PHILIP MARKOFF MEGAN McALLISTER WEDDING

PHILIP MARKOFF wedding was due to take place in August this year. His finacee MEGAN McALLISTER has claimed that Philip is "a beautiful person inside and out" and any such charges against him are not correct.

The Craiglist Killer suspect PHILIP MARKOFF has been charged for the death of Julissa Brisman and the robbery of another woman at two Boston luxury hotels.

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Police also believes that PHILIP MARKOFF may be involved in other crimes related to women which they may not be knowing about. Since the reasons are not known yet, speculation is rife that PHILIP MARKOFF may a misogynist that is a person who hates women for no apparent reason. On the other hand, marriage plans are clearly evident and MEGAN McALLISTER is waiting for his prince charming. Here the things get a little confusing - why did he, at all, agree for a marriage if PHILIP MARKOFF really hates women?

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We don’t know yet but hopefully things will be more clear once PHILIP MARKOFF will be arraigned and Police will provide more evidence for their belief. Meanwhile it has been also reported that PHILIP MARKOFF has no criminal record


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MEGAN MCALLISTER - Pictures?

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OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING and COLUMBINE SHOOOTING - Still searching for answers

It has been 13 years since the OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING and 10 since the COLUMBINE SHOOTING MASSACRE. Both of these events are still on the mind of millions as the world continues to search for answers as to why? We know the who and when and have various versions of why but none of this really helps those who have lost and suffered from these tragic and sadistic events.

My wife for one. She was born and raised in OKLAHOMA CITY and was in fact supposed to be at a meeting in the ALFRED P. MURRAH FEDERAL BUILDING that day but schedules made it impossible. Although she survived the OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, many of those close to her did not. For this she still mourns 13 years later.

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As for the COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING, one has to wonder how society has sunk to such a low as to somehow give a couple of teenagers the moral ability to commit such a heinous crime. As with the OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, many innocent lives of children and adults were lost. This was and will continue to be a black mark on society along with other atrocities such as the 911 ATTACKS and the various other HIGH SCHOOL and COLLEGE SHOOTINGS which followed.

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On a similar note, the TV hit series SAVING GRACE is doing a really good job of helping those effected deal with the tragedy of the OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBINGS. Although I was not directly effected, the thoughts of "What if" often run through my mind. At the end of the day though, there is no true way to know. All I know is I would not have such a wonderful wife and I would be none the wiser for this tragic loss.

Days like this should be used to remember what was an be thankful for what is, as life is short enough and it is a sad thing when that time frame is further reduced by the actions of those without conscience.

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TAMARA HOFMANN Love Triangle results in Murder

Here is a picture of teacher TAMARA HOFFMANN and Sixto Balbuena. Now Samuel Valdivia is dead and police investigators want answers.

TAMARA HOFFMANN was a former math teacher at Marcos de Niza High School, then El Dorado High School. It is at El Dorado that TAMARA HOFFMANN met Samuel Valdivia

Now police believe that because of a love triangle Balbuena stabbed Valdivia to death last Friday after he allegedly found TAMARA HOFFMANN and Valdivia in bed together.


El Dorado High School is not commenting. And neither is TAMARA HOFFMANN

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Popular stories overnight: An Arizona high school student who was reportedly involved in a love triangle with his math teacher was murdered last week by her boyfriend, The AP reported. According to police reports and court documents, Sixto Balbuena, 20, caught the couple together in the woman's bedroom around 2:40 a.m. Friday. He allegedly told police that he stabbed Samuel Valdivia, 18, to death and assaulted Tamara Hofmann, 48, in a fit of jealousy. Balbuena called 911 after the slaying and was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder.

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CRAIGSLIST KILLER VERDICT IN - Possible ASPERGERS APPEAL

The Verdict is in regarding the case of CRAIGSLIST KILLER Michael John Anderson, who has been found guilty of the murder of KATHERINE ANN OLSON.

It was a five-hour jury decision that ended in the life prison sentence for a man convicted of murdering victim Katherine Ann Olson. Anderson, dubbed the 'CRAIGSLIST KILLER', will serve a life sentence without parole.

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Late last night the jury returned the verdict of guilty on the charges of first-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter. Sentencing is scheduled for 10:30 Minnesota time today and the 1st-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence.

Katherine Olson is the unfortunate victim of the "Craigslist killer" in Minneapolis. Katherine just responded to a babysitting job offer she looked up on Craigslist website. After that surreptitiously luring her into his home, Michael Anderson then shot Katherine Olson in the back. Katherine was just 24 years old then when the police found her lifeless body inside a car trunk.

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In 1 April 2009, the verdict on Michael Anderson was finally released and he is sentenced to 20 years with no bail. Anderson's lawyer also informed Katherine Olson's family that his client (Anderson) is remorseful and he is in "deepest regret" about what happened.

Michael John Anderson will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing the woman he lured to his house with a fake baby-sitting ad on Craigslist, a judge ordered Wednesday.

District Judge Mary Theisen handed down the 20-year-old Anderson's sentence — required by law for first-degree murder convictions — at the end of a hearing in which Katherine Ann Olson's family gave tearful testimony about how the death of Olson, 24, has affected them.

Anderson, clad in a green jumpsuit instead of the blue suit he wore during his seven-day trial at the Scott County courthouse, stood motionless as the sentence was announced. When asked if he had anything to say, he said no and instead had his attorney, Alan Margoles, read a one-sentence statement.

"He expresses his deepest regret for his actions," Margoles said.

A jury found Anderson guilty of first- and second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter late Tuesday night.

Anderson's attorneys continued to press that their client suffers from Asperger's syndrome — a form of autism — and that jurors would have seen the shooting as accidental if that information was included in the trial. Theisen barred expert testimony on the syndrome during a pretrial hearing.

