Hawaiian police have released Sonam Saxena, a Google Cloud product manager, following his arrest for second-degree murder in relation to the death of his wife.
Saxena and his wife Smriti were on vacation on the Big Island Hawaii with their two children. According to an interview Saxena gave to reporters prior to his arrest, his wife had an asthma attack on the beach, prompting him to go back to the hotel to retrieve her inhaler. By the time he got back at the beach, Saxena said his wife was missing and filed a missing person report.
The next morning a woman’s body was found near the beach, leading police to arrest Saxena for second-degree murder. Friday, two days later, “after conferring with prosecutors, Sonam Saxena was released pending investigation,” says a statement on the department’s website. “Detectives with the Area II Criminal Investigation Section are continuing this investigation.”
The police continue to ask for anyone who has information, or may have been in the area at the time of the events, to come forward.
Sonam Saxena, Google Cloud Product Manager, has been arrested on the Big Island, Hawaii on suspicion of second degree murder.
A body was discovered near Anaehoomalu Bay, leading to Saxena’s arrest. In an interview he gave to West Hawaii Todayprior to his arrest, Saxena said he and his wife Smriti—a Microsoft business program manager—were on a secluded beach south of Anaehoomalu Bay when she had an asthma attack.
“She got an asthma attack right there on the beach and she was feeling weak and she didn’t want to walk all the way back because it’s almost a 20-minute walk back from that beach to our room,” said Sonam Saxena. “So, I said, ‘hey, you know what? You stay here, you have your phone with you and I’ll just go to the room grab your inhaler and pump and come back.’
“I did that. Went to the room, picked up the inhaler, came back, and she was missing.”
Police have not released the identity of the body they discovered, but said it was found in the general area where Smriti Saxena was reported missing and last seen. The police are asking for assistance from anyone who may have been in the area around that time.
Vadym Kholodenko’s estranged wife, who has been charged with murdering the couple’s two daughters, five and one, sought help for mental issues the day before allegedly committing the unthinkable.
All of Forth Worth, Texas is still in shock over the murders of the little girls by their mother, but now there may be an explanation.
It seems Vadym Kholodenko‘s estranged wife, Sofya Tsygankova, was mentally struggling. In fact, police now say that she visited a mental health facility the day before committing the awful crime last Thursday.
Vadym Kholodenko walked in on the grisly scene last Thursday when he was supposed to pick up the girls. He hadn’t been living in the family’s home since he and his wife seperated.
Police reports indicate that Vadym Kholodenko first saw his wife in a closet, covered in blood and rocking back and forth. She had suffered knife wounds on her wrists and chest.
Detectives later found the girls, in separate bedrooms, in their beds. They appeared to have been dead for a while and one had a pillow on or near her face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFJuWUxRgDo
An empty prescription bottle of the anti-psychotic drug Quetiapine was found on the kitchen counter. She told police at the scene that she remembered putting her five-year-old daughter, Nika, to sleep and seeing her one-year-old daughter, Michela, asleep in her crib.
She also remembered hurting herself with the knife and taking the pills, but asked police if she’s done anything bad to her daughters.
Police say Vadym Kholodenko’s wife said she “didn’t see any future for me and my kids.”
What do you think drove Vadym Kholodenko’s wife to murder her children?
The long-awaited murder trial of the alleged Grim Sleeper serial killer finally commenced in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday after more than three decades since the death of the first victim in 1985.
The defendant, whose real name is Lonnie David Franklin Jr., is facing multiple murder charges for the deaths of at least nine women and the attempted murder one more in South Los Angeles between the years 1985 and 2007. The victims’ ages ranged from 15 to 35 years old, and were predominantly young African American women who were involved in prostitution and the use of crack cocaine.
In July of 2010, then-California Attorney General Jerry Brown approved a familial DNA procedure that allowed police to link DNA found the crime scene to convicted criminals on the police database. The connection was made through a partial match of the DNA recovered from a Grim Sleeper crime scene with the suspect’s son, Christopher Franklin, who had a police record for drugs and firearms possession in 2008. After obtaining Lonnie’s DNA by following him in an undercover operation, they were able to facilitate his arrest.
