Man Gets Life Without Parole in Gruesome Ohio Murders

(CNN) -- An Ohio man pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to life without parole for killing and dismembering a woman, her son and her friend and hiding their bagged remains in the hollow of a tree.

Matthew Hoffman, 30, pleaded guilty to all 10 counts, including three counts of aggravated murder and the kidnapping of one of the victim's 13-year-old relatives, in Knox County, Ohio, in November.

According to his attorney, Hoffman said he committed the crimes after encountering Tina R. Herrmann when he entered the house during a burglary attempt.

But the sister of Stephanie Sprang, one of the other victims, said there was no excuse for him killing Herrmann and waiting for the other victims to come to the house.

"Death is too easy for him and we would rather pay tax dollars and let him suffer and live and deal with what he did every day," Sherrie Baxter told CNN affiliate WSYX.

The remains of Herrmann, 31, her son, Kody, and Stephanie Sprang, 41, were found November 18 in a rural area after they had been missing 10 days from Herrmann's home. Autopsy results indicated they had been stabbed to death and dismembered.

Hoffman, who worked as a tree trimmer, was indicted Monday and the plea and sentencing agreement were detailed during a hearing Thursday.

"The indictment alleges that Hoffman purposely caused the deaths of Tina R. Herrmann, Ms. Herrmann's son Kody Maynard, age 11, and her neighbor Stephanie L. Sprang, on November 10, 2010," prosecutors said about the indictment. "The aggravated murder charges further allege that Hoffman murdered the victims while he was committing the offense of aggravated burglary in Herrmann's residence."

The indictment did not include death penalty specifications, authorities said, "in accordance with the wishes of the victim's families."

CNN left a message for Hoffman's attorney, Bruce Malek, who told WSYX that Hoffman had remorse for what he did and felt it was important for the victims' remains to be found. Police previously had said Hoffman provided information leading to the recovery of the remains.

The 13-year-old girl was found bound and gagged in the basement of Hoffman's home in Mount Vernon, Ohio, about 20 miles from Herrmann's home in Howard, Ohio. Hoffman was charged with one count of rape for allegedly assaulting the girl, prosecutors said.

Besides the aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, kidnapping and rape charges, Hoffman faced a charge of tampering with evidence for allegedly removing some clothing and bedding from Herrmann's residence in order to hinder the investigation, authorities said.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors those charges were filed because "the victims' remains were not intact when recovered by authorities in a hollow tree" in Kokosing Lake State Wildlife Area.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, in a statement read by Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher, the girl said: "This has changed my whole life and my family's life, too." In the statement, the teen related memories of the victims and said she's no longer frightened of Hoffman.

"This is so sickening, Matthew, to know you even had the guts to do this to a family," she said in the statement.

Herrmann failed to report to work at a Dairy Queen in Mount Vernon on November 10, Knox County Sheriff David Barber told CNN affiliate WBNS. A deputy twice went to her home and saw her pickup truck there. No one answered the door, though lights were on in the home.

Later in the week, blood was found in the home, leading authorities to suspect foul play.

Sprang's father, Steve Thompson, said he was satisfied with the sentence.

"They are many answers that I still need," he told WSYX. "I am confident and sure we will find them later on down the road."

Victim Slams '40-Year-Old Virgin' Actor Who Repeatedly Stabbed Her

(CNN) -- A California woman stabbed repeatedly by her then-boyfriend, a comedic Hollywood actor, on Friday described his courtroom antics explaining his violence as "very surreal and bizarre" -- and, above all, insincere.

"In his testimony, he stated that it was the knife that did it, and he stated this repeatedly," Kendra Beebe told HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell. "In fact it wasn't the knife that stabbed me 23 times. It was Shelley Malil."

One day earlier, San Diego, California, County Superior Court Judge Harry Elias sentenced Malil to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Five years ago, the actor was cracking up audiences as an electronics store clerk in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." But in August 2008, he was arrested in North County, California and charged with stabbing Beebe.

Earlier this fall, a California jury found him guilty of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He was found not guilty of burglary.

Malil received near the maximum sentence for his convictions. But his former girlfriend said that, while she was pleased with the jury's verdict, she still doesn't think the punishment was severe enough.


"I feel like I did get justice in our system. But is the system fair and just? I don't think so," Beebe said.

Beebe survived the attack, despite having her chin severely cut, two collapsed lungs and losing about half the blood in her body, her attorney Gloria Allred told HLN on Friday.

In September, she testified that she'd initially thought that Malil was going to hug her when he approached her in her home, as her young children slept upstairs, that summer night. But instead, he began cutting her repeatedly with a knife -- a fact that Malil did not deny.

"I saw this flashing silver, and he goes bang, bang, bang," Beebe said in court.

