Pennsylvania
Caretaker's death ends case over theft of whiskey
|GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - The former live-in caretaker of a Pittsburgh-area mansion has died, ending criminal charges that he drank more than $102,000 worth of old whiskey that he was supposed to be guarding.
A district judge last year ordered 63-year-old John Saunders, of Irwin, to stand trial after hearing testimony from the owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast.
But the Tribune-Review reports Saunders died July 21, ending the case.
The mansion's owner had claimed she found nine 12-bottle cases of whiskey hidden in the century-old mansion built by industrialist J.P. Brennan after she bought it in 2012.
The whiskey was produced in the early 1900s and was appraised at more than $2,000 a bottle. Saunders was charged after the owner discovered 52 empty bottles on which police found DNA from Saunders' saliva.
New York
No charges filed against dad in toddler's death
DOLGEVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Prosecutors say they won't file criminal charges against a central New York man whose 15-month-old daughter died in June after being left inside a vehicle for nearly seven hours.
Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter tells the Observer-Dispatch of Utica that "simply forgetting" isn't enough for prosecutors to file criminally negligent homicide charges.
Police say 33-year-old Alan Lyon of Dolgeville was supposed to drop off daughter Sophia Lea Marie at a baby sitter's on June 4. He forgot her in the car after getting ready for work and leaving in a different vehicle around 8 a.m.
The girl was discovered by another family member around 2:30 p.m. as temperatures reached the 70s.
An autopsy determined the girl died from hyperthermia and dehydration.
New Hampshire
Lawyers: Teen suffered many acts of violence
CONWAY, N.H. (AP) - Lawyers representing the New Hampshire teenager who returned home nine months after she vanished on the way home from school say she "suffered numerous acts of unspeakable violence."
They put out a statement Tuesday on behalf of Abigail Hernandez and her mother. It was featured on the "Bring Abby Home" website created after the 14-year-old disappeared Oct. 9 on her way home from school.
Now 15, she's alive and home with her family "through her faith, fortitude and resilience," the statement says.
The statement asks that people be sensitive to Abigail's well-being and "give her the time and space she needs" to heal.
She came home July 20, but the circumstances of her return are just as murky as the details of her disappearance. Police charged 34-year-old Nathaniel Kibby with kidnapping her.
New York
Unpaid Simpson civil judgment to be auctioned
NEW YORK (AP) - After waiting 17 years for O.J. Simpson to pay a $9 million wrongful death judgment, Ronald Goldman's mother is selling her right to the cash online.
Sharon Rufo listed the judgment Tuesday on JudgmentMarketplace.com. Bidding continues for 30 days, but it can be bought right away for $1 million.
Website founder Shawn Porat says Simpson's judgment is worth $24.7 million after interest is factored in. That's only if Simpson pays.
The winning bidder takes on the risk of collecting from the financially strapped ex-football star. He's been in a Nevada prison since 2008 on a robbery and kidnapping conviction.
Simpson has paid little of the $33.5 million he owes from the 1997 civil case. A jury acquitted him in 1995 of killing Goldman and ex-wife Nicole Brown.
California
Authorities: Man admits killing family and dog
GOLETA, Calif. (AP) - A man stabbed to death his elderly father, then killed his two young sons, his mother and finally the family dog. He then calmly called police to the home on California's Central Coast and told detectives the killings were his destiny, authorities said Tuesday.
The killings occurred late Monday, and Nicolas Holzer, 45, was taken into custody without incident at the home near the University of California, Santa Barbara, that he shared with his parents and sons, ages 10 and 13. Two kitchen knives believed used in the killings were recovered.
"This is another huge tragedy for our community," said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, referencing the rampage in May by a gun-wielding man who killed six people and wounded 13 others near the UCSB campus.
Brown said Holzer had no prior criminal history and there were no reports of police being summoned to the home during the seven years Holzer lived there with his parents and sons, Sebastian, 13, and Vincent, 10. He had full custody of the boys following a divorce years earlier, Brown said.
Brown said it was unclear if Holzer had mental health issues. That will be looked at as part of the investigation, he said.
Holzer told deputies he killed his 73-year-old father, William Holzer, before entering a bedroom his sons shared and stabbing them repeatedly while they slept. He then stabbed his 74-year-old mother, Sheila, and the dog, the sheriff said, and "called 911 and in a calm and matter of fact manner told a dispatcher that he had killed his family."
When police arrived, they found the body of Holzer's father in the home's den and his mother's body in a hallway near the children's bedroom, Brown said. Holzer told detectives he had killed his family to fulfill what he believed was his destiny, Brown said, without elaborating.
Police said Holzer was being held without bail. No information on a pending court appearance was immediately available.
Tennessee
High court sets execution date set for inmate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Supreme Court has set an execution date for Lee Hall, who was convicted in the 1991 death of his ex-girlfriend.
The Tennessean reports the court set a Jan. 12, 2016 date for the death of Hall, former known as Leroy Hall Jr. He is at least the 11th condemned inmate to have an execution date scheduled.
Hall was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated arson in the death of 22-year-old Traci Crozier, who died hours after being set on fire.
The date is part of a push by the state to begin executing death row inmates again, though several dates have already been pushed back by a lawsuit challenging the secrecy of Tennessee's new lethal injection procedures. The Tennessee Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case Monday.