Why Did It Take More Than 20 Years to Arrest the ‘Grim Sleeper’ Serial Killer? http://t.co/0m0Soy7kWO
Authorities also found photos and videos of 180 women after searching Franklin Jr.’s home. The graphic images were published in the hopes of getting more information about the murders and to find out if any of the victims actually survived. One woman named Enietra Washington came forward and claimed that the Grim Sleeper raped her before shooting her in the chest with a .25 caliber pistol.
Lonnie Franklin Jr. used to work as a sanitation worker and backyard mechanic during the period of the murders. He earned the nickname Grim Sleeper because the killings for which he is charged took place more than a decade apart.
Pleading not guilty to all of the charges, the Grim Sleeper – who is now 63 years old – is expected to go on trial in front of a jury for two to three months, according to Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman. The prosecution is aiming for the death penalty while the defense promises an aggressive argument backed by testimonies from the defendant’s friends and neighbors.
Ten years after the brutal murder of Wisconsin native Teresa Halbach, her killer, Steven Avery, still maintains his innocence and insists that he had been framed.
Prior to his conviction for Halbach’s murder, Avery was charged with first-degree sexual assault and attempted murder of 36-year-old Penny Beerntsen in 1985. With the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project and advancements in DNA testing, Avery was exonerated in 2003.
Because of the wrongful conviction that put him in jail for 18 years, Avery filed a $36 million lawsuit against the county, which sparked the creation of a criminal justice reforms bill named after him.
Two years later, 25-year-old professional photographer Teresa Halbach disappeared on the day she was set to meet Avery to take photos of his sister’s minivan for an ad in Auto Trader Magazine. Avery was soon charged with Halbach’s murder after the police discovered her car and burnt remains at his salvage yard.
Avery has been vocal about his alleged innocence, claiming that his conviction was a deliberate retaliation of federal authorities for the case he had filed against them.
The recent broadcast of the Netflix documentary series, Making a Murderer, has gotten people’s attention on the death of Teresa Halbach and the story of Steven Avery. However, Halbach’s family and friends are said to be enraged by the “one-sided” portrayal of her killer.
According to Halbach’s relatives, the filmmakers used an angle that suggests that the murder of Teresa Halbach was fabricated by authorities to frame Avery.
Avery’s former fiancée Jodi Stachowski denounced the innocent image in which Avery was portrayed, and revealed that he was violent and abusive towards her throughout their two-year relationship.
On the other hand, Avery’s mother Dolores believes that Teresa Halbach is still alive and that the charred remains were never really confirmed to be hers.
In a radio interview with TMZ, Dolores declared that Teresa Halbach might be involved in a conspiracy against her son.
“I don’t think she’s even dead,” she said on the radio show. “How do you know if they were her bones?”
Meanwhile, the memory of Teresa Halbach is revived by the people who got to know her when she was still alive. A feature by People magazine gives readers a closer look at Halbach’s life as related by her friends and family.
An Italian judge upheld the arrest of the suspect allegedly responsible for the murder of American artist Ashley Olsen, legal representatives of the suspect confirmed.
Antonio Voce, lawyer of Cheik Tidiane Diaw, the Senegalese man involved in the murder of Ashley Olsen, said Judge Matteo Zanobini ruled that Diaw will remain in jail after a closed-door hearing in Florence on Saturday.
Diaw has been accused of aggravated homicide but no formal charges have been pressed against the suspect.
Olsen, 35, an American artist, was discovered dead in her apartment by her worried boyfriend, who came to her home to check on her.
Autopsy finding revealed that the victim sustained skull fractures and was strangled to death. Witnesses said they saw Ashley Olsen and Diaw together at a Florence nightclub on the night before Olsen’s killing. Surveillance videos showed the two headed towards the artist’s apartment.
Furthermore, authorities believe that Olsen and Diaw were both under the influence of alcohol and likely, drugs as well. According to initial investigations, Ashley Olsen was killed after the two had sex, which the prosecutors maintained was consensual.
Lab analyses are expected to verify what substances Olsen had consumed. Voce also revealed that Diaw had confessed to investigators that he and the American artist consumed “a lot of cocaine and a lot of alcohol.”
Voce added that during the hearing, the suspect said that he used the victim’s telephone to call for help and denied ever strangling Olsen. Diaw allegedly pushed Ashley Olsen during a fight, adding she was still alive when he left.
