Free Republic

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The man accused of killing three North Carolina college students — their family says because they were Muslim — is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing Monday to determine whether he could face the death penalty. Durham County District Attorney Roger Echols said in court documents last month he plans to seek the death sentence if Craig Stephen Hicks is convicted of first-degree murder.

Kevin Spacey, star of the critically acclaimed Netflix series "House of Cards," told reporters that former President Bill Clinton confirmed that "99% of what you've shown in the series is essentially true." In the show, Spacey plays Frank Underwood, an ambitious sociopath who manipulates and murders his way to higher office. In the first season he started out as the Democratic Whip in the House of Representatives. By the end of season three he is the President of the United States with a body-count of three on his covert resume. Spacey said that "my good friend Bill boasted that he'd...

What are we to make of Andreas Lubitz piloting a Germanwings airplane into the side of a mountain? There is an unhelpful tautology, meant to be explanatory, that arises at times like this. How could someone have done something this evil? Because they were evil. Or: How could someone have done something this heartless? Because they were heartless..

The baby girl was murdered in the most heinous and shocking of crimes and the law of the land that so callously identified her as a fetus can never justify her murder. If only the “loud last gasp” of the 7-month-old unborn baby ripped out of her mother’s womb in Colorado last week would end for once and for all the fallacious argument that a human baby is only a fetus while still in her mother’s womb. Then her moment’s long life would have saved millions of innocent children slaughtered by abortions that have become commonplace since the law birthed...

A woman is facing charges after police say she threw a Molotov cocktail at anti-abortion protesters who were standing outside of Planned Parenthood. Melanie Toney, 52, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to the affidavit, the incident happened around 6:25 p.m. on Monday at the Planned Parenthood building on East Ben White Boulevard. Multiple witnesses told police that they witnessed Toney throw a flaming object out of the passenger side window of her BMW SUV near the protesters, the affidavit stated.

The highest court in Italy on Friday has overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend in the sensational 2007 stabbing death of her British roommate. The ruling was the latest turn in an odyssey of international justice for Knox, who spent four years in an Italian jail after the killing. She has returned to the United States and vowed not to return to Italy. She and the ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in 2009, then acquitted and freed in 2011. An appeals court overturned the acquittals and ordered a new trial, and they were convicted again last...

Lubitz started his training with the organization in 2008 and at one point worked as a flight attendant, the airline's Chief Executive Carsten Spohr confirmed Thursday. While Lubitz had interrupted his training at some point for several months — the airline would not specify why — Spohr said that was not unusual and that the young German was re-evaluated before his training resumed. He passed all his tests.

Nearly three years since 38-year-old shop owner Shannon Collins was stabbed to death on her way to a hair appointment in Santa Cruz, her killer was sentenced on Wednesday to 88 years to life in prison.

Businessman chased through a vineyard and shot dead by his partner after a dispute over money turned deadly.It sounds more like a Hollywood movie than a sunny afternoon in pristine Napa Valley – a man, shot once already, runs through a vineyard screaming for help on his cellphone while his business partner chases him in an SUV, shooting at him the whole time. Emad Tawfilis, 48, made it to the road Monday and could see sheriff's deputies arriving. But Robert Dahl got out of his black Toyota SUV, walked up to Tawfilis, and shot him in the head, killing...

Harrisburg, Pa. • A police officer was charged Tuesday with criminal homicide after investigators concluded she shot an unarmed motorist in the back as he lay facedown after a traffic stop over an expired inspection sticker.Authorities accused Hummelstown police Officer Lisa J. Mearkle of shooting David Kassick, 59, twice Feb. 2 without legal justification. She was jailed without bail.They said Mearkle had attempted to pull over Kassick for expired inspection and emissions stickers before he sped away. She caught up to Kassick near his sister's home, where he got out and ran.

Father Who Torched Apartment to Kill His Daughter and Son-in-Law Found Guilty of Murder Subhash Chander set fire to a 36-unit Oak Forest building in 2007 because he was angry and offended. His 3-year-old grandson also died. By Dennis Robaugh (Patch National Staff) March 21, 2015 at 11:18am A grandfather who torched an Oak Forest apartment building seven years ago to kill his pregnant daughter, her husband and their 3-year-old son — because his daughter’s choice of husband offended him — has been convicted on three counts of first-degree murder. Subhash Chander, 64, an angry, argumentative heavy drinker, now faces...

