was tried by Xian's Intermediate People's Court, which convicted and sentenced him to death on 22 April.

Yao confessed he killed Zhang because he feared the "peasant woman would be hard to deal with" over the accident, Xinhua said in an earlier report.

The high court turned down his appeal and the death sentence was later approved by the Supreme People's Court.

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Gangster sport goes mainstream in South Africa

The white BMW appears to float across the asphalt as it does a 360-degree turn, its steel ballet incongruous with the acrid smell of smoking tyres and the lunatic snarl of the engine.

The car skids perilously close to the crowd of spectators clustered behind the wall of old tyres encircling the arena.

But these fans of "spinning" - an illicit urban motor sport practised on the streets of South Africa's townships - greet what looks like a near-death experience with wild applause.

"Check out the distance! Brother, that was inch-perfect!" says an enraptured spectator after the driver, 25-year-old Sunesh Pursad, leaves the circle of pavement known as the "dance floor".

Pursad is part of a group of spinners who are trying to clean up the sport's image, taking a pastime associated with violent young men to a larger audience.

There is a stigma in South Africa attached to spinning, which was born on the streets of Soweto, the township where Johannesburg's white citizens warehoused their black labour force during apartheid.

An element of danger pervades the sport, which is essentially a collection of car tricks that the owner's manual tells you never to try, with names like "the burnout", "the snake" and "the drift".

The most revered is the "get-out stunt", where the driver sets the car spinning in circles, then gets out, walks around, busts a few dance moves - all while the empty vehicle keeps whirling - before jumping back inside.

Spinners say these performances started at the funerals of "tsotsis", or gangsters, whose fellow gang members would spin cars as a kind of memorial service.

There were a lot of funerals for young men in Soweto in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The township was a violent place, racked by bloody fighting as the death throes of white-minority rule in South Africa played themselves out on the streets of black neighbourhoods.

Car ownership was extremely rare in Soweto under apartheid. Spinners say when a gangster died, fellow gang members would steal cars and spin them at the funeral, then set them alight.

"If a gangster used to steal cars, that's how he was going to be celebrated. All your friends would come and spin. That was the culture," says Pule Motloung, a spinner and filmmaker from Soweto who has made a documentary on spinning, "Love 4 the Box Shape", and is finishing a feature film.

Recent high-profile news stories have increased public concern over a link between urban car culture and criminal activity.

Last year prominent hip-hop star Molemo Maarohanye - better known as "Jub-Jub", which means "Marshmallow" - was allegedly drag-racing with a friend in Soweto when one of their Mini-Coopers crashed into a group of school children.

Four children died and two others suffered severe injuries, including brain damage. The men are on trial for murder and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Another alleged drag-racing accident in Pretoria killed three people in April.

Motloung and other spinners are fighting to distance their sport from these illegal drag races and to create a more mainstream space for it.

Last year they successfully applied to Motor Sport South Africa, the governing body for auto sports, to sanction spinning as a code. They have since been organising licensed spinning events and sponsored competitions with prizes of up to 60,000 rand ($8,700, 6,100 euros).

"We are trying to create a new image," says Motloung, 28.

"You can be ambassadors for your community by just taking this thing and revamping it and making it a positive thing."

Crowd-pleaser Pursad says the sport has been good for young men who might otherwise have been drawn to gangs.

"The important part about it is that it's good clean fun," he says.

He thinks the sanctioning of the sport has helped curb violence in the townships.

Rather than fight in the streets, he says, "We fight it out on the dance floor."

 

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Police arrest MacBook thief caught on camera by victim

