Top Crime Stories of 2004
Thursday December 30, 2004
These are the crime stories that captured the public's attention the most during 2004 -- some because of the nature of the crime and others because of the fame of ... Read More
Court Okays Chemical Castration
Wednesday December 29, 2004
An appeals court has upheld the chemical castration sentence of a Lake Tahoe man with AIDS who was convicted of sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy. Rudolph Christopher Steele, 43, appealed ... Read More
North Carolina Woman Shoots Kids, Herself
Wednesday December 29, 2004
A North Carolina woman apparently shot her two teenage children, who were visiting her for the holidays, and then killed herself. Police believe 36-year-old Caroline Ollison of Royal, NC, ... Read More
Hunter Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
Wednesday December 29, 2004
Chai Vang, accused of shooting six deer hunters to death Nov. 21 in Wisconsin and wounding two others, has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. Wisconsin Attorney ... Read More
'Law & Order' Star Jerry Orbach Dies
Wednesday December 29, 2004
Actor Jerry Orbach, best known for his 12-year role as the wise-cracking Detective Lennie Briscoe on NBC's "Law & Order" series, died at age 69 after a long bout with ... Read More
Judge Rules Michael Ross Competent to Choose Death
Wednesday December 29, 2004
Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford has ruled that convicted serial killer Michael Ross is mentally competent to decide to allow his execution to go forward and that he has the ... Read More
Judge Upholds Award in Hooters Peephole Case
Wednesday December 29, 2004
U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve upheld a jury award of $275,000 to a former Hooters waitress who sued the company over peepholes in an employee dressing room. Joanna ... Read More
Man Pleads Guilty in Death of Son
Wednesday December 29, 2004
A Boca Raton dentist pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and received 10 years probation for the death of his three-year-old son, who died after being left in the back seat ... Read More
Father Tries to Save Serial Killer
Tuesday December 28, 2004
The father of serial killer Michael Ross and his former public defenders have filed petitions in Connecticut court in an attempt to block his execution, which is scheduled for Jan. ... Read More
Prosecutors Await Tests in Corbin Case
Tuesday December 28, 2004
Prosecutors are waiting for crime lab tests in connection with the shooting death of the wife of a prominent Georgia dentist, who was found by her son Dec. 4, shot ... Read More
Pardoned Killer May Face Death Again
Tuesday December 28, 2004
A former death row inmate, whose life was saved when Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted all of the state's death sentences to life in prison, may once again face the ... Read More
Fetus Kidnapper Fit Rare Profile, Expert Says
Monday December 27, 2004
John Rabun, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, knew immediately after hearing that Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered and her unborn child was cut from her womb ... Read More
Phony Faxes Are Pump-and-Dump Stock Scam
Monday December 27, 2004
Federal regulators say the latest stock scam takes the form of a fax about a hot stock tip that appears to have been inadvertently sent to the wrong recipient. Hundreds ... Read More
Vanderbilt Running Back Shot to Death
Sunday December 26, 2004
Vanderbilt running back Kwane Doster was shot to death early Sunday when someone fired at the parked car he was in, police said. Doster, 21, of Tampa, died at Tampa ... Read More
LAPD Studies Facial-Recognition Software
Sunday December 26, 2004
The Los Angeles Police Department is experimenting with facial-recognition software it says will help identify suspects and is seeking a $500,000 federal grant to expand the use of the technology. ... Read More
Pit Bull Breeder Gets 30 Years
Sunday December 26, 2004
Two days into his jury trial, a South Carolina man changed his plea to guilty and will get 30 years in prison -- 10 years for creating the booby trap ... Read More
Police Seek Suspected Murderer, Wife, Baby
Thursday December 23, 2004
A Texas man who is missing with his wife and infant daughter is being sought by authorities after he was charged with the murder of his parents. Justin Wayne Smith, ... Read More
Fetus Kidnapper Faked Pregnancies in the Past
Thursday December 23, 2004
Lisa Montgomery, the Kansas woman accused of killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting the baby from her womb and then showing it off as her own, faked pregnancies in the ... Read More
Woman Gets Death in Husband's Murder
Thursday December 23, 2004
After deliberating since Dec. 1 in the penalty phase of her trial, an Arizona jury recommended the death sentence for Wendi Andriano for the murder conviction of poisoning and stabbing ... Read More
Judge Rejects Plea from AOL Spammer
Thursday December 23, 2004
