The Crime Ledger: October 30, 2026

Melbourne, Australia: Erin Patterson Loses Her Appeal and Is Resentenced to Life Without Parole for the Death Cap Mushroom Murders

Location: Supreme Court of Victoria, Court of Appeal, Melbourne, Victoria (the July 2023 lunch was at her home in Leongatha)

Legal status: Convicted in 2025 of three murders and one attempted murder; appeal against conviction dismissed Oct. 30, 2026; prosecution appeal allowed and the 33-year non-parole period set aside, leaving a life sentence without parole. She may seek special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.

Victoria’s Court of Appeal on Friday, Oct. 30, dismissed Erin Patterson’s appeal against her convictions for murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives with a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, and upheld the prosecution’s appeal against her sentence. The 33-year non-parole period imposed in September 2025 was set aside. Patterson, who had been eligible for release in 2056 at age 82, will now never be eligible for parole.

The ruling. Justice Stephen McLeish delivered the decision on behalf of himself, Justice Lesley Taylor and Justice Peter Kidd. “This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated and stands to be denounced in the strongest terms,” he said, according to CBS News. “In all the circumstances after anxious consideration, we have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.” He said her intent to murder all four guests was sustained for almost three weeks from the day she invited them, and that the crimes were marked by “an elaborate series of deceptions,” including a false cancer diagnosis used to explain why her two children would not be at the lunch, the destruction of evidence, her denials of foraging and her shifting claims about where the mushrooms came from. “The offending was carefully planned and deliberate. It represented a cruel breach of trust,” he said.

The lunch. On July 29, 2023, Patterson served individual beef Wellingtons at her home in Leongatha, in Gippsland, to her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor. Don, Gail and Heather died within days. Ian Wilkinson survived after weeks in hospital. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, had been invited but declined the day before; he later testified at a pretrial hearing that he stayed away out of fear. Patterson told her jury that the death caps went into the dish by accident. In September 2025 Justice Christopher Beale gave her three life sentences for murder and 25 years for the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, with a minimum of 33 years, citing in part the harsh conditions she faces in custody.

Her grounds. Patterson’s lawyers raised seven grounds alleging a miscarriage of justice, ABC News reported. The court granted leave to appeal on two and dismissed the other five outright, including complaints about the lead prosecutor’s questioning. The first ground concerned the jury being accommodated in the same hotel as a police witness; McLeish said there was no possibility the jury would not have reached a correct decision as a result. The second challenged the use of her mobile phone data; the court ruled that evidence was admissible. Both grounds failed.

The Crown’s appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions had argued the sentence was “manifestly inadequate,” that the trial judge erred in giving weight to her prison conditions because Corrections Victoria reviews them monthly, and that she remained remorseless. Her lawyers had told the court she spends 22 to 24 hours a day alone in the maximum-security Gordon Unit of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, receives food through a trap door and may communicate with only one other prisoner. Prosecutors replied that her notoriety would fade and that she has access to a library and a chaplain.

In court. Patterson chose not to attend and watched by video link from the prison, appearing impassive and at times closing her eyes, ABC reporters in the courtroom said. There was an audible intake of breath when the non-parole period was removed. Homicide Squad detectives and members of the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families were in the room, and prosecutors and investigators were seen smiling outside.

What remains. CBS News reported that Patterson is only the second woman in Australia sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, after Katherine Knight in New South Wales in 2001. Her last avenue is to seek special leave from the High Court of Australia, a bar legal experts told the ABC is very high, or to rely on 2019 reforms allowing a second appeal on fresh and compelling evidence. Ian Wilkinson told the trial: “I only feel half alive without her.”

Sources

• Mushroom killer Erin Patterson loses appeal, has harsher sentence imposed, as it happened, ABC News (Australia), Oct. 30, 2026
• Woman convicted of mushroom poison murders in Australia ordered to never be released from prison, CBS News, Oct. 30, 2026
• Australian court rejects ‘mushroom murderer’ Erin Patterson’s appeal, Al Jazeera, Oct. 30, 2026
• Australian court orders Erin Patterson never to be released from prison for mushroom poisonings, NBC News, Oct. 30, 2026

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Man Who Buried Penni Whiteside in Her Grandfather’s Hope Chest Under a Fire Pit Gets Life Without Parole

Location: 600 block of First Avenue South, Myrtle Beach, Horry County, South Carolina

Legal status: Convicted of murder by a Horry County jury on Oct. 29 and sentenced the same day to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Horry County jury on Thursday, Oct. 29, convicted Sheridan Fogle of murder in the death of his girlfriend, Penni Whiteside, whose remains were found in June 2024 folded into a wooden chest buried beneath a fire pit behind the Myrtle Beach apartment the couple shared. Jurors deliberated for less than an hour, WPDE and WMBF reported. Circuit Judge G.D. Morgan Jr. sentenced Fogle to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A missing person case for two years. Whiteside’s brother called Myrtle Beach police on May 10, 2022, to say that friends and family had not heard from her since Jan. 3 of that year, according to a police report cited by WMBF. Police opened an investigation the next day. For two years the case was handled as a disappearance. Officers who interviewed Fogle in June and December 2022 testified that he was not a suspect at the time and was not read his rights. In the body camera footage played for jurors, Fogle told officers he had messaged Whiteside on three of her Facebook profiles, gave them two of her phone numbers and said he last saw her on April 19, 2022, when she came to collect her things with a man in a red Ford SUV. He also pointed officers to a Facebook post in which, he said, she wrote about faking her own death and moving to Mexico. Prosecutors told the court they believe Whiteside died between March 16 and April 7, 2022.

The neighbor and the fire pit. Susan Barnes, who lived in the same five-unit complex, testified that the couple were always seen together “until we didn’t see Penni anymore,” and that Fogle told her Whiteside “got in a man’s car and left.” After a conversation with a woman then living with Fogle, whom Barnes described as fearful, Barnes photographed the backyard. Her photos, admitted into evidence, showed a woodpile she said had not always been there and a shovel leaning against the shed with what she called “a piece of a blouse” on it. According to an arrest warrant cited by WMBF, Fogle mentioned burying something in the backyard to neighbors and became territorial when people approached the fire pit.

The dig. Police obtained a search warrant on June 12, 2024, for the property on the 600 block of First Avenue South. Crime scene investigator Lindsay Snell testified that the soil was very loose and that her foot went through what turned out to be a wooden box. Inside were partially decomposed human remains bearing a distinctive tattoo that matched Whiteside’s. Assistant Solicitor Jonathan Rogers told jurors in his opening that the box was Whiteside’s hope chest, built by her grandfather, which she had carried with her from Virginia to South Carolina. Forensic pathologist Dr. Susan Presnell of MUSC Charleston ruled the death a homicide and testified that Whiteside was found face down with one arm twisted beneath her; the prosecution said she had been “folded in half” to fit the chest. In closing, the state told jurors that the medical evidence showed Fogle strangled her for about four minutes, WPDE reported.

The interviews. After his arrest in Orangeburg, Fogle first asked a detective whether Whiteside was “okay” and said “I didn’t do nothing.” In a later interview at the Myrtle Beach jail he said for the first time that she “came at him” with a knife. “I grabbed her by the throat, she hit the floor,” he said, adding that he got high, put her in the box, kept it in the house for about two days and that the burial took about three days. Asked why he had texted Whiteside weeks after burying her, he said, “That was for the cover-up.”

The defense. Fogle was the only defense witness. Attorney Elizabeth Tilley argued self-defense. Fogle testified that Whiteside attacked him with a knife during an argument over money for a drug deal, that he “blacked out” as she died and that he lied to police afterward. Judge Morgan allowed jurors to hear about a domestic violence charge to which Fogle pleaded no contest in early 2022; Whiteside was the victim in that case. On Thursday the judge denied a defense motion for a mistrial over redacted material shown in the prosecution’s closing.

Sentencing. Whiteside’s son, Hunter Smith, said he had spent more than four years trying to come to terms with her death. “Every little thing that happens in your life, you want to call your mom and tell her, and you can’t,” he said. Fogle’s wife asked the court to give him access to mental health treatment, and the defense cited violent abuse in his early life. Judge Morgan said that hiding the body under the fire pit weighed heavily in his sentence.

Sources

• Myrtle Beach man gets life for murder of girlfriend found buried under fire pit, WMBF News, Oct. 29, 2026
• Sheridan Fogle testifies in his own defense during third day of murder trial, WMBF News, Oct. 29, 2026
• Testimony begins in trial of Myrtle Beach man accused of killing girlfriend, WMBF News, Oct. 28, 2026
• Sheridan Fogle sentenced to life without parole in murder of ex-girlfriend, WPDE, Oct. 29, 2026

Conroe, Texas: Jury Gives Miles Fridrich Life for Stabbing Pediatrician Dr. Talat Khan 71 Times at a Picnic Table

Location: Alys Apartments, 15000 block of Mansions View Drive, Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas

Legal status: Pleaded guilty to murder on Oct. 23; sentenced by a Montgomery County jury on Oct. 29 to life in prison, with parole eligibility after 30 years (Houston Chronicle).

A Montgomery County jury on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced Miles Joseph Fridrich to life in prison for the October 2023 stabbing death of Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, a 52-year-old pediatrician who had moved to Conroe from Seattle months earlier. Jurors deliberated for about three hours. Fridrich, whom the Houston Chronicle gives as 26 and KPRC as 27, had pleaded guilty to murder the previous Friday in the 9th state District Court, leaving the jury to decide only punishment. He will be eligible for parole in 30 years, the Chronicle reported.

The attack. Khan was sitting at a picnic table at the Alys Apartments on Mansions View Drive on Oct. 28, 2023, when she was attacked. Alia Sohail, a new friend, testified that she was on the phone with Khan when she heard screaming, then silence; she called Khan’s name several times without answer and began contacting friends to find out where Khan lived. Conroe Police Officer Jesse Roland, first on scene, told jurors he found Khan lying beneath the table “in a pool of blood” with no sign of life. “(Stab wounds) were everywhere,” he said. Most of Khan’s family left the courtroom while his body camera footage was played. Roland testified that he went back after learning Khan’s 14-year-old daughter was still in their apartment, unaware of what had happened.

The arrest. Officers set up a perimeter based on witness information, Conroe police said. Officer Brandon Hughes testified that he found Fridrich on Johnson Martin Road, where Fridrich lay down on the dirt with his arms out. He was shirtless, with blood on his jeans, and was taken into custody without incident; an officer described him as “defeated, unbothered almost.” Earlier that day, Roland testified, Fridrich’s family had requested a welfare check on him. He was charged with first-degree murder on Jan. 18, 2024.

The autopsy. Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, former chief medical examiner for Montgomery County, testified that Khan suffered 71 stab wounds: 31 to the chest and abdomen, 20 to the neck, nine to the face, seven to the right arm and hand and four to the left arm, two of which passed through the forearm. The neck wounds severed both carotid arteries and both jugular veins, and her spinal cord was severed. Pinneri said every wound had tapered or sharp angles, suggesting a blade with two sharp edges rather than a steak knife.

The defense case. Attorneys Lisa Andres and Cary Hart asked jurors to treat the plea as an act of responsibility. Hart said Fridrich had suffered multiple head injuries and concussions, was addicted to Xanax and had stopped taking his medication, including Adderall, leading to what she called “psychotic episodes.” “He was so paranoid, he had a lock on his bedroom door that needed a fingerprint to get in,” she said. A judge had initially found Fridrich incompetent to stand trial; after treatment at North Texas State Hospital he was found competent in September 2025. The Chronicle reported that medical witnesses called by the defense said he had been cooperative and had not displayed psychotic behavior during their evaluations.

His mother on the stand. Lisa Jenkins, a respiratory therapist, testified that her son had installed alarms on the doors and believed he was being followed. In the early hours of Oct. 28 he repeatedly texted and called her at work at Texas Children’s Hospital asking her to come home; she said she could not risk her job. When she got home he said he wanted to drive to Grand Prairie, so she took his keys and cards. The last time she saw him, about 10:45 a.m., he was walking out with a backpack. Hours later she learned from a news search that a woman had been killed off FM 1488. “I let my son down; I let Dr. Khan down. It’s horrible. I’m so sorry,” she said.

The prosecution. District Attorney Brett Ligon recused his office in June 2024 after Khan’s family raised concerns about the direction of the investigation, including whether the killing was a hate crime. Ligon said his office, Conroe police and the FBI found no evidence that Khan was targeted for her ethnic or religious identity. The Texas Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case. After the sentence, family members said Khan had been “taken away from us in the most brutal way.” Conroe police said that no sentence “can undo the tragic loss of Dr. Khan.”

Sources

• Miles Fridrich gets life for killing Conroe doctor in 2023, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 29, 2026
• Prosecutors detail brutal stabbing of Conroe doctor in Miles Fridrich trial, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 26, 2026
• ‘It’s horrible. I’m so sorry’: Miles Fridrich’s mother apologizes to Khan family, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 28, 2026
• Man sentenced to life in prison for murder of beloved pediatrician in Conroe, KPRC Click2Houston, Oct. 29, 2026

Smithville, Georgia: Self-Represented Marcus Butts Challenges GBI Ballistics and DNA in Trial Over Killing of Jessica and Julianna Thompson

Location: Lee County Superior Court, Leesburg, Georgia (the mother and daughter were found shot in their Smithville apartment in March 2024)

Legal status: Marcus Butts faces an 18-count indictment including malice and felony murder, aggravated assault and theft by taking; he has pleaded not guilty and is representing himself; trial continuing; presumed innocent

Jurors in the Lee County trial of Marcus Butts, accused of shooting and killing Jessica Thompson and her 17-year-old daughter, Julianna Thompson, heard GBI Crime Lab experts on ballistics and DNA on Thursday, Oct. 29, the third day of testimony, as Butts, who is acting as his own lawyer, challenged their findings on cross-examination, WALB reported.

The case. The two were found shot to death inside their Smithville apartment in March 2024; Butts was indicted in June 2024 on 18 counts. District Attorney Lewis Lamb told jurors in his opening that cartridges recovered at the scene matched casings provided by the original owner of a stolen pistol, and called Butts “a cold-blooded, heartless murderer who pointed a pistol in the face of his 17-year-old girlfriend from a foot and a half away and put a bullet in her brain. And who tied up her mother and put a bullet in her brain.” Butts admitted involvement with the stolen weapon but said he and Julianna sold it before the deaths. “When you’re in a relationship with your girlfriend then, you’re gonna be the first suspect,” he told jurors. “No physical evidence that he killed them folks.”

Ballistics. GBI firearms examiner Kelsie Nash testified about cartridges, casings and a bullet recovered from Julianna’s body. “I’ve determined that all three of the cartridge cases were fired from the same firearm, and I’ve determined that all three of the cartridge cases were cycled from the same firearm as one of the cartridges,” she said. Butts pressed her on whether all the projectiles and evidence matched a single weapon, and suggested more than one weapon or person may have been involved.

DNA. A GBI forensic scientist said saliva on cigar wraps at the apartment matched both Butts and Julianna. Testing on a condom found near the front door showed Julianna’s DNA, a partial profile matching Butts and DNA from one other, unknown contributor. The scientist said DNA can remain for days and acknowledged the findings could be consistent with another person’s contact before the crime.

The phone and the interview. GBI field agent Samantha Fort said two phones were found in the living room and investigators extracted Julianna’s. She read texts between Butts and Julianna, including one in which he told her he would never hurt her or her mother, and WALB reported the messages contradicted Butts’s opening statement. Fort said Butts told investigators he last saw Julianna a few days before the deaths. She said investigators kept the scene closed so that only they would know details such as the murder weapon, letting a rumour that a revolver was used circulate, and that Butts then told her he had seen a man in Smithville with a Taurus 9mm.

Earlier testimony. On Wednesday, GBI crime scene specialist James Gibson described finding the women in the bathtub; Jessica’s hands were bound and both had gunshot wounds to the head. Counselor Kaitlyn Norman of Aspire Behavioral Health, who treated Julianna for bipolar depression, said the teenager’s condition declined sharply after she began seeing Butts, and read a text in which Jessica wrote: “I am so, so worried about the influence and potential control that he has on her.” Asked by Butts whether Julianna ever said he put his hands on her, Norman said no. Jessica’s boyfriend, Vance Turner, testified that her mother found both women after he could not reach her.

Next. The state was expected to call its last witnesses on Friday. A judge earlier revoked Butts’s 2020 probation in an unrelated case, keeping him jailed through at least 2029. He is presumed innocent.

Sources

• GBI experts testify on ballistics and DNA on Day 3 of Lee County double murder trial, WALB, Oct. 29, 2026

Austin, Texas: Shane James Capital Murder Trial Opens With Dueling Accounts of His Sanity During 2023 Shooting Spree

Location: Travis County, Texas (the Austin shootings followed the killing of his parents near San Antonio on the morning of Dec. 5, 2023)

Legal status: Shane James charged with capital murder over four deaths in Austin; pleading insanity; separate charges pending in Bexar County over his parents’ deaths; presumed innocent

Opening statements in the Travis County capital murder trial of Shane James on Thursday, Oct. 29, set out the question jurors must answer: whether, when he killed four people in Austin during an eight-hour, cross-county shooting spree on Dec. 5, 2023, he knew what he was doing was wrong, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The two theories. James’s lawyers plan to argue he was legally insane at the time. Prosecutors say he knew the killings were wrong and illegal. “Expert witnesses will say when Shane James killed those four people, he was sane at the time,” Travis County prosecutor Rickey Jones told jurors. “He knew it wasn’t legal and he know it was wrong.” The trial, which began Tuesday with jury selection, is expected to last four weeks, and the state expects to call about 35 witnesses.

The bedroom walls. By the morning he shot his parents, James had covered his bedroom walls with handwritten notes of rambling, incoherent thoughts. Jones said James later described the writing as an expression of his anger. Defence lawyer Michael Watson called it “a maze” of “things that just don’t make any sense at all,” and said it showed his state of mind.

The prosecution’s account. The trial concerns only the Austin victims; James faces separate charges in Bexar County over his parents’ deaths. But Jones described James’s statements to police about that killing: that he walked downstairs and asked his father whether he thought James was a loser, and after his father joked with him, went upstairs for his .45-calibre gun and shot him. His mother ran toward the master bedroom, and James shot through the door and then shot her inside, Jones said. Jones then laid out the Austin portion of the spree, which prosecutors say began outside Northeast Early College High School, where James shot an Austin school district police sergeant. He is accused of killing four people in two separate incidents and wounding a cyclist and an Austin police officer before officers arrested him after a high-speed chase.

The defence’s account. Watson told jurors that James’s schizophrenia, hallucinations and delusions are not in dispute, and that his illness led him to believe “laser masters” controlled his life. “He’s lost the ability to control them,” Watson said. “These laser masters were sending lights, sending sounds and sending commands he could not control. He did not understand what was right and what was wrong.” He said James’s mental health deteriorated over years, citing emergency detentions in 2019, 2021 and 2022, each lasting only seven to 10 days, and said James’s father called San Antonio police about a mental health problem in August 2023. James did not get the long-term care he needed, Watson said.

Competency. At an unusual hearing on Monday, a separate Travis County jury found James competent to stand trial. Defence psychologist Mollimichelle McClendon testified his delusions were shaping his thinking; Kimberly Harrison, a psychologist appointed by the state, said his hallucinations had decreased with medication. Watson said McClendon has interviewed James 11 times since 2023, found his delusions among the most intense she had seen, and is expected to testify. Prosecutors were still calling witnesses when court adjourned Thursday. James is presumed innocent.

Sources

• Shane James trial opens with dueling accounts of his mental state, Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 30, 2026

Spokane, Washington: Jury Convicts William Baldwin of Murdering Job Seeker Hasani Vita Outside the West Plains Amazon Warehouse

Location: Geiger Boulevard and Hayford Road, West Plains, Spokane County, Washington

Legal status: Convicted Oct. 29 by a Spokane County jury of second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm; sentencing set for Dec. 14.

