National Roundup

Massachusetts
Prosecutors: Man pulled gun on family over TV
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say an argument over which television show to watch prompted a Massachusetts man to threaten his family members with a gun on Christmas morning.

Corey Hodgdon was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing at his arraignment Tuesday on charges that include assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Prosecutors say Hodgdon had gotten upset over what show the family was watching on television before he pulled a gun and issued threats during the incident on Sunday in Worcester (WUS’-ster).

Police say some family members locked themselves in a bathroom. They were able to escape the home when Hodgdon went into the basement. Officers arrived at the scene, entered the home and arrested Hodgdon.

Hodgdon’s attorney requested her client undergo a mental health evaluation, which the judge granted.

Ohio
Court weighs law shielding lethal drugs source
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal appeals court is weighing a challenge by death row inmates of an Ohio law that shields the names of companies that provide lethal injection drugs.

The pending decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will help determine whether Ohio will proceed with its first executions in three years beginning in February.

Ohio plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for raping and killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in 1993. Another execution is scheduled for April.

At issue is a 2015 law approved by lawmakers in hopes of jumpstarting executions in Ohio, which have been on hold since January 2014. That’s when it took condemned inmate Dennis McGuire 26 minutes to die from a never-before-used two-drug method while he repeatedly gasped and snorted.

The secrecy law blocks anyone from getting information about individuals or entities participating in executions, including companies that make or mix drugs.

Federal Magistrate Judge Michael Merz in Dayton cited the 6th Circuit case earlier this month when he put executions on hold. He said the hold could be lifted after the court rules.

Attorneys for death row inmates argue they can’t meaningfully challenge the use of the drugs without the information. They also said the secrecy protections are unnecessary given the history of lawsuits over lethal injection in Ohio.

“Ohio’s own history of 53 lethal injection executions over a period of 16 years never required the adoption of a privilege to shield absolutely those who participate in its administration — not even for the executioner himself and the actual members of the execution team,” Allen Bohnert, a federal public defender, said in a May court filing.

The state cites defense attorneys’ “wildly exaggerated and misplaced arguments” to say that the secrecy provisions should be upheld.

“In response to the increasing unavailability of execution drugs, due to the hesitation of potential suppliers to sell the drugs for fear of threats or harassment, the legislatures of Ohio and other states have enacted laws rendering ‘drugs source’ information confidential,” Charles Wille, an assistant Ohio attorney general, said in a July court filing.

The state’s interest in keeping that information confidential far outweighs death row inmates’ right to the release of that information, Wille said.

Death penalty defense attorneys say there’s no evidence that suppliers would be harassed.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in October announced plans to use a new three-drug combination — midazolam, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride — for at least three executions.

Phillips and other inmates want to block the new procedure, arguing that it will result in a painful and barbaric death.

Gov. John Kasich has rejected Phillips’ request for clemency.

New York
Cops: Man who fathered son with teacher killed both
NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a former New York City high school student who in 2012 fathered a child with his then-teacher has killed the woman and their 4-year-old son.

Authorities on Tuesday say 23-year-old Isaac Duran Infante confessed to killing Felicia Barahona and Miguel Barahona. He’s been charged with murder.

Barahona was found Monday in her Harlem apartment with an electrical cord around her neck. Her son was found in the bathtub.

It wasn’t clear if the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, man had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

A 2012 report by school investigators determined the 36-year-old Barahona began a sexual relationship with Infante when he turned 18.

The report found Barahona believed she and Infante would get married before their relationship ended.

She was subsequently fired from the Bronx school.

Colorado
Man convicted in death of mom who was also an escort
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A man was convicted Tuesday of murder and kidnapping in the 2007 death of a single mother from Colorado who led a double life as a paid escort.

A judge sentenced 65-year-old Lester Ralph Jones to life in prison without parole after the jury delivered its verdict, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported.

It was Jones’ second trial in the killing of Paige Birgfeld. The first ended in a mistrial in September when jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.

Birgfeld was 34 when she disappeared in 2007. Friends described her as a devoted mother of three children who ran several businesses to support them.

In the first trial, Birgfeld’s 17-year-old daughter, Jess Dixon, testified that Birgfeld was a “soccer mom” who took her and her two brothers to school and games and let them all sleep in her bed.

Police uncovered details of Birgfield’s escort business after she disappeared. Investigators said Jones was one of her clients and was among the last people to call her before she vanished.

In the second trial, Jones’ lawyers argued there was no physical evidence tying him to Birgfeld’s death. They suggested a man who died in 2011 could have killed her.

Detectives said they had questioned and ruled out that man, as well as seven others, including an ex-husband and several other clients.

The defense also argued that some evidence in the case was lost or missing.

Jones’ lawyers acknowledged he gave investigators conflicting statements, first denying he knew Birgfeld and later saying he had paid her for a massage. His attorneys said Jones was trying to hide his behavior from his wife.
Birgfeld’s car was found on fire in a parking lot near Jones’ workplace three days after she disappeared. Her remains were not found until 2012, partially buried in a western Colorado gully.