Tag Archives: murder

Featured, Government Corruption, US

Indiana Councilman, Facing Murder Charges, Takes Oath of Office from Jail

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Robert Battle, an incumbent East Chicago, Indiana Democratic Councilman who won his unopposed November reelection bid by obtaining just 308 votes, was sworn into office at the Porter County Jail on Friday where he faces murder and drug charges.

Battle was taken into custody on Nov. 17.

According to The Times of Northwest Indiana, Lake County elections director Michelle Fajman has received a certified document noting that Battle was sworn in, reportedly by a fellow inmate who is also a notary public. The deadline by which newly-elected officials in the county are required to complete their swearing in ceremonies or vacate the seat in question is Jan. 30.

County officials say there is no way to prevent Battle from being sworn into office as Indiana state law allows him to retain his council seat, along with its $42,365 annual salary, until he resigns or is found guilty of the charges.

Members of East Chicago’s City Council also receive insurance and pension benefits worth over $12,000.

Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds told The Chicago Tribune, “There is no reason for me to deny it legally.”

Battle is accused of killing Reimundo Camarillo Jr. on Oct. 12 and also faces marijuana and cocaine charges. He maintains that he shot Camarillo in self-defense and has pleaded not guilty.

The Times of Northwest Indiana pointed out that Battle’s attorney Walter Alvarez claims that Camarillo had pulled a knife on Battle prior to the shooting.

The drug charges stem from a different arrest during a traffic stop on Sept. 23.

Battle is set to stand trial in August.

“It’s just a sad situation all the way around, especially for the family of the deceased,” said Fifth District Councilman Rosendo Cuevas, commenting on the death of Reimundo Camarillo Jr.

Civil Liberties, Featured, Police Accountability, Police State, Politics, US, Videos

AUDIO: Recording of Officer After Walter Scott Shooting Doesn’t Sound Remorseful

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Update April 13, 8:20 PM: The title of this article has been changed to more accurately reflect the content of the audio recording.

BenSwann.com previously reported on the controversial, caught-on-video shooting of Walter Scott by South Carolina Police Officer Michael Slager. The incident began when Officer Slager pulled over Walter Scott in North Charleston over a broken taillight on Scott’s vehicle. When Scott fled the scene on foot, fearing that he might end up in jail as he had fallen behind on child support payments, Slager unsuccessfully attempted to catch him and then opened fire on Scott from behind with 8 shots, killing him.

Though Officer Slager claimed that Scott had attempted to steal his stun gun during a struggle, causing him to feel threatened, bystander video appeared to contradict the claim that Scott was a threat, and Slager was charged with murder. Meanwhile, The Guardian recently released an audio clip, embedded below and taken from Officer Slager’s dashcam, in which he can be heard laughing about being fired up on adrenaline after killing Walter Scott during a debriefing with a senior officer.

The above-embedded audio begins with Officer Slager asking a senior officer what to expect after shooting Scott. The unidentified officer said, “We’ll get you up to headquarters… Probably once they get you there, we’ll take you home. Take your crap off, take your vest off, kind of relax for two or three. They’re going to want to interview you. Once they get here, it will be real quick. They’re gonna’ tell you you’re gonna’ be out for a couple of days and you’ll come back and they’ll interview you then. They’re not going to ask you any kind of questions right now. They’ll take your weapon, and we’ll go from there. That’s pretty much it… The last one we had, they waited a couple of days to interview officially, like, sit down and tell what happened.”

Then, the senior officer told Slager, “By the time you get home, it would probably be a good idea to kind of jot down your thoughts on what happened, you know, once the adrenaline quits pumping.”

Officer Slager then replied while laughing, “It’s pumping!”

The above-embedded clip came from a longer audio recording that also captured the moment when Officer Slager answered a phone call from his wife and gave his side of the story to her. Said Officer Slager on the call, “Hey. Hey, everything’s OK, OK?… He grabbed my taser, yeah. Yeah, he was running from me.”

Foreign Policy, International, Swann TV, US

Christians forming militias to fight against ISIS?

