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A man thought female drivers were ‘incompetent’ — so he shot them, police say

Nicholas Dagostino hated female drivers, authorities say, so much so that he shot them while they were driving.

Police in Texas linked Dagostino to two recent shootings in which women said they were shot in the arm. Both incidents happened during the day, within a few miles of each other in the Katy area of Harris County, west of Houston. And both involved a suspect — Dagostino — who claimed that he shot the women in self-defense, according to criminal complaints.

But social media ramblings indicate that Dagostino “held a very dim view of women,” thought female drivers were “incompetent,” and that their sole purpose “is to give birth to male children,” investigators wrote in court documents.

Dagostino, 29, is facing two felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

His defense attorney, Kenneth Mingledorff, said that statements police made about Dagostino’s hatred of women are merely assumptions.

“There’s a lot being said. Nobody knows that for a fact,” Mingledorff told The Washington Post on Saturday. “I’ve seen no evidence of that at all. A lot of assumptions are being made, and we’ll work through all that.”

He added that his client needs psychological help, though he did not elaborate.

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Bank worker texted ‘go signal’ before 2 men tried robbing $75G from woman, officials say

An employee at a Texas bank allegedly texted a “go signal” to a duo of thieves in order to launch a plot to steal $75,000 from a woman on Friday — a violent attempted robbery captured in shocking surveillance footage.

Shelby Taylor Wyse appeared in court Wednesday, the third person arrested in connection with the violent robbery at Wallis State Bank in Harris County, KTRK reported. Wyse faces a charge of second-degree robbery. Travonn Johnson, who is dating Wyse, and David Dowell Mitchell were also arrested in the case.

Wyse is accused of sending a message to tip off Johnson and Mitchell that a woman had withdrawn $75,000. The unidentified woman had gone to the bank to withdraw the cash for “legitimate business reasons,” officials said. Video shows the woman being followed by two thieves — identified by police as Johnson and Mitchell — from the bank to a gas station her family reportedly owned.

SHOCKING VIDEO SHOWS THIEVES ATTEMPTING TO STEAL $75K FROM WOMAN BEFORE RUNNING HER OVER

Surveillance video showed Wyse watching the woman withdraw the cash, then send a text message to Johnson that officials believe was a “go signal.”

Travonn Johnson, left, Shelby Wyse and David Dowell Mitchell were arrested in connection with a violent robbery. (Harris County Constable Precinct 4)

In another video, taken at the gas station, the thief cops say is Mitchell is seen attacking the woman and attempting to rip her purse away. The woman’s husband, who was in the store at the time, then runs out and attempts to stop the robbery.

It’s at this point, prosecutors say, Johnson arrived and began beating the couple. Officials say Johnson then got back into a car and ran over the couple before fleeing the scene — without the money.

Mitchell was arrested shortly after the robbery occurred. Johnson and Wyse were taken into custody earlier this week.
Johnson and Mitchell both face a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

Officials traced the license plate number of the car one of the thieves fled the gas station in and reportedly found it was a rental vehicle under Wyse’s name. She allegedly told officers the car was stolen Friday morning, but she’d never reported the incident. Prosecutors said they’re working to obtain a search warrant for Wyse’s phone.

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Former Pennsylvania altar boy says he stole from church to avenge abuse

Mike McDonnell was an altar boy who loved to sing Latin hymns at his church in suburban Philadelphia, but his Roman Catholic faith became a source of torment at age 12 when he woke up to find a priest molesting him in the vacation bed the clergyman forced him to share.

“From that day forth, I would never be that same child,” said McDonnell, now 49. “I went into shock mode and shut down. I would hold onto those secrets for 20-plus years.”

McDonnell, now a peer counselor at a drug and alcohol treatment facility, agreed to share his personal story with Reuters in the wake of a stunning grand jury report of Roman Catholic priests accused of abusing more than 1,000 children across Pennsylvania. He said he wanted to encourage other victims to emerge from the shadows to begin their own healing.

While the incident at age 12 broke him, he said the abuse started at age 10, when another priest molested him. “At that age, I wasn’t sure the things that were going on,” he said.

His decades-long road to recovery was fraught with alcohol abuse, broken marriages and even a criminal record. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia paid for McDonnell’s counseling sessions but he seldom attended. Instead he forged receipts and eventually was convicted of pocketing more than $100,000 in a theft he called payback for the abuse.

