Blogs

Artists rendering of Charley Ross

by Michael Thomas Barry

On December 14, 1874, a botched burglary attempt at the home of wealthy New Yorker Holmes Van Brunt leads to the possible perpetrators of notorious child kidnapping. On July 1, 1874, Charley (then four years old) and his older brother Walter Lewis (aged five) were playing in the front yard of their family's home in Germantown, a well-to-do section of Philadelphia. A horse-drawn carriage pulled up and they were approached by two men who offered the boys candy and fireworks if they would take a ride with them.

(CNN) -- American technology pioneer John McAfee said he faked a heart attack while detained in Guatemala to buy time for his attorney to file a series of appeals that ultimately prevented his deportation to Belize, hastening the government's decision to send him back to the United States.

After weeks on the run and days in immigration detention, McAfee arrived in Miami on Wednesday.

He said Belize authorities in April 2011 accused him of running a methamphetamine lab, before the November 11 killing of his neighbor, American businessman Gregory Faull, and have since persecuted him.

"I have absolutely nothing to do with the murder in Belize," he said Thursday. "This is not about a murder in Belize. This began on the 30th of April of last year when 42 armed soldiers stormed my property."

By Andrew Mach, NBC News

A New York Boy Scouts leader was arrested Wednesday after authorities found hundreds of images of pornography on his computer involving children as young as five years old, officials said.

Edward Orenchuk III, of Garden City, N.Y., was charged with three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony and three counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. 

Investigators observed Orenchuk making multiple images of child pornography available for download online during August and September, and they tracked the source of those images to his home, said Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

Clerkenwell Bombing

by Michael Thomas Barry

On December 13, 1867, Irish terrorist, Michael Barrett plants a bomb at Clerkenwell Prison in London in an attempt to free fellow Irish political prisoners. The bombing killed 12 bystanders and severely injured many more. Barrett had positioned the bomb in a wheelbarrow outside the external wall of of the jail in the belief that it would bring down the prison wall and allow the prisoners to escape.

Fox News

NEW YORK –  Police have reportedly detained a suspect in connection with the execution-style murder of a Los Angeles man in broad daylight in New York City.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The acquittal of 13 people accused in the disappearance of a young woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution for "VIP clients" spread shock and outrage across Argentina on Wednesday, prompting street protests and calls by political leaders to impeach the three judges who delivered the verdict.

Many called the ruling a setback for Argentina's efforts to combat sex trafficking, which began largely as a result of Susana Trimarco's one-woman, decade-long quest to find her missing daughter, Maria de los Angeles "Marita" Veron. Her attorneys said she would pursue appeals.

Trimarco's search exposed an underworld of organized crime figures who operate brothels with protection from authorities across Argentina.

Security Minister Nilda Garre called the verdict "a tremendous slap in the face for the prospect of justice."

Nov. 15, 2012 The New York Times

Wal-Mart on Thursday reported that its investigation into violations of a federal antibribery law had extended beyond Mexico to China, India and Brazil, some of the retailer’s most important international markets.

The disclosure, made in a regulatory filing, suggests Wal-Mart has uncovered evidence into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as the fallout continues from a bribery scheme involving the opening of stores in Mexico that was the subject of a New York Times investigation in April.

The announcement underscores the degree to which Wal-Mart recognizes that corruption may have infected its international operations, and reflects a growing alarm among the company’s internal investigators. People with knowledge of the matter described how a relatively routine compliance audit rapidly transformed into a full-blown investigation late last year — involving hundreds of lawyers and three former federal prosecutors — when the company learned that The Times was examining problems with its operations in Mexico.