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The Islamic State has become known for its brutal violence and persecution of Assyrian Christians in the regions it occupies, but there still remains some mystery regarding the conditions Assyrian Christians live under in Aleppo, Syria and other villages in the northern part of the country.

Ben Swann speaks with Dr. George Kiraz, Director of the Syriac Institute, about the history of and the violence that people have faced in the region and whether or not ISIS may actually bring to an end Christianity in the Middle East.

Featured, US

Oregon mother says she threw her six-year-old from bridge

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Jillian McCabe, mother of a six-year-old autistic boy, called the police in Oregon Monday night, saying she threw her son, London, from the Yaquina Bay Bridge near the Oregon coast.

After McCabe called the police, telling them about her crime, officers were dispatched to the area in search of McCabe and the body of London.  According to FOX News, the police found McCabe near the bridge and arrested her immediately on charges of aggravated murder, murder, and manslaughter.

The body of London was found floating in the bay near the Embarcadero Resort later Monday night.

“We’re all devastated, said London’s uncle, Andrew McCabe, according to NBC News.  “London was a good kid.  He loved hats.  And his dad… She took him for a walk and did what she did.”

Family members told reporters McCabe had recently suffered a mental breakdown after having to care for a non-verbal and autistic London while also having to face the death of her father and a health crisis which has left her husband clinging to life.

Her husband Matt, according to Sky News, was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had a mass on his brain stem.  McCabe had been seeking help on social media websites to support her and her family since Matt was the breadwinner of the family until his diagnosis.

Family members also said McCabe told them she had thought about harming herself from all the stress, but they never thought she would harm London.

Tanya McCabe, London’s great-aunt, said, “Jillian really struggled with her mental health and I know she was just out of her mind when this happened.”  She went on to describe how the family had sought to get psychiatric help for McCabe, but they were sadly inefficient.

McCabe is currently being held on $750,000 bail.

US

Eric Frein ‘will face justice’: death penalty will be sought

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A seven week manhunt ended Thursday night with the capture of Eric Frein, a survivalist, who allegedly killed a Pennsylvania state trooper, and prosecutors for the case say they will seek the death penalty.

Frein, 31, was lead to the Pike County courthouse Friday amidst jeers and heckles from county locals who came out to see the man at the center of the manhunt which began on Sept. 12.

On that date, Frein supposedly used a high-powered rifle to kill Cpl. Bry0n Dickson, 38, and wound Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, outside of the Blooming Grove state police barracks.

State police began to scour the forests in the area in search of Frein after they had found an abandoned vehicle nearby, registered to Frein, with shell casings matching those found at the barracks.  FOX News reports the vehicle also contained camouflage face paint, two empty rifle casings, and various military-style gear.

When searching the forests, police found a journal allegedly belonging to Frein which described the shooting of the two officers.  Police also found campsites supposedly used by Frein and booby trapped pipe bombs in the woods.

US Marshals were used in the manhunt, and it was the Marshals who saw Frein, unarmed, in an overgrown field near an abandoned hangar Thursday.  This led to a sweep of the area, which yielded Frein without incident.

State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan, gave a statement late Thursday at a press conference after the capture, saying, “He did not just give up because he was tired… He gave up because he was caught.”

Many in the community, including the families of Dickson and Douglass have expressed relief at the capture of Frein.

The charges against Frein are widespread and include, according to USA Today, first-degree murder, homicide of a police officer, and possession of weapons of mass destruction.  He is being held without bail and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Politics, US

Charges for Oklahoma beheading suspect emerge as details come to light

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Days after Alton Nolen attacked two women after losing his job, murder charges are expected to be filed against him on Monday.

Nolen lost his job at Vaughan Foods in Oklahoma last Thursday and after this, Nolen reportedly went to his former workplace and carried out acts of violence against his co-workers.

Nolen reportedly drove to the Vaughan Foods processing plant, and rammed his car into another vehicle at the entrance before he entered the building.  Upon entering, it is believed he grabbed a knife, similar to those used on the production floor of Vaughan Foods, and beheaded 54-year-old Colleen Hufford, an employee at Vaughan Foods.