A Spokane County jury on Thursday, Oct. 29, convicted William K. Baldwin, 22, of second-degree murder in the shooting of Hasani Vita, 24, who was on his way to apply for a job at the Amazon warehouse on the West Plains when he was shot in the face in April 2025. Jurors deliberated for two days before Superior Court Judge Marla Polin read the verdict. They also convicted Baldwin of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, The Spokesman-Review reported. Sentencing is set for Dec. 14.

Off the bus. The shooting happened on the afternoon of Monday, April 21, 2025. Baldwin and Tyrese Washington, both Amazon employees, and Vita got off a Spokane Transit Authority bus at Geiger Boulevard and Hayford Road, near the warehouse. Vita’s sister testified that her brother was going to apply for a job at Amazon that day. Deputy Prosecutor Charles Crook told jurors in his opening that the three young men walked together and that Baldwin made several attempts to fight Vita, at one point taking off his shirt and putting down his lunch and water bottle. Vita did not want to fight and tried to walk away, Crook said. That was when, according to the prosecution, Baldwin pulled a revolver and shot Vita from a few arm’s lengths away.

What drivers saw. Lisa Evans, driving home from work, testified that she saw three men in the street and saw one extend his arm and fire. “His arm went straight out and I heard three shots,” she said, though she could not make out faces or skin tone. Angela Zarate, driving home from Walmart, heard a “big boom,” saw two people run toward Amazon and saw Vita stumbling in the road, trying to wave her down with one arm while holding his bloodied face with the other, before he fell. Morigon Blacktongue, an Amazon security worker waiting for a bus, testified that the lighter-skinned man, whom he took to be Baldwin, appeared to be the aggressor, took off his shirt and challenged another man, and that after hearing “a couple pops” he looked up and saw that man pointing what he believed was a pistol. Vita died at the scene with wounds to his face and back.

The flight and the evidence. Crook said Washington ran into the warehouse and went to work, while Baldwin gathered his belongings, ran around the facility, threw the gun into a field, climbed an Amazon fence and hid under a semitruck waiting for relatives to pick him up. Deputies found him first, shirtless. Detectives later recovered a silver Smith and Wesson revolver holding five empty .38-caliber casings in a field along the route he fled. Court records say the gun was reported stolen in Spokane in 2024. DNA on the gun could not be linked to anyone because it had been exposed to the weather for so long, Crook said, but Baldwin’s DNA was found on a blue zip-up hoodie, and on an empty holster in its pocket, recovered near Vita. A bullet from Vita’s body and another found in a pile of plywood at a lumberyard across the street were both .38 caliber, according to court documents.

The defense. Public Defender Laura Donahue told jurors that police never asked eyewitnesses to identify the shooter, that no forensic evidence tied Baldwin to the weapon and that detectives did not interview Washington until almost a year and a half after the shooting. She said Baldwin heard shots and ran into a field in fear, and that when deputies found him he raised his hands and repeatedly said, “Please don’t shoot me.” According to court documents, Baldwin told detectives that Washington and Vita had argued on the bus, that Vita challenged him to a fight and picked up a rock, and that someone, either Washington or Vita, started shooting. He was released after that interview and arrested eight days later, when detectives developed probable cause.

After the verdict. Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Degen said Vita’s family had waited a long time for the result. Vita, a graduate of Rogers High School, leaves a daughter; a fundraising page described him as “a very kind-hearted and loving person.” The Spokesman-Review reported that Baldwin smiled slightly as he was led in handcuffs past members of Vita’s family.

Sources

• Jury finds 22-year-old man guilty of murder outside Amazon on West Plains, The Spokesman-Review, Oct. 29, 2026
• Murder trial starts for 22-year-old accused of killing man near West Plains Amazon warehouse, The Spokesman-Review, Oct. 20, 2026

Chicago, Illinois: Grand Jury Indicts Felicia Hirn in the Death of Her 3-Year-Old Son, Leland Chipoco

Location: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

Legal status: Indicted by a Cook County grand jury on charges including murder and child abuse (reported in court Oct. 29); held in Cook County Jail; presumed innocent.

A Cook County grand jury has indicted Felicia Hirn, 32, on charges in the June 2025 death of her 3-year-old son, Leland Chipoco, prosecutors said in criminal court on Thursday, Oct. 29, ABC7 Chicago reported. Hirn remains held in Cook County Jail on three felony counts, including murder and child abuse. She is presumed innocent. Prosecutors told the judge they are seeking a DNA sample from her; no ruling was made. Her attorney, who did not appear Thursday, told the court that he objects to the DNA request and wants the case to go to trial.

Fifteen months without a charge. Leland died on June 25, 2025, and the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide. No one was charged for more than a year. Hirn was arrested in Maryland and extradited to Chicago only after ABC7’s I-Team began asking questions about the case, the station reported. She was charged by Chicago police and first appeared in court on Tuesday, Oct. 13, when prosecutors laid out their allegations and she was ordered held. Her attorney declined to comment to the I-Team.

The prosecution’s account. According to prosecutors, Hirn first told investigators that Leland’s injuries came from a fall from a slide at a park several days earlier. Prosecutors allege she told her children to lie about what happened. Court records obtained by the I-Team say both of Hirn’s other children, who are 7, told investigators they saw their mother grab Leland’s head with her nails and then grab him by the neck with both hands, lifting him from a couch while he cried. Prosecutors said Leland then began to shake and did not open his eyes. Both children reported seeing him bleeding from his head and neck. One child told investigators that Hirn asked her to get strawberry ice cream and that Hirn tried to put it in Leland’s open mouth, but he did not wake up. Prosecutors said Hirn then bathed him, dressed him in clean clothes and took him to a hospital.

The medical evidence. Medical records reviewed by the I-Team include photographs and physicians’ notes documenting bruises, retinal and subdural hemorrhages and spinal injuries. Doctors identified potential signs of child abuse and alerted authorities, according to the report. The medical examiner’s findings and a hospital report both flagged possible abuse, ABC7 said, while Hirn’s account in a court document attributed the injuries to the slide. Prosecutors now allege that she choked and shook the boy to death.

The family. Leland’s father, Mark Chipoco, said relatives warned him before he saw his son. “It looks like your son got hit. Like he got hit by a bat in the back of his head,” he recalled being told. After the indictment he described “the sadness, the anger, all the emotions that I couldn’t even comprehend,” but said he was glad Hirn was in jail. “It’s going to be a long, a long, long process, but I’m not giving up on it,” he said. “I’m not giving up on my family and I’m not giving up on my son.” Keisha Washington, the grandmother of Leland’s half-siblings, said she felt relief “that, you know, she’s going to have to answer to what she did,” while adding that the family still had “a long ways to go.”

What comes next. The case returns to court on the DNA motion and scheduling. The allegations come from prosecutors and court filings and have not been tested at trial. The 15-month gap between Leland’s death and the arrest, and the role of the station’s inquiries in prompting it, have been central to the station’s coverage; neither Chicago police nor the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office were quoted on the delay in the reports reviewed for this card.

Sources

• Grand jury indicts mother for murder of 3-year-old son in Chicago; prosecutors seek DNA sample, ABC7 Chicago, Oct. 30, 2026
• Prosecutors reveal graphic details in toddler’s death in Chicago; mother charged with murder, ABC7 Chicago, Oct. 13, 2026

Canton, Massachusetts: Matthew Farwell’s Defense Calls Sandra Birchmore’s Former Boyfriend and Medical Examiner Staff

Location: Trial in Boston (Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021)

Legal status: Matthew Farwell, former Stoughton police detective, is on trial, charged in Ms Birchmore’s death; he has pleaded not guilty; presumed innocent

The defense in the trial of former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell began calling witnesses in earnest on Thursday, Oct. 29, a day after prosecutors rested, putting before jurors a former boyfriend of Sandra Birchmore, the state’s chief medical examiner and a medical examiner technician who helped remove Ms Birchmore’s body from her Canton apartment, Boston.com reported from court.

The case. Prosecutors allege Farwell committed statutory rape against Ms Birchmore when she was underage, continued a sexual relationship with her for years, and killed her in early 2021, when she was pregnant, to keep her from telling others about the abuse, then staged the scene to look like a suicide. Farwell maintains that she took her own life after he ended the relationship. The prosecution’s final witness on Wednesday was digital forensics expert Jessica Hyde, who testified about data recovered from Ms Birchmore’s iPhone on the night of her death. The first defense witness, Massasoit Community College administrator Joseph Harris, testified Wednesday afternoon about a 2017 exchange in which she apparently told him of a suicide attempt.

The former boyfriend. William Kilroy, who dated Ms Birchmore for a few months beginning in 2016 after meeting her at a student center at Massasoit, was the defense’s second witness. He said her mother died just before they began dating and her grandmother around the time it ended, and that she was “depressed,” “upset,” “angry,” and “confused” in that period. Of her grandmother, he said “they were two peas in a pod.” Shown pages of her journal that listed methods of and reasons for suicide, alongside a list of reasons not to, he recognized one entry, “I’m wonderful, I’m amazing,” as his own. “That’s my chicken scratch,” he said. He testified that she spoke to him about suicide but that he never saw her take steps toward it, and that she drank a lot. He said she told him she had a miscarriage and that he was the father, and that when he tried to cut contact in early 2018 she said she would die by suicide and named him in a note as “one of the reasons.”

Cross-examination. Questioned by prosecutors, Kilroy agreed that, to his knowledge, Ms Birchmore never attempted suicide while he knew her and said he was never concerned she would. He said she had to decide to take her mother off life support. “I liked how bubbly she was,” he said. “She still made people around her laugh, she still made jokes.”

Medical examiner witnesses. Chief Medical Examiner Mindy Hull, who has led the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner since 2017, testified briefly about being present at a meeting where Ms Birchmore’s hyoid bone was removed from a jar of preservative, and said individual examiners decide which specimens to preserve. Technician Caitlyn Bulger said the death was called in as a “suspected suicide” with no foul play. She described sliding the ligature off the doorknob and said there was no note that it had been cut. Shown images of Ms Birchmore’s broken flamingo necklace, she said she did not recognize it, did not recall seeing it and did not take it into custody.

Next. Court ended early Thursday. Dr. Melissa Piasecki, a mental health expert, was expected to testify for the defense on Friday. Farwell is presumed innocent.

Sources

• Sandra Birchmore case: Witnesses for the defense take the stand in the trial of Matthew Farwell, Boston.com, Oct. 29, 2026
• Matthew Farwell trial (live updates): Defense continues presenting case, Boston 25 News, Oct. 29, 2026

Munising, Michigan: Jury Acquits Inmate Demetrius Montgomery of Murdering Cellmate Drequan Glover, Accepting Self-Defence Claim

Location: Alger County Circuit Court, Munising, Michigan (the fight happened at Alger Correctional Facility on June 18, 2024)

Legal status: Found not guilty of second-degree murder by a unanimous jury on Oct. 29, 2026; remains in prison on a separate life sentence

A jury in Alger County Circuit Court on Thursday, Oct. 29, unanimously found Michigan Department of Corrections inmate Demetrius Montgomery, 47, not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of fellow Alger Correctional Facility inmate Drequan Glover, WLUC TV6 reported. The verdict came after 4 p.m. at the end of a week-long trial.

The case. Prosecutors charged Montgomery with one count of second-degree murder over a fight on June 18, 2024, in which Glover died. The defence argued throughout that Montgomery acted in self-defence against a man other inmates described as a bully.

The final day. The defence called Northville Police Chief Scott Hilden as an expert to analyse closed-circuit footage of the events before Glover’s death. TV6 reported the footage showed Glover striking Montgomery first and then following him into his cell. In closing, prosecutor Robert Steinhoff asked jurors to consider the history of horseplay between the two men and the number of strikes, and the time Glover was seen defenceless. “The defendant got angry and beat him to death, long after Mr. Glover lost the ability to do anything about it,” Steinhoff said. “When the defendant kept on and kept on and kept on beating him, this was violently thrust into the realm of murder.” Defence lawyer Tony Ruiz said Glover started the violence and blocked Montgomery in his cell, and pointed to “the months of intimidation, the bullying, the aggressiveness, the access to weapons, the previous weapon incident that Mr. Montgomery knew about, that Mr. Glover bragged about.”

Montgomery’s testimony. On Wednesday Montgomery told jurors that sharing a cell with Glover was stressful, that Glover forced him to keep contraband on his side, and that Glover was angry when he moved out. He said Glover followed him into his new cell. “He would not let me out; he’d come in, grab me. He [kept] trying to choke me; keep reaching like he got his little knife or whatever,” he said. Asked why he kept punching after Glover went down, he said: “When I [saw] him reaching up, I thought he was trying to grab me… And as I’m punching, I’m hoping the police see this; they come up and taze both of us.” On cross-examination, the prosecution read from his misconduct hearing report, in which he was recorded as saying Glover tried to take the TV and that he blocked the door. “I never said that I blocked the door,” Montgomery replied. “He blocked the door.” He told jurors: “I just thought it was a simple fight, and that was that.”

Inmate witnesses. On Tuesday, inmate Jerry Weathers testified he heard Montgomery tell Glover to leave him alone after a class that day, and that Glover came off as a bully; under cross-examination he acknowledged saying Glover had worn a padded jacket, which he described as preventative. Inmate Jorey McCormick said Glover was aggressive with people who owed him, and that Montgomery, known as Meech, hit Glover, known as Jug, “like six, seven” times on the ground, with both hands.

Afterward. “It clearly was a case of self-defense,” Ruiz said after the verdict. Montgomery returns to prison to continue a life sentence imposed in 2019 for the murder of his girlfriend, TV6 reported.

Sources

• Alger Correctional Inmate accused of murdering other prisoner found ‘not guilty’, WLUC TV6, Oct. 29, 2026
• Alger Correctional Facility inmate on trial takes witness stand in his defense, WLUC TV6, Oct. 28, 2026
• MDOC inmates say killed Alger Correctional Facility inmate was known as a ‘bully’ during jury trial, WLUC TV6, Oct. 27, 2026

Banning, California: Jury Convicts Merlin Perales Ortiz of First-Degree Murder as Planner of 2020 Robbery That Killed Wesley Flores Miranda, 20

Location: Riverside County, California (shooting on Nov. 8, 2020, at an apartment in the 5200 block of El Cerrito Drive, Canyon Crest, Riverside)

Legal status: Merlin Perales Ortiz, 24, convicted Oct. 29, 2026, of first-degree murder, conspiracy and a robbery special circumstance; sentencing set for Nov. 18; held without bail

A Riverside County jury in Banning on Thursday, Oct. 29, convicted Merlin Perales Ortiz, 24, of Yucca Valley, of first-degree murder in the 2020 killing of 20-year-old Wesley Flores Miranda, a Honduran national who was shot during a robbery at a Riverside apartment complex, MyNewsLA reported. Jurors deliberated only a few hours before returning their verdicts, KESQ reported. Along with murder, they convicted her of conspiracy and found true a special-circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery.

The trial. Jury selection began in the second week of October, MyNewsLA reported on Oct. 8, nearly six years after the killing. KESQ and Banning Patch carried the same account of the verdict and of the prosecution’s trial brief.

Sentencing. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Mendoza set sentencing for Nov. 18 at the Banning Justice Center. She is expected to receive life in prison without the possibility of parole, the outlet reported, and is held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility. MyNewsLA reported she had no documented prior felony or misdemeanour convictions.

The co-defendants. Isaiah Israel Rodriguez and Cristian Alejandro Runkle, both now 23, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to second-degree murder. Rodriguez also admitted a gun-use allegation and was sentenced to 25 years to life. Runkle was sentenced to 15 years to life.

The prosecution’s account. According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the robbery happened on the night of Nov. 8, 2020, at an apartment leased by Runkle’s girlfriend, identified only as “Star,” in the 5200 block of El Cerrito Drive in the Canyon Crest area of south Riverside. Prosecutors said Ortiz and her co-defendants were affiliated with a decades-old San Bernardino street gang and had for months schemed to rob marijuana dealers around the region. Prosecutors said they got Flores Miranda’s contact details through social media and arranged to meet him at the apartment. Court papers said the girlfriend had fallen asleep in her bedroom “because she had been drinking and doing drugs during the day.”

The planner. Prosecutors said Ortiz was the principal planner and directed Rodriguez to act as the gunman. Surveillance cameras around the complex captured nearly the whole sequence: the victim getting out of his car with a backpack and walking to the apartment, where Ortiz met him at the door. Once he stepped inside, out of camera view, investigators said Runkle and Rodriguez confronted him and Rodriguez pointed a Glock 9mm handgun at him.

The struggle. According to the prosecution, Ortiz ordered Flores Miranda in Spanish to hand over his backpack. He refused, and in the struggle that followed he was fatally shot in the upper body just outside the doorway. The three fled with the backpack, leaving the girlfriend, now awake, to deal with the dead man and the Riverside police officers who quickly arrived, according to the District Attorney’s trial brief.

The arrests. After four weeks of evidence gathering, detectives identified the three, and all were taken into custody without incident in San Bernardino County, the outlet reported.

Sources

• Woman Convicted of Causing Marijuana Dealer’s Death, MyNewsLA, Oct. 29, 2026
• Yucca Valley woman convicted of causing marijuana dealer’s death, KESQ, Oct. 29, 2026
• Jury Selection Starts for Trial of Woman Accused in Marijuana Dealer’s Death, MyNewsLA, Oct. 8, 2026
• Banning Jury Convicts Woman In Marijuana Dealer’s Death, Banning Patch, Oct. 29, 2026

Bay City, Michigan: Craig Julian, Sentenced to Life at 20 for Helping His Brother Kill Lynn Spicer, Resentenced to 25 to 60 Years

Location: Bay County Circuit Court, Bay City, Michigan (killing on Aug. 21, 2010, at 111 Joseph St. in the Banks District)

Legal status: Craig A. Julian, 35, convicted in June 2011 of first-degree murder and disinterment or mutilation of a dead body; resentenced Oct. 29, 2026, to 25 to 60 years under Michigan Supreme Court rulings on 19- and 20-year-olds

Sixteen years after he was sent to prison for the rest of his life, Craig A. Julian on Thursday, Oct. 29, stood again before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran, the judge who had sentenced him, and received a new term of 25 to 60 years for his role in the 2010 killing of Lynn M. Spicer, MLive reported. Spicer, 33, was a mother of three who had moved from Endicott, New York, to Bay City in late 2009 and was dating his older brother, Jeffrey A. Julian II.

Why he was resentenced. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional for 19- and 20-year-olds convicted of first-degree murder, and applied the ruling retroactively. Julian was 20 when Sheeran sentenced him, three days before his birthday. He received credit for 5,830 days served.

In court. A shackled Julian smiled as he entered, and relatives in the gallery applauded. He then apologised, choked with emotion. “I do believe what I did was wrong and I wish I would have been a better person when I was younger,” he said. “If I really thought she was alive, I would have tried to save her. I thought it was too late for her anyway.” He spoke of his 15-year-old son: “I’ve been in here his whole life. I would like to help him grow to be a better man than I was.”

The arguments. His lawyer, Robert J. Dunn, cited high marks in prison work assignments and commendations from the Leader Dogs for the Blind programme, but said his client showed “horrible judgment.” “She might have still been alive when he got there,” Dunn said. “Maybe he could have saved her. He didn’t.” Assistant Prosecutor Aimee Clare asked for a minimum of 40 years. No one from Spicer’s family was present to give a statement.

The judge. Sheeran called the killing senseless and unjustifiable. “It’s clear to the Court that the defendant’s brother wanted to kill someone for the sake of killing them,” he said, adding that the older brother “had considerable influence over him.” Although Craig Julian did not physically take part in the killing, the judge said he “certainly helped set a stage where it was possible and more likely to occur.”

The killing. Trial testimony established the brothers were seen digging the hole that became Spicer’s grave weeks before her death and had discussed killing her at least twice. Jeff Julian testified he strangled Spicer on Aug. 21, 2010, and buried her in a vacant lot at 108 Curtis St., next to his home. Craig Julian told investigators he arrived after a text from his brother, found Spicer apparently lifeless, felt no pulse, and helped lift her body over a fence to the grave. His brother testified he kept trying to break her neck after that pulse check.

