Woman who claimed she saw ‘black shadow’ enter two kids before she stabbed them 150 times found guilty
An Illinois woman who claimed she saw a “black shadow” enter two young children before she stabbed them a combined 150 times while babysitting was found guilty of both murders on Wednesday.
Elzbieta Plackowska’s lawyers argued that she was suffering a psychotic break when she killed her 7-year-old son Justin and 5-year-old Olivia Dworakowski in October of 2012. The slayings took place in Olivia’s home in Naperville.
Kristen Nedval argued that Plackowska loved the kids and wouldn’t have killed them “if she knew what she was doing.” However, State’s Attorney Bob Berlin used Plackowska’s own comments to investigators against her.
“There is no better evidence than the defendant’s own words: ‘I’m not supposed to, but I have to,'” Berlin told the court, according to ABC 7. “Those are the most important words she said. She knew what she was doing was wrong.”
Berlin said that fury was growing inside of her.
“No one appreciated this defendant, and she was angry — she was angry at the world — and this is what she did,” the prosecutor said, according to the Naperville Sun.
It is believed that Plackowska stabbed her son approximately 100 times, and Olivia was stabbed 50 times. Two dogs were also found dead.
“It was her psychotic and delusional belief that she was killing the devil when she killed the children and dogs,” Nevdal argued, according to the Daily Herald. “A voice told her she must kill them perfectly so they could go to heaven.”
During the trial in Wheaton, the prosecution tried to poke holes in the “black shadow” claim. Berlin claimed that Plackowska gave a total of 12 different versions of what happened on Oct. 30, 2012, according to the Daily Herald.
Plackowska was found guilty Wednesday by Judge Robert Miller, who determined that she still knew her actions were wrong.
“Even giving credence to the most lucid of the defendant’s various explanations, the choice to commit the criminal act because killing the devil within the children would be a ‘greater good’ for humanity is still a decision incorporating the legal wrongfulness of the stabbings,” Judge Miller said, according to the Naperville Sun.
Florida moms overdose on heroin in SUV with infants in backseat
Two Florida mothers overdosed on heroin in a car on Thursday — with a pair of infants in the backseat.
Kristen Leigh O’Connor, 28, and 29-year-old June Schweinhart would tell cops in Boynton Beach that they met in a drug treatment program and bonded during their pregnancies.
O’Connor told investigators she picked up Schweinhart in the SUV and they bought $60 worth of heroin from her old drug dealer.
“For whatever reason, they decided yesterday to buy heroin and then snorted it while inside the car with their children,” the Boynton Beach Police Department wrote on Facebook on Friday.
When one of the women began to overdose, the other one called 911 for help. But then she started convulsing, according to cops.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” O’Connor said she heard Schweinhart say, according to the Palm Beach Post.
A passerby saw what was going on and took the phone and spoke with the dispatcher. The Florida Department of Children and Families took custody of the babies before turning them over to relatives. O’Connor and Schweinhart were charged with child neglect and taken to jail after being released from the hospital.
A judge ruled Friday that O’Connor can be with her child only when the baby’s grandmother is present, according to the Palm Beach Post.
The babies were one month and two months old, respectively, the newspaper reported.
“We hope this serves as a wake-up call for these moms, and that they seek further treatment for their addiction,” cops said.
‘Suge’ Knight Says Dr. Dre Paid $20,000 to Have Him Killed in 2015
Former rap impresario Marion “Suge” Knight claims Dr. Dre, his onetime business partner, paid $20,000 to have him killed in 2015, recently filed court documents show.
In a signed declaration, Knight said a hit man’s presence at a Compton burger stand that Jan. 29 — the day Knight is accused of intentionally ramming his red truck into two men, killing one of them — backs up his claims that he acted in self-defense. An attorney representing Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, has called the allegations “absurd” and “defamatory.”