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Mollie Tibbetts murder suspect worked less than 3 miles from where she was staying

The man who was arrested in the murder of Mollie Tibbetts, the University of Iowa student who vanished last month, worked less than three miles from where she was staying the night she vanished.

Cristhian Rivera was employed by Yarrabee Farms for the past several years, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The Des Moines Register reported that it reviewed documents that listed several owners of the farm, which included Dane Lang and Eric Lang, both relatives of Craig Lang. Craig Lang, who owns a dozen property deeds in Brooklyn, Iowa, is reportedly a former 2018 Republican candidate for secretary of agriculture in the state.

Dane Lang said Rivera worked there for the past several years, and was an “employee in good standing.” He also noted that Rivera passed the government’s E-Verify employment verification system, despite his status as an undocumented immigrant. The system is intended to maintain a database of I-9 forms and tax records of employees across the country.

“This is a profoundly sad day for our community. All of us at Yarrabee Farms are shocked to hear that one of our employees was involved and is charged in this case,” Dane Lang said in a statement. “On Monday, the authorities visited our farm and talked to our employees. We have cooperated fully with their investigation.

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Mollie Tibbetts, missing Iowa student, found dead

The Iowa college student who vanished more than a month ago has been found dead, according to a report.

A woman’s body found Tuesday is believed to be Mollie Tibbetts, according to Greg Willey, vice president of Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa.
The 20-year-old’s body was found in Iowa, two law enforcement sources and her father, Rob Tibbetts, told Fox News. No other details were immediately available.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed in a press release that a body had been found in Poweshiek County, which includes Tibbetts’ town of Brooklyn, Iowa, where she was last seen jogging on July 18.

Investigators said they were working to confirm the identity of the body and would provide updates at a press conference at 4 p.m. local time.
The remains were found near a rural farm property in Guernsey, about 10 miles from Brooklyn, according to local outlets. Trucks blocked 460th Ave. there Tuesday and a medical examiner was on the scene.

Tibbetts was reported missing July 19 when she didn’t show up for work at a nearby day care center.

The University of Iowa student’s disappearance sparked a massive search by local law enforcement and the FBI, with authorities receiving more than 2,300 tips.

Her father returned home to California over the weekend, saying authorities had urged him to take a break from the case for his well-being. Mollie was born in San Francisco but moved to Iowa with her mother and two brothers when she was 2 years old.

Both her father and mother, Laura Calderwood, suggested that Mollie had been abducted, likely by someone she knew, and pleaded publicly for her safe return.

The night she vanished, Tibbetts had been dogsitting at her boyfriend’s home alone while he and his brother were out of town.

No one has been arrested in connection with her disappearance. Investigators questioned a pig farmer named Wayne Cheney and searched his property.

They also looked at Tibbetts’ Snapchat and FitBit data as part of the investigation.

The nearly $400,000 reward for information leading to her discovery will now become a fund to help police search for the person or people responsible for her death.

Mollie was studying psychology, like her mother, and would have started her junior year in college this week. Her Facebook account was turned into a memorial page on Tuesday, with friends posting photos and tributes to her there.

“I knew what I was going to say to her the first time I saw her again. I knew she’d hug me with one of her Mollie hugs that make you forget anything was ever wrong. Now all I know is I have to learn how to live in a world without my best friend,” wrote Kelsey Marie. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep your memory alive.”

With Post wires

Source: https://nypost.com/2018/08/21/college-student-mollie-tibbetts-found-dead/

Massachusetts man indicted on murder charges after women’s bodies found at home

A Massachusetts man suspected of killing three women whose remains were found at his Springfield home was indicted on multiple charges by a grand jury Thursday — including first-degree murder, aggravated rape, and aggravated kidnapping.

The 52-count indictment against Stewart Weldon, 41, includes three counts of first-degree murder, nine counts of aggravated rape, eight counts of strangulation, two counts of rape, five counts of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of kidnapping and two counts of assault with intent to rape.

According to the Boston Herald, Weldon was arrested on May 27 by Springfield police after he was pulled over for a broken taillight. A female passenger told police that Weldon had held her captive for the previous month, repeatedly raping and beating her.