The Indian-born actor -- who, according to the Internet Movie Database, has appeared in at least 54 movies and television projects, from Budweiser commercials, to guest appearances on "Scrubs" and "Reba," to his break-out performance as Steve Carell's co-worker Haziz in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" -- testified that he stabbed his girlfriend by mistake, thinking he was defending her.

On Thursday, he apologized in court.

"For what I did to Kendra, I don't even have the words to express my remorse or my feeling sorry. Kendra Beebe did not deserve anything that happened to her," Malil said.

Malil's 19-year-old niece, Anjali Varghese, testified at the sentencing hearing that her uncle's "crime was not a result of any kind of ingrained malice, because that's not his nature."

Yet Beebe said that the actor's testimony left her unconvinced, feeling "so frustrated and angry."

"It was horrible," she said. "He sure lied and lied and lied on the stand."

Bloody Photos Show Scene of Actor's Sword Slay

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NY Post- Tragic mom Yannick Brea fought for her life as her sword-wielding son chased her through their blood-soaked Brooklyn apartment, a look inside the crime scene shows.

The inside of the front door and the front hallway leading to the rear bedrooms are splattered with blood, suggesting she’d tried to fall out the front door but could not.

Bedding and furniture in three of the apartment’s four bedrooms are blood-soaked, indicating that the 55-year-old victim was running for her life from room to room with her son Michael Brea in pursuit during the rampage.

Pools of blood covered the bathroom floor, where cops found her body in a kneeling position.

Family and friends said money woes and a stalled showbiz career likely pushed the stressed-out bit actor over the edge in the days before he hacked his mother to death during the bloody rampage in their Brooklyn home.

"Michael had many money problems and couldn’t pay his bills," his longtime friend and barber Sylvan Benoit said Wednesday. "I think this happened because of stress over money."

Brea, 31, had small roles in "Ugly Betty" and the movie "Step Up 3D" but was not working while living at home with his mother and twin brother Marcel.

He owned a Subway franchise on Broadway in Brooklyn in 2008, but the franchise was taken away by the parent company last year over performance and management problems. Subway had placed liens for unpaid rent of almost $20,000 on the restaurant.

Brea also owed American Express more than $13,000, and New York State was after him for about $2,500 in taxes, court records show.

Neighbor Clinton Clare said Michael Brea rarely worked after losing the Subway franchise, and had no car.

"His mother was supporting him, and he had to use his father’s car to get around," said Clare, one of the first to hear Yannick Brea’s bone-chilling screams about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Dumond said the family believes Michael suffered a "mental breakdown." She said he went to bed early Monday night , refusing his mother’s offer of dinner, after complaining of "a terrible headache."

Hours later, he awoke neighbors in the four-story Prospect Heights apartment building by screaming Biblical passages and demanding that his terrified mother "Repent! Repent! Repent!" before slashing her repeatedly with the three-foot sword as she cried for help.

Cops eventually broke in, Tasered Brea and found his mother’s blood-soaked body kneeling in the bathroom.

Brea has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He remains under psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue Hospital.

Police Attempt to Identify Fatally Stabbed Intruder

(11/19/10) STRATFORD -Police are trying to identify the man who broke into a Stratford home today after he was fatally stabbed.

Investigators say it happened at around 1 a.m. at 40 Seabreeze Drive . They say the man who broke in may have been looking for help after the stabbing.

Police say the homeowner, Robert Smith, woke up after hearing the man break into his house.

They say the homeowner and the intruder got into some kind of a fight, with the homeowner falling down the steps and then running to a neighbor's house to call police.

Police say they may need to use fingerprints or dental records to identify the suspect. They say he didn't have any identification on him and he wasn't wearing any shoes.

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed.

Prosecutors Claim Suspect Bound, Stabbed Kathleen Smith of Burlington

Burlington, VT- Police believe a drifter bound and killed a Burlington woman in her home last month because she sided with a friend, the mother of his child, in a years-old custody dispute.

Jose Pazos held a grudge against Kathleen Smith for the stance she took in the feud, according to statements to police from a woman who knew Pazos and a friend of Smith’s, lead investigator Detective Paul Petralia wrote in court papers made public at Pazos’ arraignment Tuesday.

Smith, 50, bled to death late Oct. 14 or early Oct. 15 from apparent knife wounds to her neck after being tied up in her home, according to court papers. Authorities said they have significant evidence linking Pazos to the killing:

• Investigators found Smith’s blood on a knife taken from Pazos, 45, at the time of his arrest.

• The type of utility rope used to bind Smith matched rope found at the Burlington encampment where Pazos lived.

• The tread on Pazos’ hiking shoes matched bloody footprints left in Smith’s house, at 154 Park St.

• A search of Pazos’ computer showed he had researched the same “prusik” knot that was used to bind Smith a week before the killing, and searched for news reports about her death — before her body had been found, Oct. 18.

