Crime Time

Jury convicts mom of microwave murder of baby

The Dayton, Ohio, mother accused of microwaving her baby to death was found guilty Friday of aggravated murder for killing her month-old child.

China Arnold, 28, showed no reaction to the verdict, according to reports. She could receive the death penalty when she's sentenced.

Defense attorneys had tried to convince the jury that a boy had taken the baby into the kitchen and microwaved the baby, not Arnold.

-- Lance Murray

LAPD on two-decades-long trail of serial killer

Police in Los Angeles are chasing a serial killer who is linked to 10 killings over a period of two decades.

The killer resurfaced last year.

For a long time police were unclear that they had a serial killer and the investigation was dormant for long stretches and spanned different generations of detectives, the Los Angeles Times reported. All but one of the victims was a woman and police believe many of them may have been working as prostitutes.

DNA evidence has shown the LAPD that they're after the same killer in all the cases and they've created a task force to bring the killer in.

-- Lance Murray

12 beheaded bodies found in Mexico

CNN is reporting that a dozen decapitated bodies were discovered on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday.

A state government source told CNN that 11 of the bodies were found in Chici Suarez, while the 12th was found in Buctzotz. All that was found were the bodies, no heads. The Associated Press reported that photos from the scene showed headless bodies stacked on top of each other in a field. The news agency said it was the largest group of beheaded bodies found at one time in recent years.

Gangland violence, much of it tied to the drug trade, is rising in Mexico and beheadings have become  more common, according to reports.

-- Lance Murray

Woman offered 3 kids to man for sex, police say

A 33-year-old Katy woman has been arrested on charges that she arranged for a Missouri man to have sex with three young children.

The woman was arrested Wednesday after federal agents in Independence, Mo., said they discovered that she had arranged for Missouri resident Michael Stratton to visit Texas and engage in sex acts with the children, according to reports. The arrangements were made over the Internet, investigators said.

Police say they found child pornography on the woman's computers during a search of her home.

The woman faces one count of possession of child pornography and one count of performance of a child, officials said. Bail on each is $50,000.

-- Lance Murray

Murdered lawyer has harsh words for family in will

A murdered New York lawyer was broke when he was slain, but he made it clear in a draft of his will that if had any money, his brother was to get none of it.

Mark Schwartz, 50, and his wife Christina-Maria Petrowski-Schwartz, 48, were slain in July in their home and neither left behind a legal will. Both had written drafts of their wills, but neither is legally binding, according to reports. But his draft contained bitter words for the relatives he hated, particularly his brother, Robert. Police say the brother is not a suspect in the killings.

You can read the New York Post's report on a family feud that goes to the grave here.

-- Lance Murray

Chase video released as anniversary of disappearance nears

It’s been almost one year since Glenda Gail Furch (right) clocked out of her job at the General Motors plant in Arlington, drove to her east Fort Worth apartment, and vanished.

Though her body has never been found, Rodney Eugene Owens sits in Tarrant County Jail, awaiting trial on accusations that he killed the 51-year-old woman.

Police say Owens, arrested in October after leading officers on a high-speed pursuit in a stolen car, was linked to the case after they identified his thumbprint on duct tape found in a trash bin outside Furch’s apartment building.

On Thursday, Fort Worth police released video of that pursuit.

Anyone with information about Furch’s whereabouts is asked to call the homicide unit at 817-392-4335 or Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS.

-- Deanna Boyd

DA drops nearly half of sex assault charges against designer

In October 2007 we reported on the sexual assault charges filed against celebrity designer Anand Jon Alexander in Los Angeles involving 10 women and girls.

On Wednesday, prosecutors dropped more than half of those charges without explanation. The DA's office dropped 30 of 59 charges against Alexander, but reserved the right to pursue those charges later.

The remaining 29 charges against Alexander range from forcible rape to committing lewd acts, the Associated Press reported. Jury selection is expected to begin next week.

Alexander is under indictment on similar charges in New York. That indictment involves nine women. The AP reported that he's also under investigation in Texas and Massachusetts.

-- Lance Murray

Report: Body decomposed in car trunk of missing girl's mom

Scientific tests indicate that a body was decomposing in the trunk of a car that was being driven by the mother of a missing Florida toddler, according to reports.

Caylee Anthony was last seen two months ago and police have been investigating her disappearance. Her mother, Casey Anthony, 22, is a "person of interest" in her Caylee's disappearance in June. Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to charges of child neglect and lying to investigators, according to reports. Casey Anthony is out on house arrest after she posted a $500,000 bond. She spent about a month in jail before being released.

WESH-TV reported that results from air samples taken from the trunk were analyzed by the University of Tennessee "Body Farm," and revealed that a body had been decomposing in the car's trunk.

-- Lance Murray

Death sentence draws smile from murderous child predator

The other day we wrote about Joseph Edward Duncan III, the child predator and confessed murderer who was on trial in Idaho for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old boy.

On Wednesday a federal jury sentenced Duncan to death in the case.

Duncan's victim in the case was Dylan Groene, a member of a family of five, four of whom Duncan killed. He shot Dylan in the stomach and the head as he held the boy and his sister captive in the deep woods after having killed their mother, her fiance and their older brother. He then burned the boy's body.

What was Duncan's reaction to the sentence? A smile.

-- Lance Murray

Your blotter: 'Chop shop' disrupted by task force; gas station robbed

Police raid Arlington home thought to be a 'chop shop'

From the outside it looked like any other three-bedroom home on a quiet street in Arlington.

The interior, however, was packed with motorcycle parts -- strong evidence of a "chop shop," police said.

That's what members of the Tarrant Regional Auto Crimes Task Force found Wednesday, Aug. 27 when they raided the red-brick house in the 7200 block of George Finger Road in south Arlington.

“It is a three-bedroom house and two bedrooms were basically being used as storage,” said Jesse Minton, a task force detective. “There were shelves and hanging racks with fairings. We’ve got three motorcycle batteries, mufflers, tires and gas tanks.

“That attic was packed.”

One man was arrested and more arrests could follow, Minton said.

“We have 28 motorcycle batteries," he said, "so if each one represents a stolen motorcycle, that is a lot."

Staff Writer Alex Branch reports.

Gas station robbed in north Fort Worth

A gunman with a turtleneck pulled up over his face robbed a Valero station late Tuesday in north Fort Worth, police said.

The man entered the store at 10880 N. Beach St., and demanded money as he jacked a round into the chamber of a semi-automatic pistol, police said.

But only his eyes were visible because of the way he had the sweater pulled up over his face.

Read more in this report by Staff Writer Bill Miller