Illinois
Woman gets prison for soliciting husband’s murder
CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — A southern Illinois woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for soliciting the murder of her 76-year-old husband and helping to conceal his body.
The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Carr announced last week that 55-year-old Carmen Stonemark of DeSoto pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder and concealment of a homicidal death.
Frank Stonemark’s dismembered body was found in rural Carbondale in fall 2017 after 52-year-old James Michael Deese of DeSoto admitted he killed Stonemark with Carmen Stonemark’s assistance.
Court records indicate Deese was Carmen Stonemark’s lover. He’s awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last year to first-degree murder and concealment.
Deese told authorities he strangled the victim and he and Carmen Stonemark hid his body. They later dismembered and burned the remains.
Alaska
Man charged with illegally killing polar bear
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska man has been charged with the illegal killing of a polar bear in violation of federal law.
Chris Gordon of Kaktovik shot the bear outside his home, leaving the carcass there for five months without salvaging any part of it, according to federal prosecutors.
“Mr. Gordon allegedly left butchered whale meat outside in front of his yard of his residence for a substantial period of time, which attracted polar bear, as well as other animals,” said Ryan Tansey, a Fairbanks-based federal prosecutor.
Gordon, 35, faces a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000 if convicted, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported.
Gordon declined to comment about the case, which is scheduled for an August court appearance in Fairbanks.
Self-defense killings of animals are allowed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. But Gordon did not report the polar bear or tag it as required., Tansey said.
Coastal Alaska Natives also may harvest polar bears for crafts or subsistence, but not in a wasteful way.
The North Slope village has become a destination for tourists and polar bears in a warming Arctic.
Mike Gallagher, a city council member in the village, is among Kaktovik residents who have expressed concerns about the encroaching bears.
“The bear’s underneath my house in the morning when I go to work,” Gallagher said at a public meeting in June. “Would it be your kid? Would it be my kid? It could be anybody down the street. These bears are getting used to people. They’re domesticated.”
Texas
Air Force major charged with wife’s murder
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — An Air Force major based in San Antonio has been charged with murder after authorities found the remains of his wife whom he reported missing in March.
Forty-year-old Andre McDonald is being held Monday at the Bexar (bayr) County jail. Bail is set at $2 million.
Sheriff’s officials say they found the body of 29-year-old Andreen McDonald on Thursday east of Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis.
Andre McDonald reported his wife missing March 1 and was indicted on a charge of tampering with or fabricating evidence after authorities determined he bought a shovel, an ax, gasoline and a “burn barrel” a day later.
Court records show investigators also found blood and hair in the couple’s bathroom.
Wisconsin
Insanity plea entered in slaying of grandparents
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — A teenager accused of killing his grandparents in Outagamie County has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
A criminal complaint has charged 17-year-old Alexander Kraus with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the April 14 fatal shooting of Dennis and Letha Kraus at their home in Grand Chute. WLUK-TV reports a motive has not been disclosed.
If the case goes to trial, a jury would first determine if Kraus is guilty. And if so, a second-phase would determine if he was able to discern right from wrong. A psychiatric exam was ordered in court Friday. Kraus returns to court Aug. 6 for a motions hearing.
Pennsylvania
Court blocks contraception exemptions
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing rules that allow more employers to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives to women.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said Friday that state plaintiffs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey were likely to succeed in proving that appropriate procedures weren’t followed and the regulations weren’t authorized under the 2010 health care overhaul or required by a law aimed at protecting religious freedom.
After a 2017 executive order from the president directing federal agencies to consider regulations on “conscience-based objections,” the agencies issued new rules expanding exemptions on the basis of religious or moral objections to contraceptives.
The ruling applies nationwide.
U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz said that nowhere in the law mandating preventative health services “did Congress grant the agency the authority to exempt entities from providing insurance coverage for such services.”
Shwartz said state plaintiffs had demonstrated that they would have to spend more money due to the exemptions as women will seek out state-funded programs and services if they lose contraceptive coverage.
“Cost is a significant barrier to contraceptive use and access. The most effective forms of contraceptives are the most expensive,” she said. “Because the (new) rules allow employers to opt out of providing coverage for contraceptive services, some women may no longer have insurance to help offset the cost for these and other contraceptives. “
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro hailed the ruling, saying his office “won big” against what he called the administration’s “assault on women’s contraceptive care coverage.”
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said he was “proud to have a great partner” in Shapiro “as we fight for equal and affordable health care in New Jersey, in Pennsylvania and across the nation.”
Department of Justice spokesperson Kelly Laco said officials were disappointed by the decision.
“Religious organizations should not be forced to violate their mission and deeply held beliefs,” she said in an email Saturday. “The Department of Justice continues to vigorously defend religious liberty.”
