Vegas Shooter Killed His Brother in 1976

Jury in polygamist leader's trial got bad instructions: court

(NEWSER) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who has been serving 10 years to life for being an accessory to rape , was granted a new trial today, the Deseret News reports. The Utah Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the jury instructions delivered during Jeffs' 2007 trial were faulty. "We regret the effect our opinion today may have on the victim of the underlying crime, to whom we do not wish to cause additional pain," the opinion reads. More»

Peru judge orders him to prison until trial

(AP) - A Peruvian judge today ordered Joran Van der Sloot jailed on charges of first-degree murder and robbery in the killing of a 21-year-old Lima woman, determining that he acted with "ferocity and great cruelty." The judge issued the order before dawn, instructing penal authorities to place the 22-year-old Dutchman in a penitentiary pending trial. It's not clear when that trial will start. More»

Cop who busted him in 1976 kidnap-rape stunned he was on streets

(NEWSER) - A furious cop has blasted the legal system for "dropping the ball" on Jaycee Dugard's accused kidnapper Phillip Garrido, who served only a fraction of a 50-year conviction for a previous kidnap-rape. "How he got out after 10 years, I'll never know," Nevada Police Officer Clifford Conrad told the New York Daily News. More»

(NEWSER) - The woman who survived a robbery at the hands of Craigslist suspect Philip Markoff did so by offering no resistance, ABC News reports. “I just complied with everything he wanted me to do,” said Trisha Leffler, whom Markoff met at a Boston hotel for a massage. “I didn’t resist him in any way and that’s why.” Leffler, who lost $800, has positively identified Markoff as her assailant. More»

Prosecutors file charges of murder, kidnapping, and rape

(NEWSER) - A California Sunday school teacher arrested for the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu is now eligible for the death penalty after prosecutors added three “special circumstances,” to her charges today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The San Joaquin County DA alleges that Melissa Huckaby killed the girl after kidnapping her, sexually assaulting her, and raping her with a foreign object. More»