Guilty Plea Expected in Trautwein Murder

STAMFORD -- A former New Haven mechanic whose conviction for murdering North Stamford resident Joanne Trautwein in 2005 was overturned by the state Supreme Court a little over a year ago is expected to plead guilty to the murder. 

Harry Gonzalez, 45, who is now serving a 25-year sentence for killing his New Haven roommate, is to appear at state Superior Court in Stamford Friday morning. His attorney, Francis O'Reilly, said if the plea agreement goes forward as planned, Gonzalez will plead guilty to murder in the Trautwein case.

In 2007, Gonzalez was convicted of felony murder, robbery and kidnapping in the case involving the 75-year-old former Greenwich school teacher and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

While Gonzalez' girlfriend, Jennifer Kos, testified he killed Trautwein while she subdued the woman's roommate, the case was overturned in August 2011 on the grounds that police took statements from Gonzalez before he was read his Miranda rights and after he asked for an attorney.

The statements -- about him appearing at Trautwein's Rockrimmon Road home looking for work the day of the murder -- survived a hearing to have them suppressed at trial and were presented to the jury, which may have led to his conviction.

O'Reilly said he did not want to publicly discuss before Friday's hearing the specifics of what prosecutors are offering in return for a guilty plea.

"Ever since the case was overturned by the Supreme Court and ordered back for trial, we have been involved in lengthy negotiations between ourselves and the state and we have come to an agreement that is satisfactory to my client," he said.

O'Reilly said the sentence will be quite a bit shorter than the 80-year sentence given by Judge John Kavanewsky.

"While it is a very substantial period of incarceration, it is significantly lower than was initially imposed upon him by Judge Kavanewsky," he said.


Senior Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Ornowsky, who tried at the Stamford courthouse, would only say that Gonzalez is to come to court Friday to determine if the case can be resolved or go to trial again.

James Holmes Continues Streak of Odd Behavior

Time.com- The accused Aurora gunman reportedly spat at jail officers so often that he was forced to wear a spit guard at one point.



Holmes’ bizarre habit is just one of several that he has displayed since his arrest for the shooting rampage during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 and wounded 58 last Friday.



In the hours after his arrest Friday for the massacre at the Aurora, Colo., movie theater, Holmes stared at the wall in the Arapahoe Police Headquarters with his eyebrows twitching.

Then, Holmes allegedly told police he was Batman’s villain the Joker. When cops put evidence bags over his hands to preserve traces of gunpowder residue, he pretended the bags were puppets, law enforcement sources told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver.

The public got its first glimpse into his behavior during his court appearance Monday, where he looked alternately dazed and bug-eyed while occasionally nodding with his eyes appearing to close. Holmes is unmissable, currently sporting a head of bright-orange dyed hair — which he reportedly told authorities he dyed to look like the Joker villain in Batman films, even though the Joker’s hair is typically green.

And now, Arapahoe County Jail officers told ABC News that Holmes spits at them so much that they have to use a spit guard on Holmes while moving him. These antics are just the latest in findings that contradict the initial profile of him as an unassuming former graduate student.

Marissa Randazzo, former chief research psychologist for the U.S. Secret Service and an expert in mass shootings, told Good Morning America today that there are several possible explanations for Holmes’ recent behaviors. “One is that he is in the middle of a psychotic episode which is quite possible. We see him distracted at multiple points, an almost sort of ‘coming to’ and trying to figure out where he is and process what’s going on,” she said.

“The other thing that we’re seeing — and we’ve seen some of this behavior in the past couple months — might suggest mania. Meaning hyperactivity, hyper energy, been possibly up and not sleeping for days. What we might be seeing here is the post effects.” Randazzo said a third possibility is that Holmes, a former neuroscience student, is faking mental symptoms he likely learned during his studies.

UPDATE: Looks like Holmes’ actions are just as mysterious as the man himself. ABC’s Denver affiliate now disputes the spitting reports and states that Holmes has maintained his low-key demeanor since incarceration.