Cheik Tidiane Diaw’s DNA was found on a condom and cigarette in Ashley Olsen’s Florence apartment https://t.co/ZGhtPHibLr
On Sunday, a memorial was held for Ashley Olsen, where her family and friends gathered to say their goodbyes. Olsen moved to Italy two years ago to be with her father who is a professor at a local design school. Her remains were buried in Italy instead of the US as the case is still in progress.
“Her neck and either side of her head had laceration and that led us to believe it was a case of murder,” Daniel Arzu, Benque Viejo Police Superintendent told ABC7 Chicago.
A post mortem examination revealed she died of “asphyxia due to compression of the neck area, throttling (manual strangulation) and blunt force traumatic injuries to the head and neck region.”
The executive web producer’s phone is said to be missing. Her remaining belongings will be turned over to U.S. Embassy officials on Monday, according to WLS-TV.
Anne Swaney was staying at Nabatunich cottages in the city of Benque Viejo in Belize, and according to investigators, she disappeared while doing yoga on Thursday morning. Her tour guide found her yoga mat and her other stuff near the river, but after failing to find her reported her disappearance to the authorities.
A Guatemalan fisherman was being questioned, but he was not declared a suspect. The man, whose name is Rafael Martinez, was considered a person of interest, according to the spokesman for the Belize Ministry of National Security. “He is a person who the police believe can assist in the investigation.”
Anne Swaney was described by the president and general manager of ABC7, John Idler, as a “trailblazer in the digital news space,” and a “kind person who always had a smile and a positive attitude.”
“Anne was our leader, Anne was our conscience. Anne wanted to make sure that every story that we put online was first and foremost right,” director of digital operations at ABC7 Chicago, Kevin Carpenter, shared. “There’s always going to be a spot there that we will miss.”
Craigslist can turn deadly if you follow the wrong ad. All too many have learned this the hard way, and this week, a body was found in St. Louis, which belongs to a man who fell victim to murder after possibly meeting someone through the site.
It has yet to be confirmed that a Craigslist ad is directly related, but based on what the victim’s family has said, it appears this was likely the case.
The body of Robert Lovings Polk, a 22-year-old Army veteran, was reportedly found in St. Louis on Thursday in an alley. He had been shot and had been missing after going to look at a used car, his family believes. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
The body of Robert Lovings Polk was decomposed, but tests later showed he had been shot, police said.
Polk, 22, was found dead about 7:40 a.m. Thursday in an alley in the 8000 block of Frederick Street, in the Baden neighborhood. He has been missing since Oct. 3, when his mother said he left home, possibly to meet someone to buy a car posted on the online marketplace Craigslist. Police have not yet confirmed that theory.
Though the Craigslist angle has yet to be proven, the story is all too familiar.
A year ago, Law Street reported that it had identified 58 murderers and 45 murder victims connected to Craigslist postings through the previous June.
Even since then, in April, Advanced Interactive Media Group said that since 2007 there had been 86 killings that were in some way linked to Craigslist.
Suffice it to say, Craigslist has a reputation. Here’s a peek at some recent casual conversation from Twitter:
CraigsList could solve all its problems by adding a section called Casual Encounters NOT Ending in Murder
A young mother confessed to killing her three sons over the past thirteen months after she reported that her 3-month-old son was not breathing.
The death of 3-month-old Noah, and the sudden deaths of 4-year-old Gavin Pilkington, who died in April, and 3-month-old Niall Pilkington, who died July 2014, led to the arrest of Brittany Pilkington on Tuesday. She was charged with three counts of murder.
Prosecuter William Goslee made a statement on Wednesday saying, “She has confessed to placing a blanket over the faces of three of her children and holding them either face down or face up until they expired.”
Goslee confirmed that before Noah’s death, a court judge had brought the boy and his young sister back to the family since the cause of the two previous deaths was undetermined at the time. The children were temporarily taken from their family’s custody after Gavin died in April.
The 23-year-old mother called 911 to report that her son was not breathing. She was asked about the cause but the mother claimed that genetics must have been behind their deaths.
However, the authorities believed the deaths were not of natural cause. The mother showed erratic behavior during the course of the investigation. She was said to be calm instead of panicking.
