Tag: murder

Joran Van Der Sloot Admits He Crushed Natalee Holloway’s Head With A Cinderblock Before Pushing Her Out To Sea

In a revelation that finally unraveled a nearly two-decade-old mystery, court records revealed that Joran van der Sloot brutally attacked Natalee Holloway on an Aruban beach, leading to her brutal death. Van der Sloot had been long suspected in connection with Holloway’s 2005 disappearance, and he appeared in federal court to admit his guilt for extortion and wire fraud related to the case.

Initially pleading not guilty to all charges, Van der Sloot had an abrupt change of heart on Wednesday, confessing to his involvement in the extortion and the brutal murder of Natalee Holloway. U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco acknowledged the confession before sentencing him to 10 years in prison.

According to his plea agreement, Van der Sloot said that he was on an Aruban beach when Holloway rejected his advances. In response, he kicked her in the face after she kneed him in the groin, he said. After that, he used a nearby cinderblock to “smash her head in with it completely,” Van der Sloot added. Van der Sloot says he then disposed of her body in the ocean by wading in knee-deep and pushing her body out to sea.

Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, said after the killing, Van der Sloot went home and watched porn.

Holloway expressed her satisfaction with this confession, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. Joran van der Sloot is no longer a suspect in my daughter’s murder; he is the killer.”

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Philly LGBT center cancels tribute to slain journalist Josh Kruger, citing ‘allegations that have recently surfaced’

The William Way LGBT Community Center has canceled a planned tribute event for slain Philadelphia journalist Josh Kruger, citing “the allegations that have recently surfaced.”

The cancellation of the event — a ticketed gathering slated for Oct. 29 for those who knew Kruger to gather, share stories, and reminisce — came a day after The Inquirer published a story detailing assertions from the family of Robert Davis, 19, who is accused of fatally shooting Kruger in his Point Breeze home earlier this month.

The family said Davis was 15 years old when he and Kruger began a relationship involving drugs, and that prior to the shooting, Davis told them Kruger threatened to post sexually explicit videos of the teen online.

“With the allegations that have recently surfaced about Josh’s murder and the complexities involved, we don’t believe that we can create a safe space, either for Josh’s friends and family, or for those who have rightful anger and concerns over allegations of child sexual abuse,” the center posted on its event page Thursday. The William Way Center could not be reached for comment Friday.

“As more is revealed about the facts of the case, we hope that together we can figure out the right next steps to acknowledge and remember the many victims in this case — individuals, families, and communities,” the center’s post said.

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Murdered far-left Philly activist Josh Kruger had drug-fueled sexual relationship with suspect at 15, family claims

The family of Robert Davis, 19, who is accused of killing Philadelphia activist Josh Kruger, 39, claims that Kruger started a drug-fueled sexual relationship with Davis when he was just 15 years old. Before Davis allegedly shot Kruger, according to the police, Davis told them that Kruger was threatening to post sexually explicit videos of him online.

The Davis family made the claims during a recent interview with The Inquirer in which they alleged that Davis, who is still at large, struggled to keep the sexual relationship hidden, which ultimately caused his life to unravel.

Detectives reportedly discovered sexually explicit photos and messages on Kruger’s phone during an investigation into his death. Authorities did not reveal if the images and messages involved Davis but called them “disturbing.” Authorities gave the evidence to the Special Victim’s Unit, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Family of man wanted for killing Josh Kruger says the 19-year-old and the journalist shared sex and drugs

The family of Robert Davis, 19, who is accused of killing local journalist Josh Kruger, said that Davis was just 15 when he and Kruger began a years-long relationship involving drugs — and that Davis told them Kruger was threatening to post sexually explicit videos of him online before, police say, Davis shot Kruger.

Those assertions by Davis’ mother and older brother in recent interviews with The Inquirer add troubling new complexities to a killing that has garnered national attention. Their account, they said, is drawn from recent conversations with Davis, and from the years of watching his life unravel as he tried to keep the relationship and his drug addiction hidden.

Kruger, 39, was killed after a man entered his Point Breeze home in the middle of the night, police said, and shot him seven times at the base of his stairs. Surveillance video near the scene and tips from Kruger’s friends and family led detectives to Davis, and a warrant was issued for his arrest a few days later. Police described the pair as acquaintances, and said Kruger “was trying to help [Davis] get through life.”