The search. Jeff Julian reported Spicer missing the next day. Her body was found in November 2010 after a friend, at police suggestion, secretly recorded him describing the killing and burial. Jeff Julian, now 38, is imprisoned in Adrian; Craig Julian is held at Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee.

Sources

• Bay City man gets new sentence in 2010 murder case, MLive, Oct. 29, 2026

Colorado Springs, Colorado: Appeals Court Upholds Jean-Joseph LeChiffre’s Murder Conviction in Baseball Bat Killing of His Father, Gilbert Sandoval

Location: El Paso County, Colorado (killing on July 22, 2020)

Legal status: Conviction for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and second-degree assault affirmed by the Colorado Court of Appeals on Oct. 29, 2026 (unpublished opinion, No. 22CA1270)

The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday, Oct. 29, affirmed the conviction of Jean-Joseph Danger LeChiffre, whom an El Paso County jury found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and second-degree assault in the 2020 killing of his father, Gilbert Sandoval. The opinion, by Judge Pawar with Judges Brown and Moultrie concurring, was not selected for publication. The trial judge was Chad Miller of El Paso County District Court.

The prosecution’s case. According to the opinion, LeChiffre was charged on evidence that he conspired with his mother, Marcella Sandoval, to murder his father. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit accessory to a crime and received two years of probation in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors. At trial she testified that she and her son planned the killing because Gilbert Sandoval had been abusive, was dragging out their divorce and had cut LeChiffre out of his will.

The basement. Marcella Sandoval testified that on July 22, 2020, she invited her husband to her house under the guise of reconciliation. She said she ran her hand across the piano keys to signal to her son that they were coming down to the basement, where LeChiffre was waiting. She testified that LeChiffre hit the victim with a baseball bat and then cut her hands to make it appear she had acted in self-defence. A blood spatter expert testified that, based on blood drips found on top of spatter stains, the victim bled before she did.

Other witnesses. A family friend, Donald Schlick, testified that LeChiffre arrived at a house where Schlick was working that day “fairly agitated and sweating heavily, in the process of changing his shirt to a dry one,” asked him to come to his mother’s house because there were problems, and “drove very fast and erratically” to get there. Bradford Eblen, held in the jail cell next to LeChiffre after his arrest, testified that LeChiffre asked him to tell his ex-wife and children that he was “not a monster,” that he “just lost control” and had initially done it for them. Eblen said LeChiffre admitted killing his father with a baseball bat, said substantial estate money was involved, and said his mother had been going to take the blame but was now telling the truth.

The defence. LeChiffre testified and denied killing his father. He offered his brother as an alternate suspect, but prosecutors established the brother’s alibi. The jury convicted him as charged.

The appeal. On appeal, LeChiffre argued that the trial court wrongly admitted evidence of other acts under Colorado Rule of Evidence 404(b); that the prosecutor improperly asked witnesses to give opinions on whether other witnesses were telling the truth; and that the court committed structural error by excluding everyone under 18, including his two teenage children, from the courtroom. The division concluded that none of those arguments warranted relief and affirmed the judgment. The same court on the same day upheld the murder convictions of Ned Pace Jr., who is serving life without parole, rejecting his claims of newly discovered forensic evidence, LAWS.com reported.

Sources

• Peo v. LeChiffre, Colorado Court of Appeals, LAWS.com, Oct. 29, 2026
• Colorado court upholds conviction of Ned Pace Jr. in murder case, LAWS.com, Oct. 29, 2026

Darien, Georgia: George Humphreys Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Killing His Friend Tony Ferguson

Location: McIntosh County Superior Court, Darien, Georgia (the shooting was at a party on Georgia Highway 99 near Palmer Court on Dec. 15, 2024)

Legal status: Convicted by a jury on all five counts Oct. 28, 2026; sentenced Oct. 29, 2026, to life without parole plus 10 years

A judge in McIntosh County, Georgia, on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced George Humphreys to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 10 years, for killing his friend Tony Ferguson at a party in December 2024, WTOC reported. A McIntosh County jury had found Humphreys guilty on all five counts on Wednesday night, Oct. 28, after about an hour of deliberations at the end of a three day trial. He faced malice murder and felony murder charges along with multiple gun charges, according to WTOC.

The shooting. WTOC’s January 2025 report on the arrest said deputies were dispatched at about 1:45 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2024, to a shooting on Georgia Highway 99 at Palmer Court, where hundreds of people were in the area, and that Tony James Ferguson, 41, was taken to Southeast Georgia Medical Center in Brunswick, where he died, Crime Talk Network reported, summarising that story. Humphreys was apprehended in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 15, 2025, by a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, according to the same account. Prosecutors and the defence said the two men had been friends.

The witnesses. On the second day of testimony, two witnesses identified Humphreys as the man who shot Ferguson, WTOC reported. A friend who knew both men testified that he saw the shooting after a brief argument, that a white car drove off and two more shots rang out, and that he saw Humphreys get in that car. Asked whether he had issues afterwards, he said, “I still have issues.” Ferguson’s brother testified that Ferguson named his shooter as he was dying. “And he said, ‘Big Head shot me, brother,'” the brother told the court; WTOC reported that “Big Head” is Humphreys’ known nickname.

Mistrial motions. The defence asked for a mistrial twice, WTOC reported. The first came after a witness said he had met Humphreys in prison; the judge rejected it and pointed out that one charge in the trial was possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The second followed the lead investigator’s testimony that Humphreys, afraid a meeting with her was a set up, asked instead to speak to an attorney. That motion was also denied. Jurors heard 911 calls, watched body camera video, and heard a firearms expert identify a 9 mm pistol as the murder weapon. Facebook messages were shown in which, the day after the shooting, Humphreys suggested to his girlfriend that they move to Florida and said he did not know why people were saying he was involved.

The sentence. The judge said he sentenced Humphreys as a recidivist because of multiple prior felony convictions, which the prosecutor listed as 2011, again in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2019, WTOC reported. “He’s been convicted twice of threatening to kill 2 different people then he in fact did kill Tony Ferguson,” the prosecutor said, asking for the maximum sentence.

The family. At least 25 members of Ferguson’s family packed the courtroom in Darien. His godmother read a statement on behalf of his parents: “Tony was full of life, known for his infectious smile, kind heart, dedication to family, love for his community.” The statement added, “While the defendant will still be able to breathe, eat, see his family, and age over time, our son is forever 41.” Ferguson leaves five children; his oldest daughter told the court, “I would still choose you to be my dad.” Humphreys’ mother spoke before sentencing and said she still did not believe it. Humphreys declined to make a statement on the record.

Sources

• Humphreys sentenced to life without parole in McIntosh County murder of Tony Ferguson, WTOC, Oct. 29, 2026
• 2 witnesses name George Humphreys as shooter in McIntosh County murder trial, WTOC, Oct. 28, 2026
• WTOC reported a McIntosh County judge sentenced George Humphreys to life without parole, Crime Talk Network, Oct. 29, 2026

Oakland, California: Jamazea Kittell, Out on Bail After a Vallejo Officer Shot Him, Convicted of Drive-By Murder of Perez Kalief-Chambers, 23

Location: 9400 block of C Street, East Oakland (shooting on July 9, 2025)

Legal status: Jamazea Kittell, 33, convicted by an Alameda County jury of first-degree murder with gun and drive-by enhancements, assault with a firearm and felon in possession of guns and ammunition; awaiting sentencing; separate Solano County assault case still pending (presumed innocent there)

An Alameda County jury has convicted Jamazea Kittell, 33, of first-degree murder in the July 2025 drive-by shooting that killed 23-year-old Perez Kalief-Chambers on the 9400 block of C Street in East Oakland, The Bay Area Brief and Hoodline reported on Thursday, Oct. 29, citing Bay Area News Group. The jury also found true enhancements for using a gun and for carrying out a drive-by, and convicted him of assault with a firearm and of possessing guns and ammunition as a felon. He faces 50 years to life for the murder and firearm enhancement alone and remains in jail awaiting sentencing; no date had been confirmed.

The shooting. Police said that on July 9, 2025, Kittell pulled up in an Acura and fired at two men who were working on a car. Kalief-Chambers was killed. The second man was underneath the vehicle and was not hit. The motive remains unclear, The Bay Area Brief reported.

The evidence. Investigators tied Kittell to the Acura through surveillance footage, including records of errands in late June 2025: a service visit in Modesto and a stop at a Target in Livermore. He was arrested on July 11, 2025, at his brother’s home in Apple Valley, in San Bernardino County. Guns were found with him, but prosecutors said none was the murder weapon. His lawyer argued that his past use of the car did not prove he was the shooter.

Out on bail. At the time of the killing, Kittell was on bail in Solano County. On June 27, 2023, Vallejo police Officer Brad Kim shot Kittell in the face at a gas station at 1401 Springs Road, where officers were answering a reported burglary. Kim testified, “I felt the vehicle lunge toward me,” saying Kittell’s Dodge Charger moved toward him before he fired through the windshield, according to coverage of the preliminary hearing cited by both outlets. Kittell survived.

The 2023 ruling. Prosecutors charged Kittell with attempted murder of a police officer. In October 2023, Solano County Superior Court Judge Robert Bowers found the evidence supported only assault with a deadly weapon. “I don’t think there is sufficient cause to hold him to answer for an attempted murder. I don’t see it,” Bowers said, as quoted by Hoodline. He set bail at $100,000, while saying he considered Kittell a potential danger and a flight risk. Bay Area News Group reported Kittell bailed out the next day. The Solano charges are still pending, and he is presumed innocent of them.

Record. Kittell has two prior robbery convictions in Alameda County and a gun possession conviction in Contra Costa County, which barred him from having firearms, authorities said.

Vallejo policy. Hoodline reported that three days after Kim shot Kittell, Vallejo revised its policy on shooting at moving vehicles, barring officers from firing at occupants unless they pose an immediate threat of death or serious injury by means other than the vehicle. The department has been under a state Department of Justice reform agreement, renewed for five years in October 2023.

Sources

• Man convicted of 2025 Oakland drive-by murder was out on bail in a Vallejo case where an officer shot him, The Bay Area Brief, Oct. 29, 2026
• Jamazea Kittell Convicted of Oakland Murder, Was Out on Bail, Hoodline, Oct. 29, 2026

Polson, Montana: Jury Finds Cameron Francis Guilty of Killing Kimberly Goodson and Trying to Kill a Police Officer

Location: Lake County District Court, Polson, Montana (the shootings were in Polson on Feb. 14, 2025)

Legal status: Convicted by a jury of deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide, Oct. 29, 2026; sentencing set for Dec. 10

A Lake County jury in Montana on Thursday, Oct. 29, found Cameron E. Francis guilty of deliberate homicide in the killing of his girlfriend, Kimberly Goodson, and of attempted deliberate homicide for firing on a Polson police officer the same night, the Missoulian and the Lake County Leader reported. The Lake County Leader said the jury took two and a half hours to reach its verdict.

The charges. Francis was charged with deliberate homicide with a weapon and attempted deliberate homicide with a weapon for two separate shooting events in Polson on Valentine’s Day 2025, according to the Missoulian. The Missoulian gave his age as 49; the Lake County Leader described him as a 50-year-old California man. The Missoulian reported that he could face the death penalty or life in prison, while the Lake County Leader said he could be facing life in prison.

The night of Feb. 14, 2025. Evidence presented in court indicated that Francis shot and killed Goodson, 48, in her home, then took two firearms, some ammunition and her crutches, which she needed after a recent knee surgery, and fled, the Missoulian reported. When Polson police officer Michael Wharton later pulled him over for minor traffic violations, Francis fired at the officer’s vehicle. According to charging documents cited by the Lake County Leader, he fired 20 rounds from an assault rifle at the patrol car before he fled and fired seven more rounds, and the rounds showered the officer with broken glass. He was apprehended in Elmo within an hour; the Missoulian said it was at a post office there. A welfare check called in the following Sunday led police to Goodson’s residence, where she was found dead in the bathroom of a single gunshot wound, according to the two papers. Shell casings at both scenes matched an assault rifle found in the Honda Accord Francis was driving, the Lake County Leader reported.

The trial. Jury selection began on Oct. 23 and opening arguments on Oct. 26, the Lake County Leader reported. Much of the state’s case rested on a detective’s handling of evidence gathered from Goodson’s residence and her car, and analysts from the state medical examiner’s office testified about ballistics and firearms residue. Joan Burbridge and David Carter of the Montana Public Defender’s Office represented Francis; after the state rested, the defence asked for a directed verdict, which the judge denied.

His account. Francis testified that the rifle fired accidentally when he bumped the trigger with his thumb, the Lake County Leader reported. He said he was helping Goodson off the couch when he tripped on her crutches and fell, and that her arm broke; he said he did not drive her to hospital because he had been drinking, and that he did not remember firing 27 rounds at Wharton’s patrol car. His lawyer told jurors, “This was an accident. The kind of accident that rocks someone to their core,” the Missoulian reported, and the defence argued that everything after her arm broke was a traumatic response.

The prosecution. Lake County Attorney James Lapotka argued the killing was deliberate. “She was killed purposefully, and all of the evidence shown does not support the defendant’s story that it was an accident,” he said, according to the Missoulian. He pointed out that Francis had described Goodson making him breakfast and dinner and pouring him a drink that day, and argued that it made no sense that she would then need help to reach the bathroom. “He left her alone in that room, in that condition for somebody else to find, so he could get away,” Lapotka said. He also argued that Francis knew guns well enough to know that more than 20 shots from an AR style weapon could easily have killed Wharton.

What happens next. Judge John Mercer presided and set sentencing for Dec. 10, the Lake County Leader reported. After the verdict Lapotka said, “We’re very pleased with the verdict and glad to get justice for the family and officer.”

Sources

• Guilty: Jury rules on Valentine’s Day homicide in Lake County, Missoulian, Oct. 29, 2026
• Jury finds California man guilty of murder and attempted murder of Polson officer, Lake County Leader, Oct. 29, 2026

Vancouver, British Columbia: Alvaro Julio Roche-Garcia Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder a Second Time in 2019 Porch Shooting of Zenen Cepeda Silva

Location: Fraser Street near East 51st Avenue, Vancouver (shooting on Jan. 26, 2019)

Legal status: Alvaro Julio Roche-Garcia convicted of first-degree murder by a jury at retrial; sentencing hearing set for next month; earlier 2021 conviction was overturned on appeal in 2024

A B.C. Supreme Court jury has for a second time found Alvaro Julio Roche-Garcia guilty of first-degree murder in the January 2019 shooting of 69-year-old Zenen Cepeda Silva, who was gunned down while sitting on the porch of his Fraser Street home in Vancouver with his wife, Global News reported on Thursday, Oct. 29. The verdict came after a five-week retrial. A sentencing hearing is set for next month. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

The shooting. Just before midnight on Jan. 26, 2019, police responded to a 911 call about a shooting on Fraser Street near East 51st Avenue and found Cepeda Silva with gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead in hospital, Vancouver Is Awesome reported in its coverage of the 2024 appeal. In his sentencing reasons after the first trial, B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams found that Roche-Garcia approached the front of the home under cover of darkness, armed with a handgun, and fired one shot that struck Cepeda Silva in the torso, likely in the back. Williams called the killing cold-blooded and cowardly. Roche-Garcia was arrested shortly after the shooting.

The first conviction and the appeal. A jury first convicted Roche-Garcia on Nov. 6, 2021, and he was sentenced on Nov. 9, 2021, to life with no parole eligibility for 25 years. In a unanimous decision of a three-judge panel in August 2024, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a new trial. Appeal Justice Gregory Fitch wrote that the central issue was the identity of the shooter. The Crown’s case rested on recognition evidence from Cepeda Silva’s wife, Maria Baldivia; surveillance video of a man arriving and leaving in a vehicle with what appeared to be a handgun; Roche-Garcia’s roommate identifying him in that video; and firearms evidence that the fatal bullet came from the same gun as a bullet recovered from Roche-Garcia’s residence.

The dying words. Among Cepeda Silva’s last words to his wife, according to the evidence, were “look how Alvaro has killed me.” Baldivia suffered a stroke before the first trial and never testified at it; jurors instead heard an audio recording of her preliminary inquiry testimony. The Court of Appeal found it was an error in law to let the statement go before the jury without a ruling on whether the hearsay was admissible, and that the jury instructions on Roche-Garcia’s out-of-court denial of guilt were also flawed, Global News and Vancouver Is Awesome reported.

The retrial. At the new trial, Crown counsel Daniel Port said the couple had known the accused for about 15 years, from their time living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in Vancouver. Roche-Garcia told the court he had no reason to shoot and kill Cepeda Silva, and his lawyer argued there was a lack of hard evidence tying him to the crime. Global News reported that a motive was never made clear. The jury nonetheless returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder.

What comes next. Sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Sources

• Vancouver man found guilty of first-degree murder for a 2nd time, Global News, Oct. 29, 2026
• Man’s dying statement to wife disputed in B.C. murder appeal, Vancouver Is Awesome, Aug. 21, 2024

São Paulo, Brazil: Porsche Driver Fernando Sastre Gets 17 Years for Killing Ride-Hail Driver Ornaldo da Silva Viana at About 156 km/h

Location: Fórum Criminal da Barra Funda, São Paulo (the crash was on Avenida Salim Farah Maluf, Tatuapé, on 31 March 2024)

Legal status: Fernando Sastre de Andrade Filho convicted by a jury on 30 Oct. 2026 of qualified homicide (dolo eventual) and bodily injury; sentenced to 17 years, 1 month and 10 days in a closed regime; defence has appealed

A seven-member jury in São Paulo convicted businessman Fernando Sastre de Andrade Filho in the early hours of Friday, 30 Oct., over the Easter Sunday 2024 crash in which the Porsche 911 he was driving slammed into the back of a Renault Sandero, killing ride-hail driver Ornaldo da Silva Viana, 52. Judge Melanie Liesenberg read the sentence at about 1:20 a.m.: 17 years, one month and 10 days in prison, to begin in a closed regime, plus a ban on driving, CNN Brasil and O Globo reported.

The verdict. The jury of four women and three men found him guilty of qualified homicide under dolo eventual, meaning he assumed the risk of causing death, with the aggravating qualifier of common danger, and of bodily injury to his friend Marcus Vinícius Machado Rocha, who was in the passenger seat and was seriously hurt. The jury rejected the defence’s request to reclassify the killing as culpable (negligent) homicide.

The crash. According to the forensic report, the Porsche was travelling at about 156 km/h shortly before the collision, on a stretch of Avenida Salim Farah Maluf in Tatuapé, in São Paulo’s east zone, where the limit was 50 km/h. Mr Viana’s car was destroyed. Sastre left the scene with his mother without taking a breathalyser test. A military police officer who allowed him to leave testified that she felt deceived, because she believed they were going to a hospital. Two military police officers, Daisy Aparecida Cardoso Romão and Thiago Silva Batista, have been charged in the state military courts with tolerance for releasing him without a breath test. Sastre had been in pretrial detention since 2024.

His first admission. Testifying on Thursday, the second day of trial, Sastre admitted for the first time that he drank alcohol that night. “I confess that on the day of the events I drank alcohol,” he said, weeping, and asked the victims and families for forgiveness. “I am ashamed and regretful every day of my life.” He said that on 30 March 2024 he met friends at a gastrobar called Porqueteria, had two drinks there besides water, then went to a poker house, where he said he drank only water and tonic. He said his memory after leaving a traffic light on the avenue was “very fragmented,” that he recalled seeing a car ahead, trying to brake and swerve, and then “a blackout.” He said he believed at the time that he was fit to drive.

Other testimony. Marcus Vinícius Machado Rocha, then his best friend, confirmed that Sastre had been drinking, said friends tried to talk him out of driving, and said he had been pressured by people close to Sastre to change his account. Sastre’s then girlfriend had to be brought to court under compulsion after failing to appear; the defence dropped her testimony, and the judge removed her from the courtroom for gesturing during a witness’s evidence and fined her 10 minimum wages. The defence presented a privately commissioned expert report claiming 128 fault codes and six defects in the Porsche; Sastre’s mother told the court she doubted the manufacturer’s statement that the defects did not affect handling.

