North Dakota
Man appeals convictions in slayings of 4 people
MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for killing four people at a North Dakota business in what authorities say was one of the most heinous crimes in the state’s history is appealing his conviction.
An attorney for Chad Isaak argues the man’s conviction should be reversed because of errors during jury selection and violations of Isaak’s right to a public trial.
In a brief filed with the North Dakota Supreme Court on June 30, defense attorney Kiara Kraus-Parr argues that Isaak’s rights were violated because no record was made of some conferences involving the judge and attorneys held before and during the trial. Also, the appeal states public access to court documents and autopsy photos was improperly closed, and that jurors were dismissed outside Isaak’s presence.
Prosecutors have until July 30 to file a response, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
A jury in August found the 48-year-old Washburn chiropractor guilty of killing RJR Maintenance and Management co-owner Robert Fakler, 52; and employees Adam Fuehrer, 42; Bill Cobb, 50; and his wife, Lois Cobb, 45.
The four were shot and stabbed on April 1, 2019, inside the property management company’s building in Mandan. Investigators said the victims were stabbed more than 100 times, total.
A clear motive has not been established for the killings.
Maine
Man faces up to 30 year sentence in PPP fraud case
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Maine man pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud charges stemming from a Paycheck Protection Program application, federal prosecutors said.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the Skowhegan man obtained a $59,145 loan for his Bangor-based company using false employee wage information and false supporting payroll documentation. The department said the man then spent the money on items and expenses he knew weren’t covered by the program.
Paycheck Protection Program loans were designed to be forgivable loans for small businesses to help with job retention and some other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, the Justice Department said.
The man faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The Justice Department said he will be sentenced after an investigation report is completed.
California
Man charged with overdose deaths of 2 women
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Beverly Hills man has been charged with murder in the drug overdose deaths of two unconscious women who were dumped at hospitals in Southern California, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
David Brian Pearce, 40, also was charged with two counts of selling, transporting or furnishing a controlled substance, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.
Another man, actor Brandt Osborn, 42, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Pearce was already awaiting trial on charges of sexual assault on seven other women who were attacked between 2007 and 2020, prosecutors said.
A message left for Pearce’s attorney, Jacob Glucksman, wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday night. Glucksman previously told the Los Angeles Times that his client “adamantly and strongly denies any connection to these women’s unfortunate deaths.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Osborn had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Pearce was arrested in December in connection with the November deaths of model Christy Giles, 24, and her friend, architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26.
Giles and Cabrales-Arzola were reportedly last seen attending an East Los Angeles warehouse party. Authorities believe they then went to Pearce’s townhouse. Detectives said they believe both women were given drugs and overdosed.
Giles was found dead outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City after masked men in a car with no license plates dropped her there, police said.
Cabrales-Arzola was left at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital, where she died 11 days later after being removed from life support.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office found the women died from overdoses and had several drugs in their systems. The drugs included cocaine and fentanyl for Giles and cocaine and ecstasy for her friend.
Hawaii
Ex-senator sentenced to 40 months for taking bribes
HONOLULU (AP) — A former Hawaii state senator was sentenced to 40 months in prison Tuesday for taking bribes in exchange for shaping legislation while in office.
Former Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English, 55, pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud in February, admitting he accepted bribes from a Hawaii business owner in exchange for shaping legislation that would benefit a company involved in publicly financed cesspool conversion projects.
Former Hawaii state Rep. Ty Cullen also pleaded guilty to the same charge in a related case. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20.
English “peddled the power and influence of his position as a Hawaii State Senator and Majority Leader to enrich himself and betray the trust bestowed upon him by those he was elected to serve,” U.S. prosecutors said in a sentencing memo urging the judge to send him to prison for three-and-a-half years.
The sentence, a little more than three years, must send a “stern and lasting message” that corruption of elected officials will be punished, the memo said.
“I hope this serves as a message to everyone in government that there can be no tolerance for unethical conduct,” House Speaker Scott Saiki said in a statement issued after U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced English.
She also imposed a $100,000 fine and ordered that he be subjected to three years of supervision after he serves his time, according to English’s attorney, Richard Sing, who declined to comment on the sentence.
English must surrender to begin serving his sentence on Aug. 16, Sing said.
In English’s sentencing memo, Sing asked for a two-and-a-half-year sentence, saying that after the ex-lawmaker was arrested, he was open and honest about his interactions with the business owner, described in court documents only as “Person A.”
English began communicating with Person A about cesspools in 2019 and accepted cash and hotel rooms from Person A totaling about $18,000, the memo by Sing said.
Sing also wrote that English, who represented east Maui, Molokai and Lanai, “was a compassionate and dedicated advocate for the rural communities and individuals he represented,” including Native Hawaiians.
English continues to suffer from long-haul COVID-19, Sing said, including sleep apnea, memory loss, lethargy and breathing problems. He cited those ailments for resigning from the Senate last year and didn’t mention he had been arrested a few months earlier for the corruption investigation.
Colorado
Funeral home owner pleads guilty in body sales case
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court.
The Daily Sentinel reports that Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said.
Hess, 45, and her mother, Shirley Koch, operated the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose. They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials.
A grand jury indictment said that from 2010 through 2018, Hess and Koch offered to cremate bodies and provide the remains to families at a cost of $1,000 or more, but many of the cremations never occurred.
Hess had created a nonprofit organization in 2009 called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a body-broker service doing business as Donor Services, authorities said.
On dozens of occasions, Hess and Koch transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families’ knowledge, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said.
Hess and Koch also shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonged to people who died from, infectious diseases including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, despite certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, authorities said.
Both Hess and Koch originally had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years.
Minnesota
Rabbit rescue president charged with animal cruelty
SAVAGE, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged the president of a Savage-based rabbit rescue nonprofit with animal cruelty and torture after police discovered nearly 50 dead rabbits in a barn.
The Star Tribune reported Tuesday that police arrived at the barn on June 27 to investigate reports of sick and dead rabbits. According to a criminal complaint, they found 47 dead rabbits, scores of rabbits running loose, some that had burrowed into manure, one rabbit with a broken back and a baby rabbit infested with maggots.
Peacebunny Foundation President Stephanie Smith told investigators that the animals’ condition was “not appropriate” and another group was planning to pick up the loose bunnies, according to the complaint.
She wrote in a blog post Saturday that Peacebunny Foundation is ceasing all its programs and pledged not to obtain any new rabbits or spend foundation money on her legal defense. She’s due to make her first court appearance Aug. 22.
Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said the Humane Society is caring for the 200 or so rabbits found in the barn.
Smith’s 18-year-old son, Caleb Smith, owns the foundation. His efforts to save rabbits has generated considerable media attention, including from People Magazine and NBC’s “Today Show.” He wrote in a blog post Saturday that he was sorry “the last chapter seems so ugly right now.”
Missouri
Police say 70-year-old man killed disabled sister
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 70-year-old Missouri man is facing charges in the beating death of his disabled sister — a crime police said the man carried out because he was frustrated about having to care for her.
Medics and officers were called to a home Sunday in an unincorporated part of St. Louis County by Anthony Sokolich, who said his sister was unresponsive, the St. Louis Count Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.
Officers found Katherine Sokolich, 63, with serious injuries to her face, and she was taken to a hospital with a brain bleed, the department said.
“The defendant subsequently admitted to striking her multiple times prior to her being unresponsive,” police said.
Police said Anthony Sokolich was arrested and charged Sunday with felony assault. His sister later died at the hospital, and police said they expected his charges to be upgraded. Sokolich was set to appear in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have not returned a phone message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.
No attorney was listed for Sokolich in online court records.
