The Crime Ledger: September 24, 2026

Daily Breaking True Crime Briefing
As of: September 24, 2026 (evening ET)
Scope: Worldwide sweep — last ~24 hours preferred; KwaMakhutha’s Tuesday-night massacre, the ICC’s Wednesday Seleka verdict (not on the Sep 23 Ledger) and Boise’s Wednesday cold-case announcement, carried by the wires Thursday, stretch into Thursday’s board. Jarosław, KwaMakhutha, Bangkok, The Hague, Strasbourg, Newmarket, Valley Heights, Belleville, Nottingham, Broward, Upper Darby, Belfast, Boise. First stops: LawAndCrime’s crime feed was scraped for Sep 24 bylines and offered nothing that led tonight’s geography; People.com/crime threw a 402 paywall; The New Yorker had no new daily homicide item. Tabloids weren’t used for any fact.

Police in southeastern Poland arrested a 31-year-old Ukrainian man after a knife attack at Jarosław’s 17th-century abbey killed a priest and wounded four. South African police ran a 72-hour manhunt for three gunmen after Tuesday night’s house-party shooting in KwaMakhutha killed eleven. Bangkok’s Criminal Court sentenced ex-minister Sunthorn Wilawan and three aides to death for a Prachinburi councillor’s killing, then commuted all four to life. In The Hague, the ICC convicted Seleka commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of crimes against humanity at a Bangui detention centre. Strasbourg’s human rights court threw out the Degiorgio brothers’ fair-trial complaint over Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. Newmarket closed the victim-impact phase of Kenneth Law’s hearing and set arguments for Nov. 27. In Valley Heights, a one-year-old stabbed on Sunday died, and the mother will face a second murder charge. Belleville’s police chief called Sunday’s synagogue shooting a deliberate, hate-motivated attack on the Jewish community. Nottingham Crown Court gave Jack Preston life with a 28-year minimum for Coel Tainton’s shotgun murder. A Broward jury convicted Shannon Ryan in the murder of Leila Cavett, whose body has never been found. An Upper Darby jury took about half an hour to convict Marson Weh of first-degree murder in 15-year-old Michael Garr’s stabbing. Belfast police charged a 41-year-old with the 2020 murder of Robbie Lawlor. And Boise’s sheriff put a name to the 1982 “Unknown Wanderer” and floated a possible Tylenol-poisonings link, while saying he is not a suspect. That was Thursday’s board.

Jarosław: Priest Killed in Abbey Stabbing

At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, police in Poland’s Podkarpackie region got a report of a knife attack on the grounds of Jarosław Abbey, on Benedyktyńska Street, about 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Police said four men and a woman were stabbed; all were taken to hospital, some seriously hurt, and one died. BBC News, citing officials, reported the dead man was a priest. Police have not released his name. Officers arrested a 31-year-old Ukrainian man at the scene.

Prosecutor Bożena Harasz-Wołoszyn said he had entered Poland from Germany overnight and was heading for a nearby border crossing but never crossed; instead, prosecutors say, he went to the abbey, took a knife from its kitchen and moved into the church. She said there was no information on a motive, and doctors would assess whether he had been drinking. “It is a place that I believed was safe,” Sister Barbara Dendor told TVN. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the “murderer” would be “punished with the full severity of Polish law”; Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “horrific crime.” The suspect has not been named and is presumed innocent.

Sources:

• RFI / AFP — Ukrainian kills priest, wounds four at Polish abbey
• BBC News — Priest killed and four injured in knife attack at Polish abbey
• Euronews — Ukrainian suspect arrested after fatal stabbing at Polish abbey
• AFP — Poland detains Ukrainian over abbey stabbing spree that killed one

KwaMakhutha: Eleven Dead as Manhunt Runs

Fourteen people, thirteen men and a woman, were at a party inside a house in the Ziko area of KwaMakhutha, south of Durban, on Tuesday night when three armed men entered and opened fire, police said. Ten died at the scene and four were taken to hospital, where one more died, police said; the woman was among the dead. A car belonging to one of the victims was set alight before the gunmen left. Nomusa Zulu lost two sons, Sicelo and Mlungisi Zulu. “I don’t know any of them to be involved in anything dodgy,” she told EWN.

Acting National Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane ordered a 72-hour tracking operation on Wednesday and said investigators were “following a promising lead.” Police say some victims were on Crime Intelligence’s radar for unspecified illegal activities and that a feud between rival groupings can’t be ruled out; The Witness reported Thursday that a possible drug-territory dispute is among the lines being investigated. Spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda said arrests were imminent but cautioned the feud theory was unconfirmed. By Thursday evening no arrests had been announced.

