Tag: murder

Three Zizians face trial together in Maryland amid sprawling federal investigation

Three members of a violent cultlike group, including its alleged ringleader, will be tried together on charges of trespassing, gun and drug possession after police discovered them camping in box trucks in rural western Maryland.

The group known as Zizians, which attracted a fringe contingent of computer scientists who connected online over their shared anarchist beliefs, has been linked to six killings spanning three states in recent years.

The Maryland cases were originally scheduled for separate trials, but the defendants requested a joint proceeding despite concerns from their attorneys; a judge granted the request following a court hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Jack “Ziz” LaSota and her associates Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank were arrested in February after a man told police that “suspicious” people had parked two box trucks on his property and asked to camp there for a month, according to authorities. The trucks were found in a largely remote wooded area near the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, a mountainous region dotted with small towns.

LaSota, a transgender woman who’s regarded as the group leader, entered the courtroom Tuesday hoisting a brown paper bag filled with documents. Throughout the hearing, LaSota and Zajko repeatedly interjected to address the judge directly, disregarding conventional courtroom practices and occasionally speaking over their attorneys. The regular interruptions added to the already unusual circumstances of the case, which hinges on the findings of federal investigators despite being prosecuted in state court.

The main issue discussed Tuesday was the timeline of the proceedings. After the trio was arrested in February on trespassing and illegal gun possession charges, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment last month with new allegations, including LSD possession.

Defense attorneys argued prosecutors are trying to slow-walk the case while federal authorities continue investigating the Zizians.

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Missing Maine Paddleboarder Was Murdered

Police in Union, Maine, have ruled the death of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart a homicide, days after she was found in Crawford Pond. Stewart disappeared last Wednesday evening after heading out on a paddleboard around 6pm, CBS News reports, and was reported missing six hours later. Her body was discovered last Thursday near 100 Acre Island, which is in the middle of the pond and only accessible by boat, reports WMTW. Authorities have not disclosed the cause of death. Sources close to the investigation tell ABC News that the body was found under “unusual circumstances” that rule out suicide or accidental drowning.

Kathy Lunt, who runs the Mic Mac campground near the pond, said Stewart was a seasonal resident and was last seen by her roommate. When Stewart failed to return, the roommate raised the alarm. Police urged the public to “remain aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement,” the Bangor Daily News reports. Area residents say they are shaken by the killing. Police are asking anyone who may have seen Stewart on her paddleboard between 6pm and 9pm last Wednesday to contact them

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The BIZARRE reason why the ABC shielded the Mushroom Killer

A series of leaked internal emails has revealed that ABC News Editorial Policy Manager Mark Maley ordered journalists not to publish “unflattering” photos of Erin Patterson, a woman convicted of murdering three people, out of concern they might cause her emotional “distress”.

The taxpayer-funded images, captured in May by international agency Agence France-Presse, showed Patterson being led into Latrobe Valley court in Morwell. Legal restrictions had initially blocked their release, but those lapsed following Patterson’s conviction on Monday for the murders of her ex-husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and family friend Heather Wilkinson. She was also found guilty of attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson.

Despite the photos being taken legally in public, and made available to global media, Maley instructed ABC producers not to use them. “Gratuitous invasion on her distress/privacy,” he described them in an internal email, according to media reports.

ABC’s 7.30 executive producer Joel Tozer pushed back, arguing the images were vital for coverage of a highly significant, visually restricted case. “No one has been able to see (Patterson) for the past 10 weeks,” Tozer wrote.

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Gunmen kill Mexico city councillor during basketball game

Gunmen burst into a sports hall in central Mexico and shot dead a local government official attending an amateur basketball game on July 5, local authorities said.

Families and children had gathered at the sports centre in the violent state of Guanajuato, where Mr Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, a city council secretary in Apaseo el Grande, was killed.

The city council “strongly condemns the treacherous, despicable, and cowardly attack that occurred this Saturday, in which our colleague and friend, city council secretary Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, lost his life”, it said in a statement.

