The Crime Ledger: August 27, 2026

This briefing includes the deaths of young children and family annihilations. Victim names below are those officially released.

Daily Breaking True Crime Briefing
As of: Thursday, August 27, 2026, afternoon ET
Scope: Cases with a verified arrest, charge, plea, verdict, official identification, sentencing, or other material legal move from August 25–27. Routine blotter, celebrity-only items, and tabloid-only copy were cut. Lawandcrime.com was reviewed. People.com/crime was not reachable from this desk. The New Yorker had no fresh crime or courts piece in the window.

A Plymouth County jury got the Lindsay Clancy case after Thursday closings, with criminal responsibility the only live fight. In Billings, Yellowstone County named the eight relatives killed at a Sunday dinner and confirmed Alan Smith died of a self-inflicted gunshot after setting the house on fire. Washington County detectives in Oregon said Benjamin Parker killed five people on a Forest Grove property after a domestic fight, then confessed the attack was planned before dying by suicide in Enumclaw. Chippewa Falls closed the four-year Lily Peters homicide with a guilty plea and a life sentence. A Jacksonville Beach jury returned the first conviction in the Jared Bridegan murder-for-hire. In Las Vegas, prosecutors rested against Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the Tupac Shakur murder trial. And Ohio’s parole board recommended commuting Tyrone Noling’s death sentence, leaving the call with Gov. Mike DeWine.

Clancy Closings Go to the Jury

After 21 days of testimony, a Plymouth County jury of nine women and three men heard closing arguments Thursday and began deliberating whether Lindsay Clancy is criminally responsible for strangling her three children. The victims are Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months. Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. She does not dispute that she killed the children in the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023 after sending her husband on errands. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, citing postpartum psychosis.

Testimony ended Wednesday with FBI forensic psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington went first Thursday. He argued Clancy was reaching for help and was overmedicated, and that the mental-health system failed her. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague told jurors there is no dispute Clancy was mentally ill, then asked whether she knew right from wrong when she killed the children. Sprague said Clancy looked up how long the errands would take and that “it was a choice.” Judge William F. Sullivan instructed the jury that each count can come back as first-degree murder by deliberate premeditation or extreme atrocity and cruelty, second-degree murder, manslaughter, not guilty, or not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility. Jurors were sent out in the early afternoon, worked about three and a half hours, and were sent home shortly after 4 p.m. They return Friday morning. Clancy jumped from a second-story window after the killings and was left paralyzed. Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office; trial in Plymouth Superior Court.

The act is conceded. The verdict turns on whether she can be held criminally responsible.

Sources:

• The Boston Globe — Lindsay Clancy trial jury deliberations begin
• NBC Boston — Jury hears closing arguments and gets the case
• CBS Boston — Jury begins deliberations after closing arguments

Eight Relatives Named in Billings

Yellowstone County officials on Wednesday publicly identified the eight relatives killed at a Sunday family dinner west of Billings and confirmed that Alan Smith, 44, died of a self-inflicted gunshot after setting multiple fires in the home. Sheriff Kent O’Donnell named the dead: Evelyn Smith, 92; Dana Smith, 73; Barbara Smith, 72; Megan Ireland-Ghekiere, 39; Owen Ireland, 13; Chloe Ireland, 7; Landon Ghekiere, 15; and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12. Smith is deceased. There is no charging case.

The shooting was Sunday evening, August 23, during a weekly dinner at Dana and Barbara Smith’s home on White Star Circle. O’Donnell said Alan Smith, their son, had previously lived there but was not living there at the time. Relatives told the Associated Press the parents had asked him to move out weeks earlier. A 911 call came in at 6:01 p.m. The first officer arrived at 6:12 p.m. and heard shots from the back of the house before the structure filled with smoke. Smith was found with a self-inflicted gunshot and pronounced dead at a hospital. Investigators were still sifting the burned house Wednesday. Police said they had no prior contact with Smith. Motive has not been officially established. Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office; Billings Police Department.

Four generations, including four children. The name release and timeline are the first complete public record.