Prosecutors all along insisted Anderson tricked Olson into coming to his Savage house Oct. 25, 2007, to kill her.

Olson's family said the death of their daughter and sister would forever mar their lives — but

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Anderson's influence over them was something they had to let go of.
"After 24 years of living with and shaping Katherine, it was thrilling to me to see how her life was unfolding," Olson's father, Rolf Olson, told the packed courtroom. "Mr. Anderson stopped all of that."

The family brought in four boxes and a milk crate filled with letters wishing them well "from all seven continents," Rolf Olson said.

The father, a Lutheran pastor, said he believed God will help him forgive Anderson, but "in this situation, I don't sense that there is any hurry."

Sarah Richter, Olson's older sister, said her sleep is nightly interrupted by horrible pictures from the murder.

"For the past 17 months, I've been haunted by images. I'm haunted by Anderson's face, by Katherine's screams, the gun, her body in the trunk and, now, the real bloody images of my sister," she said. "When will I sleep again? I'm a walking ad for Tylenol P.M."

At the end of her statement, she looked directly at Anderson.

"I doubt Anderson will ever know what this feels like," she said. "Regardless, it is certainly not funny."

Olson's younger brother, Karl, said he always leaned on his sister for support and that she smoothed the way for him through high school, college and, he had hoped, into the real world after graduation. Her death sent him spinning.

"It has taken more than a year to put my head on straight and step out into the big, wide world," he said.

Olson's mother, Nancy, read from a book her daughter had put together in sixth grade.

In the chapter "Future Me," Olson wrote, "I want to be either an actress or a chorale director."

She had plans to marry a tall man with dark hair and a good sense of humor and to raise "three kids, one with curly hair."

"Katherine's dreams were stolen from her," her mother said.

Nancy Olson said she struggled throughout the trial not to "leap over these benches" and inflict on Anderson the same hurt he inflicted on her daughter.

"I refuse to carry him around with me," she said of Anderson's influence on her life. "He is air to me. Others will have to pray for him."

Theisen, a stern presence on the bench throughout the trial, struggled to stay composed as she addressed the courtroom.

"Katherine's life, and now her death, has impacted the entire community," she said.

She thanked the attorneys for their work, the jury for its diligence and the Olsons for respecting the legal process by limiting their remarks to the media.

She expressed her sympathies to Anderson's parents, Steven and Barbara, too.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, I feel so sad for you, and I have through the trial," she said. "I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a house where your son committed such a horrible act."

But she had no soft words for the convicted murderer.

"You have shown no remorse or empathy, and I have no sympathy for you or your predicament," she said. "You are completely responsible for your actions."

Theisen said she believed Anderson shot Olson as she was running from him, and the shooting was "an act of cowardice."

She told Anderson he'd have his prison wages garnished to pay back the $6,500 for Olson's funeral and then sentenced him to life in prison.

Outside the courtroom, the Olsons hugged and thanked the police officers and jurors who had participated in the investigation and trial of their daughter's death.

To the jurors, Rolf Olson said, "What a chore for you guys."

One of them, Tim Peterson, came to the sentencing with five other jurors to get closure.

He said the bulk of evidence "spoke to all of us," and Margoles didn't plant any seeds of reasonable doubt in jurors' minds.

Margoles leaned in close to Rolf Olson after the hearing.

"I'd like to express my condolences," he said.

The father nodded.

Anderson's parents avoided the crowd and left the building through a back stairwell.

The conviction automatically will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Anderson's attorneys likely will try to get testimony regarding Asperger's syndrome included.

Former JOHN MUIR Teacher up on Murder charges

PASADENA - A former JOHN MUIR High School English teacher should be tried on charges of murdering his ex-wife's boyfriend in Arcadia last March, a judge ruled Thursday.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Laura F. Priver found "sufficient cause" to hold Brandon Michael Landreth, 30, of Pasadena to answer to charges of first degree murder and set an arraignment for Jan. 30.

Citing testimony that Landreth had made threats against another of his ex-wife's lovers, Priver also set Landreth's bail at $5 million.

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Landreth pleaded not guilty at his first arraignment in April in the shooting of 25-year-old Justo Cesar Morales at Morales' parents' Canyon Road home in northern Arcadia.

In initial police reports of the crime, a gunman knocked on Morales' front door, then opened fire immediately after Morales opened the door. The gunman then rode off on a skateboard, witnesses told detectives.

Prosecutors outlined the case against Landreth at a preliminary hearing Thursday. A friend of Landreth, Gerald Gracian, and Landreth's ex-wife, Tania, both claimed he had confessed to shooting and killing Morales.

Tania Landreth testified that the defendant had met her on her front lawn in the days after Morales' death and confessed to killing Morales.

"I asked, `Was he in pain?"' she recounted tearfully. "He told me, `He died quickly."'

She also said that Landreth had made threats against Morales' life close to 100 times over the course of two years.

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Landreth's attorney pointed out that police were unsuccessful in their attempts to tape Landreth's confession by wiring Tania.

He also asked her why she had not gone to the police upon hearing the threats against Morales' life, to which she replied that Landreth had threatened her too.

At a hearing in April, investigators cited items police found inside Landreth's car when officers stopped it in Pasadena on April 2, three days after Morales was shot.

Inside his silver Volkswagen police found camping gear, a backpack full of clothing and other articles, and $9,000 in cash Landreth had withdrawn from his bank, investigators said.

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In a search of Landreth's home, authorities recovered a handgun and ammunition. They also found a piece of paper with the address of another possible victim. That man, like Morales, also had dated Landreth's ex-wife, police said.

TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE, ANDRE THOMAS, PULLS OUT HIS EYE AND EATS IT

Criminals often do crazy things for no good reason, or to show that they are insane and cannot stand trial. Andre Thomas, despite displaying a very clear case of insanity, was a criminal who still was ruled fit to stand trial. The Texas man was ruled competent for a trial in 2004 despite plucking out his own right eye. Now, Thomas is on death row, but that could change after he was found blind, and after he claimed that he ate the only good eye he had left.

