The Crime Ledger: October 15, 2026

Orlando, Florida: Michelle Parker’s Ex-Fiancé Dale Smith Jr. Charged With Her Murder Nearly 15 Years On

Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr., 55, on Wednesday, Oct. 14, on a charge of second-degree murder in the presumed death of his former fiancée, Michelle Parker, who disappeared on Nov. 17, 2011, Gray News and TV Insider reported. Her remains have never been found. “While Michelle has not yet been located, all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr. as the person responsible for Michelle’s murder,” the Orlando Police Department said.

Smith Jr. made his first court appearance on Thursday, Oct. 15, and a not guilty plea to the second-degree murder charge was filed through his attorney, Rajan Joshi, FOX 35 Orlando and The Associated Press reported. A judge ordered him held without bond pending a detention hearing, which was not immediately scheduled; Joshi told the court he did not believe the state could meet its burden of proof. The arrest warrant and its affidavit were sealed at the request of an Orlando police detective.

Parker, 33, was last seen dropping off their 3-year-old twins at Smith’s Orlando home. Hours earlier, a pretaped episode of “The People’s Court” featuring the couple had aired; he had sued her for $5,000 over a lost engagement ring and she was ordered to pay $2,500. On the show she told Judge Marilyn Milian he was “a mean person, especially when he’s drinking.” Parker never arrived at her bartending job that day, and her car was found the next day in an abandoned parking lot.

Police Chief Eric Smith said Smith Jr. was the last known person to see or hear from Parker and had long been the prime suspect. Detectives “re-examined the testimony, conflicting statements made by the suspect, and used advanced digital forensics” over a renewed year-long push, he said. “This is the happiest day,” Parker’s mother, Yvonne Stewart, told the Orlando Sentinel, adding that she hopes he will reveal where her daughter is. Smith Jr. has denied any involvement and is presumed innocent.

Waterford, Ireland: Man and Woman Arrested Over Waterford Arson That Killed Four

Gardaí arrested a man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the investigation into Tuesday’s arson attack on a house at Birch Avenue in Waterford’s Birchwood estate that killed Kim English, Philip English and their sons, Callum, 12, and Jayden, 9, RTÉ and the Irish Examiner reported. Both were arrested on suspicion of facilitating a criminal organisation under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and are held under anti-gang legislation that allows detention for up to seven days. Neither has been charged, and both are presumed innocent.

The couple’s two other children, a 14-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, were rescued by firefighters and remain in critical condition at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin. Gardaí said post-mortem examinations on the four victims have been completed but the results are being withheld for operational reasons. The house remains a crime scene under examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.

Gardaí are still appealing to anyone who was near Birch Avenue between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and to drivers with dashcam footage from the area, to contact the incident room at Waterford Garda Station.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 13, 2026.

Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia: U.S. Grand Jury Indicts James Bryant Over Tumbler Ridge School Shooting Plot

A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted James Cody Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, Washington, on a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country over the Feb. 10 mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the Vancouver Sun and Yahoo News Canada reported. The charge carries up to life in prison. Bryant is due to be arraigned on Oct. 22.

The indictment alleges Bryant exchanged thousands of Discord messages with shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar in the six months before the attack and in August agreed to record and broadcast the shooting online. It alleges he advised on weapons and the best place to stage the attack, tested the livestream several times, including on the day of the killings, sent money through PayPal to buy a lighter for an improvised explosive device, and discussed ways to hide their communications. Six people were killed at the school. Bryant is presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 7, 2026.

Aubagne, France: Aubagne School Shooter Jailed; Boy, 13, Held in Nord Over TikTok Contact

A 13-year-old boy was detained in France’s Nord department late on Wednesday, Oct. 14, on suspicion of having been in contact via TikTok with the 14-year-old who shot a principal and a teacher at the Joseph-Lakanal collège in Aubagne on Monday, franceinfo, RTL and La Dépêche reported on Thursday, Oct. 15, citing sources close to the case. Investigators want to establish whether he too was influenced by the True Crime Community, an online movement fascinated by mass killings. He has not been charged, and both boys are minors who cannot be named.

The 14-year-old, who hid a hunting rifle in a guitar case and was overpowered by a senior education officer after wounding the two adults, was formally placed under investigation and jailed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday. He has admitted being influenced by the movement. National anti-terrorism prosecutors say searches of his devices revealed numerous accounts on Protonmail, Discord, Snapchat and TikTok.

National anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen told franceinfo the number of cases tied to the movement remains “relatively low” but is “a point of concern because we see it growing.” It is the first time French prosecutors have linked an attack to the movement. Both boys are presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 13, 2026.

Paulsboro, New Jersey: Paulsboro Mother and Stepfather Charged With Murder After Girl, 9, Was “Hit by a Car”

India Miller, 27, and Sean D. Scott, 45, of Paulsboro, New Jersey, have been charged with murder, child endangerment and making a false report in the death of Miller’s 9-year-old daughter, Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew B. Johns announced on Thursday, Oct. 15, NBC10 Philadelphia and RLS Media reported. The girl has not been named.

The couple called 911 at about 1:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to report that she was not breathing. Scott said she had been out walking the family dog and may have been hit by a passing car, and Miller said she heard a sound like screeching tires before Scott found the girl by a shed on their property. She was pronounced dead in hospital that evening. Doctors found facial trauma and bruising all over her body that did not fit a car crash, prosecutors said, and surveillance footage from nearby public buildings showed no vehicles in the area at the time.