Joshua Kaufman's MacBook was stolen, he pursued the thief who took it by using the "Hidden" software he had installed on the laptop. It allowed him to check in and capture snapshots of the guy in possession of the computer, using the built-in iSight camera. Kaufman created a blog with pictures of the man in various states of undress and activity as he used the MacBook. It took more than two months, but Tuesday, the Oakland police finally arrested the suspected thief, a limo driver who they tricked into picking them up.
As Kaufman explains on Tumblr in "This Guy Has My MacBook," the laptop was taken March 21 from his Oakland apartment, while he was away from it. He reported it to the police, "but they couldn't help me due to lack of resources."
Not so the resourceful Kaufman, an "interactive designer" at ExactTarget, which provides on-demand email and one-to-one marketing. He had installed Hidden, an app that starts at $15 a year, which not only locates the missing device, but also collects photos on the other side using the computer's built-in camera, as well as screenshots of activity on Macs.
Kaufman joins the ranks of other victims who refused to let thieves make a clean getaway, who used the tracking software installed on the devices to lead them to justice. We've told you about Mark Bao, who posted a humiliating video of his violator (which Kaufman repeated, with stills), and Hugo Scheckter, who tracked down his iPad and offered a play-by-play through tweets.
He posted several pictures of the alleged thief, who seemed to spend his time in front of the computer sleeping (see photo above), in bed (shirtless), signing into his Gmail, deleting Kaufman's Mac account and "staring deliriously" (see photo below). The app even captured a picture of the thief driving away with Kaufman's computer.

 

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Police in London have made two arrests following the theft of wine valued at up to £1 million.

Thieves used forklifts to remove 400 cases of wine from premises under railway arches at Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, last weekend.
The raiders broke through a padlock on the main gates and then bent a shutter door to gain access to the warehouse. They disabled alarms and CCTV cameras.
They are believed to have used three vehicles to make off after the theft:  two white Transit-style vans and a lorry with a brown cab and blue sides. Six white men were seen with the vehicles on Saturday afternoon.
Detective Constable Ash Rossiter said: “The stolen stock is rare and valuable. We would ask anyone with information or who is offered these goods for sale to contact us as soon as possible.
“It may be the aim of those who have stolen it to try to sell it to private collectors or auction houses.”
Some of the wine stolen was owned by private investors. A £5,000 reward has been offered by one of them for the return of a "substantial" part of the stolen stock.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken to Bethnal Green police station where they remain in custody.

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Authorities in Arizona have arrested three employees of a sheriff's office known for its tough stand on illegal immigration

Authorities in Arizona have arrested three employees of a sheriff's office known for its tough stand on illegal immigration, accusing them of aiding human traffickers and drug smugglers.
A sheriff's deputy and two detention officers were among 12 people arrested in an operation Tuesday, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.
"That a deputy sheriff would provide information and associate with these drug and human traffickers is despicable," Arpaio told reporters.
Deputy Alfredo Navarrette, who had been a member of a unit targeting human smuggling, faces felony charges connected to human smuggling, money laundering and participating in a crime syndicate, Arpaio said.
"He admitted actually going to our command centers to obtain information to pass on to the drug traffickers and the smugglers," Arpaio said, noting that authorities found two illegal immigrants in Navarrette's home when they served a search warrant Tuesday morning.
The two detention officers who were arrested -- Sylvia Najera and Marcella Hernandez -- are accused of money laundering and having connections with drug-trafficking organizations. Hernandez had more than $16,000 in her purse when she was taken into custody, Arpaio said.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery praised the sheriff's office for its handling of the matter and pledged to hold the officers accountable.
"This wasn't swept under the rug. The cooperation that we received from the sheriff's office was complete and forthright," he told reporters.
"No one's above the law, and apparently no one is beyond the reach of drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico," he added.
Arpaio drew national attention and earned the nickname of "America's toughest sheriff" for his stance on illegal immigration, among other things.
Many of his prisoners are housed in tents and forced to wear pink underwear, and he once boasted of feeding them on less than a dollar a day per prisoner.
He faces a U.S. Justice Department investigation into whether his policies cracking down on illegal immigrants discriminate against Hispanics.
Earlier this month critics called for his resignation after an audit found he used nearly $100 million designated for jail funds to pay deputies' salaries.
Some activists said Tuesday's arrests are part of a public-relations ploy to clean up the sheriff's office image in the wake of such accusations.
"Now he's saying that he's cleaning out his department, but frankly, these problems have always existed inside the agency," human rights activist Lydia Guzman told CNN affiliate KTVW.