Andre Thomas was found blind and bleeding on December 9. Thomas was on death row at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. After he was taken out to get treated, the now blind Thomas said that he had taken out his left eye, and actually eaten it.

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Thomas had previously pulled a stunt like taking out his eye before. In 2004, before he was to stand trial, Thomas took out his right eye as well. There was no word on if he ate that eye as well.

However, a judge ruled that Thomas was mentally fit to stand trial. Thomas was on trial in the first place for an even more crazier and sadistic act.

In March 2004, Thomas was arrested for stabbing his ex-wife Laura Christine Boren, their four-year-old son Andre Lee, and her 13-month-old daughter Leyha Marie Hughes.

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After committing the acts, Thomas went to a police department and told cops how he had killed the three people, cut out their hearts and threw them out in a plastic bag. Police later found the victims with gaping holes in their chests.

From the start, Thomas' attorneys had argued that he was mentally incompetent, but he was still sentenced to death. However, with Thomas now making himself blind, it may be harder to uphold the death sentence.

If Thomas is officially labeled as mentally ill, it will add to the efforts to get his death sentence overturned. Groups like Murder Victims Families For Human Rights, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, have long argued against using the death penalty on the mentally ill. But the state of Texas have executed the likes of Thomas before, despite these groups' efforts.

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The groups have a report on the issue planned for June, with Thomas perhaps now a prime candidate to be mentioned in it.

Thomas was transferred to a prison psychiatric facility southwest of Houston. He still has no set date for his execution.

JENA SIX Member MYCHAL BELL Shoots himself

A JENA SIX teenager whose arrest in a racially charged assault case drew thousands of protesters to his rural Louisiana hometown was in a hospital early Tuesday after a shooting that his lawyer said was accidental. MYCHAL BELL was cleaning a gun when it accidentally discharged, shooting him in the shoulder, his attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN. He had surgery Monday night at a hospital in Monroe, Louisiana, and has not yet been able to talk, she said.

Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening.

MYCHAL BELL was one of JENA 6 six black teenagers who faced adult felony charges in the 2006 beating of a white classmate in the town of Jena. The beating followed months of racial tensions in the community of 3,000 after three white students hung a noose in a tree whose shade was traditionally off limits to blacks at Jena High School, hence the name JENA SIX.

The case of the JENA 6 drew national attention from civil rights groups who argued that the charges were excessive. An estimated 15,000-plus people turned out for a September 2007 rally in the Louisiana town on the black youths' behalf. MYCHAL BELL eventually pleaded guilty to battery in a juvenile court, served several months in a youth home and later moved to Monroe, about 70 miles north of Jena. MYCHAL BELL was released in September 2007 and later agreed to a plea deal in the beating of a classmate.

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About two years ago, the JENA 6 were at the center of one of the biggest racially charged controversies in a long time. The six black students at Jena High School in Louisiana severely beat up a white student, but after three white students hung a racially insensitive noose up in front of the school. The subsequent prosecution of the JENA 6 for their beating drew ire from the black community, with the racially charged atmosphere making national headlines. But one JENA 6 member is back in the headlines for even more ugly reasons, after shooting himself by accident.

MYCHAL BELL, a JENA 6 member who moved from Jena after the controversy ended, went to the hospital earlier this week after accidentally shooting himself with a gun he was cleaning. MYCHAL BELL had surgery for the wound on Monday, and has not been able to talk since.

MYCHAL BELL did not shoot himself on purpose, although the heated circumstances of the JENA SIX case may have made some speculate that he did, at least before the news reported otherwise. MYCHAL BELL and five other black Jena students were championed by the black community for several months, in a case that reignited old racial wounds.

Activists like Al Sharpton argued for the JENA SIX and Bell to face lesser charges or be released altogether, since the noose supposedly drove them to beat up a white student to such an extent. Others argued for charges against the Jena 6 and Bell that were called excessive and racially biased by many.

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Ultimately, MYCHAL BELL himself went to a juvenile court and confessed to second-degree battery, serving several months at a youth home. When Bell was released and the JENA SIX case finally faded from national attention, Bell left Jena and moved 70 miles north to Monroe, Louisiana. The now 18-year-old Bell has been living with a foster family.

MYCHAL BELL had already faced an extra bit of attention last week, after he was arrested for shoplifting. According to Monroe police sgt. Cassandra Wooten, Bell felt upset over the extra media coverage he got for this arrest, due to his JENA SIX celebrity. This may help further the notion that Bell really tried to shoot himself.


Jena Six was the name given to a group of six black teenagers charged with the beating of Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, United States, on December 4, 2006. Barker was injured, but was released from the emergency room the same day. He has since brought suit against members of the Jena Six, their parents, the school district, and others allegedly involved.

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A number of events took place in and around Jena in the months preceding the Barker assault, which have been linked to an alleged escalation of racial tensions. These events included the hanging of nooses from a tree in the high school courtyard, two violent confrontations between white and black youths, and the destruction by fire of the main building of Jena High School. The incidents were often linked in the extensive news coverage regarding the Jena Six.

Six individuals (Robert Bailey, then aged 17; Mychal Bell, then 16; Carwin Jones, then 18; Bryant Purvis, then 17; Jesse Ray Beard, then 14; and Theo Shaw, then 17) were arrested in the assault on Barker. One, Mychal Bell, was initially convicted as an adult of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. His convictions were overturned on the ground that he should have been tried as a juvenile. Prior to a retrial in juvenile court, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of simple battery. The other five defendants still await trial.