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to accept a guilty plea from a former America Online software engineer who is accused of selling 92 million AOL email addresses to spammers for ... Read More
Man Gets Life for Killing Five
Thursday December 23, 2004
A 36-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury found him guilty of five counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his ex-girlfriend, ... Read More
Woman Indicted for 700 Bad Checks
Wednesday December 22, 2004
Don't take a check from Nancy Bowen of Mays Landing. The 41-year-old New Jersey woman is accused of passing more than 700 phony checks for more than $120,000 since 1999 ... Read More
Dentist Indicted for Girlfriend's 1990 Death
Wednesday December 22, 2004
The husband of a woman who was found shot in her home two weeks ago has now been indicted for the death of his former girlfriend who was found under ... Read More
Jury Hears Robert Blake's Interview
Tuesday December 21, 2004
Robert Blake was able to testify on his on behalf without taking the witness stand when his attorney showed the jury a videotape of an interview the actor did with ... Read More
Laci's Mom: Only My Death Will Bring Closure
Tuesday December 21, 2004
Sharon Rocha said only her own death will bring closure in the death of her daughter Laci Peterson and her unborn grandson Conner. "There will always be a hole in ... Read More
Judge Denies Delay in Michael Jackson Trial
Tuesday December 21, 2004
Judge Rodney Melville has denied a request by attorneys for Michael Jackson to dismiss the child molestation charges against the pop singer and delay his trial by several months. Judge ... Read More
Cyber Trail Led to Fetus Kidnapper
Tuesday December 21, 2004
At tip from a North Carolina woman who visited a Rat Terrier message board on the Internet daily, led authorities to the Internet protocol address of the Kansas woman who ... Read More
Blake Jurors Hear Opening Statements
Tuesday December 21, 2004
Jurors in the Robert Blake murder trial heard day-long opening arguments from the prosecution and the defense as the high-profile trial got underway after a long series of delays. Prosecutors ... Read More
Smart Kidnap Suspect Wants Divorce
Tuesday December 21, 2004
Wanda Barzee, who is accused along with her husband of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart in 2002, has filed for divorce from her co-defendant. Barzee and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, are ... Read More
$5 Million Reward Offered for Drug Kingpin
Monday December 20, 2004
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced a $5,000,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Joaquin Guzman-Loera, a.k.a. Chapo Guzman. In January 2001, he escaped from ... Read More
JonBenet's Killer Linked to Another Rape
Monday December 20, 2004
Investigators in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case believe the intruder who killed the six-year-old may have struck again nine months later, sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl, who was in the ... Read More
Robert Blake Trial Set to Begin
Monday December 20, 2004
After a series of delays and postponements, the murder trial of actor Robert Blake is expected to begin today with opening statements in a Van Nuys, California courtroom. The former ... Read More
Judge Okays Seized Rudolph Evidence
Monday December 20, 2004
Magistrate Judge T. Michael Putnam has ruled that evidence seized from the North Carolina trailer and shed of Eric Rudolph can be admitted at his trial for bombing an Alabama ... Read More
Kansas Court Rules Death Penalty Unconstitutional
Friday December 17, 2004
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled the state's death penalty unconstitutional because the law requires juries to vote for the death penalty if they find the aggravating and mitigating circumstances equal. ... Read More
Fetus Stolen From Murdered Woman
Friday December 17, 2004
An Amber Alert has been issued for the female fetus of an eight-month pregnant Missouri woman who was found strangled in her Skidmore, Missouri home with her unborn baby cut ... Read More
DNA Hearing Held in Samantha Runnion Case
Friday December 17, 2004
Evidence taken from under the fingernails of five-year-old Samantha Runnion after she was found sexually assaulted and killed could be linked to her accused killer, Alejandro Avila, a crime lab ... Read More
Arkansas Court Denies Condemned Killer's Appeal
Friday December 17, 2004
In a 4-3 decision, the Arkansas Supreme Court denied the appeal of condmended killer Andrew Raymond Engram, saying because he did not raise the issue of his retardation at trial, ... Read More
School Santa Busted for Pot
Friday December 17, 2004
Stupid Criminal Files: A Detroit man playing Santa at a middle school was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession after a security guard found a small plastic bag in his winter ... Read More
Proud Couple Showed Off Baby Cut From Womb
Friday December 17, 2004
Friends and neighbors of a Kansas couple were excited for them when they showed of their new baby at a local cafe and at their pastor's home, but the joy ... Read More