The family’s contentions come as detectives separately discovered and are investigating what multiple law enforcement sources have called explicit photos and messages in Kruger’s phone. The sources, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, did not say whether the images or messages were connected to Davis, but said they were “disturbing” and have been turned over to the department’s Special Victims Unit for further analysis.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said the contents of Kruger’s phone are part of the investigation as detectives seek to learn more about why he may have been killed. But critical details of what happened, he said, lie with Davis, who remains at-large.

“I think he could answer a lot of questions if he comes into custody and surrenders,” Vanore said. “It might help us put all this together.”

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As Arrest Made, Murdered NYC Activist’s Pals Run GoFundMe To “Take Time Off Work”

Friends of murdered New York City liberal activist Ryan Thoresen Carson have created a GoFundMe page in which the “collective” solicits donations so they can take “time off of work” — and have already raked in $69,000. However, some donors are chipping in just for the privilege of leaving scathing comments. 

Carson was stabbed to death at 3:50 am on Monday in New York’s Bedfort-Stuyvesant neighborhood, as he and his girlfriend were returning from a Long Island wedding. They encountered an enraged young man who was kicking over parked mopeds and scooters before turning his rage on Carson, asking, “What the f*** are you looking at?  I’ll kill you!”

In video that captured the crime, Carson be heard repeatedly telling his assailant to “chill.” Carson was stabbed multiple times, including a fatal strike to his heart. (Note: Issuing orders to an enraged man is seldom a sound de-escalation strategy.)

On Thursday, NY cops arrested 18-year-old Brian Dowling — who lives near the crime scene on Lafayette Avenue near Malcom X Boulevard — and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. A search of Dowling’s apartment produced a sweatshirt matching the one that appears in security-camera video of the murder, along with a knife. He’d previously received summonses for disorderly conduct, and allegedly smashed items in his girlfriend’s apartment. In a 911 call, his aunt described him as mentally disturbed. 

Meanwhile, a self-identified “collective of Ryan’s close friends” is managing a GoFundMe account on behalf of themselves and Carson’s girlfriend Claudia Morales. However, rather than seeking funds for funeral and other final expenses, the group says they need the money “to eas[e] the burden and stress of this horrifying situation so that we can have space and time to grieve.” More pointedly, they say “immediate needs are to offset the costs of working class people taking time off of work to properly mourn.”

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Lawyer, 81, who advised judge in Charles Manson trial shoots dead his wife, 75, before turning the gun on himself in murder-suicide in their $3.5 million Long Beach homes

A lawyer who was the legal advisor in Charles Manson’s murder trial shot dead his wife before turning the gun on himself.

Police in Long Beach, California, are probing the deaths of Lawrence Eric Taylor, 81, and Judy Strother Taylor, 75, as a murder-suicide.

Authorities responded to a welfare check at their $3.5million home in Naples on Wednesday, after the couple stopped answering their phone and front door.

Taylor set up his own legal firm after serving as the trial judge’s legal advisor in Manson’s trial and was Supreme Court counsel in the Onion Field murder case.

His wife worked under President Richard Nixon at the now-closed White House Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention.

Long Beach Police Department found the couple dead in their home, with Judy suffering from ‘gunshot wounds to the head’ according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office

Taylor also suffered a ‘gunshot wound’ to the head, with cops recovering a firearm at the scene.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Taylors’ death as a suicide and Judy’s as a murder.

Cops confirmed that the Medical Examiner will conduct an independent investigation. 

The couple were both pronounced dead at the scene, and the motive for the shooting is currently unclear. 

Judy worked as a youth mentor  and within the juvenile justice system for more than 20 years,

She teamed up with Mentor Management Systems President Jerry Sherk to bring an employee-to-employee mentoring program to the US Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Colorado Springs.

Taylor was retained by the Attorney General of Montana as an independent Special Prosecutor to conduct a one-year grand jury probe of governmental corruption.

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New Jersey cop rushed to help Bob Menendez’s wife after Mercedes crash despite being retired and convinced patrolman on duty to let her go without a sobriety test or having to hand over her phone

A top New Jersey cop rushed to be by Bob Menendez’s wife’s side after she killed a man with her Mercedes in a 2018 crash, and quizzed the patrolmen on scene until she was allowed to walk away without a sobriety test or having to hand over her phone. 

Menendez’s wife Nadine Arslanian fatally struck 49-year-old Richard Koop in Bogota, New Jersey, on December 12, 2018. She was dating the New Jersey Democratic Senator at the time but they were not yet married. They are now both charged with felony bribery and corruption crimes. 

