Alabama
Shooter gets life for killing 3 at church potluck
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A man on Tuesday was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the killing of three people at an Alabama church dinner in June.
Robert Findlay Smith, 71, pleaded guilty to capital murder and waived his right to appeal, AL.com reported.
Smith was indicted in the June 16, 2022, shootings of Walter “Bart” Rainey, 84, of Irondale; Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham; and Jane Pounds, 84, of Hoover. They were killed during a potluck dinner at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, a community just southeast of Birmingham.
“I relive the night of June 16 over and over and over, and I probably always will,” said Linda Rainey, whose husband was killed. “My heart tells me the shooter will also relive that night over and over.”
Defense attorney Emory Anthony apologized on behalf of Smith: “We’re so thankful to the families of each one of those victims because they agreed to allow him to plead to life. He could have been facing the death penalty. So they did not just talk about being Christians, they acted as Christians. I know it’s hurtful to each one of the family members, but we say thanks to each one of them.”
Neither Anthony nor the prosecutor’s office said they knew why Smith opened fire that night.
“I believe he’s remorseful,’’ Anthony said.
Police responded to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, one of Alabama’s two most populous cities, on a report of an active shooter. There were about 25 people at the “Boomers Potluck,” including Smith, who had previously attended the church and at least one of the dinners.
Smith was sitting alone, and a longtime church member approached him and invited him to sit at a table, said the Rev. Doug Carpenter, who founded the church in 1973 and retired in 2005. He identified himself to victim Rainey only as “Mr. Smith” and refused to join them.
Smith then pulled a handgun and shot three people, according to authorities. Jim Musgrove, a church member, hit the shooter with a chair and wrestled the gun away from him.
Rainey was pronounced dead at the scene. Yeager and Pounds were taken to a hospital where they later died.
“This type of senseless murder of three innocent people is certainly a case our office would typically try in front of a jury and seek the death penalty, however, that was not the wish of the three families in this case,” District Attorney Danny Carr said. “After much discussion, thought and prayer, the families were unanimous that they would prefer a plea of guilty to capital murder and a life without parole sentence.”
Idaho
Supreme Court justice to retire, cites low salary
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Stegner has announced his resignation, telling the governor that the relatively low pay has made it necessary to return to private practice.
The Idaho Legislature gave most state employees cost-of-living raises of up to 7% last year, but refused to approve any raises for judges, and declined to make up the difference during this year’s session.
In his letter Monday to Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, Stegner said his decision is bittersweet and that serving as judge has been the privilege of his professional career. His resignation will take effect at the end of October, and Stegner will serve as a Senior Judge, until any pending appellate cases are resolved.
“Given the disparity in pay between a Supreme Court Justice (which is lower than a beginning lawyer at some Boise firms and one of the lowest in the nation) and a lawyer in private practice, I find it necessary financially to leave the public sector and return to the private sector,” Stegner said. “The job requires extraordinary hours to do it well. In sum, the state is asking judges to do too much for too little.”
Idaho Supreme Court Justices earn just over $165,000 a year — the equivalent of about $79 an hour.
Stegner was appointed to the state’s highest court in 2018 by then-Gov. Butch Otter. He previously served as a 2nd District Judge in Latah County.
The vacancy means the Idaho Judicial Council will provide a list of applicants to the governor’s office, and Little will appoint one of them to serve out the rest of Stegner’s term, which ends in January 2027. The judicial seat will be up for election in the 2026 May primary.
Chief Justice Richard Bevan said he wishes Stegner the best as he retires from the bench.
“Justice Stegner brings a principled, deliberate approach to both the appeals we resolve and his vision of what Idaho’s courts should be,” Bevan said. “His drive to better ourselves and our work has improved justice for Idahoans.”
Oregon
Former FBI supervisory agent arrested on Jan. 6 riot charges
A former FBI supervisory agent has been arrested on charges that he joined a mob storming the U.S. Capitol, where he cheered on rioters attacking police officers, federal authorities said.
The former agent, Jared Wise, repeatedly shouted, “Kill ‘em!” as he watched rioters assaulting officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
Wise was arrested Monday in Oregon on misdemeanor charges including entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, court records show.
Wise, 50, worked as a special agent or supervisory special agent for the FBI from 2004 through 2017, according to the affidavit. The FBI didn’t respond to a request for more information about Wise’s work for the bureau.
“We refer you to the public court documents and don’t have any further comment,” an FBI statement says.
