Daily Breaking True Crime Briefing
As of: September 27, 2026 (evening ET)
Scope: Worldwide sweep — last ~24 hours preferred (Saturday evening through Sunday evening ET), stretched to 48 hours only for majors; Sep 26 cases return only with a real new step. Wedela, Tembisa, Springs, Lwandle, Augusta, Natchez, Turin, North York, Child Lake, Fernvale, Norwich, Chicago, Saanich, Travis County. Norwich, Saanich and Travis County are Friday court and charging steps that fed the weekend board.
Eight gunmen with AK-47s and pistols opened fire on patrons at Dora’s Tavern in Wedela, near Carletonville on Gauteng’s West Rand, on Saturday night, killing 17 and wounding 15; police spent Sunday hunting them, and President Cyril Ramaphosa said technology had helped identify images of the eight. In Tembisa, police named the woman found at Mooifontein Cemetery as Ntombifuthu Nxumalo and said a suspect was arrested asleep in a Limpopo village near Tzaneen late Saturday. Around midday Sunday a security patrol found a woman’s body in open veld in Springs, the 11th in Ekurhuleni since mid-July. Before 2 a.m. Sunday, gunmen walked into a Lwandle shisanyama in the Western Cape and killed 10. In Augusta, Georgia, Osiel Delgadillo Noriega and his wife were caught at about 2 a.m. Sunday over Friday’s killing of Alexandra Alston. In Natchez, remains believed to be Felicia Bates were recovered, and Adams County investigators obtained a warrant charging Albert Kendall Washington, 50, with first-degree murder; he is held in Louisiana pending extradition. A Turin judge refused to validate the arrests in Fabio Colapietro’s dismemberment but kept all three accused in jail anyway. Toronto police charged a 46-year-old man with second-degree murder in Albert Gundran’s North York stabbing. Alberta RCMP charged Jardin Cardinal with first-degree murder in a 2023 shooting on the Child Lake reserve. Queensland police arrested a 45-year-old woman after a Fernvale man was struck by a vehicle and killed. Norwich Crown Court gave Raymond Williams life with a 27-year minimum for murdering his estranged wife, Tania. Chicago police charged Wendy Baptisme with two counts of first-degree murder over a basement shooting in Austin. A B.C. judge convicted Christopher Cathcart of two second-degree murders in Saanich. And the Travis County sheriff charged Michael Robinson with capital murder after two women were found shot in a Wells Branch apartment. That was Sunday’s board.
Wedela: 17 Killed in Tavern Attack as Police Hunt Eight Gunmen
Gauteng police spent Sunday hunting eight armed men accused of opening fire on patrons at Dora’s Tavern in Extension 3, Wedela, near Carletonville on the West Rand, on Saturday night. Thirteen men and four women were killed; 15 others were wounded. Police said the attackers carried AK-47 rifles and pistols, shot people outside first, then went inside and kept firing, searched some patrons for cellphones, torched two vehicles and fled in two others. Sowetan, reporting from the scene, put the start shortly after 9 p.m.; residents said patrons had gathered for Heritage Day celebrations.
Deputy provincial commissioner Fred Kekana said at the scene that police have a clear picture and the names of the suspects, and are testing a link to a shooting at the same tavern last month that killed one person — one of Saturday’s dead, he said, was a man police had been seeking over that earlier attack, which he called an apparent retaliation. Provincial commissioner Lt. Gen. Tommy Mthombeni said robbery is being investigated as a motive and illegal-mining turf wars can’t be ruled out; residents blamed zama zama feuds. President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday that technology had helped police identify images of the eight. The SAPS statement and Sunday reports from EWN, SABC and Sowetan described a manhunt with no arrest. Some reports claimed an arrest; police had not confirmed one by Sunday evening.
Sources:
- EWN — Wedela tavern mass shooting: Gauteng police searching for 8 suspects
- SABC News — Police issue stern warning to Wedela mass shooting perpetrators
- Sowetan — Bloodied ground, scattered food tells of Wedela massacre chaos
- SABC News — Technology aids efforts to track Wedela shooting suspects: Ramaphosa
Tembisa: Limpopo Arrest in Cemetery Killing
Gauteng police said Sunday they had arrested a suspect in the murder of Ntombifuthu Nxumalo, whose body was found Saturday morning at Mooifontein Cemetery in Tembisa’s Vusimusi section — the tenth woman found dead in Ekurhuleni since July. Her discovery ran, before she was named, on The Crime Ledger: September 26, 2026. She had serious head injuries; stones found around her body raised the possibility she had been stoned, and police saw no visible stab wounds.
