Crime

Austrian police want another round of questioning with Josef Fritzl's 68-year-old wife, the Times of London reports. But the chief investigator in the case doesn't count Rosemarie Fritzl a suspect, and asked, “What woman would stay silent if she knew that her husband had seven children with his daughter and was holding her prisoner in the cellar?” More »

More states are imprisoning babies, and moms couldn't be happier: Prisons nationwide are allowing incarcerated mothers to keep their little ones, the AP reports. Opponents of the practice say the kids may be traumatized, but one researcher found that “the outcomes are promising, if the prison nursery programs have the appropriate resources.” More »

A memorabilia merchant who has sold items for O.J. Simpson says the former football phenom got high on drugs and confessed to killing Nicole Brown Simpson, the AP reports. In his new book, How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder, Mike Gilbert also claims that he helped Simpson bloat his hands so his gloves wouldn't fit on trial. More »

Recording equipment reported stolen from former Motown star Martha Reeves has turned up in a Detroit pawnshop, the Free Press reports. The equipment was taken last week from the childhood home of Reeves, who's now a Motor City councilwoman. More »

Police arrested rapper DMX early this morning on animal-abuse and drug charges, the Arizona Republic reports. Police seized five pit bull puppies, and unknown quantities of marijuana and cocaine from the house northeast of Phoenix. More »

A plea deal to settle charges that rapper Foxy Brown hurled a BlackBerry at a neighbor means the notorious bad girl had to pen an apology letter instead of going back to jail, the New York Post reports. "It's over," the hip-hop diva said. "I made a really good decision in my plea. They knew this was a weak case." More »

An admitted New Jersey pedophile snared by a global Interpol appeal was an entertainer at children's parties and was dubbed one of the area's "best Santas," AP reports. Prosecutors say 58-year-old Wayne Anthony Corliss, who was arrested at his apartment, has admitted having sex with young boys in Thailand. Police have found boys' underwear and child pornography in his home, according to authorities. More »

Browsing airplane catalogs already hints at a certain crazed desperation. But just in case that yapping businessman on your flight pushes you into a homicidal rage, Jezebel points out that SkyMall merch can also facilitate murder (first, allow 4-6 weeks for delivery): Lawn Aerator Sandals: 1.5-inch spikes covering the soles easily dig holes in your lawn. Happily, they also turn a swift kick deadly. More »

The official leading Mexico's anti-drug efforts was gunned down early this morning, the Los Angeles Times , shot eight times after arriving at his Mexico City home from work. Mexican outlets reported that the so-called Sinaloa cartel is behind the death of Edgar Millan Gomez, 42; he's the third high-ranking federal law-enforcement official shot in the capital in the past week. More »

It took the public two days to lead authorities to the Internet pedophile Interpol had been hunting since 2006, ABC News reports, with US authorities arresting Wayne Nelson Corliss, 59, early this morning in New Jersey. Police had been scouring the globe for a man seen abusing young boys in at least 800 photos circulating online. More »

British authorities are targeting men who pay for sex with a hard-hitting ad campaign comparing some instances to rape, Reuters reports. Because thousands of women trafficked into the country each year are forced into prostitution, there's nothing consensual about the sex they sell, the ads suggest. "Walk in a punter, walk out a rapist," say the ads to be posted in men's rooms. More »

In jail-cell notes released by his lawyer, Josef Fritzl goes to bizarre lengths to defend the rape and imprisonment of his daughter, citing his Nazi upbringing for instilling “a high regard for decency and uprightness,” and a need to save the 18-year-old Elisabeth from drinking and dissipation. “She was going out to seedy bars and would spend whole nights there drinking and smoking," he wrote. "I only tried to rescue her from that life." More »

Elisabeth Fritzl intended to leave home just before her father imprisoned her, letters published in the Oesterreich newspaper show. “After the exams … I'm moving in with my sister and her boyfriend,” the 18-year-old wrote to a friend in 1984. “Cross your fingers for me. When you get this letter, it will all be over,” she wrote just weeks before she disappeared. More »

A Wall Street Journal reporter who served on the jury that convicted Uma Thurman’s stalker yesterday looks back today, recalling just over a week of debate, junk food, and weird dreams. “The fact that she was a famous movie star made us partly charmed, partly suspicious," writes Emily Steel, who normally covers online advertising. More »

A TV news helicopter has filmed six Philadelphia police officers repeatedly kicking and punching three suspects pulled from a car. The city's police commissioner said it "does not look good," but emphasized that the department "won't rush to judgment." Philly cops have been on edge since an officer was shot dead during a robbery on Saturday, he said, and one suspect is still being hunted. More »

Convicted DC sniper John Allen Muhammad has called on prosecutors to help stop his attorneys from pursuing appeals to overturn his death sentence. Muhammad, convicted in the 2002 shooting spree that killed 10 strangers, said in a handwritten letter that any appeals “have been done against mine will,” the AP reports. In a recent appeal filing, attorneys argued brain damage likely rendered Muhammad incapable of making reasoned legal decisions. More »

Ninety-six people were arrested today in a massive drug bust at San Diego State University. Seventy-five of those nabbed were students, many of them studying for criminal-justice or homeland-security degrees, CNN reports. Cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy were being dealt, largely by fraternity members, during a 5-month undercover DEA operation, the agency said. More »

Austrian incest victim Elisabeth Fritzl may sue her father for compensation, Reuters reports. "There is the possibility of claiming compensation for imprisonment and the damage that has been incurred by it," said a lawyer for Fritzl, whose father/captor reportedly is deeply in debt. "Now it is all about evaluating his financial circumstances. Does he actually have any wealth?" More »

FBI agents raided the Office of Special Counsel today, serving subpoenas and seizing documents from agency chief Scott Bloch. Bloch, whose office protects federal whistleblowers, is being investigated for obstructing justice, the Wall Street Journal reports, with Bloch's use of an outside service to erase office computers being viewed as a possible cover-up in a 2006 investigation. More »

An ex-DA from the New York suburbs will be behind the bench starting this fall—on TV. Judge Jeanine Pirro stars a onetime Hillary Clinton Senate challenger who landed the CW gig even though Pirro and her husband have a history of controversies ranging from tax fraud to wiretapping probes, the AP reports. Pirro is also a regular on the Fox News Channel. More »