New Jersey
Prison inmate charged with manslaughter in prison death
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey prison inmate is facing a manslaughter charge in the death of another inmate over the weekend, authorities said.
Evan Raczkiewicz, 29, of Bradley Beach is charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of 49-year-old Daniel Ferrara of Ocean Grove, Monmouth County prosecutors said Sunday.
Prosecutors allege that Raczkiewicz struck Ferrara “multiple times” prior to his death. Officials said the victim was found unresponsive in the kitchen area of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution shortly before 5:30 a.m. and died less than an hour later.
Prosecutors said the case remains under investigating and asked anyone with information to contact them.
The defendant was being held on burglary, theft and weapons charges. The Asbury Park Press reports that he and another man were arrested in September 2020 after a burglary in Ocean Township, and police said at the time that “the proceeds of this burglary were various firearms.”
It’s unclear whether the defendant has an attorney; a message couldn’t be left Sunday at a number listed for him.
Illinois
Prosecutor: Man crushed grandmother’s skull with hammer
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A man killed his grandmother by crushing her skull and face with a hammer, a prosecutor said during a bond hearing for the accused.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Ramos described the scene during the bond hearing Friday for Cody Krause, 28.
Peoria County deputies found the body of Glenda Rusterholz, 73, at her home Thursday.
Autopsy results released Friday morning by Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood stated that Rusterholz suffered “multiple severe blunt force trauma injuries consistent with being assaulted by another.” She also had multiple defensive wounds through her upper extremities, the Journal Star reported.
Deputies found Krause with hands and boots covered in what appeared to be blood and carrying a hammer.
Krause was taken into custody and later questioned at the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, where he told officers he hit Rusterholz with the hammer an unknown number of times, Ramos said. He also told officers that he heard voices in his head, which stopped after killing his grandmother. Krause also said that it would be best if all of his family were dead, Ramos said.
Attorney Michael Vespa from the Peoria County Public Defender’s Office asked for bail to be set at $1 million, but Judge Mark Giles sided with Ramos’ request for $2.5 million.
Utah
Guilty verdict in deaths of teens found in mine shaft
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend.
Jarrod Baum, 45, faces up to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and other counts in the 2017 slayings after a monthlong trial.
Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson, 17, and Riley Powell, 18, disappeared days after Christmas. Their bound and stabbed bodies were found months later in Utah’s west desert, 100 feet (30 meters) down an abandoned mine shaft.
Prosecutors said they died after meeting up with a friend, Morgan Lewis, on Dec. 30 at her home in Eureka, a former silver mining town. While they were there, her boyfriend, Baum, returned home. He grew angry because he had forbidden Lewis from having male friends over, and she previously dated Powell.
Lewis told police her boyfriend tied up Otteson and Powell, duct-taped their mouths and threw them in the back of Powell’s Jeep. Then he drove them, along with Henderson, to the site of an abandoned mine outside town.
There, he beat and stabbed Powell before cutting Otteson’s throat, then tossed them down.
“He retaliated against Riley and Morgan and made her watch so she would know this is what happens when you break my rules,” said prosecutor Ryan McBride, Fox13 reported.
The couple’s family and friends searched for months before Lewis was pulled over during an unrelated traffic stop on March 25. She eventually agreed to cooperate with police.
Much of the prosecution’s case was based on her testimony, which was questioned by the defense. Attorney Dallas Young said there was a lack of DNA evidence linking the slayings to Baum
“You cannot believe (Lewis), and you cannot be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt,” he argued, according to KSL.
Prosecutors countered that Lewis and Baum had burnt and bleached important evidence, obliterating DNA.
Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but Utah County Attorney David Leavitt later took it off the table as he vowed to no longer pursue capital punishment.
Florida
Felon sentenced after holding gun in Instagram video
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A convicted felon in Florida has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison after appearing in a social media post holding a rifle.
Christian Agosto, 22, of Brandon, was sentenced Wednesday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. He had pleaded guilty in December to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Agosto had been free from prison for about four months in July 2021, when he held and displayed a rifle during an Instagram Live video, prosecutors said. Agosto had spent about two years in state prison on several gun charges, and he was on community control through the Florida Department of Corrections.
Agosto’s probation officer and other law enforcement officers searched Agosto’s home several days after the video was posted and recovered a loaded Ruger AR-556 rifle, officials said. The firearm matched the rifle Agosto had displayed during the Instagram video.