The FBI says security camera video captured Wise inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Wise clapped his hands and raised his arms “in triumph” after he entered the building through the Senate wing door, the affidavit says. He left the building about nine minutes after entering.
Nearly two hours later, police body camera footage showed Wise berating police officers outside the Capitol and repeatedly shouting, “Shame on you!”
“You guys are disgusting,” he told them. “I’m former law enforcement. You’re disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can’t see it.”
The FBI says it received a tip in January 2022 that Wise had entered the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Wise’s release from custody after his initial court appearance in Eugene, Oregon, on Monday.
Wise lived in New Braunfels, Texas, until June 2022 before moving to Bend, Oregon, the affidavit says.
A lawyer for Wise in Oregon didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
More than 100 officers were injured during the Jan. 6 riot. Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol siege.
Florida
Woman is 2nd accused of throwing drink at U.S. Rep. Gaetz
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Two women have now been accused of throwing drinks at U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The most recent was Saturday, when Selena Chambers, 41, of Tallahassee, threw a glass of wine at the Republican congressman during an event in Miramar Beach and shouted obscenities at him, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
“We cannot allow an environment where you can throw things at elected officials because you don’t like them,” Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a statement. “No matter your political affiliation, this is not the way to conduct yourself and will not be tolerated in Walton County.”
Miramar Beach is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Pensacola and is part of Gaetz’s Florida Panhandle congressional district.
Chambers was charged with battery and released Sunday on $1,000 bail.
Defense attorney Matthew A. Karp said in an email that his own investigation has revealed that Gaetz and his group were engaged in a verbal altercation with a group of women at the South Walton Beaches Food & Wine Festival.
“This investigation has initially shown Rep. Gaetz to have been both an aggressor and agitator, and we look forward to taking his deposition,” Karp said. “My client, Selena Chambers, maintains her innocence in this matter, and we intend to vigorously defend against the allegations of Rep. Gaetz.”
In 2019, another woman was previously sentenced to 15 days in federal custody for throwing a sports drink at Gaetz. Amanda Kondrat’yev was part of a group protesting outside a town hall meeting at a Pensacola restaurant. A cup struck Gaetz in the back as he left the meeting, and several witnesses identified Kondrat’yev as the person who threw it.
Gaetz, first elected to Congress in 2016, is known for his strong support of former President Donald Trump and his membership in the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus in the House. Earlier this year, Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had decided not to file charges against him following a long-running sex-trafficking investigation.
New Mexico
Cops: Man borrows phone, admits to killing ex-landlord in ’08
A New Mexico man, overwhelmed by guilt, borrowed a cellphone to call 911 and confess to the 2008 killing of his former landlord and he also told police where the body was buried, authorities said Tuesday.
Police said Tony Ray Peralta, 37, of Roswell, was booked into the Chaves County jail on suspicion of murder.
They said Peralta went to a store Monday afternoon, borrowed a cellphone to call 911 and told a dispatcher that he had killed someone. Officers went to the store and Peralta was detained for questioning.
Police investigators then obtained a search warrant for a house where Peralta had been a tenant of 69-year-old William Blodgett. He told them where he buried the body, and they found a boot, bones and dentures after removing plywood floorboards from a detached room on the side of the house.
A tearful Peralta told police during an interview that he didn’t know why he had killed Blodgett and that he just needed to confess, according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.
Peralta told police he decided to come forward because “his heart hurts” and that the killing had been eating at him. He told the officer to tell Blodgett’s family “that he was a good man and that he didn’t deserve what I did.”
“I don’t have an excuse,” he told police, according to the affidavit. “A lot of people have an excuse, I don’t have one.”
Peralta was being represented by the major crimes unit within the public defender’s office.
The dentures found at the property were compared with Blodgett’s dental records — obtained in early 2009 after he was reported missing — and that led to a positive identification, according to police.
Blodgett’s girlfriend and family had not seen him since late December 2008. She told police that Peralta, who was considered a suspect by police early on, allegedly had some sort or argument or fight with Blodgett, who had tried to evict him.
Authorities at the time had talked to Blodgett’s family, friends and neighbors and visited the home the two men shared, which appeared to have been abandoned with personal belongings still in place. Police found no immediate signs of foul play and Blodgett’s vehicle was still there, according to the original missing person report.
Detectives would periodically drive by the house but never spotted anyone. They also brought a dog trained to sniff for bodies to the property but found nothing.
Police said the case went cold after investigators exhausted all leads until Peralta’s 911 call.
