Sure, at one time or another we've all wanted to hurl our annoying child into to the violent sea's foamy maw, where no amount of petulant whining will save them from Poseidon's cold embrace. Particularly on one of those "sightseeing cruises." Ugh, have you been subjected to those? Talk about Supposedly Fun Things I'll Never Do Again, amirite? It's enough to make anyone cast their spawn into the deep. Still, you shouldn't.
Jere Melo, a former mayor and current city councilman in Fort Bragg, California, was shot and killed last Saturday while he was out investigating reports of a weed-growing operation in the forests surrounding his town (Melo also worked for a timber company.) The main suspect in the case: Aaron Bassler (pictured), local crazy person. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Just over two weeks ago, Mexican authorities arrested a notorious mass murderer, Oscar Osvaldo Garcia, who is nicknamed after a popular TV hand puppet, "El Compayito." He admitted to personally killing, or ordering the murders of around 600 people. Today, the Washington Post reports on Mexican law enforcement's penchant for videotaping and airing dramatic confessions on TV. Here's a sample of Garcia's confession, made shortly after his arrest:
Coverage of the war in Libya has exposed an incredible amount of atrocities — by both Qaddafi loyalists and rebels. And the video report below, by CNN's Dan Rivers, is yet another awful addition to the formers' crimes. Rivers visited a vacation home that belonged to Muammar's youngest son, Hannibal, and his wife Aline Skaff, a Lebanese former model. There he found a woman who was essentially a slave to Hannibal and Aline, and was repeatedly tortured. Hannibal — whose party crew recently included Beyoncé and Usher — has a long history of beating servants and general scumbaggery. So while it's not surprising that he and his wife would abuse this woman, what Aline did to her is horrifying.
After getting into an argument with his girlfriend and leaving her house, 26-year-old David Bustos allegedly returned to Chez GF, entered the place (very quietly, one assumes), got out his electric hair clippers, and began cutting off her hair while she slept. That's pretty psycho.
While many of us spent our weekends complaining about Irene and all media coverage of said under-performing storm, other things in the world happened! For example: South African police launched an investigation into a photo that depicts a smiling, pale-skinned man—rifle in hand—kneeling over what appears to be the lifeless body of a little brown-skinned boy.
Police in Norway have arrested another man whose hobbies allegedly include stockpiling weapons and explosives and espousing extreme right-wing ideologies. So far police haven't identified any connection between the man and Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist responsible for the July 22 bombing in Oslo and shootings on Utoya Island that left 77 dead.
Let the Casey Anthony book deal cash flow bonanza begin! The assistant state attorney in the trial that failed to convict a woman who was already convicted by cable television viewers, Jeff Ashton, is writing a book to be published in Novemeber titled Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony. Strong title! The book is set to be 256 pages. But perhaps the only thing that would make this whole situation right is if Casey takes the $500,000 Larry Flynt offered her for a Hustler spread, writes a book called Yeah I Did It: Or, Fuck You Nancy Grace for ten million dollars, and disappears.
We all express our altruism in different ways—it's part of what makes us human. Robert Johnson of Vero Beach, Florida likes to give back to his community by strolling along the beach while completely naked. It's what he calls "helping."
"The entire grab was about three seconds, and constant pressure wasn't applied." That was Colorado Sheriff's Deputy Hassan M. Hassan, describing the nut-grabbing maneuver he recently deployed on 22-year-old suspect Samuel Fazio (pictured).
An appeals court overturned a conviction against Eric Kenley, charged with driving the getaway car in two robberies in downtown Manhattan back in 2007. Kenley is a big guy — 6-foot-4, 400 pounds — and as such, fit the eyewitness descriptions of the man they saw at the scene of the crimes: "A huge, big, fat, black guy." When it came time to identify him in a police lineup, however, finding other, huge, big, fat, black guys to stand next to Kenley proved an insurmountable challenge. From the NYP:
Smotherer of the Year Casey Anthony emerged from hiding on Wednesday and returned to Florida, there to begin serving a one-year probation for check fraud convictions that have nothing to do with her other legal enstranglements.
A "Jewish Indiana Jones." The very words conjure up thrilling scenes of cliff-hanging, deli-sampling adventure! And that's precisely what a mild-mannered Jewish bookstore owner from Maryland was passing himself off as, in what has turned out to be nothing more than an extremely clever con.
Michael Pena, the off duty NYPD officer charged with raping a Manhattan woman last Friday night (not to be confused with the on-duty NYPD officers charged with raping a Manhattan woman) allegedly showed a gun, pulled the woman behind an apartment building, and raped her. Police arrived and found him still in the act, drunk, with his gun and badge next to him.