Sources:

• Associated Press — Police seek answers after family member kills 8 at Sunday dinner
• Montana Free Press — Authorities release details of Billings shooting that killed 8 family members
• KULR8 — Officials share names and timeline from White Star Circle

Forest Grove Killings Called Premeditated

Washington County detectives say Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, killed his girlfriend, her mother, her grandmother, and two friends after a fight, then told his own mother the attack was planned before dying by suicide in Enumclaw, Washington. The victims are Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, of Forest Grove; Rowan Karla Kimsey, 60, of Forest Grove; Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85, of Portland; Linsey Mae Haraldsen, 26, of Portland; and Alvin Raymond Chu, 27, of Portland. Parker is deceased. There is no charging case.

Lead detective Mark Povolny said Stella Kimsey and Parker had a “horrible fight” Thursday night or early Friday and that Stella told him to leave. Investigators believe Parker killed Stella first, then Rowan when she came to check on her daughter, then Haraldsen when she arrived from Portland, then Mary Kimsey and Chu when they reached the Otis Lane property. Firefighters responding to a fire about 5 a.m. Saturday found remains. Parker called his mother Saturday night, confessed, and said he had been planning the attack. He was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot in a vehicle registered to Rowan Kimsey. Detectives recovered mental-health prescription bottles in Parker’s name and were told he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Pets on the property were also shot. The sheriff’s office does not believe there is an ongoing public threat. Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Three generations of one family and two friends, now on the record with an official sequence and a reported confession.

Sources:

• OPB — Forest Grove killings were premeditated, began as domestic violence, investigators say
• The Oregonian — Oregon mass killer’s rampage premeditated, started with partner, police say
• KATU — Officials provide timeline of murders of 5 people outside Forest Grove

Life Sentence in Lily Peters Killing

Carson Peters-Berger, now 18, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree intentional homicide in the 2022 killing of his 10-year-old cousin, Iliana “Lily” Peters, and was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for extended supervision after 25 years. He was 14 at the time of the offense. First-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under 13 causing great bodily harm were dismissed and read in as part of the plea.

Chippewa County Judge Steven Gibbs accepted the plea August 26 and imposed the life term, crediting time served since Peters-Berger’s 2022 arrest. A November jury trial will not proceed. According to the criminal complaint, Lily was riding her bike home from her aunt’s house in Chippewa Falls on April 24, 2022, when Peters-Berger persuaded her off a trail into the woods; her body was found the next morning. He did not give a statement at sentencing. The court unsealed case records after the hearing. Chippewa County District Attorney’s Office; Chippewa Falls Police Department.

A four-year child-homicide case is now resolved without a trial. The plea, the dismissed counts read in at sentencing, and the unsealing of records are the new public record.

Sources:

• Associated Press — Cousin of 10-year-old Wisconsin girl pleads guilty to her killing and gets life in prison
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — Cousin of Lily Peters pleads guilty for her murder, sentenced to life
• WEAU — Peters-Berger pleads guilty in homicide of Lily Peters, sentenced to life in prison

First Conviction in Bridegan Plot

A Duval County jury convicted Mario Fernandez Saldana of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit a capital felony in the 2022 roadside ambush of Microsoft design manager Jared Bridegan, 33, a father of four. His toddler daughter was in a car seat in the vehicle when he was shot. Fernandez Saldana, 38, faces a mandatory life sentence; sentencing is October 5. Still pending: Shanna Gardner, 39, Bridegan’s ex-wife and Fernandez Saldana’s estranged wife, with jury selection set to begin August 31; and Henry Tenon, the alleged gunman, set for trial in 2027. Unconvicted defendants remain presumed innocent.

Jurors deliberated about three and a half hours on Wednesday. Prosecutors alleged Fernandez Saldana and Gardner arranged for Tenon to shoot Bridegan on February 16, 2022, after a tire was placed in the road to draw him out of his SUV as he left a child-exchange. Tenon’s DNA was reported on the tire rim. Tenon initially pleaded guilty, then withdrew the plea. Bridegan’s widow, Kirsten Bridegan, said after the verdict that “truth won today,” and that justice was “in part” pending the remaining trials. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office; State Attorney’s Office, Fourth Judicial Circuit.

First verdict in a four-year murder-for-hire case built on a custody dispute, with the alleged co-architect and alleged shooter still to be tried.