When interrogated by prosecutors, Pilkington admitted that she suffocated them with a blanket. Her confession led the investigators to reopen the case of Gavin and Niall’s deaths.
As to the motive for killing her sons, Pilkington said she was jealous of the attention the father was giving the three boys. She then said that her daughter was being ignored.
Neighbors were certain there was something odd about the mother’s behavior when Gavin died in April. Jim Pilkington, the children’s uncle noticed the same thing during the funeral of his nephew.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation together with local authorities are pursuing the investigation.
What started as a mere disappearance of a little girl ended with the shock and devastation of a community. Little Madyson Middleton was only 8 years old when her life ended most likely at the hands of 15-year-old Adrian Jerry “A.J.” Gonzales.
According to police reports, A.J. Gonzales lured Middleton into the apartment where he and his mother lived last Sunday . Then from there, the boy proceeded to sexually assault and strangle little Maddy, eventually ending her short life. The girl’s body was found Monday night in a recycle bin a few floors down.
New photos into KRON of 15-year-old Adrian Jerry Gonzalaz, the teen arrested for killing 8-year-old Madyson Middleton pic.twitter.com/2ONv2zucZi
The residents of the Tannery Arts Center, a building where the victim and the suspect lived, can’t believe the horrible news that has befallen on their little community.
“First I’m very, very heartbroken for Maddy. But I thought it had to be a mistake,” said Lisa Silas, a building resident since 2009. “This is really hard. We’re just really upset, really devastated.”
Silas knew the boy, as well as most of the 250 people living in the arts center. People see him as a gentle boy that never parts with his yo-yo.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know him well enough. Social media posts, particularly on Instagram, points to Gonzales as a troubled boy probably dealing with mental health issues of his own.
“It definitely sounds like this guy was dealing with depression and thinking about suicide,” said Oscar Cervantes, a clinical psychologist in San Bruno. “It seems like this guy knew something was really wrong with him.”
Despite this recent wave of grief and shock, the Tannery community expects to channel the negativity into support for one another. A playground in honor of little Maddy may be in the works.
A decade after her disappearance, Natalee Holloway’s family might finally get some closure as a new witness claims he saw what happened to the teenager.
The witness, Jurrien De Jong, has come forward with shocking claims that he saw the 18-year-old Holloway on the last night she was alive.
De Jong told Inside Edition that he saw suspect Joran van der Sloot carrying her body on the night she vanished.
Jurrien De Jong claims he saw Joran Van Der Sloot chase Natalee Halloway on the last night she was alive
“I saw that Joran was chasing Natalee into a small building under construction,” De Jong described. “In about five minutes he came out with Natalee in his arms, and slammed the body of Natalee on the floor, and then he made an opening in a crawl space.”
“I knew she was dead,” he concluded.
Joran van der Sloot has always been the primary suspect in the case and was even arrested twice but never charged.
The suspect, who was 17 at the time that Holloway disappeared, is currently serving time in a Peruvian prison for the murder of Stephany Flores, a college student.
He still denies any wrongdoing in connection to Holloway’s disappearance.
But why did it take De Jong 10 years to gather the nerve to come forward?
De Jong says that he didn’t go to the police at the time because he was involved in some illegal activities. But he decided to reveal what he saw after watching a TV report where van der Sloot confessed that Holloway was buried at sea.
It’s a claim that De Jong vehemently says is a lie based on what he saw that night.
Aruba’s prosecutor, Eric Olthof, says that his office is looking into De Jong’s claims and that the investigation might take about two months.
In the meantime, Holloway’s father Dave has returned to Aruba with a private detective and Inside Edition’s Lisa Guerrero to follow up on the new lead.
“Emily had tried everything to get better but nothing seemed to help her. I took a gun and shot her in the head and now she is migraine free and floating in the clouds on a sunny afternoon, her long beautiful brown hair flowing in the breeze, a true angel.”
That chilling passage comes from Facebook, where a man allegedly confessed to shooting his daughter, wife, and sister before killing himself.
CBC reports that police are investigating multiple homicides that are thought to be related to a post from a British Columbia man named Randy Janzen. In the post, he says that he was unable to continue to watch his daughter suffer from depressions an migraines, so he shot her in the head.
