Collection of Things on Myspace!

http://www.myspace.com/thingsnottoforget

Of course I have my own personal myspace, but for those of you out there in blogland who wish to also follow myspace and view coinciding blog updates, add me!

You Rascal, You..

Click to hear the song, "You Rascal, You".

Peterson Trial Witness List: 805 People

June 26, 2009: JOLIET — Saying Drew Peterson's attorneys were attempting to simplify disclosure evidence into "CliffsNotes," prosecutors thwarted the bid Thursday but will have to pare an 805-witness list down to the 50 most likely to testify.

John Connor, the chief of the major crime unit for the state's attorney, countered an eight-point motion from Peterson's defense team that would help the accused wife-killer's lawyers more easily navigate the thousands of pages of discovery evidence.

"I think what the counsel is asking us to do is give them CliffsNotes on this," Connor said, referring to the study guides that simplify books for students.

One of Peterson's attorneys, Joel Brodsky, argued that the first-degree murder indictment against Peterson was too vague.

He wanted prosecutors to provide detailed descriptions of such matters as how Peterson allegedly drowned his third wife, Kathleen Savio; whether he used any weapons or tools to kill her; exactly where and when the alleged 2004 murder occurred; and how Peterson may have gained entry to her home.

"Was it a key?" Brodsky asked. "Was it, 'Beam me up, Scotty'?"

Connor countered that all of the information Brodsky is entitled to can be found in the discovery evidence already handed over by prosecutors. But Brodsky said it was too much for him and Peterson's other attorneys to sift through.

Judge Stephen White denied all the requests in Brodsky's motion, but did tell Connor to come up with an approximate time Savio was last seen alive and about when her body was found.

Brodsky also took issue with the 805 men and women listed as possible witnesses against Peterson. Connor is supposed to come up with the 50 most likely to testify by July 10, but was not forbidden from calling the remaining 755 at trial, which is scheduled to start Aug. 24.

White also shot down Brodsky's request for Peterson to take possession of the evidence against him while he is in jail. White said Peterson could review the evidence in the presence of his attorneys, who have been granted unlimited jailhouse visits with their client.

Brodsky also asked whether three key witnesses against Peterson were compensated by the state police.

Brodsky named Peterson's former friends Len Wawczak and Paula Stark, who clandestinely recorded their conversations with Peterson for seven months at the behest of the state police, and Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who claims to have helped Peterson dispose of the body of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, in October 2007, as the witnesses he suspects may have profited from their statements.

Brodsky asked whether Stark, Wawczak or Morphey were paid money or given consideration in regard to criminal charges that may have faced them.

White said this issue would be resolved July 10.

Michael Jackson Craziness: Horror story Wrote for Kids

I am 99.9% sure this is media trash, but interesting none-the-less that they're reporting this over in the U.K.:

News of the World- "TORMENTED Michael Jackson wrote a chilling horror story about a CHILD ABUSER and SERIAL KILLER starring HIS OWN KIDS.

The sickening tale - called Kids on Swings - is a nightmare vision of Prince Michael II and Jacko's daughter Paris falling into the clutches of a fiend who slaughters children with a 'sling blade'.

He stabs Prince, sending him into a coma as they try to escape his clutches.

The King of Pop penned the story when he visited the UK in 2006 - a year after he was acquitted of child abuse charges.

It gives a warped insight into the tormented mind of the entertainer who suffered repeated beatings at the hands of his own violent father Joe.

The story is written in a childlike scrawl in black and blue pens on the back of letters and pictures of an Irish Georgian Castle.

It was found among documents and memorabilia handed to the News of the World.

Written as a play, it tells how Paris, 11, and seven- year-old Prince Michael II are playing on swings until the boy becomes 'disinterested' and runs off.

He runs to the brook skipping past rocks silhouetted against a crystal lake," Jacko wrote.

A pack of wild dogs then chase the pair as Paris screams for her 'DAD.'

In the next disturbing scene, the infants spot a man working in a field with a sling blade. "We see him working but we can't see his face," Jackson wrote.

The badly spelled story then takes a sinister turn as the identity of the fiend is revealed.

The character of Prince tells his sister: "He murdered his wife and no one ever sees his kids cause he keeps them tied to the bed like his wife, before he murdered her. He starves them FIRST then he murdered them, Paris."

His terrified sister admits to being scared before asking how he killed them. "He did it with a sling blade Paris," he adds. The 13-page story is believed to have been written while the eccentric entertainer was doped up on a cocktail of powerful narcotic pain killers.

The handwriting has been verified as Jackson's by top graphologist Erik Rees who has been observing the star's writing for 30 years and says it shows signs of a "split personality".

The tale was penned at a time when Jacko's behaviour became increasingly erratic and fears were raised for the safety of his three youngsters.

In the next scene Prince and Paris are in bed - too frightened to sleep. A twisted passage then describes how the monster got a facial scar.

"He starved a man for 2 weeks," it reads. "Just before killing him they had a fight. The guy he was trying to kill grabbed the knife to attack him. And he cut him over the eyes.

"He then got scared and ran into what they call the endless BLACK FOREST . . . he was never found again. Because they say there is no way out of the endless Black Forest."

The bizarre tale - which may have been read to Jacko's kids as a bedtime story - sees the two youngsters venture into the 'Black Forest' to visit the 'crazy man.'

Shaking with fear, the children peer through the window of his cottage before a spine-tingling scene in which he creeps up behind them.

(rest here)

Five Die in Italian Riviera Train-Gas Blast

(CNN) -- A gas explosion from a cargo train carrying fuel tanks killed at least five people and injured 35 others Monday night in a town in western Italy, a local government official said.

The train, traveling from La Spezia to Pisa, was carrying gas tanks and derailed while passing through the station in the coastal town of Viareggio, the official, Antonio Garufi, told CNN. The station and a few nearby buildings caught fire and were evacuated, he said.

The five fatalities were victims of a resulting building fire, Garufi said. The train operators were not injured.

The explosion happened at about 11:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. ET).

Did Convicted Rapist Kidnap Missing Girl?

(video)

ABC News- Arizona's maximum security prison at Florence was not a place suburban parents Tracy and Darien Biggs ever expected to visit.

But their former neighbor, Dee Blalock, was serving a 187-year prison sentence at the facility, and the Biggses were determined to speak to him, believing he had the key to what happened to their eldest daughter, Mikelle.

Mikelle disappeared Jan. 2, 1999, at age 11 while waiting for an ice cream truck on a corner of her Mesa, Ariz., neighborhood. Her bicycle was found with the wheels still spinning and two quarters for ice cream discarded on the ground. There were no witnesses, no body found and little evidence.

If you have information that might help solve the mystery of what happened to Mikelle Biggs, please contact the Arizona Police Department on their website, http://mesaaz.gov/police/, or by phone (480) 644-2211.

When Mikelle vanished, police immediately ran a check on all the registered sex offenders in the area. They were surprised to discover that dozens of sex offenders were living within a mile radius of the Biggs house in the child-filled neighborhood.

As police searched for any trace of Mikelle, local families launched block-watch meetings to keep an eye on strangers ... and on each other.

"If you're my neighbor, and I see that you're living next to me, and I see something suspicious going on, I guarantee you I'll be calling 911," Blalock told a local newscast at the time.

Blalock appeared to be an outspoken advocate for law and order. He lived about two blocks from the Biggses and was described by neighbors as "friendly" and "personable."

But nearly two years after Mikelle Biggs vanished, the neighborhood got another shock when Blalock was convicted of raping and brutally attacking his neighbor, Susan Quinnett.

"He tried to snap my neck three times," said Quinnett. " He did successfully break it in one place. He put me in a chokehold. ... He choked me until I gave over and fainted."