Police say Nxumalo had been drinking at a local tavern with a female acquaintance and left with an unidentified man. Residents near the cemetery told investigators they heard a woman screaming and pleading for her life at about 11 p.m., police spokesperson Brig. Brenda Muridili said. Detectives traced a suspect to a Tembisa address, learned he had gone to Limpopo, and a team from Ekurhuleni Crime Intelligence, Tembisa South detectives and head-office Investigative Psychology Services, with help from SAPS Bolobedu, found him asleep in his room in Mohlabaneng village and arrested him at about 11 p.m. Saturday. News24 places the arrest in Tzaneen. Acting national commissioner Lt. Gen. Puleng Dimpane praised the same-day arrest. Police have not named the man; charges were expected to relate to the murder. Whether this killing is tied to the others is still open. He is presumed innocent.
Sources:
- SAnews — Gauteng police arrest suspect in Tembisa cemetery murder
- IOL — Tembisa cemetery murder suspect arrested in Limpopo
- News24 — Crack Gauteng police team arrests suspect in Tzaneen following 10th Ekurhuleni murder
Springs: 11th Woman’s Body Found in Open Veld
A private security patrol spotted a woman’s body in open veld near Rhokana Road in Springs at about noon Sunday and alerted police. She is the 11th woman found dead in Ekurhuleni since the first body turned up in Kempton Park on July 15. The Ekurhuleni murders task team, crime-scene management, Investigative Psychology Services, detectives and Crime Intelligence were called out, and Gauteng commissioner Lt. Gen. Tommy Mthombeni went to the scene.
Mthombeni said the woman was in her 20s, her body was not decomposed, and she was clothed with only her top pushed aside; there were signs a struggle may have taken place. She has not been publicly identified. The find came hours after the Tembisa arrest, and Mthombeni said police have yet to confirm that a serial killer is targeting women in the area. At least one earlier death is on a separate track: Fortunate Masilela, 31, and Tsakane Nester Msithini, 38, appeared in Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Sept. 21 charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice in the death of Jabulile Ntimba, found near Dawn Park on Sept. 17; police have floated a possible love triangle, and a man first arrested with them was released for lack of evidence. The two women are due back for a bail application Oct. 1 and are presumed innocent. A R400,000 reward stands.
Sources:
- News24 — East Rand murders: 11th body found in open veld in Springs
- NovaNews — Springs discovery on Sunday brings Ekurhuleni murders to 11 victims
Lwandle: Gunmen Kill 10 at Shisanyama
Western Cape police say gunmen walked into an entertainment venue that also sells braaied meat — a shisanyama — in Lwandle, Cape Town, at about 1:46 a.m. Sunday and shot at patrons. Five people died at the scene; five more died after being taken to medical facilities. Eleven others are being treated. Lwandle police have opened murder and attempted-murder cases.
Provincial commissioner Lt. Gen. Sizakhele Dyantyi set up a multidisciplinary team led by serious violent crime detectives. Police said the motive is unknown and no arrests had been made; the dead will be named once next of kin are told. Deployments in Lwandle were increased while the search for the gunmen goes on. It was the second mass shooting at a South African venue in a matter of hours, after Wedela.
Sources:
- SAnews — Multidisciplinary team to investigate murder of 10 people
- EWN — Ten killed, 11 wounded in Lwandle mass shooting
- TimesLIVE — Gunmen kill 10, wound 11 in Lwandle shisanyama massacre
Augusta: Couple Charged in Harrisburg Killing
Osiel Delgadillo Noriega, 36, a North Augusta father of four, and his wife, Sully Delgadillo, 39, were caught around 2 a.m. Sunday at the Georgia Welcome Center, authorities say. Noriega is charged with murder; his wife is charged with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive. Both face auto theft charges over the Toyota RAV4 belonging to Alexandra Alston, 56.