“[C]ontrary to what some media organizations have reported, our sources say in the past 48-hours Holmes has been calm and docile in jail, just like he was in court,” CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia says. “There have been no outbursts at all as he is in isolation.”

R.I.P. Aurora Shooting Victims

R.I.P. all the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting. 

I know it's late in the game to be posting now about this but I have been away on vacation when it had happened... It seems every time I'm away something news worthy happens.  I was on a work-related ski trip a few months back when Whitney Houston passed away, and last year at Lake George news broke about Amy Winehouse dying.

I will follow the court trial an hope that they put this douche bag out of his misery.

I just feel so heartbroken thinking of the six year old who died, and how her mother tried to shield her and now she's drifting in and out of consciousness asking for her... It kills me.

Greenwich Murderer's Release Troubles Family

Greenwich Time- A man who murdered a former friend's father because he believed the father and son were conspiring against him is back in prison after recently spending 10 days in a halfway house in Bridgeport.

In one of the most shocking killings in town history, former backcountry resident Andrew D. Wilson, now 51, gunned down John Peters on Aug. 5, 1993, while Peters was swimming laps in the pool behind his Ridgeview Avenue home. The 62-year-old Peters was the president of one of the world's largest advertising firms.


Wilson's release to a halfway house in Bridgeport on June 12 alarmed Peters' relatives, who said they were not aware of Wilson's release until after it occurred.
"We were shocked, we were shocked and concerned," a family spokesman said. "We were really relieved that they put him back in prison."
The family member spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for the family's safety.

It is unclear what events led Wilson, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2014, to be sent to a halfway house, a facility intended to allow convicts to begin the process of reintegrating into society.


In an emailed family statement, relatives expressed their fear of what Wilson, who pleaded guilty to the crime in 1999, might do.

"We are very concerned that Wilson may continue to pose a threat to us and possibly others," the email read. "Before and during the trial, we heard Wilson openly state his intent to kill other members of our family. Wilson was diagnosed as suffering from delusional paranoid schizophrenia, an illness that doesn't just simply go away. We want to know who is going to make the judgment that he is no longer a threat to us or others."


The spokesman said the family was told by experts before the murder that Wilson would not act on his beliefs. They want to ensure another mistake isn't made, the statement said.


Andrius Banevicius, a state Department of Correction spokesman, said Wilson was released to the halfway house on June 12, but was returned to the Bridgeport Correctional Center on June 22. Four days later, he was returned to the Enfield Correctional Institution, where he is serving a 30-year sentence.


"He was returned without prejudice, so he didn't do anything wrong," Banevicius said. "Apparently there had been additional paperwork that had not been properly routed that needed to be reviewed."


Banevicius said he could not identify the paperwork in question.


Attempts to reach the Wilson family were unsuccessful.

After fatal shooting John Peters in 1993, Wilson immediately drove to Greenwich police headquarters and confessed to the killing, of which police were not yet aware.


Wilson, a former friend of Peters' son, Dirk, who served as an usher at the son's wedding, claimed Dirk had brainwashed him and blamed the family for his problems.


His mental condition so alarmed his sister, Julia, that she faxed a 14-page letter to the police departments in Madison, where Wilson was living at the time, and Greenwich on July 19, 1993.

In the letter, Julia Wilson wrote that her brother was dangerous to himself and others and that he had made specific, violent threats against Dirk and John Peters.


In 1995, two years after the killing, Wilson was convicted of murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison. A jury rejected his defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.


Two years later, the state's Supreme Court reversed Wilson's conviction and ordered a retrial because a judge improperly instructed jurors on the definition of insanity.
In October 1999, shortly before he was to go to trial a second time, Wilson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Even though he has a 30-year sentence, Wilson will be released no later than March 2014.


Banevicius said under guidelines in place in 1993, prisoners were credited for good behavior.