The Jena Six case sparked protests by those viewing the arrests and subsequent charges, initially attempted second-degree murder (though later reduced), as excessive and racially discriminatory. The protesters asserted that white Jena youths involved in other incidents were treated leniently. On September 20, 2007, between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters marched on Jena in what was described as the "largest civil rights demonstration in years". Related protests were held in other US cities on the same day. Subsequent reactions include songs alluding to the Jena Six, a considerable number of editorials and opinion columns, and Congressional hearings.

CHRISTMAS EVE SANTA CLAUS MASSACRE IN COVINA CALIFORNIA

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo is seen in an undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008, by the Covina, Calif. Police Department. Covina Police have identified the 45-year-old Prado as a "person of interest" after a man in a Santa suit opened fire at a Christmas Eve party in a suburban Los Angeles home that subsequently caught fire, leaving three people dead.

SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS EVE MASSACRE

In Covina, Calif., police say a man Bruce Jeffrey Pardo reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus and opened fire at a Christmas Eve party being attended by his ex-wife, who is still missing. (So are her parents, who owned the house.) Police found six bodies in the house, which was set on fire during the attack. Three other people were injured. Pardo was later found at his brother's house, dead of an apparent gunshot wound.

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The L.A. Times has a very detailed account. Apparently, an 8-year-old girl answered the door -- and Pardo shot her in the face. (Though it sounds like she made it to the hospital.) Pardo, an aerospace engineer who recently lost his job, reportedly used some kind of homemade device to spray a material used to spread the fire.

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The Los Angeles County Coroner's office says eight bodies have been found in the rubble of a home set ablaze after a Christmas Eve shooting massacre. Investigators ended their search Thursday night for other possible victims of the rampage. Authorities planned to return to the scene Friday.

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A Los Angeles County coroner's official says a ninth body has been recovered from a home where a gunman shot up a Christmas Eve party and set the house ablaze.

Coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz says the ninth body was found Friday morning in the gutted structure.

All of the bodies recovered from the home were badly burned and none have been positively identified.

Residents of a Los Angeles suburb where a man dressed as Santa Claus shot dead at least nine people have spoken of their disbelief at the killings.

Another body was found on Friday in the ashes of a house in the suburb of Covina that was gutted by fire.

Bruce Pardo burst into a Christmas Eve party at his ex-wife's parents' home, shooting and then starting the fire.

He took his life with a single shot to the head at his brother's home about 25 miles (40km) away, police said.

A Los Angeles County coroner's official has now confirmed that a ninth body has been found - all of them badly burned and none as yet positively identified.

Local media have reported that Pardo's ex-wife and in-laws were among the dead but this has not been officially confirmed.

Covina police chief Kim Raney and Lt Pat Buchanan hold a news conference
One of Pardo's co-workers at a Catholic church, Jan Detanna, told the Whittier Daily News that the unemployed aerospace engineer was "the nicest guy" who "always had a smile".

Details have emerged that Pardo, 45, had reached a divorce settlement just a few days before the attack.

Court documents showed the two-year marriage ended with an award of $10,000 to Sylvia Pardo along with their dog and her wedding ring, while Bruce Pardo took the house.

Bruce Pardo's lawyer, Stanley Silver, told the Associated Press news agency his client had fallen behind on marital support when he lost his job in July.

Pardo had knocked on the door of the home just before midnight, shooting in the face an eight-year-old girl who answered the door, police said. She is being treated for her wounds.

He then sprayed the 25 guests with bullets before setting fire to the house with a home-made incendiary device.

FOR MORE ON THE COVINA CHRISTMAS SANTA SLAYINGS

South Carolina Executes Murderer of Melissa McClauchlin

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man convicted of torturing and killing a woman 16 years ago has been executed by lethal injection.

Joseph M.L. Gardner was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. Friday in the state's death chamber in Columbia. He did not make a statement, but did mouth the words "Thank you. I'm OK," to a relative who witnessed his execution.

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Gardner was convicted in the 1992 kidnapping, rape and slaying of 25-year-old Melissa "Missi" McLauchlin.

Police said Gardner and his co-defendants decided to kill a white woman as retribution for slavery. But the victim's relatives say they don't think the killing was triggered by racial revenge.

Gardner is the 40th person executed in South Carolina since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

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The Crime:

Melissa McLaughlan, 25, was a native of Wixom, Michigan, living with her fiancé’s family in North Charleston, South Carolina. On the night she died, she had an argument with her fiancé at a nightclub. She stormed out of the club and began to walk home. Police spotted her, obviously drunk, and gave her a ride home, but she quickly set out on foot for another club. Three black men, Matthew Mack, Matthew Williams, and Joseph Gardner pulled up alongside in a car and started a conversation. They offered her drugs if she would come back to their trailer and have sex with them. Melissa McLaughlan, who had a history of drug problems, foolishly accepted their offer. The men had spent most of the day drinking and watching pornographic videos of black men having sex with white women. At one point Mack exploded in anger at his white girlfriend, saying he wanted to “stab her,” but that “it ain’t got to be her, any white” would do. Williams said he wanted to have sex with a white woman. Two hours later, the group watched a television news account of the biggest stories of 1992. When the videotaped beating and arrest of Rodney King came on the air, the third man, Gardner, spoke of “four hundred years of oppression,” and made a “New Year’s resolution” to “kill a white bitch.” It was in this state of mind that the four returned to the trailer where the three blacks lived. The men offered Melissa McLaughlan no drugs, but she willingly had sex with them—at first. She began to resist, especially when the men wanted to sodomize her, and soon the men were raping her. They put out the word within the trailer park that they had “captured a white woman,” and three other blacks arrived and raped her. Two black women, girlfriends of some of the rapists, were present in another room of the trailer, but did nothing to stop the attack. After they had enough, the men decided to get rid of the evidence—including Melissa McLaughlan. They soaked her in bleach and hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbed her under the shower with a nylon brush, in the hope of ridding her skin of sperm or other evidence that could be linked to them. They forced her to scrub out her vagina with the same chemicals. They also talked openly of killing her. The men handcuffed her, blindfolded her, and put a heavy coat over her head. They then took her to a car, and forced her down onto the floorboards in the back. After they had driven for some time, she managed to get out of the handcuffs and began to struggle. Joseph Gardner, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, reached over the seat, held back her head, and shot her twice in the face. The driver pulled over 14 miles outside Charleston, where Gardner shot her three more times in the face and once in the arm. The men dumped her on the side of the road, drove back to Charleston, and went nightclubbing. A passing driver found Melissa McLaughlan, miraculously alive, but she died before the ambulance arrived. It took police four days to identify the body, and a day later they located the

