List of All Articles with Tag 'rica'

The African nation has been partially suspended following a coup that took place in late August.

The deadly drug was found under mats that children use for naps, investigators say.

On 24 August 2019, Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store, listening to music and wearing a ski mask, in Aurora, Colorado when a 911 caller reported him as “looking sketchy” — a call that would lead to the death of the 23-year-old and a social uprising against how race plays a role in policing. Police spotted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any crime — and put him in a neck hold. Paramedics then arrived at the scene and injected the young man with ketamine. He died three days later. Now, just over four years after the incident, jury selection began on Friday for the trial of two Aurora police officers — Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt — who had interacted with McClain. The trials of a third officer and the two paramedics are also expected to happen later this year. Why is the trial happening now? The first coroner’s report in November 2019 said that the manner of death was “undetermined,” contributing to a local district attorney’s decision against pursuing charges against the officers involved in the incident. In response, Mari Newman, the lawyer representing McClain’s family told Denver7 ABC, “Whatever the report says, it’s clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today.” But the incident generated significant public backlash. In June 2020, an online petition demanding that the three officers involved be held accountable circulated, garnering nearly 6 million signatures. A GoFundMe page for McClain raised over $2m. Then, in June 2020, Colorado Gov Jared Polis signed an executive order designating a special prosecutor to determine whether “the facts support prosecution, criminally prosecute any individuals whose actions caused the death of Elijah McClain.” The coroner provided an amended version in July 2021, writing that she believed the “tragic fatality is most likely the result of ketamine toxicity.” Shortly thereafter, in September 21, a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics involved. A Colorado district judge ordered three separate trials for the five defendants, and now jury selection is underway for the trial of Mr Roedema, a suspended officer, and Mr Rosenblatt, who was fired in the wake of the incident. Who was Elijah McClain? McClain was a 23-year-old massage therapist. He had reportedly earned his GED from Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver and became a massage therapist at 19. Friends and family described him as a gentle person — to humans and animals. He taught himself to play guitar and violin, and would play his violin for cats in a rescue shelter during his lunch breaks, The Cut reported. “I don’t even think he would set a mouse trap if there was a rodent problem,” his friend Eric Behrens told the Sentinel. Another friend — and former client — Marna Arnett called McClain “the sweetest, purest person I have ever met,” she added, “He was definitely a light in a whole lot of darkness.” “He wanted to change the world,” his mother, Sheneen McClain, told the outlet. “And it’s crazy, because he ended up doing it anyway.” Who were the officers and paramedics involved? A grand jury indicted five involved in the incident. Two Aurora Police officers, Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, and one former officer, Jason Rosenblatt, as well as former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were each indicted on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. According to the 32-count indictment, Mr Woodyard placed the 23-year-old in a carotid hold, while Mr Roedema, the senior patrol officer on the scene, placed him in a bar hammer lock; he said he heard McClain’s shoulder pop three times as a result of the movement. Mr Roedema and Mr Rosenblatt were each indicted on one count of assault and one count of crime of violence. Mr Rosenblatt was fired not for his interaction with McClain directly, but for laughing at a photo sent to him from a fellow officer reenacting a neckhold that resembled the one used on McClain. Mr Woodyard was also allegedly sent the photo, but didn’t react to it and deleted it. He stopped McClain for supposedly looking suspicious and is set to go on trial later this year. The paramedics were each indicted on three counts of assault and six counts of crime of violence. Neither Mr Cooper nor Mr Cichuniec took McClain’s vitals, try talking to the 23-year-old, or touch him before diagnosing him with a widely disputed medical condition called “excited delirium,” prompting them to administer ketamine, according to the indictment. They have all pleaded not guilty. In May, a national organisation of coroners became the latest to denounce “excited delirium,” which is often cited as a cause of death by police in instances of violence from officers against community members. The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) announced they would cease recognising the condition. What happened to Elijah McClain? Bodycam footage which was released months after the encounter captured the officers interacting with the 23-year-old. An officer approached McClain, who was listening to music, and demanded he stop walking. Eventually, he complied, as an officer apparently said he was stopping McClain for looking suspicious. When the officers tried to grab McClain, he resisted, saying, “I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking.” The officers repeatedly told McClain to “stop tensing