Alston was found unresponsive at her home at 1936 Watkins Street in Augusta’s Harrisburg community; authorities believe she was attacked around 3:15 p.m. Friday and allege Noriega caused fatal injuries to her neck and chest. A Saturday flyer had sought a man in an orange hooded shirt with a clipboard who may have been going door to door looking for work; authorities now say that was Noriega. Surveillance images put him and Alston in her driveway, Flock license-plate cameras tracked her SUV to Gun Club Road about five miles away, and fingerprints in the vehicle were reportedly linked to him, The Augusta Press reported. Both are presumed innocent.
Sources:
- The Augusta Press — North Augusta couple charged in Augusta woman’s killing in Harrisburg
Natchez: Murder Warrant After Remains Found in Bates Case
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office said human remains believed to be those of Felicia Bates were recovered as the search for her became a homicide investigation. Family last saw her Sunday, Sept. 13. The Adams County Coroner’s Office recovered the remains; formal identification and further forensic testing are pending.
Adams County investigators obtained a warrant charging Albert Kendall Washington, 50, of Natchez, with first-degree murder; he is held in Louisiana pending extradition. He was found at a Motel 6 in Monroe, Louisiana, refused orders to leave, and barricaded himself in the room until the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office SWAT team took him into custody. Search-and-rescue teams, the United Cajun Navy, Team Texas K9s cadaver dogs and Mississippi wildlife officers were among the agencies that helped. “This is not the outcome we wanted, but it is the reality that we now face,” Sheriff Travis Patten said, adding that the case is still being built. Washington is presumed innocent.
Sources:
- WAPT — Missing Natchez woman remain found, suspect charged
- WLBT — Missing person investigation becomes homicide case; suspect arrested in Louisiana
Turin: Three Stay Jailed in Colapietro Dismemberment
Turin preliminary-investigations judge Antonio Borretta declined to validate the emergency arrests of the three accused in the killing and dismemberment of Fabio Colapietro, 39, finding no concrete flight risk, but ordered them held in pretrial custody on the strength of the evidence. Christian Matheus De Oliveira Morando, 26, accused of voluntary homicide and suppression of a corpse, stays at Turin’s Lorusso e Cutugno prison with Nicole Formichetti, 47, and Keith Butig, 22, both accused of complicity in suppressing the corpse. The validation hearing that ran on The Crime Ledger: September 26, 2026 was held Saturday; the ruling came Sunday.
ANSA reports the killing allegedly happened Sept. 21, days before the remains — in bags and masked with cement — were found overnight Sept. 24–25 in Formichetti’s flat in the Borgo Vittoria district; she is a teacher. ANSA reports Morando has confessed, while saying the death was the unintended result of a fight; his lawyer, Wilmer Perga, is weighing a prosecutor interview or a Riesame challenge to the charge’s legal classification. Prosecutor Lea Lamonaca and the squadra mobile are working out each suspect’s role. All three are presumed innocent.
Sources:
- ANSA — Ucciso e fatto a pezzi a Torino, restano in carcere i tre accusati
- Torino Cronaca — Omicidio Colapietro, il GIP non convalida i fermi ma i tre restano in carcere
North York: Second-Degree Murder Charge After Steeles Stabbing
Toronto police say Albert Gundran, 57, died after a stabbing near Steeles Avenue West and Hilda Avenue in North York on Saturday night. Officers were called just before 8:30 p.m.; police say two men were in an altercation and Gundran was stabbed. First responders tried to save him, but he died at the scene. It is Toronto’s 29th homicide of the year.
A 46-year-old Toronto man was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder. He appeared in court Sunday morning. Police did not name him in the releases CBC cited. He is presumed innocent.
Sources:
Child Lake: First-Degree Murder Charge in 2023 Shooting
Alberta RCMP arrested Jardin Cardinal, 21, on Saturday and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Trevor Fournier, 48. High Level RCMP were called on July 17, 2023, to a home on the Child Lake reserve, roughly 700 kilometres north of Edmonton, where they found Fournier dead of a gunshot wound.