According to court documents, the girl’s 4-year-old sibling told investigators their father had struck the 9-year-old in her eyes and face. Detectives also found wet children’s clothing with suspected blood in an upstairs bathtub, and suspected blood on the bathroom tiles, a Swiffer WetJet and other cleaning supplies. Both defendants are presumed innocent.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Husband Charged With Strangling Harrisburg Pediatrician and Setting Her Body on Fire

Jonathan Gatto has been charged with first-degree murder, arson, aggravated arson, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and child endangerment in the death of his wife, Dr. Julia Pederson, 41, a Harrisburg pediatrician, WHP-TV reported on Wednesday, Oct. 14, citing an affidavit. Investigators allege he strangled her and then set her on fire in their Green Street home while their 7-year-old daughter slept. He was arrested at an apartment complex in Carbondale.

Fire officials found the small blaze, confined to a lower-level bedroom, was set deliberately, and blood tests showed Pederson was dead before it began, according to the affidavit. The coroner ruled her death a homicide on Oct. 13.

Gatto told police the marriage was failing and they planned to separate. He said that on Oct. 9 his wife felt unwell from a new medication, that he later heard what sounded like someone falling on the stairs, and that he woke to smoke alarms, got their daughter out and burned his hand reaching into his wife’s room. He is presumed innocent.

Fort Pierce, Florida: Ex-Police Officer Otto Lenke Sentenced to Death for Burning Fort Pierce Bike Shop Owner Alive

Circuit Judge Michael Linn sentenced Otto Lenke to death on Wednesday, Oct. 14, for the 2021 first-degree murder of Richard Benson, owner of Fast Frank’s Custom Cycle Components in Fort Pierce, Florida, CBS12 and WPBF reported. “The court’s independent evaluation of this case herein leads to the conclusion that the death sentence is appropriate and a just sentence,” Linn said. A jury convicted Lenke, a former Melbourne police officer and Indian River County firefighter, of first-degree murder and arson in May. Florida death sentences receive an automatic review by the state Supreme Court.

Prosecutors said Lenke shot Benson inside the shop, then poured denatured alcohol on him and set him on fire while he was still alive, all of it captured on the shop’s security cameras. Assistant State Attorney Brandon White said jealousy was the motive, because Benson had begun dating a woman Lenke once dated, and that Lenke “used his 20-plus years of experience in law enforcement to plan this attack.” White called it “probably one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our circuit.” Benson’s family watched by video from out of state.

Los Angeles: Gene Atkins Sentenced in Silver Lake Trader Joe’s Shootout That Killed Mely Corado

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench on Wednesday, Oct. 14, sentenced Gene Evin Atkins, 36, to prison for life over the July 21, 2018, crime spree that ended in a shootout with LAPD officers outside the Trader Joe’s store in Silver Lake, NBC Los Angeles and City News Service reported. City News Service put the term at more than 200 years to life. Assistant store manager Melyda “Mely” Maricela Corado, 27, was killed by a bullet fired by an LAPD officer during the gunfight.

A first jury in June convicted Atkins of 40 counts, including 24 counts of false imprisonment of hostages, three counts of attempted murder and four counts of assault with a firearm on an officer, but acquitted him of first-degree murder and deadlocked 10 to 2 on second-degree murder. A second jury convicted him of second-degree murder on Aug. 18, finding he personally used and fired a gun. Prosecutors argued he set in motion the chain of events that led to Corado’s death; the defence said her shooting was not a foreseeable result of his actions.

“Whether Gene Atkins is found guilty or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Mely is still dead,” her father, Albert Corado, said after the August verdict.

Prince George’s County, Maryland: Man Indicted in 1993 Killing of Junior Burdynski, 10, in Prince George’s County

A Prince George’s County grand jury has indicted Joseph Lynch, 61, on charges of murder, manslaughter, accessory after the fact, second-degree child abuse and two counts of second-degree sex offense in the 1993 death of 10-year-old George “Junior” Burdynski, State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, WTOP and 7News reported. Junior was last seen riding his bicycle in his Brentwood neighbourhood on May 24, 1993. His remains have never been found.

Police first announced charges against Lynch in September after cold case detectives interviewed a man, then 13 and living nearby, who said he was in a home with Junior and Lynch that day. He told detectives Lynch ordered him to sexually assault the younger boy, that Junior was killed during the assault, and that Lynch helped dispose of the body. The witness, now 47, says Lynch also abused him, and police said he will not be charged.

At the time, police learned of a ring of men targeting boys in Mount Rainier, Brentwood and Hyattsville, and Lynch was among those convicted in 1993, but investigators could not link the ring to Junior’s disappearance. Lynch remains in custody and is presumed innocent.

Baltimore: Man Serving Life for Wife’s Murder Indicted in 1986 Killing of Baltimore Dancer Teresa Houck

A Baltimore grand jury on Friday, Oct. 9, indicted David Alexander Williams, 67, on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree rape and use of a firearm in a crime of violence in the 1986 killing of Teresa Ann Houck, 23, FOX45, citing the Baltimore Sun, and Us Weekly reported on Wednesday, Oct. 14. He was charged in September, and an arrest warrant was served at the Western Correctional Institution, where he is serving a life sentence imposed in July for fatally shooting his wife, Lillian Williams, at their Abingdon home in 2025. He is appealing that conviction.

