Utah Mother Pleads Guilty of Killing Six Babies

They say that the perhaps the most heinous crimes a person can commit is murdering a child or infant. They are right! Taking it one step further, Megan Huntsman, 39, plead guilty today six counts of murder for killing six of her newborn babies and storing their bodies in her garage. 

The case sent shock waves through the quiet, mostly Mormon community where the Utah mother stored the tiny bodies for more than a decade. Her now-estranged husband, Darren West, made the grisly discovery in April 2014 while he cleaned out a garage in the home they had shared in Pleasant Grove, Utah, a city of about 35,000 people, south of Salt Lake City. Authorities say a seventh baby found in her garage was stillborn. Huntsman told police she either strangled or suffocated the babies immediately after they were born. She wrapped their bodies in a towel or a shirt, put them in plastic bags and then packed them inside boxes in the garage. Police say Huntsman killed the babies over a 10-year period from 1996 to 2006, during a period of her life when she told investigators she was addicted to methamphetamine and didn't want to care for the babies.

DNA results have revealed that all seven newborns were full term and that West (above) was the biological father of the infants. West lived with her during the decade the babies were killed, but he is not considered a suspect in their deaths. West discovered the bodies shortly after he was released from federal prison where he spent more than eight years after pleading guilty to meth charges. In her few brief court appearances, Huntsman has said very little.

Prosecutors had called it “a unique case” both in its “heinousness” and in the “number of victims.” Huntsman faces up to life in prison on the charges. She will be sentenced April 20.

Bizarre Alleged Murder/Suicide Baffles Neighborhood

Friends and relatives are shocked about the recent alleged murder/suicide of Michael Tabacchi and Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi. After autopsies, Bergen County Prosecutor, John L. Molinelli, said yesterday on Twitter that Tabacchi, 27, had strangled and stabbed his wife, Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi, 41, then stabbed himself in the chest. Authorities said that the tragedy occurred on Friday night around 11 p.m. Their 15-month-old son, August, was found safe in their home at in their home at 595 High Street in Closter, New Jersey.  

Authorities had no knowledge of marital or financial issues facing the couple. Molinelli said that question is part of the investigation, and that there were no signs of forced entry at the house. Autopsies were conducted Saturday. Authorities said that a kitchen knife was found near Michael’s body, but there was no note to suggest a reason for the deaths.

Michael’s parents, James and Silvana Tabacchi, found the bodies after receiving a text from Michael around 11 p.m. Friday night. A neighbor, Kurt Vreeland, said that Michael’s father ran to his house seeking help. Vreeland, who is Closter’s assistant fire chief, said his wife, former Closter Volunteer Ambulance Capt. Lisa Vreeland, rushed over to try and resuscitate the victims, but it was too late. Both were taken to Englewood Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Michael and Denise were married in a civil ceremony at Ridgefield Park Town Hall in May 2013, followed by a church wedding at St. Joseph’s in Demarest last May. I personally knew Denise, so this is especially shocking to me! I worked with Denise several years ago and ran into her from time to time at a local bar where she was a bartender. She was a very sweet, nice person who always made people feel special.

The details of this tragedy are mysterious, indeed. One can formulate and speculate that suicide by stabbing yourself in the chest is rare. Furthermore, it is hard to fathom that a parent would leave a 15-month-old baby in the house like that. All of this seems implausible unless heavy drugs were used, which will not come to light unless the toxicology report is published. And even if that is the case, it could take weeks to get the results.

It is psychologically difficult to stab yourself with the strength needed to do so and follow-through necessary to drive the blade through the hard chest plate, let alone that a person’s instinct is to flinch or hold back to spare him or her from the pain associated with the act. After all, the objective of suicide is to “stop” the pain, emotional or physical, that the person is currently feeling, not to prolong it or make it dramatically worse, as would be the case with stabbing one’s self. That is not to say that it is impossible, though. In 2013, Georgy Kochnev fatally stabbed himself in the heart five times in front of dozens of witnesses, who said that he could still walk and talk for a few minutes after the fifth injury. 

Justice for “Murdered” Baby Justice

Two-month-old Justice Hull of southern Dallas was intentionally drowned by a 14-year-old, police say. The suspect, identified only as a 14-year-old girl, was charged with capital murder after she drowned Baby Justice shortly before 6 a.m. at an apartment on Westmoreland Road, Dallas police Maj. Robert Sherwin said. Justice’s mom received approval from Child Protective Services to leave her baby in the care of a friend because she had been jailed and needed someone to take care of the infant until her release. But when that friend left for work Monday morning, police say her 14-year-old daughter murdered the infant at the Hickory Trace Apartments in the 8400 block of Westmoreland Road.