Sources:

• BBC News — Eleven killed in mass shooting at house in South Africa
• SAnews — Dimpane instructs KZN tracking operation following deadly shooting
• The Witness — Police probe possible drug feud after 11 killed in Durban massacre
• EWN — Families of Kwamakhutha mass shooting victims deny that they were involved in crime

Bangkok: Ex-Minister Gets Life for Councillor Murder

Chaimet Sitsanitpong, 49, a former Prachinburi provincial councillor known locally as “Sor Jor Tong,” went to Sunthorn Wilawan’s home in Mueang Prachinburi on Dec. 11, 2024, to seek his backing for his wife’s planned run for the provincial administration presidency. On Thursday, Thailand’s Criminal Court sentenced Sunthorn, 87, and three co-defendants to death for killing him, then commuted all four sentences to life imprisonment on mitigating grounds.

Sunthorn, known as “Ko Thon,” is a former deputy public health minister and eight-time MP. The court found Chaimet had left after the talks failed, then came back while waiting for the gate to open, and ruled the shooting a reaction to the moment: joint murder, not premeditated murder, and no criminal association. Gunshot residue tied aides Thanasarankorn Techathanatchote and Saksit Chinnawong, who fired first, and Sunthorn, who the court found then fired three shotgun rounds. Apisit Sotchuen was found to have been at the scene and ready to help. The Thai Examiner reports Chaimet was shot 22 times. Two other defendants drew firearms-only penalties and two were acquitted. The four must jointly pay THB 801,400 plus interest. It is a first-instance judgment; all four retain appeal rights.

Sources:

• The Nation Thailand — Sunthorn and three others get life terms over Prachinburi councillor killing
• Bangkok Post — Ex-minister given death sentence for murder of adopted son
• Thai Examiner — Bhumjaithai political overlord in Prachin Buri to spend life in prison after death sentence is commuted by court

The Hague: ICC Convicts Seleka Commander

Detainees at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry in Bangui were whipped, waterboarded and bound hands-to-elbows-to-feet in a method called “Arbatacher,” and some were held in underground cells. “The floor was covered in waste, and it smelled of faeces and urine,” Judge Miatta Maria Samba said Wednesday as the International Criminal Court convicted the man who ran the facility.

Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, 56, the first Seleka member convicted at the ICC, was found guilty of imprisonment, torture, other inhumane acts and persecution as crimes against humanity at the OCRB between April and August 2013. A majority acquitted him of war crimes, finding the armed conflict had ended with President François Bozizé’s ouster in March 2013; some incidents also fell for lack of evidence. Said denied the charges. Sentencing is set for November, both sides have 30 days to appeal, and he retains appeal rights.

Sources:

• Al Jazeera / Reuters — ICC convicts ex-CAR militia leader of crimes against humanity
• Human Rights Watch — Central African Republic: ICC Verdict in Seleka Commander Case
• JURIST — ICC convicts Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of crimes against humanity in landmark verdict for Central African Republic case

Strasbourg: Degiorgio Challenge Over Daphne Rejected

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday declared inadmissible the application in Degiorgio v. Malta, brought by George and Alfred Degiorgio, the brothers jailed for 40 years each in October 2022 after they changed their pleas to guilty on the first day of their trial for the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

They argued they had neither lawyers of their choosing nor time to prepare after their chosen lawyer quit and the Criminal Court appointed legal-aid counsel. Strasbourg found the appointment reasonable, citing the expediency of the case and third parties’ interests, and found the guilty pleas voluntary, not the product of duress. Their sentences stand. Separately, Malta’s attorney general appealed Yorgen Fenech’s acquittal this week.

Sources:

• European Court of Human Rights — Degiorgio v. Malta
• Lovin Malta — European Court Rejects Degiorgio Brothers Unfair Trial Challenge Over Caruana Galizia’s Murder

Newmarket: Law Victim Statements End; Arguments Set for November

Faith Ike-Elechi was 21 when she died in 2022. Her mother, Faith George, a mental-health nurse in Britain, had already intercepted one package Kenneth Law sent her. A second one got into the house unseen. “She continued saying, ‘I’m sorry, I drank it,’” her statement read. “Those were the last words I heard her speak.”

