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Crime

By Steve Huff 5/28/12 2:37am

Crime

Nicola Furlong

Two Americans Arrested in Japan In Connection With Murder of Irish National

Tokyo media reports two Americans have been arrested in connection with the death of 21-year-old Irish student Nicola Furlong. Ms. Furlong was in Japan as part of University program. She was found dead in her hotel room earlier this week after she attended a concert given by hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj. Tokyo authorities believe Ms. Furlong was strangled then sexually assaulted.

Twenty-three-year-old James Blackston (possibly Blackstone–early reports vary) a.k.a. “King Tight,” and an as-yet unnamed 19-year-old male were taken in after police suspected the pair gave “drinks with high alcoholic content to Furlong’s friend, a 21-year-old Irishwoman, leading her to fall unconscious and then groping her inside a taxi,” reports Japan’s Mainichi News.

Until his arrest Mr. Blackston had an active social media presence, with a Twitter account under the screen name @KingTightBucc20 as well as a Myspace with the screen name “liltight.” The Twitter account has disappeared but various cached tweets made it clear he had a working relationship with R&B singer Omarion, who once tweeted this photo of @KingTightBucc20.

“King Tight’s” MySpace is private. Read More

By Steve Huff 5/24/12 7:29pm

Crime

Julie Patz, on the Today show, two years after her son Etan's disappearance.

N.Y.P.D. Arrests Pedro Hernandez in Disappearance of Etan Patz

In a press conference streamed live by multiple media outlets, N.Y.P.D. Commissioner Ray Kelly announced that police have arrested Pedro Hernandez in connection with the May 25, 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz. Mr. Kelly told reporters that police found “probable cause” to arrest Mr. Hernandez.

Mr. Kelly said Mr. Hernandez confessed to strangling and killing the boy as Etan headed to school the morning he vanished. Mr. Hernandez allegedly placed the body in a box which he left on the street.

Mr. Hernandez was a stock clerk in a bodega near the Patz home at the time of the disappearance. He allegedly led the boy into the basement there, luring him with the “promise of a soda,” according to Commissioner Kelly. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/02/12 5:50pm

Crime

Video

Patrica Krentcil (CBS)

Did This New Jersey Mom Put Her Six-Year-Old in a Tanning Bed? (Video)

You know, they say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but in this case we’re pretty sure that the charred shell speaks for itself. Patricia Krentcil of New Jersey stands accused of putting her 6-year-old daughter, Anna, into a tanning bed after teachers at her school discovered burn marks on the child’s body. Ms. Krentcil, who faces charges of child endangerment, says that the burns come from her daughter playing around in natural sunlight, something which the 44-year-old obviously know a lot about. Read More

By Hunter Walker 4/19/12 3:13pm

Crime

Police officer and FBI agents in front of the basement at 127B Prince Street. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

FBI and NYPD Dig Up SoHo Searching For Remains In 32-Year-Old Case of Missing Child

FBI and NYPD investigators shut a two-block stretch of Prince Street in SoHo today to dig for remains in the case of a young boy who went missing nearly 33 years ago. Etan Patz, 6, disappeared on May 25, 1979 after leaving his home for a two-block walk to his school bus stop. Despite worldwide attention, the case has never been solved. NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne told The Observer that police and FBI investigators are “executing a search warrant this morning for human remains, clothing or other personal effects that may help us lead to the location of Etan Patz” in the basement of 127B Prince Street. Etan went missing about a half block away from the basement.

“It’s about a 15-by-30 basement space,” Mr. Browne said. “It’s currently unoccupied, we’ll be taking down the drywall and excavating the basement.” Read More

By Steve Huff 4/11/12 3:57am

Crime

Henry Wachtel (screengrab from promo video for "Our Time")

Police: Henry Wachtel Charged With Beating Death of Mother, Teacher and Author Karyn Kay (Video)

Educator, author and screenwriter Karyn Kay, age 63, was brutally beaten to death in her apartment at W. 55th Street and Eighth Avenue Tuesday. Police believe she was killed by her son, 19-year-old Henry Wachtel. A report from the Daily News stated Ms. Kay called 911 and said her son was assaulting her and that he was having a ‘seizure.’ Police arrived to find the victim unconscious. Later examination at Cornell Hospital indicated Ms. Kay suffered major trauma, including fractured skull, facial bones and broken ribs.

Authorities told the Daily News there was no evidence Mr. Wachtel used a weapon: Read More

By Steve Huff 2/05/12 5:40pm

Crime

Crime Scene

Case of Missing Utah Woman Susan Powell Takes Explosive Turn

The mystery of missing Utah woman Susan Powell took another tragic turn Sunday when Pierce County, WA authorities raced to an explosion and house fire at the home of Mrs. Powell’s estranged husband, Josh Powell. Officials say the blast killed Mr. Powell, long a person of interest in his wife’s mysterious 2009 disappearance, and his two sons, who were at the home for supervised visitation. Read More

By Steve Huff 1/25/12 1:43am

Crime

Eric Stein

Once-Convicted Con Man Eric Stein Arrested, Accused of Being a Con Man

The U.S. Attorney and Postal Inspection Service announced Tuesday that Eric Stein, age 53, had been arrested and charged “with running an investment scam through Return-A-Pet LLC–a Manhattan-based company he operated…” Authorities who investigated Stein’s business say he may have lined his pockets with up to a half-million dollars over the last 3 years by hoodwinking consumers into buying “sham Return-A-Pet distributorships using false and misleading advertisements.”

This is familiar territory for Eric Stein. Read More