Houck, a dancer at the Pussycat Club on Baltimore’s “Block,” left work in the early hours of Oct. 22, 1986. Later that morning she was found shot several times in the head, neck and chest, naked from the waist down, in a grassy area of Druid Hill Park, prosecutors said. According to charging documents, Williams denies any involvement. He is presumed innocent of the 1986 charges.

Reading, Massachusetts: Reading Son, 22, Held Without Bail on First-Degree Murder Charge in Mother’s Shooting

Ryan Hanafin, 22, was ordered held without bail on Thursday, Oct. 15, at his arraignment in Woburn District Court on charges of first-degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting death of his mother, Andria Hanafin, 49, Boston.com reported. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he is due back in court on Nov. 10. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office said he also faces 15 counts of improper storage of a large-capacity firearm near a minor and one count of receiving an untraceable firearm, WCVB and NBC Boston reported.

Police received a 911 call at about 12:38 a.m. on Oct. 8 after Andria Hanafin was found shot dead in the family home on Center Avenue. Her husband, Ryan’s father, found her when he got home around midnight and told investigators that she and their son had been arguing about the cats she regularly fostered, according to court documents. Police say Ryan Hanafin fled in a black 2010 Dodge Charger; he was found in Vermont later that day and returned to Massachusetts.

At the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Carrie Spiros called him a “severe flight risk” and alleged that a search of his bedroom turned up 19 firearms and an untraceable “ghost gun” in a safe, and that around the time of the shooting he sent a Snapchat message saying he “blew madre to pieces.” His public defender, Carolyn McGowan, did not seek bail for now. MSPCA-Angell said it took in 84 animals from the home, some with medical needs. Hanafin is presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 9, 2026.

The Bronx, New York: Angel Carrasco Arraigned From Hospital Bed in Bronx Balcony Death of Nathaly Ramirez

Angel Carrasco, 31, was arraigned by video from a hospital bed on Wednesday, Oct. 14, on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault, accused of pushing Nathaly Michelle Ramirez, 23, from a 15th-floor balcony in the Bronx while she held their 8-month-old daughter, ABC7 New York and CBS New York reported. Ramirez was killed. The baby remains in critical condition but is recovering in hospital.

Carrasco, who has been undergoing psychiatric evaluations since his arrest last week, did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody. Judge Cary Fischer issued an order of protection barring him from any contact with his daughter. He is due back in court on Nov. 4.

Police say Carrasco ran from the scene and was found at a home after a close acquaintance alerted authorities. Police sources told CBS New York the couple had a history of domestic incidents, and neighbours reported hearing screams and pleas from Ramirez’s apartment before she fell. He is presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 8, 2026.

Fall City, Washington: Fall City Teen Accused of Shooting Parents and Three Siblings Will Be Tried as an Adult

King County Superior Court Judge Veronica Galván ruled on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that the 17-year-old accused of killing his parents and three siblings at their Fall City, Washington, home in 2024 will be tried in adult court, KOMO and KIRO 7 reported. He was a juvenile at the time and is not being named here. Prosecutors are expected to refile the charges in adult court later this month.

Galván said trying a juvenile as an adult is warranted only in “the most exceptional of circumstances” and found the case meets that bar “due to both the extraordinary nature of the allegations and the respondent’s significant mental health needs.” The allegations include that he shot his family members one by one. “Should a conviction occur, the adult system is better positioned to craft an individualized plan that addresses public safety concerns while meeting the respondent’s long-term therapeutic needs,” she said.

The ruling followed a two-week decline hearing in late September in which experts testified about abuse claims and a child psychiatrist said the teen was in a psychotic state before the killings. He is presumed innocent.

San José, California: San José Parents Charged After Girl, 8, Died of Asthma Attack in Roach-Infested Home

Gabrielle Hanson, 32, and Jacob Randolph, 39, the mother and stepfather of 8-year-old Aurora Williams, have been charged with felony child neglect in her death, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced, the Los Angeles Times and Fox News reported on Oct. 14 and 15. They were arraigned on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and did not enter pleas. Last month the medical examiner classified Aurora’s death as a homicide.

Prosecutors say Aurora suffered an asthma attack on May 13 and fell into serious distress, but her parents waited eight hours before seeking help. She died in hospital four days later. “It was too late,” prosecutors said. They allege the couple knew their San José home was infested with cockroaches, mould and pet waste and had been repeatedly warned by doctors and social workers about the risks to their seven children.

In February 2025, a relative took Aurora to an emergency room with wheezing. A bug fell from her shoe and a cockroach crawled on her, and she told staff, “Oh yeah, bugs just crawl on me.” Staff reported she smelled of cat urine, looked seriously underweight and said she was hungry. Both parents are presumed innocent.

Boston: Farwell Trial: Lead Investigator Admits Interview Was Not Recorded, No Notes Taken

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Matthew Dunne, a lead investigator in the initial inquiry into Sandra Birchmore’s 2021 death, spent more than five hours on the stand on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the federal murder trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, WCVB and WJAR reported. Prosecutors allege Farwell began sexually abusing Birchmore when she was a minor and killed her in February 2021 to hide the relationship, staging her death as a suicide.