Local media said an armed man had been arrested.

Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico’s deadliest state due to gang turf wars, according to official homicide statistics.

In June, 11 people were shot dead and about 20 others injured in a shooting targeting a neighbourhood party in Irapuato, about 80km west of Apaseo el Grande.

A month earlier, 17 bodies were found by investigators in an abandoned house in Irapuato.

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Congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym killed when gunman opens fire in tragic Washington D.C. shooting

A Congressional intern was killed in Washington, D.C. after being struck by bullets when gunmen opened fire on a group of people.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, an intern for Representative Ron Estes, was fatally shot late Monday night in what authorities believe was a targeted attack near the U.S. Capitol.

Tarpinian-Jachym was not the intended target but an innocent bystander in the tragic shooting.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department responded to reports of gunfire around 10:30 p.m. near 1200 7th Street. Upon arrival, they found Tarpinian-Jachym unconscious, along with two other victims who were conscious.

According to the department, multiple suspects exited a vehicle and opened fire on a group of people, striking three individuals.

All three victims – Tarpinian-Jachym, a woman, and a 16-year-old male – suffered gunshot wounds and were transported to a nearby hospital.

Tarpinian-Jachym succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on Tuesday, ABC News reported.

According to a LinkedIn profile believed to belong to him, Tarpinian-Jachym had been interning for Representative Estes for about two months. Before that, he reportedly worked for a government relations firm, also in Washington, D.C.

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Idaho firefighter sniper Wess Roley had ‘Nazi tendencies’ and filled schoolbooks with swastikas, ex-classmates say

Idaho firefighter killer Wess Roley had “Nazi tendencies” and was “obsessed with guns” as a schoolkid — often alarming fellow students by doodling swastikas and weapons in his notebooks, according to several classmates.

“My good friend saw drawings of swastikas and guns in his notebook,” said former classmate Harry Standley, who went to middle and and high school with Roley.

“We were all pretty scared of him,” Standley told USA TODAY.

Roley, 20, took his own life Sunday in the woods of Coeur d’Alene after murdering two firefighters he apparently lured there by setting a brush fire. A third firefighter was seriously wounded as Roley fired from the trees, prompting about 300 law enforcement officers to close in on the mountain in an hours-long standoff.

Former classmates say they were shocked when they saw Roley’s face in the headlines, and that they hadn’t talked to him for years.

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Family Of Karmelo Anthony Asks For Millions In Donations After Murder Indictment

Things are not going well for Karmelo Anthony compared to a couple months ago.  Despite confessing to the stabbing that led to the death of athlete Austin Metcalf at a track event on April 2, 2025 in Frisco, Texas, Anthony was given greatly reduced bail and allowed to remain under house arrest by a progressive activist judge.

Anthony’s family posted a public fundraiser on GiveSendGo which ultimately raised over $500,000 for legal expenses.  Many of the donations included racially charged messages calling for Karmelo to be “protected” regardless of his crime simply because he is black and his victim was white.  The stabbing has been represented as an act of self defense, but also as “payback” against white people.   

The call for donations was then amended to include money needed for “relocation” (a new home) after the family claimed they received threats.  Karmelo was allowed by Texas courts to leave the state for an “undisclosed location” until his trial, a highly unusual accommodation.  Furthermore, the Anthony’s have engaged in a press bonanza which has turned the case into a circus.

The family continues to assert that the stabbing of Austin Metcalf was an act of self defense, but video evidence might suggest otherwise.

Reporters have been allowed to view footage taken of the incident (footage that will not be released to the public) and there are no reports of Metcalf attacking Anthony.  Though accounts of the video are vague, there appears to be no evidence so far that Anthony was acting in self defense.  Not long after reporters were allowed to see the video, a Grand Jury issued an indictment for Karmelo Anthony. The charge is murder.

The Anthony’s are now asking donors for even more money, to the tune of $1.4 million.