Reactions. Defence lawyer Eugênio Malavasi said the verdict was contrary to the evidence and that an appeal had already been lodged with the São Paulo Court of Justice. Rocha said: “He is a great friend of mine, who is in prison now. But do I see it as justice? Yes.” Mr Viana’s son said: “The feeling is that justice was done.”

Sources

• Caso Porsche: Fernando Sastre é condenado a 17 anos de prisão por morte de motorista de aplicativo; defesa vai recorrer, O Globo, Oct. 30, 2026
• Fernando Sastre é condenado a 17 anos de prisão por morte de motorista, CNN Brasil, Oct. 30, 2026

Neuquén, Argentina: Walter Antonio Urra, Accused in Killing of Juggler Mauricio Adán Isla, Recaptured After Cutting Ankle Monitor

Location: West side of the city of Neuquén (the killing he is accused over happened in Centenario on Oct. 6, 2025)

Legal status: Walter Antonio Urra charged as a necessary participant in homicide; recaptured after absconding from house arrest; hearing pending; presumed innocent

A man accused of taking part in the killing of Mauricio Adán Isla, a 26-year-old artisan and juggler stabbed to death in Centenario in October 2025, has been recaptured in the west of the city of Neuquén after cutting off the electronic ankle monitor that tracked his house arrest, Infobae reported on Thursday, Oct. 29, citing official information and LM Neuquén.

The recapture. The accused, identified as Walter Antonio Urra, had removed the tag. Once his location was lost, the prosecution asked for a search and a judge declared him in default and ordered his capture. The search began on Sept. 26. Investigators spent several days gathering information until they learned of a possible hiding place, obtained a search warrant, and officers of the Recaptura de Evadidos division of the Dirección Delitos Neuquén arrested him in a house on the city’s west side. He did not resist, according to the official account. He was placed at the disposal of homicide prosecutor Lorena Juárez, who ordered him held in custody until a hearing to review his status.

What prosecutors want. The Fiscalía is asking for house arrest to be replaced with a more restrictive measure. The judge will weigh the breach of the order, the escape and procedural risks raised by both sides.

The charge. Urra is accused as a partícipe necesario, a necessary participant: in the prosecution’s view his contribution was essential to the killing, although he is not alleged to have inflicted the fatal wounds. He has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.

The killing. According to the Ministerio Público Fiscal’s early reconstruction, Isla was killed on Oct. 6, 2025, near Peatonal 4 and Calle Nicaragua in Centenario after an argument linked to a prior accusation of alleged sexual abuse. Prosecutors said some of those involved then exchanged calls and messages with others, after which the group found Isla in the street and chased him. He tried to flee but was caught and attacked, suffering multiple stab wounds, and died of the resulting haemorrhage. Investigators used security camera footage from the area to reconstruct part of the sequence.

The other defendants. Prosecutors first brought charges of homicide aggravated by the premeditated participation of two or more people, which carried a heavier penalty. As the investigation advanced, they concluded premeditation could not be sustained for the four defendants who later agreed to plea deals, because the attackers could not have foreseen Isla’s presence at the scene. Under those agreements, Catherine Guadalupe Gualmes and Alexis Enrique Martirena were sentenced to 23 years in prison, and Matías Ezequiel Farías and Priscila Yamila Rodríguez to 10 years each. Isla’s family, assisted by the victims and witnesses service, consented to the agreement, and the court extended precautionary measures while the case moved to sentence enforcement.

Next. Infobae said the recapture puts the case back before the courts. Urra’s case was split from the deal reached by the other four. At his next hearing a judge will decide whether he stays in pretrial detention while his case proceeds.

Sources

• Detuvieron a un hombre acusado por homicidio que se había fugado tras cortar su tobillera electrónica en Neuquén, Infobae, Oct. 29, 2026

San Fernando, Argentina: Supreme Court Makes Final the Life Sentence of Jorge Raúl Álvarez for the Femicide of Elizabeth “Eli” Toledo

Location: Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación (crime on Dec. 30, 2018, in Virreyes, San Fernando, Buenos Aires province)

Legal status: Jorge Raúl Álvarez convicted of femicide and sentenced to life by TOC No. 6 of San Isidro; Supreme Court rejected the defence filing on Oct. 29, 2026, leaving the sentence final

Argentina’s Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación has rejected a defence filing and left firm the life sentence of Jorge Raúl Álvarez for the rape and killing of Elizabeth Alejandra “Eli” Toledo, 47, who was found dead on Dec. 30, 2018, in the attic room she rented in the Presidente Perón neighbourhood of Virreyes, San Fernando, La Nación, Infobae and TN reported on Oct. 29. “The highest court rejected the defendant’s defence filing and left the conviction firm. In the same case, at the oral trial, another person involved had been acquitted on the benefit of the doubt,” the court’s communications team said, according to La Nación.

The path to the top court. The sentence was handed down by Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal No. 6 of San Isidro, judges Federico Tuya, Débora Ramírez and Sebastián Urquijo. The Tribunal de Casación Penal confirmed it, and the Suprema Corte de Justicia of Buenos Aires province rejected the appeals. The national court dismissed the final filing on formal grounds, Infobae reported.

The victim. Toledo had a developmental delay and lived in a vulnerable situation, sharing the house with three men, La Nación reported. Until two weeks before her death, a third man had lived there before being thrown out for hitting her. Her own circle said the men subjected her to abuse that was never reported. Hers was the last femicide recorded in Argentina in 2018.

The scene. She was found at 6 a.m. after a stormy night, naked and face up on a mattress on the floor, amid great disorder and with visible blows to her face. A police officer guarding the scene testified that he heard cries from the attic and found a caged parrot repeating “Ay, no! Por favor, soltame, ay, no!” (“Oh no! Please, let me go, oh no!”). Investigators believe the bird had learned the victim’s last plea.

The autopsy. Forensic doctor Federico Corasaniti, head of the San Isidro Forensic Medical Corps, found that Toledo had been raped and beaten, that all her injuries were inflicted while she was alive, and that she died of manual strangulation. He also found a bite mark on her right forearm.

The DNA. Álvarez, then 65 and known as “Tío Jorge,” told the trial he arrived to find her already beaten and dead, and said they had consensual sex the day before. The court relied on DNA traces on the body and at the scene that matched his genetic profile, and a witness saw him enter and leave the house around the time of the attack.

The acquittal. Prosecutor Bibiana Santella sought life terms for Álvarez and for Toledo’s partner, who had called 911 to say he found her dead on returning from his job as a night watchman at a nearby rugby club. Odontology experts found the bite mark matched his teeth at three points, but the court ruled that evidence fell short of the certainty of a fingerprint or DNA and acquitted him on the benefit of the doubt. He stands acquitted.

Sources

• Quedó firme la condena a prisión perpetua para un femicida al que delató un loro, La Nación, Oct. 29, 2026
• Un loro dio una pista y una prueba de ADN identificó al autor, Infobae, Oct. 29, 2026
• La Corte Suprema dejó firme la prisión perpetua por el femicidio de Elizabeth Toledo, TN, Oct. 29, 2026

Santa Maria, Brazil: Jury Downgrades Charge in 2019 Killing of Trans Leader Verônica Oliveira, “Mãe Loira,” and Amauri Mendes Vieira Gets Four Years

Location: Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul (stabbing on Dec. 12, 2019, at the corner of Avenida Presidente Vargas and Avenida Borges de Medeiros)

Legal status: Amauri Mendes Vieira, 35, convicted Oct. 29, 2026, of bodily injury followed by death and sentenced to four years and two months; may appeal at liberty

A jury in Santa Maria, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, on Thursday, Oct. 29, rejected a murder charge in the 2019 killing of Verônica Oliveira, a trans community leader known as “Mãe Loira,” and instead convicted Amauri Mendes Vieira, 35, of bodily injury followed by death, G1 RS reported. The judge sentenced him to four years and two months in prison. He may appeal while at liberty, the outlet said. Diário de Santa Maria also reported the sentence.

The charge. The Public Ministry argued that Vieira should answer for intentional homicide, doubly qualified by base motive and by use of means that made the victim’s defence difficult. The jury, the Conselho de Sentença, set that theory aside and reclassified the offence, finding no intent to kill.

The killing. According to the investigation, in the early hours of Dec. 12, 2019, Vieira and Oliveira argued after failing to agree on a price for a sexual service. Police said that at one point the man went back to his car, sat in the driver’s seat and hid a knife. Then, as he was pulling away, he allegedly stabbed Oliveira, who was standing in the street, in the abdomen. She was taken to the Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria (Husm), underwent surgery and died of her injuries. The attack took place at the crossing of Avenida Presidente Vargas and Avenida Borges de Medeiros, in the Nossa Senhora de Fátima district in the centre of the city, and caused deep shock, mobilising social movements and LGBTQIA+ rights groups.

Who she was. Oliveira, 40, was one of the leading trans figures in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, G1 reported, and became a reference point for people seeking shelter, respect and opportunity. In Santa Maria she ran a lodging house that took in trans women from other cities and even other states, serving as a shelter and support network for people in vulnerable situations. Days before she died, she had been the godmother of Santa Maria’s Diversity Parade. In August 2023 the city enacted the Verônica Oliveira Law, making Dec. 12 a municipal day of awareness and action against gender violence and violence against trans people.

The defence. Vieira’s lawyer, Leonardo Sagrillo Santiago, said in a statement that the jury had accepted one of the defence’s arguments, “recognising the absence of intent to kill,” and that the judge then convicted him of bodily injury followed by death. “The defence believes the jurors’ decision is fair and reflects the evidence produced in plenary,” the statement said. On the sentence itself, he said the defence would analyse its grounds and decide in the coming days whether to appeal.

The trial. GZH reported that the sentence was read on Thursday night after a trial presided over by Judge Bárbara Mendes de Sant’Anna, and that the reclassification is what produced the much lower penalty.

Her legacy. GZH said the Alojamento da Verônica, in the Urlândia district, took in trans people from Santa Maria and other towns for 13 years. Since 2021 the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) has run the Casa Verônica, attached to its Human Rights Observatory, to shelter people facing gender violence.

Sources

• Homem é condenado por lesão corporal seguida de morte de mulher trans, G1 RS, Oct. 29, 2026
• Acusado de matar Verônica Oliveira, a “Mãe Loira”, é condenado a 4 anos de prisão em Santa Maria, Diário de Santa Maria, Oct. 29, 2026
• Homem é condenado por lesão corporal seguida de morte após júri desclassificar homicídio de liderança LGBT+ em Santa Maria, GZH, Oct. 30, 2026

Sorriso, Brazil: Jury Convicts Ivaldo Luiz Polesello of Femicide in Stabbing of His Wife of 35 Years, Ivaldete Coutinho de Oliveira Polesello

Location: Sorriso, Mato Grosso, about 420 km from Cuiabá (killing on May 8, 2025, in the Benjamin Raiser district)

Legal status: Ivaldo Luiz Polesello sentenced Oct. 29, 2026, to 30 years and 10 months for femicide after a jury trial

A jury in Sorriso, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, on Thursday, Oct. 29, convicted Ivaldo Luiz Polesello of the femicide of his wife, Ivaldete Coutinho de Oliveira Polesello, 58, and he was sentenced to 30 years and 10 months in prison, G1 Mato Grosso reported. Jurors found that the killing was committed in a context of domestic and family violence against a woman. Ivaldete was a pioneer of the farming city, and the municipality declared three days of official mourning after her death.

Years of threats. Prosecutors from the Mato Grosso Public Ministry (MPMT) presented evidence that Ivaldete had faced threats and struggled for years to end the relationship, which lasted about 35 years. In February 2025 she left home and stayed about 15 days with her daughter, but went back after her husband insisted. On May 8 of that year she was stabbed to death inside the couple’s house.

A 2013 report. Among the prosecution’s documents was a police report Ivaldete filed in June 2013. In it she said she would leave the house to avoid more serious consequences, and that the threats she had suffered had kept her from making that decision earlier. Testimony from one of the couple’s daughters confirmed that the intimidation continued over the years. The prosecution was led by Promotor de Justiça Luiz Fernando Rossi Pipino.

“Thank God.” A military police officer testified about Polesello’s reaction on being told his wife had died. According to the officer, the defendant replied: “Graças a Deus,” or “Thank God.”

The attack. Ivaldete was attacked in the bedroom of the house she shared with her husband. The couple’s 14-year-old grandson found her gravely wounded and called for help. Firefighters took her to the Hospital Regional de Sorriso, where she died. The autopsy found more than 10 knife wounds to the chest, abdomen, back and arms, and gave the cause of death as internal and external haemorrhage from the perforations.

After the killing. According to the investigation, Polesello washed the knife he used and left by car. He drove to the home of an employee, asked to leave the vehicle there, and admitted killing his wife, G1 reported. He also confirmed it in a conversation with one of his daughters. Military police found him hiding in a house in the municipality and arrested him in the act. He was 69 at the time and was taken to an emergency care unit because he had cuts on his body.

The scene. CN News MT, recalling its coverage at the time, reported that firefighters found Ivaldete on the floor with heavy blood loss and multiple stab wounds, gave first aid and transported her in very grave condition. The outlet said police located Polesello with the help of relatives and that he had cuts on his arms, treated at the emergency unit before he was handed to the Civil Police. Her body lay in state at the cemetery chapel and she was buried on the morning of May 9, 2025.

The verdict. Olhar Direto reported that the Conselho de Sentença accepted the MPMT’s theory in full, and that testimony and documents showed a history of violence and intimidation throughout the marriage.

Sources

• Idoso é condenado a 30 anos de prisão por matar esposa esfaqueada, G1 Mato Grosso, Oct. 29, 2026
• Feminicida que assassinou esposa de 58 anos é condenado a mais de 30 anos de cadeia pelo júri, Olhar Direto, Oct. 29, 2026
• Ivaldo Polesello é condenado a 30 anos de cadeia por matar Ivaldete a facadas em Sorriso, CN News MT, Oct. 30, 2026

Githunguri, Kenya: Former USIU Student Duncan Kimathi Sentenced to Death for 2012 Ransom Murder of Sarah Akello Aruwa

Location: High Court, Kenya (abduction on June 30, 2012; body found in a thicket at Ngewa, Githunguri, Kiambu County)

Legal status: Duncan Livingstone Kimathi, 37, convicted of murder under Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death on Oct. 29, 2026; co-accused absconded on bail and remains at large (presumed innocent)

A Kenyan High Court judge on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced Duncan Livingstone Kimathi, 37, to death for the 2012 murder of Sarah Akello Aruwa, a final-year International Relations student at United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) in Nairobi, after finding that he lured her into a trap, abducted her and demanded a Sh100,000 ransom from her family, the Daily Nation reported. Justice Kanyi Kimondo convicted him under Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code. The Star and Kenyans.co.ke also reported the sentence.

The judgment. “I am fully satisfied that the accused was positively identified as the person who lured and abducted the deceased on 30/6/2012, demanded a ransom, issued threats to kill the deceased in default of payment and that he, together with other persons not before the court, strangled the deceased to death,” Justice Kimondo said. He rejected Kimathi’s defence, including his alibi, as inconsistent with the evidence, and held that “the entire corpus of direct, circumstantial, electronic and documentary evidence points irresistibly to his guilt.” The prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira for the Director of Public Prosecutions, called 17 witnesses.

The meeting. Akello disappeared on June 30, 2012, after telling her friend Ivy Gathu that she was going to meet a man she had met at the university library. In her notebook she wrote that she would meet a “Daniel Mureithi” and noted an unregistered phone number. The judge found the name was a cover. “It would then be foolhardy to expect him to provide his true bona fides to the deceased. But technology has a way to catch up with people,” he said. Although Kimathi denied being a student there, the court found he had access to the campus, and noted Akello lived off campus in a one-bedroom unit five minutes away. Call data led the court to conclude the unregistered line was operated by Kimathi or his accomplices.

The ransom. Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, testified that a man called her from her daughter’s phone, demanded Sh100,000 and threatened to kill her if it was not paid. The family negotiated the sum down to Sh70,000 and reported the matter at Kasarani Police Station. Her boyfriend testified that when he called her phone, a man answered and demanded money be sent to her mobile money account.

The evidence. Her body was found days later in a thicket at Ngewa, Githunguri. A postmortem found a laceration at the back of her head and bruises on her neck, and gave the cause of death as manual strangulation. Investigators recovered her undergarments and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi’s girlfriend lived. Under cross-examination, Kimathi admitted a previous conviction in a Makadara court for abducting a girl in 2012.

The co-accused. His girlfriend, Winnie Wairimu Kariuki, the second accused, absconded after release on bail, and efforts to arrest her have failed; the court ordered the trial to proceed in her absence. She has not been convicted.

Death penalty. Kenyans.co.ke noted that the Supreme Court’s 2017 Muruatetu ruling ended mandatory death sentences for murder, and that Kenya has carried out no execution since July 1987.

Sources

• Sh100,000 ransom trap: Ex-USIU student sentenced to death for killing final-year colleague, Daily Nation, Oct. 29, 2026
• Sh100,000 ransom demand ends in death sentence for student’s killer, The Star, Oct. 29, 2026
• Former University Student Sentenced to Death for Killing Colleague, Kenyans.co.ke, Oct. 29, 2026

Nairobi, Kenya: Prosecutors Ask Court to Send Brian Kiprop Kiplagat to London to Face Trial Over Murder of Citibank Executive Marianne Kilonzi

Location: Magistrate’s court, Nairobi (the death occurred at a flat on Argyll Road, Woolwich, London, in January 2025)

Legal status: Brian Kiprop Kiplagat is wanted in the United Kingdom on eight offences including murder; extradition proceedings in Kenya; ruling expected 19 Nov. 2026; presumed innocent

Kenyan prosecutors have urged a Nairobi court to approve the surrender of Brian Kiprop Kiplagat to the United Kingdom, where he is wanted on eight serious charges including the murder of his girlfriend, Marianne Kilonzi, 43, a Citibank vice president found beaten to death in her London flat in January 2025, Mwakilishi reported on Friday, 30 Oct.

The prosecution’s position. Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Duncan Ondimu told the court that Kenyan courts cannot determine the truth of the charges against an extradition target and that their only role is to decide whether the legal conditions for surrender are met. Determining guilt or innocence belongs entirely to the courts where the alleged crimes occurred, he said. Kiplagat’s defence team had sought to introduce evidence challenging the factual merits of the UK charges, arguing that he has deep family ties in Kenya, has cooperated with Kenyan authorities and should be tried at home. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions formally asked the court to approve his surrender, and assured it that his constitutional rights, including access to medical care in custody, are being protected and that unrelated personal belongings will be returned.

The UK allegations. According to arrest warrants issued at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and outlined in Nairobi, Ms Kilonzi was beaten to death in her home between 12 and 28 January 2025. Metropolitan Police officers found her body on 17 January 2025 after her family and colleagues raised concerns. A post-mortem examination found she died of blunt force trauma and severe head injuries. Prosecutors allege Kiplagat tried to manipulate the scene and delay discovery by placing concentrated laundry scent beads on her body to mask the smell of decomposition, conduct cited as an attempt to pervert the course of justice. He is also accused of taking her smartphone to cut off communication, conceal records and carry out fraudulent transactions, and faces four counts of fraud by false representation over alleged unauthorised transfers from her bank accounts to his own and misuse of her credit card.

Background. Ms Kilonzi studied at university in Nairobi before Citibank transferred her to London in 2023, where she worked as vice president of trade and working capital sales. She connected with Kiplagat on WhatsApp in January 2024, and he moved into her flat on Argyll Road, Woolwich, in September 2024. Her family returned her remains to Kenya for burial at her ancestral home, describing her as warm, loving and kind and calling for full accountability.

The arrest. UK authorities say Kiplagat fled Britain after the killing. His 16-month run ended on 10 June 2026, when immigration officers stopped and arrested him at the Namanga border post as he tried to cross into Tanzania using a temporary travel permit and other suspect documents.