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trailer where Melissa McLaughlan was raped. By January 9, 1993, police had arrested seven people including two of the ringleaders—Matthew Mack and Matthew Williams—and two women, Edna Williams and Indira Simmons, who were charged with being accessories to murder and sexual assault. Three of the rapists were sailors stationed at nearby Charleston Naval Base. The only suspect not in custody was the triggerman, Joseph Gardner, who had carried out his New Year’s resolution. Gardner, who was AWOL from the Navy, eluded police for nearly two years, and might never have been caught had the FBI not put him on the “ten most wanted” list. He was living in Philadelphia when someone saw his picture in the post office and tipped off the police. He was arrested on October 20, 1994, and is now on death row. Police suspected a racial motivation from the start, since they found a “crudely written racial diatribe” in the trailer, complete with racial epithets about white oppression, which claimed blacks were “justified in seeking revenge.”

26 Year old mother, Leslie Kelly murdered at her son's Birthday Party in Oshawa Ontario

OSHAWA, Ont. - Leslie Kelly, a mother of three died shielding her husband from a deranged family associate, who went on a knifing rampage and turned her son's birthday party into a bloodstained crime scene, relatives and police said Sunday. Yellow police tape fluttered around the townhouse complex as police forensic specialists and investigators with the province's Special Investigations Unit scoured the home and relatives and neighbours tried to make sense of the horrific violence.

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"It's nuts. It's just crazy, the whole situation," said a relative of Leslie Kelly, Dave McLean. "I couldn't believe it at all. I didn't even think it was real." Relatives and neighbours identified the dead woman as Leslie Kelly, , 26; her husband Ricky Kelly, 29, who was fighting for his life in hospital; and their two youngest children - Nate, 5, and Riley, 3 - were injured in the attack.

Police responding to the dying mother's frantic 911 call Saturday afternoon shot the attacker dead during a subsequent confrontation at an adjacent unit. They identified the assailant as Gino Petralia, 47, whose son Steven, 13 - Ricky Kelly's half-brother - was at the party and had been taken in by the Kellys after the teen's mother died in August. McLean said the incident apparently began with a scuffle when Ricky Kelly, McLean's nephew, asked Petralia to leave.

They got into a fight, Petralia pulled out a knife and Leslie Kelly, jumped between the attacker and her husband, getting stabbed multiple times in the chest, McLean said. "All hell broke loose," said McLean, who called Kelly "a beautiful mom. She's a frigging hero - I mean, she saved him."

McLean said birthday boy Brandon Kelly, who neighbours said was celebrating his ninth birthday, came downstairs, found his injured three-year-old brother and then discovered his mom lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Brandon and two other children in the unit were not hurt.

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McLean, who had known Petralia for 30 years, said the man had been on social assistance with a mental problems for about a decade. "I just think that he snapped finally, because he has a tendency to go off. Not as severe as this. He's just nuts." Ian Christensen said he didn't know his neighbours well, but witnessed the frantic scene as paramedics put Leslie Kelly, on a stretcher and carried one of her children to an ambulance.


As he pondered retrieving his vehicle from behind the police lines, Christensen said he was glad to be moving out of the complex at the end of the month. "I've got kids," he said. "I don't want them going up against this kind of thing." Neighbours described the Kellys as a nice working couple with three children. Chris McIntosh, who lives across the parking lot from the Kellys, called the incident devastating. "We couldn't believe it," McIntosh said. "We've just been sitting there in a daze all morning. I was up with my children ... they were crying their eyes out."

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Another young neighbour, Jamie-Lynn Trip, said the killings had cast a pall on her pending 11th birthday party, which she celebrates this week. "I feel like running away, because I don't feel like getting murdered by one of these people," she said. "I find it really scary because people are getting murdered and if they're running down and I came out to see what happened, they might murder me."

John Yoannou of the Special Investigations Unit said police found Petralia in an adjacent unit, a confrontation occurred and an officer shot him dead. The SIU is a civilian police watchdog that probes police actions in cases where someone is killed or injured by an officer.

Leslie Kelly gave her life to save her husband in the bloodbath that erupted at her son's birthday party, a relative says.

"All hell broke loose," said Dave McLean, uncle of Kelly's husband Rick, who was also wounded in the knife attack at a south Oshawa townhouse Saturday afternoon.

He said Leslie, who he called a "beautiful mom," jumped in front of her husband when an attacker lunged at him with a knife.

"She's a hero – I mean, she saved him," he said.

It was to have been an afternoon of laughter, gifts and birthday cake.

But it became a scene of screams and terror and blood.

When it was over, a Glen St. townhouse was a blood-spattered mess. Leslie Kelly was dead, her husband and two of their three children were in hospital with stab wounds and her attacker was shot dead by police.

The province's Special Investigations Unit is probing the police shooting.

"It's devastating to the family," said McLean. "You can't deal with it."

Like many onlookers who came to the scene yesterday to gawk, he fought to find words to describe the deadly attack.

"It's crazy," said McLean, whose wife and sister recently died. "It's been one hell of a year. Ricky just friggin' lost his mother and now he's just lost his wife."

Of one thing he was certain: Gino Petralia, the 47-year-old Oshawa man who stabbed McLean's nephew and was later killed by a Durham Region police officer, will be vilified forever.