Knight, who appeared in court Friday wearing orange jail scrubs and a chain around his waist, is accused of killing Terry Carter, 55, outside Tam’s Burgers at Central and East Rosecrans avenues following an argument on the set of the movie “Straight Outta Compton.” Footage from a security camera at the burger joint shows Knight — who has pleaded not guilty — barreling his Ford F-150 Raptor pickup into Carter and Cle “Bone” Sloan, who survived. Knight, who fled the scene but later turned himself in, also is accused in separate cases of robbery and threatening “Straight Outta Compton” director F. Gary Gray.
In Knight’s declaration, which was attached to a document made public this week, the defendant said that during a jailhouse visit in 2016, a private investigator who no longer is working on his case showed him a check for $20,000. It was dated Nov. 16, 2014, and was from Young’s personal account, Knight wrote.
Phoenix man accused of submerging 4-year-old’s face in scalding water
A Phoenix man allegedly held a 4-year-old’s face in scalding water causing him to suffer severe burns.
Ernesto Ronald Avelar, 27, is accused of causing second and third-degree burns to the boy’s face on Sept. 26, according to a Phoenix police report.
He allegedly left the boy in a dark room for three hours, until the child’s mother came home.
The boy’s mother took him to the hospital once she saw his injuries.
Hospital workers indicated that the victim was likely “restrained while being immersed in hot water.”
Avelar was apprehended at his apartment near 26th Street and McDowell Road in Phoenix.
He told police he drew a bath for the child, and left him alone to go care for a second child.
He heard a scream, and saw the boy in the water-filled tub, holding his face.
Avelar said he took the boy to his bedroom and treated his burns with aloe vera.
Milwaukee Mother Set 4-Year-Old Son With Autism on Fire, Bound Him With 7 Belts
A Milwaukee woman suspected of killing her 4-year-old son with autism is accused of bounding him with belts and setting him on fire before his death, according to court documents.
Amelia Di Stasio, 23, faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of Antonio Di Stasio, her only child, KTLA sister station WITI in Milwaukee reported Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WITI, Milwaukee firefighters found the child’s lifeless body, with his hands bound behind his back with several belts and a garbage bag over his head, in a bathtub after responding to a report of “smoke” at an apartment on the morning of Sept. 28.
“The majority of his body was burned,” the complaint stated.
It appeared the victim’s body had been set on fire, and an unknown accelerant had been used. Investigators found a bottle of canola cooking oil on the bathroom sink, according to the complaint.
A dead pet guinea pig that had been drowned in its cage was also found next to the tub, the station reported. A smoke detector in the apartment had been placed in water, the complaint indicated.
Police have identified young Antonio as the victim.
An autopsy revealed that the boy’s hands and arms were bound to his sides with seven belts, according to the complaint. A plastic bag had been placed over his head secured with a knot at the back of his head. There was “significant charring” to his skin, and the boy sustained thermal injuries “to the majority of his body,” according to the autopsy.
Authorities ruled Antonio’s death a homicide.
The child lived in the apartment with his mother, who was not home when firefighters and police arrived.
One witness told investigators that the mother and son had moved into the building two months earlier, and that his mother “wasn’t friendly and kept to herself.”
She said she heard the pair arguing the day before the little boy was killed, with Antonio saying “Please, Mommy. Stop! I won’t do it again.” The witness further recalled hearing Di Stasio yell, “Shut up,” the complaint stated.
A “banging noise” could be heard coming from their unit the unit the day of the boy’s death, the witness recalled.
Another witness told investigators she saw a “frazzled”-looking woman jump from the apartment window on Sept. 28, the complaint stated.
Di Stasio was arrested later that day.
Investigators searched her purse and found a note with a woman’s name and phone number written on it, according to WITI. When authorities called it, they spoke a husband and wife who said they saw the woman crying.
When they asked her what was wrong, she asked if they knew a pastor. She told them she “did something really bad,” had “never did nothing like that before” and needed to speak with somebody, according to the station. The man gave her a number.