Dunne said co-workers at the Sharon elementary school where Birchmore worked told investigators she had talked about her pregnancy and a relationship with a married Stoughton officer, and one named Farwell. After seeing footage of Farwell entering and leaving her apartment building on Feb. 1, 2021, investigators interviewed him in a school parking lot; the interview was not recorded, and Dunne acknowledged a “tactical decision not to take notes because they didn’t want Farwell to lawyer up.” Under questioning he also said a duffle bag the same colour as the strap around Birchmore’s neck was not secured as evidence.

The defence showed jurors portions of Birchmore’s journal highlighting her mental health struggles, and a toxicologist also testified. Farwell is presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 13, 2026.

Fort Hood, Texas: Trump Calls Off Livestream of Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan’s Firing Squad Execution

President Donald Trump said on Thursday, Oct. 15, that the Pentagon will no longer livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, after bipartisan criticism and Vice President JD Vance’s statement that he would not watch it, according to The Associated Press. The Pentagon has said the execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. Trump said victims’ immediate families may watch in person “if they so choose.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced earlier this month that the execution would be public, and the Pentagon confirmed it would be livestreamed, prompting objections from both parties, many warning the images could be used to fuel radicalisation. In his post, Trump said airing it “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” but that “any very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, opened fire on Nov. 5, 2009, in a Fort Hood medical building where soldiers were lined up for immunizations and deployment clearance, and shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing to the parking lot. He was tried in 2013. Shot in the back by law enforcement during the attack, he is paralysed from the waist down. “I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance said.

Cranford, New Jersey: Grand Jury Indicts Garwood Teen in Deaths of Two Cranford Girls on E-Bike

A Union County grand jury has indicted Vincent Battiloro, 18, of Garwood, New Jersey, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cranford High School students Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, both 17, RLS Media reported on Thursday, Oct. 15. The indictment allows the case to proceed in Superior Court.

The girls were riding an electric bicycle on Burnside Avenue in Cranford on Sept. 29, 2025, when they were struck by a vehicle; both were pronounced dead in hospital. Prosecutors allege Battiloro deliberately drove into them and then left the scene. He was 17 at the time and was charged and later ordered to face prosecution as an adult, which allows him to be named. He is presumed innocent.

Brantford, Ontario: Elfgard Oughtred Sentenced on Her 82nd Birthday for Hammer Murder of Husband

Justice Aubrey Hilliard sentenced Elfgard Oughtred to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years on Wednesday, Oct. 14, her 82nd birthday, for the second-degree murder of her husband, Gordon Oughtred, 81, in 2022, CTV News, The Hamilton Spectator and the Brantford Expositor reported. A jury convicted her in April. Ten years is the minimum, and Hilliard said she weighed her age, poor health, lack of a record and a Charter breach while she was in custody. “I can’t assume Ms. Oughtred will live to see the day she becomes eligible,” Hilliard said.

Gordon, her husband of 30 years, was struck from behind with a blunt object believed to be a hammer while eating breakfast at the kitchen table of their Brant County farmhouse, the judge said. The weapon was never found. Oughtred had always maintained her innocence.

In a statement read in court, her son, Ricky Huellemann, said he and his sister could not believe “that our mother is a cold-blooded killer that committed the crime and then proceeded to the casino in Brantford as if nothing had happened.” Oughtred is barred from contacting her children and her late husband’s family.

Chatham, England: Musa Salih Guilty of Murdering Housemate Harley Purdue After Basement Robbery Plot

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, found Musa Salih, 19, of Launceston Road, Greenford, guilty of murdering his housemate Harley Purdue, 19, at their house share on Thorold Road in Chatham, Kent, at about 3 a.m. on Dec. 2, KentOnline and London Now reported. The majority verdict came after a six-week trial. He was cleared of attempted wounding and will be sentenced on Nov. 4 by Judge Oliver Saxby KC.

Prosecutors said Salih lured Purdue into the communal basement and locked him in a toilet so he could steal money from his room. When Purdue resisted, Salih stabbed him eight times with a blue-handled knife. Purdue’s girlfriend intervened, and Salih tried to injure her before fleeing; he was arrested in Lewisham later that day. Kent Police said a review of his phone showed he had asked an AI app for legal advice and updates about the incident.

Salih admitted the stabbing but claimed self-defence, telling jurors Purdue had called him a “dead man” and came at him from the kitchen. “Salih’s plan to steal Mr Purdue’s money in the middle of the night, whilst armed with a knife, resulted in the death of a young man,” said Detective Sergeant Alastair Worton.

Edinburgh: Serving Police Officer Convicted of Raping Teenage Girl and Woman in Shetland

Carmichael John Williamson, 32, a serving Police Scotland officer from Burra, Shetland, was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, Oct. 15, of four charges including three of rape, BBC News and The Herald reported. Jurors found he had sexual activity with a girl under 16 in 2014 and raped her between 2014 and 2015, when he was a special constable, and raped a second woman in 2020 and 2022, when she was intoxicated and unable to consent. He had denied the offences. Five other charges were dropped before closing speeches.