Andrea Yates' Conviction Appealed
Thursday December 16, 2004
Attorneys for Andrea Yates, sentenced to life in prison for drowning her five children, have appealed her conviction, citing 19 errors that were committed in her 2002 trial. They highlighted ... Read More
Prosecutors Want to Use Jackson's Past
Thursday December 16, 2004
Using a California law that allows relevant previous acts in sex crime cases to be used in court, whether prosecuted or not, prosecutors in the Michael Jackson child molestation case ... Read More
BTK Killer Leaves More Clues
Thursday December 16, 2004
A package left in a Wichita park by the BTK Strangler has been forward by police to the FBI for authentication after it was turned in to a local TV ... Read More
Judge Grants Eric Rudolph Defense Request
Thursday December 16, 2004
Judge T. Michael Putnam has ordered prosecutors to turn over all information about a bomb found outside Birmingham police headquarters to Eric Rudolph's defense attorneys, who believe the bomb is ... Read More
Judge: Lawyers Can't Help Michael Ross
Thursday December 16, 2004
Connecticut Judge Patrick Clifford has turned down an appeal from the public defender's office to intervene in a case in which a serial killer has asked to be executed as ... Read More
Jackson's Attorneys Wants Charges Dismissed
Tuesday December 14, 2004
Claiming "vindictive prosecution and outrageous government conduct," Michael Jackson's attorneys have filed a series of motions to dismiss the child molestation charges against him and to delay the January 31 ... Read More
Teens Took Computer from Blake's Attorney
Tuesday December 14, 2004
Los Angeles police have arrested two teenagers and recovered a laptop computer which was stolen from the attorney representing actor Robert Blake in his murder trial. The theft of the ... Read More
Court Rulings Boost Police Actions
Tuesday December 14, 2004
The U.S. Supreme Court made several rulings this week, two of which bolstered the authority of police in making arrests and using force, and two that upheld death penalty cases ... Read More
Maryland's Anti-Spam Law Overturned
Tuesday December 14, 2004
A judge dismissed a lawsuit against a New York email marketer, who was being sued under Maryland's 2002 Commercial Electronic Mail Act, ruling that the law is unconstitutional because it ... Read More
Store Pulls Bumper Sticker About Wisconsin Deaths
Tuesday December 14, 2004
A Minnesota store that sells bumper stickers have pulled one off the shelf related to a hunting incident in Wisconsin in which six people were killed and two others wounded, ... Read More
Jurors: Peterson Deserves to Die
Tuesday December 14, 2004
Jurors in the Scott Peterson murder trial said their was no single piece of evidence that convinced them that Peterson killed his pregnant wife and unborn child, but one juror ... Read More
Scott Peterson Gets Death Penalty
Monday December 13, 2004
The jury in the Scott Peterson murder trial deliberated for 12 hours over three days before returning an unanimous recommendation that Peterson receive the death penalty for the murder of ... Read More
Jackson, Accuser's Prints Found on Porn Mags
Monday December 13, 2004
A California newspaper is reporting that items seized from singer Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in March included pornographic magazines that had both Jackson's and his accuser's fingerprints on them. The ... Read More
God Told Him to Kill Parents
Monday December 13, 2004
A college student who confessed to shooting his parents and then breaking a chain saw trying to cut up their bodies said, "God told me to" in a interview with ... Read More
Cops Cuff Fourth-Grader for Scissors at School
Monday December 13, 2004
Police handcuffed and hauled a 10-year-old girl to jail in a patrol wagon after school officials found a pair of scissors she had carried to school. Police decided the girl ... Read More
Most Juvenile Crime Victims Are Other Juveniles
Saturday December 11, 2004
FBI crime statistics reveal that 62 percent of victims of non-violent juvenile crimes were other juveniles, while only 38 percent were adults. Analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based ... Read More
How To Detect Counterfeit Money
Friday December 10, 2004
The shopping season seems to be a good time for criminals to try to pass counterfeit bills on busy store clerks. Do you know how to spot a counterfeit bill? ... Read More
Aggravated Assault Cases Decline Again
Friday December 10, 2004
For the tenth consecutive year, the estimated number of aggravated assaults in the Nation declined. Based on law enforcement reports for 2003, the UCR Program estimated 857,921 aggravated assaults, a ... Read More
Lawsuit Seeks Help for Domestic Abuse Victims
Thursday December 9, 2004
Domestic violence victim advocates are keeping a cloes eye on a North Carolina lawsuit whick seeks to provide job protection for those who have been abused. The case involves an ... Read More
Will Scott Peterson Get the Death Penalty?