The complaint also indicated a search of Di Stasio’s cellphone revealed she had looked up “how to kill a canabal (sic)” on Sept. 28, and that she had visited a message board dedicated to an online game billed as a “horror survival game” in which players fight cannibals. The message board “detailed the ways to kill cannibals within the game,” and recommended to “kill it with fire.” It also discussed how, in the game, cannibals “like to bathe in oil.”
If convicted, Di Stasio faces a sentence of life in prison.
Woman busted sprinkling glass shards in food to get free meals
A Delray Beach, FL, woman has been accused of placing glass shards in her food to get a free meal from restaurants.
Kaitlyn Murphy, a 31-year-old resident was arrested earlier this week on felony defraud charges after she admitted to using glass to get out of paying for her food, a trick the woman claims to have learned from someone she knew in rehab.
Murphy confessed that she would carry glass in her purse when she went out to eat and would sprinkle it over her food. She even intentionally cut her mouth by chewing the glass to make her story more realistic.
The police reported that Murphy had visited eleven restaurants in Stuart, FL, from September 15 to September 26 – claiming to find glass in her food “after eating most of her meals,” Local 10 News reports.
After Murphy reported the hazard, the restaurants would either eat the cost of the meal, or offer gift cards and free food.
The police were eventually tipped off about Murphy’s crime spree after restaurants started describing the same woman on social media, coming into their establishments and making the same claims.
“The mistake that she made was this is a tight knit community. A lot of the restaurant owners and employees know each other,” said Sgt. Michael German to WPTV.
The pressure of social media forced Murphy to turn herself in, where police found more glass shards in her purse.
In total, the police say Murphy cost restaurants hundreds of dollars in comped meals, gift cards, lost tips and lost food, as well as damaged the reputation of some servers and restaurants.
Murphy originally claimed that she did it because she couldn’t afford the food, but later a manager said Murphy confessed she did it for the adrenaline rush – a high she was searching for after she had quit drugs and alcohol.
Just before her arrest, Murphy was hired to work as a server in the area.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/04/woman-busted-sprinkling-glass-shards-in-food-to-get-free-meals/
Man arrested for trying to hide weed in bushes outside courthouse
SANFORD, N.C. — A North Carolina man has been arrested and charged with trying to hide marijuana in the bushes at a courthouse before a hearing on a possible probation violation.
Local media outlets reported that Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter said 21-year-old Teon Shamal La’Shane Douglas of Sanford was arrested Monday after deputies saw him putting marijuana and a cellphone and some other items in the bushes at the courthouse.
The sheriff said narcotics officers saw Douglas put about 15 grams of marijuana in the bushes at the courthouse in Sanford.
Carter said Douglas was arrested after the probation hearing and charged with felony possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
It was not known if Douglas has an attorney on the latest charges.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/05/man-arrested-for-trying-to-hide-weed-in-bushes-outside-courthouse/
Teacher accused of sleeping with student who tried kill himself indicted on sex charges
A married teacher in Maine accused of sleeping with a student was indicted Tuesday on a number of sexual assault charges.
Jill Lamontagne, 29, turned herself into authorities after she was indicted by a York County Grand Jury on six counts of gross sexual assault, two counts of unlawful sexual contact and six counts of abuse of a minor, the Portland Press Herald reported.
“The indictment was the culmination of an investigation into a relationship Lamontagne allegedly had with a juvenile, male student while she was a teacher at the school,” Kennebunk Deputy Chief of Police Michael Nugent said Wednesday, according to Seacoast Online.
Lamontagne allegedly had a relationship with the male student, 17, who was in her health class at Kennebunk High School at the time of sexual contact.
An abuse order filed by the student’s mother in Biddeford District Court states the relationship between the teacher and boy was revealed when he was hospitalized following a suspected suicide attempt.
The student ingested a concoction of ibuprofen, Tylenol, cold medicine and blood thinner Warfarin, according to the Press Herald.