“The facts of the case are that a 14-year-old intentionally drowned a two-month-old girl,” Dallas police Maj. Robert Sherwin said. According to police, the teenager called 911 to report the death. Police say they still don't know the motive. To make matters worse, Baby Justice’s mother was jailed because of problems with traffic tickets. The mother found out about the infant’s death by seeing a report on TV from inside the jail. Relatives are now trying to raise hundreds of dollars to get her out so she can attend her baby's funeral, but they have no idea how they will be able to pay for the burial.

As for the 14-year-old suspect, since she is charged with capital murder it will be up to the court system to determine if she should be tried as an adult. However, even if she is convicted she cannot face the death penalty because of her age. She is currently being held at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.

Alstory Simon Released from Prison after Serving 15 Years for Double Murder

 

Alstory Simon, who confession to a 1982 double homicide that helped free an inmate from death row in 1999, was released from prison last month. Simon was in prison for 15 years for the double murder, the same case in which Anthony Porter, an alleged neighborhood gang banger, was convicted and later freed.

The double homicide occurred 32 years ago and involved two teenagers, Jerry Hillard and Marilyn Green, being shot to death in a South Side park in Chicago. Porter was convicted, but two days from his scheduled execution, he was freed after Simon confessed, saying he did it in self-defense. Soon after being sentenced to prison, Simon said he was hoodwinked into confessing by a journalism professor, a private eye, and a defense attorney.

State’s Attorney, Anita Alvarez (above), said that after a year-long investigation they realized that Simon's case is so deeply corroded and corrupt that restoring his freedom is the right thing to do. During a press conference, Alvarez said that Simon was victimized by former Northwestern journalism professor David Protess and private investigator Paul Ciolino, who hired an actor to pose as a supposed eyewitness to the murders.

“This investigation by David Protess and his team involved a series of alarming tactics that were not only coercive and absolutely unacceptable by law enforcement standards, they were potentially in violation of Mr. Simon’s constitutionally-protected rights,” said Alvarez. Simon’s attorney, Terry Ekl (above), voiced his opinion publically about who he thinks killed the two teens. “It is my opinion that the killer is Anthony Porter,” he said.

ABC 7 was unable to reach Protess, but they received a written statement from Ciolino who wrote that Simon didn't just confess to him, but also confessed to others, confessed in court, so, “explain that.” Whoever killed the two teens will likely remain a mystery. “I can't definitely tell you if it was Porter or Simon,” Alvarez said. “I’m just saying that based on the totality of the circumstances and the way I think Simon was coerced, in the interest of justice, this is the right thing to do.”

However, the evidence does lean heavily toward Porter (above in Falcons hat). Six eye witnesses gave statements to police and testified at trial that they saw Porter murder Green and Hillard, firing the gun with his left hand. Not one of those witnesses was interviewed by Protess team. Those same witnesses testified in Porter's wrongful conviction trial the exact same way. They saw Porter commit the murder firing a gun with his left hand. The judge ruled against Porter. The ruling, over forty pages long, states Porter was not wrongly convicted of murder.

Amanda Knox Now A Reporter for Her Local Newspaper

According to several sources, Amanda Knox has found a job as a writer for the Westside Weekly newspaper in her hometown of Seattle. Westside Weekly publisher, Ken Robinson, confirmed to AOL News that Knox has been a freelance arts reporter at the publication since the summer. Robinson said that Knox has written about 10 articles for them, even though she has flown under the radar for several months.

“I understand who she is, but it’s no big deal,” said Robinson. Knox works mostly from home, Robinson said. He has never actually met her in person. “I only have contact with her through email,” he added. When asked whether he thought the hire would cause controversy, Robinson replied: “I didn’t have those thoughts; she’s just a contributor to me.”

 

Sollecito Asks for “Separate” Trial

With just a few months to go before their final appeals, Raffaele Sollecito drops a bomb on the Knox camp. Sollecito allegedly demanded that his and Knox’s cases be tried separately. Sollecito’s legal defense team is reportedly lobbying to Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation to overrule his case and order a retrial.