Wilson could possibly be released even earlier, he said.


On March 16, 2004, the Town of Greenwich agreed to pay $4.5 million to Peters' widow Katrina Peters to settle her claim against the town for negligence in her husband's death.


The agreement came just hours before jurors were to begin deliberating in her lawsuit, which had gone to trial the month before.

Accused Wilton Murderer Found Competent for Trial

WILTON - A judge ruled that the Wilton man accused of killing his own father is competent to stand trial.


Detectives say Aaron Ramsey claims he heard voices in his head when he beat and stabbed Edward Ramsey in their home last month.



His lawyer says Ramsey understands the charges against them and is able to help with his defense.



He is due back in court next month.

Lover of Ex-NFLer from Greenwich Gets Life for Murder

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A Southern California woman was sentenced to life in prison Friday for helping her lover, former NFL linebacker and one-time Greenwich resident Eric Naposki, murder her live-in millionaire boyfriend for financial gain nearly two decades ago.

Nanette Ann Packard, 46, was convicted of murder earlier this year in the cold case slaying of William Francis McLaughlin, who made his fortune in medical technologies and was shot dead in his kitchen in December 1994.

Packard was living with the much older McLaughlin when he was murdered, but the divorced mother of two was also dating Naposki, a former linebacker for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts who worked as a bouncer at a nearby nightclub. He played college football at the University of Connecticut.

Packard convinced Naposki to kill McLaughlin, gave him a key to the victim's house and told him when he would be home, prosecutors said.



She stood to collect $1 million on a life insurance policy and receive $150,000 and free rent for a year at one of his homes if McLaughlin died, authorities said.

Packard ended up stealing at least $500,000 from McLaughlin's estate both before and after his death, Matt Murphy, deputy district attorney, said during trial.

She pleaded guilty to grand theft in 1996 and was sentenced to a year in jail, but the murder case went cold.

Investigators long suspected Packard and Naposki, however, and new technology to identify the weapon along with a new witness allowed prosecutors to file murder charges in 2009, prosecutors have said.

In May 20, 2009, Naposki was arrested near his Weaver Street home in Greenwich during a "high-risk" motor vehicle stop. Naposki was soon extradited to California to face the murder charge there.

McLaughlin's adult daughters spoke at the sentencing hearing Friday in Orange County Superior Court.

"The fact that you, Nanette, destroyed so many lives, including my Dad's, is vile. ... You had absolutely no right to take him from us for your own selfish reasons. He was incredibly good to you for four whole years," said daughter Kim McLaughlin Bayless.

Naposki, 45, was convicted of first-degree murder last July.

His sentencing has been postponed until Aug. 10.

Wilton Man Accused of Killing Father

WILTON -- A 22-year-old Wilton man who told police he was hearing voices, was arraigned in Norwalk Friday morning for the alleged murder of his 73-year-old father.

Aaron Ramsey of 125 Signal Hill Road allegedly punched, kicked and stabbed his father, Edward Ramsey Thursday afternoon before running through the woods to escape from aliens, he told police.
Judge Bruce Hudock maintained Aaron Ramsey's bond at $1 million during an arraignment at state Superior Court in Norwalk. Ramsey appeared at the Norwalk courthouse in a blue paper jumpsuit and socks, with his hands and feet shackled. He held his head down during the brief hearing and did not speak, but began to tear up just before being led out of court by judicial marshals.

His case was transferred to Stamford where more serious cases are heard and is scheduled for his first appearance there on May 15.

Wilton police were first alerted at 3:25 p.m. Thursday when they received a report of a man in his 20s with short brown hair trying to break into a car on Cheese Spring Road. Minutes later, police received another 911 call reporting that a man matching the earlier description ran into a house on Cheese Spring Road yelling that people were chasing him. The man then laid down on the living room floor and appeared to go to sleep.