Quinnett said she had complained to police about Blalock's unwanted advances.

"He was coming up on me. He was drunk. He reeked of beer," she said. "He was putting his hands on me ... in my yard. I called the police. I said, 'The guy is just creeping me out. He's stalking me. ... I've tried to tell his wife.'"

Quinnett did not know that Blalock was more than a local nuisance, but was, in fact, a registered sex offender. He had convictions in three states, but the law at the time did not require the community be notified.

Quinnett said police never followed up on her complaint, and on the night of the attack, he was waiting for her inside her home.

"He was hiding behind the refrigerator and ... had his pants unzipped, and he was exposing himself to me."

Quinnett said she was shocked and asked him what he was doing there.

"I tried to take a few steps, and he already ... had come forward and grabbed me ... and twisted my arm, and started ... forcing me to the ground."

Mesa police described Blalock's attack on Quinnett as brutal.

"One of the worst beatings I've ever seen," said Det. Jerry Gissel.

Quinnett survived the attack. She said she immediately suspected Blalock might also be responsible for Mikelle's disappearance and contacted the Biggses to tell them about her suspicions.

"I had talked to Tracy," she said. "I told her I felt very strongly. He was their closure. He was the answer."

Quinnett was so certain that Blalock was responsible that she offered to drop all charges against him if he would confess to taking Mikelle.

"I can't imagine not ever knowing what happened to your daughter," she said.

"I said, 'If he could bring some comfort or closure to them, I will walk away from this,'" she added. "[Authorities] said, 'We can't do that because ... it's the state versus Dee Blalock.'"

The Biggses had never heard of Blalock, but they soon learned that police had visited him in the early morning after Mikelle disappeared. Police said Blalock's wife provided an alibi for Blalock, claiming he had been in the garage the entire night.

Police also learned Blalock had seen Mikelle before. He told detectives he had seen her going to her piano teacher near his house.

The Biggses decided the only way to find more answers was to deal with Blalock directly. After Blalock was sentenced for his attack on Quinnett, the Biggses sent him a letter in prison, asking him directly if he had taken their daughter.

"I told him, 'If I'm wrong ... I won't be able to do enough to apologize to you,'" said Darien Biggs, "because that's a terrible thing to be accused of. ... But I don't care ... if I have to accuse a million different people until I find the right one."

Blalock answered in writing that "I need to make things right with you and your family."

He agreed to meet with the grieving parents.

"I was nervous," remembered Tracy Biggs. "I was kind of shaky."

Darien Biggs described the visit as one with an enormous mission.

"Tracy wanted to look in his eyes," he said. "She just wanted to look in his eyes and know whether or not he was guilty."

The Biggses spoke to Blalock in the prison for an hour and a half.

"He just denied, denied, denied, denied," said Darien Biggs. "He got mad a couple times ... but he never walked away." The Biggses said they reached a consensus about him immediately.

"As we were walking away, I remember telling Darien, 'I think he did it,'" recalled Tracy Biggs. "His movements ... his jitteriness ... he couldn't look you straight in the eye -- just things ... that would indicate that he was lying."

For Darien Biggs, the full impact of the encounter did not hit home until the next day.

"I was sitting three feet from this guy," he said. "You know, the only thing protecting him was that, you know, glass between us."

Although the Biggses said they believe Blalock was responsible for their daughter's disappearance, they do have doubts -- "just enough to keep me from going down there and getting myself thrown in jail," Darien said.

Mesa police detectives Gissel and Domenick Kaufman said they are investigating Blalock and described him as a promising lead in the case.But they emphasized that the case is still open and that Blalock has not been named as an official suspect.

Blalock repeatedly has denied involvement in Mikelle's disappearance.

Mass. Neighbor Accused of Trying to Rape Girl, 6

ABC- A man lured his son's 6-year-old friend to an apartment with a promise to show her some pet gerbils, then bound her with tape and leg shackles, injected her with an unknown substance and tried to rape her, but she fled while still chained, authorities said Monday.

Justin Shine, 26, was charged with kidnapping, attempted rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — a hypodermic needle — and resisting arrest.

At his arraignment Monday in Hingham District Court, a prosecutor described in chilling detail what happened after the girl went out Saturday to ride her bike in front of her apartment in Hanover, a middle-class suburb just south of Boston.

Shine was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Wednesday. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf.

Assistant District Attorney Sharon Donatelle said the girl told police that Shine, who lived in the same apartment building, saw her outside and yelled out his window, inviting her to see some gerbils. The girl knew Shine as the father of a little boy she often played with in the apartment complex.

Once inside, Shine showed the girl the family's gerbils but then bound her hands with tape, put tape over her mouth, wrapped her arms with a "fishnet-type material" and shackled her ankles with a chain, Donatelle said.

The girl told police that Shine injected her in the hip using a syringe and that she felt "somewhat sleepy" afterward. Donatelle said the syringe is being tested to find out what was in it.

The girl said that after she heard knocking on doors, Shine got a knife and cut the tape off her hands. She said she was crying and Shine told her to "shut up."

"He also told her that she was not going to die today — that he was," Donatelle said. He later let the girl leave, she said.

The girl fled the apartment as police were going door to door looking for her. A man at the complex found her and carried her to police. Her feet were still shackled together, and her arms and legs had blood on them. Police later determined that the blood on the girl was Shine's blood.

"She was very upset and crying," Officer David Zemotel wrote in a police report. "I asked her what had happened and she stated, 'The man took me.'"

The girl then showed police Shine's apartment, Donatelle said.
Police said they arrested Shine after finding him in a bedroom, covered with blood. He had an open wound on his left wrist.

Zemotel said he hit Shine on the head with his gun after Shine ignored police commands and lunged toward officers. Shine had a black eye when he appeared in court Monday.

Police said they found the girl's pink bicycle and Barbie bike helmet in his apartment.

Donatelle said that while Shine was being treated at a hospital, he told a state trooper that he had lured the girl into his apartment and bound her and admitted "he had plans to engage in some sexual activity" but had "second thoughts."

He said he had injected himself with cocaine but didn't admit injecting the girl with anything. He told the trooper it may have been by accident, Donatelle said.

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said the girl was taken to a hospital but had been released.

"She escaped, and we hope she's going to be OK, but I'm sure it's going to be a long road for her," Cruz said.

The girl's mother told police she let her daughter ride her bike outside while she put her son down for a nap. When she didn't hear her outside about 20 minutes later, she went outside to look for her, then called police.

Shine looked down and did not speak during his arraignment, except to accept the judge's offer for a court-appointed attorney, William Leonard, who declined to comment to reporters.

The Neptune Murders

"Inside the deserted office on the second floor of Neptune, Cowan picked up the phone and listened for the dial tone. Later, he would use that same phone to demand food from the police. He slammed the receiver back down on the cradle and began to wrap his bleeding hand. The cut appeared to need stitches but it would have to wait. He reloaded the SACO rifle with a fresh magazine and cocked the sliding bolt. He checked his handguns and adjusted the two bandoliers he had draped across his barrel chest. Perhaps at that moment, on the wall, he saw reflections of flashing red lights and cautiously peered out the front window. "

The Neptune Murders: Crime Library on TruTV.com ---> VERY lengthy but intense article outlining all the details of the day it happened..

The White Lady and Easton Union Cemetary

(Very interesting article)

(check out this blogspot user's trip to the cemetary!)

Saturday night I took my own trip up to Easton, Connecticut, about a half hour away from my home, to visit "The White Lady".

A popular folklore, she has been seen by many people, including many who are actually credible.

People claim they hit her with their car, including the only case of actual damage to a vehicle- witnessed by a credible volunteer firefighter.