"I hope he rots in hell," McLean said as chill winds whipped across the asphalt.

Rick, 29, and Leslie Kelly, 26, lived in the townhouse with their sons Nathan, 3, Riley, 5, and Brandon, 11, who acquaintances said marked his birthday last Wednesday. It was his birthday that was being celebrated on Saturday, they said.

Also living with the family was 13-year-old Steven McLean, whose father was Petralia.

Steven was also the half-brother of Rick Kelly. Their mother died from cancer in August and the Kellys took Steven in to raise as their own.

According to some family acquaintances, the custody arrangement enraged Petralia, who they said was treated for mental health issues in recent months.

According to police, a woman called police late Saturday afternoon to report she had been stabbed. When officers arrived, they found Leslie Kelly suffering from fatal chest wounds. Her husband, Rick, and sons Nathan and Riley were also wounded.

All three remain in hospital.

Their other son, Brandon, Steven and a 12-year-old cousin were not hurt.

The townhouse complex was the scene of another homicide last November.

That domestic dispute left a man dead and his brother charged with second-degree murder.

"It's gotten so bad down here that you don't care what goes on next door," said Andy, 30. "Every young punk down here is carrying a gun, pretending to be a gangster."

Rock, 29, said he knew the complex's reputation when he moved in two years ago. "It's a low-income area and a lot of people resort to crime and violence," he said. "But this was a domestic dispute. It could have happened anywhere."

The SIU, which investigates incidents involving police that result in death or serious injury, has named one subject officer and six witness officers in the case.

"The SIU's policy is never to release names of subject officers unless if at the end of our investigation a charge is laid," said SIU spokesperson John Yoannou.

Autopsies on Petralia and Leslie Kelly are scheduled for tomorrow.

8 Year Old boy being Charged with Murder 1 for killing his father

An 8-year old boy is at the center of a murder investigation after the Apache County Attorney's Office released details of his father's murder.

Vincent Romero, the 29-year-old father to an 8-year-old son, was killed by his young son, along with another man by the name of Timothy Romans, who lived in the home with the boy and Romero.

Forensics and evidence allegedly prove that the boy planned and killed his father and another man in St. John's Arizona. with a 22 caliber rifle.

8-Year-Old Boy Kills Dad Vincent Romero, Timothy Romains?" Jack Ryan reports that young boy from St. John's, Arizona, is being charged with pre-meditated murder.

The boy's father, Vincent Romero, was 29 and that the weapon used was a 22-caliber rifle which it appears the boy learned to use by being taught to hunt.

In further researching this case I have found that the second victim was 39-year-old Timothy Romans who was an occasional border at the Romero home.

The boy's defense attorney says that the authorities will have a difficult time using the interview tape in court because there was no adult supervision.

I have linked a number of videos to this article including the murder scene, the interview with the 8-year-old boy and, an interview with Romans' widow.

The question is, how do you prosecute an 8-year-old and, with juvenile offenders, when do you prosecute below legal age?

Acknowledging the fact that states are continuing to lower the age of responsibility, the article suggests that when a murder is committed by a child at age eight, or six, that society is uncomfortable, caught between the seriousness of the act and the knowledge that really, prosecuting children that young is no answer.

Vice President Dick Cheney Indicted in Texas - Next in Line... The Big Dubbya

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor.

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The indictment returned Monday has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.

The seven indictments made public in Willacy County on Tuesday included one naming state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and some targeting public officials connected to District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra's own legal battles.

Regarding the indictments targeting the public officials, Guerra said, "the grand jury is the one that made those decisions, not me."

Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra's tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

Guerra said the prison-related charges against Cheney and Gonzales are a national issue and experts from across the country testified to the grand jury.

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Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on Tuesday, saying that the vice president had not yet received a copy of the indictment.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.

Gonzales' attorney, George Terwilliger III, said in a written statement, "This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize." He said he hoped Texas authorities would take steps to stop "this abuse of the criminal justice system."

Another indictment released Tuesday accuses Lucio of profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies. Guerra announced his intention to investigate Lucio's prison consulting early last year.

Lucio's attorney, Michael Cowen, released a scathing statement accusing Guerra of settling political scores in his final weeks in office.

"Senator Lucio is completely innocent and has done nothing wrong," Cowen said, adding that he would file a motion to quash the indictment this week.

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Willacy County has become a prison hub with county, state and federal lockups. Guerra has gone after the prison-politician nexus before, extracting guilty pleas from three former Willacy and Webb county commissioners after investigating bribery related to federal prison contacts.

Last month, a Willacy County grand jury indicted The GEO Group, a Florida private prison company, on a murder charge in the death of a prisoner days before his release. The three-count indictment alleged The GEO Group allowed other inmates to beat Gregorio de la Rosa Jr. to death with padlocks stuffed into socks. The death happened in 2001 at the Raymondville facility.

In 2006, a jury ordered the company to pay de la Rosa's family $47.5 million in a civil judgment. The Cheney-Gonzales indictment makes reference to the de la Rosa case.

None of the indictments released Tuesday had been signed by Presiding Judge Manuel Banales of the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region.

Last month, Banales dismissed indictments that charged Guerra with extorting money from a bail bond company and using his office for personal business. An appeals court had earlier ruled that a special prosecutor was improperly appointed to investigate Guerra.

After Guerra's office was raided as part of the investigation early last year, he camped outside the courthouse in a borrowed camper with a horse, three goats and a rooster. He threatened to dismiss hundreds of cases because he believed local law enforcement had aided the investigation against him.


A Texas Grand Jury has indicted vice president Dick Cheney.

A CBS and an ABC television station are reporting a South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Texas’ county federal detention centers.

It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees by working through the prison companies.

