DNA testing confirmed he wasn't guilty of rape
Associated Press Jan 4, 08 3:00 AM CST
(Newser)
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A man who spent 27 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit was released yesterday after DNA evidence proved he hadn't assaulted his accuser. Charles Chatman, now 47, had maintained his innocence throughout his time in jail, refusing to give an account of the crime to the parole board on three separate occasions.
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New York Times Jan 3, 08 1:04 PM CST
(Newser)
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With the Supreme Court scrutinizing whether lethal injections constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," the New York Times wonders why none of the 38 states who use it have taken a simple step that could solve the problem: trade the three-drug sequence that's said to risk intense pain for a single drug used to euthanize animals. None wants to be the first to make the move, the paper finds.
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Will slaughter of 6 family members draw capital punishment for Wash. woman?
Seattle Times Dec 30, 07 9:33 PM CST
(Newser)
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With prosecutors still debating whether to seek the death penalty against Michele Anderson, charged in the murder of six members of her family on Christmas Eve, the Seattle Times looks at the odds that the Carnation, Wash., woman might actually be sentenced to death. Women rarely receive the death penalty, the paper finds, and in Washington state, no woman has ever been put to death.
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Private investigators look into new tips
Daily Telegraph (UK) Dec 26, 07 4:45 PM CST
(Newser)
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A hotline set up in the hunt for Madeleine McCann was flooded with 347 calls after her parents made a televised plea for information regarding the missing 4-year-old 's whereabouts. A private detective company hired by Gerry and Kate McCann, who both remain suspects in the case, will investigate the new tips, the Telegraph reports.
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Still not enough to hold anyone, judge ruled
CNN Dec 21, 07 5:00 AM CST
(Newser)
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Though the case has been closed in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, one of the men detained in her suspected murder wrote in an internet chat room that she was dead shortly after she vanished, an Aruba prosecutor has revealed. That evidence was used last month to rearrest three suspects in the Alabama high school student's disappearance. But a judge ruled it was not enough to hold them, CNN reports.
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'He pushed me over the edge,' says woman
Detroit Free Press Dec 19, 07 5:10 AM CST
(Newser)
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A Michigan woman allegedly aiming a gun at her husband killed the couple’s flat-screen TV instead, the Detroit Free Press reports. The woman, 61, explained to a police dispatcher that her husband "pushed me over the edge" but insisted she wasn't trying to hurt him. She said her spouse was dealing poorly with a stroke and a family death, and was "taking it out on me."
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NJ cops bust dozens
in major blow to
Lucchese crime family
Star-Ledger Dec 19, 07 3:56 AM CST
(Newser)
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New Jersey officials have nabbed a cadre of suspected mob bosses to bust up a sophisticated $2.2 billion gambling ring, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Others among more than two dozen arrested included a prison officer and a Bloods gangster, said to be part of an "alarming alliance" between the Mafia and Bloods that smuggled drugs and phones to inmates in a Jersey prison.
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Sent death threats to himself and other campus conservatives
The Daily Princetonian Dec 18, 07 4:07 AM CST
(Newser)
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A Princeton student who claimed his views on morality and membership in a conservative organization triggered death threats against him and a beating has confessed that the threats and attack were self-delivered, the Daily Princetonian reports. Four others on campus, including a prominent conservative professor, were also threatened as part of the hoax. The 23-year-old junior admitted the ruse when police confronted him with inconsistencies in his story.
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Hawks forward plays after robbery; cops
nab 2 suspects
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Dec 16, 07 1:24 PM CST
(Newser)
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Two gunmen carjacked Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams outside his barbershop in Atlanta last night and were later arrested when they tried another burglary, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Williams was unhurt and played two minutes in last night's game against the Charlotte Bobcats. "It's been a long day, but I'm fine," he told teammates.
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Move follows a wave of high-profile attacks in recent years
Guardian (UK) Dec 14, 07 3:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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British authorities are cracking down on a deadly, if unconventional, weapon—the samurai sword. The government banned the sale of the Japanese blades this week following at least 80 serious attacks, including five deaths, in the last few years, the Guardian reports. Collectors and martial arts practitioners will not be affected, just those who pick up cheaper imitations.
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Assault gun in Omaha slayings came from ex-stepfather's house
Omaha World-Herald Dec 13, 07 12:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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The night before the Omaha mall shootings, Robert Hawkins' mother went Christmas shopping for an hour. In that hour alone in his ex-stepfather's house, reports the Omaha World-Herald, the 19-year-old stole the assault rifle he used to randomly kill eight people the next day. At dinner, Hawkins told his mother that he'd lost his job, but seemed "neutral."
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Lone gunman ID'd as ex-mission worker who sent threatening letters
CNN Dec 10, 07 2:44 PM CST
(Newser)
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A former mission worker was the shooter in both of yesterday’s Colorado church shootings, CNN reports. The killer, identified as Matthew Murray, worked with Youth With a Mission in Arvada, where the first shooting occurred. The Rocky Mountain News describes Murray as the 24-year-old son of a local neurosurgeon, and CBS 4 reports that his neighbors said Murray was a recluse.
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Back-from-dead Darwin hid in family home, using secret passage
BBC Dec 8, 07 4:53 PM CST
(Newser)
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UK cops today charged John Darwin, the 57-year-old former teacher who allegedly faked his death in a 2002 canoeing incident, with two counts of fraud—acquiring a money transfer by fraud and lying to get a passport—the BBC reports. Darwin will remain in custody until a court appearance Monday; police have requested that his wife Anne, 55, believed to be in Miami, contact them "at the earliest opportunity."
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Police say he hid
an AK-47 inside balled-up sweatshirt
CNN Dec 6, 07 3:52 PM CST
(Newser)
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19-year-old Robert Hawkins briefly looked around the Von Maur department store yester