The Alberta RCMP major crimes unit took over the file and ran it for more than three years before the arrest; police say Cardinal lives on the reserve. He was remanded into custody after appearing before a justice of the peace and is due in the Alberta Court of Justice in High Level on Thursday, Oct. 1. He is presumed innocent.
Sources:
- Edmonton Journal — First-degree murder charge laid in 2023 north Alberta homicide
- CBC News — Man charged with 1st-degree murder after fatal 2023 shooting in northern Alberta: RCMP
Fernvale: Woman Arrested After Man Struck and Killed by Vehicle
Queensland police have opened a homicide investigation after a 50-year-old Fernvale man was struck by a vehicle on Stoneywood Street, west of Brisbane, shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, local time. Queensland Ambulance Service said he had head, chest, arm and leg injuries; he died at the scene.
A 45-year-old woman was arrested. Police said the two knew each other. No charge had been announced when ABC News reported the arrest. She is presumed innocent.
Sources:
- ABC News Australia — Police launch homicide probe after death of man in Fernvale, west of Brisbane
Norwich: Life for Man Who Murdered Estranged Wife Tania Williams
Raymond Williams, 61, was sentenced Friday at Norwich Crown Court to life with a minimum of 27 years for murdering his estranged wife, Tania Williams, 49, a mother of four, near her home in Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk, in January. Judge Bate called it “plainly a targeted ambush” and a “brutal attack.” The sentence followed a 17-day trial; he had denied murder.
Williams, born in Texas, married Tania in 2000; they had three children together, and he moved out when the relationship broke down. The night she died, he searched Norwich city-center bars for her and found her; they were seen walking together, then separated. Shortly before midnight, neighbors heard screams and found her on the ground with significant blood loss; she was pronounced dead at the scene. He was arrested at his home on Dereham Road hours later. Her niece, Abigail Larkowsky, said outside court the family would “never get over” the murder. Williams retains appeal rights.
Sources:
Chicago: Two Murder Counts After Austin Basement Shooting
Wendy Baptisme, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Thursday-night shooting deaths of Deangelo Johnson, 27, and Angela Johnson, 47, in the 800 block of North Parkside Avenue in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, police said Saturday. A witness heard gunshots from a basement around 10:40 p.m. and called police. Both victims died at hospitals.
Officers took Baptisme into custody at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said the accused and both victims lived on that block. Police released no motive. Baptisme is presumed innocent.
Sources:
Saanich: Guilty of Two Murders in 2022 Knife Attacks
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Power on Friday found Christopher Douglas Cathcart guilty of the second-degree murders of his girlfriend, Stephanie Elk, and acquaintance William “Billie” Bradshaw in Saanich on Oct. 19, 2022, citing “overwhelming proof” that he used the same knife on both, minutes and metres apart. All three had been unhoused and tenting on unused land near Uptown.
Bradshaw was found with multiple stab wounds to the chest at the campsite. Cathcart and Elk fled, then fought in suburban Saanich, where he stabbed her 21 times inside a home in what the judge called an “unrelenting assault.” He then blocked and locked the front door, put a separate knife beside her body, discarded the murder weapon, hid and lied to police, conduct Power called “as calculated as it is, chilling.” Cathcart represented himself through a turbulent 44-day trial, was removed from court over outbursts, and said he would look into an appeal. Sentencing — mandatory life, with parole eligibility set between 10 and 25 years — is scheduled for Dec. 14 and 15. He retains appeal rights.
Sources:
Travis County: Capital Murder Charge in Wells Branch Double Killing
Michael Robinson, 24, of Mississippi, was taken into custody Friday and charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of Anecia Kay Thacker, 37, and Lamonica Webb, 32, both of Austin, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said. The manager of a complex in the 3400 block of Shoreline Drive in the Wells Branch area saw an apartment door ajar about 8:45 a.m. Sept. 23, pushed it open, saw a body and called 911. Deputies found both women shot; they were pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff’s office first treated the case as a possible murder-suicide; evidence at the scene turned it into a double homicide. Detectives say Robinson had likely been in the apartment when the shooting happened. Sheriff Sally Hernandez credited crime-scene specialists and detectives for quickly connecting the evidence to a suspect. Robinson is presumed innocent.
Sources:
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