When police arrived, they found Ramsey lying on the floor semi-conscious and acting irrationally and incoherent, according to the arrest warrant. Police called paramedics who treated him, but only found minor cuts despite blood on his T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

About 70 minutes after the burglary call, Ramsey's mother SuAnne Fehr-Ramsey called 911. When police got there they found her standing in the yard calling for Aaron. She told police that her husband was in the house bleeding and needed help.

Police found Edward Ramsey lying on a floor of a bedroom with severe traumatic injuries to his face and upper body and police noted that he was "obviously dead," in the four page arrest affidavit. A check of his vital signs determined there was no pulse and that there was no blood coming from several stab wounds to his chest, the affidavit said. He also had a "significant" injury to the left side of his head.

A ratcheting socket wrench was found on the left side of Ramsey's body and a single set of bloody footprints consistent with the sneakers Aaron Ramsey had worn to Cheese Spring Road led toward the door.

Police quickly connected Aaron Ramsey to the scene when an officer recognized him in a family photo in the kitchen of the house.

During an interview with investigators at Norwalk Hospital about two hours after Ramsey's body was found, Aaron told police that he heard voices telling him that he needed to find out who "the fakers and manipulators are" and that he had been "tasked to put people on trial."

He said he had confronted his father in his bedroom Thursday afternoon and asked him a question. Ramsey said he felt his father was lying and told him to get out of the house. When his father refused, he struck him with his right wrist, then he told police he tried to strike him with a "death blow," as he made a karate chop motion, the affidavit said.

Ramsey told police his father, a former pilot for American Airlines, never fought back.
Ramsey then picked up a bench in the bedroom and struck his father with it. While his father was knocked to the floor, Ramsey went to the kitchen to retrieve "a perfect sharp knife."
He said he then went to the bedroom and attempted to slit his father's throat, but his hand slipped off the handle due to blood and sweat. He then proceeded to stab his father in the stomach, groin, head and heart, police said.

Ramsey said he heard voices telling him to prevent his father from getting back up because "he has magic powers and can heal himself." He then told police that he stomped his father's entire body and "beat him to a pulp," the affidavit said.

Ramsey said the voices then told him "they're coming for you, you gotta run."

When police asked who was coming, Ramsey responded "aliens." He said he ran through the woods and used his mind to open a sliding glass door of a house -- evidently the one that he broke into on Cheese Spring Road -- the affidavit said.

Ramsey's public defender James Lamontagne called the incident a "true tragedy," and asked the judge that Ramsey be given mental health evaluation and treatment, which was granted.
Police said no other family members were home at the time.

The geodesic domed house is located at the end of a long driveway in a wooded area. According to land records, Edward Ramsey built the home in 1974 on the 4.5-acre wooded lot.

Neighbors in this affluent neighborhood keep to themselves. One woman who recently moved to the neighborhood said she'd recently seen the wife walking her dog.

During a morning press conference, Wilton police Chief Michael Lombardo said officers have responded to calls at the Ramsey house in the past, but would not elaborate on the nature of the calls.
During her emotional 911 call to police, SuAnne Fehr-Ramsey told police that her son had been acting strangely for more than a week and that he was "either on drugs or a little psychotic."
Ramsey is a 2008 graduate of Wilton High School where he played on the varsity football team as a place kicker.

Wilton High School Principal Robert O'Donnell said Ramsey was good student, engaged in athletics and had good friends. He said counselors were made available at the school Friday for any students who wanted to talk about the incident.

"We're a very tight-knit high school and local community," O'Donnell said.  "Our primary concern right now is with and for the Ramsey family at this very difficult time."

Ramsey has two prior convictions. He was arrested in November 2009 for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and was found guilty. He paid a $250 fine.

In November 2011, he was arrested for driving under the influence and pleaded guilty.
Wilton police detectives and investigators from the State Police major crime squad worked throughout the night, poring over the crime scene.

It is the first murder in Wilton since the June 2008 death of 13-year-old Nicholas Parisot. Parisot died while riding his motorcycle off-road in North Wilton and struck an elevated object that police said appeared to have been placed there intentionally.