“Then I shot Laurel because a mother should never have [to] hear the news her baby has died. Then a couple of days later my sister Shelly because I did not want her to have to live with this shame I have caused all alone.”
According to the Canadian Press, “homicide investigators have said several members of one family, including the suspect, are dead at two crime scenes in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. They have not released identities but confirmed the Facebook post is part of their probe.”
Today we celebrate the incomparable Emily Janzen. A former student and instructor, forever a part of our CSOPA family….
“Now my family is pain free and in heaven,” wrote Janzen. “I have great remorse for my actions and feel like the dirt that I am. I am taking full responsibility for my actions of these murders. So sorry to anyone I have hurt. Rest in peace my little family {kiss emoji} Love Daddio xoxo.”
According to a friend and co-worker, Janzen himself suffered from depression.
“It’s brutal. I can’t believe it. Randy was a good buddy, and now he’s gone,” said the co-worker. “I left work today. Honestly, when I heard about it I started crying. I had to go home and see my little girls, because it was too much… He was a funny guy, but he was a roller-coaster too. He was depressed, and then one minute he was up. And then he was down.”
Limp Bizkit frontman and purveyor of fine red hats Fred Durst would like you to know that he is not alleged killer Robert Durst.
One set out on a killing rampage, murdering things that many people held near and dear – ruining their lives. And the other one is alleged killer Robert Durst.
You might recall that earlier this month, shortly after HBO aired the finale of its Robert Durst docuseries The Jinx and Durst was arrested in New Orleans, the Associated Press made a hilarious error and issued one of the best corrections of our time.
This came over the AP CA 10th Newsminute at about 6:27 p.m. PDT the day after Robert Durst’s arrest:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A Louisiana State Police trooper says millionaire Robert Durst has been booked on weapons charges in that state – on top of a first-degree murder charge lodged by Los Angeles authorities. Trooper Melissa Matey told the Associated Press that an arrest warrant was issued for the former Limp Bizkit frontman and he was rebooked in the Orleans Parish Jail on Monday under two new charges.
Which prompted this incredible thing:
In the second item of the California 10th NewsMinute sent March 16 to users of the state broadcast wire, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Durst is a member of a band. He is a real estate heir; Fred Durst is the former frontman of Limp Bizkit.
That, in turn, prompted a lot of jokes. Everyone had jokes.
These Robert Durst/Fred Durst twitter jokes are timeless. I can't wait to tell my grand kids about them.
Here’s a pro tip for all the criminals out there: the police can see who your friends are on Facebook. So if you tell them you don’t know someone when you do, you’re gonna have a bad time.
A 18-year-old Indianapolis woman has been linked to a murder after police caught her in a lie, and all they had to do was spend a couple minutes on Facebook.
Haley E. McKibben and Julius A. Gordon have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of John Kinsey Jr.
[Kinsey] was found shot to death in a car Saturday morning on the city’s west side. A revolver was on his lap, and the driver’s side window was shattered.
McKibben and Gordon conspired to rob Kinsey of marijuana and Xanax, the probable cause affidavit alleges. Gordon asked McKibben to “set up” Kinsey, the affidavit says.
McKibben smoked with Kinsey in his car and text-messaged Gordon to let him know where the car was parked and what drugs Kinsey had on him, the affidavit says. She text-messaged Gordon to warn him Kinsey was armed.
The document alleges Gordon tried to rob Kinsey, but the men exchanged gunshots. Kinsey was killed, and Gordon was hit in the arm, police said.
Police later made Gordon a suspect in the murder, and asked McKibben if she recognized him in a lineup. At the time, she claimed to be uninvolved in the crime, just a victim of wrong place, wrong time. She said she didn’t know him.
All police has to do was fire up Facebook and see that the two were friends. When confronted with this, she admitted to knowing him. After that, all that was needed to make the case were text messages. Gordon’s been charged with murder and McKibben has been charged with robbery.
First off, don’t rob people. That’s dumb. Definitely don’t shoot people. But if you’re going to commit crimes, you should probably whitewash your Facebook profile.
If you’ve been awake and breathing for the past two days, you’ve probably been listening to Kendrick Lamar’s new album and talking about Robert Durst. Not at the same time, really, but off and on I’m sure. That’s what most of the internet has been talking about since Sunday. Don’t know about you guys.