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Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of attempting to kill Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killing six others in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this year,

Mr Loughner, 22, was found by Judge Larry Burns to be “mentally incompetent” to take part in a trial and assist with his own defence, during a hearing Tucson on Wednesday.
At one point he was dragged out of the courtroom by US marshalls, after an outburst in which he shouted: “She died in front of me” and “Thank you for the freak show”.
He is charged with 49 counts relating to the shooting spree at a meet-the-voters event hosted by Miss Giffords in a supermarket carpark on January 8.
The Democratic congresswoman, 40, was shot through the head but is recovering in a rehabilitation centre. Six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge, were killed and 12 others injured.
Mr Loughner, who is described by his lawyers as a “gravely mentally ill man”, denies all the charges. He could face the death penalty if he stands trial and is convicted.

 

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Mexican police have arrested a man they suspect of being behind the murder of Juan Francisco Sicilia and six other young men in March.

Julio de Jesus Radilla, known as El Negro and an alleged drug gang leader, was detained in the state of Veracruz.

Mr Sicilia's murder prompted his father, the poet Javier Silicia, to lead anti-violence marches in Mexico.

More than 34,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since December 2006.

Mr Radilla and two other men were detained in Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz, where they had been hiding since the killings in March, officials said.

Authorities suspect Mr Radilla of being the leader of the Pacifico Sur drug cartel in the central state of Morelos.

Juan Francisco Sicilia and the other six victims were murdered near Cuernavaca in Morelos. Bearing signs of torture, their bodies were found in and around a vehicle.

Officials said Mr Radilla had no previous ties to the victims, and they had no links to the drug gang.

Most of those killed over the past four and a half years have died in confrontations between rival gangs.

But the rising violence in many parts of Mexico and the number of innocent victims have led to increasing calls for an end to the bloodshed.

Mr Sicilia blamed both the government and the criminal gangs for the violence.

In a speech in May, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the murders had shocked Mexico but he urged all Mexicans to support his government's four-year crackdown on drug cartels.

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Deputy and two women who work for America’s 'toughest sheriff' arrested for human trafficking and drug smuggling

He likes to name and shame arrestees by posting their mugshots on his website and asking the public to vote for their favourite.

But America's 'toughest sheriff' was left red-faced today when three of his own staff appeared online after being arrested in a drug and human trafficking sting.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, said a deputy and two female detention officers were among 12 people accused of being in a Phoenix-based international drug smuggling ring.

Deputy Alfredo Navarette, who was once part of the sheriff's human smuggling unit, was also accused of being part of a separate human trafficking ring.

This morning his mugshot had shot to third place on mcso.org's 'Mugshot of the Day' leader board.

One of the accused detention officers, Marcella Hernandez, revealed she is  eight-months pregnant with the child of Francisco Arce-Torres, the alleged drug ring's leader.

Court documents say Arce-Torres is also a member of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

Navarette, Hernandez, and detention officer Sylvia Najera face felony charges.

Seven other sheriff's employees were also being investigated for their possible involvement.

'We have enough violence without having moles in my own organisation that put my deputies in danger,' Arpaio said in a press conference.

'Every organisation, you're going to find some people who do wrong,' he added.  'It's human nature.'

 

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Tel Aviv lawyer indicted for ordering gangland-style hits

Gur Finkelstein indicted on 11 charges, allegedly commissioning Jaffa gang to carry out his bidding; Finkelstein allegedly attempted to murder his ex-wife's husband in attempt to gain custody of ex's 11-year-old son.
The Tel Aviv district court indicted attorney Gur Finkelstein on Thursday of 11 charges, including attempted murder, sabotage, attempted sabotage, causing damage with explosives, arson, conspiring to commit a crime and aggravated assault.

Gur Finkelstein, a lawyer who represents the Scientology Center in Israel, was arrested several weeks ago, but details of the investigation were released for publication only earlier this week.

Among the crimes Finkelstein has been linked to is the attempted murder in Haifa last November of Danny Cohen, the current husband of Finkelstein's ex-wife, in an apparent attempt to gain custody of his and his ex's 11-year-old son.

On November 21, a bomb that had been planted in Cohen's car went off, wounding Cohen and his 4-year-old daughter. According to the indictment, Finkelstein paid members of a Jaffa gang between 120 and 140 thousand NIS for assassination attempts on his ex's husband.
Finkelstein is also alleged to have commissioned a hit against Tel Aviv building inspector Shoter Hovel, after the latter had stopped work on construction for the Scientology sect that Finkelstein represented.