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This was revealed at a February 6, 2015, celebration of Hernandez’s release, along with two of his fellow Cuban agents (collectively known as the “Cuban 5.. At the beginning of the event, an IPS official thanked all who who took part in the 17-year campaign and singled out a number of organizations that...

REMEMBRANCE of EASTER 2005 Crowd my eyes, you bevies of daffodils, And you forsythias in throngs of cheer, Dandelion galaxies and fountains of trees. Fill my mouth with the breath of hyacinths, you purple air And you roistering breeze. And you quince-buds so eager, you swelling seeds, You squirrels running stitches across the loom Of woven grasses, inflorescent weeds; Jasmine-bush, loop me with your lariats of perfume. Fill me, small birds, with your versicles, And chuckled replies. She is bleeding from the mouth and eyes. Sate me then, Sun, all dapple and spangle Crowd out all else Lade me...

A survey of Bill Clinton's murders in Arkansas, and some of Bill and Hillary's other crimes.

PEMBERTON, N.J. (CBS) – A young South Jersey mother is in jail, charged with the burning death of her newborn baby Friday night. Authorities say 22-year-old Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier of Pemberton Township, Burlington County doused her newborn baby with a flammable liquid then set the child on fire. It happened around 11 p.m. along Simontown Road. Police arrived and quickly extinguished the flames. “You see a site like that, it just puts life into perspective,” says Dave Joseph, who lives nearby. Joseph saw the small fire from his window and went to investigate. “We actually didn’t think it was a baby,...

It could be a week before we know whether a Longmont woman who allegedly stabbed a pregnant woman and removed her unborn child will face a charge of first degree murder. The Boulder District Attorney says a murder charge is not a given because of Colorado laws and the facts surrounding the case. During a news conference Thursday District Attorney Stan Garnett said any murder charge involving an unborn child is very difficult. “Under Colorado law, essentially, there’s no way murder charges can be brought if it’s not established that the fetus lived as a child outside the body of...

A high school freshman was arrested in connection with the killing of a man walking his dog last week in Philadelphia’s Overbrook section. A second teen, who police say actually pulled the trigger, is still on the loose. --snip-- A second 15-year-old, Tyfine Hamilton, fired the shot that resulted in the death of the 51-year-old husband and father, said Clark. He's still at large and considered armed and dangerous, police said. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)"Get with your parent and turn yourself in before we come and get you," warned Clark during a news conference Thursday afternoon. "We know where you are." Both teens...

An 18-year-old neighbor was taken into custody following a stabbing that killed three young brothers at a North Carolina home Tuesday night. Two other family members were injured. The incident was reported around 10:30 p.m. at a home in New Bern, WITN reported. The victims' names haven't been released, though New Bern police said the dead victims were brothers ages 12, 5 and 1. The surviving victims, a sister and a mother, were released from the hospital. Two brothers were found dead at the scene, while the third later died at the hospital. Eh Lar Doh Htoo, an 18-year-old neighbor,...

A French national detained in Cambodia, who has been linked to the scandal surrounding China's deposed politician Bo Xilai, will not be extradited, a minister said on Friday. Patrick Henri Devillers will, however, remain in custody. REUTERS - The French architect linked to China’s biggest political scandal in two decades and detained in Cambodia will not be extradited to any country, a minister said, adding another twist to a high-profile case already shrouded in mystery. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong gave no details on what grounds China had requested the arrest of Patrick Henri Devillers, whose whereabouts is unknown, but...

(from left to right) Darryl Worthen, Dejaun Worthen, and Darion Harris.Three Indianapolis men face federal charges in connection with the robbery and murder of a Jennings County gun store owner. Darryl Anthony Worthen, 25, Dejuan Andre Worthen, 23 and Darion Dashon Harris, 20, were arrested in September following the death of 61-year-old Scott Maxie, who owned Muscatatuck Outdoors, a gun store located at 8485 W. County Road 200 S. in North Vernon, Ind. U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced federal charges in the case Friday. Maxie was found dead in September 2014. He’d been shot in the head and killed...