Pazos pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington to first-degree murder, kidnapping (restraining) with the intent to inflict injury, burglarizing an occupied dwelling and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. Judge Linda Levitt ordered Pazos held without bail. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

He made no comments in court Tuesday, but authorities said he told investigators he had nothing to do with the slaying of Smith, a popular social worker and artist.

“No, I have no reason, no motive,” Pazos said, according to court papers.

Margaret Jansch, one of Pazos’ two court-appointed attorneys, said after the arraignment that the defense had little time to review the court paperwork before the hearing.

“I must say the motive seems rather thin,” Jansch told reporters at the courthouse. “A grudge that’s three years old, but, again, this is something that we’ll find more about as the case progresses.”

Jansch urged the public to avoid judging Pazos prematurely.

“You heard one side of the story today with the facts the police have uncovered so far,” she said. “But that’s only one side of the story. I’m sure as the case progresses, both sides of the case will become clear.”

She declined to discuss any private conversations with Pazos but said, “He seems in good spirits. He appears to me to be an articulate man, an educated man and calm, given the circumstances.”

The mother of Pazos’ second child, Sharon Fialco, who lives in northern Vermont, said they met about 15 years ago, had a child, and then had a dispute regarding the custody of that child, according to court papers. Fialco said she “was not aware of Pazos having any animosity towards Smith,” according to court papers.

Fialco couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.

Smith, 50, a popular social worker and artist, was found dead Oct. 18 in her Old North End home by a co-worker when she failed to appear for her job, Burlington police have said.

Pazos had been jailed at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington for lack of $1 million bail on four misdemeanor charges related to the break-in at the Middlebury Snow Bowl. Burlington police discovered Pazos in a shed Oct. 23 at the Snow Bowl, about six miles from a wooded area of Hancock where Smith’s car was found abandoned.

Pazos faces two counts of unlawful trespass, and one charge each of unlawful mischief and petty larceny. Those charges are pending in Addison County.

Police say Pazos killed Smith, stole her car and drove it more than 60 miles to Hancock. He ditched the car off a dirt road in the Green Mountain National Forest after the vehicle struck a rock ledge, traveled about six miles and broke into the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, police said.

Police arrested Pazos a week later at the Snow Bowl while searching the area of the break-in.

Smith, who worked an overnight shift for the Howard Center, missed a mandatory training session Oct. 15 and her shift Oct. 17. She was last reported seen alive walking her dog at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 14. A co-worker went to Smith’s house Oct. 18 and found her dead.

Dressed in her nightgown, Smith lay face-down in a pool of dried blood on her kitchen floor, her hands tied behind her back and her fingers duct-taped together, according to court papers. A wire with a wooden handle lay on her back, and another wooden handle, apparently broken from the wire, lay next to her body, court papers said. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck and tied to her hands.

A window pane above the lock on the back door had been removed, court papers said.

Investigators have yet to determine how long Smith had been bound or whether she had been tortured, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T. J. Donovan said after Tuesday’s arraignment.

Burlington police searching the Snow Bowl found Pazos on Oct. 23 asleep in a storage shed.

Officers said they found him with a hunting knife, a hatchet and a replica handgun. In his backpack they said they found items including a laptop and a HowardCenter first-aid kit. Pazos wore a plastic cover over his clothes, held together with distinctive duct tape similar to the kind used to bind Smith, police said.

Pazos admitted to breaking into the Snow Bowl to seek shelter from a storm, court papers said.

Pazos said he hitchhiked to Middlebury and had been in the area for about three weeks, although a surveillance camera recorded Pazos on Oct. 13 entering the Cumberland Farms store on Riverside Avenue in Burlington, according to court papers.

Pazos lived in an encampment in the woods behind the store, police said. At the encampment, police said they found rope, a stun gun and a Burlington police incident report naming Pazos as the complainant.

Pazos told police he knew Smith, met her once at the Fletcher Free Library, communicated with her on Facebook and had been to her house “once or twice,” according to court papers.

Pazos accessed the Internet on his laptop via unsecured wireless networks, police said. He accessed a network in Burlington a day or two before Smith was killed, and accessed a network in Middlebury on Oct. 15, according to court papers.

That same day, three days before a co-worker found Smith’s body, Pazos searched Google for “Police blotter,” “Burlington Vermont crime rates” and “Smith,” according to court papers.

Two days later, he searched the Burlington Free Press obituaries and cops and court section, along with Google, for “Kathleen Smith, Vermont” and “Kathleen Smith, Howard Center, Vermont,” court papers said.

Authorities believe Pazos last communicated with Smith on Facebook over the summer, and said they are unsure what triggered the alleged slaying in October.

Pazos is scheduled to appear again in court in about two months.