Anyway, this is about Durst, who currently sits in jail charged with the 2000 murder of his best friend Susan Berman, and is the subject of the HBO original miniseries The Jinx. He was arrested in New Orleans hours before the finale of The Jinx aired, in which Durst seemingly confessed to a stretch of murders – including his wife’s and Berman’s.
Or he didn’t really confess. That’s up for debate, I guess – but immaterial here. The important part is that Robert Durst was arrested for murder and on top of that, booked for weapons charges.
Also, he is not Fred Durst and likely did nothing for the Nookie.
Jim Romenesko brings us one of if not the best AP corrections of our generation. He says this came over the AP CA 10th Newsminute at about 6:27 p.m. PDT Monday night:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A Louisiana State Police trooper says millionaire Robert Durst has been booked on weapons charges in that state – on top of a first-degree murder charge lodged by Los Angeles authorities. Trooper Melissa Matey told the Associated Press that an arrest warrant was issued for the former Limp Bizkit frontman and he was rebooked in the Orleans Parish Jail on Monday under two new charges.
Which prompted this incredible thing:
In the second item of the California 10th NewsMinute sent March 16 to users of the state broadcast wire, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Durst is a member of a band. He is a real estate heir; Fred Durst is the former frontman of Limp Bizkit.
According to an AP spokesman, the error went through “solely on the California broadcast wire last night.” Of course, that doesn’t matter in the slightest.
AP correction: Accused murderer Robert Durst is *not* a former member of the band Limp Bizkit. http://t.co/ofXmLVPFSz
Jessica Chambers’ family and friends gathered on Saturday in Sardis, Mississippi to celebrate her birthday.
Even without her, they seemed to be in fairly good spirits as they shared stories of her and released balloons into the sky in her honor.
Jessica Chambers was burned to death in her car in a horrific attack that shook her family, friends, and all of those who live near her nearly two months ago.
Jessica Chambers’ family had lovely things to say about her.
Chambers’ Aunt, Deborah Sanders, said, “Here she was fixing to be 20, but she was still a young child at heart.”
She added, “She would love all the balloons, whatever you did to makeover her, she would be ecstatic over it.”
Jessica Chambers’ family may be coping with their loss, but they will likely have to wait for closure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0JCBggLu-g
Investigators say they still have no leads as to who may have done this horrible thing to Jessica Chambers.
“We’re still not getting anywhere with it,” District Attorney John Champion said. “As far as who did it, that is the big question.”
That is the big question, indeed, and some people have taken to the web to air their concerns and to criticize the investigators on the case.
A petition on change.org has been set up to attempt to get the attention and support of the governor.
Part of it reads, “Since this tragedy occurred the investigation seemed botched. Her car was also set on fire, she was found near her burning car. Instead of the crime scene being blocked off and secured the car was on a tow truck and taken to the gas station Jessica was last seen at on December 6th around 6:25 pm. The owner/worker at the gas station was allowed to photograph the car.”
The petition accuses local law enforcement of corruption and tries to suggest that some gang members might be involved.
Champion disagrees with the petition. He said, “I don’t have any concerns whatsoever about the way the crime scene was handled.”
He added that he doesn’t think towing Jessica Chambers’ car to a gas station first had any effect on evidence at all. He said, “The car was burned so bad, we don’t know at this point what was in there.”
Locals who were directly affected seem to think that the investigators are doing a fine job on Jessica Chambers’ case.
“I think they are doing their job,” Chambers’ cousin, Windy Melton, said. She added, “These wannabe detectives [online] need to leave it alone and let the real people do their jobs and find justice for Jessica.”
What do you think? From where you’re sitting, does the handling of her burned out car seem ethical?
Emotional family members and other mourners from the local community gathered at the Lake Magdeline United Methodist Church to attend the funeral service of Phoebe Jonchuck, the five-year-old girl who died last week after being thrown from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge by her father, John Jonchuck.
Attendees were asked to wear rainbow colors by Phobe’s mother, Michelle Kerr, to commemorate her daughter’s strong affection towards bright-colored clothing. Despite the sea of colors, the service was highly emotional, and one man was asked to leave the service around 10 AM after threatening the father who is currently in police custody.