Austrian Dungeon Keeping Father Charged with Murder

Austrian Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children by her, has been charged with the murder of one of their children who died shortly after birth. Prosecutors said on Thursday they had also charged Fritzl, 73, with rape, enslavement, incest, coercion and deprivation of liberty. His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said Fritzl would not appeal against the charge sheet -- an option under Austrian law. He does not need to enter a plea immediately.

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Mayer told Reuters that the trial would start in the next two or so months. Fritzl, who has been in investigative custody since the case was exposed in April, kept daughter Elisabeth in a soundproofed basement under his house in the central town of Amstetten. He was charged with murder of the child through neglect in 1996. Fritzl burned the child's body in a furnace, police investigators said in April shortly after his arrest.

"He is suspected of killing this newborn because, despite knowing the life-threatening situation it was in, he was not driven to seek necessary help," the St Poelten provincial prosecutors' office said in a statement. This is a straight murder charge under Austrian law.

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DEATH THREATS

"He forced Elisabeth into slave-like conditions ... shut her away in the cellar and made her totally dependent on him, forcing her into sexual acts and treating her as if she was his own property," it said. The prosecutors also said he had threatened to kill his daughter and their imprisoned children by gassing them or through an explosion if they tried to escape.

A psychiatric report commissioned by justice authorities last month declared Fritzl to be mentally fit for a trial, which is expected to begin before a jury early next year. He could face life imprisonment if convicted of murder. The statement recommended that Fritzl, if convicted, be confined in an institution for the mentally disturbed.

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Repeated calls to Fritzl's lawyer went unanswered and the Austrian news agency APA reported that he had declined to comment on the case. According to the police, Fritzl lured his daughter into the basement in 1984, drugged her and locked her up. He claimed she had disappeared to join a sect. Three of Elisabeth's children were raised by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie in their home after he pretended that his 'runaway' daughter had left them on his doorstep with a letter saying she could not care for them. The other three children remained marooned in the windowless basement with their mother.

Mayer said earlier this year his client was "emotionally a broken man" and that it would be hard for him to get a fair trial in front of a jury because of the massive publicity generated by the case. In September Fritzl visited the cellar under police guard on the request of his lawyer in order to examine the locks. Fritzl has told police the locked door to the cellar would have opened automatically if he had been away for an extended period.


For more on this story, visit the breaking article on this topic

Julia Hudsons' Mother and Brother Murdered in their Chicago Home

The mother and brother of Oscar-winning actress and chart-topping singer Jennifer Hudson has been found shot dead at the family's Chicago home, according to Hudson 's publicist and authorities.

A Chicago police department spokesman said the murders appeared to be the related to a domestic incident, but would not identify the victims.

Hudson 's personal publicist Lisa Kasteler confirmed that the victims were Hudson 's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donnerson, and her brother 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson.

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Donnerson suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Hudson was shot in the chest, according to the Cook County Examiner's Office.

There were no signs of forced entry to the home, according to Joseph Patterson, deputy chief of patrol of the Chicago Police.

Neighbors reported hearing gunshots at Donnerson's home in the gritty Englewood neighborhood on the city's South Side between 8:00 or 9:00 am (1300 GMT) on Friday, but no one raised the alarm until around 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), authorities said.

It was Julia Hudson who made the gruesome discovery after returning home from her day shift at a bus company. The older sister of Jennifer Hudson summoned the police and also reportedly told them that her seven-year-old son was missing.

Authorities immediately issued an all points bulletin for the missing boy, Julian King.

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Police said the missing youngster might have been abducted from the home and could be in the company of William Balfour, a suspect in the double homicide, who should be considered armed and dangerous.

The bulletin said Balfour, 27, could be driving a white Chevrolet Suburban truck. The truck was registered to Jason Hudson, the slain brother of the singer, records showed.

Neighbours and news reports identified Balfour as Julia Hudson's estranged husband and the step-father of her son.

On his MySpace page, Balfour described himself as a "proud parent" and played up his links to Jennifer Hudson.

"I might as well let you all know that Jennifer Hudson is my wife's sister. I'm proud of her and wish her nothing but the best in what she do. But don't hit me up asking 'bout her, other than that it's on!" he wrote.

A slide show on the same site featured family snaps of Jennifer alongside shots of a bare-chested Balfour flexing his muscles for the camera.

Balfour is currently on parole after serving six and a half years for attempted murder, according to TMZ's website. He also has a conviction for possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

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At one time he listed Donnerson's home as one of his previous addresses.

The ex-con was taken into custody by police late on Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

Balfour was not co-operating with investigators and was not disclosing the whereabouts of the seven-year-old boy, FOX News reported. Chicago police would not confirm these reports.

Jennifer Hudson was reported to be flying home to Chicago from Tampa , Florida.

The 27-year-old singer shot to nationwide fame on American Idol, the wildly popular television talent show.

In 2007, she earned an Oscar for supporting actress for her turn in "Dreamgirls," alongside Beyonce, and Jamie Foxx.

Her debut album came out September 30 and she is currently riding high in the charts with a number one single on the Billboard R&B charts, called 'Spotlight'. In recent weeks she has been promoting her latest film project, "The Secret Life of Bees."

In interviews, Hudson credited her mother with helping her launch her career by pushing her to apply to American Idol, and said her siblings kept her rooted and down to earth.

Julia Hudson's MySpace page testified to the same deep affection for her mother. In response to a pop quiz asking who she most admired, Julia had written: "MY MOM, WHAT A WOMAN!"

In response to another question, asking who of her closest confidantes was most likely to get arrested, she had written: "WILLIAM."

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For Jennifer Hudson, two life themes appear again and again: her love of music and love of family.

"One reason my dreams have been able to come true is because of the people in my life," she said at a ceremony at the United Nations last year. "They've always believed in me, and had hope for me, and loved me."

The tragedy comes at a time of personal triumph for Hudson, still riding the wave of recognition that came with her best supporting actress Oscar in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls."