What happens next. If extradition is approved, UK officers will travel to Kenya to take custody of Kiplagat at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and escort him to London; if convicted, he would serve his sentence in the UK. Mwakilishi noted a similar handover in September 2024, when FBI agents took custody in Nairobi of Kevin Kang’ethe, who was wanted over the killing of his girlfriend in Massachusetts. The Kiplagat matter returns for mention on 5 Nov., with a ruling on the extradition application expected on 19 Nov. He is presumed innocent.

Ruling date. The Milimani Law Courts will mention the matter on Nov. 5 and deliver a ruling on Nov. 19, 254News reported, after final submissions on Thursday, Oct. 29. The ruling will decide whether Kiplagat should be surrendered, not whether he is guilty.

Sources

• Marianne Kilonzi Murder: DPP Asks Nairobi Court to Send Suspect to London for Trial, Mwakilishi.com, Oct. 30, 2026
• Brian Kiplagat Extradition Case: Court Sets November 19 Ruling Date, 254News, Oct. 29, 2026

Huejotzingo, Mexico: Former Police Officer Galdino N. Loses Late Appeal as 55-Year Sentence for the Femicide of Pregnant Rosa Iris Becomes Final

Location: Tribunal Colegiado de Enjuiciamiento, Puebla (killing on Oct. 3, 2023, on calle Primero de Mayo, San Mateo Capultitlán, Huejotzingo)

Legal status: Galdino N., former municipal police officer of San Lorenzo Chiautzingo, convicted of femicide and abortion; 55-year sentence final after his appeal was rejected as filed late, announced Oct. 29, 2026

The 55-year prison sentence of Galdino N., a former municipal police officer from San Lorenzo Chiautzingo, for the femicide of his partner Rosa Iris, who was 21 weeks pregnant, has become final after a second-instance appeal was thrown out because it was filed after the legal deadline, the Fiscalía General del Estado de Puebla announced on Thursday, Oct. 29, El Ciudadano, Puebla Online, e-consulta and Periódico Enfoque reported. The ruling confirms his criminal responsibility for femicide and for abortion, the charge covering the loss of the pregnancy.

The morning of the killing. According to the ministerial investigation, the attack happened on the morning of Oct. 3, 2023, inside a bedroom of a house on calle Primero de Mayo in the auxiliary community of San Mateo Capultitlán, Huejotzingo. Galdino N. beat Rosa Iris and then asphyxiated her by strangulation, the Fiscalía said, causing her death and the end of the pregnancy. He then covered her body with blankets and fled the house.

Caught on camera. Surveillance cameras in the area recorded him leaving, and witnesses helped locate him, Puebla Online reported. Forensic investigations and the video allowed investigators to identify and capture him, e-consulta reported.

History of violence. Before the Tribunal Colegiado de Enjuiciamiento, prosecutors presented forensic reports, criminalistics expert evidence, video analysis, a psychological autopsy and social work studies. The Fiscalía said this evidence proved a history of physical and psychological violence and death threats that Galdino N. directed at Rosa Iris before he killed her.

Who she was. E-consulta reported that Rosa Iris was herself a former municipal police officer in Domingo Arenas and was 20 years old. It reported that the couple had already separated and that the killing happened during an argument inside her house. It described the pregnancy as six months in a social media post and five months in its article; the Fiscalía and the other outlets put it at 21 weeks.

The full sentence. Besides the 55 years, the court ordered payment of compensation for economic, moral and material damage, suspended his civil and political rights, issued a formal admonishment and denied him any commutation of the sentence, so he must serve the term imposed, the reports said.

The late appeal. Periódico Enfoque explained that the appeal was dismissed as extemporaneous, meaning it was lodged outside the time allowed. “With that, the 55-year prison sentence was ratified, along with the other sanctions imposed for the crimes committed against his partner and the product of conception,” it reported. The outlet said the final ruling closes the appeal stage described by the authorities.

The Fiscalía. In its statement, the Fiscalía General del Estado de Puebla said it reiterated its commitment to seek justice in strict adherence to the law and with a gender perspective, “forcefully sanctioning criminal conduct that threatens the life and integrity of women in the state,” El Referente reported. Its statement said the evidence it presented had made the conviction final, and described Rosa Iris as the man’s concubina, or common-law partner. Puebla Online and El Referente reported that the strangulation directly caused both the end of the pregnancy and the loss of her life.

Sources

• Dan 55 años de prisión a expolicía por feminicidio de su pareja embarazada, El Ciudadano, Oct. 29, 2026
• 55 años de prisión a expolicía que mató a su esposa embarazada en Huejotzingo, Puebla Online, Oct. 29, 2026
• Por feminicidio de su esposa, 55 años de cárcel a expolicía poblano, e-consulta, Oct. 29, 2026
• Dictan 55 años de prisión a expolicía por feminicidio de su pareja embarazada en Huejotzingo, El Referente, Oct. 29, 2026
• Feminicidio en Huejotzingo: queda firme condena de 55 años a expolicía, Periódico Enfoque, Oct. 29, 2026

Mdantsane, South Africa: Taxi Driver Siphelele Jako Gets Three Life Terms for Shooting Dead Three Teenage Learners After Road Rage Quarrel

Location: Eastern Cape High Court, Bhisho (the shooting happened in a back room in NU1, Mdantsane, on Nov. 19, 2023)

Legal status: Convicted after trial; sentenced to three life terms plus 42 years, reported Oct. 30, 2026

An Eastern Cape taxi driver, Siphelele Jako, 38, has been sentenced to three life terms plus 42 years in the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Bhisho for murdering three high school learners in Mdantsane, IOL reported on Friday, Oct. 30. He pleaded not guilty and was convicted after trial.

The victims. Somila Soso and twins Ume and Likuye Ndambiyane, all 17, were relaxing with a friend after finishing their examinations when they were attacked on Nov. 19, 2023, in a back room in NU1, Mdantsane, IOL reported. The twins had rented the room to be closer to their schools, Buchule and Mzomhle High Schools. Their friend was wounded but escaped, with a bullet lodged close to his spine, and reported the attack to the landlord.

The quarrel. The court heard that Jako killed the learners in revenge for a road rage altercation earlier that day, according to IOL. Jako had been driving under the influence of alcohol while taking a woman home when he drove into oncoming traffic, and a quarrel broke out with the other driver, who lived at the property where the learners were staying. The woman broke up the argument and was dropped off at her home.

The kidnapping. Shortly afterwards, the court heard, Jako returned to the woman’s home with another man and demanded that she show them where the other driver lived. When she refused, he pointed a firearm at her and forced her into his vehicle. At the property, Jako jumped the fence and went to the learners’ room. When the teenagers saw he was armed they tried to shut the door, but he forced it open, entered and opened fire, IOL reported.

Arrest and trial. Jako was arrested the following day and later abandoned his bail application. Senior State Advocate Nkululeko Mzinyathi led evidence from the kidnapped woman, the surviving learner and the driver from the earlier quarrel. The man who accompanied Jako was also charged but was acquitted; IOL reported his evidence was crucial in placing Jako at the scene. The court also heard Jako had a previous conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, for which he received a suspended five-year sentence.

The sentence. He received life on each murder count, 15 years for attempted murder, five years each for housebreaking with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and kidnapping, and three years on each count of discharging a firearm, pointing a firearm and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, IOL reported. Acting Judge Noluvo Mhlana agreed with the State that the murders were premeditated and that Jako had shown no remorse. “Their lives were cut short by the cruel and cowardly conduct of the accused. He shot them more than once in the chest and head, ensuring that they did not survive,” the judge said.

Reaction. Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Samkelo Mtwana commended Mzinyathi and investigating officer Sergeant Anele Mdodana, saying the sentence “sends a clear message that those who commit planned acts of extreme violence and unlawfully take the lives of others will face the full might of the law.”

Sources

• Road rage turned deadly: Taxi driver jailed for murdering three learners, IOL, Oct. 30, 2026

Kampala, Uganda: Assessors Advise Judges to Convict Three Men Over 2015 Assassination of Prosecutor Joan Kagezi

Location: International Crimes Division of the High Court, Kampala (Kagezi was shot in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb, about 7 p.m. on March 30, 2015)

Legal status: John Kibuuka, John Massajjage and Nasur Abdallah Mugonole on trial for murder; assessors’ opinion is non-binding; judgment set for Dec. 4, 2026, before a four-judge panel; presumed innocent

Court assessors at the International Crimes Division of Uganda’s High Court in Kampala have advised the trial judges to convict three men accused of taking part in the March 2015 assassination of Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Namazzi Kagezi, concluding that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the Daily Monitor and The Kampala Report reported on Thursday, Oct. 29. The Kampala Report said the opinion was delivered on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in case HCT-00-ICD-SC-0005-2025.

The opinion. Judith Muhairwe delivered a joint opinion on behalf of herself and a fellow assessor, singling out John Kibuuka, John Massajjage, also known as Mubiru Brian, Badru or Chongo, and Nasur Abdallah Mugonole for conviction on murder charges. In Uganda an assessor is a lay member of the public who sits with judges in high-profile criminal trials and gives a non-binding opinion before the verdict. Muhairwe said the state had established every element of the offence: the fact of death, its unlawfulness, malice aforethought and the direct participation of the three accused. The opinion is the final stage before judgment, which will be delivered by four High Court judges led by Justice Andrew Bashaija, with Justices Richard Wejuli Wabwire, Joyce Kavuma and Duncan Gaswaga. The three men are presumed innocent until that verdict.

The killing. Kagezi was leading the prosecution in the trial over the July 2010 Kampala twin bombings when she was shot dead at about 7 p.m. on March 30, 2015, in Kiwatule as she drove home with her children. Eyewitness testimony at trial indicated that Kibuuka shot her twice through the driver’s side window and checked that she was dead, then escaped on a motorcycle ridden by Massajjage while shots were fired into the air to scatter bystanders.

The evidence the assessors cited. The assessors pointed to cell-tower logs and technical analysis placing phone numbers registered to Kibuuka and Massajjage at the scene at the time of the shooting, and noted that neither man disputed owning the numbers in his defence. On malice aforethought, they said the attackers planned the killing carefully, lay in wait for the prosecutor and used firearms aimed at vital parts of her body. The court heard the gunmen were promised $200 each and received an advance of 500,000 Uganda shillings. The assessors also relied on cartridges, a recovered bullet head, crime scene reports and the testimony of a traditional healer from Kayunga District, Prosecution Witness 13, who said Massajjage, Mugonole and a co-accused visited his shrine soon after the shooting for rituals meant to shield them from arrest over a “big case.”

The fourth man. Another accused, Daniel Kisekka Kiwanuka, pleaded guilty earlier, agreed to testify for the state against his co-accused and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The prosecution’s theory. Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that the murder was a targeted hit meant to intimidate the public and disrupt state prosecutions in major terrorism-related cases. The Kampala Report said the prosecution’s case relied largely on Kisekka, who testified that the group used motorcycles to follow Kagezi, that Kibuuka fired the fatal shots, and that they had two firearms. She was hit in the neck and chest. The investigation and arrests took nearly nine years.

The defence. All three accused testified on oath and denied being directly responsible for her death, and sought to blame other people, including former senior police officers. Mugonole alleged that Kagezi had been under surveillance and that her phone was stolen and returned with a tracking device. Those claims are the accused’s allegations and are not findings of the court. A former senior police officer, Nixon Agasirwe Karuhanga, and Abdulnoor Ssemujju, known as Minana, face charges over the killing in a separate case that has not yet been heard. Judgment is scheduled for Dec. 4.

Sources

• Assessors advise court to convict three suspects in former prosecutor Joan Kagezi murder, Daily Monitor, Oct. 29, 2026
• Assessor Urges Conviction of Three Men in 2015 Killing of Prosecutor Joan Kagezi, The Kampala Report, Oct. 29, 2026

Ingolstadt, Germany: Ex-Husband Gets Life With Special Gravity of Guilt for Stabbing Tuğba P., 45, in the Street; Judge Rebukes Defence Nazi Comparison

Location: Landgericht Ingolstadt, Bavaria (the killing took place in the Piusviertel district on 5 Dec. 2025)

Legal status: Bülent K., 50, convicted of murder on 30 Oct. 2026 and sentenced to life with a finding of particular gravity of guilt; not yet final, the defence has filed an appeal on points of law (Revision); presumed innocent until the judgment is final under German law

The Ingolstadt Regional Court on Friday, 30 Oct., convicted Bülent K., 50, of murdering his ex-wife, Tuğba P., 45, who was stabbed at least 24 times in the open street in Ingolstadt’s Piusviertel on 5 Dec. 2025, and sentenced him to life in prison, the Augsburger Allgemeine reported from the courtroom. German media identify both by first name and initial under national press practice.

The verdict. Presiding judge Gerhard Reicherl announced a finding of the particular gravity of guilt, meaning Bülent K. cannot be released on probation after 15 years, as is otherwise possible in a German life sentence. The court rejected the defence’s request for a conviction for manslaughter (Totschlag) and found no diminished responsibility. The courtroom was full; the victim’s children wore T-shirts printed with their mother’s name and a colourful butterfly on the back, and many spectators held her photograph. When the judge finished, the gallery applauded and some wept. The defendant showed no reaction.

The Nazi comparison. In his closing speech on Thursday, defence lawyer Thomas Seifert said that once it had been “enough to be a Jew to be a criminal” and that with the MeToo movement and the spirit of the times Germany was heading there again, with his client judged for his sex and origin. Reicherl called the speech “almost unbearable,” at the limit of what a defence may presume, said the court had been likened to a Nazi court and the roles of perpetrator and victim reversed, which was “morally reprehensible.” He said the defendant was not convicted because he is a man or because he is Turkish, and that in his courtroom only German law and values, including equality between men and women, counted. Seifert later dismissed the criticism as “kicking the defence.”

The findings. The judge said that several organs were pierced multiple times and that there were bone injuries to the spine, showing an “absolute will to destroy.” The motive, the court found, was that Bülent K. would not allow his ex-wife a self-determined life and could not accept the separation; he repeatedly lay in wait for her and threatened her. Two days before the killing, a family judge told him he would go to prison if he kept breaching the Violence Protection Act, and the court found that he then decided to kill her so she could not live with her new partner while he was in custody. He brought the kitchen knife “quite deliberately,” Reicherl said.

Defence claims rejected. The judge called the claim that the defendant had feared his ex-wife “completely absurd and implausible,” saying: “The defendant would be the first stalker who is afraid of his stalking victim.” An alleged threat or insult by her before the attack never happened, he said: “That is a bubble of air, a pure insinuation by the defence.” The defence had also argued from her remark that it might be better if he killed her, so she would finally have peace, that she had been suicidal; the judge said this crossed “the limit of the unbearable.”

Aggravating factors. The court cited years of surveillance and the despair Tuğba P. lived in, noting she had used “all state help” available: complaints, court orders and an open probation. The only mitigating factor was the serious injuries he suffered when his sons kicked him immediately after the attack to protect their mother; prosecutors are investigating the two sons for dangerous bodily harm over those kicks. The judgment is not final.

Sources

• Urteil im Mordprozess: Große Anteilnahme und ein “fast unerträglicher” Nazi-Vergleich, Augsburger Allgemeine, Oct. 30, 2026

Nafpaktos, Greece: Appeal Court Again Sentences Andreas Roupakias to Life for Stabbing Businessman Spyros Karelis, 35, in His Shop

Location: Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Western Greece, sitting in Agrinio (the killing happened in the victim’s shop in Nafpaktos, Aetolia-Acarnania, on the afternoon of Feb. 5, 2021)

Legal status: Convicted of intentional homicide at first instance by the Mixed Jury Court of Lefkada and sentenced to life; conviction and life sentence upheld on appeal Oct. 30, 2026

The Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Western Greece, sitting in Agrinio, on Friday, Oct. 30, again sentenced Andreas Roupakias to life imprisonment for killing Spyros Karelis, a 35-year-old businessman stabbed inside his own shop in Nafpaktos in February 2021, thebest.gr, citing agrinionews.gr, and AgrinioSite reported. The ruling upholds the life sentence imposed at first instance by the Mixed Jury Court of Lefkada.

The appeal hearing. The second-instance trial opened on Thursday, Oct. 29, with prosecution witnesses, among them the victim’s mother, an eyewitness to the attack and relatives of the victim, thebest.gr and To Edolio 5 reported. On Friday, the second day, defence witnesses testified and the lawyers made their closing speeches. The presiding prosecutor proposed a guilty verdict for intentional homicide, thebest.gr reported. Defence lawyers I. Vlachos and P. Vamvakas asked the court to reclassify the offence as fatal bodily harm and to find diminished responsibility, focusing on the defendant’s psychological state. The court rejected their arguments and again imposed life, thebest.gr reported. AgrinioSite, citing Nafpaktianews.gr, reported that the defendant’s requests were rejected and the first-instance ruling stands. The appeal had been postponed months earlier because the defendant was ill and because some lawyers on both sides had prior professional commitments, according to thebest.gr.

The attack. Karelis was attacked inside his shop on the afternoon of Feb. 5, 2021, according to the accounts published by thebest.gr and To Edolio 5. According to what became known from the investigation, the motive cited was the attacker’s belief that Karelis stood in the way of his attempt to start a romantic relationship with a woman who was a friend of the victim. The attacker entered the shop and stabbed Karelis, fatally wounding him. A customer who was in the shop at the time ran into the street in terror, seeking help. Karelis was taken to hospital but, despite the doctors’ efforts, died of his injuries.

The flight and arrest. After the attack, according to the same reports, the attacker got on his motorcycle, which he had parked across from the shop, and rode off towards Amygdalia in Phocis, his place of origin. His escape did not last long: police located and arrested him.

The first trial. At the first-instance trial before the Mixed Jury Court of Lefkada, Roupakias admitted the act and was sentenced to life, while the defence raised questions about his mental state, thebest.gr and To Edolio 5 reported. thebest.gr, citing agriniopress.gr, described the killing as a crime committed essentially without reason.

The community. The case caused deep shock and revulsion in Nafpaktos, local outlets reported, and AgrinioSite described Karelis as a well-loved businessman whose killing caused deep grief in the local community.

The 2022 hearing. Npress reported in June 2022 that Roupakias confessed during the Lefkada hearing and that the sentence was life plus nine months for illegal possession and use of a weapon; the courtroom broke into applause at the sentence. The presiding prosecutor there said he had acted coolly and with targeted actions and proposed a guilty verdict with no mitigating circumstances. The court rejected the defence argument that he acted in the heat of passion, as well as testimony from a psychiatrist retained by his family who described psychosis bordering on schizophrenia.

The eyewitness. A friend of Karelis who was in the shop testified in 2022 that the attacker came in holding a knife and wearing a full face motorcycle helmet, put Karelis in a headlock and stabbed him beside the ear, Npress reported. “Spyros held on for another five days,” the friend said. Friends of Karelis told the court he did not even know the accused, and the presiding judge noted that posts the accused had made about Karelis and his mother on several Facebook profiles were abusive.

Sources

• Αγρίνιο: Ισόβια και σε δεύτερο βαθμό για την υπόθεση της δολοφονίας του 35χρονου Σπύρου Καρέλη στη Ναύπακτο, thebest.gr, Oct. 30, 2026
• Ξανά ισόβια στον δράστη της δολοφονίας του Σπύρου Καρέλη στη Ναύπακτο, AgrinioSite, Oct. 30, 2026
• Στο Εφετείο η δολοφονία του Σπύρου Καρέλη, To Edolio 5, Oct. 29, 2026
• Στο ΜΟΕ Αγρινίου η υπόθεση δολοφονίας του Σπύρου Καρέλη στη Ναύπακτο, thebest.gr, Oct. 29, 2026
• Δολοφονία Σπύρου Καρέλη: Καταδικάστηκε σε ισόβια ο φονιάς, Npress, June 6, 2022

Nenagh, Ireland: Social Worker Tells Murder Trial Josie Ray, 89, Was Afraid to Go Home Before Her Death

Location: Central Criminal Court, Dublin (the death occurred at St Joseph’s Park, Nenagh, Co Tipperary)

Legal status: Hasan Ali Gori, 52, has pleaded not guilty to murder; trial continuing; presumed innocent

A social worker told a jury at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, Oct. 29, that Josephine “Josie” Ray, 89, became nervous and anxious whenever the name of the man now on trial for her murder came up, and that she did not want to return to her own home in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, in the months before she died there in August 2024, RTÉ News reported.