The boy confessed to the relationship to his aunt a day after his hospitalization. The student and his teacher had sexual contact “numerous times, in the classroom, at her house, in her car,” the student’s mother wrote. The student said Lamontagne performed oral sex on him, adding that “other stuff happened.”
The student allegedly told his mother and a nurse at the hospital that he loved his teacher and took the mixture of medicines to attempt suicide, Seacoast reported.
Lamontagne told the student she hadn’t had a sexual relationship with anyone for two years. Court records reportedly indicate she is married and has children.
The teacher was placed on administrative leave June 12 when the boy’s family notified the school of the sexual contact. Lamontagne then filed for family medical leave, and was still on leave when she submitted her resignation in September.
Lamontagne was booked on the charges and released on $1,000 bail. She’s expected to appear in court Dec. 22.
Former ‘Glee’ actor Mark Salling agrees to plead guilty to possessing cache of child pornography
Former “Glee” star Mark Salling has admitted to possessing a massive cache of child pornography and agreed to spend up to 20 years in federal prison and register as a sex offender for life, federal court documents show.
In a plea agreement filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday, Salling, 35, has agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of possession of child pornography stemming from an indictment filed last year.
Salling is best known for playing Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the show that ended in 2015.
In his plea agreement, the actor admitted to downloading more than 50,000 images of child pornography and erotica — sexualized images of children — on his laptop and another 4,000 photos and 160 videos of child pornography on a thumb drive. The content was downloaded from at least April through December 2015, according to the indictment.
The trove was discovered after a woman Salling was involved with reported him to law enforcement. Salling had shown her his child pornography in the context of their sexual relationship, authorities said.
Salling has also agreed to register as a sex offender permanently and a lifetime of supervision if and when he’s released from federal custody. A future court date has not been set.
via: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mark-salling-plea-20171004-story.html
Gang members raped man, doused him in gas during home invasion
Three suspected gang members pummeled two men — sexually assaulting one with a pipe threader — before dousing them with gasoline in a Cleveland home, police said.
The trio — believed to be members of the brutal Heartless Felons street gang — are accused of assaulting a 31-year-old man after storming into his apartment in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood last Thursday. Two of the suspects, Nathaniel Ramos Jr., 18, and Kelli Dunnican, 22, were wearing masks at the time, according to police reports cited by Cleveland.com.
Once inside, Ramos, Dunnican and another suspected gang member, Troy White, 47, pummeled the man, punching and kicking him along with another 51-year-old man inside the home. The goons then tied the 31-year-old man’s hands behind his back with blue tape, police said.
The younger victim called White a homophobic slur and accused him of sexually assaulting other inmates while in prison — prompting White to sodomize the man with a metal pipe threader as Ramos and Dunnican held the man down, authorities said.
Ramos doused both victims with gasoline, but the suspects ultimately decided against setting them on fire after Dunnican talked them out of it, police reports show.
Another man suddenly showed up at the house and fought with the three suspects before White shot him twice in his right leg. The wounded 41-year-old victim ran into a room and held the door shut behind him as he screamed for help, prompting the trio to flee the home, but not before Dunnican stole a cellphone and a pair of shoes, according to police reports.
The three suspects were later arrested after running through back yards in the 3200 block of Fulton Road, where Dunnican and Ramos were apprehended outside and White was busted inside a detached garage.
Police found a handgun in White’s pocket at the time of his arrest, and Ramos was found in possession of 14 baggies of marijuana and reeked of gasoline, cops said. Dunnican was found carrying rolls of duct tape, a knife and three cellphones, including the one stolen from the victim’s apartment, police said.
Both Dunnican and Ramos declined to talk to investigators, but White told police he was involved in a theft ring with both victims and that they had smoked crack together earlier that day, police reports show.
White, according to prison records, has served two stints in prison for armed robbery. He’s also scheduled to be sentenced later this month for an apartment burglary in May, Cleveland.com reported.
Dunnican and Ramos do not have adult criminal records.