Hudson's single "Spotlight" is No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs, after 23 weeks on the chart. Her first, self-titled album debuted four weeks ago and has held the No. 2 spot ever since on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album currently ranks fifth overall on the Billboard 200.



Last month, Hudson's boyfriend David "Punk" Otunga (also a Chicago native and reality TV personality) proposed to the singer/actress on her 27th birthday. Hudson said, "Yes."

In her newest movie, " The Secret Life of Bees," released last week, Hudson plays the motherly figure to a young white girl ( Dakota Fanning) during the 1960s in racially charged South Carolina.

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"It was fun to go back to my mother's time," she recently told PlanetOut.com. "Like, 'Wow, is this what my mom looked like? Is this the type of clothing she wore? Was this her style?' Especially in that scene with the bob haircut? That was so my mother."

It was Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, who encouraged her daughter to pursue a singing career.

"My mum tells this story of when I was a baby in church," Hudson told Australia's Sunday Telegraph Magazine last month. "They were teaching the choir a note, and they couldn't hit it. I was just 8 months old, but I hit the note. Apparently, my godmother looked over to my mother and said, 'Mark my words, this child is going to sing.' "

The youngest of three, including sister Julia and brother Jason, Hudson grew up in Englewood, on the South Side. Her father, bus driver Samuel Samson, died when Hudson was in her teens.

Hudson graduated from Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. She has ties to both the Progressive Baptist Church, near U.S. Cellular Field, and Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church. Up until a few years ago, Hudson still lived with her mother. As of 2003, Hudson's singing experience was limited to the church choir, a stint performing on a Disney cruise ship and a 2001 production of "Big River" at Lincolnshire's Marriott Theatre.

Still, Donerson encouraged her daughter to fly to Atlanta and audition for the third season of "American Idol."

She made it. In 2004, after a vigorous competition, Hudson was voted off the show in seventh place. Judge Simon Cowell was particularly cruel to her, telling her she was "out of her league" and her outfit resembled "something you should wrap a turkey in."

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Hudson's resilience won out when director Bill Condon hired her for the role of Effie White in "Dreamgirls," a musical riff inspired by the career of The Supremes. Perhaps in a bit of poetic justice, Hudson beat out 781 others who auditioned for the role including, reportedly, 2004 "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino.

Hudson has been careful not to complain about her "Idol" history and instead remained grateful for the experience.

Hudson told the Tribune she believes in God's overall plan for her. "It wasn't a big deal for her because one of her dreams had already come true," Hudson's older sister, Julia, told the Tribune in 2007. "All she wanted was for the world to hear her singing."

Hudson won both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for the performance—her first ever on film.

"She's the same Jennifer," Julia Hudson told the Tribune after her sister's Oscar win. "She wants to stop and talk to every fan she can and come home [to Chicago] every time she can."

She went on to positive reviews in "Sex in the City: The Movie" and continued to credit her success to the support of her family. Hudson visited Chicago last week when she was honored at the 44th Chicago International Film Festival's Black Perspective Tribute alongside Sidney Poitier.

"Family is everything. My family is definitely what keeps me grounded," she told the Sunday Telegraph in September. "They keep things in perspective and balanced. When I'm in Chicago, my life is normal. I have to get up and make my own breakfast, and I'm told the truth. I'm very normal—it's my career that's not."

Anne Pressly - Arkansas News Anchor and "W" Star brutally beaten

Anne Pressly an Arkansas television anchor who filmed a bit role for the movie "W." was found in her home early Monday suffering from life-threatening injuries caused by a brutal beating. Anne Pressly, 26, the morning anchor for KATV-TV in Little Rock, was found by her mother at about 4:30 a.m. lying in her bed and bleeding from "severe injuries," police said.

"We do believe she was beaten," Sgt. Cassandra Davis of the Little Rock Police Department told FOXNews.com. She said the injuries were to the upper body and included stab wounds. Pressly was listed in critical condition, Davis said. Anne Presslywas taken to St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center. Anne Pressly may have been attacked during a robbery, as her purse is missing. But Davis said that police haven't found any forced entry to her home on Club Road in Little Rock.

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"It’s not a neighborhood known for any violent crime," Davis said.

Police do not have suspects in the case, but said they were questioning neighbors, friends and co-workers, Davis said.

Anne Pressly was seen in "good condition" at 10:30 p.m. and her mother, who normally gives Pressly a wake-up call, found her daughter, Davis said.

"She didn’t get an answer so she went to the address on Club Road, and she found her daughter inside the residence lying in the bed suffering from some severe injuries," Davis told FOXNews.com. Anne Pressly's dogs, which were also missing, have been found. Early Monday afternoon, a man who answered a phone listed for Pressly's mother, Patricia Cannady, said the family had no comment.

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According to her resume on the Internet Movie Database, the ABC anchor played a news commentator in Oliver Stone's new movie, "W." She also played a sorority girl on the soap opera "As The World Turns." Anne Pressly won her role in "W.", which was filmed in Shreveport, La., when she went to the city for a story on the movie and Shreveport's film industry. She appears briefly as a conservative commentator who speaks favorably of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech.

KATV's Web site notes that Anne Pressly's most notable interview was with Vice President Dick Cheney. Pressly was returning from a story in Humphrey and traveling through Stuttgart, where the highway was blocked in front of hunting supply store Mack's Prairie Wings.

It turned out that Cheney, an avid hunter, was inside. Anne Pressly asked for an interview, which she conducted on the ammunition aisle.

Anne Pressly is a 2004 graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.

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During its 11:30 a.m. newscast, anchor Jason Pederson read a story about the attack and said Anne Pressly was hospitalized. "We would ask that you keep Anne in your thoughts and, especially, in your prayers," Pederson said.

Her fans had created a Anne Pressly Facebook prayer page Monday afternoon.