Ed and Lorraine Warren have visited her, and had documented her.

I ended up arriving before midnight, and didn't run into any actual ghosts, but carried with me for the rest of the night a terrible vibe.

Just circling around the cemetary, driving up the road that borders the back of the cemetary ,and then seeing the small white Union Church after looping around to the other side was intimidating.. If I felt secure enough and with more people I might've gotten the courage to get out of the car, but I was terrified.

Without knowing about anything that could've happened there in the past I'm sure I would've still felt that flighty, scared feeling, and will never forget it.

I plan on going back, and this time after midnight!

---->The White Lady & Easton Union Cemetary on wikipedia, learn about her!

Kronk Seeking More Money For Anthony Case Fees

WESH- -- Orange County commissioners are expected on Tuesday to approve spending more taxpayer money for Roy Kronk's legal representation.

Commissioners are scheduled to decide on spending an additional $2,500 to pay the lawyer for the former meter reader who discovered Caylee Anthony's remains while on duty.

That brings the total now to $15,000 in taxpayer money paid to Kronk's lawyer since December. The item is on the consent agenda and should be approved without discussion.

Kronk discovered Caylee's remains in Orange County woods in December, three months after he made an initial call to authorities about his suspicions.

Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. She is being held in Orange County Jail on no bond.

Her trial is scheduled to start no earlier than October.

Kronk has faced depositions about what he saw as well as requests from Anthony's defense attorneys for phone records.

12-Year-Old Bull Rider Dies At Boulder County Rodeo

LONGMONT, Colo. -- A 12-year-old boy died at Longmont United Hospital after being stomped on during a bull ride at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Sunday morning.

Richard Wayde Hamar of Yuma, Colo., was competing in the Little Britches Rodeo, a two-day children's rodeo event at the fairgrounds, said Boulder sheriff spokesman Sgt. Mike Dimond. The boy was a junior bull rider competitor.

"He was riding, he was bucked off and stepped on by the bull shortly after being bucked off," said Dimond. "It was just a fluke accident."

He said the boy was wearing a helmet and a protective vest at the time but the 1,200-pound bull stepped on his chest. The impact ruptured his heart, Boulder County Coroner Thomas Faure said Monday.

Wayde was taken to Longmont United Hospital, where he later died.

Wayde's parents were watching their son compete when he was killed. They told 7NEWS he had been riding bulls for six years.

"Wayde was a 12-year-old very special young man whom did exactly what he loved and that was rodeoing," the family said in a statement. "Wayde and little brother Zach made a great team ... Wayde had a heart of gold and knew no enemies. He was loved by many family and friends and their hearts are broke and we will deeply miss him."

Dimond said there are injuries at the fairgrounds from time to time, but he couldn't remember a child being stepped on by a bull before.

"I'm concerned for this family and their loss, but it's inherent to the sport and people go into that knowing it could happen on any given ride," he said.

Wayde was the son of Mitch and Angie Hamar, of Yuma. He attended Lone Star School and would have been in the seventh grade this fall.

Orin Buchanan is a bullfighter whose job is to distract the bull from the rider and grab it after the rider is thrown. He was the first by Wayde's side when he fell.

"It was hard. It was really hard. Kind of tears you down a bit, knowing this kid had years of rodeoing, years of life, a family ahead of him, and in one fatal accident, it was taken from him," Buchanan said.

In his 20 years of rodeoing, Buchanan said this is the third death he's seen and the first child ever killed in a Little Britches Rodeo event.

The Longmont Elks Lodge, which sponsored the rodeo, released a statement that said: "Our hearts go out to the family, and Little Britches Rodeo, and rodeo in general. It's a tragedy. A very rare occurrence, but still a tragedy."

The National Little Britches Rodeo Association, based in Colorado Springs, issued the following statement Monday on Wayde's death:

"The National Little Britches Rodeo Association (NLBRA) is deeply saddened to report the tragic and untimely death of a member.

"The Little Britches Family wishes to send our thoughts and prayers to Wayde's family during this difficult time," stated Kimber Solberg, NLBRA Executive Director. "Our thanks goes to everyone who worked to assist Wayde after his accident and those who are supporting his family at this difficult time. The Little Britches Rodeo family, as well as the rest of the rodeo world, grieves with the loss of Wayde."

"The NLBRA takes the safety of the contestants at our events very seriously and the bull riding event requires safety vests, mouth guards and the option for a bull riding helmet, which Wayde was wearing. Additionally, emergency personnel are on site at all events."


It's not clear how many children are injured in rodeos because there is no one overriding regulatory agency or commission overseeing rodeos, unlike other youth sports such as boxing or baseball. But the Professional Bull Riding Association said for adults, there's one injury for every 15 bulls out of the gate.

"There is a big element of danger. Rodeo is one of the top five most dangerous sports in the world," Buchanan said.

But for some ranching families, it's a way of life.

Cassi Roberts saw the accident and still plans on letting her 10-year-old daughter start bull riding soon.

"This is just our way of life. I've watched a lot of kids get hurt," Roberts said. "My nephew broke his back when he was 15. I carried a buddy's friend to the hospital when he broke his leg ... but anything's dangerous."

Some of those at the county fairgrounds where the rodeo was held were questioned about how young is too young to compete in a rodeo. Rodeo riders can compete when they are 8 years old.

"I have a 12-year-old son and 12-year-old cousins and would never, never let them out there," one woman said.

"That's the choice of life that they live and we think that that's exciting," said another woman.

"Every sport has some danger attached to it," another woman said.

A memorial fund has been set up for Wayde Hamar at the Yuma County Federal Credit Union, PO Box 271, Yuma CO, 80759, Wayde Hamar Memorial Fund, 970-848-3823.

TV Pitchman Billy Mays Had Heart Disease, Coroner Says

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- TV pitchman Billy Mays' death appeared to be from heart disease, not a bump to the head, according to the Hillsborough County medical examiner.

The final cause of death will not be known until after toxicology results are available, Dr. Vernard Adams said at a Monday news conference.

Mays, 50, was pronounced dead at his home near Tampa Sunday morning, after his wife Deborah found him unresponsive, Tampa police said.

The autopsy conducted Monday morning revealed Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease, Adams said.

"It's not uncommon to have a sudden death with this kind of disease," Adams said.

"Billy would be overwhelmed to see that his life touched so many people in a positive way," Deborah Mays said in a statement Monday.

"While it provides some closure to learn that heart disease took Billy from us, it certainly doesn't ease the enormous void that his death has created in our lives," she said.

Billy Mays had told a friend before he went to sleep Saturday he was not feeling well.

"He said he was groggy, he wasn't feeling that great. He wanted to get some sleep," Todd Schnitt said.

Mays was on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia that had a hard landing Saturday at Tampa International Airport after the front tire of the plane blew out.

After the flight, Mays told a Tampa TV station, "All of a sudden as we hit, you know, it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

Mays, with his booming voice, was famous for fronting products such as OxiClean and Orange Glo in TV commercials.

No evidence of exterior or interior head trauma was found during Mays' autopsy, Adams said.

The Discovery Channel -- which airs "Pitchmen" co-hosted by Mays -- issued a statement saying, "It is with incredible sadness that we have to report that Billy Mays died in his sleep last night. Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth. Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."

Yemeni Plane Crashes With About 150 Aboard

(CNN) -- A Yemeni airliner with 150 people aboard has crashed in the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros, an aviation official in Yemen's capital said Tuesday.

The aircraft, from the national airline Yemenia, was en route to Comoros when it crashed about an hour from its destination, an airline official said. There was no immediate news of the fate of those on board.

The Airbus A310 was en route from Yemen's capital Sanaa to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, and most of the passengers were Comoran, an official at Sanaa's international airport said. Moroni is about 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) south of Yemen, off the east coast of Africa.