When Hovel came to inspect the building, he found that it exceeded its building permit by 1,000 square meters, and ordered work stopped and the excess construction demolished.

Finkelstein then allegedly commissioned Abdi Bakar and Ramzi Bakar of the same Jaffa gang to harm Hovel, offering the two 40 thousand NIS to "maim or cripple Hovel, or to cause him an injury so that he would take sick leave for a few months."

The two gang members allegedly received an initial installment of 25 thousand NIS, to prepare and execute the operation.

Hovel was not hurt in the attempted hit, and Finkelstein allegedly then paid the suspects the remaining 15 thousand NIS, after which he paid them to carry out another attack on the building inspector.

According to the indictment, Finkelstein offered the two an additional 50 thousand NIS to try and hurt Hovel again.

The indictment stated that the two Jaffa gang members purchased shirts that said "police" on them, and an electric stunner. On May 29 of last year the two allegedly stopped Hovel as he was leaving his office and attacked him. This attempt to harm the building inspector also failed, and Hovel was only lightly wounded.

Finkelstein also allegedly ordered the torching of the same Scientology building in an effort to generate new construction work, from which he was getting commissions from the building subcontractors he employed. According to the indictment he paid 60 thousand NIS to burn the building down.

The gang that carried out these assignments, most of them members of the Bakar family, is also being linked to two other murder attempts: of a senior sheikh of the Hassan Bek Mosque in Jaffa, which they allegedly planned to use to frame rightists, and of businessman Eli Shakak. Finkelstein is apparently not connected to these assassination attempts.

Exposure in March of the plot against the sheikh and the subsequent arrest of five gang members emerged as the turning point in exposing Finkelstein's alleged crimes.

Under interrogation, one of the gang members turned state's witness and described various assignments he and his relatives had carried out for Finkelstein. Police were thus able to crack several cases that had eluded them for months.

Members of Finkelstein's law firm refused to comment on the allegations. A spokeswoman for the Scientology organization said that it was too early to respond to an ongoing legal proceeding, but stressed that "neither Gur, nor any of the other suspects, are members of the Scientology organization, period."

 

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Rapists who admit their guilt could have their sentences halved under new government proposals.

Ministers say the move would spare victims the ordeal of reliving their attack by giving evidence in court.
Under existing laws, those who plead guilty to rape at the earliest opportunity can have their jail terms reduced by up to a third. The standard tariff for a rape conviction is five years.
The new plans, which could see sex attackers walk free after as little as 15 months on license, have been criticised by victims groups.
Prisons minister Crispin Blunt revealed the scheme to MPs on Tuesday.
Difficulty of prosecution should not be used as an excuse to cut sentences.
Read Sophy Ridge's blog on prison sentences for rapists
He is backed by justice minister Kenneth Clarke, who said: "It is true we are thinking of putting it up to a half.
"It makes an enormous difference to the cost, the police time, the involvement of quite unnecessary preparations for trial if everyone leaves guilty pleas to the last moment."
The current conviction rate for rape is just 6%. Supporters of the changes hope this figure will rise significantly if more perpetrators admit their crime.
Louise Casey, the Commissioner for Victims, said the halving of rape sentences "underplays the harm caused" and placed "administrative efficiency over justice".
Former Home Secretary Jack Straw asked: "How on earth will giving half off a sentence help to protect the public?"

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Kuwaiti Woman Blackmails Men With Their Nude Pictures

An unidentified young Kuwaiti woman is being interrogated for involvement in blackmailing public figures including some Members of Parliament and their immediate relatives, reports Al-Shahed daily quoting security sources.
According to reports the woman would lure her ‘victims’ to her apartment in Salmiya and then take their pictures when they were nude.
Security sources say police were tipped off about the dirty game played by the woman and most of them refused to file complaints against the woman for fear of getting involved in a scandal. Police acting on information allegedly set a trap for the woman and caught her red-handed.
They have also seized from her CDs depicting well-known personalities in compromising positions.