The outcome should not be surprising given the known facts of the incident.  Anthony admits to stabbing Metcalf.  He admits to bring deadly weapon to a school track meet.  He admits to invading the tent of another team and witnesses say that he refused to leave when asked.  There is no report of Austin Metcalf having a weapon when he was stabbed by Anthony and deadly force cannot be legally used against another person unless a defender has a reasonable fear of mortal harm.

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New Details Emerge: Kootenai County Sheriff Reveals Idaho Shooter Who Ambushed Firefighters Used a Shotgun NOT Sniper Rifle According to Preliminary Investigation

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris has revealed that a shotgun was used in the deadly shooting in Coeur d’Alene that left two firefighters dead and another injured.

During his recent press conference, a reporter asked Norris, “Sir, could you describe the weapon?”

Norris responded, “It appears right now we have a shotgun that was used.”

He added, “But we’re still processing the scene.”

The reporter responded, “Obviously, a shotgun is not a sniper weapon.”

Norris answered, “Correct.”

He added, “Let me set up the scene for everybody. When you’re in a rural area, and your heavily tree’d heavily brushed, when you’re taken fire, it adds a whole different dynamic to teh situation.”

“So what was reported, by people on scene, by police officers on scene, they believed they were taken sniper fire, yes.”

On Sunday evening, Norris held an emergency press conference and stated, “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”

After making the statement, it was widely reported that the shooter, who has now been identified as Wess Roley, used a sniper rifle.

Norris has not ruled out that a rifle was used completely and shared; authorities are still searching the scene to find any other weapons, including a sniper rifle.

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Idaho SniperAccused 20-Year-Old Gunman Identified2 Firefighters Dead, 1 Critically Wounded

The man accused of sparking a forest fire and then ambushing firefighters in a calculated sniper-style attack in Idaho has been identified as 20-year-old Wess Roley, TMZ can confirm.

A law enforcement source tells TMZ Roley’s body was not taken to the Kootenai County Coroner’s Office in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, because they don’t actually hold bodies. Instead, his remains were transferred to the Spokane, Washington Medical Examiner’s Office, which handles cases from Kootenai County just across the state border.

Since his ID, a haunting photo has surfaced — showing Roley staring straight into the camera with a chilling, almost sinister glare.

After allegedly luring the firefighters to the blaze on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, Roley engaged in a wild gun battle with police during a massive manhunt involving nearly 300 officers. Roley’s body was later found when they tracked down his cell signal in the woods.

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FBI Compromised by Cartel Hacker Who Gained Control of Cameras, Multiple Left Dead in Fallout

Unidentified computer hackers associated with the Sinaloa drug cartel were able to garner phone records from the FBI, then used Mexico City surveillance cameras to compromise key informants and witnesses so they could murder them back in 2018, a new report showed.

This information was disclosed to the Justice Department in an Inspector General audit of the FBI’s efforts to “Mitigate the Effects of Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance,” according to Fox News.

The report cited the case against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who used to lead the cartel, but who was extradited to the United States back in 2017. While federal authorities were working the case, they were alerted to the hiring of a hacker “who offered a menu of services related to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices.”

The hacker “had observed people going in and out of the United States Embassy in Mexico City and identified ‘people of interest’ for the cartel, including the FBI Assistant Legal Attache (ALA T), and then was able to use the ALA T’s mobile phone number to obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data, associated with the ALAT’s phone,” the audit read.

“According to the FBI, the hacker also used Mexico City’s camera system to follow the ALAT through the city and identify people the ALAT met with,” the report continued. “According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses.”

The audit also highlighted how modern technology has “made it easier than ever for less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities created by” data from everyday items like smartphones and personal computers.

Some within the U.S. intel community, including CIA officials, described the threat as being “existential.”

This should send a message to the U.S. that computers have become the new battlefield. And we are still vulnerable in this area.

Even if the federal government expanded funding and continued using all the technology at its disposal, drug cartels can still gain the upper hand.

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