up.” Moments later, McClain was brought to the ground and held in a carotid hold. He can be heard moaning, sobbing, repeating that “it hurts” and pleading with the officers to stop. McClain then tried to turn to his side to vomit, prompting an officer to say: “If you keep messing around, I’m going to bring my dog out here and he’s going to bite you.” The 23-year-old vomited, and apologized. “I wasn’t trying to do that,” he says. “I just can’t breathe correctly.” According to a report from an independent panel, the paramedics “waited almost seven minutes after arriving to interact with Mr. McClain, and their first contact was to administer the sedative ketamine.” He suffered from cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital and died a few days later. The autopsy revealed that he was 5ft 6in tall and weighed just 140 pounds. The coroner’s amended report said, “Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose … I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine.” The aftermath McClain’s parents reached a $15m settlement with the city of Aurora. “I hope Elijah’s legacy is that police will think twice before killing another innocent person,” his father, LaWayne Mosley, said after the settlement was announced. “There is nothing that can rectify the loss of Elijah McClain and the suffering his loved ones have endured,” Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said at the time. “I am committed to learning from this tragedy.” The 23-year-old’s death occurred around the same time as the deaths of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd, who were also Black Americans killed at the hands of police. Together and separately, the deaths propelled protests and sparked demands for police reform. And at least in Colorado, some policies were reformed. In 2020, the state banned police from using neck holds. The Colorado health department prohibited paramedics from implementing ketamine for those supposedly experiencing “excited delirium,” like in the case of McClain. Read More Trial begins in Elijah McClain death, which sparked outrage over racial injustice in policing Elijah McClain cause of death quietly ruled as ketamine as police face charges for violent 2019 arrest Elijah McClain: Colorado city to pay $15m to family in historic police misconduct settlement

A North Carolina woman who showed up at a church bloodied and in distress told a pastor she “thought she had hurt someone” before leading police to her friend’s dead body, according to authorities. Samantha Haines, 31, arrived at the Mt Carmel Church of God of Prophecy near Autryville as pastor Bryan Strickland was closing on Sunday night and asked for help, according to a statement posted to the church’s Facebook page. “I asked her what was going on and she said that she thought she had hurt someone,” Mr Strickland told WRAL. “She thought she had tried to kill someone.” Mr Strickland said he called 911, and Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find Ms Haines “in distress” in a red Ford Mustang in the church’s parking lot. “Ms Haines reiterated her belief that she may have been responsible for a person’s death, but due to her unfamiliarity with Sampson County, she could not provide specific details about the location of the incident,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Authorities learned the vehicle was registered to Daniel Faircloth, 32, and found his dead body outside his home less than a mile away. Faircloth had been stabbed to death, authorities say. Ms Haines was charged with murder and made a first appearance in court on Monday. She has been booked into the Sampson County Detention Centre without bond. Faircloth’s grieving family told WRAL they thought Ms Haines may have been homeless and staying with him at the time of the alleged murder. His stepmother Lauriel Renee told the news station Faircloth was a “respectful and sweet” person who would light up a room when he entered. Mr Strickland called on parishioners to pray for the Faircloth family as they dealt with their loss. Read More Alleged rapist’s plot to fake his own death falls apart as he forgets one crucial detail Family says 14-year-old daughter discovered iPhone taped to back of toilet seat on flight to Boston Sergio Brown posts second strange video about Finding Nemo while ‘missing’ after mother’s death

Donald Trump’s public statements have changed in line with advice from his lawyers, a legal expert has suggested. Harry Litman, a former US attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general for the Western District of Pennsylvania, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday night that the former president “continues to employ the same braggadocio. But listen carefully, he’s begun to pepper his proclamations with hedges, such as ‘in my opinion’ or ‘that’s what I think.’ That’s lawyer-prescribed to try to shield him from outright lies”. One example of this came when Mr Trump was speaking to Megyn Kelly of SiriusXM. Mr Trump insisted that there’s no “ritual” to declassifying secret information as he argued that he was allowed to have the boxes of files found at Mar-a-Lago which led to one of the indictments against the former president. Mr Trump was speaking to Kelly when he returned to one of his familiar talking points, calling Special Counsel Jack Smith “deranged”. “We have a deranged guy named Jack Smith who has been overturned at the Supreme Court a number of times, and he gets overturned ... because he goes too far,” Mr Trump told Ms Kelly. “They don’t even mention the Presidential Records Act. This is all about the Presidential Records Act.” “I’m allowed to have these documents, I’m allowed to take these documents – classified or not classified. And frankly, when I have them, they become unclassified. People think you have to go through a ritual – you don’t, at least in my opinion, you don’t,” Mr Trump added. But a number of social media users didn’t seem to think slipping in “in my opinion” would help Mr Trump in the courts. Responding to Mr Trump’s comments to Ms Kelly, Jennifer Rubin, a Washington Post columnist, wrote that it was “another public confession. Like taking candy from a baby”. “Someone should tell him, that the US isn’t governed by opinions, it’s governed by laws,” one user said. Conservative anti-Trump lawyer George Conway also noted that Mr Trump appeared to be making comments putting him in further legal jeopardy, saying that “interviewers should be required to read him his rights”. “Credit to @megynkelly for letting him confess to the crimes in the indictment. She’ll see this played at the trial by the government,” Bradley Moss added. “I want Dude to say this to Jack Smith in open court during his criminal trial,” Tony Michaels said. Mr Trump’s shift in language comes as Mr Smith’s office has asked for a narrow gag order from Judge Tanya Chutkan in the federal election interference case against Mr Trump in Washington DC to prevent him from attacking possible witnesses and jurors. Read More Dominion’s $1.6bn defamation case against Newsmax will go to trial weeks before Election Day Trump ex-aide claims he wrote ‘to-do lists’ on back of classified documents – live updates White House hits back after House sets first Biden impeachment hearing for 28 September

Former NFL player Sergio Brown appeared to post on social media two days after his mother’s body was found in a creek behind her home in Illinois. The Maywood Police Department said an investigation is underway into the death of 73-year-old Myrtle Brown after it was determined that she was murdered. Authorities have yet to locate Mr Brown, who was reported missing along with his slain mother after they failed to answer calls from family members. On Tuesday evening, an account linked to Mr Brown made a second post on Instagram stories referencing the movie Finding Nemo. Mr Brown is seen rambling and laughing on the post. He also appears to be mocking reports that he is “missing.” “Just keep swimming. Missing? What the f*** is going on?” he is heard saying. The former NFL star had previously posted another story showing erratic behaviour and claiming he had been kidnapped by law enforcement. “I thought my f****** mama was on vacation in Sinaloa. That’s f****** fake news,” he said. “Get the f*** out of my goddamn face. She’s retired, and you want to come to me? The FBI had to do it. They have some power to do some s*** like that. What the f*** is going on? That’s fake news.” Relatives of Mr Brown and his mother contacted authorities on Saturday after they couldn’t get in touch with them for over 72 hours. Myrtle’s sister Sheila Simmons told WGN-TV that she had last spoken with her on 14 September and neither she nor Mr Brown were answering calls. The Maywood Police Department then launched a missing persons investigation. Later on Sunday, family members and authorities found Myrtle’s dead body in the Addison Creek Reservoir, less than 100 yards from her home. The Cook County Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Myrtle’s death was a homicide. According to records obtained by WGTV, she died from multiple unspecified assault injuries. “We’re going to find out what happened because it’s not normal for my sister to not answer her phone, not to respond to text messages,” Ms Simmons told the outlet about her sister’s death. “People have been reaching out to her since Friday. No one was able to reach her. Now, I got the call this morning saying that she’s missing, so immediately I came out here and find out my sister is dead.” Carlos Cortez, a neighbour of Myrtle Brown’s, told WBBM that family members had told him Mr Brown had not been acting like himself lately but did not elaborate on what type of behaviour had given that impression. “They said he wasn’t himself the last few months. He was out of his mind,” Mr Cortez told the outlet. Mr Cortex also said that he had given authorities Ring doorbell video, in which Mr Brown is reportedly seen burning his mother’s clothes. The Maywood Police Department declined to comment on the allegations when reached out by The Independent. Anyone with information regarding Myrtle Brown’s murder or Sergio Brown’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Maywood Police Department Anonymous Tip Line at 708-450-1787. Read More Missing ex-NFL player Sergio Brown ‘posts video rant’ on Instagram after mother found dead: Latest updates Missing ex-NFL star posts bizarre Instagram about police and FBI after mother found dead in creek Ex-NFL star Sergio Brown and his mother went missing. Police say she was murdered and he has yet to be found

