Free Republic

A Jefferson Parish jury rejected an Iraq war veteran's insanity defense Wednesday (April 8), finding he knew right from wrong when he shot a Terrytown rapper in the head during a dispute outside a Harvey bar last year. Devin Bonilla was convicted as charged of second-degree murder for killing Bowie Richard, 21, a local entertainer who used the stage name Yung Kaptin. Bonilla, 25, who served in Iraq and was discharged as a private from the Louisiana Army National Guard after his arrest last year, faces spending the rest of his life in prison. The jury of seven women and...

A 23-year-old former Marine who some say was distraught after combat service in Iraq has been named a suspect in the serial killings of four homeless men in Orange County. Itzcoatl Ocampo of Yorba Linda was chased by bystanders Friday after the most recent stabbing death behind a fast-food restaurant in an Anaheim shopping center parking lot. Ocampo remained in police custody without bail Saturday and is expected in court on Tuesday. "We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for the murders of all four homeless men in Orange County," Anaheim Police Chief John Welter...

National Democrats are turning up the pressure on Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, openly asking him to leave his campaign for U.S. Senate and take a second shot at a Cincinnati-area House seat that he nearly won last summer. Democrats have privately suggested for some time that Hackett, who has a national Internet following but faces the more experienced Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a Senate primary, would be better off running again for the House seat held by GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt. Democrats acknowledge their chances of winning a district that voted 64 percent for President Bush in 2004...