NOW @ 5: Full report on John Jonchuck Jr., father accused of throwing daughter off bridge, and the memory of Phoebe. pic.twitter.com/VQqrGNT3fw
Pastor Bren Byerman who officiated the service pleaded the mourners to forgive Jonchuck. Phoebe’s grandmother, Michelle Jonchuck strongly expressed her disappointment over her son’s action. In a previous interview with WFLA, Jonchuck wished that her son killed himself instead of her ‘angel princess.’ The grieving grandmother was reminded of the joy that her granddaughter brought into her life saying, “She was happy and always wanted to be a dancer. She loved arts and crafts. There aren’t enough words to describe how this child brought so much happiness to people.”
Phoebe Jonchuck’s teachers wear bright colors to honor her. Public visitation now at 3207 Bearss Ave/Tampa/4-8pm. pic.twitter.com/sKHg1sLDiT
Phoebe’s remains were laid in a tiny pink tulle casket that was decked with flowers. Her favorite doll and her most treasured stuffed animal were put inside before it was buried at Lake Carroll Cemetery.
Phoebe’s teacher at the Cleveland Elementary school gave an emotional tribute during the service, telling everyone about her fond memories with her student. Some of Phoebe’s classmates were present during the beautiful service, and their teacher reminded them to blow kisses for Phoebe who is now spending time in “cloud school.”
The death of Phoebe Jonchuck will not be in vain. Already, the Department of Children and Families is making policy changes following the little girl’s death. A grand jury is also being set up to determine the exact charges against Phoebe’s father.
Jessica Chambers has lots of people who remember her, and hundreds more who want to help find out who killed her. Support for the family has been steady and deep.
But some people want to use the death of Jessica Chambers as an opportunity to put money in their own pockets, relying on public outrage over her murder and the kindness of strangers to bring in cash that the Chambers family will never see.
District Attorney John Champion has said that he has no new news to share with the public about the investigation into Chambers’ death. He did say that more people are donating to the reward fund for information leading police to Jessica’s murderer.
But local news is also finding that people in the area of Panola County, Mississippi are tired of talking about the whole thing. They want the police and FBI to do their jobs, but they want reporters and others to stop stirring for stories in the area.
It is in this setting that news of scammers seeking to profit from the grief of the family is found.
A friend of the Chambers’ family had helped set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for covering all the “expenses for Jessica such as funeral, headstone and or Medical bills.”
So far, the official GoFundMe account has raised almost $21,000. That money will not go far. Jessica’s sister Amanda Prince has said that the family received “Jessica’s first bill yesterday which exceeds $13,000.”
This campaign is one of only two that the Chambers family acknowledges as associated with them. The other was set up to raise more reward money, but has since been taken down.
But it is not the only campaign of this type that has tried to get money in Jessica’s name. A woman named Janet Posey was arrested and charged with one count of attempted false pretense and one count of communications fraud for allegedly setting up a scam to fundraise donations for Chambers’ family.
“Family members and friends of the family brought their concerns about the site to our attention,” Attorney General Jim Hood said. “She was trying to get people to give money and acting as if she was a family member. We got online, found her internet protocol address, she tried to cover it up. Our investigators will continue to work and see who else is involved.”
Since Anni Dewani was murdered in 2010 her family has demanded answers. This week a South African judge dismissed the murder case against Dewani’s husband, Shrien Dewani, meaning those answers may never come.
Shrien was cleared of five charges on Monday including conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery, and murder. South African prosecutors had claimed that he arranged the kidnapping and murder of Anni during the couple’s honeymoon, citing his bisexuality as a possible motive.
Anni Dewani’s family expressed grief and anger following the case dismissal on Monday. Members of the family told the BBC that they had been “failed” by the South African justice system. Ami Denborg, Anni’s sister, stated that the family was “deeply disappointed” to be left without answers after four years of legal proceedings.
“The whole wedding was a drama, was false” Vinod Hindocha, Anni’s father, told the Daily Mail this week. “I’m going to sue [Shrien] for that. Not for money, but for the loss of my daughter.”
