Ex-con admits to
killing 6 after dispute, Memphis police say
Commercial Appeal (Memphis) Mar 8, 08 5:56 PM CST
(Newser)
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Memphis police collared a man yesterday and charged him in a mass killing that shocked the city last weekend. Jessie Dotson, 33, allegedly shot his brother Cecil, 30, in an argument and then murdered five possible witnesses. “When Jessie left, he believed everyone in the home was dead,” a police director said. “But as we know, through the grace of God, three children survived.”
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NASA-enhanced
photo helps police
nab man in Alabama

Associated Press Mar 8, 08 2:18 PM CST
(Newser)
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A man has been arrested and charged with killing 18-year-old Auburn University student Lauren Burk, thanks to a photo enhanced with help from NASA, the AP reports. Police arrested Courtney Lockhart, 23, in Phenix City, Ala., after a car and foot chase. He was initially sought as a suspect in a string of robberies. Police did not say where they got the photo, but it may have come from a gas station camera, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
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Lovers, one with vampire fixation, kissed over dying 16-year-old

West Australian Mar 7, 08 4:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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In a case that has gripped Australia since 2006, two lesbian lovers—one with a vampire fixation—were sentenced to at least 24 years in prison today for murdering a teenage girl, the West Australian reports. They bludgeoned and strangled the girl and kissed over her body, taking video on a mobile phone. The pair showed little emotion as the sentence was read.
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Three wounded survivors under tight protection; victims had troubled pasts

Associated Press Mar 6, 08 9:52 AM CST
(Newser)
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Memphis police are keeping a tight watch on three seriously wounded children who could be key to solving the murder of six people—including two other kids—at a brick house in a tough neighborhood over the weekend. Police aren’t allowing any visitors, including relatives. They’ve also declined to identify the children, slain or living.
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Police press on in hunt for remains

Daily Telegraph (UK) Mar 5, 08 8:09 AM CST
(Newser)
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British police searching for bodies near a former children's home discovered a field full of shallow graves—only to learn it had been a mock graveyard for a TV show, the Daily Telegraph reports. The infuriated police chief "put his head in his hands and uttered a few choice words" after being told workers for a BBC detective series dug the graves, said a source.
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Unemployed gunman injured 5 others before taking own life

Palm Beach Post Mar 3, 08 8:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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A gunman killed a local firefighter and wounded five others in a West Palm Beach Wendy's today before taking his own life, the Palm Beach Post reports. Shooter Alburn Edward Blake left no suicide note but was said by one witness to be an ex-worker at the restaurant. "Looks like this was just another random shooting like we've seen around the United States," a Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokesman told the AP.
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Search for remains continues as government connections emerge

Guardian (UK) Feb 29, 08 1:38 PM CST
(Newser)
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Police found shackles yesterday in a torture chamber beneath a former children’s home on the British island of Jersey where human bones were discovered last week, the Guardian reports. An ongoing investigation of alleged physical and sexual abuse has turned up the remains of one child, and search dogs this week demonstrated an "extremely strong reaction" that there may be more.
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Dynamic duo
suspected in
string of 40 ripoffs

Philadelphia Inquirer Feb 29, 08 3:49 AM CST
(Newser)
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Twin porn star brothers have been arrested for a rooftop burglary in Philadelphia and they're suspected of carrying out 40 more, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. One brother has a successful modeling career. The other, described by police as "a bad, bad man," reportedly has a long criminal record. Both have starred in hardcore gay porn videos under the stage names Keyon and Teyon.
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5 kids hit as thug sprays crowd with semiautomatic

Los Angeles Times Feb 28, 08 7:32 AM CST
(Newser)
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Five children and three adults were wounded yesterday when a gunman opened fire on a crowded South Los Angeles bus stop minutes after classes ended at a nearby middle school. The school was locked down as police hunted for the shooter, who fired some 15 rounds into the crowd with a semiautomatic gun. Investigators were still hunting for him last night. It was unclear what triggered the violence.
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John responds to prostitute's pitch, gets held up at gunpoint

San Jose Mercury News Feb 27, 08 3:36 PM CST
(Newser)
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A California man who responded to a Craigslist ad for a prostitute got hit over the head and carjacked instead. The 23-year-old went to a house listed in the ad and started to return to his truck when no one answered the door. Two armed men then took his money and keys, hit him with the butt of a shotgun, and drove away in his truck, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
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140 adults have come forward with abuse complaints at children's institution

Guardian (UK) Feb 25, 08 8:38 AM CST
(Newser)
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British officials who discovered the remains of a youngster in a children's home fear there could be at least six other bodies beneath the concrete floors, reports the Guardian . Complaints of abuse launched an investigation of the home, which has been closed for years, and other government institutions on the island of Jersey. "It's difficult to envisage more horrific crimes than some of those that are alleged to have been carried out here," said one investigator.
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US wants to follow UK's lead and
track down suspects' relatives

Wall Street Journal Feb 23, 08 3:02 PM CST
(Newser)
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US law enforcement currently catalogs 5.6 million DNA profiles, about 2% of Americans, but hopes to expand that and the scope of their searches, the Wall Street Journal reports. A bigger database would allow "familial searches"—looking for near matches of a suspect's brother or sister, for example. Civil libertarians worry the practice will expose innocent people to government scrutiny.
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Accused derides lawyer, asks for food
as charges are read

New York Post Feb 17, 08 4:20 PM CST
(Newser)
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The suspected killer of a New York psychologist shocked observers at a hearing today by ridiculing his lawyer and asking for food, the New York Post reports. The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation of David Tarloff, who was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Kathryn Faughey and attempted murder and assault in an attack on Kent Shinbach, Tarloff's psychiatrist.
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