"We don't know if there are any survivors among the 150 people on the plane," Comoros Vice President Idi Nadhoim told Reuters.

Brooklyn Day Care Center in Shootout a Drug House in Disguise, Police Say

NY Daily News: Upstaris tots. Downstairs, pot.

Armed bandits targeted a Brooklyn day care center where the owners ran a drug den in thebasement, with a 10-pound marijuana stash and more than $100,000 incash, police said Saturday.

Day care owner Donna Rogers, 37, and her husband, Sherwin, 36, were arrested for felony marijuana possessio none day after kids at their East Flatbush business slept through a wild gunfight between cops and robbers.

"Obviously, they were doingmore than just taking care of children," said Police CommissionerRaymond Kelly. "It appears they were also dealing drugs at thislocation."

Sherwin Rogers surrendered to the 67th Precinct aftercops - tipped by a seriously wounded suspect - returned to the day care Saturday and found the drugs and money hidden in a closet, Kelly said.

Thecouple lived in the basement, where neighborhood crooks knew they stashed large amounts of pot. And Friday's robbery was timely - it waspay day and pot was being delivered.

Next-door neighbor Grant Frierson, 70, wasn't surprised by the arrest - Rogers and her husbandhad recently purchased two new cars. But he was disgusted by the daycare ruse.

"Keeping all that cash and drugs under the same roof as those kids is just despicable," Frierson said. "Looks like thosekids were a coverup."

About a dozen children, ages 1 to 10, werenapping inside the Special Moments Day Care Center on Friday when therobbers - posing as parents - entered the facility, a police sourcesaid.

A pair of plainclothes officers from the 67th Precinctreached the robbery in progress to find a roomful of kids and one adult: Gavin Nugent, with a 9-mm. Glock in his hand.

Nugent, 34,was shot after pointing the loaded gun at police. The bleeding suspect ran from the day care to the basement, but was too big to shimmythrough a window to freedom, a police source said.

Nugent finally dropped his weapon after police shot him a second time. He was instable condition at Kings County Hospital Saturday with gunshot woundsto the chest and wrist, Kelly said.

The initial confrontation was captured on videotape. Although police fired four times, the video showed the children sleeping innocently through the gunfire.

Nugentand career criminal Dwayne Jackson, 35, were arrested at the scene andcharged with burglary, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

Their alleged lookout man, 37-year-old Carl Grierson, was also busted Friday. Police initially believed the armed robbers intended to steal the daycare's payroll until Nugent squealed on the drug operation.

Police Identify Body Dumped In SW Dade

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBS4) ― It was a horrible image that witness Leonel Perez says he'll never be able to shake: the body of a man being pushed from a cargo van as Perez and his wife and two young children watched in horror.

It happened just after 6 Sunday night. And now Miami-Dade Police have identified the victim.

Police say he is 35-year-old Fidel Ruiz Moreno and he's been arrested before for a series of infractions. Records show Moreno was arrested on March 21, 2007, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. But charges were later dropped. And on Feb. 10, 2009, he was also arrested for sellling marijuana.

Police don't know why he was killed or why his body was dumped from the van Sunday night. They do not have a good description of the suspect that can be released. They are asking for the public's help in finding the driver of the van who dumped Moreno's body on the side of the road in southwest Miami-Dade.

Perez was driving behind a white cargo van with a black grill Sunday evening with his wife Jillian Martinez and their young children when they saw a man in the cargo van dump Moreno's body on Quail Roost Drive near SW 135th Avenue.

The couple attempted to help Moreno, but soon realized reviving him would be impossible since his body was riddled with bullets and his skull appeared cracked.

"I've never been part of this before. So it messes with your head, but it's part of life I guess," said Perez. "The van just sped off, he threw the body out and sped off. He was just laying there not moving. Yeah he was unconscious," Perez said. "He had a real bad fracture to his cranium to the top of his head. A bunch of bullet wounds yeah I guess he got shot. It was horrible. I feel sorry for that family."

Their six- and four-year-old kids will likely have plenty of questions of what they witnessed.

"We're gonna have to be very careful how we answer that. Just to know that there's bad people out there and they need to be careful," Perez said.

Perez added that the cargo van's door kept flapping and he could not see the license plate.

Anyone with information on the van or the man driving it is asked to call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.

CBS4 reporter Tiffani Helberg contributed to this report

FBI Joins Search for Missing 10-Year-Old-Girl

Seattle Times- FBI agents have joined the search for a 10-year-old Grays Harbor County girl missing since Friday night.

Lindsey Baum was last seen walking home from a friend's house about six blocks from her home in the small town of McCleary.

Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott says law-enforcement officers were canvassing the city Sunday. He says search-and-rescue volunteers and others combed the area Saturday where the girl was last seen but "didn't yield anything."

Scott says there's no evidence of foul play, but his agency is "beginning to investigate with that possibility in mind."

Officers were re-interviewing neighbors to see whether any clues had been missed in earlier canvassing by volunteers, Scott said.

The girl's mother reported her missing Friday night.

"I just need my daughter home," Melissa Baum told The Aberdeen Daily World.

She said she's afraid someone has taken her daughter away from McCleary, a town of about 1,500.

McCleary Police Chief George Crumb told the newspaper that while his department hoped she ran off, "she's been gone far too long."

"This is a small town. These things don't happen. And yet here they are," Melissa McCann, a family friend told KOMO-TV. "She comes from her friend's [house] a lot, so it doesn't make sense that she didn't show up at home. We're just baffled."

Murder And Coverup? Couple Charged With Killing Jada Justice

CROWN POINT, Ind. - A babysitter and her boyfriend were charged Friday with killing a toddler, and trying desperately to cover it up.

The body of 2-year-old Jada Justice was found encased in concrete, and dumped in a swampy area in LaPorte County in northwest Indiana, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The toddler was reported missing on June 16 by her cousin, 18-year-old Engelica Castillo, who had been taking care of the child since June 8.

Castillo and 24-year-old Tim Tkachik, both of Hobart, Ind., were charged with murder, neglect of a dependent, battery and false informing. Each faces a sentence of 45 to 65 years if convicted of the killing.

They were being held without bond Friday in the Lake County Jail.

According to court documents, an autopsy showed Jada had numerous skull fractures.

“This tragic ending is not the outcome we were all hoping for,” said Lake County prosecutor Bernard Carter.

The affidavit gives details of an elaborate attempt to cover up the child’s apparent beating death.

Castillo had claimed that Jada disappeared from a car while the teenager went into a convenience store in Gary. The affidavit says Tkachik told police that Castillo had beaten the child severely on the head on June 13 after they had both used heroin, and they noticed Jada wasn't breathing when they drove to buy more heroin that evening.

“I told you to stop. I told you enough is enough,” Tkachik said he told Castillo, according to the affidavit. The pair allegedly repeatedly tried CPR to revive the child.

According to the affidavit, the pair took Jada home and, thinking she was still breathing, took her into the house. Once they realized she was dead, the document says, they decided to get rid of the body.

Tkachik allegedly put the body in garbage bags the next day and took it to a wooded area in LaPorte County, where he tried unsuccessfully to burn it, causing an explosion that burned his face and required hospital treatment. Tkachik blamed the burns on a propane grill, police said.

Castillo and Tkachik then took the body home again, the affidavit said, and on June 15 entombed the remains in a tub full of concrete. After the concrete dried, the pair took the toddler’s body to a rural area near Westville and sank it in a swamp, according to the document.

On Thursday, Tkachik led police to the area where the body was hidden and FBI agents recovered the remains that were later identified as Jada's, the affidavit said.