Drama in Court - Norwalk Teen Charged with Attempted Murder in Attack on Pregnant Girlfriend

NORWALK -- The arraignment of a city teen charged with trying to kill his pregnant girlfriend was temporarily halted at state Superior Court at Norwalk Monday afternoon when pandemonium broke out in a courtroom and a relative of the victim tried to climb a glass partition and get at the defendant.

Judge Bruce Hudock ordered the courthouse's largest courtroom cleared after Judicial Marshal Darren Opper pulled the woman off the partition and angry screams could be heard over the defendant's mother shrieking "That's my baby. That's my baby. He's only 17."

The 12:25 p.m. incident seemed to have been sparked by the cries of defendant Terrence Crawford's mother, who began wailing when he was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and relatives of the injured teenaged girl became upset at her cries for mercy and understanding.

The girl remains at Norwalk Hospital in intensive care with an punctured lung and numerous knife cuts over her body, her mother said. The fetus appears to have survived the attack.

By the time the court was ordered cleared, a number of marshals had moved to restrain the relatives upset at Crawford.

When Hudock allowed everyone back into the courtroom a little over 10 minutes later, he announced he would jail anyone who disturbed the proceedings.

"Do the smart thing and leave the courtroom if you cannot control yourself," he said, before bringing Crawford out for the second time with as many as 14 marshals standing by.

Crawford, 17, of 9 Armstrong Court, Norwalk, is charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and resisting arrest; Hudock ordered his bond be raised from $250,000 to $500,000. The hearing proceeded smoothly and no one was arrested.

The mother of the victim, who is not being named because it would identify her daughter, said Crawford lured her daughter into the woods next to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in order to stab and kill her because she was pregnant with Crawford's baby. She said she was happy that Hudock raised Crawford's bond.

"I think it is crazy and I just want him to pay for what he did," she said.

The case was transferred to the Part A docket at the Stamford courthouse, where more serious crimes in the area are handled.

In numerous police reports contained in Crawford's file, a neighbor called police Saturday night just before 11 p.m. to report that a bleeding girl had been left on the steps of 31 Clay Street.

When police arrived, a resident told police the two young who men carried the girl out of the woods before leaving them near a home, ran down some steps connecting Clay Street with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The girl, 16, told the officer that she had just been stabbed by Crawford, her boyfriend and a friend of his in the woods. She had sustained several left side puncture wounds, a cut on the left side of her neck, a cut on her left elbow, cuts on both hands and a cut just above the left side of her buttock, police said.

The girl said she met Crawford and his 17-year-old friend at the South Norwalk train station, where they had just come from Bridgeport. She said Crawford told her he was having trouble with police and they needed to lay low and he took her into the wooded area. She said she told him she was pregnant with his baby.

That is when Crawford and his friend began hitting her.

"Terrence must have had a knife because I realized I was stabbed where Terrence was hitting me," she said in a statement to police.

Crawford's friend, who is not being identified because he is 17, told police Crawford was talking about killing his girlfriend because she is pregnant, but he thought he was kidding. Crawford told the friend that he "don't want no damn baby," the friend's told police; as they were standing next to the woods, Crawford told her he needed to talk to her.

"As he began walking in the woods with her I saw him begin to pull a knife out of his jeans. I thought to myself he is really going to stab her. A couple of minutes later I heard her screaming really loud. She was yelling, "it hurts" and "I'm bleeding," his statement said.

After the girl was brought to the Clay home and the call went out for the stabbing, police officers traveling from the police department on Monroe Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive saw two young men.

The pair began to run when police got close and began questioning them. Crawford ran north on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and, after a brief foot chase that ended after at least one officer pulled his service weapon, Crawford was placed in handcuffs.

The arresting officer noticed Crawford had cuts on his right hand and blood on his clothes and body.

He told the officers, "I didn't do anything. I gotta check on my girl." Then he said, "It's my girl's blood. I tried to carry her from the woods. I gotta see if my girl's OK," a police report by the arresting officer said.

One Murder. Two Victims?

At about 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1998, a still-unidentified assailant stabbed Yale University Senior Suzanne Jovin 17 times in the head, neck and back. Less than 15 minutes later, police found her near death at the intersection of East Rock and Edgehill roads, a mile from central campus.

The senior was a well liked and respected member of her class. She was active in volunteering and charitable work. The State of Connecticut and Yale University have offered rewards that together are worth a total of $150,000.

Originally, Yale Officials publically identified Suzanne's thesis advisor and at the time Yale Political Science Lecturer, James Van de Velde as a suspect. After years of suspicion, DNA taken from under Suzanne's fingernails failed to match a sample from Van de Velde's, thereby lessening the chance that Van de Velde may have been the murderer.

The case has embarassed Yale and the New Haven Police department. Did they focus on the wrong person?

July 2008, Police released a sketch of a person seen running from the area near where Jovin had been found murdered within the time frame of her murder. The person of interest was described as blonde haired white male with chiseled features. He was reportedly wearing dark clothes and had on a loose-fitting green-colored jacket.

