New Mexico: Grand jury charges Rio Rancho man with wife’s murder
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Rio Rancho man has been indicted by a grand jury stemming from his wife’s killing.
Leo Noonan, 53, was indicted by the Sandoval County grand jury Thursday on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was arrested June 29 in the killing of Angela Noonan, who was last seen on Oct. 17, 2008.
Angela Noonan’s skull, jawbone and other bones were found on June 9 by workers who were driving cattle.
It’s unclear whether Leo Noonan has an attorney.
Meanwhile, Leo Noonan’s ex-wife told police that he confessed to the killing, telling her he threw a hammer at Angela Noonan’s head after she behaved aggressively toward him, kept her body in his garage for about six weeks, and later wrapped it in plastic and drove it to a ranch just outside of Rio Rancho, according to a court document.
Also, Angela Noonan’s ex-husband told police he had received a call from her days before her disappearance, and that she was very upset and had been arguing with Leo Noonan. He told police she said she did not love Leo and that she wanted to leave, but he would not let her go.
She later told her ex-husband that she was afraid Leo was going to kill her.
Leo Noonan had allegedly threatened to kill her in the past and had been arrested on domestic violence charges, according to a court document.
After Angela Noonan disappeared, Leo Noonan made contradictory statements to her family and friends about her whereabouts, including that she had run off to Florida to be with her ex-husband and that she had checked herself into a rehabilitation program.
After none of the stories checked out, Noonan’s sister called police Oct. 22, 2008.
Rio Rancho police did not suspect foul play at the time and did frequent checks with area hospitals and the medical examiner’s office.
During the investigation, Leo Noonan made calls to detectives on the case to inquire about its status, making comments that police say later made sense when Angela’s bones were found.
He told police that a brown tarp he kept in his truck had been stolen. Angela Noonan’s remains were found wrapped in a brown tarp. Authorities say he also told police that if he ever killed someone, he would take them to the Armijo Tank at King’s Ranch. Angela Noonan’s remains were found near that area.
State police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department had searched King’s Ranch and used cadaver dogs but never found anything until the cattle drivers called them.
Noonan is being held at the Sandoval County Detention Center on a $1 million bond.
Virginia: Congregations fight church property ruling
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A group of breakaway Episcopal Church congregations is asking the Virginia Supreme Court to reconsider a recent ruling regarding property worth an estimated $30 million to $40 million.
In June the court overturned a judge’s decision giving the nine northern Virginia congregations the property and remanded the case to the lower court. It said the judge erred when, relying on an 1867 statute, he ruled that the congregations were a branch of the Episcopal Church and could keep the property.
In a filing sent to the court Saturday, the congregations argued that they are in fact branches that divided from the church.
The congregations split from the Episcopal Church in a disagreement over acceptance of gays, the ordination of women and other theological issues and aligned with the more conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
California: SoCal man pleads not guilty in stun gun assault
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Riverside County father accused of using a stun gun on a man who sent a racy picture to his teenage daughter’s cell phone has pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies.
William Atwood Sr. of French Valley pleaded not guilty Friday to making criminal threats, false imprisonment, assault with a stun gun, assault with a deadly weapon and other charges.
Prosecutors say the 45-year-old Atwood lured 23-year-old Justin Moore to his home, forced him to strip to his underwear, tied him up, fired a shotgun into the air and assaulted him with the stun gun for 20 seconds.
Court records say Moore admitted sending a picture of his genitals to Atwood’s daughter and other friends as a joke. Atwood said the circle of friends had sent similar pictures before.
Wisconsin: Man says Hawaii gallery sold him Lennon forgeries
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A Hawaiian art gallery knowingly sold more than $100,000 worth of forged John Lennon artwork and memorabilia, a Wisconsin buyer has alleged in a recent federal lawsuit.
David Petersen, of Waukesha, claims Celebrities Galleries of Kihei, Hawaii, provided fraudulent certificates of authenticity when it sold him 14 sketches allegedly drawn by the late Beatle. His lawsuit, filed this month, seeks at least $131,285 in damages.
“What we’re saying is that they’re bogus because the history indicates they’re not what they were purported to be,” Petersen’s attorney, Gerald Boyle, said Friday.
The lawsuit was filed against Celebrities owners Gerard Marti and Colleen Noah-Marti, along with an employee at the gallery and a Honolulu insurance company. The owners did not immediately return e-mail and phone messages.
Petersen, 56, had lent the items to the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museums for a 2008 Lennon exhibit. Before the exhibit opened, Florida artist Gary Arseneau publicly questioned the authenticity of the pieces, saying in part that Lennon never worked in color.
However, museum staff assured him the works had been thoroughly researched.
The museum’s executive director, Kirsten Lee Villegas, said the organization won’t comment on pending litigation.
Forensic investigators later examined the sketches and found they were drawn using a type of ink that didn’t exist at the time Lennon purportedly drew them, the lawsuit said.
Petersen has spent more than $300,000 in the past few years on sketches purportedly drawn by Lennon, along with other memorabilia, according to the civil complaint.
The items include a microphone that one defendant told Petersen was used by Lennon while making the “Imagine” album, the complaint said. However, Petersen later contacted the company that made the microphone and found out it was made in 1977, six years after the album was made, court papers said.
Celebrities Galleries eventually agreed to take the microphone back in exchange for a partial refund of the $95,000 price, Petersen said.
Petersen said he grew up a big Beatles fan, eventually focusing on Lennon’s legacy. He said he tried to do his due diligence with every purchase of Lennon memorabilia, talking to experts and other collectors.
Since then he has learned “there’s an incredibly complex world of people taking advantage of people’s love for the Beatles,” he said.
Petersen began to question the authenticity of his sketches in 2008 when he considered selling a few of them. He sent them to an auction house that handles entertainment memorabilia, where the owner suggested they might be counterfeit.
At least one Lennon collector said he’s always skeptical when people claim to be selling authentic Lennon sketches.
Paul Jillson, who owns Pacific Edge Gallery near Los Angeles, sells licensed Lennon reproductions but stays away from purported originals.
“They’re pretty easy to fake,” Jillson said.
