National Roundup

Illinois
Man charged in estranged wife’s shooting death
MARKHAM, Ill. (AP) — A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife outside of a suburban Chicago gas station.

Lynn Washington, 40, is also charged with parental child abduction because authorities say that after killing 27-year-old Lakisha Roby early last Wednesday, he picked up her two kids, one of whom is also his. An Amber Alert was issued and authorities say the children were found safe at a relative’s home on Thursday.

Authorities say Roby was at a bar when Washington arrived and grabbed her. They say Roby left with a friend, but Washington followed them to a Markham gas station, where he shot at them, killing Roby.

New Jersey
Indictment: Man used nonprofit to cheat Medicare
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey man used a purported nonprofit group to defraud Medicare out of more than $1 million by convincing hundreds of senior citizens to submit to unnecessary genetic testing.

Seth Rehfuss faces two conspiracy counts in the indictment handed up Friday. It’s not known if he’s retains an attorney.

Prosecutors say the 43-year-old Somerset man and others used The Good Samaritans of America and offers of free ice cream to gain access to low-income senior housing complexes between July 2014 and December 2015.

The conspirators allegedly used fear-based tactics, including suggesting the senior citizens would be vulnerable to serious health problems if they didn’t have the genetic testing.

The conspirators allegedly used online advertisements to recruit health care providers who got thousands of dollars each month to authorize testing for patients they never examined.

Missouri
Lawyers say execution could be ‘gruesome’
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A condemned Missouri inmate faces a potentially “gruesome and painful” execution because of a rare medical condition that compromises the man’s veins and causes multiple tumors in his head and throat, his attorney said Sunday.

Russell Bucklew is scheduled to die by injection Tuesday evening for killing a former girlfriend’s new boyfriend in 1996 in eastern Missouri.

Bucklew, 49, was moments away from execution in May 2014 when the U.S. Supreme Court halted it amid concerns about Bucklew’s medical condition. He suffers from cavernous hemangioma, a rare ailment that causes weakened and malformed blood vessels, as well as blood-filled tumors in his nose and throat.

Nearly four years later, the condition has worsened, attorney Cheryl Pilate said.

“Mr. Bucklew’s rare and severe condition creates a very substantial risk of a gruesome execution, with choking and gagging on blood and the infliction of excruciating pain,” Pilate said.

A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already refused to stop the execution. An appeal and stay request are pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Pilate also has asked for clemency from Republican Gov. Eric Greitens.

The appeal offered a chilling possibility of what Bucklew’s supporters believe could happen during the execution.

“Those highly sensitive tumors easily rupture and bleed,” the appeal said. “As he struggles to breathe through the execution procedure, Bucklew’s throat tumor will likely rupture,” causing him to choke on his own blood.
In his response to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hawley downplayed Bucklew’s medical condition and cited continuing efforts over several years to put off the execution.

Bucklew’s appeals also have suggested that if the execution is carried out, the state should use lethal gas instead of an injection of pentobarbital. Missouri law still lists gas as an option, but the state no longer has a gas chamber and has not used the method since 1965.

None of the 20 inmates executed since Missouri began using pentobarbital in 2013 have shown obvious signs of pain or suffering.

According to court documents, Bucklew was angry at his girlfriend for leaving him and moving in with Michael Sanders of Cape Girardeau when he tracked her down at Sanders’ home in March 1996. He killed Sanders in front of the woman, her two daughters and Sanders’ two sons and then attacked the woman and drove her to a secluded area and raped her.

After a state trooper spotted Bucklew’s car, Bucklew shot at the trooper but missed, court records say. Bucklew later escaped from jail, hid in the home of the ex-girlfriend’s mother and beat her with a hammer.

The execution would be the first in Missouri since January 2017.

Tennessee
Former NBA player’s ex-wife won’t face death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright won’t face the death penalty if convicted of killing him more than seven years ago in Tennessee.

Shelby County prosecutor Paul Hagerman said before a hearing Monday that Sherra Wright won’t face death if found guilty of first degree murder in her ex-husband’s shooting death. She has pleaded not guilty.

Sherra Wright was arrested in December in Riverside, California. Lorenzen Wright’s decomposing body was found in a swampy field on July 28, 2010 — 10 days after he was reported missing. An autopsy report said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Hagerman said another person charged with first-degree murder in the case, Billy Ray Turner, also won’t face death if convicted at trial.

Lorenzen Wright played 13 seasons in the NBA as a forward and center.

Vermont
Woman charged after being found with 6 near Canada border
HIGHGATE, Vt. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says a North Carolina woman is facing a charge she was transporting people in the United States who didn't have permission to be in the country.

A complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington says Border Patrol agents were alerted early Sunday that six people had walked into the United States from Canada in Highgate, Vermont.

Agents spotted an SUV driven by 31-year-old Carmen Melari Ferrufino Perdomo, of Charlotte, North Carolina, a U.S. citizen originally from Honduras. It's unclear if she has an attorney.

In the car were six Mexican citizens who told investigators they had crossed into the United States that night.

The Border Patrol says the area where the group was first spotted has seen multiple smuggling events in the past few weeks.