It is over nine years later and Suzanne's killer still has not been caught. There are no witnesses and little physical evidence. The last time she was sighted was around 9:20 pm that night, what happened the next 25 minutes remains a mystery.

NOTE: Some conspiracy theorists have created rumors that Suzanne Jovin was murdered because her senior thesis was about terrorist Osama Bin Laden, however, there is no evidence to suggest any of the such. At that time Bin Laden was already an internationally known figure due to his involvement in attacks on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998.

Noted author and activist Donald Connery has been critical of Law Enforcement's handling of the case and it's main focus on Van de Velde. Witnesses described a brown or tan colored van was sighted near where Suzanne Jovin was last seen alive.

If you have any information on this case please contact the New Haven Police Department at 1-866-888-TIPS.

Connecticut Man Faces Trial in Developer's Slaying

GREENWICH, Conn.—The final juror has been selected in the murder trial of a man charged in the stabbing death of a Connecticut real estate developer in his Greenwich mansion.

The 15th juror was picked Friday in the case against 49-year-old Carlos Trujillo of Bridgeport, who is charged with Andrew Kissel's death. Trujillo was Kissel's chauffeur.

The trial is expected to start Nov. 1.

Kissel was found dead in his basement in April 2006, just days before he was to plead guilty in a multimillion-dollar fraud case.

Carlos Trujillo's cousin, Leonard Trujillo of Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty last year to reduced charges of manslaughter and conspiracy. He's agreed to testify against his cousin.

Day 2 of Testimony in Jabalee Murder Trial

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) - Loved ones of murder victims, Ronald and Christine Jabalee, wiped away tears as jurors were shown the gruesome crime scene video taken at the Jabalee's New Baltimore home.

The video showed both inside and outside the Jabalee home, including inside the garage where the victims were murdered. The video showed their lifeless bodies surrounded by pools of blood. It also showed the mysterious message scrawled in blood.

42-year-old Ronald Jabalee is accused of the gruesome murders of his parents Ronald and Christine Jabalee on October 6, 2006.

Jurors heard from the Macomb County medical examiner who testified that both victims had been stabbed multiple times and both had defensive wounds.

On Thursday, Rosie Krol testified about finding the bodies. Krol, was living with Ronald Jabalee's younger brother Ryan at the time.

On the day of the murder, Ryan called her to check on his parents, because his father had failed to show up to work at the family's store in Eastern Market.

Krol fought back tears as she answered the prosecutor's questions. She described finding Ronald and Christine Jabalee on the floor of their garage in New Baltimore. She said there was also blood in their driveway.

In opening statements, Prosecutor Steven Kaplan said that Ronald Jabalee showed no concern that morning when his father was late because he knew that he was already dead.

Ronald Jabalee's attorney Gail Pamukov says the evidence will show that Jabalee did not commit the crime.

Homicides of Champaben Patel - Anita Patel - March 1996 - Windsor

On March 21,1996, the bodies of Champaben Patel and her daughter Anita were found in their family home in Windsor. Champaben Patel had been strangled and her body burned. Anita had been stabbed and her body burned.

In March 2006, Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the slayings.

Investigators believe Champaben Patel was killed first, in the bedroom of her home. They further suspect that Anita Patel and her two children arrived at the house while the attack was occurring, and that Anita told the children, then ages 3 and 5, to leave the house.

The children ran from the house and were found by a woman walking to her mailbox, who called the police.

Anita Patel was stabbed in the kitchen of the house. Gasoline was poured around her body and set afire. Although she had been stabbed a total of 14 times, an autopsy determined that she died of smoke inhalation.

The case is being investigated by the Cold Case Unit of the Chief State's Attorney's Office. Connecticut investigators are consulting with the Vidocq Society, a group of forensic experts who contribute their time and expertise in unsolved cases.

Follow this link to e-mail the Cold Case Unit of the Chief State's Attorney's Office with information or a tip about the case of Champaben Patel and Anita Patel or call the tip line at 860-548-0606 or toll-free at 1-866-623-8058. All calls and e-mails will be kept confidential.

Homicide of Janette Couture - East Hartford - October 13, 1973

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that the state has increased to $50,000 the reward being offered for information in the unsolved murder of Janette Couture in the victim's East Hartford apartment 36 years ago.

Governor Rell is hoping to raise public awareness about this terrible unsolved murder.

The reward, originally set at $20,000 and now at the $50,000 maximum allowed under the state's reward law, is being offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Janette Couture.

Ms. Couture was found deceased in her apartment in East Hartford on October 13, 1973. An autopsy determined that she had been fatally stabbed and her death was ruled a homicide.

“Detectives are hoping the increased reward will prompt someone to come forward with new information,” said Deputy Police Chief John Murphy of the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the East Hartford Police Department.