Williamson cried in the dock when told he would be remanded in custody and said “I love you” to his partner as he was led away. Judge John Morris KC called it an “anxious and distressing” trial. Sentencing is set for Dec. 8.

Police received the first report in December 2023, and Williamson was arrested, charged and suspended on Jan. 10, 2024. “Our thoughts are very much with the victims in this case, and I wholeheartedly commend their strength,” said Detective Superintendent Stevie Bertram.

Kharkiv, Ukraine: Russian Soldier Detained in Kharkiv Over Killing of Five Ukrainian Servicemen

Ukrainian police detained a 36-year-old Russian serviceman in Kharkiv on Wednesday, Oct. 14, on suspicion of killing five Ukrainian soldiers and a local man who had been fishing, Ukrinform and The Insider reported, citing police and the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors say that on Oct. 13 an armed man entered the village of Momotove in Kharkiv region, broke into a private house where soldiers of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade were temporarily quartered, and opened fire, killing all five. He then dumped his assault rifle and headed through a tree belt toward Kharkiv.

The suspect is from St. Petersburg and serves in the second battalion of Russia’s 1009th Motorized Rifle Regiment, prosecutors said, and the SBU security service said he had a prior criminal conviction in Russia. The Insider reported that the regiment has included inmates recruited from Russian prison colonies.

“The perpetrator was armed, so our main objective was to apprehend him as quickly as possible and prevent further casualties,” said National Police Chief Ivan Vyhivskyi, who said units searched dozens of square kilometres in less than a day. He has not been named and is presumed innocent.

Baniyas, Syria: Syria Arrests Ali Kayali, Alleged “Butcher of Baniyas,” Over 2013 Massacres

Syria’s General Intelligence Service arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, as he tried to flee across the border, the state news agency SANA reported on Thursday, Oct. 15, Al Jazeera and Asharq Al-Awsat reported. SANA did not say where he was caught. Kayali has long been accused of a leading role in the 2013 killings of mostly Sunni civilians in the villages of Bayda and Ras al-Nabaa near Baniyas, when he commanded an armed group loyal to Bashar al-Assad.

At least 264 civilians, including 36 children and 28 women, were killed in Bayda, and 195 people, including 56 children, in Ras al-Nabaa, according to figures cited by Al Jazeera. Born in 1956 in Turkey’s Hatay province, Ural was jailed several times in Turkey as a member of a far-left party before fleeing to Syria in the early 1980s, where he was granted citizenship and later led a group called the Syrian Resistance, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. He has not been tried.

Rome: Rome Appeals Court Upholds Life Sentence for Giandavide De Pau in Prati Triple Murder

Rome’s Court of Assizes of Appeal on Thursday, Oct. 15, upheld the life sentence of Giandavide De Pau for the murders of three women in the city’s Prati district on Nov. 17, 2022, RomaToday and Rai News reported. He stabbed two Chinese women, Yang Yun Xia, 45, and Li Yan Rong, 55, to death in a first-floor apartment on Via Riboty, then killed Marta Castano Torres, 65, a Colombian woman, in a basement on Via Durazzo, within a few hours.

The judges confirmed the first-instance verdict of Nov. 20, 2025, which followed a psychiatric assessment that found him fully able to understand and intend his actions at the time. “We are facing a serial killer,” the prosecutor general told the court. “The defendant had announced he wanted to carry out a sensational act; he left home with a knife to carry out that carnage. The whole action was planned.”

De Pau, who once worked as a driver for crime boss Michele Senese and has numerous prior convictions, appeared in court for the first time and is held in Rome’s Rebibbia prison.

Forlì, Italy: Trial Opens for Forlì Ambulance Driver Accused of Killing Patient With Air Injection

The trial of Luca Spada, 28, a former Red Cross ambulance driver from Meldola, opened before the Court of Assizes in Forlì, Italy, on Thursday, Oct. 15, Corriere di Bologna and ANSA reported. He is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Deanna Mambelli, 85, who died on Nov. 25, 2025, during a non-urgent transfer from Forlì hospital to a private rehabilitation clinic after surgery, with Spada beside her in the ambulance. He is suspected in five other deaths of elderly patients but is on trial only for hers.

Prosecutors allege he injected air into her vein, causing a massive air embolism; the autopsy report citing gas embolism is among their key evidence. The defence was expected to challenge wiretaps and the autopsy at the opening hearing. “We are facing, in the prosecution’s hypothesis, a serial pattern of killings,” said Max Starni, a lawyer for Mambelli’s four children, who attended. “It hurts too much, we have nothing to say to him,” her son told Corriere di Bologna. Dozens of journalists, some from abroad, filled the small courtroom. Spada is presumed innocent.

Hong Kong: Abby Choi Murder Trial: Partner Says Ex-Father-in-Law Called Her a “Birthing Machine”

Chris Tam Fong-chun, partner of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi, 28, testified at the High Court this week that her former father-in-law, Kwong Kau, lunged at her during an argument in mid-2022 and called her a “birthing machine,” The Straits Times and The Standard reported on Oct. 14 and 15. Kwong Kau and his sons, Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi and his brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, are on trial for her murder and for preventing her lawful burial. Choi was found dismembered in Tai Po after she vanished on Feb. 21, 2023.