Crown attorney Peter Westgate read it Thursday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket as prosecutors finished entering all 74 victim-impact statements against Law, the former Mississauga chef who pleaded guilty in May to 14 counts of aiding suicide. Justice Michelle Fuerst then vacated the remaining September dates and set legal arguments for Nov. 27. The Globe and Mail reports a ruling on Law’s prison term may not come until 2027. Thursday belonged to families from Britain, where 79 deaths are part of the case. Kenneth Gibson wrote that his son Ross, 30, “died a horrible, lonely and agonizing death.” The court also heard about Emma Coletti, 47, and Mark Bailey, 44, who died years after buying from Law. Premier Doug Ford’s office told the Globe his May refusal of a public inquiry stands. Law, represented by Matthew Gourlay, awaits a ruling on his prison term.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in Canada.

Sources:

• The Globe and Mail — Kenneth Law sentencing hearing to resume in November as victim impact statements wrap
• The Globe and Mail — Live updates: Kenneth Law sentencing hearing, Sept. 24
• The Canadian Press / Global News — Kenneth Law’s sentencing hears from United Kingdom victims’ families
• CBC News — ‘I’m sorry, I drank it’: Mother recalls daughter’s last words at Kenneth Law’s sentencing hearing

Valley Heights: One-Year-Old Dies; Second Murder Count

A one-year-old stabbed on Sunday in a car on Waratah Road in Valley Heights, in the NSW Blue Mountains, died in hospital Thursday, NSW Police confirmed. The child’s five-year-old brother died at the scene on Sunday; a three-year-old sibling remains critical. Passing cyclists found the car and gave first aid.

The children’s mother, 42, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged Tuesday with murder and two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, all domestic-violence related. She will face an additional murder charge at Penrith Local Court on Nov. 20. She remains under police guard in hospital, stable, with self-inflicted wounds. She is presumed innocent.

Sources:

• ABC News — Second child dies after Blue Mountains stabbing, mother remains before the courts
• Sydney Morning Herald — Second child allegedly stabbed by mother in Blue Mountains attack dies in hospital
• 7NEWS — Mother to face new murder charge after one-year-old baby dies in hospital days after alleged stabbing in Blue Mountains

Belleville: Police Call Synagogue Attack Hate-Motivated

Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Thursday that Sunday’s shooting outside Sons of Jacob Synagogue was a deliberate, hate-motivated attack on the Jewish community, carried out as about two dozen people were inside for Yom Kippur. None of them were hurt. Police allege that Sean Ward, 29, of Quinte West, who died in hospital Monday night, was the gunman.

Rodd said Const. Jeff Smith, posted outside as part of his regular duties, was ambushed and shot before he could leave his unmarked car, then got out and kept engaging; Const. Mike McCurdy arrived in under three minutes, unhurt. Smith, shot in the head and body, remains critical but stable and faces several surgeries. Police played video in which the gunman appears to tell Smith, “You are going to die for the Jews.” Rodd said the attacker used a shotgun, had other weapons and “plenty” of ammunition, and had combustible materials including gasoline in his vehicle, giving him “the means, the motive and the mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue.” Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is still examining the officers’ conduct, and no post-mortem findings have been made public.

Sources:

• Global News — Belleville synagogue shooting a ‘hate-motivated attack,’ police say
• inQuinte — Chief of Belleville Police says synagogue attack was clearly a hate crime
• CBC News — Synagogue shooting was deliberate hate attack: Belleville, Ont., police

Nottingham: Life, Minimum 28 Years, for Meadows Shotgun Murder

Coel Tainton, 24, spent the evening of Feb. 27 in Nottingham pubs with Jack Preston, then went back with him to Preston’s home in Ryeland Gardens, The Meadows. At about 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 28, after an argument, Preston shot him with a double-barrelled shotgun that had been kept in the house for two weeks. On Thursday at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Nirmal Shant jailed Preston, 34, for life with a minimum term of 28 years.

Preston first blamed a masked intruder, then claimed the gun went off in a struggle after Tainton tried to rob him; his DNA on the gun and a phone video of the two men showing off with it that night undercut both, and a jury convicted him of murder last week. The judge noted Tainton was carrying a knife but said Preston didn’t know it and Tainton “presented no threat to you.” Tainton’s mother, Rebecca Shipman, described “the living nightmare we are still going through.” Preston also admitted firearm, assault on an emergency worker and threatening-behaviour charges. He retains appeal rights.

