# The Crime Ledger: September 12, 2026

- Link: https://thedarksideofhumanity.com/the-crime-ledger-september-12-2026/
- Published: 2026-09-12T19:00:00-04:00
- Author: Mandi Martyr

Daily Breaking True Crime Briefing As of: September 12, 2026 (evening ET) Scope: Worldwide sweep, last ~24 hours preferred; major court and investigative moves stretched to ~48. Merrylands West, Launaguet, Forbes, Los Angeles. NSW police charged 18-year-old Jimmy Schulz with murder, alleging he flew the surveillance drone for the Sept. 2 Merrylands West shooting that killed tradesman Joshua Macdonald; he is not accused of being the shooter. Near Toulouse, prosecutors said the 54-year-old husband suspected in the Launaguet killing of Sandra, 40, had already been convicted of killing an ex-partner in Guyane in 1999. Orange Supreme Court gave Daniel Billings 28 years for murdering Molly Ticehurst while on bail for offences against her. And a federal jury in Los Angeles acquitted Lil Durk of murder for hire; he stays in custody for a separate racketeering trial. Merrylands West: Drone Eyes on Macdonald Shooting Merrylands, western Sydney. Photo: O. Alexander / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 Jimmy Schulz, 18, was refused bail Saturday at Bail Court after NSW Police charged him with murder over the Sept. 2 daylight shooting of Joshua Macdonald, 40, outside a Bruce Street home in Merrylands West. Raptor Squad arrested Schulz and Cronulla Sharks Jersey Flegg player Ratu Viliame Koroitamana, 19, about 5:30 a.m. Friday in West Hoxton with a commercial camera drone, phones, and encryption gear. Police say Schulz flew the drone from roughly two streets away and relayed information to the shooters in what they call a mistaken-identity underworld hit: Macdonald was a tradie with no organised-crime links. The man who pulled the trigger is still unnamed. Koroitamana faces participating in a criminal group and driving while disqualified, not Macdonald’s killing. Schulz’s lawyer called the murder case “extremely weak.” Back Nov. 5 at Parramatta Local Court. He is presumed innocent. Police allege Schulz flew an off-the-shelf commercial drone from about two streets away and relayed what he saw to the shooters waiting around the corner. Homicide Squad commander Joe Doueihi said that although he was not the shooter, he is alleged to have been part of a joint criminal enterprise: “He is criminally responsible for the offence of murder because of his involvement by operating that drone.” Police say the drone seized at his arrest held evidence tied to the shooting. The 19-year-old arrested with him is not accused of any involvement in Macdonald’s death. Update, Oct. 11, 2026: Schulz has since been charged with conspiracy to murder over a separate alleged plot, and high school teacher Ashleigh Ann Seeney, 28, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to Macdonald’s murder, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. All are presumed innocent. Sources: Nine.com.au: Teen drone operator charged with murder Sydney Morning Herald: Teen drone pilot charged over second alleged plot ABC News: Man charged over alleged drone surveillance in Sydney underworld shooting, promising NRL player arrested The Sydney Morning Herald: Teen drone operator charged with murder denied bail after allegedly conducting surveillance Launaguet: Recidivist Suspect in Garage Féminicide Launaguet, near Toulouse. Photo: Didier Descouens / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 The Toulouse parquet confirmed Friday that the 54-year-old husband suspected of assassinating his 40-year-old wife at Launaguet on Sept. 8 had already been convicted by the Guyane assizes in 2002 for shooting an ex-partner to death in 1999. Firefighters called to a garage fire about 5:45 a.m. found the mother of two partly burned; autopsy showed an immediately fatal head shot, then accelerant. Gendarmes recovered a 7.65 casing. The husband was found more than a kilometre away with a critical head wound and remains hospitalised. The couple had separated after her July 25 complaint for malicious calls and psychological violence; he was under contrôle judiciaire with a weapons ban, and she held a Téléphone Grave Danger issued Aug. 5 that she never activated. Inquiry continues for assassinat by conjoint in legal recidivism. He is presumed innocent pending charges as his condition allows. The victim, Sandra, 40, a mother of two, was shot in the head as she came home from a night shift at Toulouse-Blagnac airport; her two daughters and a relative were asleep upstairs and