Even more shocking, Sollecito’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, announced that Sollecito has once again changed his alibi. Sollecito is now claiming that he was NOT with Amanda Knox the whole night when Kercher was murdered—contradicting the statement of Knox that they were together, which means their alibis no longer match. In Sollecito’s own words he says, “She gave me an alibi. I had nothing to do with it.”

 

Bongiorno (pictured above) claimed that her client’s statement last January, saying that he was with Knox the whole night, when they were convicted, was “unfairly influenced” by Knox’s statement. The legal team of Raffaele Sollecito has filed a 342-page document to petition the high court to judge him separately from the Amanda Knox murder case, particularly on the “false confession.” The document said that if Amanda Knox’s confession about being at the scene when the crime took place (which she later retracted as false) really occurred, it actually cleared Raffaele Sollecito. “It is clear from this document that Raffaele Sollecito was not present in the house on Via della Pergola where and when the crime was carried out,” the legal counsels of Sollecito wrote.

 

Then Sollecito (pictured above on left, his father on the right) made a bizarre statement that could only come from this surreal trial: “Only a madman or a criminal would change versions, and I’m neither mad nor criminal. There’s proof that I was at my place and I was watching Japanese cartoons,” Sollecito said; this coming from a man who has changed his version of events numerous times and has played along with Knox for seven years. The only question that now remains is: Is he a criminal, a madman, or both? After all, in his book, which came out recently, he said that Knox "may have" left his place, but that he couldn't remember. His memory has apparently cleared up as of late.

Despite seemingly throwing Knox under the bus and jeopardizing her case, Sollecito believes that Knox is innocent, “I always believed, and still believe, that Amanda Marie Knox is innocent.”

 

Missing Realtor, Beverly Carter, Found Dead: Suspect in Custody

It all started last Thursday when Arkansas real estate agent, Beverly Carter, went missing. Beverly went to show a home near Little Rock, but never returned home. By 8pm that night her husband, Carl Carter, became suspicious when Beverly had not returned. So, Carl went to the home she was showing and found her car in the driveway with her purse inside, but no sign of his wife. Nothing was missing from her purse, and the door of the home was left open. Carl received texts from Beverly’s phone that night that did not sound like they came from her.

Carl called to check on his wife, but she didn’t answer. Instead she sent him a text, “I’m fine, I’m out with the girls having drinks.” However, Carl and one of Beverly’s friends said “Beverly doesn’t even drink.” Jane Carfagno, a close friend of Beverly said that Beverly didn’t know who the client might be, but said another friend drove by the home and saw a gray truck in the driveway along with Carter’s car before she went missing. The friend gave the police that info.

Arron Lewis, 33, was captured by the Little Rock Police Department and was transferred to the Pulaski County Investigations Division for questioning. Lewis, who was on parole, was in a traffic accident Sunday, and police arrived to find his automobile on top of a concrete culvert, according to an accident report from the sheriff's office. Lewis told police that a vehicle, which he couldn’t describe, had run him off the road. But a witness told police that he was behind Lewis before the accident, and “Lewis was traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the crash,” the report says. Another witness told police that “the Lewis vehicle was going 'so fast' prior to the curve and she further stated that she observed the Lewis vehicle 'fishtail' around the curve, going into the ditch,” according to the report.

Paramedics took Lewis to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. A deputy followed the ambulance to the hospital to issue Lewis a citation for careless driving as well as not wearing his seat belt, because there was evidence Lewis hit the windshield during the crash, the report says. At that time, Lewis was a person of interest in the Carter investigation, but he was not under arrest, Lt. Carl Minden said.

The warrant charging him with kidnapping was issued later Sunday. Police haven’t said how they linked Lewis to Carter or how they tracked him down, but they say Lewis left the hospital Sunday without notifying police while he was a person of interest in her disappearance. Meanwhile, Beverly Carter’s lifeless body was found in a shallow grave near Cabot, about 20 miles northeast of central Little Rock, the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said early yesterday.

Lewis pled not guilty to the charges yesterday only because his lawyer told him to. He said he wanted to plead guilty because he just wanted "this to be over with." Authorities think Lewis was a stranger to Carter before her abduction. They believe they have the right man in custody and are not currently seeking any other suspects. As Lewis was being led away by police in shackles and dark prison scrubs, a CNN affiliate reporter asked, “Why Beverly?”

“Because she was just a woman who worked alone, a rich broker,” Lewis responds. Asked whether he has anything to say to Carter’s family, he twice says, “Sorry.”