Free Republic

PROVO, Utah (AP) — A key hearing kicks off Monday in Charlie Kirk’s murder case in Utah, where prosecutors aim to convince a judge they have enough evidence to try the man accused of killing him and seek the death penalty. The five-day preliminary hearing will mark the most significant presentation of evidence in the case so far — and the first time that Kirk’s parents and widow will be in the courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist and ally of President Donald Trump,...

The uncle of a missing Utah 5-year-old girl was charged with her murder Wednesday. At a news conference Wednesday, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen told reporters that 21-year-old Alex Whipple had been charged with aggravated murder, child kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a human body. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shelley was reported missing Saturday morning. Her body has not been found, but Jensen said investigators had evidence, including DNA, linking Whipple to the girl's murder. The desecration charge stems from alleged actions by Whipple to move, remove or conceal Lizzy's body. (Logan City Police) According to the chief, traces of...

KLAMATH FALLS - A man has been charged with aggravated murder and rape in an attack on a pair of Roman Catholic nuns, police said Monday. Maximiliano Cilerio Esparza, 32, also was charged with kidnapping, assault, sodomy, sexual abuse and possession and delivery of a controlled substance. He was being held without bail at the Klamath County Jail. Sister Helen Chaska, 53, of Bellevue, Washington, was reciting the Rosary while walking on a bike path about 2 a.m. Sunday when she was attacked and killed, police said. A second nun, Sister Linda Schoenhoefn, 52, also was attacked. She was treated...