National Roundup

Indiana
Mother faces murder counts in death of children
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — A mother has been arrested on two counts of murder after her son and daughter were found dead in a vehicle in northern Indiana, and early Tuesday police found the body of a man who they believe was an acquaintance of the woman.

Elkhart police said Monday evening that they believe the children found dead that afternoon are siblings Liliana Hernandez, 7, and Rene Pasztor, 6. Police had issued an Amber Alert for the children earlier Monday, saying they were “believed to be in extreme danger.”

Police released no details about how the children died. Autopsies are scheduled Tuesday morning in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Elkhart police said the children’s mother, 29-year-old Amber Pasztor, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was arrested Monday on two counts of murder. She was being held in the Elkhart County jail and has yet to be formally charged.

Elkhart is 70 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.

Capt. Steve Stone of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department said officers were searching for 65-year-old Frank Macomber, who authorities believe was with Pasztor at some point
Monday, when they found the body of an older male early Tuesday in a wooded area near Macomber’s Fort Wayne home.

An autopsy was planned Tuesday to determine the man’s identity and cause of death.

Pasztor did not have legal custody of the children, police said. The Allen County Sheriff’s Department in Fort Wayne, Indiana, said the children were taken from Fort Wayne. Police declined to say who the children were living with when they were abducted or why they were taken.

The Associated Press left phone and email messages with the Elkhart County prosecutor’s office seeking comment early Tuesday.

Elkhart police Sgt. Chris Snyder told The Elkhart Truth that the mother cooperated with officers as she was handcuffed and didn’t appear to be suffering from any physical injuries.
“She wasn’t resistant at all,” Snyder said. “She actually approached the officer and stopped and made contact with him.”

Louisiana
Dancers: breast and buttocks law denies freedom
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jane Does I, II and III say the state of Louisiana is robbing them of their ability to express themselves, and doing so in a way that discriminates against their gender.

These women are exotic dancers younger than 21, and therefore will be barred from performing in strip clubs in about a week, Louisiana begins enforcing a new state law.

In a federal lawsuit, the dancers say the law violates the First Amendment by denying them freedom of expression, and violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause by unfairly targeting women.

How so? They say the law’s definition of strip club performers as “entertainers whose breasts or buttocks are exposed to view” fails to prohibit the same conduct by men who are between the ages of 18 and 21.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports a hearing has not been scheduled on the suit, which was filed last week.

State Sen. Ronnie Johns wrote the law and is confident the courts will uphold it.

But the lawsuit cites comments by legislators to bolster its case for gender discrimination. It says state Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, and others said the law was aimed at protecting young women.

The Jane Does also claim that the law is already endangering young woman. One plaintiff says she has witnessed pimps and prostitutes trying to use the new law in a New Orleans strip club to “recruit entertainers who are now lawfully employed, but who will lose their jobs as a result of the Act.”

Another plaintiff, identified as an 18-year-old LSU student, says other dancers under 21 have told her they plan to switch to prostitution once they can no longer dance.

The lead attorney for the dancers is Harry Rosenberg, who served as U.S. attorney for eastern Louisiana in the 1990s. Rosenberg, who works with the Phelps Dunbar law firm, could not be reached for comment on Monday.


Texas
Man gets life term over 2014 fatal wrench beating
ABILENE, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a West Texas man must serve life in prison for his role in the 2014 fatal beating of a man he found at an ex-girlfriend’s home.

John Patrick Gutierrez pleaded guilty Monday in Abilene to tampering with evidence. Court records show the 40-year-old Abilene man also faced a murder charge, which was dropped in the plea deal over the attack using a wrench.

Prosecutors say Carey Rod Tate was beaten while at the apartment of a woman Gutierrez formerly dated. Investigators say Tate’s body was transported in a dog crate and buried near Hawley.

A second man charged with helping dispose of the body pleaded guilty in May to tampering with evidence related to a human corpse and received eight years of probation.

Alaska
Kotzebue jury convicts village man of murder
KOTZEBUE, Alaska (AP) — A 40-year-old northwest Alaska man was convicted Monday of first-degree murder at a trial in Kotzebue.

Alaska State Troopers say Christopher Cleveland of Selawik also was convicted of attempted murder, felony assault, burglary, weapons misconduct, furnishing alcohol to a minor and illegally selling alcohol.

Selawik is a village of nearly 900 about 90 miles east of Kotzebue.

Troopers early on July 6, 2015, took a call of a man in the village firing a gun.

A village police officer reported the shooter had barricaded himself in a home and that a man outside had been shot and killed.

Cleveland surrendered 10 hours later.

He was convicted of killing 23-year-old Wade Cleveland and firing at a village police officer and others during the standoff.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11.

Kentucky
Man accused of killing 3 threatens judge, her family 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man accused of killing three people, including two teenagers, is facing more charges after threatening a judge.

Media outlets report a Louisville courtroom video shows Brice Rhodes repeatedly threatening to track down Judge Amber Wolf and her family on Friday, netting him additional charges of terroristic threatening and intimidating a participant in the legal process.

Rhodes was already charged with fatally stabbing 16-year-old Maurice Gordon and 14-year-old Larry Ordway in Shawnee in May. Their burned bodies were dumped behind an abandoned house. Detectives say Rhodes killed the teens so they wouldn’t snitch about his involvement in a prior shooting death.