Thursday December 9, 2004
The jury is expected to begin deliberations in the penalty phase of the Scott Peterson trial today. The only two choices before the jury will be the death penalty or ... Read More
Reward Increased in Campers' Murder Case
Thursday December 9, 2004
Four months after two Christian counselors were shot while they slept in their sleeping bags at Fishhead Lake in Jenner, California, investigators are no closer to finding a suspect than ... Read More
Five Killed in Nightclub Shooting
Thursday December 9, 2004
A man jumped on the stage at a heavy metal concert in Columbus, Ohio and began shooting members of the band and into the crowd before a police officer shot ... Read More
Dr. Kevorkian Rots in Jail
Wednesday December 8, 2004
The Michigan parole board turned down an application for parole from Jack Kevorkian, saying it raised the same issues in the attempt they turned down a year ago. The board ... Read More
Jurors Can't Consider Peterson's Family
Wednesday December 8, 2004
Scott Peterson's defense attorney Mark Geragos requested that the jury be instructed that they could consider sympathy for Peterson's family in their penalty phases deliberations, because Laci Peterson's unborn child ... Read More
DNA Links Convict to 1973 Murder
Wednesday December 8, 2004
Learie Alford was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old Florida girl in 1973, but when a witness changed his testimony in 1979, Gov. Bob Graham ... Read More
Sunday Morning Slasher Gets Life Without Parole
Tuesday December 7, 2004
Judge Richard Kuhn gave a life without parole sentence to Coral Eugene Watts for the murder of Helen Dutcher but said the case "cries out for the death penalty, no, ... Read More
Hearing Delayed in Samantha Runnion Case
Tuesday December 7, 2004
A pre-trial hearing on DNA testing in the Samantha Runnion murder case has been delayed once again, until Dec. 13. Attorneys for Alejandro Avila requested the delay and prosecutors did ... Read More
Peterson Witnesses Say Jury Made a Mistake
Tuesday December 7, 2004
As a long line of witnesses continued to testify on behalf of Scott Peterson, some of them told the jury they did not believe Peterson committed the crime and the ... Read More
Eric Rudolph Defense Questions FBI Sketch
Monday December 6, 2004
Eric Rudolph's defense attorneys have requested that prosecutors to turn over any evidence regarding alterations made to FBI composite drawings of the suspected abortion clinic bomber. They claim the FBI ... Read More
Robert Blake Trial Delayed Again
Monday December 6, 2004
Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp delayed opening statements in the Robert Blake murder trial because his attorney's computer was stolen in a burglary last week. Attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach requested ... Read More
Couple Report Stolen Pot to Police
Monday December 6, 2004
Stupid Criminals File: A Florida couple called police to report that someone broke into their home and stole their quarter-pound stash of marijuana and they needed it back because they ... Read More
Cops Now Have Michael Jackson's DNA
Sunday December 5, 2004
Michael Jackson furnished sheriff's deputies with a sample of his DNA at their request a day after they served a second search warrant on his Neverland Ranch. When authorities arrived ... Read More
Hacking Name Removed From Lori's Gravestone
Sunday December 5, 2004
The family of Lori Hacking has removed the "Hacking" name from her gravestone and changed it to "Lori Kay Soares" her maiden name. Mark Hacking has been charged with shooting ... Read More
Competency Hearing Ordered in Elizabeth Smart Case
Saturday December 4, 2004
A new competency evaluation was ordered for accused Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Brian David Mitchell after he began singing the Christmas hymn "Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel" at a court hearing ... Read More
Michael Jackson Ranch Raided Again
Friday December 3, 2004
In a surprising and unusual move, Sheriff's investigators again raided Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch, armed with a new search warrant issued just weeks before his trial on child molestation and ... Read More
Frances Elaine Newton Gets Last-Minute Stay
Thursday December 2, 2004
Two hours before her scheduled execution, Texas death row inmate Frances Elaine Newton was granted a 120-day reprieve from Gov. Rick Perry so that evidence in her case can be ... Read More
Robert Blake Jury Finally Selected
Thursday December 2, 2004
After going through hundreds of potential jurors for almost a month, 12 jurors and six alternates have finally been selected and opening arguments are scheduled Monday, Dec. 6, in the ... Read More
Peterson's Dad Pleads for Son's Life
Thursday December 2, 2004
Scott Peterson's father took the stand in the penalty phase of his son's murder trial and described Scott as a friendly boy who sang at a senior citizens' home on ... Read More
Teacher Who Had Sex With Teen Says She's Insane
Thursday December 2, 2004
Debra Lafave, the suspended Florida middle school teacher facing four felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior for having sex with a 14-year-old student, will plead not guilty by reason ... Read More
Laci Peterson's Family Testifies in Penalty Phase
Wednesday December 1, 2004
In an emotional day highlighted by the testimony of Laci Peterson's mother, jurors in the Scott Peterson murder trial heard from family members how the loss of Laci has affected ... Read More
Police Have Clues to BTK Strangler's Identity
Wednesday December 1, 2004
Wichita, Kansas police have asked the public to help identify the BTK Strangler using clues they have received in recent letters from the killer who has claimed responsibility for eight ... Read More