Sources:

• State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit — Mario Fernandez Saldana found guilty of murdering Jared Bridegan
• Florida Times-Union — Jury convicts Mario Fernandez Saldana in Jared Bridegan killing
• ABC News — Alleged co-architect of fatal ambush of Microsoft manager found guilty

Prosecution Rests in Tupac Trial

Prosecutors rested Wednesday after 25 witnesses in the murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, accused of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by killing of Tupac Shakur. Shakur, 25, was shot September 7, 1996, on a Las Vegas street after a fight at the MGM Grand and died six days later. Marion “Suge” Knight was wounded in the same attack. Davis, 63, is charged with murder. Prosecutors allege he planned the shooting and supplied the gun. He is not accused of firing the shots. He has pleaded not guilty.

After roughly a week and a half of testimony, Clark County District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo and Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal rested August 26. The state’s case included reluctant former associates, a former LAPD detective’s account of a statement by Davis, jailhouse recordings, and video of Davis discussing his memoir Compton Street Legend. Defense attorney Michael Sanft is expected to call a handful of witnesses and aims to finish early next week. The killing went uncharged for nearly 30 years before Davis’s 2023 arrest. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Clark County District Attorney’s Office; trial in Clark County District Court.

One of the country’s longest-open homicide cases is now past the state’s evidence and heading into a defense case that will test whether a 30-year investigation holds up in front of a jury.

Sources:

• CNN — Prosecutors rest their case in Tupac murder trial
• FOX5 Las Vegas — Timeline: key moments as the prosecution rests
• KSNV News 3 — State rests on 8th day of Tupac Shakur murder trial

Ohio Board Recommends Noling Commutation

The Ohio Parole Board recommended Tuesday that Gov. Mike DeWine commute Tyrone Noling’s death sentence to a term that would make him parole-eligible on January 1, 2029. The victims are Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, an elderly couple killed in 1990 in Portage County. Noling was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to death. He has always maintained his innocence. The board’s recommendation is not a finding of innocence and is not a pardon.

After a rare full clemency hearing, five of eight board members recommended commutation with parole eligibility in 2029; one member favored a full pardon; two opposed any relief. The majority cited recanted testimony and alternative suspects who were not investigated, writing that it was not comfortable recommending that the death sentence be carried out. Noling had asked for a full pardon and has said he will not accept commutation to life without parole. The Ohio Innocence Project, which represents him, called the recommendation a step toward recognizing a “gross injustice” and urged a pardon. DeWine, in his final months as governor, can accept the recommendation, grant a different form of clemency, or leave the death sentence in place. Ohio Parole Board; decision now with the Office of the Governor.

A documented innocence claim with recantations now sits on an outgoing governor’s desk. This is a live death-penalty development, not a closed historical case.

Sources:

• NBC News — Gov. Mike DeWine to decide fate of Ohio death row inmate claiming innocence
• Akron Beacon Journal — Parole board recommends commuted sentence for Ohio death row inmate
• Death Penalty Information Center — Ohio Parole Board recommends commutation of death sentence for Tyrone Noling

Also watching

Samuel Bateman, 50, an FLDS offshoot leader already serving 50 years federally for child sex crimes, was sentenced Tuesday in Arizona to an additional 24 years on state child-abuse convictions after three girls, then 11 to 14, were found in an unventilated trailer he was towing near Flagstaff in 2022. Judge Joshua Steinlage ordered the state term to run after the federal sentence. Cult crime, not a homicide card. The Guardian; Associated Press.

Louie Sixto Lopez, 56, of Vancouver, Washington, was convicted August 26 in Alameda County of first-degree murder with a gun enhancement in the December 2022 shooting of Reynaldo Cantu, 40, outside Cantu’s Newark, California, home. Prosecutors called it a vengeance killing after Lopez’s 16-year-old daughter, Danielle Lopez, died on Interstate 680; the defense argued the shooting was not intended as murder. Sentencing exposure reported as 50 years to life. Hoodline (citing The Mercury News).

Bob Johnny Guzman Soto, 33, was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession after his mother, Josefa Soto De Carmen (also reported as Soto DeGuzman), 57, was found dead with head and torso trauma in their Grand Concourse apartment in the Bronx on August 21. NYPD had released lobby video; a tip led to the arrest. Arraignment status was still pending in Wednesday coverage. News 12.

Not cards today: Lil Durk / Durk Banks murder-for-hire trial in Los Angeles (started August 20; no verified mid-window turning point); Caleb Flynn venue fight in Miami County, Ohio (trial set September 17); Karmelo Anthony new-trial motion denied August 24 (outside the window).