Anni Dewani, then Anni Hindocha, married British businessman Shrien Dewani in 2010. The couple honeymooned in South Africa in October of that year. Several days into the honeymoon the couple took a taxi to Gugulethu, a township outside of Cape Town that is notorious for its crime.
It was there that two armed men hijacked the taxi. Shrien was thrown out of the taxi and contacted police. The abandoned taxi was found later with Anni inside. She had apparently been robbed and had been shot to death.
In the following weeks South African police arrested the two hijackers and then the taxi driver. The taxi driver was offered a plea deal to testify that Shrien had set up the kidnapping and paid to have Anni murdered.
That plea deal would eventually become a key part of the case’s dismissal. Judge Jeanette Traverso ruled that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to convict Shrien and pointed out that the taxi driver’s testimony was “riddled with contradictions.”
The case against Shrien was delayed by a prolonged extradition fight. Eventually he was extradited in April of this year. Anni’s family had supported the extradition and Denborg said at the time that it was “just one step” in the “battle” to find out what happened to her sister.
Shrien Dewani was recently cleared by a South African court of any involvement in the murder of his wife, Anni Dewani. The 34-year-old millionaire was accused of hiring hitmen to murder his wife during their honeymoon in South Africa. Shortly after the ruling, Mr. Dewani flew back to the UK. It’s been reported that Mr. Dewani received VIP treatment during the nine-hour flight as well as upon arrival in Gatwick early this morning. A passenger in the flight claimed, “He looked quite at ease. He had a quick chat with the pilot when he passed through the cabin.”
Anni’s family are still in shock following the verdict. Nilam Hindocha, Anni’s mother, spoke to the press for the first time since the trial. “He didn’t have the guts to face us. He was a coward in the court, always a coward,” Mrs. Hindocha told the press after seeing footage of Dewani’s arrival back in Gatwick. “I don’t think any other men would leave their wives like that. If he really loved her he would have fought for her,” Mrs. Hindocha added. “I didn’t see any marks on him, there was no sign that he had put up any fight for her. He had thought only about himself.”
And while the murder case is now out of the South African court’s hands, Anni’s family vows that it’s not over yet. “We are looking at all the options that are presented to us, we need to get our family together back home and think over this during the forthcoming holidays and consult with our lawyers how to go on with this matter,” Anni’s uncle, Ashok Hindocha, told The Independent.
The prosecutors for the case argued that Shrien, who admitted to being bi-sexual during the trial, felt that he was trapped in the marriage. However, the case was thrown out by presiding judge Jeanette Traverso because she claims that the evidence presented against Mr. Dewani was filled with contradictions.
Mississippi teenager Jessica Chambers was inexplicably set on fire Saturday evening, and authorities have been trying to piece together the final 24 hours of her life.
Chambers, 19, went out at roughly 6:30 p.m. to get gas and something to eat at a Courtland, Mississippi convenience store. She then began driving to nearby Batesville to get her vehicle cleaned, according to her mother Lisa Chambers, who spoke to the deceased at approximately 7 p.m.
Police were later called to the scene of a burning vehicle at roughly 8 p.m., and found Chambers on fire herself. The teen later died at a Memphis hospital.
Convenience store clerk Ali Alsanai, and acquaintance of Chambers’, told investigators that he didn’t think anything was wrong when he encountered the teen on the night of her death. Alsanai commented, “She was normal that day. She just pumped the gas like she always does. She left. Then two hours later, we all heard.”
“If something was going on, she would have told me,” Alsanai said. “She would have told me she was having a problem with someone. She was smiling and she left, and that’s the last time I saw her.”
Surveillance footage at the gas station Chambers was last seen:
Courtland Fire Chief Cole Haley commented, “We was expecting it to be any other vehicle fire: Get it extinguished and be back home, you know? We saw that the vehicle was fully involved and we noticed the young female. And we knew we had something bigger on our hands.”
Haley spoke to Chambers while she was still conscious, but has not revealed what she told him. Lisa Chambers commented that her daughter was able to give investigators some names before she died.
District Attorney John Champion remarked, “We’ve talked to a lot of people and some of those people could end up being a suspect. But as of right now we have not questioned anybody who we believe to be a suspect.”
“I feel like it’s something we’re going to solve,” Champion added. “It could be in the next 5 minutes, five months or five years. You just don’t know.”