“Thank you guys for saving my life,” the woman reportedly told police as she was taken to an ambulance. I didn’t ever think I was going to get away.”

Police said the woman suffered “grotesque and violent” injuries, including a possible fractured jaw, stab wounds to her abdomen, marks from being hit with a blunt object and a leg infection

When police when to Weldon’s home, they found the bodies of three women “in and around” the property, according to Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. They have since been identified as 47-year-old Ernestine Ryans and 34-year-old America Lyden, both of Springfield; and 27-year-old Kayla Escalante of Ludlow, Mass.

In addition to the three women, the indictment covers alleged crimes committed by Weldon against eight other people. At the time of his arrest, Weldon was wanted on a warrant for assault and battery of a police officer and numerous traffic violations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: FoxNews

Staples manager fired after accusing pregnant woman of shoplifting

PINEVILLE, N.C. – Staples said in a statement Monday it had fired the manager who assumed an expecting mother had shoplifted at its store in Pineville.

hirell Bates told Channel 9 she now regrets leaving her home on Friday for back-to-school shopping.

“Being pregnant is already high-risk, and having to deal with that, just additional stress that I don’t need,” Bates said.

Bates said she learned that the manager was fired on social media.

Bates said a police officer asked her if she was shoplifting while she was checking out of the store.

“Mid-transaction, a police officer approached me and insisted he wanted to speak with me,” Bates said. “He asked what was under my shirt.”

Bates is pregnant with twins.

“Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was, ‘Twins,’” Bates said. “I’m 34 weeks with twins. I’m having a boy and a girl.”

Bates said the officer didn’t believe her the first time, and he asked her again.

“At that point, to avoid him asking me again, I actually lifted my shirt just a little bit, just to expose my belly, so he could see that I’m just a regular pregnant person buying school supplies,” Bates said.

Pineville police said a Staples manager approached the officer and asked him to speak with Bates because the manager believed Bates may have been “concealing merchandise.”

“When I confronted her about what happened, she admitted that, ‘In the past, we’ve had a lot of people putting school supplies or merchandise in their clothes and hiding, so I asked the officer to reach out to you,’” Bates said.
Bates said she planned to contact Staples’ corporate office and possibly seek legal action.

“You pretty much jumped the gun without any type of evidence, except my stomach is large,” Bates said. “That’s not fair. No mom should have to go through that.”

Staples said Monday that the manager did not follow the correct protocol and did not adhere to the company’s policy on interacting with customers.

The company said it has since apologized to Bates.

Bates said she would like Staples to provide sensitivity training for all employees.

She also hopes Staples improves its communication with customers who submit formal complaints.

Source: wsoctv.com:

Man accused of eating parts of dead ex-girlfriend deemed fit

An Indiana man accused of raping, killing and eating parts of his ex-girlfriend’s dead body is now mentally competent to stand trial, a state psychiatrist said Thursday.

Joseph Oberhansley, 35, of Jeffersonville has been committed at the Logansport State Hospital since October, when a judge ruled that he wasn’t competent to stand trial for the 2014 killing of girlfriend Tammy Jo Blanton.

Prosecutors allege Oberhansley broke into the Jeffersonville home of Blanton in September 2014, and that he raped her, fatally stabbed her and ate parts of her body.

“This matter has been going on for four years now, and it’s high time that the victim’s family saw justice done,” Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Jeremy Mull told the Courier Journal after the hearing.

The letter from the psychiatrist filed with Clark County Circuit Court noted that Oberhansley’s competency has been restored since he was committed there last October to undergo competency restoration. In some of his early court appearances after his arrest, Obserhansley had outbursts in court and said his name was Zeus, WAVE3 reported.

Oberhansley’s attorneys requested in court Thursday to have a month to talk with him and form an opinion on his competency. During the hearing, Oberhansley spoke up, telling the judge he needed to fire his attorneys, according to the Courier Journal.

“They’re trying to control my thoughts,” he said in court. “They’re trying to control my mind.”

Judge Vicki Carmichael told him he needed to work with his attorneys, and scheduled another hearing on Sept. 21 to discuss the matter.