Sources:

• BBC News — Shotgun murderer jailed for at least 28 years

Broward: Guilty Verdict in Leila Cavett No-Body Murder

Leila Cavett, 21, travelled from Georgia to South Florida with her 2-year-old son in July 2020 and was last seen on July 26 at a gas station in Hollywood. Hours later her son was found wandering alone at an apartment complex in Miramar, and her vehicle turned up abandoned days after that. Her body has never been found. On Thursday, a Broward County jury found Shannon Ryan, 44, guilty of second-degree murder.

Court documents cited by NBC 6 say Ryan, a self-described witch and “chakra master,” told investigators Cavett had come to sell a pickup truck. The case leaned on surveillance video of Ryan dragging a large garbage bag to the dumpster at the gas station where Cavett was last seen, and on trash bags, duct tape and carpet odor eliminator allegedly bought at the Walmart where the truck was left. Ryan pleaded not guilty and testified the items were for cleaning out vehicles. Sentencing is Oct. 23; the charge carries a possible life term. Ryan retains appeal rights.

Sources:

• NBC 6 South Florida — Self-proclaimed ‘witch’ guilty in murder of woman who vanished in South Florida in 2020
• Local 10 — Broward jury finds self-proclaimed ‘witch doctor’ guilty of 21-year-old mother’s murder

Upper Darby: Weh Guilty of First-Degree Murder in Teen’s Stabbing

Michael Garr, 15, a 10th-grader in the Upper Darby School District, was walking home from his girlfriend’s on the night of April 21, 2023, when he was stabbed and slashed 11 times on the 200 block of Bridge Street. He reached a passing driver and managed three words: “He stabbed me.” On Thursday, a Delaware County jury deliberated about half an hour before convicting Marson Weh, 26, of Clifton Heights, of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime.

Surveillance video showed Weh following Garr along Baltimore Pike and onto Bridge Street; Garr’s blood was on Weh’s thermal underwear and the boy’s DNA inside the handle of a knife in Weh’s backpack. No motive was established. The defence called the evidence “overwhelming” and contested only intent. “You cannot stab someone in the throat and not mean it,” District Attorney Tanner Rouse told jurors. Sentencing is Nov. 5; first-degree murder carries mandatory life without parole in Pennsylvania. Weh retains appeal rights. He faces a separate Oct. 26 trial on an alleged February 2023 attempted murder, in which he is presumed innocent.

Sources:

• Delaware County Daily Times — Marson Weh guilty in stabbing death of 15-year-old Michael Garr
• 6abc — Man found guilty in random killing of 15-year-old in Upper Darby

Belfast: Man Charged Over Robbie Lawlor Killing

A 41-year-old man was charged Thursday evening with murdering Robbie Lawlor, 36, of Dublin, who was shot multiple times outside a house on Etna Drive in Ardoyne, north Belfast, on April 4, 2020. He is also charged with possessing a firearm or ammunition with intent to endanger life or cause serious damage to property. He was arrested in Liverpool on Wednesday and is due at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Friday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland did not name him.

The Irish Times describes the killing as a pre-planned ambush: Lawlor had gone to Ardoyne to collect a drugs debt and was shot by a gunman lying in wait. Lawlor had been a suspect in the abduction and murder of Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready-Woods. The accused is presumed innocent.

Sources:

• BBC News — Man charged with murder over north Belfast shooting
• The Irish Times — Man (41) charged with murder of Robbie Lawlor after Liverpool arrest

Boise: 1982 ‘Unknown Wanderer’ Identified

On Dec. 4, 1982, a man carrying no ID and a typed note signed with a false name died of cyanide poisoning, ruled a suicide, inside a Boise church. On Wednesday the Ada County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, after cold case detective Tim Cooper traced an engraved key to Jacksonville, Florida, and familial DNA confirmed it.

The office says it found a “possible connection” to the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people around Chicago and has shared its findings with Chicago police. But investigators can’t place Betkouski near Chicago in the last week of September 1982, and the homemade cyanide among his effects was sodium cyanide, not the potassium cyanide used in the poisonings. “We’re not naming him as a suspect,” Cooper said. FBI Chicago, which leads the case, said claims of links over 44 years “remain unsubstantiated.” Betkouski was never charged with any crime. For the background, see our Chicago Tylenol murders file.

Sources:

• Ada County Sheriff’s Office — ACSO Solves Decades Old “Unknown Wanderer” Cold Case
• CBS Chicago — Boise’s “Unknown Wanderer” is identified after 43 years. Could he be linked to Chicago Tylenol murders?
• NBC Chicago — Idaho’s ‘Unknown Wanderer’ ID’d; no tie to Chicago Tylenol murders
• UPI — Police ID man found dead in 1982, cite possible Tylenol murders link