No arrest was ever made in the Parisot case.

--------------------------------------

I believe him when he says aliens are coming for him... Have you seen that house? Lol.  Not to be too insensitive.. I mean, I do feel horrible for the family.  What a tragedy. And that kid is handsome, too.  What a shame.

Wilton Man Charged with Killing Father with a Screwdriver

(05/04/12) WILTON - Wilton police say they have arrested a man who has confessed to killing his father with a screwdriver last night.

Authorities say 22-year-old Aaron Ramsey repeatedly beat his father, then stabbed him several times before fleeing his Signal Hill Road home. They say he then entered a house on nearby Cheese Spring Road and refused to leave unless paramedics took him to the hospital.

The victim, 73-year-old Ed Ramsey, was found dead when police arrived.

Ramsey has been charged with murder and was arraigned today in Norwalk. Court documents indicate he heard voices in his head that told him to "put people on trial" and that he stabbed his father with a knife after he was already dead.

Police say Ramsey had previously been arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana.
He is being held on bond and has been ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Cops: Accused 'Cannibal' Tried to Kill Self in Fairfield

Fairfield Citizen- The man accused of eating the brains and eyeball of a Bridgeport man who he killed with an ax had tried to commit suicide earlier this month in the aisle of a CVS pharmacy on Black Rock Turnpike.

On Jan. 12, Tyree Lincoln Smith was discovered bleeding heavily from his left wrist, which he slashed with a box cutter, and then collapsed on the floor of the CVS at 1968 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield police said Thursday.

The suicide attempt occurred about a week before Bridgeport police found the decomposing body of Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez on Brooks Street in that city.

Smith, 35, had been discharged Jan. 9 from St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport and came to the store to fill several prescriptions, police said. The pharmacist told police he asked Smith for his prescription health card, and Smith spent about 10 minutes looking in his wallet for it. Smith was calm, according to the report, but when he was unable to find the card, the pharmacist asked Smith if he wanted to go back to St. Vincent's for assistance in filling the prescriptions, which were very expensive.

Smith spent another 15 minutes waiting in the pharmacy area and then left. However, a store employee found him a short time later on the floor in a pool of blood. The employee called 911 and kicked the box cutter away from Smith's grasp.

An ambulance was called to take Smith to the hospital and Fairfield police referred the case to the Greater Bridgeport Community Mental Health Center.

"This just shows that each and every day, whenever an officer responds to a call, they really don't know the all the background," Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara said. "Our officers go to help someone, and unbeknownst to them, this guy later will be a suspect in a gruesome murder."

Joran Van der Sloot Gets 28-Year Sentence for Peru Killing

USA Today- Joran Van der Sloot, a key suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in 2005, has been sentencded to 28 years for killing a Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino.

The court, taking into account the time he has spent in jail, says he would be eligible to be freed in June 2038.

The prosecution has requested a 30 years sentence, but the court said it had reduced it by two years because of Van der Sloot's "sincere confession" that led to a speedy conclusion of the case.

Van der Sloot, 24, pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing of Stephany Flores, 21, last year in a rage at his hotel room in the Peruvian capital.

Van der Sloot was implicated in the disappearance of 18-year-old Holloway during a class trip to Aruba.

On Thursday, a county judge in Birgmingham signed an order declaring Holloway legally dead.

Van der Sloot was briefly charged in her disappearance, but the case was never prosecuted.

He faces federal charges in Birmingham for allegedly trying to extort $250,000 from the Holloways for information about Natalee's whereabouts.

The itch Is Back

Courtesy of yoube: Casey Anthony Speaks Out For The First Time On Video Diary

She has some nerve vlogging herself, hasn't she heard she's the most hated woman in America?

It makes me sick watching her... I guess she feels obligated to do her little videos as to not dissapoint her fanbase.
Wait, what?