Washington
Man accused of killing police officer charged with murder
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The Snohomish County Prosecutors’ Office has officially filed charges against a man accused of fatally shooting Everett police officer Dan Rocha last month.
Richard Rotter, 50, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, The Daily Herald reported. His arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 19.
In the two vehicles Rotter used that day, police said they found a rifle, two kinds of ammunition and 1,950 pills “consistent with fentanyl,” along with what appeared to be heroin and methamphetamine.
Around 2 p.m. March 25, Rocha was working his patrol shift when he went into a Starbucks, according to the charging documents signed by deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson. While waiting for his coffee, Rocha noticed Rotter moving guns and items from a Mini Cooper into a Ford Fusion, documents said.
Rocha, 41, turned on his body-worn camera, telling dispatch he was checking on “suspicious” circumstances. He asked for a backup officer, and a police sergeant said he’d be there shortly. In the meantime, Rocha approached Rotter and asked about the guns. The interaction was caught on camera, Matheson wrote.
Rotter claimed he had just bought the Ford Fusion.
Rotter gave Rocha his ID, and a dispatcher told Rocha there was a domestic violence assault warrant for Rotter’s arrest and that he had a previous felony conviction, the charges say. Rocha reportedly told Rotter he was not free to leave because he was now under investigation for suspicion of unlawfully having a firearm. Rotter became agitated, Matheson wrote.
Rotter reportedly moved toward the Ford. The officer told him to put his hands behind his back, and tried to put him in handcuffs, but the two wrestled and fell to the pavement, according to the charges.
“Five distinct ‘pops’ can be heard until officer Rocha’s body camera ends up facing upwards, motionless, and you can see (Rotter) stand up and go towards the Mini Cooper,” Matheson wrote. “The car starts, backs over Rocha, obstructing the view momentarily, and then speeds off.”
Rocha was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the charges, the Mini Cooper ran two red lights and crashed into two other vehicles. Police then arrested Rotter, who suffered no injuries.
Rotter, who has a lengthy criminal history, had told at least two people recently that he never wanted to go back to prison, according to the charging documents.
Rotter remained in custody Friday at the Snohomish County Jail with bail set at $5 million. It wasn’t immediately known if Rotter has a lawyer to comment on the case.
Rocha became a fully commissioned police officer in Everett in 2018. He is survived by a wife and two children.
Virginia
Feds say towing company illegally sold service members’ cars
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have filed a lawsuit accusing a Virginia company of illegally taking and selling service members’ vehicles.
The lawsuit filed Friday accuses Steve’s Towing of Virginia Beach of illegally seizing and selling vehicles belonging to seven service members, including a SEAL Team member while he was deployed overseas.
Federal officials said in court documents that the seizures violate the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which requires towing companies to get a court order before auctioning off service members’ vehicles. The law also prohibits towing companies from enforcing storage liens while service members are deployed, and for 90 days afterward.
The lawsuit seeks damages for affected service members, a civil penalty, and a court order barring Steve’s Towing from auctioning off seized vehicles without court orders.
According to the lawsuit, two vehicles belonging to a SEAL Team 2 member and bearing Arizona tags were towed from a parking lot across from team headquarters at Little Creek in January. While Steve’s Towing asked the Virginia DMV for vehicle records, it did not check with Arizona.
Thirty-six days after towing the vehicles, Steve’s Towing filed liens $970 to cover storage charges for each vehicle.
That same day, company president Steven E. Gilliam, reported to the Virginia DMV that the company enforced the liens by purchasing both vehicles from itself for $500 each. The company never obtained a court order to do so.
The Daily Press reports that Gilliam did not return a call seeking comment.
North Carolina
Man sentenced to 20 years on gun charges
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has been sentenced to two consecutive 10-year prison sentences on firearms charges connected to a hostage situation and drug trafficking violations.
Matthew Leviticus Murphy, 32, was sentenced Friday for possession of a firearm by a felon in separate incidents in Greensboro in 2020 and 2021, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Court documents said Murphy forced his way into a home on Nov. 21, 2020. Murphy pointed a firearm at several occupants of the house, including a 3-year-old child, and demanded that the family pretend to know him once police arrived.
One family member told officers that Murphy had threatened to shoot them if they didn’t cooperate, the news release said.
On Jan. 21, 2021, Greensboro police stopped a car in which Murphy was a passenger. Prosecutors said Murphy attempted to conceal a plastic bag containing white powder. A search turned up two more bags containing a white powder, a firearm, and a large amount of cash.
Laboratory testing confirmed that the powder contained fentanyl.
