Alleged ‘cannibal cop’ Gilberto Valle, lately of the 26th Precinct, is accused of using the Internet to plan flesh-eating exploits with like-minded friends. Mr. Valle is awaiting trial on charges related to allegations he planned on kidnapping, torturing, cooking and eating up to 100 women. Where are his buddies? The New York Post reported Tuesday that Mr. Valle’s lawyers would like to know. Read More
During the 9 o’clock hour on Friday morning, at least one black-clad male entered Sandy Hook Elementary, a K through 4 school in Newtown, Connecticut. Police believe he was armed with two semi-automatic handguns. He opened fire on students and faculty and, according to reports coming from major media outlets already at the scene, the shooter killed at least 27, including 18 children.
Reuters and WABC reported that the shooter was 24, carrying up to four weapons and wearing a bulletproof vest.
An Associated Press report in the Hartford Courant states that “one entire classroom was unaccounted for” as authorities attempted to determine who had survived the shooting.
The school is home to grades K through 4, with students no older than ten years of age. Read More
An Unbroken Series of Successful Gestures
As November ended, Tabber Benedict, a “Gatsbaby” featured in a June, 2012 report in The Observer, pleaded guilty in a Suffolk County court to ten charges related to a drunk-driving incident on July 4, 2011. According to a report in Newsday, Mr. Benedict, a 35-year-old corporate attorney, will lose his law license and will serve time in jail.
Suffolk County D.A. Thomas Spota issued a statement about Mr. Benedict’s plea that called the penalties “completely proportional” to the crime. Read More
Stephen Baldwin was arrested on Thursday for alleged repeated failures to file his New York state personal income tax. Mr. Baldwin, an actor, conservative Christian and younger brother to 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, allegedly failed to file taxes for three years–2008 through 2010–and he may owe the state over $350,000.
CBS New York quoted a statement from Rockland County, N.Y., D.A. Thomas Zugibe, who said Mr. Baldwin’s “repetitive failure to file returns and pay taxes over a period of several years” was just another element contributing to “the sweeping cutbacks and closures in local government and schools.” Read More
The N.Y.P.D. may have a person of interest in the tragic subway homicide that occurred at the 49th Street N/Q/R Midtown station Monday afternoon.
Queens resident Ki-Suck Han died Monday when witnesses say another man pushed him onto the subway tracks after a confrontation. Mr. Han attempted to climb back on the platform but couldn’t make it and died from injuries suffered after he was struck by the Q train. Read More
Reports from the scene indicate a man struck by the N train in Midtown on Monday may have been pushed. The incident occurred in the 49th Street and 7th Avenue subway station around 12:30 p.m., after the victim fell from the platform. He tried to climb to safety but didn’t make it. He was transported to Roosevelt Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The station was evacuated after the incident and N, Q and R trains from all directions directed to bypass the 49th Street Station. Read More
Bangladeshi national Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, age 21, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges today in a Brooklyn federal court. Mr. Nafis is facing allegations he attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction and offered support to a terrorist organization.
The N.Y.P.D. and the F.B.I. arrested Mr. Nafis on October 17 after he allegedly tried to detonate a van he thought was loaded with a half-ton of explosives. The car-bomb was a dud; Mr. Nafis was targeted in a sting planned after authorities say they were made aware Mr. Nafis was planning a terrorist act. Read More
A New York grand jury has indicted Pedro Hernandez in connection with the 1979 death of Etan Patz. Mr. Hernandez, a 51-year-old resident of Maple Shade, N.J., has been charged with murder in the second degree. He was arrested in May 2012 after reportedly confessing to killing the little boy.
Etan Patz was on his way to school when he vanished from Soho on May 25, 1979. His disappearance became national news, his image eventually appearing on milk cartons across the country.
At the time, Mr. Hernandez was a stock clerk at a bodega near the Patz residence. According to a statement from NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, Mr. Hernandez said he lured Etan into the basement of the bodega by promising the boy a soda. Read More
The world awakened Monday to the deeply depressing news that Kevin Clash, the voice and hands behind Sesame Street‘s beloved red mascot Elmo, was leaving the show for a while after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old boy. Mr. Clash has insisted that the relationship occurred after his accuser was an adult, but the now 23-year-old man making the allegations is being represented by the same law firm that represented a victim of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky, which can’t be good news for anyone.
We still don’t know just how deep inside the fuzzy red muppet this story goes. We do know that this is certainly not the first whiff of scandal in children’s entertainment.
Here’s a handful of other scandals that range from darkly funny to frankly terrifying. Read More
Slate’s Fred Kaplan reports that David Petraeus resigned as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency after he had an affair with one of his biographers, author Paula Broadwell. Ms. Broadwell co-authored a glowing portrait of Mr. Petraeus titled, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus. Read More