Detectives recently began reviewing case evidence complied by detectives over the last 36 years. Detectives have also resumed interviewing “persons of interest.” The state’s forensic lab has also begun to examine the evidence collected from the crime scene.

“We’re hopeful the $50,000 reward will spark new interest in the case and finally give the victim’s family closure to this horrific crime,” said East Hartford Police Detective Ellen Stoldt.

The request for the increased reward was formally presented to the Governor by Gail P. Hardy, State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford.

Anyone with any information regarding the murder of Janette Couture is encouraged to contact East Hartford Police Detective Ellen Stoldt at 860-291-7524 or the East Hartford Police Department's confidential tip line at 860-289-9134.

Boy Stabbed Repeatedly in Long Island Dave & Buster's

New York (CNN) -- An 8-year-old boy, who was repeatedly stabbed at a Long Island, New York, restaurant, was recovering from a punctured lung and other wounds Saturday, police said.

The boy was spending time with his family at the Dave & Buster's in Westbury when he was attacked by a 23-year-old man who approached him from behind, police said. The man placed his left hand on the victim's shoulder and stabbed the boy five times with a three-and-half-inch folding knife, police Lt. Kevin Smith told reporters.

The boy had been playing a video game with his parents nearby, Smith said.

Police arrived shortly after the boy's father and a witness captured the attacker, identified as Evan Sachs, outside the men's room, authorities said. The incident was random; Sachs didn't know the child, police said.

Sachs faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and possession of deadly weapon.

Trend Investigated After 7 Kids Die in Latest Attack on Chinese Kindergarten

Fox News- It's a parent's worst nightmare. And it's becoming a nightmare for China.

An attacker with a cleaver hacked to death seven children and two adults at a kindergarten in northwest China on Wednesday, the latest in a string of savage assaults on the country's schools. Eleven other children were wounded.

This latest incident at a kindergarten in northwest China was the fifth major attack on children in a couple of months.

Each assault involved a lone male.

Wednesday's killer, 48-year-old Wu Huanming, returned home after the attack on the outskirts of the city of Hanzhong and committed suicide, the local government reported.

Sociologists suggest it could be caused by a lack of help for the mentally ill in the country and also in part caused by therising stress levels caused by inequalities in Chinese society as some prosper and many struggle.

For someone who has visited China frequently over the past 20 years I have seen dramatic changes but it's nothing to what the people there must have felt.

Going from Maoist uniforms and bicycles to Gucci hand bags and Mercedes in a few short years would be a shock to anyone.

And it's probably an even bigger shock to the Chinese in comparison to other societies as its people have come out of a life that always prided itself during the Maoist years on equality and lack of materialism.

Of course as you travel in China it's easy to see the difference now between the upwardly mobile and those fighting to survive.

Amongst the glittering skyscrapers of Beijing or Shanghai there is sometimes a glimpse of the struggles many are facing.

Once I saw workers, all men, fighting their way to the front of a crowd to get a ticket off a foreman to get work for the day, perhaps at a building site.

There are also unbelievable pressures on Chinese men to be successful now.

China's one child policy has created a disproportionate number of males to females as Chinese families traditionally favor boys.

At a basic level the chinese male is now competing with a lot more males to be successful, get a bride and have a family.

It doesn't, of course, explain these series of attacks on children.

But it's not something that is unique to China.

Japan has had similar cases in the past.

The Chinese authorities seem to be trying to downplay the incidents in the media.

Their defense being that they don't want to start a wave of panic, and some experts in China say coverage could also inspire copycat attacks.

Man Allegedly Stabs Wife to Death, Drives Body to Police Headquarters

PHOENIX -- A 58-year-old man has been charged with murder after police say he stabbed his wife to death then drove to Phoenix police headquarters and confessed.

According to police, Dwight Wesley, walked into the station late last night and admitted stabbing his 46-year-old wife, Delores Glover, to death.

According to police, Wesley and his wife allegedly got into an argument while she was driving him to work Wednesday night. Officers believe Wesley stabbed her while she was driving.

He then got behind the wheel and drove, with his wife's body in the car, to police headquarters at Sixth and Washington streets. He walked into the building, leaving a trail of blood behind him, and turned himself in, police said.

Officers on duty said Wesley had blood on his shirt. They thought he was a victim who had come to report a crime. They said that's when he confessed to murdering his wife and gave them a knife.

Investigators went outside and found Glover's body in the car parked on Sixth Avenue, right next to police headquarters. Glover had been stabbed several times. Paramedics were called out, but they were unable to save her.

According to Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department, it was while driving Wesley to work that Glover told her husband she wanted a divorce. That's when Wesley became upset and allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed her.

Investigators tried to questioned Wesley, but they say after his first alleged confession, he stopped talking.

Wesley has been booked into the Maricopa County Jail. He has been charged with murder.

