Free Republic

Bryan Kohberger has autism, according to his lead defense lawyer, who is arguing the diagnosis means he should not face the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted of the murders of a group of University of Idaho students who were killed in a 4 a.m. home invasion attack in November 2022. “Bryan C. Kohberger, by and through his attorneys of record… hereby moves this Court to strike the death penalty as a sentencing option in his case because Mr. Kohberger’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and...

The parents of two of the Kansas City Chiefs’ fans, whose lifeless bodies were found frozen in a friend’s backyard, had mixed feelings following the arrests of two men charged with manslaughter on Wednesday. Ricky Johnson Jr., 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, were found dead in their pal Jordan Willis’ backyard on Jan. 9, 2024. Harrington’s mom, Theresa, claimed she’s been kept out of the loop in the 14 months since the trio’s bodies were discovered. “They wouldn’t tell me anything,” she told the Daily Mail.

Dying of dysentery is now more than just a video game meme in Oregon. In a disgusting turn of events straight out of the “Oregon Trail” game, the diarrhea-inducing malady dysentery is making a stomach-churning comeback in a densely populated region of the state. Cases of the hyper-contagious bacterial disease have surged in Multnomah County, with health officials reporting 40 cases of the wretched sickness in January, according to the Multnomah County Health Department, KOIN reported. The infection, also known as shigellosis, can spread through exposure with infected feces, contaminated food or water, or sexual contact – with person-to-person the...

Legendary Hollywood actor Bill Murray trashed Bob Woodward during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, challenging the author’s work after delving into just a few pages of Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi, Woodward’s 1984 tome chronicling the life of John Belushi. Murray was clearly underwhelmed by Woodward’s attempt to capture the character of his friend and fellow actor Belushi, claiming Woodward’s lackadaisical relationship with the facts could easily have been transposed into his work as a Washington Post reporter in the early 1907s that helped topple U.S. President Richard Nixon via the Watergate scandal..

President Donald Trump will address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, March 4 at 9 p.m. ET. The forum is not officially a State of the Union address, which traditionally comes during the second, third and fourth year of a presidency. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., invited Trump earlier this month to address Congress on Tuesday. "Thanks to your strong leadership and bold action in the first days of your presidency, the United States is already experiencing a resurgence of patriotism, unity, and hope for the future," Johnson wrote in a letter to Trump first obtained by Fox News...

You know you should develop a regular exercise routine, but you lack motivation. Promises to yourself are quickly broken, and you never establish enough of the workout habit to experience any rewards. Exercising as you age is important. It’s not only good for physical health to help prevent falls or enable you to do basic tasks — exercise is also superb for the mind. “If you want to be cognitively active, it is so important to be physically active,” explained Dr. Amy Eyler, a professor of public health at Washington University in St. Louis. “There is a such a strong...

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed steps from a Bronx high school in a violent clash Wednesday morning – one day after a 17-year-old was busted inside his school with a loaded gun, cops and sources said. The younger teen was knifed once in the stomach – apparently by another teen who jumped him around 8:45 a.m. across from John F. Kennedy High School on Terrace View Avenue in Marble Hill, police said. The young assailant ran off, and the injured teen was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. In an unrelated incident around 10:15...

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is urging his groupies to limit the number of photos they send him in jail. Women have been deluging the accused assassin with pictures using popular apps like Shutterfly. The Independent reports that Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the high-profile murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has made a public plea to his groupies, requesting them to refrain from sending an excessive number of photographs. The 26-year-old, who was arrested in December for allegedly gunning down Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, has garnered a significant following since his...

Police say a 23-year-old man who allegedly kicked in the door of the wrong apartment just before 1:00 a.m. February 23, 2025, was shot dead by a resident inside. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the deceased as Matthew Maggart, a Western Kentucky University student. Police indicated the rightful resident of the apartment was on the phone with 911 while Maggart was “actively kicking the door to their apartment.” The Bowling Green Police Department released a statement noting that Maggart did live in the apartment complex, but the door he allegedly kicked in was not the one to his apartment.

A 15-year-old boy shot his mother and sister multiple times soon after calling cops to say he was going to kill someone while having a “bad reaction” to “a bunch of edibles,” according to police. The suspect took the marijuana edibles on Saturday night with another teenager and an adult when he began to have physical issues and called an ambulance in a panic, according to police in Houston, Texas. He then grabbed a gun when the two others started to laugh at him — and called the cops threatening to kill himself or someone else, ABC 13 reported. When...

