Massachusetts
Hernandez sued by families of 2 slain Boston men
BOSTON (AP) — The families of two men found fatally shot in Boston in 2012 have filed wrongful death lawsuits against former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez.
Boston-area media report that the lawsuits were filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of the families of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Each seeks $6 million.
The men were sitting in an SUV in the city’s South End in July 2012 when another SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire.
Nobody has been criminally charged with their deaths, but Hernandez has been identified by police as a suspect.
The 24-year-old Hernandez is being held without bail after pleading not guilty to murder in the unrelated death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough. Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee.
Hernandez is now facing four lawsuits, including one by Lloyd’s family and another by a former friend who alleges Hernandez shot him in the face.
Wisconsin
Man sought for illegal gambling, cockfighting ring
WESTON, Wis. (AP) — Marathon County authorities are looking for a man accused of running a cockfighting ring and illegal gambling operation out of a Schofield business.
Everest Metro police said Thursday they’re seeking 35-year-old Bee Her. The Weston man was charged Monday with seven felonies related to illegal gambling and animal mistreatment.
Police Capt. Clayton Schulz says the business appeared to be a front for gambling. He says there were gambling machines, poker chips, receipts and cash in the back.
Police searched Her’s home and found about 48 roosters and hens, some with injuries characteristic of cockfighting. Her was arrested but released before charges were filed. After investigating further police sought to arrest him again Monday but he and the birds were gone.
Online court records didn’t list a defense attorney for Her.
Pennsylvania
Man sentenced to 2 life terms in fatal stabbings
TIONESTA, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to two life terms without possibility of parole in the stabbing deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend at a hunting camp last spring.
Scott Black, 38, of Butler pleaded guilty Feb. 12 in Forest County to second-degree murder in the April 27 deaths of 42-year-old Marcelle Edwards of Tionesta and 43-year-old Donald Shay of Leechburg in a mobile home just outside Tionesta.
Judge Maureen Skerda immediately sentenced Black to two life sentences without parole, the county clerk told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Butler was transferred Wednesday from the county jail to state prison in Pittsburgh to await permanent assignment to a facility.
Sheriff Robert Wolfgang said Black, who was scheduled to go on trial in March, apologized to the families of the victims.
“He said he wished he could take it back but he knew that he couldn’t,” Wolfgang said. Court appointed defense attorney Fred Hummel Jr. declined comment.
Edwards’ teenage daughter testified at a preliminary hearing last year that Black had threatened to kill her mother after she broke up with him last year following a four-year relationship. Edwards and Black were engaged at the time.
Authorities said Shay died of multiple stab wounds and was found on the porch of the home, while Edwards was found in the kitchen, dead of a single wound to the throat.
Texas
Triple killer from Austin loses federal appeal
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has refused an appeal from a condemned triple killer in Austin who argued his attorney abandoned him and missed a critical deadline for filing an appeal.
Louis Castro Perez is on Texas death row for the 1998 slayings of 31-year-old Michelle Fulwiler, 38-year-old Cinda Barz, and Barz’ 9-year-old daughter, Staci Mitchell. The women, who worked for the Travis County juvenile probation department, were beaten and the girl strangled. All three shared an Austin home.
In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said late Wednesday a lower court’s decision that would allow the 52-year-old Perez to file an out-of-time appeal in his case was improper. A new attorney for Perez had filed a lawsuit seeking to file the new appeal.
Texas
Mistrial declared after defendant dies in his home
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A judge has ordered a mistrial in a continuous sexual abuse trial in San Antonio after the defendant was found dead in his home.
The San Antonio Express-News reports that the mistrial was declared Wednesday in the trial of 48-year-old Joseph Michael Myers. Court records say he was accused of repeatedly molesting a brother and sister at a Universal City home during a two-year period ending in 2008. The children were between 6 and 8 years old at the time.
His trial was set to begin Wednesday morning. The medical examiner’s office said Myers died Wednesday morning. An investigation is ongoing into the cause and manner of his death.
If convicted, he would have faced 25 years to life in prison.
New Mexico
Jury convicts woman of manslaughter
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A 39-year-old Las Cruces woman faces up to 3.5 years in prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her fiance.
Annette Fuschini was charged with first-degree murder, accused of intentionally running over her fiance, 42-year-old Carlos Nevarez III on June 12. He had gotten out of her pickup after they argued.
A jury on Wednesday instead convicted her of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, as well as aggravated drunken driving.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Fuschini appeared relieved by the verdict, looking up at the ceiling and then trembling and blotting tears from her eyes.
Fuschini had testified that she was drunk and didn’t remember what happened.
If she had been convicted of first-degree murder, Fuschini would have faced a mandatory life sentence.