The accused. Hasan Ali Gori, 52, originally from Chad and with an address at St Joseph’s Park, Nenagh, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Ray on Aug. 4, 2024. He was living in the widow’s home because he was in a relationship with her daughter, who has an intellectual disability. The prosecution, led by senior counsel Lorcan Connolly, says Mr Gori strangled and suffocated Ms Ray in her bedroom. He denies it.

The social worker. Sharlene Hegarty, a social worker based in Nenagh, said she met Ms Ray five times in April and May 2024 after the pensioner was discharged from hospital following treatment for a broken hip. Ms Ray went to stay with another daughter across the road from her own house. “That was a concern to me,” Ms Hegarty said of Ms Ray’s reaction to the defendant’s name. She told the court Ms Ray said, “No, no, I’m happy here. I don’t want to go back there,” and on one occasion said she was not going back until her daughter’s partner had left the house. She did not want to go to a nursing home. “She was afraid of what Hasan would do to her daughter,” Ms Hegarty said, adding that had she held statutory power at the time she would have insisted Ms Ray be placed in a nursing home.

Cross-examination. Aidan Doyle SC, for the defence, put to her a note in which she had written that it seemed the daughter had a hold over Ms Ray. Ms Hegarty replied that Ms Ray was like any Irish mother looking out for her daughter, putting her needs above her own. “She was always worried about [her daughter] and what would happen to [her daughter],” she said.

His statement. Garda Colum Godfrey told the jury he took a voluntary statement from Mr Gori on the day Ms Ray’s body was found, when the accused was outside the house as gardaí arrived. In it, read to the jury, Mr Gori said he came to Ireland from Chad in 2012, lived in Dublin and Tralee and then in hostel accommodation in Galway, and met the daughter and Ms Ray in Eyre Square in 2014 when they were looking for the bus station. He said he later stayed at weekends and then moved in. He said he went to bed at 9pm the night before, woke during the night, and slept until 9.30am. He said the daughter went to her mother’s room at about 11.30am, that Ms Ray did not wake up, and that he did not go into the bedroom. He said he thought a grandson rang the ambulance.

Interviews. In interviews after his arrest, played to the jury in transcript, Mr Gori said he had not seen Ms Ray that Sunday and could not say what happened while he slept. Detective Garda Martin Connolly asked why he had not mentioned in his first statement that gardaí came to the house the night before after a call about a domestic disturbance. “They did not ask me that,” he replied. It was put to him that gardaí had been called to the house 10 times in 2024, and he was asked why an 89-year-old woman had to leave her home because of his behaviour. “I don’t have behaviour,” he said. “I go to council looking for my own house.” He said Josie always came back.

The trial continues before a jury at the Central Criminal Court. Mr Gori is presumed innocent.

Oct. 30 update. On Friday the jury heard extracts of three and a half hours of audio recorded on Hasan Ali Gori’s phone the night before Ray was found dead, and watched his July 2025 Garda interview, RTÉ reported. The prosecution alleges he can be heard saying “Murder her”; in the interview he denied saying that, and when it was put to him that he choked Ray he replied, “Please, Mr Detective, I know nothing. It’s a false allegation.” He has pleaded not guilty. Mr Justice Sean Gillane told the jury the trial is expected to conclude next week.

Sources

• Social worker tells murder trial of concern for pensioner, RTÉ News, Oct. 29, 2026
• Man denied choking Tipperary pensioner, murder trial told, RTÉ, Oct. 30, 2026

Fano, Italy: Luca Ricci’s 30-Year Sentence for Killing His Parents, Giuseppe Ricci and Luisa Marconi, Becomes Final

Location: Corte d’Assise di Pesaro (the killings happened in the couple’s flat on via Fanella, Fano, Marche, on the night of June 23 to 24, 2024)

Legal status: Convicted in March 2026 of the double murder of his parents, with the aggravating factors of futile motives and kinship; sentence of 30 years plus three years of supervised liberty became final, as reported Oct. 30, 2026, after neither side appealed

The 30-year prison sentence imposed on Luca Ricci, a 50-year-old carpenter who confessed to killing his parents in their flat on via Fanella in Fano, has become final because neither the prosecution nor the defence appealed, Corriere Adriatico and VeraTV reported on Friday, Oct. 30. The victims were his father, Giuseppe Ricci, 75, a former carpenter, and his mother, Luisa Marconi, 70, a homemaker, Corriere Adriatico and ANSA reported; VeraTV gave the mother’s first name as Lucia.

The killings. According to the prosecution case reported by Corriere Adriatico, Ricci strangled his mother with a telephone cable and struck his father with a hammer as he slept. VeraTV reported the father was hit eleven times in the head. After the killings Ricci gave several versions of events, from a staged robbery to a confession, VeraTV reported. In his immediate confession, Corriere Adriatico reported, he said: «Non è una cosa concepibile quello che ho fatto. Non mi ricordo i fatti», what I did is inconceivable, I do not remember what happened.

The motive alleged. Prosecutors said the motive was money. According to the prosecution, Ricci had to find 12,000 euros as a deposit by the morning of June 24, 2024, to keep his parents from being evicted from their home, which had been sold at auction because of an unpaid bank mortgage taken out for their son, Corriere Adriatico reported. That morning he was due to hand the money to the new owner so the elderly couple could stay on as tenants; the owner had asked for two years’ rent in advance. VeraTV reported that, according to the prosecutor, the parents did not know about the negotiations. ANSA put the sum at 14,000 euros.

The March verdict. On March 25, 2026, after about three and a half hours of deliberation, the Corte d’Assise di Pesaro, presided over by Lorena Mussoni with judge Andrea Piersantelli and a popular jury, sentenced Ricci to 30 years, ANSA and Corriere Adriatico reported. Prosecutor Maria Letizia Fucci had asked for life with six months of daytime isolation, telling the court: «Quanto vale la vita dei genitori? Dodicimila mila euro?», what is the life of one’s parents worth, twelve thousand euros? The court excluded the aggravating factors of premeditation and cruelty, granted general mitigating circumstances, and upheld the aggravating factors of futile motives and kinship. ANSA reported the court also barred him from public office, ordered him to pay costs and ordered the seizure of two flats in Fano, a car, a phone, two computers and a watch. His sister, his two children, both minors at the time, and his former wife did not join as civil parties, Corriere Adriatico reported.

The court’s reasoning. In its written reasons, quoted by VeraTV and Corriere Adriatico, the court described the killings as the «culmine di una condizione psicologica di profondo disagio», the culmination of deep psychological distress, and described Ricci as «una persona mite e riservata, dedita al lavoro, ma schiacciata da una vita tormentata», a mild, reserved, hard-working man crushed by a tormented life marked by a difficult childhood and failed plans.

Why no appeal. Defence lawyers Alfredo Torsani and Luca Gregori said they chose not to appeal given the court’s substantial acceptance of their arguments on premeditation and cruelty. «Nessuno esce vincente da questo processo», no one comes out of this trial a winner, they said, adding that the crime deeply shook the whole community.

Sources

• Uccise i genitori per debiti nell’abitazione di Fano in via Fanella, sconterà 30 anni: nessun ricorso, condanna definitiva per Luca Ricci, Corriere Adriatico, Oct. 30, 2026
• Omicidio via Fanella, sentenza di condanna a 30 anni definitiva per Luca Ricci, VeraTV, Oct. 30, 2026
• Uccise i genitori nella casa di Fano, 30 anni di carcere per Luca Ricci, Corriere Adriatico, Mar. 26, 2026
• Uccise i genitori, condannato a 30 anni di carcere e tre di libertà vigilata, ANSA, Mar. 25, 2026

Giarratana, Italy: Cassation Court Makes Mariano Barresi’s 30-Year Sentence Final for Killing His Sister-in-Law, Rosalba Dell’Albani

Location: Corte di Cassazione, Rome (the killing happened in a family building in Giarratana, province of Ragusa, Sicily, before dawn on March 4, 2023)

Legal status: Convicted of aggravated murder; 30 years confirmed on appeal in April 2026; appeal to the Corte di Cassazione declared inadmissible, as reported Oct. 30, 2026, making the sentence final

Italy’s Corte di Cassazione has declared inadmissible the appeal filed by Mariano Barresi, a 67-year-old retiree convicted of murdering his sister-in-law, Rosalba Dell’Albani, in Giarratana in March 2023, making his 30-year sentence final, La Sicilia and RagusaOggi reported on Friday, Oct. 30. The appeal was filed by his lawyer, Christian Parisi, RagusaOggi reported. La Sicilia gave the victim’s age as 51; RagusaOggi and ANSA gave it as 52.

The conviction. Barresi was convicted of murder aggravated by having acted in circumstances that hindered private defence, RagusaOggi reported. He was first tried before the Corte d’Assise di Siracusa. In April 2026 the Corte d’Assise d’Appello di Catania confirmed the 30-year sentence in full, refusing the defence request for general mitigating circumstances based on the confession he gave immediately after the killing, La Sicilia reported. He followed the reading of the appeal ruling by video link, after the public prosecutor waived a rebuttal, and the court said it would file its written reasons within 30 days, La Sicilia reported. The accessory penalties also stand: a permanent ban from public office, legal disqualification for the length of the sentence and payment of trial and prison upkeep costs. He must pay just under 1.3 million euros to the victim’s husband and three children, who joined the case as civil parties represented by lawyer Gianluca Nobile, La Sicilia reported.

The killing. According to ANSA’s report on the day, Dell’Albani was killed with a kitchen knife while she slept on a small bed beside her bedridden mother, whom she cared for at night. The two-storey building was home to two of her sisters and to the mother, who lived on the ground floor; Barresi, married to one of the sisters, lived on the second floor, and the internal doors of the three homes were kept open. According to the first reconstruction reported by ANSA, he came down armed with the knife, killed her and left the weapon at the scene, then went to the first floor, told another sister-in-law he had killed Rosalba, and returned to his flat, where carabinieri found him after a relative called them. He told them he had “fatto una fesseria,” done something stupid, ANSA reported.

The confession. Questioned at the Ragusa provincial carabinieri command before prosecutor Fabio D’Anna and deputy prosecutor Emanuele Ferdinando Vadalà, Barresi confessed, ANSA reported. He said he had felt depressed since retiring two years earlier, though there was no medical certificate, and said he did not know why he had killed her because there had been no conflict with his sister-in-law. Relatives also ruled out earlier family disputes, ANSA reported.

Who she was. Dell’Albani was the wife and mother of carabinieri: her husband was a brigadiere serving in Ragusa, one son was a carabiniere in Calabria, another was serving in the military in Trapani and the third was a student, ANSA reported. A friend described her as a devout Catholic who had devoted her life to caring for her sick mother. In 2023, Mayor Lino Giaquinta called the killing an inexplicable tragedy and announced a torchlight vigil and a day of civic mourning.

Sources

• Omicidio Dell’Albani a Giarratana, definitiva la condanna a 30 anni per Mariano Barresi, La Sicilia, Oct. 30, 2026
• Omicidio di Giarratana, la Cassazione chiude il caso: 30 anni definitivi a Barresi, RagusaOggi, Oct. 30, 2026
• Omicidio di Giarratana, confermata in appello la condanna a 30 anni di carcere, La Sicilia, Apr. 1, 2026
• Donna uccisa a coltellate nel Ragusano, arrestato il cognato, ANSA, Mar. 4, 2023

Lublin, Poland: Two Former Police Officers Convicted Over the 2020 Death of Tomasz K. During an Arrest, Overturning Their Earlier Acquittal

Location: Sąd Rejonowy Lublin-Wschód, sitting in Świdnik (the arrest was near ul. Łęczyńska and Droga Męczenników Majdanka, Lublin, on Aug. 25, 2020)

Legal status: Convicted on retrial of exceeding their powers and unintentionally causing death; one year in prison, suspended for three years, each; sentenced Oct. 30, 2026; not final, and the defence says it will appeal

The Sąd Rejonowy Lublin-Wschód, sitting in Świdnik, on Friday, Oct. 30, convicted two former Lublin police officers, identified under Polish practice as Arkadiusz K. and Wojciech K., of exceeding their powers and unintentionally causing the death of Tomasz K., a 36-year-old man they detained in August 2020, Kurier Lubelski, Dziennik Wschodni and Lublin112 reported. Each was given one year in prison, suspended for a three-year probation period. The verdict is not final.

The sentence. Judge Andrzej Skubis also banned each man from serving as a police officer for three years and ordered each to pay 20,000 złoty in compensation to the dead man’s sister, Kurier Lubelski reported. In mitigation, the judge cited their clean records and good service before the incident, saying they “do czasu niefortunnego zdarzenia byli osobami niekaranymi, mieli pozytywną opinię,” that is, they had no convictions and good references until the incident. He said the probation period would let them show the conduct was a one-off. Kurier Lubelski gave their ages as 42 for Wojciech K. and 49 for Arkadiusz K.

The arrest. Lublin112 reported that shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2020, police received several calls about an aggressive man walking along Droga Męczenników Majdanka, hitting and kicking passers-by. Plainclothes officers saw him near the junction with ul. Łęczyńska attack an older woman. When they approached, he ran, shouting that they should leave him alone because he was mentally ill. The officers caught him near the gates of the Agencja Mienia Wojskowego (Military Property Agency) building, where a surveillance camera recorded part of the arrest. He lost consciousness and showed no vital signs; officers and paramedics attempted resuscitation for several dozen minutes without success, Lublin112 reported.

What the court found. Prosecutors charged that the officers threw him to the ground, handcuffed his hands behind his back and pressed on his body with knees and hands, restricting his breathing; experts described restrictive asphyxia. In his oral reasons, Skubis said the intervention itself was “całkowicie uzasadniona,” fully justified, but that the force used was inadequate and excessive. He said Wojciech K. struck Tomasz K. in the neck with his right elbow and then used a choking neck hold with his left forearm, lifting him off the ground, before both men pinned him face down. According to the court’s calculations reported by Dziennik Wschodni, Tomasz K. spent nearly seven minutes on his stomach, about six of them with his legs bent at the knee. The judge identified three moments when the officers could simply have handcuffed him, including at the gate, where he stood with his arms lowered and no way to flee. He said Tomasz K. asked to be released from the pressure, his voice was rasping and saliva or foam came from his mouth, signs the officers should have heeded.

The road to this verdict. In May 2025 the same lower court acquitted both men, calling the death a tragic combination of circumstances, Dziennik Wschodni reported. Prosecutors appealed, and in September 2025 the Sąd Okręgowy w Lublinie overturned the acquittal and ordered a retrial, citing a flawed assessment of the evidence and insufficient analysis of the surveillance video, Kurier Lubelski reported. Citing Radio Zet, Kurier Lubelski reported that an internal police inquiry found errors; Arkadiusz K. retired and Wojciech K. was dismissed. Both men have denied guilt from the start.

Reaction. Tomasz K.’s sister, who told Lublin112 her brother was being treated for paranoid schizophrenia and was not aggressive, said after the verdict that she felt “ogromną ulgę,” enormous relief, after years of attending hearings. Defence lawyer Stanisław Estreich said he would appeal, arguing that the officers acted in the public interest and could not have known restrictive asphyxia was occurring.

Sources

• Mężczyzna zginął w czasie policyjnej interwencji. Zapadł wyrok ws. byłych funkcjonariuszy, Kurier Lubelski, Oct. 30, 2026
• Po sześciu latach wyrok w sprawie śmierci Tomasza K. Dwaj byli policjanci skazani, Dziennik Wschodni, Oct. 30, 2026
• Śmierć 36-latka podczas interwencji na Łęczyńskiej. Byli policjanci najpierw uniewinnieni, teraz skazani, Lublin112, Oct. 30, 2026
• Śmierć podczas policyjnej interwencji. Sąd skazał dwóch byłych funkcjonariuszy, Radio Lublin, Oct. 30, 2026

A Coruña, Spain: Vicente Dopico Peña Gets 14 Years for Strangling His Wife, Mercedes, After Filming and Insulting Her on the Floor

Location: Audiencia Provincial de A Coruña, Galicia (the killing happened at the couple’s home on Avenida de Gran Canaria on Aug. 1, 2024)

Legal status: Convicted by a jury of homicide with aggravating factors of gender and kinship, plus a crime against moral integrity and humiliation; sentenced Oct. 29, 2026; not final, may be appealed to the Tribunal Superior de Xustiza de Galicia

The Audiencia Provincial de A Coruña on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced Vicente Dopico Peña to a total of 14 years in prison for strangling his wife, Mercedes, at their home on Avenida de Gran Canaria in August 2024, in line with the verdict of a popular jury, La Voz de Galicia, Europa Press and COPE reported. La Voz gave his age as 76; El Español’s Quincemil gave it as 78.

The sentence. He received 13 years for homicide, of a maximum 15, with the aggravating circumstances of gender and kinship, plus a 21-year ban on living in the municipality of A Coruña and supervised release after he serves his term. He received a further year for a crime against moral integrity, with the same aggravating factors and the mitigating factor of confession, and 30 days of permanent home confinement for humiliation, also mitigated by confession. He must pay compensation to the victim’s four children and two sisters, Quincemil reported. The ruling is not final and can be appealed to the TSXG.

The court’s findings. In the proven facts, the presiding magistrate wrote that “la convivencia entre el matrimonio se hallaba deteriorada desde hacía tiempo y ello como consecuencia, esencialmente, del trato vejatorio y denigrante que el acusado dispensó a su esposa, aunque no lo había denunciado,” meaning the marriage had long been damaged by his degrading treatment of her, though she never reported it. On the day, the ruling says, when she was intoxicated and unable to get up from the floor, “la estranguló con sus manos,” he strangled her with his hands. After weighing the verdict and the expert and witness evidence, the magistrate found eventual intent rather than negligence.

The night. According to the jury’s account reported by La Voz, he came home around 11 p.m. after a day of fishing, found his wife drunk, argued with her and went to watch a tennis match. He testified she went to bed and that around 1 a.m. he heard a thud and found her on the floor, unable to rise. He took out his phone and began recording her while insulting her, which he said he did to protect himself because he believed she might one day die from her addiction. The jury did not believe him, concluding that after years of conflict and mistreatment he decided to end her life and wrapped his hands around her neck while she was defenceless. COPE reported the moral-integrity conviction relates to those videos.

The verdict. The prosecution and private accusers had sought a murder conviction and 26 and a half years. The jury had three options, homicide, murder or not guilty. It deliberated for two days after hearing the parties and witnesses and studying the expert reports, and returned its unanimous verdict on Oct. 20. It chose homicide because it did not find alevosía, the treachery aggravant that turns homicide into murder under Spanish law, leaving a range of 10 to 15 years. He had argued she fell. During the trial, three of the couple’s four children testified that he killed her, and Quincemil reported the children described prior abuse.

Sources

• La Audiencia Provincial condena a 14 años de cárcel al hombre que estranguló a su mujer en A Coruña, La Voz de Galicia, Oct. 29, 2026
• La Audiencia Provincial condena a 14 años de cárcel al hombre que estranguló a su mujer en A Coruña, Europa Press, Oct. 29, 2026
• La Audiencia Provincial condena a 14 años de cárcel al hombre acusado de estrangular a su mujer en A Coruña, El Español Quincemil, Oct. 29, 2026
• Condenan a 14 años de cárcel al hombre que mató a su mujer en la avenida de Gran Canaria de A Coruña: “La estranguló con sus manos”, COPE, Oct. 29, 2026

Alcobendas, Spain: Jury Finds Two Men Guilty of Murder in Daylight Beating That Left a 45-Year-Old Dying Naked in the Street

Location: Audiencia Provincial de Madrid (the attack happened on Avenida del Doctor Severo Ochoa, Alcobendas, on May 3, 2024)

Legal status: Two men, 47 and 48, found guilty of asesinato (murder) by a jury on Oct. 30, 2026; sentence to follow; prosecutors seek 16 years each; may be appealed

A popular jury at the Audiencia Provincial de Madrid on Friday, Oct. 30, found two men guilty of murdering a 45-year-old man identified as L. G., who was kicked and beaten in broad daylight on Avenida del Doctor Severo Ochoa in Alcobendas, north of Madrid, on May 3, 2024, Europa Press reported, citing legal sources. The verdict was read in public; the presiding magistrate will now set the sentence.