Feet of snow across parts of central New York caused more than two dozen homes and businesses to collapse under its weight, according to Oswego County officials. A lake-effect snowstorm started on Feb. 14 and did not let up until Feb. 19, piling feet of snow on roofs. According to the National Weather Service’s Buffalo office, the highest weekly totals included 79.1 inches in Palermo and 55.8 inches in Minetto. On Feb. 19, the city of Oswego had 20 inches of snow on the ground, the highest snow depth so far in February, according to the NWS.

You’ve been crushing your health and fitness goals recently: Eating protein at every meal, getting seven to nine hours of sleep, and hitting the heavy weights at the gym. But in the past few days, you’re feeling sluggish. Why can’t I lift as heavy as usual? I’m doing everything right. Well, there’s actually a chance you’re doing too much—and that’s where a deload week comes in. A deload week is “a period of time where you reduce the volume in your workout,” says Almoni Ellis, CPT, a NASM-certified personal trainer. You either take a break from the gym completely, lighten...

A violent recidivist sicko accused of trying to rape a woman on a Times Square subway was given $250,000 bail at his arraignment on felony charges Saturday night. Tyriek Martin, a 34-year-old homeless man who’s been busted at least 70 times, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court late Saturday before Judge Robert Rosenthal on first-degree attempted rape, first-degree sexual abuse and third-degree assault charges. Rosenthal set bail at $250,000 at the request of prosecutors.

Nervous travelers have been worrying about taking to the air given the recent airplane crashes in the news. Even so, one man with aerophobia, or a fear of flying, believes there’s nothing to be afraid of — and he’s on a mission to help others address their concerns. Brian Morris of Salt Lake City, Utah, created “Flight Deck: Fear Of Flying Flash Cards” to help anxious flyers calm themselves about takeoff procedures and the travel experience. “In light of the recent flight incidents and accidents, I know firsthand how these events can evoke fear and uncertainty in many individuals,” Morris...

The data provided in the downloads via our map is from the Federal Election Commission. There are many anomalies in the FEC data and we continue to find more each week. For a few examples, the data should be the same if you download the same query via their website versus using an API. It is not. Another is there are transactions shown completed but dated in the future. A third example is they appear to be counting a transaction fee as a “contribution”. A fourth is they show a State as “ZZ”, we wonder where that is located in...

Shocking footage shows the moment a car exploded in Florida, killing a woman who police believe was targeted by her husband. Doorbell footage obtained by NBC 6 shows that the car was parked on a road in the Miami suburbs of Hialeah Gardens when it erupted into a fireball just before 6 a.m. on Feb. 1. The explosion was outside the home of Noel Ruiz Mestre, 50, who police now allege intentionally detonated a homemade bomb while his wife was sitting in the passenger seat. His wife, who has not publicly been identified, was killed in the blast.

The latest in a long line of winter storms is taking direct aim at the East Coast, threatening to dump heavy snow and some ice in several states. A storm that dropped snow in the Midwest was spreading across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys on Wednesday, bringing more misery to some places just starting to clean up from deadly weekend floods. Up to 10 inches of snow was possible along the Atlantic Coast in Virginia and significant ice accumulations were forecast in eastern North Carolina, the National Weather Service said. Elsewhere, a polar vortex took over from Montana to southern...

A 16-year-old boy who has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a teenage girl inside a Queens home claims the gun went off by accident, authorities and sources said. Deaza Barkley, 17, who dreamed of one day joining the Air Force, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to her head inside the Clover Place home in Jamaica just after 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. The alleged shooter was taken into custody hours later and also faces gun possession charges, police said Monday. Cops revealed that the shooting may have been accidental. The teen told police he...

Gambling addiction has soared since the legalization of sports betting in most American states, reveals a new study. Researchers found a “dramatic” increase in sports betting and gambling addiction help-seeking since the landmark Murphy v. NCAA Supreme Court decision in 2018 paved the way for states to legalize gambling on sports. Since the ruling, researchers from the University of California San Diego Qualcomm Institute and School of Medicine found a “staggering” growth in the sportsbook industry. The number of states with operational sportsbooks grew from one in 2017 to 38 last year while total sports wagers skyrocketed from US $4.9...

Film director Spike Lee wore a jacket to the NBA All-Star Game with a message demanding slavery reparations. Cameras caught the message as Lee stood on the sidelines during Sunday’s game while he enjoyed his courtside seat, which reportedly ran for up to $57,000 per ticket. “We wan out 40 acres and a mule,” the message read. “Yes, reparations, no subterfuge.” The Do The Right Thing director has been an advocate of slavery reparations for blacks for years. Lee has even added the concept of slavery reparations into at least one of his films. The theme was reportedly a part...