Man With Knife Attacks Kindergarten in China

(CNN) -- At least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China on Thursday morning, state media said.

Most of the victims were 4-year-olds, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Three of the children were in critical condition.

Police said they have arrested a 47-year-old suspect.

The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.

It comes a day after a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.

It was not immediately known how many people were injured or whether there were any fatalities Wednesday. The man, described as being in his 40s, entered Leicheng First Primary School Wednesday afternoon and committed the attack before he was seized by police, Xinhua reported.

A man who stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others at an elementary school in eastern China last month was executed Wednesday, Xinhua said. Zheng Minsheng, 42, was shot in Nanping City for the March 23 attack.

Authorities said he carried out the attack because he was frustrated at "failures in his romantic life," Xinhua said.

California College's Student President Stabbed; Hate Crime Alleged

(CNN) -- The student body president of California State University, Chico, was recovering Monday from stab wounds suffered in what police believe was a hate crime, officials said.

Joseph Igbineweka, who was born in Nigeria, was stabbed early Sunday while walking in a Chico neighborhood near the college where mostly students reside, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said.

Igbineweka passed two men who began to make racial slurs, Merrifield said. He ignored them and continued to walk, but they followed him and continued to yell at him.

Igbineweka eventually turned around, and one of the men struck him, Merrifield said. He fought back, but the man pulled a pocket knife and stabbed him at least four times, in the neck, chest, stomach and arm, according to Merrifield. The attacker fled on foot.

Several police officers were in the area and were alerted to the situation, Merrifield said. An officer found Igbineweka and was able to get a description of the attacker and alert other officers in the area.

A suspect, 19-year-old Barry Sayavong, was found and arrested a few blocks away, Merrifield said. Sayavong, of Chico, is facing charges of attempted murder and a hate crime, according to Merrifield.

Igbineweka was hospitalized Monday but is expected to recover, Merrifield said. His worst injury was a deep gash on his arm.

Igbineweka was in stable condition, said Joe Wills, spokesman for the university, which is commonly known as Chico State.

"While violent crimes happen in this and other communities, this is very disturbing," Wills said. "Lots of people know Joe." The student body president is akin to a public figure in Chico, a university town of about 100,000 people, he said.

Igbineweka "is very well known in the local community," Wills said. "This is a hate crime and a very big deal."

Wills said the mood on campus "is one of shock and sadness and concern for Joe."

"And also there is looking forward to what people can do so that these kinds of crimes aren't repeated," Wills said.

"Today, our thoughts are with Joseph hoping for his full recovery," said a statement from Chico Mayor Ann Schwab and university President Paul Zingg. "We, and several others, have visited with him. ... He is in good spirits considering what he has been through."

Igbineweka "is looking forward to getting back on campus and looking for solutions to reduce violence in the community," Wills said. "He is motivated to stay active."

Igbineweka moved to the United States at the age of 15, and is from Richmond, California, Wills said.

The attack "is an assault on the values of civility and respect for other people that both Chico State and the city of Chico work so hard to ensure," Schwab and Zingg said in their statement. "We choose not to be defined by hate-filled and criminal acts."

"From his hospital bed, Joseph urges us to 'continue the conversation' around violence and prejudice," the two said. "We assure Joseph we will do that."

An open forum was set for Monday afternoon for anyone wishing to address the incident and discuss efforts for the community to move forward, they said.

Daughter Charged in December Stabbing

STAMFORD -- A Greenwich woman was arraigned in state Superior Court Tuesday after police said she stabbed her mother during a domestic violence incident that occurred in December 2009.

Gail Stechel, 20, of Dingletown Road, was charged with first-degree assault and interfering with an emergency 911 call after turning herself in on an arrest warrant Monday night.

Police said officers responded to Stechel's Dingletown Road residence on Dec. 26, 2009, for a report of a possible overdose on pills. When officers arrived, however, they discovered there had been an altercation the night before that left the mother with "numerous facial contusions," police said. Upon further investigation, officers at the scene learned Stechel's mother had been stabbed several times in the face, back, hands arms and legs, according to Lt. Daniel Allen.

Allen said it was not clear if the wounds were superficial or deep, penetrating wounds. Police said if the victim had received treatment at a hospital, police would have been notified to investigate a possible crime. However, they were never notified about the altercation the night of the alleged stabbing.

Allen said the victim and Stechel were taken to Greenwich Hospital on Dec. 26, 2009. The victim's wounds did not appear to be life-threatening then, police said.

Stechel was treated for a possible overdose on pills, according to police reports.

Allen said in the months after responding to the incident, detectives decided to pursue an arrest warrant to charge her with the crimes.

Police said officers found a knife and other evidence at the scene of the home.

Allen said Stechel posted a $100,000 bond and was released Monday night.

