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Saugus man charged with murdering his roommate

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

A Saugus man was charged with murdering his housemate Friday, officials said. 64-year-old George Finley is charged with killing Joshua Thomson, 37, in their home at 315 Essex Street, the Essex County D.A. announced.The D.A. said police responded to the home around 6:30 a.m. Friday to investigate a death of a male and then announced around 4 p.m. that Thomson was murdered.Finley was located at the house and arrested.Speaking on Friday, neighbors described the area as a quiet neighborhood even though it is close to Route 1.“It’s insane because it’s always so quiet over here,” one man said. “We’re off the highway but nothing happens over here. It’s just a hole in the wall to everybody.Finley is expected in court Monday.

Jury sent home for the weekend in trial of man accused of murdering Weymouth police officer, bystander

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

Deliberations stalled Friday in the trial of a man accused of killing a Weymouth police officer and a bystander in 2018. The jury has been deciding whether Lopes is not guilty by reason of insanity after he shot and killed Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and 77-year-old Vera Adams in 2018.There were no deliberations today, and a court source said this is “an emotional situation.” A young female juror met at sidebar five times with Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone. “I do appreciate everyone’s patience. This is a sensitive matter so I do need to see you at sidebar please,” Cannone said. The judge did not explain what the sensitive matter was. At times, the juror was shaking her head and wiping her nose and tears from her eyes. Just after 2 p.m., the judge sent the jury home. After five days of deliberations, the jury appears unable to come to a unanimous decision.“Either they’re going to find him responsible, guilty, or they’re going to end up ...

Police seek help IDing trio accused of stealing from Seekonk High School

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

Police asked for the public’s help Friday as they work to identify a group of people accused of stealing from Seekonk High School. Seekonk police said the incident happened on June 29 when two men and one woman entered the school by removing an air conditioning window unit. Officials said the trio then stole a school laptop and an Xbox and caused about $1,000 in damage. Police released photos of three suspects in the case on Friday and asked anyone with information to contact detectives at 508-336-8123 x. 51105.

Video shows Britney Spears ‘hit herself in the face’ during Victor Wembanyama encounter; security guard will not be charged: police

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

The security guard at the center of the Britney Spears/Victor Wembanyama slap incident will not be facing criminal charges after police determined Spears inadvertently “hit herself in the face” when her hand was pushed off the NBA star.The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Friday their investigation into the incident did not find the security guard accused of slapping Spears to have willfully or unlawfully used force against her.According to the report, police said surveillance footage of the event “showed Britney going to tap the Spurs player on the shoulder. When she touched the player, [Damian Smith, the Director of Team Security for the Spurs] pushes her hand off of the player without looking, which causes Britney’s hand to hit herself in the face.”The incident occurred on Wednesday night after Spears spotted Wembanyama inside the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas. Spears and her team initially filed a police report, alleging Smith “backhan...

The US will provide cluster bombs to Ukraine and defends the delivery of the controversial weapon

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

By ZEKE MILLER, TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday, vowing the U.S. will not leave Ukraine defenseless and asserting that Kyiv has promised to use the controversial bombs carefully.The decision comes on the eve of the NATO summit in Lithuania, where President Joe Biden is likely to face questions from allies on why the U.S. would send a weapon into Ukraine that more than two-thirds of alliance members have banned because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties. Biden, in a CNN interview, said it was a difficult decision, but he ultimately took the Defense Department’s recommendation to provide the bombs. “It took me a while to be convinced to do it,” said Biden, adding that he discussed the matter with allies and with lawmakers on the Hill. But, he said, “The Ukrainians are running ou...

Man sentenced to prison for using stolen identities of UCSD students

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A man who used the stolen identities of UC San Diego undergraduate students to commit bank fraud was sentenced in federal court Friday.US attorney Randy Grossman's office announced Nehemiah Joel Weave, 37, will spend 47 months behind bars and be ordered to pay $225,392 in restitution to the victims.Back in September 2022, Weaver pleaded guilty to bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, court records show. He admitted to using the identities of at least 15 people, which included UCSD students, his former supervisor and a former girlfriend. Two arrested after crime spree in four parts of San Diego County How were these identities stolen? Grossman's office says it was with the help of Weaver's co-defendant, Mia Nikole Bell, who admitted to stealing the student's private information while working as a UCSD employee and turning it over to Weaver. Bell was sentenced in December 2022 to four months in custody and was ordered to pay $16,480 ...

Chicago area man who drowned trying to help children had survived 9/11 attacks

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

WINNETKA, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man who drowned in Lake Michigan while trying to help children struggling in the lake was a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, his family said.Witnesses said Luke Laidley, 43, was boating Tuesday with others on the lakefront north of Chicago when he jumped into the lake to help at least one child who had fallen off a raft being pulled by the boat.The Winnetka man went underwater before being pulled from the lake by others on the boat. Laidley died later Tuesday at an Evanston hospital and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office determined his manner of death was drowning, said Natalia Derevyanny, an office spokeswoman.An obituary prepared by his family states that Laidley “risked his life for the children who were struggling when their tube flipped on Lake Michigan.”The obituary adds that Laidley was 21 and on his second day on the job with Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center’s South Towe...

Dutch prime minister announces resignation after ruling coalition fails to agree on migration policy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation and that of his Cabinet on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences within his four-party coalition about how to rein in migration.The decision by the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier means the country will face a general election later this year for the 150-seat lower house of Parliament.“It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately, we have to draw the conclusion that those differences are irreconcilable. That is why I will immediately … offer the resignation of the entire Cabinet to the king in writing”Opposition lawmakers wasted no time in calling for fresh elections. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted, “Quick elections now.” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “This country nee...

Federal prosecutors accuse Michigan man of strangling missing 2-year-old

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

A Michigan man apparently strangled his ex-girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter with a cellphone cord and left her body in a Detroit alley, according to a federal complaint filed Friday.The U.S. attorney’s office in Grand Rapids charged 26-year-old Rashad Trice with kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death in connection with Wynter Cole Smith’s disappearance, adding to a litany of state charges that include attempted murder and fleeing police.“There is probable cause to believe (Smith) was murdered by Trice and left in the alley, where her body was discovered,” FBI Special Agent Christopher Rodolico wrote in the complaint. Trice would face mandatory life in a federal prison and could get the death penalty if he’s convicted of kidnapping resulting in death. He would face 20 years to life if convicted of kidnapping a minor. Online court records in the federal case listed Sharon Turek as his federal public defender. She declined to comment Friday. Trice got in...

Iowa Republicans will pursue a 6-week abortion ban during a special session that starts Tuesday

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:10:23 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature will aim to enact a ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a rare special session that starts Tuesday, a draft of the bill shows.The proposed measure is similar to a 2018 law that a deadlocked state Supreme Court declined to reinstate last month, prompting Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to call for the extraordinary session. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.The drafted bill, like the 2018 law, would prohibit abortion once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. A district court deemed that law unconstitutional in 2019 given rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court that affirmed a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to abortion. Both bodies overturned those rulings last year, so Reynolds sought to reinstate the 2018 law.The current draft of the b...