Police and the FBI took part in the 10-day search, and the FBI opened a hot line that received more than 100 tips.

According to the affidavit, Castillo told police that she routinely took care of the toddler for days and was scheduled to return the girl to her parents on June 20.

Castillo's attorney, T. Edward Page of Merrillville, did not return a phone message seeking comment Friday. Tkachik did not yet have a lawyer.

(previous posts about little Jada)

Documents Detail Cheshire Home Invasion & Update

This broke my heart when it happened and remembered just now I need to save this through my blog..

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The suspects in a deadly home invasion in Cheshire poured gasoline on and around a mother and two daughters, then set their house on fire and fled, according to search warrants released by a judge Tuesday.

The 11 heavily edited warrants, that span more than 60 pages, provide the first official version of the events of July 23. Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed. Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit, was badly beaten but escaped.

The search warrants, obtained by Eyewitness News at the New Haven County Courthouse, indicate detectives found nylon tape marks on Jennifer Hawke-Petit's neck and rope around her ankles. Her daughters' wrists and ankles were also bound, according to the documents, and one daughter had her upper body tied to her bed posts.

All three women had signs of accelerants on or near them, and one of the women were completely doused. The documents indicate investigators found three partially melted plastic gallon containers inside the house.

"One of the deceased was burned beyond recognition, with indications that an accelerant was liberally poured on her," investigators wrote in a search warrant. "The remaining two victims appeared to have some indication of accelerant being poured onto or in close proximity to them, but not to the same degree as the other victim."

Hawke-Petit was strangled and the two girls died of smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner.

Paroled burglars Joshua Komisarjevsky, 27, of Cheshire, and Steven Hayes, 44, of Winsted, both face capital felony and multiple murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and arson charges in connection with the killings.

They are scheduled to appear Nov. 6 in Superior Court for probable cause hearings.

The documents also contain detectives' requests for the DNA of Komisarjevsky and Hayes, in addition to lab testing of their clothes for blood, semen or other evidence.

An attorney for The Hartford Courant argued last month for the release of the documents. Prosecutors did not object to unsealing the warrants, but defense attorneys said coverage of their contents would make it difficult to find impartial jurors for their client's trials.

Last week, Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani agreed to release edited versions of the warrants. Defense attorneys did not appeal.

"I don't think there is anything new that hasn't been previously disclosed," said Thomas Ullmann, the public defender representing Hayes. He declined further comment.

Police say Komisarjevsky and Hayes entered the home about 3 a.m. July 23, planning to burglarize it. When they found the family home, they beat Dr. Petit, then tied up his wife and daughters.

Authorities were tipped off that the family was in danger by employees at a local bank when one of the suspects forced Hawke-Petit to make a withdrawal around 9:30 a.m. Bank employees became suspicious and called police, who drove to the Petit home.

The suspects were caught in the family's car after ramming several cruisers as they fled the burning home, which they allegedly torched to cover their tracks. Dr. Petit escaped to a neighbor's house.

Police searched a minivan registered to Komisarjevsky's mother, a Chevrolet Venture, and found a package for a BB gun, duct tape, a Lowe's Home Improvement store receipt, flexible ties and different types of gloves, according to the warrants.

In a GMC Sierra pickup truck, police said they found Dr. Petit's wallet, his wife's wallet, two pearl necklaces and a red, blood-like stain. Detectives also described finding a purple knapsack belonging to Hayes that has the initials "HAP."

Video: Judge Releases Cheshire Search Warrants

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Suspect Was 'Depressed'

CHESHIRE - In the days before being charged with committing a brutal triple murder in Cheshire, Joshua Komisarjevsky was depressed over the loss of his teenage girlfriend and struggling financially because of mounting costs related to his 5-year-old child, a close friend said Friday.

But he also was planning to renovate his parents' home and had just returned from a trip to The Home Depot when the friend visited him about a week ago at his home, less than 2 miles from where the killings occurred.

"We went for a walk in a park near his parents' house, with his kid,'' said the friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He definitely was depressed about his girlfriend moving down South.''

The friend, a woman from Bristol, speculated that Komisarjevsky's depression might have led him back to using illegal drugs.

"But there's nothing about him that could ever make me think he'd do something as awful as this,'' she said.

The woman also shared with The Courant a letter Komisarjevsky wrote to her in late 2005, while he was in prison on burglary charges. In the letter, he lamented about not being able to hold his child.

Komisarjevsky, 26, and Steven Hayes, 44 of Winsted, are being held on $15 million bail each, and each is charged with six counts of capital felony. The men are accused of breaking into the Sorghum Mill Drive home of Dr. William Petit on Monday, beating him with a baseball bat, raping his wife and at least one child and then lighting the house on fire.

Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed. The mother was strangled and the two girls died of smoke inhalation, tied to their beds. Charges filed by New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington indicate that Komisarjevsky raped the younger child.

Police sources said that they were unsure whether the men were intoxicated or on drugs the night of the killings. Authorities are awaiting toxicology test results from the state laboratory.

The Bristol woman met Komisarjevsky through Jennifer Norton, the mother of his child, Jayda, and corresponded with him while he was in prison.

The last letter she received was written on Nov. 28, 2005. In it, he responded to several questions she asked him about what it was like to be a parent while in prison. In the four-page letter, Komisarjevsky wrote lucidly about prison conditions and the difficulty of having a young child while in prison.

"Some lowly inmates in here in conjunction with their child's caregiver have used their children to smuggle drugs into prison which has in-turn made it very difficult for those of us who legitimately wish to hold and spend time with our children,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.

Komisarjevsky's daughter was born a month after he was sentenced to nine years in prison for a string of burglaries in Cheshire and the Bristol area.

"My daughter knows who I am and knows the sound of my voice. She calls me daddy and tells me she loves me but I haven't seen her for awhile. Unfortunately my incarceration has disallowed me to be actively involved in the first years of her life when attachment and the forming of emotional bonds are most prevalent,'' he wrote.

He also complained about how difficult it is providing for a child while in prison.

"I wish nothing but the very best for my daughter and it is painful not to be able to provide for her,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.

Komisarjevsky was transferred to a Hartford halfway house about six months after writing the letter. He met Hayes at the facility.

The Hayes family issued their first statement Friday, which read, in part:

"Each of us affected by this devastation will feel the impact forever. Words do not relieve the suffering of everyone affected by this tragedy. At 3 a.m. Monday, July 23, 2007, the lives of many families changed forever. Three families are suffering and the pain is too much to bear for anyone affected by this unforgivable act. Everyone's heart aches today and that pain will never go away.''

In a statement released this week, Chris Komisarjevsky, the uncle of Joshua Komisarjevsky, said, "The crime and the murder of members of the Petit family in Cheshire are horrible ... more than anyone can imagine. It was a monstrous, deranged act, beyond comprehension.

Police: Kids Home During Murder-Suicide

VERNON, Conn. -- Two children were found inside a Vernon home that was the scene of a murder-suicide Monday morning, police said.

Vernon police said they received a 911 call just before midnight from a woman reporting a domestic dispute at a Gerald Drive home. They said the caller said there were two children inside the home.

Arriving officers said they heard two gunshots followed by single gunshot.

Police said Alice Morrin, 43, and James Morrin, 45, were found dead inside the home.

Police said that as they arrived, 15-year-old Erica Morrin, Alice and James Morrin's eldest daughter, bolted from the back of the home as two gunshots rang out. They said the Rockville High School student was unharmed.

As officers forced their way inside, they said, they found 43-year-old Alice Morrin's body.

"A female victim was found in the upstairs bedroom, suffering two gunshot wounds," Vernon Police Sgt. William Meier III said.