Tam said the quarrel, which began when her former mother-in-law, Jenny Li Sui-heung, told her son to keep away from his feverish eldest daughter, was a “watershed moment” in Choi’s relationship with the family. On the 16th day of the trial, he told the court he and Choi made spicy crab dinner plans by WhatsApp around 2 p.m. on the day she disappeared, and that she said she needed to tell him something about her former brother-in-law. Her messages then went undelivered, apart from a few minutes after 4 p.m., when her phone’s last location showed in Tai Po. All the accused are presumed innocent.

Yong Peng, Malaysia: Classmate, 16, Charged With Murder of Irene Sofiya in Yong Peng School Hall

A 16-year-old Form Four student was charged in the Batu Pahat Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, with the murder of his classmate Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, 16, Malay Mail and CNA reported. The charge alleges he killed her in the Dewan Sri Tanjung hall at SMK Dato’ Seth in Yong Peng between 2:30 and 4 p.m. on Oct. 3. He cannot be named because he is a minor, and no plea was recorded because murder cases are heard by the High Court.

Irene was found unconscious and covered in blood in the school hall by her grandmother, who had gone to the school after she failed to come home by 5:30 p.m. Three 16-year-old boys were arrested earlier. Murder carries death or 30 to 40 years in prison and caning in Malaysia, but those under 18 at the time of an offence cannot be sentenced to death. The accused is presumed innocent.

This case continues from The Crime Ledger: October 13, 2026.

Gurun, Malaysia: Fourteen, Including Two Minors, Charged With Murdering Teenager in Gurun, Kedah

Fourteen people, 12 adults aged 18 to 24 and two minors aged 16 and 17, were jointly charged in a Malaysian magistrate’s court on Thursday, Oct. 15, with murdering Haikal Shahrilnizam, 19, at a house on Jalan Sungai Petani in Gurun, Kedah, between 9 p.m. on Oct. 5 and 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 8, Free Malaysia Today reported. The minors cannot be named.

The adult accused are Yusman Hakimi Yusmezal, 24; Syafiq Afif Syarafuddin Abd Ghapar, 23; Ahmad Izzul Irfan Ridduan, Zulfaqar Zulkarnain Khairol Fais, Aiman Riduwan Abdullah, Ahmad Aiman Danial Ahmad Wizam and Muqkriz Azizan, all 21; Adam Haris Rosdan, 21; Asyraaf Zaidi, 20; Rhahimy Abdul Rashid and Adam Iqbal Wazir, both 19; and Azrul Rahimi Yusri, 18. No pleas were recorded because murder is tried in the High Court, and all 14 were denied bail. The case returns for mention on Dec. 23. Murder carries death or 30 to 40 years in prison and whipping. All are presumed innocent.

Brisbane: Teen Formally Indicted for Murder of Former Universal CEO Greg Josephson in Brisbane

Prosecutors presented a formal indictment for murder in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, against a 16-year-old accused of stabbing former Universal CEO Greg Josephson, 58, at his Clayfield home, 7NEWS reported, citing The Courier-Mail. The boy was 15 at the time and cannot be named. He did not attend, no plea was entered, and he remains in custody ahead of a review on Nov. 26.

Police were called to a party at the property at about 8:15 p.m. on June 26, 2025, where more than 30 teenagers were partying downstairs, apparently unaware that Josephson’s body was in the house. Police allege the teen, who knew Josephson, stabbed him. CCTV captured him moving bins behind a café in Ascot at about 8 p.m., and he was arrested soon after. Police said at the time that the alleged weapon had been found and that no one else was believed to be involved. He is presumed innocent.

Alpurrurulam, Northern Territory: Man, 26, Charged With Murder of Girl, 16, in Remote NT Community of Alpurrurulam

Ashton Chungaloo, 26, was charged with murder late on Wednesday, Oct. 14, over the death of a 16-year-old girl in the remote Northern Territory community of Alpurrurulam, near the Queensland border, ABC News and National Indigenous Times reported. Police allege he was in a domestic relationship with the girl. He did not appear in Darwin Local Court on Thursday and did not seek bail; at his lawyer’s request, the case was moved to Alice Springs, where he is due on Dec. 10.

The local clinic reported at about 5:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, that a girl had died there. She had come to the clinic herself and went into cardiac arrest, and staff noticed a number of injuries on her body, NT Police Acting Commander Mark Grieve said. Police believe she was from Mount Isa but moved between there and the community. Alpurrurulam has had no permanent police station since 2018; the nearest officers are at Avon Downs, about 170 kilometres away. Chungaloo is presumed innocent.

Katlehong, South Africa: Man Charged With Killing Four ANCYL Supporters Returning From Katlehong Memorial

Fani John Sibeko, 46, appeared in the Palmridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, on four counts of murder and three of attempted murder, as well as discharging a firearm in a public place and failing to safeguard a firearm, over a shooting in Katlehong North on Oct. 13, IOL reported. He remains in custody.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, a group of ANC Youth League supporters was walking and chanting on the way back from a memorial service for the late councillor Jeanese Magugu at Mogobeng Primary School when shots were heard behind them. A man driving a vehicle allegedly approached, fired into the air and then opened fire on the crowd. NPA spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole named the dead as Nqobile Faneli, 23, Njabulo Ngcongo, 23, Zanga Bingwa, 21, and Yonwaba Tunce, 27. Three others were wounded. Sibeko is presumed innocent.

