Pennsylvania
Couple stole donation bucket to buy drugs
MCDONALD, Pa. (AP) - Police say an unemployed couple facing eviction admitted swiping a Salvation Army donation bucket from a Pittsburgh-area convenience store so they could use the cash to buy drugs.
Joshua Basinger and Rachel Pecharka were arrested Tuesday in McDonald, Pennsylvania, and charged with theft, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
Police say the 30-year-old Basinger and 21-year-old Pecharka told officers they emptied the bucket of cash after last Friday's theft and threw it into an Aliquippa trash bin.
Police posted surveillance photos of the suspects on the department's Facebook page. They say anonymous tips led them to Basinger and Pecharka.
Court records with information on the couple's lawyers were not immediately available.
Wisconsin
Waitress died by catching head in dumbwaiter
FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (AP) - An autopsy finds that a waitress died of severe head injuries after getting her head caught in a dumbwaiter at a Wisconsin restaurant last week, police said Tuesday.
Fountain City Police Chief Jason Mork released the autopsy results for 21-year-old Brooke Baures of Chetek, a senior and standout gymnast at Winona State University in Minnesota. Baures was working at a banquet on the second floor of WingDam Saloon and Grill when the accident happened Dec. 1.
Based on witness' statements, police believe Baures was the only person who could have pressed the dumbwaiter's control button on the second floor and concluded no crime was committed in her death.
The autopsy found "extensive destruction" of the brainstem and left side of the cerebellum and concluded she died of severe head trauma. Police believe her head was almost entirely inside the cab of the elevator when it descended.
Based on autopsy results, police said they believe Baures' head "was located almost entirely inside the cab of the elevator canted slightly to her right as the cab descended. When the roof of the cab passed the sill of the second floor access, Brooke sustained fatal crushing injuries to her brainstem and cerebellum," the report said. Anyone operating the dumbwaiter had only about five seconds before the interior of the cab disappeared below the sill, police said.
The dumbwaiter has since been permanently removed.
Federal and state regulators have launched separate investigations.
Indiana
Prosecutor seeks death penalty for mutilator of girl
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty for a southern Indiana man who has confessed to fatally stabbing his girlfriend and mutilating her body, including cooking and eating some of her organs.
Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart filed his intent to seek the death penalty for Joseph Oberhansley in Clark Circuit Court on Friday, The (Louisville, Kentucky) Courier-Journal and the News and Tribune reported Tuesday.
Oberhansley, 33, of Jeffersonville, is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse in the stabbing death of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton on Sept. 11.
During his initial hearing in days after his arrest, Oberhansley interrupted the proceeding by announcing his name was "Zeus Brown" and told the judge, "You have the wrong guy."
Attorney Mike McDaniel told the News and Tribune that he expects he will take over as Oberhansley's counsel if the death-penalty enhancement is permitted. McDaniel said Tuesday that he had a 90-minute meeting with Oberhansley earlier in the day and that they had a "calm discussion." He said it was too early to discuss any defense strategies he might pursue.
Oberhansley is being held in the Clark County Jail.
Authorities say Oberhansley was convicted of manslaughter in the 1998 shooting death of his then-girlfriend, 17-year-old Sabrina Elder, in suburban Salt Lake City just days after the birth of their son.
Utah discharged him from parole on July 23, and on July 31, Blanton posted $500 bond for him on charges of criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement stemming from a car chase.
Kansas
Teen sentenced in fatal shooting of stepbrother
SALINA, Kan. (AP) - A rural Kansas man was sentenced to a little more than 10 years in prison for fatally shooting his 9-year-old stepbrother in the face during an argument about doing chores.
Ryan Velez, now 18, was only 14 when he shot Kaden Harper on June 1, 2010, while the boys were home alone in rural Assaria.
Velez has spent about four years at Larned State Hospital and was ordered back to Saline County District Court after he turned 18 for further sentencing. With time served, Velez is expected to be in prison for about five years and nine months, The Salina Journal reported ).
Velez's attorney, Mitch Christians, argued during a hearing Monday that Velez should receive a shorter sentence or one that would allow him to receive outpatient treatment while on probation. He said Velez is still young and his mental health issues could be successfully treated but not if he was sent to a hostile prison environment.
However, Kaden's mother and stepfather urged Judge Patrick Thompson to keep Velez in prison.
"He allowed his temporary anger to cause him to do something permanently stupid," Kaden's mother, Courtney Holmes, said.
Kaden's father, Kevin Harper, told the judge he would "strongly object" if Velez went free. He said he supported Velez for the first two years of court proceedings but has changed his mind. Harper lived with Velez's mother, Angela Harper, and the two boys in Assaria.
"There has never been any remorse, nor has the truth been spoken," Harper said. "He's smart enough not to let the truth out if it interfered with his goal of coming home."
Saline County Attorney Ellen Mitchell said Velez still did not seem to understand the consequences of the crime, despite extensive treatment at Larned, where staff was concerned about his lack of remorse and continued problem behavior.
Velez's mother did not speak during the hearing. Velez also declined to address the court.
Thompson said a review of state hospital records convinced him that Velez was a "serious threat to public safety" and knew what he was doing when he shot Kaden.
Published: Thu, Dec 11, 2014