A third and final shot then rang out, Meier said. He said that's when officers found James Morrin's body in a separate bedroom.

"He suffered a single gunshot wound," Meier said. "He was also dead. We also found a long gun in close proximity to his body."

Detectives said they believe James Morrin murdered his wife, then took his own life.

Police said the couple's younger daughter, 9-year-old Shannon Morrin, who attends the Skinner School, was found in a third bedroom unharmed.

Both girls are in the care of members of their mother's family, police said.

According to the judicial Web site, the couple was in the process of a divorce.

Alice Morrin worked at Fox 61 News as an executive assistant to the general manager, police said, and James Morrin was a highway planner for the Department of Transportation.

In a statement, officials from Fox 61 said, "We are devastated and shocked by the loss of our friend and colleague, Alice Morrin. She was smart and funny, with a kind and caring heart. Alice touched the lives of everyone at Fox 61 and was very excited about her new opportunity at the Hartford Courant. Known for being witty, intelligent and hard-working, Alice always had a kind word for everyone.

She leaves behind two beautiful daughters whom she adored and talked about often. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and Alice's entire family. Words cannot begin to describe what Alice meant to the Tribune family. She truly will be missed.

As detectives and investigators -- some in Hazmat suits -- combed the home and yard for clues, neighbors stared in disbelief.

"This time of the morning, she'd be riding her bike right now," said Joe Hauser, who lived across the street from the Morrins for almost a decade. "I just don't know what to make of it."

Hauser said he'd become friendly with the Morrins over the years, but that Alice and James were extremely private about personal matters. He said they hadn't shared the news with the neighborhood that they were getting divorced.

He said they were also still living together in the home.

Several neighbors said that years ago, the couple had separated. Hauser said that although they had reconciled, something about James Morrin seemed a little off.

"Things were always a little uneasy when he was there," he said. "I can't put my finger on it. I can't tell you any specifics, but there was always some tension when he was around."

But Hauser said one thing that did make him uneasy was that Alice Morrin had once given a neighbor her husband's shotgun for safe-keeping.

"I think she was concerned for her safety, because, from what I heard, he could be violent, and we've seen the worst of it now," Hauser said.

Sandra Botelho, who was friends with Alice Morrin, said she was in shock. She said she and some other neighbors had spoken with the couple earlier on Sunday.

"Her two daughters, she did absolutely everything for them, so it's gonna be hard for them," Botelho said. "I hope that the kids are well taken care of and the mental state of mind they're going to be in."

She said she agreed that James Morrin seemed to have an effect on his usually bubbly wife.

When he was around, Botelho said, Alice Morrin would become quiet.

Police: Kids Home During Murder-Suicide
Neighbors React To Deaths

Monroeville High School Girl's Ex Found Guilty Of Her Murder

PITTSBURGH -- A young Monroeville man who repeatedly stabbed ex-girlfriend Demi Cuccia after a desperate, daylong exchange of text messages about the status of their relationship was found guilty of first-degree murder Monday.

"My daughter was brutally murdered and nobody deserves to die like that," Gary Cuccia said outside Judge Jeffrey Manning's courtroom, after the verdict was announced.

An Allegheny County jury took about two hours to reach its decision in the case against 20-year-old John Mullarkey, who attacked the 16-year-old Cuccia in her Elliott Road home in August 2007.

Mullarkey chose not to speak before Manning sentenced him to life in prison with no parole.

"Everybody has to be held accountable for what we do in this life, and I believe he's still got a lot in store for him," Gary Cuccia said.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli said the victim, a student at Gateway High School, was stabbed 16 times on the day after her birthday by the man who claimed to love her.

An autopsy showed that, while the Gateway cheerleader was stabbed many times, the wound that killed her was one that was made to her left shoulder and severed an artery.

Cuccia's grandmother, Carole Roberts, told reporters that Mullarkey is a "despicable, evil monster," and the girl's mother, Jodi, said, "I've been critically wounded -- as have my family -- from this horrific tragedy, and the painful scars run long and deep."

Last week, jurors were shown text messages -- including one that said, "You no you love me and can't live without me" -- from the day of Cuccia's slaying and the days leading up to it that revealed the couple's tumultuous relationship.

Jackson's Mother Awarded Guardianship of His Children

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A Los Angeles judge granted temporary guardianship of Michael Jackson's three children to Jackson's mother, a court official said.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff issued the order Monday morning, soon after Katherine Jackson filed a petition in Los Angeles Probate Court seeking legal guardianship of the children.

The family also filed a petition asking that Katherine Jackson be named administrator of Michael Jackson's estate and that the children be named his sole beneficiaries.

The filing did not estimate Jackson's estate.
See the court papers (PDF file)

"Given the nature and extent of the descendent's assets, it would be difficult if not impossible to quantify their value at this time, so the calculation of bond would be speculative at best," the petition said.

The guardianship petition said the grandmother should be named guardian because "the minors have no relationship with their biological mother" and they are "currently residing with paternal grandmother."

"They have a long established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in their care," the petition said.

The two oldest children -- Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, 11 -- were born to Debbie Rowe, who was briefly married to the singer.

Rowe gave up parental rights to Jackson in 2001, but she changed her mind more than two years later and sought temporary custody of the children. A California appeals court later ruled her rights were improperly terminated, opening the door to a possible custody battle.

There has been no public indication that Rowe is planning to challenge the grandparents for custody of the two children.

The mother of the third child, 7-year-old Prince Michael Jackson II, was never publicly identified. The guardianship petition listed the mother as "none."

Jackson died Thursday afternoon. An autopsy was performed on the entertainer Friday.

Toxicology reports from his body will disprove rumors that the singer's personal physician injected him with powerful painkillers, the attorney for Dr. Conrad Murray said Monday.

"Dr. Murray never prescribed Demerol, never administered Demerol, never saw him -- Michael Jackson -- take Demerol," attorney Edward Chernoff told CNN's "American Morning."

"And that goes as well for OxyContin. I think those are just rumors. When toxicology comes back ... that's going to be all cleared up," Chernoff said.

Murray met voluntarily for several hours with detectives over the weekend, the Los Angeles Police Department said late Saturday.

"We've let them know we're available to them any time they need us, any questions they have," Chernoff said. "We have told them that the medical examiner is free to call us. We'll be available to them. If they have any questions once toxicology comes out. I expect they will have some questions, and we'll be ready to answer them."

Murray found Jackson not breathing in bed when he entered the 50-year-old singer's estate on Thursday, Chernoff said. Jackson did have a slight pulse when Murray found him and tried to resuscitate the singer as he awaited paramedics, a representative with Chernoff's Houston, Texas, law firm said Sunday.

Jackson was rushed to a Los Angeles medical center, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy performed by a county medical examiner was inconclusive, although officials said there were no indications of external trauma or foul play. The Los Angeles County coroner's office has said toxicology results are needed before a cause of death can be determined. That could take four to six weeks.

Detectives impounded Murray's car, which was parked at the singer's rented home. Authorities said the vehicle may contain evidence related to Jackson's death, possibly prescription medications. Police have released no information on what they may have found.

Chernoff said there was nothing in Jackson's medical history that Murray was aware of "that would lead him to believe he would go into sudden cardiac arrest or respiratory failure."

"There was no red flag available to Dr. Murray, which led him to believe he would have died the way he did," Chernoff said. "It's still a mystery how he died to Dr. Murray.

"It was Dr. Murray ... as you know, that requested that the family ask for an autopsy, because he needed to know as well as his physician what caused Michael Jackson to stop breathing."



Watch Jackson's doctor denies prescribing Demerol »

Police take drugs from Jackson home »

High-Speed Chase In Dallas Area Ends in Crash

DALLAS — A high-speed chase through the Dallas area ended when a car being pursued by authorities ran a red light and collided with a pickup truck.