Umhlali, South Africa: Boy, 16, Charged With Attempted Murder After Six-Year-Old Stabbed in Umhlali Classroom

A 16-year-old boy appeared in the Child Justice Court at KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, Oct. 14, charged with attempted murder, housebreaking and trespassing after a six-year-old girl was stabbed inside a classroom in Umhlali, north of Durban, IOL reported. He cannot be named because he is a minor. The case was postponed to Friday, Oct. 16, for a bail application, which the state will oppose, said NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara. He remains at a youth facility.

Police allege that on Tuesday morning, Oct. 13, the teen entered the classroom, locked the teacher and pupils inside and stabbed the girl when they tried to flee. He was arrested at the scene. Police said he already faces an intimidation charge. The girl was taken to hospital in critical condition, but after surgery she is recovering well and expected to make a full recovery, said Samantha Meyrick of IPSS Medical Rescue. The boy is presumed innocent.

Calabozo, Venezuela: Man Accused of Hiring Hitman to Kill Peruvian Candidate “China Polo” Arrested in Venezuela

Venezuelan police arrested Adrián Solís Ruíz in Calabozo, Guárico state, on Oct. 9, accused of hiring the gunman who killed journalist Susy Isabel Aponte Polo, known as “China Polo,” a candidate for governor of Peru’s Áncash region, Macronorte and Demócrata reported on Thursday, Oct. 15, citing Interpol Peru. The alleged hitman, Luis Obispo Díaz, told investigators Solís paid him 15,000 soles (about 3,900 euros). Prosecutors say Solís also arranged transport for the group that travelled to Caraz, where Aponte was killed on Sept. 19.

Solís fled to Venezuela with his partner, Alexandra Toro, after the killing. Days later, the family was in a road crash in Portuguesa state that killed Toro and their 2-year-old daughter; Solís escaped from the hospital where he was taken. Venezuelan law bars his extradition, so he will be prosecuted in Venezuela, while Peruvian police seek to question him about who ordered the killing. A fourth suspect, also Venezuelan, is still at large. Solís is presumed innocent.

Curitiba, Brazil: Ex-Police Officer Gets 57 Years for Shooting Ex-Wife in Front of Their Children in Curitiba

A jury in Curitiba, Brazil, convicted former civil police officer Jaminus Quedaros de Aquino of qualified homicide, including the aggravating factor of femicide, and he was sentenced to 57 years and one month in prison early on Thursday, Oct. 15, for killing his ex-wife, Suellen Helena Rodrigues, 29, G1 and Band reported. The trial began on Tuesday. In 2025 he was sentenced to 35 years for torturing their children, bringing his combined sentences to 92 years and one month.

Rodrigues was shot dead on Oct. 31, 2022, in Curitiba’s Uberaba neighbourhood as she dropped off their two children, aged 10 and 7, at school; the killing was caught on security cameras. She had moved to the city from Prudentópolis to escape his violence and had a protective order. He fled and turned himself in four days later and has been jailed since.

Jackson William Bahls, the family’s lawyer, called the sentence a “fair retribution for the cruelty and cowardice of this crime.” G1 said it had contacted the defence.

Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil: Pregnant Woman Found Burned in Rural Espírito Santo; Ex-Husband and His Fiancée Arrested

Police in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil, arrested Diego Marques Alves and his current fiancée on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 14, after the burned body of his ex-wife, Juliana Paulo Pinto, 29, who was about four months pregnant, was found in the rural district of Monte Líbano, Folha Vitória and Vila Notícias reported. Folha Vitória reported they were arrested for concealing a corpse; police are investigating their involvement in her death.

Juliana disappeared in the early hours of Monday, Oct. 12, after going out to talk with Alves, with whom she has an 11-year-old son. She had a protective order against him and had reported him for domestic violence. Her son walked her to the gate and told her to be careful, then she got into Alves’s car, Vila Notícias reported. When she did not return, the boy and her current husband began calling her, and her husband reported her missing.

Searchers found one of her sandals, which led them to the body, and municipal and petrol station cameras showed a car attributed to Alves heading toward the rural area, said police chief Felipe Vivas. “It was a great cruelty they did to my daughter,” said her father, Aguinaldo Augusto Pinto. Both suspects are presumed innocent.

Tocoa, Honduras: Teenager Sentenced to Six Years for Murder of Honduran TikToker “Katy Mazorca”

A court in Tocoa, Honduras, has sentenced a teenage girl to six years in prison for her role in the killing of TikTok creator Katherin Carmiel Mejía Argueta, known as “Katy Mazorca,” El Heraldo and HCH reported on Wednesday, Oct. 14, citing the Public Ministry. The girl, a minor who cannot be named, was convicted of aggravated illegal deprivation of liberty, murder, criminal association and violent robbery after accepting the charges, with her father’s consent, at a closed hearing.

Mejía’s family reported her missing on the night of Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Her body was later found on an African palm plantation near the site of the San Isidro hospital under construction. HCH reported that investigators believe she was lured to a meeting by one of the accused under the pretext of an inauguration. Two adults remain in pretrial detention over the killing as their case continues; they are presumed innocent.