Her attorney, Mark Sherman, said Stechel appeared in state Superior Court for her arraignment Tuesday afternoon, where a judge held her bond at $100,000 and issued a partial protective order allowing Stechel to have contact with her mother, but barring her from any further physical altercations.

Sherman declined to comment on the circumstances behind the incident, as did police.

"This is a delicate, sensitive family situation," said Sherman following the hearing. "The family has begun the healing process and put mechanisms in place so that this does not happen again."

Texas Art Student's Slaying Flies Under Media Radar

NEW YORK (CNN) -- She was a promising college student, a young woman with talent whose brutal killing shocked a campus community.

Her name is Samantha Michelle Nance.

Unlike the recent high-profile homicide of Yale University graduate student Annie Le, the death of the 20-year-old Dallas woman, known as Shelley to her friends, has captured virtually no media attention outside Texas.

Nance, a third-year student at the Art Institute of Dallas, was found stabbed to death Saturday in her apartment.

She was majoring in animation, with about a year to go before getting her bachelor's degree, said Sarah Stockton, public relations director at the school.

The institute is "a design, media arts, fashion and culinary post-secondary school," according to its Web site.

"She was a very talented animation student," Stockton said. "She actually won a scholarship for her work when she was still in high school." Nance beat out about 60 other applicants to win the partial scholarship to the institute, Stockton said.

She was a fan of Vincent van Gogh and author Frank Beddor, according to her personal Web page on the deviantArt site.

Her apartment was in Dallas' northeastern Lake Highlands neighborhood in a building complex home to dozens of students from the institute. "They have security there," Stockton said.

Dallas police said officers were asked to investigate after Nance had not been seen for several days.

Sgt. Eugene Reyes said officers entered her apartment Saturday and found her body.

"She had multiple stab wounds," Reyes said. The police report indicates Nance was "stabbed with an unknown cutting tool."

Nance, who was from Italy, Texas, will be laid to rest Thursday. The school will hold a memorial service Friday.

In a statement, the institute said that "Samantha made many close friends during her time at the Art Institute, and she will be missed very much by students, faculty and staff."

Reyes said officers are in the process of interviewing people. "We have a couple of people we are pretty interested in," he said. "We are waiting for DNA."

He also revealed that while police haven't identified a suspect, homicide detectives believe the killer knew the victim.

The Art Institute is making grief counselors available to students, noting, "This is a hard time for everyone and there can be a range of emotions that are felt."

Stockton added a bulletin board has been set up for anyone to post memories of Nance. She said the remembrances will be given to her family.

"She was a great student, always came to class, always involved on campus," Stockton said. "It's just a tragedy."

NYPD Cop Charged In Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Ex-Wife

NEW YORK (WPIX) - An New York City police officer - accused of hiring another man to kill his ex-wife - appeared in a Long Island courtroom Friday morning where he entered a plea of not guilty in connection with the crime.

Officer Anthony Battisti, 42, a 17-year veteran of the force was suspended by the NYPD, after allegations surfaced that he had hired a hit-man to attack his ex-wife, 44-year-old Patricia Battisti.

According to prosecutors, Patricia Battisti was stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver outside the couple's Franklin Square home in January. Battisti paid 37-year-old Timothy Gersbeck, who had worked as a handyman for the officer, to execute the assault on his ex-wife because he was jealous of her new boyfriend, investigators said.

Gersbeck was also charged in connection with the stabbing.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice reacted to the news about the indictment with remorse.

"I'm sickened by this officer's betrayal of the badge," she said in a statement. "We cannot let one single act by one officer overshadow the brave work by men and women who wear the uniform and put themselves in harm's way every day to protect our families and our neighborhoods."

Battisti reportedly met his wife Patricia when both were enrolled in the New York City Police Academy. The couple also served together in the Bronx's 41st Precinct before Patricia Battisit left the department, the New York Daily News reported.

Knife-Wielding Schoolgirl Kills 30

B.A. Herald- A Brazilian teenager admitted having stabbed to death 30 men in four different states between 2006 and the last days, the police told the press today. The 17-year-old girl confessed after being arrested during a street fight in Sao José de Rio Preto (Sao Paolo province).

"I don't have enough courage to hold a gun, but I can hold a knife," she said. "I am confessing because I promised I would do so before becoming 18, to avoid upsetting my family," she told the police officers who arrested her. According to the police, she confessed now to avoid being prosecuted as an adult.

She said she started killing when she was 15. After she admitted those crimes, the police started checking registered murders. So far, eleven cases correspond to her story. All are from Aparecida Do Taboado (Mato Grosso Do Sul state).

But other cases are being checked in the Sao Paolo, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais states. According to the police sources, the teenager girl said she commited those murders (all with the same knife) for "money, revenge and for bringing justice."

The police suspects she was contracted by criminal organizations. She will be transferred to the Aparecida Do Taboado juvenile hall, her city of residency.