The saga surrounding Alex Murdaugh has taken yet another dramatic twist after a random Georgia man was thrust into the centre of the convicted killer’s bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wife’s aunt. Back on 15 February, Timothy Stone took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been “sticking her nose in my business”, according to court documents. Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt “terrible” about it and deleted it the next day. He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by “Satan”. Little did Mr Stone know that this brief family spat would become central to the so-called “trial of the century” going on in Colleton County Courthouse – and efforts by convicted killer Murdaugh to be granted a new trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. Earlier this month, Murdaugh filed a motion requesting a new trial on the basis that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case to return a guilty verdict against him. Central to the bombshell motion was the circumstances surrounding juror number 785 – who became infamous as the “egg juror” when she prompted some light-hearted relief by asking to pick up her “dozen eggs” from the jury room as she was dismissed from the case hours before deliberations began. Murdaugh’s attorneys claim the juror was dismissed from the case after Ms Hill told Judge Clifton Newman about the posts from Mr Stone, claiming that they were made by juror’s ex-husband as evidence that she was speaking about the case outside of the courtroom. Now, in a new court document filed by Murdaugh’s attorneys on Monday, Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin state that this was a case of mistaken identity. They say that the Mr Stone behind the posts is simply someone with a similar name to the juror’s ex-husband and that the post “had nothing to do with anyone associated with this case”. The Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts has given a sworn affidavit to Murdaugh’s legal team. “Mr. Stone is a resident of Georgia who has a name similar to the name of Juror #785’s ex-husband. Mr. Stone was the author of the “apology” Facebook post, previously submitted as Exhibit E to Exhibit 1, which Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill represented was evidence Juror #785 had discussed the evidence presented at trial with her ex-husband before deliberations began,” the document states. “In his affidavit, Mr. Stone avers that he has never been married to Juror #785 and that he has never posted anything to the Facebook group “Walterboro Word of Mouth”. He did post what Ms. Hill identified as the “apology” post by Juror #785’s ex-husband but it was posted to his personal Facebook page and not the “Walterboro Word of Mouth” group.” According to the motion filed earlier this month, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February – the day after Murdaugh testified at his trial – claiming that she had seen a post in the local Facebook group “Walterboro Word of Mouth” from juror 785’s former husband Tim Stone. The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty. A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by “Satan”. When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadn’t seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriff’s Office personnel had gone to Mr Stone’s house and that he had confirmed he made the post. She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty – to which she said she had not made up her mind. Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that the original post was “fictitous” and that a download of Mr Stone’s Facebook shows he did not make either post. After the prosecution’s closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters’ closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her “that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again”. The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury – just hours before jury deliberations began. During her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case. Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the juror’s tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property. The motion from Murdaugh’s attorneys included affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who denied ever making the posts. Disgraced legal scion Murdaugh made several other damning accusations against Ms Hill as he accused her of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial – because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal. In the motion, Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that Ms Hill “tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense”. Specifically, they claim that the clerk instructed jurors not to be “misled” by evidence presented by the defence and told jurors not to be “fooled by” Murdaugh’s testimony when he took the stand. She allegedly instructed the jury to “watch him closely,” to “look at his actions,” and to “look at his movements” on the stand – something at least one juror said they understood to mean that Murdaugh was guilty. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office responded to the allegations on Friday, saying that investigators probing the accusations had already found “significant factual disputes” with the claims. The prosecutors did not outline what the “factual disputes” may be but pointed to the number of media interviews made by Mr Griffin and Mr Harpootlian about the motion. The latest twist comes the same day that Murdaugh reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges after he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients. In the agreement, signed on Monday, the double murderer will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Murdaugh is facing more than 100 state and federal charges over the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme. While he has reached a deal on the federal charges, he is heading to trial on the state charges in November. Murdaugh appeared in court last week for a hearing on the state charges which include stealing more than $4m from the family of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield – who died in a mystery trip and fall at the family estate in 2018. It marked the first time that he was seen in court since his sentencing at his murder trial. Former friend and alleged co-conspirator Cory Fleming was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges. Meanwhile, former friend and Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte is also awaiting trial. Murdaugh is also facing charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead two months after Maggie and Paul’s murders. For now though, Murdaugh is behind bars at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina where he is serving two life sentences for his wife and son’s murders. Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies. During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull. After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband. During the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders but continued to claim his innocence of the killings. The jury didn’t agree and the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders. Read More Prosecutors cast doubt on Alex Murdaugh’s jury tampering claims - citing his lawyers’ TV interviews Smiling Alex Murdaugh appears in court in shackles as trial date set in financial fraud case Will Alex Murdaugh be granted a new trial? Legal expert weighs in

The owner of a New York day care where a one-year-old boy died of fentanyl exposure now faces federal charges. Youngster Nicholas Dominici died after he was exposed to the opioid at the Bronx facility on Friday, while three other young children were hospitalised. Daycare owner Grei Mendez, 36, and tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested on state charges including murder, manslaughter and assault. Now federal prosecutors say they have also been charged with narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death, reported ABC News. A kilo of fentanyl was found in a hallway closet outside Mr Brito’s room, which he rented from Ms Mendez for $200 a week, according to investigators. Prosecutors told a judge during a Sunday night arraignment hearing that Ms Mendez had taken part in the “reckless depraved act” by renting the room to Mr Brito, her husband’s cousin, reported ABC News. Her lawyer told the court that his client, who faces a sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, had no idea that drugs were being stored at the daycare. Police say that drug production equipment was also found inside the daycare. Investigators believe that the children inhaled fentanyl particles during their daylong exposure to the drug before they were found unconscious and the alarm was raised. Both suspects were deemed flight risks by the judge and are being held without bail. “I love him, I miss him, I want him back – but there’s nothing that will give me back my son – when I came home from work and walked through the door, he’d say ‘daddy, daddy!’” Nicholas’s father, Otoniel Feliz, told ABC7. “My wife was on her way to the day care. She was going to pick him up early. Shortly before she arrives, she receives the call and also sees the ambulance.” Read More Owner of day care where toddler died of suspected fentanyl exposure dubbed ‘depraved’ in court hearing Daycare owner and neighbour charged after one-year-old child died from suspected fentanyl exposure One-year-old child dead and three others hospitalised after daycare incident

A death row inmate in Nebraska who was convicted of killing his Tinder date has now been accused of concocting a fake murder-for-hire scheme from behind bars – with a little help. Aubrey Trail, 56, was sentenced to death in June 2021 for the brutal 2017 murder and dismembering of Sydney Loofe after meeting her on the dating app Tinder. While in prison, he met 55-year-old Samantha Al-Rekabi of Lincoln, Nebraska, who was writing a book about Loofe’s murder and the two began hatching a plan to swindle a nurse at the Lincoln prison out of $25,000. On Sunday, Ms Al-Rekabi was arrested and has since been charged with felony theft by extortion in the case, according to court records. Investigators began the probe after being tipped off by another inmate in 2021. They say the two “manipulated” the nurse into smuggling in contraband, including a phone and chewing tobacco, according to a recent arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Lincoln Journal Star. The nurse, who has not been named because she is not charged, worked at the Nebraska Diagnostic & Evaluation Center, now known as the Reception and Treatment Center. She quit just before the Nebraska State Patrol’s investigation began in March 2021, was interviewed by the FBI in December of that same year. She told the FBI she’d been manipulated by Trail and admitted to smuggling him contraband, the affidavit states. The affidavit revealed that Trail told Ms Al-Rekabi to befriend the nurse, which she did, and the two bonded over being “true crime buffs” and confided in each other about marriage troubles. In the interview, the nurse talked about how Trail exploited her friendship with Ms Al-Rekabi, and alleged that Trail had told her he’d hired a hitman to kill her husband and that he would only call off the hit if she paid him $25,000. She agreed to pay the money and went to the bank with Ms Al-Rekabi to withdraw the funds. The affidavit revealed the nurse had withdrawn $25,000 in cash from her account. The affidavit also revealed that in a number of phone recordings investigators believe to be between Ms Al-Rekabi and Trail, she was allegedly heard bragging to Trail about getting the blackmail money from the nurse, gushing “she’s gonna get her pension out just [to] give it to us.” A response from a male can be heard, “She don’t have a choice.” It was