Television reports identified the suspect as 29-year-old Shane Michel. Baylor University Medical Center spokeswoman Maria Carpenter said he was in critical condition late Monday afternoon.

Television reports say the chase lasted about 90 minutes after starting in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite.

Dallas County constable assistant dispatcher Curtis Hettich said the chase began as a routine traffic stop. Constable Michael Gothard said the suspect was wanted on a felony warrant.

Madoff sentenced to 150 years

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal judge sentenced Bernard Madoff, the convicted mastermind of the largest and most sweeping Ponzi scheme ever, to the maximum sentence of 150 years in federal court Monday.

Judge Denny Chin of U.S. District Court in New York announced the sentence just moments after Madoff apologized to his victims.

Chin, who called Madoff's crimes "extraordinarily evil," said the maximum sentence was important for deterrence, and also for the victims, many of whom erupted into applause after the judge announced the sentence. Many hugged and some of them broke down in tears.

"The sentence imposed today recognizes the significance of Bernard Madoff's crimes," Lev Dassin, acting U.S. attorney, said in a written statement.

The 150-year sentence is the maximum that federal prosecutors in New York requested, based on the number of Madoff's victims, the amount of money he stole and the extent of the damage he caused. Judge Chin said that the Federal Department of Probation had recommended a 50-year sentence.

Shortly before receiving his sentence, Madoff offered an apology, which he delivered facing Judge Chin.

"I live in a tormented state for all the pain and suffering I created," he said. "I left a legacy of shame. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life."

Madoff said he was not asking for forgiveness and not offering any excuses for his behavior. "How can you excuse betraying thousands of investors?" he asked. "How can you excuse deceiving hundreds of employees? How can you excuse lying to and deceiving your wife who still stands by you?"

Madoff then said, "I apologize to my victims. I will turn and face you." Addressing the victims in the courtroom directly, he offered, "I am sorry. I know it will not help you."

Victims had urged the judge to dole out the stiffest punishment possible. "We implore you to give the maximum sentence at a maximum prison for this deplorable low life," said one of the victims in court before Madoff spoke. "This is a violent crime without a tangible weapon."

Many of Madoff's investors were wiped out financially by the scam and sent letters to Judge Chin requesting he spend the rest of his life behind bars. Nine of the letter-writers spoke in court Monday.

Speaking on behalf of his wife and looking at Madoff, the same victim said, "I have a marriage made in heaven. You have [a] marriage made in hell, and that's where you'll return. May God spare you no mercy."

Through her attorney, Madoff's wife Ruth released a statement regarding her husband, "who stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves."

"I am embarrassed and ashamed," she said, in the prepared statement. "Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years."

Madoff, who was stripped of his property in a legal action Friday, confessed on March 12 to running a massive Ponzi scheme. He pleaded guilty to 11 criminal counts, including fraud, money laundering, perjury, false filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other crimes.

Lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin, who represents Madoff, asked for a 12-year sentence. In a letter to the judge, Sorkin explained that his 71-year-old client "has an approximate life expectancy of 13 years" and isn't likely to outlive the requested sentence by more than a year.

Sorkin did not return messages from CNNMoney.com shortly after the sentencing.

Madoff orchestrated the scam by masquerading his investment firm as a legitimate business. But the business became a front for a Ponzi scheme, in which the scammer uses fresh money from unsuspecting investors to make payments to more mature investors, creating the false appearance of legitimate returns.

Madoff sent statements to victims claiming that their investments had grown several times over, but in actuality he had stolen, not invested, their money. Investigators believe that he had been running his scam since at least the 1980s, bilking thousands of investors until he finally ran out of money in December 2008.

In a $170 billion legal judgment against Madoff Friday, the government announced it had seized all of his property in a deal that also forces his wife to give up homes and property worth millions. The value of all the assets will eventually be used to compensate -- or partially compensate -- victims, based on how much they invested in Madoff's firm.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation, an organization that shields investors in brokerage firms, will also pay up to $500,000 for any eligible claimant who lost money to Madoff, based on how much they put in.

Thus far, federal investigators have identified 1,341 investors in Madoff's firm, who have losses exceeding $13 billion. They're still tallying the damage. Victims have until July 2 to file a claim with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Acting U.S. attorney Dassin said the investigation was continuing.

"We are committed to bringing additional charges against anyone else who bears criminal responsibility," said Dassin, in a written statement. "At the same time, we are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidating assets to maximize recoveries for the victims."

Since March, Madoff has been incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, a holding facility for convicts awaiting sentencing. He will probably be transferred to a medium-security federal prison, according to prison consultants.

Alan Ellis, attorney and author of the "Federal Prison Guidebook," believes that Madoff will probably get sent to Federal Correctional Institute Otisville or FCI Ray Brook, both in upstate New York, FCI Fairton in New Jersey or FCI McKean in Pennsylvania.

Clemency Denied For Thrill Killer, Marvallous Keene

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The State Parole Board has denied clemency for Marvallous Keene, one of the so-called "Thrill Killers" in Dayton.

Keene, now 36, was among four people convicted of going on a killing spree during the Christmas holidays of 1992 that left five people dead. The victims were: Joseph Wilkerson, 34, Danita Gullette, 18, Sarah Abraham, 38, Wendy Cottrill, 16, and Marvin Washington, 18.

Keene was convicted of multiple charges including five counts of aggravated murder and sentenced to death by a three-judge panel.

At a clemency hearing June 17, Keene asked his lawyers not to ask for clemency because he did not want to cause the victim's families any more pain. Keene also refused to be interviewed by the Parole Board.

Keene is scheduled to be executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at Lucasville on July 21.

All of the Victims Were Outside the Restaurant

PICO RIVERA (AP) -- At least three people were killed and seven others wounded, in a shooting Saturday evening outside a Pico Rivera pizza restaurant where a motorcycle group was holding a fundraiser.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Keith Ho said the victims were gathered in the parking lot of Falcone's Pizza at 9247 Slauson Avenue at about 6:45 p.m., when the gunfire began.

Some witnesses said a man fired a handgun into the crowd without any apparent provocation, then entered the passenger side of a dark-colored vehicle that sped away west on Slauson Avenue. But other people said the gunfire came from inside two separate vehicles.

Three people -- including two brothers -- were pronounced dead at the scene. The others were hospitalized in stable condition.

Nobody inside the restaurant was injured in the attack.

A biker group known as the Old School Riders was hosting an event at the location, according to the organization's Web site. A flyer said security would be provided.

The website says the group's mission is "to enjoy the outdoors and also join together to participate in charitable events." It also says the group is made up of family and friends, and no one represents any specifc biker club.

Anyone with more information about the shooting is asked to call sheriff's homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A private funeral service for actress Farrah Fawcett will be conducted Tuesday afternoon at the Cathedral of Our Lady

LOS ANGELES, CA (CNN) -- A private funeral service for actress Farrah Fawcett will be conducted Tuesday afternoon at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles, California, according to her publicist.

The family did not release any details about who would deliver the eulogy or how many people have been invited.

Fawcett, the blonde actress whose best-selling poster and "Charlie's Angels" stardom made her one of the most famous faces in the world, died Thursday. She was 62, and had been battling anal cancer on and off for three years.

Fawcett's beauty -- her gleaming smile was printed on millions of posters -- initially made her famous. But she later established herself as a serious actress. She starred as a battered wife in the 1984 TV movie "The Burning Bed."

She appeared on stage as a woman who extracts vengeance from a would-be rapist in William Mastrosimone's play "Extremities," a performance she reprised on film in 1986.