 

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The customs officers at Abdally Border have arrested a Syrian truck driver for smuggling 9,000 narcotic pills

The customs officers at Abdally Border have arrested a Syrian truck driver for smuggling 9,000 narcotic pills worth KD 30,000 into the country.
The officers got suspicious when the driver looked agitated upon approaching the checkpoint.  They inspected the truck thoroughly, resulting in the discovery of the narcotic pills.  The suspect was referred to the concerned security department for the necessary legal action.

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Golatt also faced sex crime charges in Idaho

Angelo "Doogie" Golatt cloaked himself in the clothes and voice of a pious man of God, ministering to church youths, working with the mentally disabled, being front and center in singing and testifying in church.

He was a Louisiana College graduate in 2005, majoring in religious education, and a youth minister at Donahue Family Church. Google his name and there are many hits on older social network websites: Xanga, MySpace and others, where Golatt thanks God for his many blessings.

Golatt worked with children at the majority of places he was employed, or with adults as vulnerable as children: youth minister positions at Baptist and Assembly of God churches; helping the developmentally challenged at a facility in Idaho; interacting with Head Start program youths in his recent employment at the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena.

In his writings on the Xanga website, Golatt talks of his mission in Idaho, where in 2006 he was youth minister at the Buhl Assembly of God while also working at the facility for the disabled.

"It's just so awesome being up there and seeing our people worship our Savior," Golatt wrote in September 2006. "A couple of Sundays ago I looked out in the audience and saw one of our youths singing, but not JUST singing, actually agreeing with the words in his heart."

But despite the light that Golatt professed to spread, he apparently has a very dark side.

Golatt, 28, has been charged with more than 60 sex crimes involving children ages 13 years or younger from 2003 to 2007. Rapides Parish Sheriff's detectives said the investigation centers on Golatt's work as a youth minister at Donahue Family Church in Pineville, which no longer is open.

Pastors Keith Dickens and Curtis Campbell, ministers at Donahue during the time Golatt allegedly committed the crimes, did not return messages left by The Town Talk seeking comment.

Golatt is behind bars now in the Rapides Parish jail, with a hearing scheduled Friday in front of a 9th District judge. Golatt's attorney, public defender Joe Kutch, refused a Town Talk request to interview Golatt in jail.

His March 29 arrest on four counts of youth sex-crime charges was the beginning. By April 11 the number had grown to 63 charges, including 52 charges of raping children 13 or younger.

It wasn't the first time Golatt was accused of sexual crimes.

Golatt was arrested in Idaho in 2006 on two counts of sexual abuse of a mentally challenged adult when he worked at a Twin Falls branch of the Centers for Independent Living.

The crime in Jerome County, Idaho, was reported on Nov. 17, 2006. Golatt was arrested on Dec. 4 on two counts of sexual abuse/exploitation of a vulnerable adult, eventually pleading down to a misdemeanor battery charge, according to the Jerome County Prosecutor's Office.

Golatt was sentenced to 180 days in jail. He spent 30 days in jail. The remainder was suspended, a clerk in the county's prosecutor's office said recently.

Jerome County sheriff's deputies issued a warrant for Golatt in 2007 for parole violation on the battery conviction, but by that time Golatt was back in Louisiana and officials could not extradite him for violating parole on a misdemeanor.

A Town Talk request made Friday to Jerome County sheriff's officials for Golatt's 2006 arrest report was not immediately answered. The Prosecutor's Office said the case file on Golatt and his victim was sealed in 2007.

During his time in Idaho, Golatt also was youth minister at the Buhl Assembly of God, where he raised no suspicions of deviant behavior until the arrest.

"While I was there I didn't have any issues whatsoever. I didn't have any concerns," said the Rev. Travis Hedrick, who was the pastor in Buhl in 2006 but left before Golatt got into trouble. "I found out many years later that there was some sort of accusation against him, that the church "» asked him to step down for the better good of the church and him."

Hedrick is now a pastor in St. Louis.

Golatt returned to Louisiana in 2007, where he held jobs including student services coordinator at Blue Cliff College in Alexandria, and a position at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, where he was arrested March 29 by Rapides Parish Sheriff's deputies and deputy U.S. marshals.