revealed that investigators came to “believe that there was never a legitimate plan” to pay a hitman to kill the nurse’s family. Other calls detailed Trail’s alleged desire to have a gun smuggled into the prison. In one of the calls, a male’s voice is heard telling the nurse to “bring me a gun so I can just kill everybody,” according to the affidavit. Ms Al-Rekabi later admitted that she helped Trail because she was afraid he would hurt her son, who is also in prison. She appeared in court on Monday where her bond was set at $5,000. An interview with a Nebraska State Patrol investigator in April 2023 also revealed that Ms Al-Rekabi had admitted to working as an intermediary between Trail and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, a former store clerk who was also convicted for her role in Loofe’s killing, KLKNTV reported. Boswell, who was at the center of a wild outburst by Trail during his 2019 trial, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November 2021. Trail had tried slashing his throat and yelled “Bailey is innocent, and I curse you all!” Read More Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to committing crime for first time Extortion trial against Joran van der Sloot, suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance, is delayed Teenager arrested over murder of girl, 10, who was shot while being driven back from Mother’s Day party

Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has made the bombshell claim that teenage best friends Libby German and Abby Williams were killed as part of a “ritualistic sacrifice” at the hands of a white nationalistcult. In sensational court documents, filed on Monday, attorneys for the 50-year-old accused killer claim that the brutal 2017 murders were carried out by members of a pagan Norse religion and white nationalist group called Odinists. “Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists,ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” state the documents, seen by The Independent. The nature of the crime scene pointed to the work of a cult from the get-go, according to the bombshell 135-page document which said it “resembled possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene”. Libby and Abby’s bodies had both been staged with tree branches and sticks across their bodies in the shape of pagan symbols, the documents state. While his defence attorneys claim Mr Allen has no connection to any pagan cult, the bombshell documents also take the extraordinary step of naming four other individuals as potential suspects. None of the individuals have ever been named by law enforcement as suspects or persons of interest in the case and The Independent is not naming them. According to Mr Allen’s attorneys, law enforcement officials had explored possible links between the killings early on in the investigation – but then quickly “abandoned” the theory after speaking to an unidentified professor who refuted any possible link. But despite this, at least three law enforcement officers – former Rushville assistant police chief Todd Click and officers Kevin Murphy and Greg Ferency – continued to investigate a possible connection. By February 2018, Mr Allen’s attorneys say that “the evidence establishing the names of the likely murdering members of this Odinite cult became known to the Delphi investigative leadership”. The investigators connected two separate groups of men who practiced Odinism – one in Delphi and the other in Rushville – to each other and “then connected both groups of men to the murders”, the court documents state. The murders that rocked the close-knit community of Delphi have never been publicly linked to Odinism before now. On 13 February 2017, Libby and Abby headed along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown. During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge. Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man – known as “bridge guy” – dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In the footage – found on Libby’s phone following their murders – the man tells the two girls: “Guys, down the hill.” Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up. The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek. In the new court documents, Mr Allen’s attorneys claim that there were “possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene” including the staging of the bodies and branches displayed on the victims to create pagan symbols and shapes. Describing the scene as “ghoulish”, the documents also reveal never-before-known details about how Libby and Abby died. The teenage best friends both had their necks slashed, the documents reveal. Libby was found at the base of a tree with “four tree branches of varying sizes intentionally placed in a very specific and arranged pattern on her naked body” and blood spots and drippings all over her body. Abby meanwhile was fully clothed, including in Libby’s sweatshirt and jeans, the documents state. There was no blood on her clothing, indicating that she was likely murdered while naked and then dressed after she was killed. Tree branches and sticks had also been arranged on her body, the documents state. Both victims appeared to have been moved after they were murdered and positioned. “Richard Allen has zero connections to any pagan cult or pagan cultists, and furthermoreno forensic evidence (such as DNA) or electronic evidence links Richard Allen to the girls or tothe crime scene – i.e., he is a completely innocent man,” the defence attorneys write. As well as the claims that Odinism could be linked to the killings, Mr Allen’s attorneys have accused the prosecution