What the jury accepted. The jury found both defendants responsible for the fatal assault. Spanish reports identify one by the initials O. A. P. and the other by his first name, David. Cadena SER gave their ages as 47 and 48 and said the beating happened outside number 19 on the avenue. The prosecution had argued from the start that the case was murder, not homicide.

The attack. According to the prosecution’s account, at about 1:17 p.m. the two men approached L. G., whom they knew, and began arguing. O. A. P. grabbed his arm and, after a violent exchange, they struck him with a hard slap that knocked him to the ground. Both then kicked him repeatedly in the head and side although he could no longer defend himself, and walked away leaving him naked except for his socks. Passers-by called police; in a 112 emergency call played in court, a caller said “tres personas se estaban pegando,” three people were fighting. Policía Nacional officers arrested the men a few metres away. When officers arrived L. G. was still alive and identified his attackers, SER reported. He died minutes later from a traumatic rupture of the spleen that caused haemorrhagic hypovolaemic shock; the autopsy found the injuries incompatible with life.

The defence and the evidence. After their arrest the two men said the victim had stolen a mobile phone from them the night before. His mother told the court her son had spent that night with her. At trial, one defendant denied taking part and blamed the other. Police found no biological traces of the victim on him, but found blood on the other man’s trainers and hands. In closing, the prosecutor cited an eyewitness and the forensic doctors to argue that the many injuries were so serious they would have killed anyone. “Hay prueba suficiente para considerar acreditado que con su actuación conjunta le causaron la muerte,” she said: there is enough evidence that by acting together they caused his death.

What prosecutors want. The Fiscalía de Madrid kept the charge as murder but cut its request from 18 to 16 years in prison for each man in its final report on Oct. 22, accepting the mitigating factor of alcohol intoxication because drinking had reduced their capacity to control their will. It also asked for five years of supervised release for David, who has been diagnosed with chronic alcohol abuse, and 190,000 euros in compensation for the victim’s family. The trial was declared ready for judgment last week after closing reports. Sentence has not yet been passed, and both men can appeal.

Sources

• Un jurado declara culpables de asesinato a los acusados de matar a golpes a un hombre en Alcobendas, Europa Press, Oct. 30, 2026
• La fiscal rebaja a 16 años la petición de cárcel para los acusados de una paliza mortal en Alcobendas, Europa Press, Oct. 22, 2026
• Visto para sentencia el juicio por la paliza mortal a plena luz del día en Alcobendas, Cadena SER, Oct. 22, 2026

Södertälje, Sweden: Isabell Eriksson and Joel Engback Sentenced to Life for Contract Shooting That Killed an 18-Year-Old in Fornhöjden

Location: Södertälje District Court (the shooting happened at Fornhöjden centre, Södertälje, on the evening of Oct. 24, 2025; case B 3467-25)

Legal status: Convicted of murder, two attempted murders and aggravated weapons offences; life imprisonment on Oct. 30, 2026; both will appeal

Södertälje District Court on Friday, Oct. 30, sentenced a man and a woman to life imprisonment for murder, two attempted murders and an aggravated weapons offence over a shooting that killed an 18-year-old man in a car in Fornhöjden a year earlier, the court said in a statement. Aftonbladet named them as Isabell Eriksson, 34, and Joel Engback, 30. SVT gave the man’s age as 29.

The shooting. On Oct. 24, 2025, a car carrying three friends was hit by several shots in Fornhöjden centre, according to the court and Aftonbladet. The driver, an 18-year-old man, was killed. Dagens Nyheter reported that a 20-year-old passenger suffered fractures and a nerve injury, and the third man escaped physically unharmed. The two suspects fled in a blue Audi and were arrested after a police chase, Aftonbladet reported. The victim was not named in the reports.

The court’s findings. The court found that the two had been recruited through Signal chats to carry out the crime and had planned it with each other and others, reconnoitred the site and fetched the weapon. It found it proven that the man fired the shots. The woman was convicted as a perpetrator because her participation was “extensive and qualified,” the court said; SVT reported that she drove the car, took part in the planning and watched for the targets. “It has been a well planned murder that had the character of a pure execution. The shooting was aimed at people in a car with no chance of defending themselves,” presiding judge Ulrika Åkerdahl said in the statement.

According to Dagens Nyheter, the court said a chat compilation showed the pair actively seeking assignments in the criminal milieu, that the chats referred as early as Oct. 18 to a “jappjobb,” and that what was discussed was without doubt killing. The court judged the motive to be financial and the killing to have taken place in a criminal network context. Aftonbladet reported the court wrote that the pair had taken on a murder contract from an unknown person for an agreed payment, and that according to the investigation they called themselves “Bonnie and Clyde.” Police said the killing stemmed from a conflict between criminal networks in Södertälje, SVT reported.

The skipped sentence. Eriksson was convicted in April 2025 of an aggravated drug offence and given three years, and should have reported to the Prison and Probation Service on Oct. 23, the day before the killing, SVT and Dagens Nyheter reported. She never turned up.

The defence. Both initially denied the crimes but admitted parts of the events at trial, SVT reported; the woman said she believed the aim was to shoot to scare, not to kill. Her lawyer, Rebecka Lewis, said the verdict would be appealed immediately: “The district court has made an incorrect assessment.” The man’s lawyer, Alexander Berg, told Dagens Nyheter they were “very disappointed” and would also appeal. Prosecutor Robert Damberg told SVT that who held the pistol was not decisive, because the two had carried out the assignment together.

Sources

• Dom i mål om mord och mordförsök, Södertälje tingsrätt, Oct. 30, 2026
• Kvinna skulle avtjäna fängelsestraff, döms för morduppdrag i Södertälje, SVT Nyheter, Oct. 30, 2026
• Man och kvinna får livstid för mord i Södertälje, Dagens Nyheter, Oct. 30, 2026
• Paret döms till livstids fängelse, Aftonbladet, Oct. 30, 2026

Ramsgate, England: Tyla Wharmby Found Guilty of Murdering His Girlfriend’s 13-Week-Old Son, Hunter Hodges

Location: Canterbury Crown Court, Kent (the baby was taken to hospital in Margate on 15 July 2022 and died in London that day)

Legal status: Tyla Wharmby, 24, convicted by a jury on 29 October 2026 of murder and grievous bodily harm with intent; awaiting sentence

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, 29 October, found Tyla Wharmby, 24, of Prestedge Avenue, Ramsgate, guilty of murdering his girlfriend’s 13-week-old son, Hunter Hodges, and of causing him grievous bodily harm with intent, BBC News reported. He had pleaded not guilty to both offences. He is not Hunter’s biological father.

The night of 14 to 15 July 2022. The court heard that Wharmby was caring for the baby overnight while the child’s mother slept. In the morning she called 999. “My two-month-old son woke up this morning with a swollen head,” she told the call handler. “It’s really, really squishy. Every time I touch his head he screams.” The jury heard that Wharmby had visited a pornography website about 10 minutes before the mother called for an ambulance for the “lifeless” infant. Hunter was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, then airlifted to a London hospital, where he died after a cardiac arrest that afternoon.

The medical evidence. Prosecutors said Hunter suffered a “severe direct impact” to the head comparable to injuries seen in “a high-speed motorcycle collision or a multi-level fall.” Forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary told jurors the injuries were the result of severe trauma such as being “thrown to floor or against a solid direct upright surface.” Consultant paediatric neurosurgeon Amedeo Calisto said: “Everything that could have been broken was broken here.” Professor Safa Al-Sarraj, a consultant neuropathologist, said he found signs the child had earlier suffered a traumatic brain injury through “a similar shaking action,” most likely within the month before he died. Wharmby denied shaking the baby.

Earlier hospital visits. The court heard Hunter had been taken to the Margate hospital several times in the weeks before his death with repeated vomiting, mottled skin and more frequent crying, symptoms the jury was told are associated with shaken baby syndrome. On one visit his mother told staff: “Look he is really not OK. I’m not going to keep coming back up here to be rushed off with antibiotics.”

What he told police. Hospital staff in Kent alerted police, and Wharmby’s conversation with an officer was recorded. He said he woke at 04:00 to give Hunter Calpol and a bottle, then woke about half an hour later to find the baby “screaming” with a swollen back of the head. “I took him into his mum, we called an ambulance and now we are here,” he said. He was arrested later the same day.

Police. “This was a deeply distressing case,” said Det Insp Adam Marshall of Kent Police. “Throughout this lengthy and incredibly difficult process, Hunter’s loved ones have shown remarkable courage and strength. Despite their immense grief, they provided vital evidence and remained steadfast in their support of the investigation. Our thoughts remain with them as they continue to come to terms with their loss.”

Next. Wharmby is due to be sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court at a later date. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in England, with the judge setting the minimum term to be served.

Sources

• Man found guilty of murdering 13-week-old baby in Kent, BBC News, Oct. 29, 2026

Armidale, Australia: Vincent Raymond Blair Charged With Murdering Partner of Three Decades Maria Brown Despite Active AVO

Location: Rockvale Road unit complex, Armidale, northern New South Wales (the stabbing happened about 2:15 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, local time)

Legal status: Vincent Raymond Blair, 53, charged with murder; bail formally refused; next appearance Dec. 16; presumed innocent

A 53-year-old man has been charged with murder after Maria Brown, 48, his de facto partner of about three decades, was stabbed to death inside a unit on Rockvale Road in Armidale in northern New South Wales early on Thursday, Oct. 29, local time, 7NEWS and AAP reported.

What police said. Officers and NSW Ambulance paramedics were called to the complex about 2:15 a.m. 7NEWS reported that police found Brown with multiple stab wounds, including critical injuries to her neck, and that paramedics treated her but she died at the scene. Vincent Raymond Blair, 53, was arrested at the unit and later charged with murder. Police said Blair called triple zero from the home the couple shared. Inspector Greg Ryan said the death was being treated as a domestic violence related murder, that initial inquiries indicated the pair were in a de facto relationship, that no children were present and that Blair was known to police. AAP quoted him as saying both parties were known to authorities.

The protection order. Court records show an apprehended violence order was in force to protect Brown from Blair at the time of her death, 7NEWS reported. The allegations have not been tested in court.

The investigation. Police established a crime scene and seized a knife, which is undergoing forensic testing. Detectives have spoken to witnesses, including other residents of the complex. “Obviously, this is devastating for the family, and we will continue to support the family and the community around this incident,” Ryan said. He told reporters that first responders faced a confronting scene. “These scenes are obviously quite tragic for emergency services to attend, as you can imagine, based on the circumstances, what that would be like,” he said. “It’s not a nice job to go to.” Brown’s family has been notified.

Who she was. A friend told 7NEWS: “She was a beautiful mum … a best friend, a sister… and loved by many people.”

In court. Blair appeared in court on Thursday. His lawyer made no application for release, and bail was formally refused. He is due to appear again at an Armidale court by video link on Dec. 16. He has not entered a plea and is presumed innocent.

The wider picture. Ryan urged anyone experiencing domestic violence, or worried about someone at risk, to seek help. “A focus of what we do is domestic violence response. We’re there to support victims, and this can happen to anybody,” he said. “We respond to a domestic violence incident one in every three minutes.” Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Delia Donovan told AAP that women in regional areas face extra barriers to safety, including housing shortages, long distances, limited transport, workforce shortages and inadequate justice infrastructure. She welcomed government funding but said that in the regions, availability does not necessarily mean accessibility. “We need funding models that reflect the true cost of delivering specialist DFV services in regional and remote areas,” she said. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or Armidale Police. Support is available through 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

Sources

• Woman identified after alleged murder by longtime partner, 7NEWS, Oct. 29, 2026
• Murder charge laid after partner’s alleged DV stabbing, AAP, Oct. 29, 2026

Coffs Harbour, Australia: “I’ll Never Forgive Him,” Mother Tells Court as Man Convicted of Murdering Her Two-Year-Old Son Faces Sentence

Location: NSW Supreme Court, Sydney (child injured at a home in Coffs Harbour, NSW Mid North Coast, on or before May 23, 2022)

Legal status: Man, 40, who cannot be named for legal reasons, convicted of murder by a jury in July 2026; sentencing hearing heard victim impact statements Oct. 30, 2026, and resumes Dec. 2

The mother of a two-year-old boy murdered on the New South Wales Mid North Coast told the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday, Oct. 30, that she will never forgive the former partner convicted of killing him, ABC News reported. The 40-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of murder by a jury in July after a four-week trial. The child is not named in reporting.

The statements. “He changed my life in ways that can never be undone. I’ll never forgive him,” the mother said. “He absolutely destroyed my life and there is simply no forgiving that.” She said meeting him was the biggest mistake of her life and that she hoped to find closure once he was sentenced. “He will never tell, so we will never know. We will have to carry that burden forever.” The boy’s father said: “My whole life started a downward spiral when my son was murdered. My enjoyment of life has been sucked out of my soul.” A statement from the boy’s older brother said he was angry “he isn’t here anymore.” “I miss playing cars with him,” it said. “I have all of his toys in my room but it’s not really fun to play with them myself.”

The death. The jury heard that on the morning of May 23, 2022, the toddler’s mother found him unresponsive when she tried to wake him at their Coffs Harbour home. He was flown to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, where he died of a catastrophic brain injury two days later. An autopsy found a fractured pelvis and rib and bruising on his body. The man was living with the boy’s mother at the time. The court heard he disciplined the child by locking him in a dark garage with the lights off, putting him in the bath, and taking away his mattress and pillow.

How he was charged. The man was charged after a coronial inquest in September 2024 found enough evidence to suggest he may have been involved. The defence, led by barrister David Price, argued it was a circumstantial case and raised the possibility that the injuries came from a head banging episode or a fall down the stairs the afternoon before, which the mother saw. Paediatric endocrinologist Margaret Zacharin testified that in her opinion the injuries were inflicted. The jury deliberated for four days before its verdict on July 20, and Justice Phillip Boulten refused bail. “In the wake of a guilty verdict to murder, the prospects of not appearing are heightened. The risk of flight even overnight are real,” he said then. The man had spent 10 months in custody before being granted bail on Aug. 28, 2025, ABC reported.

Friday’s exchange. Price told the court he planned to subpoena medical records so that the man’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis could be considered at sentence. Justice Boulten said the documents should have been produced during the trial. “Leaving it until after proceedings and after being convicted of murder is unsatisfactory,” he said. “Your client is looking at a very extended time in prison.” The hearing resumes on Dec. 2.

Sources

• Mother will ‘never forgive’ her toddler’s killer, court hears, ABC News, Oct. 30, 2026
• Man found guilty of murdering two-year-old boy at Coffs Harbour, ABC News, July 20, 2026

Kushtia, Bangladesh: Tribunal Sentences Awami League’s Mahbubul Alam Hanif to Death in Absentia Over Six Protesters Shot Dead on Aug. 5, 2024

Location: International Crimes Tribunal-2, Dhaka (the shootings happened at several locations in Kushtia city on Aug. 5, 2024)

Legal status: Convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity; Hanif sentenced to death and three co-accused to imprisonment until death on Oct. 29, 2026; all four are absconding

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general secretary of the Awami League, to death for crimes against humanity over the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July 2024 uprising, The Daily Star, The Business Standard and Prothom Alo reported. The three-member tribunal was led by its chairman, Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, with judges Md Manjurul Bashid and Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir, Prothom Alo reported. The verdict was pronounced around noon.

The victims. The prosecution said six protesters were shot dead in Kushtia on Aug. 5, 2024, and many others were seriously injured. The Daily Star named them as Ashraful Islam, Suruj Ali Babu, Abdullah Al Mustakin, Osama, Bablu Farazi and Yusuf Sheikh; Prothom Alo gave the names as Ashraful Islam, Suruj Ali, Abdullah Al Mustakin, Md Usama, Babul Farazi and Yusuf Sheikh.

The co-accused. Three other Awami League leaders were sentenced to imprisonment until death: Kushtia district Awami League president and former district council chairman Sadruddin Khan (Sadar Uddin Khan in other reports), district general secretary Azgar Ali (Asgar Ali in Prothom Alo) and Ataur Rahman Ata, whom The Daily Star described as Kushtia city general secretary and The Business Standard as a former Kushtia Sadar upazila parishad chairman. All four are absconding. The tribunal ordered half of each man’s immovable property confiscated, with sale proceeds to be paid as compensation to those killed and injured in July 2024 through the July Foundation or another statutory body.

The charges. The tribunal framed three charges on Nov. 2, 2025, The Daily Star reported. The first accused Hanif of endorsing provocative statements by Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on July 15, 17 and 30 and Aug. 3, 2024, and, at a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club on July 29, of describing protesters as Jamaat activists, criminals and communal elements and inciting violence against them. The second alleged that at a July 27 meeting at the Kushtia district party office he directed the three local leaders to use maximum force against the anti-discrimination movement. The third alleged that on Aug. 5, acting on directives involving then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the accused directed party activists, with police support, to open fire on unarmed protesters across Kushtia city. The Business Standard reported Hanif received death on the first charge and life on the second and third; it also reported convictions on “charges four and five,” which the other reports do not mention.

The trial. According to Prothom Alo, the investigation began on March 25, 2025, formal charges were submitted on Oct. 6, 2025, and the trial opened on Dec. 8, 2025. Nineteen witnesses testified, with testimony ending on April 23, 2026. Closing arguments ended on June 10; after the prosecution presented additional witnesses and documents, arguments concluded again on Oct. 7, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo reported.

Reaction. Chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam called the verdict timely, The Business Standard reported. Lokman Hossain, father of Abdullah, said: “We are satisfied with this verdict. We urge the swift arrest of the accused so that the judgment can be implemented.” Seema, daughter of Yusuf Sheikh, said the family was very pleased.

Sources

• Six killed in Kushtia: Hanif sentenced to death, three others to imprisonment until death, The Daily Star, Oct. 29, 2026
• Hanif to die, 3 others jailed for life in July crimes against humanity case, The Business Standard, Oct. 29, 2026
• Mahbubul Alam Hanif sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, Prothom Alo, Oct. 29, 2026

Tai Po, Hong Kong: Kwong Kau Changes Plea to Guilty of Preventing Abby Choi’s Burial as Jury Sees Footage of Meat Grinder and Saw Purchases

Location: High Court of Hong Kong (Abby Choi was allegedly killed at a village house at 56B Lung Mei Village, Ting Kok Road, Tai Po, on Feb. 21, 2023)

Legal status: Kwong Kau, Alex Kwong Kong-chi and Anthony Kwong Kong-kit have all now pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of a body; all three deny murder; jury trial continuing; presumed innocent of murder

Kwong Kau, the former father-in-law of Hong Kong model and socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung, changed his plea midway through the murder trial on Friday, Oct. 30, admitting to a charge of preventing the lawful burial of her body that he had initially denied, the South China Morning Post and The Standard reported. He responded “guilty” as the charge was read before the nine-member jury on the 27th day of trial.

Where the case stands. Kwong Kau, a retired police sergeant, and his sons, Choi’s former husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi and Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, are jointly charged with murdering Choi, 28, on Feb. 21, 2023, inside the ground-floor unit of a rented village house in Lung Mei, and with preventing the lawful burial of her remains there between Feb. 21 and Feb. 23. The two sons pleaded guilty to the burial charge before the trial opened last month. All three continue to deny murder and are presumed innocent of that charge. Outlets gave slightly different ages: The Standard said Kwong Kau is 67, Alex 30 and Anthony 33; the Post gave 68, 31 and 35.