After the 2018 crash, Bogota Police rushed to the scene of the crash to quiz Arslanian. 

She told them Hoop had been jaywalking and put himself in the path of her car. 

Also there was Michael Mordaga, the former director of Hackensack Police and an ex-chief of detectives in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, according to The New York Post. 

Mordaga is the man who can be heard asking the patrolmen if they took a statement from Arslanian.

‘That’s my buddy’s wife who’s friends with her. 

He said could you do me a favor and take her up there because her friend just got in a car accident,’ he said, explaining why he’d shown up, before asking: ‘Are you guys getting a statement that you’re going to give to the prosecutor’s office?’ 

The cops let Arslanian walk away from the scene without a sobriety test or giving over her phone records. 

She was never charged, and was later gifted a new convertible Mercedes to replace the vehicle that was damaged in the crash. 

According to federal charging documents, about a month after the crash, Arslanian texted Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman also indicted in the bribery scheme, lamenting her lack of a car.

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Why Tupac’s Alleged Killer Could Be Caught in a Legal ‘Catch-22’

Since the arrest and indictment of Duane “Keffe D” Davis for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, people have speculated about whether the Los Angeles Police Department will be reinvigorated to pursue an investigation into the other great tragedy of that era in hip-hop — the 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G. But former LAPD detective Greg Kading, who was the lead detective of an interagency task force created in 2006 to investigate Biggie’s murder, tells Rolling Stone that he feels the murder was likely the result of a smaller conspiracy that would be much harder to prove and prosecute than the one that took Shakur’s life.  “I don’t think it’s going to have any carry-over,” he says. “It’s a different set of circumstances and people.”

In Kading’s view, the key potential witnesses to Biggie’s murder include Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, who was in jail at the time on a probation violation and is currently serving a long sentence due to a 2015 hit-and-run; Wardell “Poochie” Fourse, Biggie’s alleged shooter, who died in 2003; and a woman known as Theresa Swann, who cooperated with the investigation but might not be a reliable witness on the stand. “Suge’s already doing essentially a life sentence,” Kading says. “And [Swann] actually did get immunity for her cooperation. So now you’ve got nothing left. If [Swann] is the only witness you have saying Suge Knight ordered Biggie’s hit, that ain’t going to last an hour in court. It’s unprosecutable.”

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Wichita Police Department & the FBI Partner with Othram to Identify the Suspect in the 1989 Murder of Krista Martin

In October 1989, the body of twenty-year-old Krista Martin was found beaten to death in her Wichita, Kansas apartment located on South Osage Street. A concerned friend visited her home in the early hours of October 2, 1989, and discovered Krista. Wichita Police Department responded to the scene of the crime and began their investigation. It was determined that Krista died from blunt force trauma to the back, left side of her head. Initial investigative efforts included the collection of DNA evidence. Although DNA testing and the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) systems were not available at the time, the DNA evidence was carefully preserved.

Despite conducting numerous interviews and analyzing the available evidence, investigators were unable to identify a suspect. Undeterred, investigators continued to scrutinize the evidence and gather new leads. DNA samples were collected from multiple individuals for comparison with the evidence from the scene, but no match was found. In 2009, DNA evidence from the crime scene was submitted to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center, resulting in the development of a potential suspect profile. This profile was uploaded to CODIS, but it did not lead to any matches. Further DNA sampling from potential suspects also proved unsuccessful. Despite law enforcement’s extensive efforts to identify the suspect, the case went cold.

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Leftist journalist who downplayed violent crime gunned down in his Philly home

Josh Kruger, a leftist journalist and activist who was based in Philadelphia, was shot and killed inside his home on Monday. Kruger had a long history of downplaying violent crime in the city, often openly mocking those who expressed concerns about homicides in Philadelphia.

“Look, it’s that lawless land of liberals in Philly where shootings are…dropping to levels not seen in years,” read a past post by Kruger.

“Some idiot just said you’re more likely to get shot and killed than die of COVID in Philly to make some insensitive rhetorical point for ‘his side.’ Folks, four times as many Philadelphians have died of COVID than gun shots this year. I understand math is hard but do better,” stated another. 

The 39-year-old Kruger was shot seven times at a residence in the 2300 block of Watkins Street around 1:30 am Monday, reports 6 ABC.

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