were unhurt, Actu Toulouse and La Dépêche report. In July she had filed a complaint against him for malicious calls, invasion of privacy and psychological violence; he was under judicial supervision, barred from contacting her or carrying a weapon, and was due in court on Jan. 13. Prosecutors had given her a serious-danger alert phone on Aug. 5. He was found with a head wound near the municipal stadium, a handgun beside him, and remains in critical condition. He had served about eight years for the 1999 killing and left prison in 2010. He is presumed innocent in Sandra’s death. Sources: BFMTV: Le mari avait déjà été condamné Actu Toulouse: Féminicide suspecté de Sandra à Launaguet BFMTV, Féminicide près de Toulouse: le mari de la victime avait déjà été condamné pour l’assassinat de son ex-compagne Le Petit Journal: Un féminicide présumé endeuille Launaguet Forbes: Billings Gets 28 Years for Ticehurst Murder Forbes, in central western NSW. Photo: Amanda Slater from Coventry, England / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Daniel Billings, 31, was sentenced Friday in Orange Supreme Court to 28 years with a 20-year non-parole period for the April 21, 2024, killing of childcare worker Molly Ticehurst in Forbes, NSW. Justice Natalie Adams found he broke through a bedroom window just before 11:30 p.m. while on bail for sexual assault, stalking, and intimidation charges against Ticehurst and while subject to an AVO, then stabbed her in the face and neck. Adams called it a high-end revenge murder of a sexual-assault complainant and rejected any claim he only went to talk. Total head sentence 35 years, discounted for the guilty plea, backdated to April 20, 2024. Eligible for parole April 19, 2044. The case helped drive NSW domestic-violence bail reforms; former prosecutor Phil Donato publicly urged an ODPP appeal as too soft. Billings, a former mine worker, had pleaded guilty in November 2025. He stabbed her 15 times with a hunting knife in an attack that lasted less than a minute, while on bail for alleged offences against her including sexual assault, stalking and intimidation; he had threatened to break in through her window and “cut her head off,” the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Justice Adams found he acted out of retribution, revenge and “extreme hatred,” and cut a 35-year starting point by 20 percent for the plea. He is eligible for parole on April 19, 2044. Update, Oct. 11, 2026: The ODPP said it will not appeal the sentence, ABC News reports. Sources: ABC News: ODPP will not appeal Billings sentence Sydney Morning Herald: Billings sentenced to 28 years ABC News / RNZ: Daniel Billings sentenced for murder of childcare worker Molly Ticehurst Los Angeles: Lil Durk Cleared on Murder-for-Hire The federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Photo: Daniel L. Lu (user:dllu) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 A federal jury in downtown Los Angeles acquitted Durk Banks, Lil Durk, Friday on all five counts of murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and stalking tied to the August 2022 gas-station ambush near the Beverly Center that killed Saviay’a Robinson, 24, cousin of rival Quando Rondo. Prosecutors said Banks ordered a revenge hit after Dayvon “King Von” Bennett’s death; defense blamed a former assistant and cooperating “snitches.” Co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were cleared of murder-for-hire but convicted on stalking counts resulting in death. Banks stays in custody for an Oct. 5 racketeering-and-weapons trial. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the office was disappointed on Banks but would press the next case. The jury deliberated three days. Co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were acquitted of murder for hire but convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking with a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death; their lawyers say they will seek acquittal on those counts. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said prosecutors were disappointed and look forward to a second trial. Banks, jailed since 2024, remains in custody on a separately tried racketeering count, AP and the Los Angeles Times report. Sources: ABC News (AP): Lil Durk acquitted of murder-for-hire Los Angeles Times: Federal jury acquits Lil Durk Reuters: Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk acquitted in murder-for-hire trial Los Angeles Times: Federal jury in Los Angeles acquits Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk in murder-for-hire case