The footage. On the same day, jurors were shown security camera recordings that the prosecution says track Kwong Kau and Anthony Kwong buying equipment nearly two weeks before the alleged killing, The Standard reported. An officer testified that Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei is known for knife and kitchen equipment shops. Recordings from Feb. 8 showed the father and son arriving there in separate seven-seater vehicles. Kwong Kau was seen buying a heavy-duty meat grinder and metal trays; under admitted facts, he paid 8,700 Hong Kong dollars for the grinder, a 14-inch soup pot, a 15-inch circular chopping board and an 11-inch frying strainer. He was also seen repeatedly visiting a nearby cutlery shop and placing several knife-like objects into his vehicle.

The ropes. Footage showed Anthony Kwong in a hardware store that day selecting cable ties and repeatedly testing them around his own wrist before browsing ropes. Audio captured him asking a clerk whether white and brown ropes were scout ropes; asked whether he was a scout, he said the rope was for children to play with. He bought five pairs of gloves, cable ties, hemp rope and nylon rope. That evening Kwong Kau was recorded driving a white seven-seater to the Lung Mei property.

The saw. On Feb. 9, Anthony Kwong was recorded buying kitchen shears and aerosol sprays at a Japan Home Centre branch in Tsuen Wan. On Feb. 10, Kwong Kau was seen loading a tent and supplies into his vehicle and then buying an electric saw and replacement blades at a metal shop in Sham Shui Po, and measuring waterproof boots against his foot at a street stall. The court heard the box he carried closely matched electric saw packaging an officer later seized at the Lung Mei scene.

The court. The trial is in English before Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith. Charlotte Draycott SC leads the prosecution. Trevor Beel represents Anthony Kwong, Oliver Davies represents Kwong Kau and Andrew Raffell represents Alex Kwong. The trial continues.

Sources

• Abby Choi’s ex-father-in-law pleads guilty to illegal disposal of her body in stark U-turn, South China Morning Post, Oct. 30, 2026
• Abby Choi’s former father-in-law Kwong Kau pleads guilty to preventing lawful burial, The Standard, Oct. 30, 2026
• Security camera shows Abby Choi murder suspects buying meat grinder and saw, court hears, The Standard, Oct. 30, 2026

Mangaluru, India: Three Men Get Life for the 2019 Sword Killing of Rakesh, 26, Over His Love for One Accused’s Sister

Location: 6th Additional District and Sessions Court, Mangaluru, Karnataka (the killing happened near M.V. Shetty College on the Panjimogaru-Maladi road on Jan. 3, 2019)

Legal status: Three convicted of murder and criminal conspiracy and sentenced to life on Oct. 29, 2026; a fourth convicted of destroying evidence and harbouring an offender and sentenced to three years

The 6th Additional District and Sessions Court in Mangaluru on Thursday, Oct. 29, sentenced three men to life imprisonment for murdering Rakesh, 26, who was hacked to death near M.V. Shetty College on the Panjimogaru-Maladi road in January 2019, The Hindu, Deccan Herald, Daijiworld and The Times of India reported. The Hindu described the case as an honour killing. Judge Rajesh Maruti Kamate also convicted a fourth man.

The sentences. Sunil Kumar alias Kouti (spelled Sunila Kumar alias Koti by The Hindu and Kauti by Daijiworld and The Times of India), Praveen Poojary alias Chotu and Preetham alias Abhi were sentenced to life under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and fined Rs 15,000 each, The Hindu and Daijiworld reported. All four were sentenced to three years and fined Rs 5,000 each under Section 201, causing disappearance of evidence. The fourth man, named Rohith Kamath alias Shooter by The Hindu and Deccan Herald and Rohith Kumar by Daijiworld and The Times of India, received a further three years and Rs 5,000 under Section 212, harbouring an offender. The sentences run concurrently. Of the Rs 70,000 in fines, Rs 50,000 goes to the victim’s father as compensation and Rs 20,000 to the state, the judge ordered. Daijiworld reported that failure to pay the fines carries additional jail time.

The prosecution case. According to the chargesheet, Sunil Kumar was angry with Rakesh because he loved Kumar’s sister, The Hindu reported. Daijiworld reported that, according to the prosecution, Kumar, enraged by the relationship, attacked Rakesh with swords along with the other three men. Deccan Herald reported the four allegedly joined hands and hacked him to death with a sword.

The night of Jan. 3, 2019. In its report two days after the killing, Daijiworld said Rakesh, of Urundadigudde, worked as a steel bar bender and had been in love with Sunil’s younger sister for some time. Sunil, who learned of the relationship, had warned him over the phone to end it. On the Thursday night, according to that report, Sunil called Rakesh and asked him to come to Panjimogaru to discuss something important; Rakesh rode his scooter to Maladi Road, where Sunil and others intercepted him. The two fought over the relationship and Rakesh was attacked with a machete and died on the spot. Daijiworld reported the two men had once been friends. Police commissioner T.R. Suresh, deputy commissioner Uma Prashanth, sniffer dogs and fingerprint experts visited the scene, that report said.

The arrests. News Karnataka reported that on Jan. 6, 2019, a City Crime Branch team led by Inspector Shantharam arrested Sunil Kumar, then 26, of Panjimogaru, Kavoor; Praveen Poojary, 23, of Kodical; and Preetham, 22, of Sunkadakatte, Urwastore, and handed them to Kavoor police. At the time, CCB sources told News Karnataka that the quarrel had erupted over a trivial issue, an account that differs from the motive later set out in the chargesheet. Kavoor police inspector K.R. Naik investigated and filed the chargesheet. Public prosecutor Motilal Chowdary represented the state.

Sources

• Honour killing: Mangaluru court sentences three to life imprisonment, The Hindu, Oct. 29, 2026
• Mangaluru court sentences three to life imprisonment in 2019 murder case, Deccan Herald, Oct. 30, 2026
• Mangaluru: Three sentenced to life, one gets jail term for 2019 Rakesh murder, Daijiworld, Oct. 29, 2026
• 4 get life imprisonment for 2019 murder, The Times of India, Oct. 29, 2026
• Mangaluru: Rakesh was killed by his lover’s brother?, Daijiworld, Jan. 5, 2019
• Rakesh murder case: CCB police arrest three, News Karnataka, Jan. 6, 2019

Iwaki, Japan: Former Sumiyoshi-kai Gang Boss Gets 17 Years and Hitman 15 for the 2021 Stabbing of Expelled Member Kenji Tanabe

Location: Fukushima District Court, Koriyama branch (killing on Sept. 4, 2021, beside the Fukushima Rinkai Railway line in Onahama, Iwaki)

Legal status: Takahashi (髙橋三七男), 64, and Masahiko Endo, 62, admitted murder; sentenced on Oct. 30, 2026, to 17 and 15 years

The Koriyama branch of the Fukushima District Court on Friday, Oct. 30, sentenced a former senior gang figure to 17 years in prison and the man who carried out the killing to 15 years for the 2021 stabbing death of Kenji Tanabe, 56, a mahjong parlour operator with gang ties in Iwaki, NHK, Fukushima TV, KFB and Fukushima Central Television reported. Presiding Judge Yoji Shimoyama gave the 17-year term to Takahashi, 64, whose full name is written 髙橋三七男, a former executive in the yakuza group, as the man in the leading role, and 15 years to Masahiko Endo, 62, who did the stabbing.

The killing. At around 9:40 p.m. on Sept. 4, 2021, the two men attacked Tanabe beside the Fukushima Rinkai Railway tracks in the Hayashinoue area of Onahama as he walked home after getting out of a car, the specialist outlet Yakuza News reported from the trial. He had 28 stab and cut wounds, and a chest wound reached his lung. He was taken to hospital and was confirmed dead about 12 hours later, shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 5. The cause of death was blood loss. KFB, citing the indictment, put the number of stab wounds across his body at close to 30.

The gang. Takahashi was a former executive of the sixth-generation Marukara-kai, an affiliate of the designated Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate, and was working as a construction labourer, Yakuza News reported. Endo was a former executive of the Onahama Ikka, a group under the Marukara-kai. Fukushima Central Television described Endo as a gang member.

The motive. In opening statements on Oct. 26, prosecutors said Tanabe had been expelled from the organisation but kept running a mahjong parlour in Iwaki, and that Takahashi, then the group’s number two, ordered Endo to kill him. Takahashi lived in the Ena district of Iwaki and Endo in Taira Kamiarakawa, the outlet reported. Both men admitted the charge at that first hearing, leaving the sentence as the issue for trial. Their defence argued that Endo believed he had to impose a punishment for the organisation and acted “unavoidably, under the rules of yakuza society.”

The ruling. Judge Shimoyama rejected that framing. “The very idea that a sanction must be imposed on anyone who breaks the organisation’s rules is peculiar to organised crime groups, is out of step with the common sense of general society, and deserves severe condemnation,” he said, according to Fukushima TV. He found that “a high degree of planning is recognised, and a strong will to carry out the crime can be seen,” KFB reported, and said the defendants “can by no means be judged to have faced the case sincerely and shown remorse.” NHK reported that the court called it “a cruel crime that made the victim writhe in agony, with grave and irreversible consequences.”

The trial. The first hearing opened on Monday, Oct. 26, and the ruling was scheduled for Oct. 30. Defendant questioning took place on Oct. 27 and the case closed on Oct. 28 before Friday’s ruling, Yakuza News reported.

Sources

• いわき市男性殺害事件 元暴力団幹部に懲役17年、実行役に懲役15年の実刑判決, Fukushima TV, Oct. 30, 2026
• いわき市の知人男性刺殺事件 指示役に懲役17年、実行役に懲役15年の判決, KFB Fukushima Broadcasting, Oct. 30, 2026
• いわき市の暴力団関係者殺害事件 被告2人に実刑判決, Fukushima Central Television NNN, Oct. 30, 2026
• 5年前のいわき市殺人事件 被告2人に懲役17年と15年判決, NHK, Oct. 30, 2026
• 2021年いわき市小名浜の男性刺殺事件 住吉会系丸唐会の元幹部ら2人の初公判, Yakuza News, Oct. 26, 2026

Napier, New Zealand: Witness Says Teen Accused of Murdering Kaea Karauria, 15, Grabbed Her Phone to Film His Bloodied Hand and a Knife

Location: High Court at Palmerston North (the stabbing was in the Napier suburb of Onekawa on 11 May 2025)

Legal status: A teenager, 15 at the time and whose name is suppressed, admits stabbing Kaea Karauria but denies murder; the defence asks the jury for manslaughter; trial continuing; presumed innocent of murder

A teenage girl told the High Court at Palmerston North on Friday, 30 Oct., that the teenager accused of murdering 15-year-old schoolboy Kaea Karauria snatched her phone from her after the attack and used it to record a video of his bloodied right hand holding a knife, RNZ reported. The accused, who was 15 at the time, admits stabbing Kaea in the early hours of 11 May last year in Napier, but his lawyers have told the jury he should be found guilty of manslaughter, not murder. Both the accused and the witness have name suppression.

The Crown case. The Crown says the accused, who has Mongrel Mob tattoos across his face, was part of a group that attacked Kaea over a minor incident at a party a few weeks earlier and the mistaken belief that he was associated with Black Power. The defence says the accused has significant intellectual impairments and would not have known his reckless actions could cause a death.

The night. The witness said she was drinking vodka pre-mix drinks with a friend at a house in Flaxmere, Hastings, when the accused messaged her on Instagram offering to pick her up. She thought they would go up Te Mata Peak, but the group drove around Napier between parties. As they arrived at one on Dinwiddie Avenue, Onekawa, one of the accused’s friends was told Kaea had touched his girlfriend at a party weeks before, and reacted badly. On the street, she said, a circle formed around Kaea, punching and kicking him. She was sitting on the accused’s lap in a car; she said he pushed her off, jumped out and joined in, and that she tried to stop him. “I knew it was a fight. I just didn’t know who was fighting,” she said. She did not see a knife. She saw Kaea on the ground, surrounded, then saw him get up and sprint around the corner to Alexander Avenue, where he collapsed and died.

The video. Some of the group, including the accused, followed him and came back minutes later while she was filming a “boomerang” selfie. “All I heard was laughing. And when he saw me, he grabbed my phone off me,” she said. “There was blood on him, but I didn’t see that until after he grabbed my phone.” The video, played to the jury several times, shows a bloodied right hand holding a knife; someone can be heard yelling “sieg heil,” a phrase common in the Mongrel Mob, which she said sounded like one of the accused’s friends. She snatched the phone back and the group drove to her house in Flaxmere, where they spent the night without talking about what happened. The accused had blood on his hands and a friend had a deep cut to his hand. The next morning, she said, the accused asked her to send him the video, and she did.

Forensic evidence. Forensic scientist Glenys Knight traced blood from Dinwiddie Avenue to the Alexander Avenue property where Kaea collapsed. She said large stains in front of a gate were released “under hydraulic pressure,” meaning “Kaea received an arterial breach in this area and his artery was bleeding.” She said he appeared to have tried to clear a large gate before jumping a smaller fence, leaving transfer blood staining on top. Only selected samples were sent for DNA analysis because of cost, she said.

The trial continues.

Sources

• Teen accused of murdering schoolboy snatched phone to film bloody video, court hears, RNZ, Oct. 30, 2026

Hafizabad, Pakistan: Lahore High Court Cuts Mother’s Life Terms to 10 Years Over Killing of Her Two Young Sons, Ruling Qisas Exemption Is Not Acquittal

Location: Lahore High Court (the deaths happened at the family home in Hafizabad, Punjab, in November 2022)

Legal status: Convicted of murder; appeal partly allowed in a written judgment reported on Oct. 29, 2026, with two life sentences reduced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently

The Lahore High Court has reduced the two life sentences of Shagufta Parveen, who was convicted of murdering her two sons in Hafizabad, to 10 years of imprisonment on each count, Dunya News and Samaa reported on Thursday, Oct. 29. In a 20-page written judgment, Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafique ruled that a parent may be exempt from qisas, retribution in kind, for the murder of their child, but that the exemption does not mean the parent is acquitted of the crime or cannot be punished.

The victims. According to the judgment as reported by Dunya News, the bodies of Abdul Hadi, 3, and Abdul Rahim, 9 months, were found at their home in Hafizabad on Nov. 9, 2022. Their mother was also taken to hospital with injuries, Dunya News reported.

The trial. On June 28, 2024, the trial court sentenced Parveen to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment for the murders, ordered her to pay Rs200,000 in compensation to the heirs of each child, and imposed a six-month sentence for attempted suicide, both outlets reported.

The ruling. Reviewing sections 306(b), 308 and 302(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Justice Rafique held that under the law parents may be exempted from qisas for the murder of their children, Dunya News reported. Under section 302(c), the court said, a prison term of up to 25 years can be imposed where qisas does not apply under Islamic injunctions. Samaa reported that the judgment clarified that when qisas is not applicable, a court can still impose a sentence under ta’zir, punishment at the court’s discretion under the applicable law, and that the ruling distinguishes exemption from one form of punishment from exemption from criminal liability.

The court found Parveen guilty of murder, Dunya News reported, but because she could not be punished under qisas it imposed sentence under section 302(c) instead of upholding life imprisonment. The court said it had reviewed an extrajudicial confession, witness statements, medical records and forensic evidence before finding her responsible for the children’s deaths.

Mental state. The judgment also addressed the defence of mental incapacity. According to both outlets, the court said a conflict with her husband and mental stress do not, by themselves, legally establish mental incompetence, though Dunya News reported the court said such circumstances may matter when determining the sentence.

What stands. The court partly accepted the appeal, Dunya News reported. The compensation of Rs200,000 to the heirs of each child and the six-month sentence for attempted suicide were upheld, as was the order that all sentences run concurrently with the benefit of section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which credits time already spent in custody.

Evidence and stress. The Nation reported that the court held the prosecution had established her involvement through her confession, DNA evidence, medical reports and other forensic evidence, including findings related to a knife. The judge clarified that severe psychological stress and legal insanity are distinct concepts and that mental distress alone could not justify acquittal; the court also examined her apparent suicide attempt after the killings and rejected a claim that unidentified persons were responsible, The Nation reported.

Council of Islamic Ideology. According to The Nation, the court highlighted the need for greater clarity on qisas, section 306 of the Penal Code and the standard of evidence in murder cases, and recommended that the government seek the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology. It also observed that the affected party could pursue a separate civil claim for damages.

The 2022 police account. At the time, Pakistan Today reported police as saying a woman in Hafizabad had killed her two sons by slitting their wrists after a dispute with her husband, while living with her parents, when her husband came to the house to reconcile. That report named the mother as Shagufta Bibi and gave the younger boy’s name as Abdul Raheem and his age as 1.5; the 2026 judgment reports give 9 months.

Sources

• LHC commutes woman’s life term to 10-year jail for killing her two sons, Dunya News, Oct. 29, 2026
• LHC rules Qisas exemption doesn’t absolve parent of child’s murder, Samaa, Oct. 29, 2026
• LHC reduces mother’s life sentence to 10 years, The Nation, Oct. 30, 2026
• Hafizabad woman kills two children, Pakistan Today, Nov. 9, 2022

Osan, South Korea: Man in His 50s Gets 10 Years for Killing the Twin Brother He Had Cared For, as Court Weighs His Mental Illness

Location: Suwon District Court, 11th Criminal Division, Gyeonggi Province (the killing happened in a villa-type apartment in Osan on May 22, 2026)

Legal status: Convicted of murder and sentenced Oct. 30, 2026, to 10 years in prison; prosecutors had sought 18 years

The Suwon District Court on Friday, Oct. 30, sentenced a man in his 50s to 10 years in prison for murdering his twin brother, whom he had looked after for years, Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo reported. Under South Korean reporting practice, neither the defendant, identified as Mr. A, nor his brother, identified as Mr. B, was named in the reports. The 11th Criminal Division, presided over by Chief Judge Song Byeong-hun, delivered the verdict. Mr. A had been indicted in custody on a murder charge.

The charge. Mr. A was charged with attacking his sleeping twin brother with a weapon at about 3:30 a.m. on May 22 in a villa-type apartment in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, killing him, Yonhap reported. He had found housing for his brother, who had epilepsy and other illnesses, and had long provided him with financial support and nursing care, according to Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo. Kyeonggi Ilbo, which first reported the case in May, said he had been responsible for his brother’s care and living costs for about 10 years.

After the killing. Mr. A was found unconscious after attempting to take his own life immediately afterwards, the Hankook Ilbo reported. During the investigation he said that, having resolved to die because of depression, he thought, “If I die, there will be no one to look after my brother,” and committed the crime, according to Yonhap.

The trial. At the closing hearing on Sept. 30, prosecutors asked for 18 years, Kyeonggi Ilbo reported, arguing that “the crime was quite cruel” and that his detailed statements to investigators and CCTV footage showed he acted in a sound state of mind and with planning. His lawyer argued that depression from a recent business downturn and a sleep disorder had led him to increase his sleeping pills, after which he lost his memory and wandered, and that as his brother’s real provider, covering his rent and living costs, he had nothing to gain from the killing. The defence argued he acted in a kind of “blackout” caused by side effects of sleeping pills and other medication, Yonhap reported. In his final statement, Kyeonggi Ilbo reported, Mr. A said he never imagined he would do something so merciless after taking prescribed tranquillisers and sleeping pills, and said that if given a chance to live again he would spend his life atoning to his brother.

The court’s reasoning. The court said “human life is a precious value that cannot be exchanged for anything,” and that a crime against it is unacceptable because its result can never be undone, Yonhap reported. It found Mr. A “committed the crime by a cruel method that caused the other person pain,” and that his responsibility was heavy because the victim was attacked by the twin brother he trusted and relied on. However, the court said that while effectively supporting his disabled brother, Mr. A “appears to have been in a state in which it was difficult to make rational judgments due to the mental illness he usually suffered from,” and cited that in setting the sentence, according to Yonhap and the Hankook Ilbo.

Sources

• 간병하던 쌍둥이 형 살해한 50대 징역 10년형…정신질환 참작, Yonhap, Oct. 30, 2026
• “나 없으면 누가 돌보나” 간병하던 쌍둥이 형 살해한 50대 징역 10년, Hankook Ilbo, Oct. 30, 2026
• “형 돌봐줄 사람 없다고 생각했다”…쌍둥이 형 살해 50대, 검찰 징역 18년 구형, Kyeonggi Ilbo, Sept. 30, 2026