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Charles Montaldo

Charles' Crime / Punishment Blog

By Charles Montaldo, About.com Guide to Crime / Punishment

This Week's Top Crime Stories

Saturday November 21, 2009
Below are the headlines from this week's top crime stories. Find out what others are saying about these cases in the Crime & Punishment Forum and add your comments and opinions.

Photo of Mario McNeill: Police Mug Shot

Weekly Crime Poll: Is John "Junior" Gotti Out of the Mob?

Friday November 20, 2009
Unable to reach a unanimous verdict, the New York jury deciding the fate of John "Junior" Gotti, accused of racketeering, has been sent back to the jury room. This is the fourth trial for Gotti, the previous three all ending in hung juries.

John "Junior" Gotti claims he left the mob over 10 years ago and is innocent of all charges.

Poll: Is John "Junior" Gotti out of the mob?

See Also: Photo: Mugshot

Man Charged With Shaniya's Murder

Friday November 20, 2009
A North Carolina man previously accused of kidnapping a 5-year-old North Carolina girl now faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child. Mario McNeill admitted taking Shaniya Davis from her Fayetteville home.

Preliminary autopsy reports showed that Shaniya was asphyxiated. Read more...

Teen Charged as Adult in Elizabeth Olten Case

Thursday November 19, 2009
A 15-year-old Missouri girl has been indicted and will be tried as an adult in the murder of a 9-year-old neighbor. Alyssa Bustamante faces first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges for the death of Elizabeth Olten.

Bustamante has been held in juvenile detention since her arrest on Oct. 23. Read more...

Barzee Pleads Guilty for Smart Kidnapping

Tuesday November 17, 2009
The woman charged with her husband with the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has entered a guilty plea in federal court and asked her victim to forgive her for the pain she caused. Wanda Eileen Barzee, 64, also apologized to the court for her role in the kidnapping of the 14-year-old Salt Lake City girl.

Barzee is scheduled to be sentenced May 19. Read more...

Wanted: Joe Luis Saenz

Tuesday November 17, 2009
Joe Luis Saenz has been added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. He is wanted for his alleged involvement in at least four murders in Los Angeles, including the deaths of two rival gang members on July 25, 1998. He is also suspected in the kidnapping, rape and murder of his former girlfriend. Read more...

Wanted Fugitives:

Photo: FBI

Searchers Find Body of Shaniya Davis

Monday November 16, 2009
The body of a missing 5-year-old girl who was allegedly sold for sex by her mother has been found by searchers in a heavily wooded area about 40 miles from her Fayetteville home. Police did not say how Shaniya Davis was killed.

Her body was found southeast of Sanford, North Carolina, where she was last seen on video entering a hotel with a man. Read more...

Mother of Missing Girl Arrested

Monday November 16, 2009
The mother of a five-year-old North Carolina girl missing since last Tuesday has been arrested on charges of human trafficking, child abuse and prostitution, according to police reports. Antoinette Nicole Davis was arrested a day after Mario Andrette McNeill was charged with kidnapping Shaniya Davis.

Fayetteville police would not say if the human trafficking charges were related to Shaniya's disappearance, but reports filed in the case indicated they were. Read more...

Weekly Crime Poll: Life Sentences for Juveniles

Friday November 13, 2009
This week D.C. Sniper Muhammad was executed, however his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, was also convicted for murder in Virginia and Maryland. Because he was a juvenile at the time of the shootings, he was not eligible for the death penalty and instead received a life sentence.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether or not life sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual punishments.

Poll: Do you think life sentences for juveniles should be unconstitutional?

See Also: Photo: BigStockPhoto.com

Man Convicted in Anchorwoman's Murder

Wednesday November 11, 2009
An Arkansas jury deliberated just two hours before finding Curtis Lavelle Vance guilty of all counts in connection with the brutal beating death of a popular morning Little Rock television anchorwoman. The same jury began deliberating whether or not to impose the death penalty of life in prison for the murder of Anne Pressly.

Pressly was beaten during a home invasion robbery and never regained consciousness before she died five days later. Read more...

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