Blue Cliff campus director Tracy Kazelski refused comment for this article. Pablo Paez, vice president of corporate relations for the Geo Group, said only that Golatt no longer works for the LaSalle Detention Center. The Geo Group is a private company that manages the LaSalle prison for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Questions posed to Kazelski and Paez included whether they had done a criminal background check on Golatt.

Golatt, in the first quarter 2011 Geo Group newsletter, wrote that the LaSalle prison teamed up with a local Head Start program, which helps educate very young and poor children, to deliver gifts to the kids.

"Seeing the children smile was enough to excite the LaSalle team to plan for a bigger and better next year," Golatt wrote.

Rapides Parish Sheriff's Detective Stephen Phillips said Thursday that the police investigation of Golatt has been completed and handed over to the District Attorney's Office. DA James Downs said his office would look at the findings and decide if it warrants bringing the case before a grand jury.

Assistant District Attorney Rocky Willson, who will prosecute the case if a grand jury indicts Golatt, said that although Louisiana law states the punishment meted out for aggravated rape can be the death sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled otherwise.

Willson said, however, that if Golatt is convicted he'll be in prison for a long time.

The Rev. David Brooks, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria, said Golatt was never employed by the church, but that he did help out at Calvary functions when he was a student at Louisiana College. Golatt was among many other college students who helped at church functions, Brooks said.

Brooks said no church members have come forward with accusations against Golatt, and that he's asked youth leaders at Calvary if they've heard of anything.

"Nobody ever suspected anything, never heard anything, so we don't know of anything that happened," Brooks said.

Louisiana College spokeswoman Amy Robertson said school policy prevents any comment on Golatt's years at LC.

 

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Police in Detroit are hunting a gang of middle-aged women, nicknamed the "Mad Hatters",

Police in Detroit are hunting a gang of middle-aged women, nicknamed the "Mad Hatters", who they blame for a string of robberies, purse snatching and fraud.
The suspects typically steal a woman's wallet or purse, police said in a statement. Shortly afterward, the credit cards and checks are used at stores to buy merchandise or at banks to get cash.
Surveillance photographs supplied by police show the middle-aged to elderly women wear hats, usually of the floppy, fisherman variety, at the time of the incidents.
Purse-snatching crimes are not uncommon, but what is unusual is the organised nature of the crimes.
"Seldom are there these organised rings doing it, such as this one," Sterling Heights police Lt. Luke Riley said.
The incidents began about a year ago and the most recent incident occurred last week, according to a press release from the Sterling Heights Police Department.
The total value of merchandise and cash stolen could be as high as $500,000, police said. The women stole almost $200,000 from one bank.
Riley said authorities are looking for "at least" five or six women in this group.
Photographs show the person responsible for the theft is not always the one who uses the stolen items to commit the fraud, police said.

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youngest of the 24 accused Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangsters operating in the Bay Area are barely 20

The youngest of the 24 accused Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangsters operating in the Bay Area are barely 20. They were still minors -- or had just turned 18 -- when they were arrested in 2008 during the Operation Devil Horns gang takedown. Since then, they have been indicted for conspiring to beat, rob, and murder with the gang -- or even to have been the triggermen themselves.

They didn't come out of the womb with devil-horn tattoos. So how did things go so wrong while they were so young?

Court documents, trial revelations, and an interview with one member's father outline a strikingly similar path to gangster life. As one defense attorney, who is defending a young man accused of murder, said during opening statements: "This is going to sound eerily familiar."  

1. They grew up dirt-poor in war-torn Central America, and were abandoned by parents moving to the United States.

Walter Chinchilla-Linar, one MS-13 member who pleaded guilty to gang conspiracy earlier this year, grew up in a tiny village in Guatemala during a series of coups when death squads roamed with impunity.

"Walter's earliest memories include the discovery of a body in the streets," according to a court document. "He has a particularly vivid memory of a stranger's body -- the head attached to a body by only a small strip of flesh."

Walter's father, an uneducated broom maker, moved to Guatemala City to find work, but after that failed, he moved to the United States when Walter was 3. His mother then left for the United States two years later -- to send money back to her family. Walter was left with his grandma and up to 12 family members in a three-room "structure" in rural Guatemala, the documents state.

