crime

The Independent
Pimlico stabbing: Murder probe launched after boy, 16, is stabbed to death
Mirror.co.uk
Police were called to the Lupus Street area shortly before 7pm yesterday to reports that a youth had been stabbed. The boy was found by ambulance staff and taken to a south London hospital where he died a few hours later. A murder investigation has now ...
Murder inquiry launched after teenager is brutally stabbed in PimlicoThe Independent
Sword murder of 16-year-old in central London leaves mother 'broken-hearted'Telegraph.co.uk
Pimlico Stabbing: Murder Probe As Boy, 16, Is Killed 'With Swords And Knives'Huffington Post UK
Braintree and Witham Times -Westminster Chronicle
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Hopeful signs to end corruption
Sun-Sentinel
Sen. Don Gaetz, the reform-minded president of the Florida Senate, comes from a Florida Panhandle county called Okaloosa, a county some now call "Scandal-oosa." Consider that in January, the Okaloosa County tax collector resigned after it was ...

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Editorial: Parolees are not the biggest crime threat
Sacramento Bee
As he begins another year of big initiatives, Gov. Jerry Brown can rest assured that "realignment" will go into the history books as a legacy of his second stint as governor. That law reduced state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for ...

24 years later, cases remain unsolved
by Robert A. Waters

On January 29, 1989, Robert F. McRae, 72, and his wife, Katherine, 70, were found murdered in their Graceville, Florida home.  Neighborhood children who decided to visit the couple found two ski masks in the back yard.  Running to a neighbor’s house, they reported the unusual find.  Investigators from the Graceville Police Department soon arrived and found the couple dead.

Katherine had been thumb-cuffed with her hands behind her back.  She and Robert had each been shot once in the back of the head.   According to the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the type of bullet used in the attack was unusual, at least in rural Florida: a 124 grain, 9mm, Israeli T.Z.Z. cartridge. (Not many run-of-the-mill burglars use such a round.)  An Uzi-type firearm had been used.
Robert, a wealthy executive, often carried large sums of cash.  The killers took money from his wallet, as well as Katherine’s diamond ring, but left other valuables behind.  Detectives assured the media that robbery was a secondary motive--execution of the couple seemed to be the driving cause.

On October 15, 1989, two hundred miles to the north, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Acie Worthy, 67, and his wife, Carolyn, 54, met the same fate as the McRaes.  As they returned home from church that Sunday evening, gunmen ambushed the couple in their driveway.  The killers then dragged Acie and Carolyn into the residence and set it on fire. 
Like Robert and Katherine McRae, the Worthy family was wealthy.  They were in the process of building a 10,000 square foot house, and had been living in a rental home.

Acie had fought in World War II, and served as an officer for the Bessemer Veterans of Foreign Wars, while Carolyn was director of the Lakeview Baptist Church choir.  Relatives said she sometimes wore jewelry worth more than $50,000.

The killer stole jewelry and cash from the Alabama couple, but left other valuable items.

The bullets used in the crime were 124 grain, 9mm, Israeli T.Z.Z. cartridges.

Because of this and other evidence, authorities are certain the murders are linked.  Several agencies, including the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation have worked the cases.  Investigators say they’ve eliminated the possibility of “contract” killers.  They believe that more than one person committed the crimes.  Detectives also claim to have unreleased incontrovertible evidence the four murders were committed by the same people.

Police believe the murderers planned the crimes in meticulous detail.  (Four months earlier, an unidentified man dressed in camouflage clothing had been spotted watching the Worthy home with a scope.) 

After 24 years, the cases are still open.  If you know anything about this case, contact SAS Tommy Ford, FDLE, 850-767-3490.

Meanwhile, the families still grieve, and wait for justice.

New York Magazine
Queens Man Learns Bragging About a Crime Will Get You Arrested
New York Magazine
A Queens man arrested for buying a rare money-printing plate stolen during the Korean War did himself no favors by bragging about the purchase. In fact, his eagerness to tout his new collector's item directly resulted in his arrest, The New York Times ...

Daily Free Press (subscription)
REVIEW: Ra Ra Riot, Guards at the Paradise
Daily Free Press (subscription)
I was slightly apprehensive waiting in line to see Ra Ra Riot and Guards at the Paradise Rock Club on Saturday night. Not because I thought the coat check would fill up (it did). Not because I thought I was going to get stuck behind the prodigal ...

'I was asked to murder Palme': weapons expert
The Local.se
A Swedish man claimed on Sunday that the murder of then Prime Minister Olof Palme was a police conspiracy, and that he had turned down a police request to gun down Palme himself back in 1985. Mikael Marcimain: 'I've never made a Palme film' (3 Jan 13) ...

In anger over the recent death of an Internet activist who faced federal charges, hackers claiming to be from the group Anonymous threatened early Saturday to release sensitive information about the U.S. Department of Justice.

Richard Davis says even limited measures on gun violence can prompt extreme reactions from opponents.

Gun ban measures fail to prevent murder of trader in San Juan
Inquirer.net
MANILA, Philippines — In yet another defiance of the gun ban, unidentified hit men shot dead a Chinese-Filipino businessman in plain daylight on Monday in San Juan City, bolstering claims that the ban may not be enough to prevent election-related ...

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Churches asked to help fight crime
Denver Post
Denver's southwestern police district commander hopes to enlist pastors and church members to help stop violence in the neighborhood. District 4 Cmdr. Lisa Fair on Tuesday night will hold the first of several meetings among clergy members, city ...

Three Pensacola murder set to begin this week
Pensacola News Journal
Jury selection for three murder trials is expected to take place today in Escambia County. Testimony in the trial of Jarmain Cook, 26, is set to begin Tuesday in Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh's courtroom. Cook of the 100 block of Warwick Avenue is accused ...

The Guardian
Jailed Yulia Tymoshenko set to face murder charges in Ukraine
The Guardian
The daughter of Yulia Tymoshenko fears that new murder charges expected to be brought against her mother have prompted severe health issues for the former Ukrainian prime minister, who faces the prospect of going to jail for life. Tymoshenko, already ...
Yatseniuk: Claims of Tymoshenko's involvement in Scherban murder ...Kyiv Post

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BBC News
China round-up: Anti-corruption drive
BBC News
Newspapers in China continue a high-profile anti-corruption campaign as officials quash speculation in the Hong Kong press over former regional leader Bo Xilai's corruption trial. The front page of party newspaper People's Daily rings another "alarm ...
Bo Xilai corruption trial not likely until after March, reports sayThe Guardian
Bo's corruption trial delayedThe Australian
Bo Trial 'After Parliament'Radio Free Asia

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abc7.com
Orange County hosts hate crime discussion for residents
abc7.com
The afternoon event held at Friendship Baptist Church in Yorba Linda was the second of three gatherings organized in response to hate crimes against a family who lived in the city. About 100 people gathered at what the Orange County Human Relations ...

U, city follow nat'l lower crime trend
Minnesota Daily
Following a national trend of a drop in crime rates, the University of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis ended 2012 with historic lows in several categories of serious crime. The national downward trend in crime is because of better technology and ...

Police Oracle
Falling Incomes: Corruption Concerns Raised
Police Oracle
The Benchmarking Police Integrity Programmes document, which was published by Transparency International, recommends that chiefs should put in place national standards and provide the tools to identify and weed out corruption. But the researchers said: ...

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