of withholding this information from the defence – and that the possible ties only came to light because Mr Click reached out to the state in the wake of the arrest. The documents state that Mr Click was concerned that the probable cause affidavit laying out the case against Mr Allen was “far less compelling than the totality of the information” that they had gathered about the Odinism angle and so sent a letter to prosecutor Nick McCleland in May to ensure he was aware of that information. The state did not hand over this information or the letter until September, the defence states. The defence is also claiming that Odinists are working as corrections officers at Westville Correctional Facility where Mr Allen is being held awaiting trial – and where they claim he has suffered ill-treatment. Now, the defence is seeking a Franks hearing in the case and to have Mr Allen moved to another facility. The bombshell claims laid out in the new court documents mark the latest twist to the tragic case which began when two teenage best friends set off on a walk together one spring day in 2017. For more than five years, the girls’ devastated families waited for answers in the case as no arrests were made. Then, in late October 2022, Mr Allen – a local man who served the victims’ families in his job at the Delphi CVS store – was finally arrested and charged with their murders. According to investigators, Mr Allen is the so-called “bridge guy” captured on camera by the victims. The suspect forced the two victims down the hill and led them to the location where they were murdered, according to his probable cause affidavit. The criminal affidavit, which was partially redacted and released in November, previously revealed that the local man was finally tied to the February 2017 murders through a bullet found at the bloody crime scene. Ballistics confirmed that an unspent .40 caliber round found close to the bodies of the teenage victims came from Mr Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. The firearm – which he owned since 2011 – was found during a search of his home last October and both he and his wife Kathy told police he was the only person with access to it, the documents state. The documents also revealed that, in Libby’s cellphone footage, one of the victims mentions the word “gun” – suggesting that their attacker was armed with a firearm and was using it to coerce the victims. In a police interview on 13 October, Mr Allen told investigators he had “no explanation” as to how the spent bullet ended up near the bodies of the two teenage victims, the document states. The accused killer said he had “not been on the property where the unspent round was found, that he did not know the property owner, and that he had no explanation as to why a round cycled through his firearm would be at that location,” it says. The property owner – Ron Logan – was also previously tied to the case. He died in 2020. As well as the ballistics evidence, Mr Allen was also tied to the killings after his vehicle was spotted parked close to the trail in “an odd manner” as if to “conceal the license plate”, the affidavit previously revealed. Several witnesses also reported seeing a “creepy” man matching the description of “bridge guy” around the time of the murders while one person said they saw a “muddy and bloody” man leaving the trail around two hours after Libby and Abby were last seen alive. The witnesses did not see anyone other than “bridge guy” on the trail at the time, the affidavit reads. The married father to a daughter had been on law enforcement’s radar back in 2017 after he admitted to being on the trail the day the girls were killed. During a 2017 interview with police, Mr Allen confessed to being on the Monon High Bridge Trail that afternoon but denied any involvement in the murders and insisted he had never seen the two girls that day. Despite placing himself at the scene of the crime at the time of the murders, he slipped through the net due to a “clerical error”. Since his arrest, Mr Allen has confessed to the 2017 murders multiple times behind bars – including in a jailhouse phone call with his wife, dramatic court documents revealed back in June. While prosecutors say that the accused killer admitted “several times” that he carried out the brutal murders, Mr Allen’s attorneys claim that his confession cannot be believed due to his current mental state. The sudden arrest of the local man almost six years on from the murders marked a major break in the case. But the investigation is far from over with officials saying that they believe Mr Allen may not have acted alone. Prior to Mr Allen’s arrest, investigators had been searching for information about a catfishing account which was in contact with Libby on the day she was killed. The man behind the account – Kegan Anthony Kline – was tied to the 2017 murders in December 2021 when investigators urged the public to come forward with information about a bogus online profile named @anthony_shots. Kline, 28, confessed to using the fake profile to groom underage girls, get them to send him nude photos and their addresses, and try to get them to meet him in person. In a 2020 police interview, a transcript of which has been seen by The Independent, Kline admitted that he had communicated with 14-year-old Libby on Instagram and Snapchat through the catfishing profile before she died. The transcript revealed that he had exchanged photos with the teenage girl and that Libby had communicated with the fake profile on the very day that she and Abby were murdered. On 25 February 2017 - less than two weeks after the two girls were brutally killed – police carried out a search of Kline’s home in Peru. Kline has never been charged in connection to the murders. However, he told “The Murder Sheet” podcast in a jailhouse interview that he has information about the murders but that police “don’t want to hear anything I have to say”. In July, he was sentenced to more than four decades in prison on a string of child sexual abuse and child exploitation charges. Read More Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen ‘confessed to killing teenagers in jailhouse phone call with wife’ What we know about the Delphi murders of Abigail Williams and Libby German Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen seeks to toss key evidence from case