Then, Nolen supposedly attacked 43-year-old Traci Johnson, another employee in the plant, before he was stopped by gunfire.  Mark Vaughan is the company’s chief operating officer as well as a reserve deputy sheriff for Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department, and it was only after he shot Nolen the attack stopped.

Moore Police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis told the LA Times, detectives will recommend prosecutors to charge Nolen with first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

After he was released from prison in 2013 on drug related charges, Nolen reportedly became more religious and co-workers at Vaughan Foods said he had tried to convert them to Islam.

A Facebook page under the name “Jah’Keem Yisrael,” was used by Nolen before the attacks according to CNN.  The page contains pictures of Nolen as well as posts and pictures regarding Islam and the Quran.  Some of these pictures are of al-Qaeda chiefs as well as the 9/11 attacks.

There were also disturbing posts on this Facebook page.  One post reportedly showed a beheaded man with the quote, “I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them.”

The Oklahoma Conference of Churches made a statement Saturday saying, “The Islamic Community of Oklahoma has consistently condemned all violence — most especially acts of violence ostensibly carried out in the name of Islam… Along with our Muslim brothers and sisters we affirm that true Islam is, in fact, a religion of peace and that those inflicting violence in the name of Islam are perverting Islam for their own ends.”

After undergoing surgery, Nolen spoke to investigators on Friday, but no details have emerged form these interviews.

Politics, US

Former Virginia political candidate indicted on murder charges

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Charles Severance, a resident of Alexandria, Virginia who had ran for political office in Virginia in the 1990’s and 2000’s, has been indicted on ten charges, including murder and weapons related charges.

The killings in question date back to 2003 when real estate agent Nancy Dunning was found murdered in the Alexandria area.  There were other murders in the surrounding neighborhoods in the following years, one as recent as February.  These killings have sparked fears of a possible serial killer in Alexandria and the encompassing areas.

Ballistics experts had found similarities between the weapons used in all three murders, according to ABC News.

Severance, 53, was identified by a caregiver, who had survived the February slaying, with the help of forensic sketch artists.  When police contacted Severance in March, he left the state but was later arrested in a Wheeling, W. Va. library, according to the Washington Post.

Severance was initially arrested on a weapons related charge since he is a felon and therefore not allowed to carry a firearm.  He had previously pleaded guilty to a 2005 felony gun possession charge.

In 1996 and 2000, Severance made a run for mayor of Alexandria, but his odd and erratic behavior caused officials to take notice.  Police at the time conducted a routine investigation after tips were passed off to them pointing to Severance in connection with the 2003 homicide, according to the Washington Times.  After the investigation, police concluded Severance was not a suspect at the time.

Prosecutors for the case say they are not planning to pursue the death penalty.  The maximum sentence Severance could therefore face is life in prison if he is convicted of the murder charges.

“This has been a complex and time-consuming investigation that has spanned almost 11 years,” said the Alexandria police in a statement.

Politics, US

“Bored” Teens Kill Innocent Boy “For The Fun Of It”

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On Friday, three teens viciously shot and killed an Australian student named Chris Lane.

Their reason for doing this? They were “bored,” and simply did it “for the fun of it.”

15-year-old James Edwards and 16-year-old Chancey Luna face charges of first degree murder. They could both spend life in prison if convicted. The third teen, 17-year-old Michael Jones, is charged with facilitating the murder with his vehicle.

The alleged killers will all be tried as adults.

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Although Jones is not charged with first degree murder, he allegedly said “I pulled the trigger” in court, before being quieted by the judge.

A video on the social networking site Vine shows Edwards with a gun. In it, he says “B***h we up dem poles, f**k with me.”


Two of the accused teens’ parents insist their sons are innocent.

Edwards’ father said the teen told him, “I didn’t have nothing to do with it.” He believes his son.

Jennifer Luna, Chancey Luna’s mother, said she simply will not accept the fact that her son killed Lane. She said, “They said it happened at 3 p.m. I get off of work at 3 and it just takes me five minutes to get to the house and he was at home.”

Naturally, Lane’s girlfriend and family are completely devastated by the incident. His girlfriend put out a tweet shortly after his murder:

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Edwards and Luna are currently being held without bail. Jones’ bail has been set at $1 million.