This story was played over and over again in the opening statements of the trial. The father of one defendant was killed in the Salvadoran civil war. His mom left for the United States, and he was raised by his grandparents. Another member, born in Honduras in 1989, was abandoned by his parents and also raised by his grandma.

2. They were themselves were fearful of gangbangers back in Central America.  

None of the seven men in the current trial claim to have had gang ties before coming the United States. The father of one defendant, who asked that their names not be published, says he left for the United States before his son was born. His son would call him on the phone, saying gangsters had threatened to rob him on the way to school. "He was very scared talking on the phone," the man recalls. 
 
3. They trekked solo to the United States, entering illegally, to reunite with parents in their early teen years.

Chinchilla-Linar ventured north across Mexico when he was 15 to rejoin his parents. He paid a coyote to cross the desert into the United States, remembering those who were too weak to continue were left behind to die. He arrived "emaciated and exhausted," a court document states.
 
The father mentioned previously says his then-14-year-old son called him from detention at the U.S.-Mexico border. His son and older brother had made the trip riding north through Mexico on the top of freight trains to surprise their father in San Francisco. The older brother had been caught by authorities in Mexico, and was deported to Salvador. But the 14-year-old boy had continued -- and made it into the U.S. before getting nabbed. He evaded deportation, supposedly for being a minor with a father who was a permanent resident in the United States. 

The father invited the teen to join him in San Francisco; he was worried about the pressure on Latino boys growing up in the Mission. "I was a little worried he'd join a gang, but I thought I'd be able to have more influence on him than the gangs would." 

4. They face bullying and isolation upon arriving in San Francisco.

Chinchilla-Lina moved into a basement of a Bayview apartment with his

​ parents and two young brothers he'd never met. For his entire first year in San Francisco, he didn't go to school and barely left the house. Rather than getting the reunion he'd always wanted, he found himself estranged from his family members, who struggled with addictions and mental health problems, court documents say.

Similarly, the defendants in the ongoing trial had inauspicious starts in the city. Jonathan Cruz Ramirez had moved into the Potrero Hill housing projects and Guillermo Herrera moved in with his mom in the Bayview, where he was robbed twice in two years. By the time Moris Flores arrived from El Salvador at the age of 12, his mom was working several jobs.

5. They met other MS-13 members in San Francisco public schools.  

A number of the indicted gang members entered the school system through Newcomer High School, a landing pad for immigrants to improve their English skills so they can to transfer to a mainstream school. (Newcomer was closed last year because of budget cuts.)

That's where some indicted gang members met each other. "As a young El Salvadoran immigrant, he had to find his place among other Spanish-speaking immigrant children he was in contact with everyday in school," says Mark Rosenbush, the attorney for Moris Flores. "He ended up associated with MS-13 because they, like him, came from El Salvador."

Chinchilla-Linar, Cruz-Ramirez, and Herrera also attended Newcomer High School. But the school wasn't necessarily the root of the problem.

The father we interviewed said he had no problems with his son during his six months at Newcomer. But when he transferred to Burton High School, things took a turn for the worse.

"The first week, he started to have problems with boys. He didn't want to go to school. They had him scared." The father recalls his son would come home with his Nike sneakers or his backpack stolen. Another time he came home beaten up -- saying it was at the hands of three gangsters.

6. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Suddenly his son went from being bullied to being one of the bullies. "The school called saying he's not going to school and was hanging out with bad kids," the father says.

Likewise, court documents about Chinchilla-Linar say: "Walter did not seek recruitment into the gang. Instead, he felt persuaded to join once gang members confronted him, since he had witnessed what happened to others who refused."
 
The father says gang members started giving his 15-year-old son brand-name clothes -- baggy

​ pants, long T-shirts, shoes -- and a lot of weed. "He was manipulated," the father says. "They tried to win him over."

The father realized he was losing his son to the MS-13 gang. "I told him the Mara was the worst of the worst," he says. "At first he listened to me, but once they brainwashed him, he no longer listened to me."  
 
As for the eldest son who was deported to El Salvador? He's completing his computer-engineering degree, his father says. If only they would have deported his younger son -- the one now on trial for gang conspiracy -- he would have likely taken a different path, the father says: "He would be in the third year of the university right now."

He says his son recently called him from jail to apologize for not listening.

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