ORLANDO -- We have confirmed that the YouTube video featuring a woman who looks and sounds like the Orlando mother acquitted of murdering her daughter, Caylee, is none other than Casey Anthony.

And now attorneys who are already suing Anthony hope to use this video in their lawsuit. Sources close to Casey Anthony's defense team confirmed Thursday.

Attorney Cheney Mason says Anthony is maintaining memoirs and notes primarily for future counseling. She did not upload the video to YouTube, nor did she authorize anyone to do it. Mason says whoever leaked the video did it illegally or criminally.

The 4-minute, 20-second video posted Wednesday features Casey Anthony with a shorter, blond hairstyle. The woman in the recording gives the date as Thursday, October 13, 2011.
----------------------------

The really sad part is that she gets more views on her "counseling" blog than I probably ever will. I guess if I kill my child then I could be famous too, hey-whatdyaknow?

The only vlogging I want to see of her in the future is the one that captures her assasination.

Jury Condemns Joshua Komisarjevsky to Death for Conn. Home Invasion Murders

Unlike the Casey Anthony trial verdict, one verdict I'm happy to hear about was Joshua Komisarjev
(CBS/AP) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The man convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion has been sentenced to death.

The jury deliberated for five days before returning the verdict against Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEV'-skee). His accomplice, Steven Hayes, is already on death row for the murders in the affluent suburb of Cheshire. On Wednesday, the jury sent a note to the judge indicating they were having trouble weighing Komisarjevsky's role in the crime against Hayes.

The defense asked jurors to spare Komisarjevsky's life, arguing that his ultra-religious family never got him proper help after he was sexually abused as a child by his foster brother.


The crime led to the defeat of a bill to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut and sparked tougher state laws for repeat offenders and home invasions.
(Complete coverage of the Petit family murders on Crimesider)

What was once the Petit's house is now a rememberance garden... R.I.P.

WANTED

WESTPORT - Police say they are searching for the man who shot and killed a Westport jeweler and critically wounded an associate at a store last night.
The shooting happened at YZ Jewelers on Post Road East at around 10 p.m.

Police say the owner of the store, Yekutiel Zeevi, 65, died at Norwalk Hospital.

The second victim, Ronen Konfino, of New York City, is in critical condition.

Westport Police Chief Dale Call says the suspect had responded to an ad about buying and selling diamonds.

Police say the suspect is a white man, between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, in his early to mid 40s, with a medium build and thinning salt-and-pepper hair. They say he was last seen wearing glasses with black frames and driving a four-door, boxy, blue vehicle.

Anyone with information is urged to call Westport police at (203) 341-6080.

1 Dead, Another Critical in Westport Shooting

(12/09/11) WESTPORT- A Westport jeweler is dead and an associate is critically wounded following a shooting at a store last night.
It happened at YZ Jewelers on Post Road East around 10 p.m.

Police say the owner of the store, Yekutiel Zeevi, 59, died at Norwalk Hospital.

They have not identified the second victim but say he is an associate of the business and is in critical condition.

Police believe this was not a random robbery and that the victims were specifically targeted by a single unknown suspect.

Anyone with information is urged to call Westport police at (203) 341-6080.

Sentencing Postponed for Greenwich Man in Daughter's Death

GREENWICH - Sentencing was postponed today for a former Greenwich man who pleaded guilty to killing his daughter.

Police say Adam Dobrzanski fatally slit his 20-year-old daughter's throat at the estate where he worked as a landscaper in Dec. 2009. They say he then attempted to commit suicide.

According to prosecutors, the 56-year-old was experiencing psychological problems and was upset because his wife wanted a divorce.

The hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 16. Dobrzanski faces 40 years in prison.

This Day In History

Jun 29 1967
Actress Jayne Mansfield is decapitated in a car crash, when her convertible collides with a parked tractor-trailer. To downplay the gruesome death, sources spread the falsehood that only her wig flew off in the accident.