Other Fawcett films include "Logan's Run" (1976), "Saturn 3" (1980), "The Cannonball Run" (1981), "The Apostle" (1997) and the Robert Altman-directed "Dr. T and the Women" (2000).

But to many, Fawcett will always be best known for the poster of her in a red swimsuit, which sold an estimated 12 million copies after its release in 1976.

Billy Mays, OxiClean Pitchman, Found Dead

(CNN) -- Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home Sunday morning, authorities told CNN.

The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.

Mays was on the US Airways flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Tampa on Saturday that had a hard landing at Tampa International Airport when the plane's front tire blew out. There were no reported injuries on Flight 1241, US Airways told CNN.

According to a local Tampa TV station, Mays said: "All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

The bearded Mays was a spokesman for Orange Glo and detergent OxiClean and appeared in commercials for other products.

He is featured on the reality TV show ''Pitchmen'' on the Discovery Channel, which follows pitch people in their jobs.

"It is with incredible sadness that we have to report that Billy Mays died in his sleep last night," said a statement from the Discovery Channel. "Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth. Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this time of incredible loss."

Prosecutor May Pursue Death Penalty in Kansas Killings

(CNN) -- A district attorney Friday considered seeking the death penalty for a man charged with killing a toddler and three others at a Kansas City, Kansas-area home.

Adrian Burks, 37, has been charged with four counts of first-degree premeditated murder, but prosecutors are now considering capital murder charges that could result in the death penalty if Burks is convicted, Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman said.

Gorman said it could be a week before prosecutors decide whether to file new charges.

Among the victims Burks is accused of killing is a mother and her 3-year-old daughter, police said.

Peggy Castleberry, 41, and her daughter, Juanita Castleberry-Bess, were found shot Monday in a rural Kansas City-area home along with homeowner James Warren, 66, and Amanda Remmers, 21, police said in a statement.

Burks is being held in the Wyandotte County, Kansas, jail with bail set at $2 million.

Police apprehended Burks on Tuesday after a two-state car chase that began in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and ended in a crash in Kansas City, Kansas, Gorman said.

Along with the premeditated murder charges, Burks also has been charged with felony fleeing and eluding.

Police first suspected Burks after they discovered he had a relationship with one of the victims, Gorman said. Authorities didn't elaborate on what the relationship entailed and who it involved.

Earlier Monday, before the slayings, one of the slaying victims saw Burks attack a man, Gorman said. Burks eventually was charged with aggravated battery in connection with the attack.

Hours after the initial crime, prosecutors allege that Burks then went to the home of the four victims and killed them after he had a domestic dispute with one of them.

"As far as a motive, obviously, domestic violence is the driving factor in this case," Gorman said Thursday.

He said he was at a loss for a motive for the child's slaying.

"Why a 3-year-old? ... One, we haven't got that far in that case, and two, I suppose when we get to that point, I still don't think we're going to have a satisfactory answer to why a 3-year-old was killed."

At the time of the killings, Burks was out of jail on pretrial release in a separate case, Gorman said. Prosecutors in Johnson County, Kansas, had charged him with criminal threat and battery over an April incident.

Feds want 150 years, $170B from Madoff

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As prosecutors asked to jail Bernard Madoff for 150 years, a U.S. District Court judge Friday entered a preliminary order calling on the convicted Ponzi schemer to forfeit more than $170 billion in assets, prosecutors announced.

Madoff's wife, Ruth, will be allowed to keep $2.5 million in funds "in settlement of the claims she would have otherwise brought against the property," acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin said.

Madoff, who pleaded guilty to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, is to be sentenced Monday. The forfeitures amount to all of his assets.

Included in the forfeitures are millions of dollars in loans made to family members, employees and friends, all personal property, including paintings, jewelry and furniture, millions of dollars in investment and banking accounts and several pieces of property.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to sell a $7.5 million co-op apartment in New York, a $7 million property in Montauk, New York, and a $7.45 million property in Palm Beach, Florida, along with several cars and boats.

Meanwhile, Dassin filed paperwork with the court Friday asking that Madoff be sentenced to 150 years to ensure that the former NASDAQ chairman would remain in prison for the remainder of his life and "promote general deterrence."

Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzischeme is said to have defrauded thousands of investors under false pretenses. The scheme, which spanned decades, has generated a fraud loss of more than $13 billion.

"This is more than thirty-two times the baseline level of loss that would carry a sentence of life under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines," Dassin wrote.

Madoff promised his clients a high return with limited risk, but in reality early investors were paid with later investors -- and nobody realized huge gains. Some of the victims of the scheme included individuals and nonprofit organizations.

"His so-called 'investment business' was a fraud; his frauds affected thousands of investors in the United States and worldwide," Dassin wrote.

Madoff pleaded guilty on March 12 and has since been in jail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

Madoff's lawyer believes his 71-year-old client should serve only 12 years in prison.

Jackson's 'Missing' Doctor To Speak To Police

Sky News- The doctor who was with Michael Jackson when he suffered a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles has returned to the city, say reports.

Celebrity website Tmz.com says Dr Conrad Murray is preparing to speak to police investigating the star's death.

Officials were reportedly keen to interview him after Jackson's family suggested he died because of a drug overdose.

Tmz.com said Jackson had been receiving a daily injection of Demerol, a synthetic narcotic similar to morphine, and may have been given "too much" on Thursday.

Dr Murray lived with the singer and administered his injections but police were initially unable to trace him, Tmz reported.

Following his cardiac arrest, the self-proclaimed King of Pop was taken to the UCLA medical centre where he was pronounced dead. He was 50.

A recording of the 911 emergency call has shown Jackson was not breathing or responding to CPR when it was made.

The caller said he needed an ambulance "as soon as possible" and only the star's personal doctor was with him when he fell ill.

During the call to the Los Angeles Fire Department the man said: "Sir, we have a gentleman here that needs help and he's not breathing.

"He's not breathing and we're trying to pump him, but he's not ... he's not breathing. He's not conscious, sir."

Jackson's body was flown by helicopter from the hospital to the LA coroner's office for a post-mortem examination.

It is reportedly being performed by Dr Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, who was a star witness in the O.J. Simpson trial.

Brian Oxman, a lawyer for the Jackson family, said the singer's relatives had been concerned about his health for some time.

"Michael appeared at rehearsals a couple of times, he was very seriously trying to be able to do those rehearsals," he said.

"His use of medications had gotten in the way. His injuries which he had sustained performing, where he had broken a vertebra and he had broken his leg from a fall on the stage, were getting in the way."

Emo Poetry

Left with a feeling that won't go away,
without diminishing; it's evident everyday.

Crying a river won't do a damned thing,
When I hear your name; my heart will just sting.

Filled with longing; a vacant and lost state of mind,
motivation and a sense of closure I can not find.

Never needed me; you've made it quite clear,
That one truth is the truth I always fear.

How could I long for someone,
from whom care was never spent,
and felt that nothing between us
was ever meant?

The thought of memories past; and those we could've shared,
that stuck feeling in that I hate myself for just having cared.

The Michael Jackson 911 Call

Courtesy of TMZ.com

- Take A Crack At A Dead Man -

Immediately following Michael Jackson's death, an influx of shameless pedophile-related jokes emerged!

Here is a taste of some.. If you have any you would like to add, feel free.

"Due to the fact that MJ is mostly plastic his body will be melted down and molded into legos so kids can play with his bits for once."

"Hot off the presses: MJ got food posining...He ate 12 year old nuts..."

"MJ has died, and children all around the world can now breathe a sigh of relief"

"June 25th, 2009: Two celebrity white women have died on the same day."

"Farrah went to heaven and God asked her her final wish, she said I want the world to be a better place....he killed MJ."

"The national security level was just lowered to orange by the Boy Scouts."