Crime Time

Sgt. Randy White not forgotten by Bridgeport

The Wise County community of Bridgeport is steadfastly loyal to the memory of Police Sgt. Randy White, (right) who died a year ago when his parked patrol car was rear-ended by an SUV during a high-speed chase.

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of his death.

The man who was arrested for causing the wreck, Stephen Blake York, has been jailed for the past year, awaiting trial on a charge of capital murder.

At the request of White's fellow officers, the city of Bridgeport will activate its storm sirens for one minute at 3:15 p.m. Friday to honor the 32-year-old sergeant. 

The tribute, however, will be postponed if there is actual severe weather in Bridgeport. Storms are in Friday's forecast, according to the National Weather Service.

But that won't diminish the community's regard for the officer.

His funeral in Decatur, was packed, not just with family and friends, but also fellow law enforcement officers from across Texas.

White, an Oklahoma native, was an ardent Sooners fan, and fellow members of his department honored him by putting aside their Longhorn loyalties and donning crimson "OU" ball caps through the end of the service.

His wife, Janet, said he was "a Christian first, a husband second, a daddy third and a police officer fourth."

But, she added, "He put 100 percent of himself into all four areas."

Read more about Janet and 6-year-old daughter Jadyn in this special article from the Wise County Messenger.

-- Bill Miller

Saudi Arabia to behead TV presenter for sorcery

Here's a capital crime you don't hear about very often -- sorcery.

CNN reports that a Lebanese TV presenter convicted of sorcery in Saudi Arabia will be beheaded on Friday.

Ali Hussain Sibat was convicted by a Saudi religious court while visiting that country in November for a religious pilgrimage.  He hosted a television show broadcast from Beirut in which he predicted the future and gave advice to his audience.

His lawyer appealed the death sentence, but the appeals court sent it back to the trial court, which upheld its earlier decision, CNN reported.

-- Lance Murray

Police: Girl, 15, sells stepsister, 7, for sex at party

A 15-year-old girl in Trenton, N.J., faces criminal charges after police say she sold her 7-year-old stepsister to seven men and boys for sex at a weekend party.

The older girl faces charges of aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other charges.

Police said the younger girl put her clothes back on and was escorted home by two of the men. She was later treated at a hospital. The older girl stayed behind and accepted money for sex herself, police said.

The girls' parents had reported them missing and police were at the home when the younger girl returned,  The Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

'100 percent evil': Burning body found near school

In a scene called "100 percent evil" by a sheriff's official, a mother and daughter found a burning body early Wednesday near a school in Compton, Calif.

Officials think it is the body of man whose foot had been burned off in the blaze, but they admit they're not sure of the body's gender.

"You do this more than 20 years and you think you've seen everything. Then you see this," said Sheriff's Lt. Henry Saucedo, who called the crime scene "100 percent evil."

He said investigators are not sure how the person died, but they believe the body was set ablaze after death, television station KTLA reported.

-- Lance Murray

Local blotter: Cold case in Granbury cracked; baby beaten to death; DVD pirate pleads guilty

Unexpected confession cracks 1987 case in Granbury

Robert Wade was only 11 in 1987 when his mother, Bonnie Barber, (right) was abducted from a Granbury convenience store early one morning and forcibly drowned in Lake Granbury, where a fisherman discovered her body a few hours later.

Wade, now 35, was shocked to learn that twice-convicted felon Bernie Mac Wall (below) had unexpectedly confessed to killing Barber.

"At first, I thought someone was playing with me," Wade said. "It had been 23 years, and I had long since given up hope. Well, maybe some small something inside kept hope alive, but not really."

A prosecutor said the murder probably would not have been solved but for a convoluted series of events that led to Wall's confession.

 

Dallas man pleads guilty to pirating DVDs

A Dallas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to pirating dozens of movies in 2008 and then selling them out of a Dallas business to customers for $5.

Osborne Lowe, 48, entered his plea in a Dallas federal courtroomto a charge of copyright infringement and aiding and abetting.

Lowe and his son-in-law face a maximum of five years in prison.

Fort Worth man charged in death of girlfriend's baby

Kenneth Wayne Scott, 27, of Fort Worth (right) has been charged with murder in connection with the death this month of Brandi Jonae Wesley, who was his girlfriend's 3-month-old daughter.

An autopsy determined that she died from a closed head injury caused by blunt-force trauma.

Compiled by Bill Miller from the works of colleagues Martha Deller, Domingo Ramirez Jr. and Deann Boyd.

Fourth man arrested in killing of Fort Worth store clerk

Police have arrested a fourth suspect in connection with last week's fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk in southeast Fort Worth.

Tyrone Pierre Thomas, 23, of Fort Worth, was arrested at his girlfriend's apartment.

Daniel Rojas-Torres, 22, was shot to death during the March 23 robbery at the C&D Kwik Stop at 4125 Mansfield Highway.  According to arrest warrant affidavits, the clerk was killed because his knew the suspects who police say worked at an auto business next door.

You can read staff writer Mitch Mitchell's full report here.

-- Lance Murray

Consulate killings: Jail guard was target, gang member says

You may recall the killings March 13 in Juarez, Mexico, of three people with ties to the U.S. consulate in that city.

The El Paso Times has reported that a Barrio Azteca gang member arrested in connection with the killings has told officials that the target of the gang hit was an El Paso County detention officer who the gang believed had mistreated its members while in custody.

Detention officer Arthur Redelfs died in the attack on his SUV along with his wife, Lesley Enriquez Redelfs, an employee of the U.S. consulate in Juarez.  Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, a maquiladora supervisor and the husband of another consulate employee, also was killed that day in a separate attack.

Gang member Ricardo "Chino" Valles de la Rosa, 45, told authorities he was a lookout for the attack and located the Redelfs for the hit squad.  The couple were killed as they approached an international bridge to return home to El Paso.

Valles told officials that the hit men were told that the Redelfs left a Juarez birthday party in a white SUV. Ceniceros also left the same party about the same time in a white SUV, so the gunmen decided to attack both vehicles, Valles told authorities, the Times reported.

The Barrio Aztecas gang is a brother gang to the Azteca gang of Juarez, which officials say is closely aligned to the Juarez drug cartel.  Thousands of people have been murdered in the cartel war that engulfed Juarez in the past couple years.

-- Lance Murray

4 dead, 5 wounded in Washington, D.C., driveby shooting

Bullets were flying and victims were falling Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., and when it was all over four persons were dead and five people were wounded when gunmen opened fire from a moving vehicle into a crowd.

Police said that they arrested three suspects in the shootings that took place in the southeastern part of the nation's capital. No motive has been disclosed, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

'Dating Game' serial killer sentenced to death

California serial killer Rodney Alcala was sentenced to death on Tuesday and then sat with his head down as the families of his victims took turns condemning him.

Alcala, 66, was convicted of killing four women and a 12-year-old girl in the 1970s.

Authorities recently released photographs Alcala took during that period in hopes of determining the fates of the women and children in the photos. Officials have feared that additional victims may be identified, the Associated Press reported.

Alcala presented his own, often rambling defense during his trial that even included showing a clip of him on the television show, "The Dating Game," the AP reported.

-- Lance Murray

Busted: Woman used ID theft to pay for breast implants

Her plan went bust, you might say.

A 30-year-old woman in Orange County, Calif., has been sentenced to six months in jail for using a fraudulent line of credit to obtain $12,000 in cosmetic surgery, including breast implants.

She had pleaded guilty to burglary, grand theft and identity theft. She also got three years' probation and was ordered to make restitution, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray