Sopranos Actor Beats Murder Rap

Jury can recommend life or death sentence

(NEWSER) - A former police officer faces the death penalty after a jury convicted him today of murdering his girlfriend and their unborn child, CNN reports. The jury in Canton, Ohio, didn't buy Bobby Cutts Jr.'s argument that he accidentally killed Jessie Davis, who was 9 months pregnant, then panicked. Cutts, who tearfully made his case on the witness stand, showed little reaction at the verdict. More»

'We didn't have evidence to convict,' says Jennifer Ford

(NEWSER) - If the Casey Anthony verdict made you ill, it was even worse for the jurors who made the decision, claims one of them. Jurors cried and "were sick to our stomachs" after voting to acquit Anthony of charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, said jury member Jennifer Ford. "There was not enough evidence," said the 32-year-old nursing student. "If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be. I did not say she was innocent." More»

Dad, 9-year-old girl killed in raid to steal cash, drugs, cops say

(NEWSER) - Two of three people arrested in the Arizona murder of a 9-year-old and her father were involved with a small anti-illegal immigrant group, the AP reports. Shawna Forde, the founder of Minutemen American Defense, and Jason Bush, its operations director, were charged with murder, assault, and burglary in the home invasion last month, reports the Arizona Daily Star. The three had aimed to steal money and drugs, and leave “no witnesses,” police said. More»

(AP) - Jurors in the kidnapping trial of the German man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller ended deliberations for today without a verdict. The Boston jurors got the case shortly after noon, and later asked the judge questions about one of the charges, that of providing a false name to police. Rockefeller's real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. More»

Incest dad found guilty on all charges

(NEWSER) - Austrian incest dad Josef Fritzl has been found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in a secure psychiatric facility, the BBC reports. Jurors found Fritzl guilty on charges that included rape, incest, murder, and enslavement after he locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, raped her more than 3000 times, and fathered her seven children. Fritzl said he wouldn’t appeal. A court doctor recommended he be kept in the psychiatric facility. More»