Jun 29 1978
The body of Bob Crane is discovered in bed with an electric cord wrapped around his neck and his head smashed in. When Scottsdale police search the apartment belonging to the former star of television's Hogan's Heroes, they discover a video camera and a large library of amateur porn starring Crane and a parade of random women.

This Day In History

Jun 17 1972
The "plumbers" break into Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate complex, in the course of what President Nixon will later describe as a "third rate burglary." In actuality, it is an attempt by the Republican Party to illegally wiretap the opposition.

Jun 17 1994
O.J. Simpson fails to turn himself in to the LAPD at a prearranged time and is later spotted in a white Ford Bronco on a Los Angeles expressway. After a low-speed pursuit through the freeways and streets of Brentwood, O.J. is finally arrested live on television in the driveway of his mansion. According to one of the defense attorneys who served on O.J.'s "Dream Team," Simpson tried to kill himself in the car, but the gun misfired. The Juice allegedly told him: "I pulled the trigger and it didn't go off."

This Day In History

Jun 12 1978
David Berkowitz is sentenced to 365 consecutive years in prison without the possibility of parole. Berkowitz killed six New Yorkers between 1976 and 1977, known collectively as the Son of Sam murders.

Jun 12 1991
After 500 years of silence, Mount Pinatubo erupts, making an estimated 100,000 homeless and killing 300. Two U.S. military bases, Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base, are abandoned. The blast is ten times larger than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Jun 12 1994
Nicole Brown Simpson and her male friend Ronald Goldman are savagely murdered in front of Simpson's condominium complex in Brentwood, California. The most plausible suspect turns out to be Nicole's estranged husband O.J., who is arrested for the crime a month later.

This Day In History

Jun 6 1968
Senator Robert F. Kennedy dies at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. The Democratic lawmaker had been campaigning for his party's Presidential nomination when he was shot three times by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.

Jun 6 1981
An Indian passenger train traveling between Mansi and Saharsa jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing, submerging 11 compartments beneath the Bagmati river. Although the government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing, the actual figure is more like 1,000 killed.

Jun 6 1991
For robbing a Las Vegas video store five weeks earlier, a judge gives former Diff'rent Strokes child star Dana Plato a six-year suspended sentence. Plato's haul from the caper was $164, which she obtained by brandishing a pellet gun at the clerk.

Jun 6 1997
During her senior prom, New Jersey teenager Melissa Drexler gives birth to a healthy baby in a bathroom stall. She then strangles the child with a plastic bag and severs the umbilicus with the sharp edge on the tampon dispenser. After stashing the corpse in the trash, Drexler returns to prom and proceeds to eat a salad, request a Metallica song, and dance.

This Day In History

May 17 1924
Two youths discover a human skull on the banks of the Leine in Hanover, Germany. And although two more skulls are found a month later, police ignore it until a sackful of bones turn up on the riverbank. Dragging the Leine yields another 500 bones, belonging to about 27 victims. Eventually, police arrest Fritz Haarmann for the crimes. He would lure runaway boys back to his apartment, where they would be raped, killed, and cut into steaks. Then the unlicensed butcher would sell the meat as beef on the black market. All told, he killed between 40 and 50 boys.

May 17 1965
Magazine The Nation publishes Hunter S. Thompson's first-hand experiences with the Hell's Angels motorcycle club. The bikers would eventually stomp Thompson when they demanded payment for his time spent. A year later, Random House published his book Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

May 17 1974
During a gun battle with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the LAPD fires tear gas into their Watts hideout. The canisters ignite a fire which soon consumes the house. Three other SLA members, including kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, watch the events unfold on TV in their motel room down the street from Disneyland.

May 17 1980
A three-day race riot breaks out after an all-white jury acquits four white Miami police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance salesman. The cops had beaten him with their flashlights and billyclubs, and he died in the hospital. 18 fatalities and more than $100 million in property damage are the final result.