FL Prison Escapee Suspect in 4 Killings: Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times
reports Larry D. Hubbard, who escaped from a Florida prison in 1977, is suspected of killing four California women while on the run. Hubbard's DNA was linked to the 4 cases in which he would choke and bind, strangle, and dump women naked in a field. Police had previously collected DNA in the cases, but without more sophisticated technology, were not able to tie the DNA to Hubbard who was arrested by Ontario police on an outstanding Florida escape warrant in
May 2007, and died following an attempted suicide after he was returned
to Florida
'Speed Freak Killer' Stops Helping Police: Scott Smith of McClatchy Newspapers
reports meth-fueled serial killer Wesley Shermantine wrote on Thursday he will no longer be leaving death row to help locate more of his victims. Bounty hunter
Leonard Padilla promised Shermantine $33,000 in exchange for information locating his various dump sites of victims, though sending more than $2000 so far in cash and merchandise. Shermantine intends to hold out on all further information until Padilla pays up more of what he promised, namely a new television and candy bars. Stockton Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani met with Shermantine Sunday, who told her he would only cooperate with certain agencies, investigators from the Reno Police Department, but not others, including the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office and FBI agents from Sacramento. Galgiani has asked CDCR Secretary Matt Cate act on an emergency bill she wrote which would empower prison officials to take a guarded Shermantine from the prison to recover more dump sites. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill July 17, 2012.CA Supreme Court Affirms Death Sentence: Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times
reports the California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Enrique Parra Duenas, rejecting his appeal of his conviction of fatally shooting Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Deputy Michael Hoenig in 1997 during an attempted stop while Duenas was on a bicycle.
NY Crime Surge After Drop In Stop-And-Frisk Rate: Rebecca Harshbarger and David Seifman of the New York Post
report major crimes in New York has spiked more than 12% since a drop in the NYPD's stop-and-frisks rate. Between Jan. 1 and Mar. 31, police stopped 203,500 people and recovered 881 guns. However, between Apr. 1 to Jun. 30, stops went down to 13,934 and 732 guns were recovered. During that three months, violent crimes increased by 3081; from 24,751 to 27,832, respectively. The NYCLU has been attempting to dismantle NY policing tactics. NY Mayor Bloomberg stated, "if the NYCLU is allowed to determine policing strategies in our
city, many more children will grow up fatherless and many more children
will not grow up at all."
NY DNA Databank Expansion: The North County Gazette
reports New York State's DNA Database requires anyone convicted of a Penal Law felony or misdemeanor as of Aug. 1 provide a DNA sample via a sample taken from within the cheek with a swab, as well as allowing DNA comparisons before trial and after a guilty plea. This law is not retroactive, and does not apply to first-time misdemeanor offenders found guilty of low-level marijuana possession. New samples will also be compared to the more than 40,000 samples from unsolved cases in the database. The Forensic Investigation Center in Albany will be able to process 10,000 samples each month without creating a backlog.
International Child Porn Network Uncovered: Denise Lavoie of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
reports agents of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency's Homeland Security Investigations unit in Boston, led by agent Bruce Foucart, have arrested 43 man over the past 2 years, and identified more than 140 young victims. The network and online chats consist of thousands of child pornography images, some displaying rape, as well as conversation, from sexual, to abduction, murder and cannibalism of babies and toddlers. Information has been sent to Interpol.
AZ Inmate Faces Execution: Michael Kiefer of the Republic
reports Daniel Cook will face the death penalty in Arizona on Wednesday. Cook was convicted of torturing, sodomizing, and strangling two co-workers during an alcohol and methamphetamine binge in 1987. His roommate and accomplice, John Matzke, confessed the murders to the police, implicating Cook. Matzke entered a plea deal and received 20 years in prison in exchange providing his testimony against Cook. He was released from prison July 2007.