Podgorica, Montenegro: Montenegro Indicts Vehid Murić for Stabbing Three Housemates to Death in Podgorica

The Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, Montenegro, filed an indictment on Wednesday, Oct. 14, charging Vehid Murić with aggravated murder in the April 20 killings of Nezrim Hot and Denis Hot of Rožaje and Kenan Miraljemović of Novi Pazar in the Stari Aerodrom neighbourhood, Vijesti reported on Oct. 15. The three construction workers shared a rented apartment on Zmaj Jovina Street with Murić, who had occasionally stayed with them.

According to the indictment, Murić used a kitchen knife to inflict multiple stab wounds on all three, killing them. Prosecutors charge that he acted “in a cruel manner, whereby the injured parties suffered severe physical pain and mental anguish during the infliction of injuries, until their death.” The indictment has been sent to the Higher Court in Podgorica for confirmation. Murić is presumed innocent.

Daegu, South Korea: Daegu Man Gets 45 Years for Beating Mother-in-Law to Death and Dumping Body in Suitcase

The Daegu District Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, sentenced Cho Jae-bok, 26, to 45 years in prison for beating his 54-year-old mother-in-law to death over about 10 hours on March 17 in a studio-type officetel unit in Daegu’s Jung District, then putting her body in a suitcase and dumping it beside a stream, Korea JoongAng Daily and Seoul Economic Daily reported. Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment. He was convicted of murder of a lineal ascendant.

Investigators found he struck her with a blunt object and with his hands and feet, and that she died of multiple injuries. The court said he had brought her to live with him to exploit her financially rather than support her, and cited his repeated abuse. “Killing a lineal ascendant violates the right to life, an absolute value stipulated in the Constitution, and can never be tolerated under any circumstances,” the court said, adding that he had shown no remorse, “including exchanging messages with another woman” after her death.

Changwon, South Korea: Uzbek Man Jailed 17 Years for Changwon Taxi Murder Wins Retrial Over Deceptive Confession

The Changwon District Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, granted a retrial to Bozorov Akmal, a 37-year-old Uzbek national who has served about 17 years of a life sentence for the 2009 robbery and killing of a taxi driver, finding police obtained his confession through deception, Seoul Economic Daily reported. The court also suspended his sentence, so he will be released before the retrial. The ruling came 16 years, six months and one day after the Supreme Court finalised the life sentence on April 15, 2010.

A taxi driver in his 50s was found dead in his cab in an alley in Myeongseo-dong, Uichang-gu, on March 24, 2009. In July that year, police arrested Akmal, then 19 and in South Korea as an international student, and two others over a taxi robbery, and named him as the main offender in the March killing. He denied the crime but confessed after two rounds of questioning. He is presumed innocent pending the retrial.

Sarlahi, Nepal: Convicted Killer of Nepal Supreme Court Justice Ran Bahadur Bam Caught After Jailbreak

Nepal police arrested Babu Thapa, 48, at his home in Bagmati Municipality, Sarlahi, on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, more than a year after he escaped from prison while serving a life sentence for the 2012 murder of Supreme Court Justice Ran Bahadur Bam, OnlineKhabar and Ratopati reported. Police recovered two pistols, three magazines and 15 rounds of ammunition and said he will face illegal arms charges at the Sarlahi District Court.

Thapa broke out of the Central Jail in Sundhara, Kathmandu, on Sept. 9, 2025, during the Gen Z protests. Police said he had since hidden in various places in Nepal and India, disguising himself and using other people’s phones, and were tipped off that he had returned home. He was first arrested in 2014 after a manhunt of two years and seven months.

Ulhasnagar, India: Three Held After Ulhasnagar Activist Harish Gajwani Shot Dead Near Railway Station

Vitthalwadi police in Maharashtra arrested three men, including the alleged main accused, within hours of the killing of social activist Harish Gajwani, 50, near Ulhasnagar railway station on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, the Free Press Journal reported. A court remanded Avinash Naidu, Noor Alam Khan and Vijay Pooran Singh, alias Lefty, in police custody for 10 days. A case has been registered for murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act.

Police said the attack happened at about 8:30 p.m. in the Camp 4 area; Gajwani was shot twice in the head and died, and the Free Press Journal reported he was first attacked with a sharp weapon. Preliminary investigations point to an old rivalry, police told Rediff and the Free Press Journal. Deputy Commissioner Sachin Gore said the suspects were identified through a confidential tip-off and technical investigation, and police are now examining the alleged conspiracy, the weapon and each man’s role. They are presumed innocent.

Rajkot, India: Nine Arrested Within 12 Hours After Rajkot Gold Courier Shot Dead in Robbery

Rajkot City Crime Branch arrested nine men in Rajasthan and recovered the full Rs 1.53 crore haul of gold and silver within 12 hours of the robbery and killing of Lalji Sardhara, 53, the New Indian Express and Gujarat Samachar reported on Thursday, Oct. 15. Sardhara, a longtime employee of Tanvi Gold, was carrying gold and silver ornaments on a scooter outside the company’s refinery unit in the Aji GIDC area at about 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, when robbers intercepted him and shot him in the chest when he resisted. He died after being rushed to a private hospital.

Police say the nine include the four men who carried out the attack and others who helped, and that the investigation points to inside knowledge from the company. The gang was tracked across state lines with CCTV from exit routes in a joint operation with Rajasthan Police. All are presumed innocent.

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