Prosecutors have previously said they will seek the death penalty for Blanton’s killing. Before his arrest in 2015, Oberhansley was free on parole for a previous killing when he was a teenager, according to WAVE3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://nypost.com/2018/08/12/man-accused-of-killing-eating-dead-ex-girlfriend-deemed-competent-for-trial/

Hoops coach pleads not guilty for punch that killed tourist

NEW YORK — A rising college basketball coaching star accused of throwing a punch that killed a New York City tourist who had apparently mistaken him for an Uber driver pleaded not guilty Thursday to an assault charge.

Wake Forest University assistant coach Jamill Jones attacked digital marketing guru Sandor Szabo around 1:15 a.m. last Sunday in Queens, causing him to fall and smash his head on the sidewalk, police said.

Szabo, visiting from Boca Raton, Florida, banged on the window of Jones’ SUV while looking for his ride after his stepsister’s wedding, police said.

A person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that Szabo may have been drunkenly knocking on car windows before Jones allegedly confronted him. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to speak publicly.
The coach got out, followed Szabo to the sidewalk, clocked him and was taken off life support Tuesday.

Jones, 35, of Kernersville, North Carolina, turned himself in to police Thursday, accompanied by a lawyer. He was arraigned Thursday night on a misdemeanor assault charge and released on his own recognizance after entering his plea. The coach’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 2, the Queens District Attorney’s office said.

Jones was with his family after the court session, his attorney, Alain Massena, told the AP.
“This was a tragic accident, and Mr. Jones and his family send their deepest condolences and their thoughts and prayers to the Szabo family,” Massena said.

In a statement, Wake Forest said the school would comment further once it gathered more information.
Jones, a Philadelphia native, joined the Demon Deacons staff in May 2017 after coaching at Central Florida, Virginia Commonwealth and Florida Gulf Coast and playing at Arkansas Tech and North Platte Community College in Nebraska.

Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning said at the time that Jones was a “well-respected bright mind” in the coaching world and brought “new blood” and “new perspectives” to Wake Forest.

Szabo, also 35, was “super outgoing, friendly, and an incredibly smart businessman,” said his company, at What If Media Group, based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

“He was always upbeat, positive, kind and caring,” the company said in a Facebook post. “He was fun to be with, interesting, and always interested. He was a really good person.”
Szabo, who lived in Boca Raton with his brother, always had a bright smile and shared a love of fishing, cooking and family, the company said.

”His beautiful spirit and his love of life will remain with us,” the company said. “We are going to miss him dearly.”

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Suspicious black SUV circled neighborhood on night Mollie Tibbetts vanished, neighbor says

BROOKLYN, Iowa – A black SUV was seen circling the Iowa neighborhood where Mollie Tibbetts was staying on the night she vanished, a neighbor revealed to Fox News on Sunday, in what could be a new clue to the college student’s disappearance.

The driver went very slowly around the neighborhood the night of July 18, according to a young woman who lives a block away from the home of Tibbetts’ boyfriend, Dalton Jack.

MOLLIE TIBBETS, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENT, MISSING: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., the woman said she observed the suspicious vehicle. She told Fox News that she reported it to the FBI when she was questioned. Investigators so far have not commented on it.

Tibbetts was last seen on July 18. The missing University of Iowa sophomore was last seen jogging in the area, where she was dog-sitting at her boyfriend’s home.

Also on Sunday, an FBI agent questioned the owner of a nearby farm for the third time in connection with Tibbetts’ disappearance, although it’s unclear why. The agent questioned Wayne Cheney around 5:30 p.m. local time for roughly five to 10 minutes.

Cheney has told Fox News he was not involved in the 20-year-old’s disappearance. The farmer has not been charged in Tibbetts’ case.

He said he had never seen Tibbetts before, because he didn’t venture into the Brooklyn area, which is several miles from his home. He added he’d allow the FBI to search his entire property and expressed confidence investigators wouldn’t find anything.

The FBI last week searched his home and some of his property, and looked through his cellphone, the farmer said. He claimed that law enforcement asked him on Thursday to take a polygraph test but he refused to do so.

Authorities on Sunday said they’ve been following up on “hundreds” of leads in the case. Also Sunday, police said the body of a 20-something woman turned up in Lee County, but said the body was not Tibbetts.

The reward for Tibbetts’ safe return jumped to $260,000 as of Sunday. Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa said the missing student’s family hopes the reward money will lead to her return.

Fox News’ Nicole Darrah, Madeleine Rivera and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News