The notorious Delphi murders case has taken another shocking twist as accused killer Richard Allen made a bombshell claim about the killings of teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams. In court documents released on Monday, the 50-year-old local man maintained his innocence of the 2017 killings and instead claimed that the murders were carried out by a pagan cult hijacked by white nationalists. “Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” his attorneys write in the documents seen by The Independent. Mr Allen’s attorneys said that “possible Odinism signatures” were left behind by the killers at the crime scene with the victims’ bodies staged by trees with branches and sticks laid across their bodies in the shape of pagan symbols. While Mr Allen has no known connection to any pagan cult, his defence attorneys also took the extraordinary step of naming four individuals they say are involved in Odinism as potential suspects. None of these individuals have ever been named by law enforcement as suspects or persons of interest in the case. What is Odinism? Odinism is a pagan Norse religion with origins in ancient Viking and Nordic beliefs and pre-Christian European culture. Sometimes referred to as Wotanism, it is seen as a “racist variant” of the pagan religious sect Asatru, according to the Anti-Defamation League. While Asatru itself is not racist, over the years Odinism has become increasingly tied to white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs in the US. Many followers – known as Odinites – are now said to exist among the white supremacist prison population. “The religion, which revives a pre-Christian pantheon of Norse gods, is appealing to white supremacists because it mythologizes the virtues of early northern European whites – seen as wandering barbarians, deeply involved in a mystical relationship with nature, struggling heroically against the elements,” the Southern Poverty Law Center explains. “It sings the virtues of the tribe, or folk, strongly emphasizing genetic closeness. And it credits whites with building civilization and an ethic of individual responsibility, even as they boldly slew wild boars, fought for their tribes and explored the far reaches of the known world.” Were Libby and Abby killed by Odinites? The murders of Libby and Abby have never been publicly linked to Odinism before now. But, according to Mr Allen’s attorneys, law enforcement officials did explore the cult’s possible involvement early on in the investigation – as far back as February 2018. On 13 February 2017, Libby and Abby disappeared after set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi. During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge. Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man – known as “bridge guy” – dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In the footage – found on Libby’s phone following their murders – the man tells the two girls: “Guys, down the hill.” The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – the girls’ bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek. In the court documents, Mr Allen’s attorneys claim that there were “possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene” including the staging of the bodies and branches displayed on the victims to create pagan symbols and shapes. Describing the scene as “ghoulish”, the documents also reveal never-before-known details about how Libby and Abby died. The teenage best friends both had their necks slashed, the documents reveal. Libby was found at the base of a tree with “four tree branches of varying sizes intentionally placed in a very specific and arranged pattern on her naked body” and blood spots and drippings all over her body. Abby meanwhile was fully clothed, including in Libby’s sweatshirt and jeans, the documents state. There was no blood on her clothing, indicating that she was likely murdered while naked and then dressed after she was killed. Tree branches and sticks had also been arranged on her body, the documents state. Both victims appeared to have been moved after they were murdered and positioned. According to Mr Allen’s attorneys, police on the case did investigate a link to Odinism but, after speaking to an expert, the theory was quickly “abandoned”. Several officials continued to believe an Odinist cult was behind the murders but the information was withheld from the defence, his attorneys claim. Now, the defence is seeking a Franks hearing in the case and to have Mr Allen moved to another facility. Read More Delphi murders suspect makes bombshell claim that victims were ‘sacrificed’ by white nationalist cult What we know about the Delphi murders of Abigail Williams and Libby German Delphi murders: What we know about suspect Richard Allen

Americans' outlook on national politics is best summarized as "dismal," according to a wide-ranging new Pew Research Center report released Tuesday.