New York
Man gets 50 years for killing 5-year-old son
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting and killing the 5-year-old son of his then-girlfriend.
Matthew Kuzdzal (KUHD’-zuhl) was given the maximum sentence Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Buffalo, where a jury convicted him last month of second-degree murder and predatory sexual assault against a child.
Authorities say the 27-year-old sodomized and fatally beat Eain (EE’-ihn) Brooks in September 2013 in the Buffalo apartment Kuzdzal shared with the boy’s mother.
Prosecutors say Kuzdzal pushed Eain backward toward the bathtub, causing him to hit his head. He died two days later.
Relatives of the boy say earlier calls to Erie County Child Protective Services were mishandled, leading to changes in the way the agency now tracks repeat report.
Texas
Prosecutor says murder suspect history unknown
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas prosecutors may not have offered a suspected serial killer such a lenient prison sentence in a 2009 sexual assault case had they known about his conviction on a similar charge in Indiana five years earlier, a district attorney’s spokesman said Monday.
Darren Vann, who last week confessed to killing seven women in Indiana, agreed to a five-year prison term plea deal in the 2009 sexual assault case. Vann had initially been charged with first-degree felony sexual assault, which carried a 99-year prison sentence.
In a statement Monday, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said she offered Vann the reduced charge deal because there was a lack of DNA evidence and the victim had provided inconsistent statements.
In the 2004 case, Vann served a year in prison after an Indiana woman said he grabbed her in a chokehold, doused her in gasoline and threatened to set fire to her. Vann registered as a sex offender in Indiana.
Lehmberg’s spokesman, Rudy Magallanes, said in a separate email that the 2004 case did not appear in Vann’s criminal history when prosecutors examined it in 2009.
“If the prosecutor would have known about the (Indiana) conviction and the facts of the case, it could have potentially affected the prosecutor’s decision,” he said.
Instead, Texas officials deemed him a low risk for violence. The state risk assessment committee’s staff evaluates the inmate before release and assigns risk scores, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark.
It was unclear if Vann’s previous criminal history was available to the Texas risk assessment staff, but Clark said that even it if had been Vann still would have been rated “low” risk because he served his entire Indiana sentence and was not under Texas supervision upon his release.
Georgia
Banker once deemed dead faces sentencing
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia investment adviser who vanished after losing millions of clients’ dollars and was mistakenly declared dead is facing a potential 30-year prison sentence.
Aubrey Lee Price is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday by a federal judge in Statesboro. The 48-year-old former fugitive pleaded guilty in June to three counts of fraud. Prosecutors say he misspent, embezzled and lost tens of millions of dollars belonging to investors and the Montgomery Bank & Trust, which closed soon after Price went missing in June 2012.
Price left letters hinting at suicide and a Florida judge ultimately declared him dead. But last December he was captured alive in a routine traffic stop.
Price’s plea deal calls for a maximum of 30 years in prison and restitution of $51 million.
Pennsylvania
DA wants to hear from football hazing witnesses
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia district attorney says investigators want to hear from potential victims or witnesses to alleged hazing that abruptly ended the football season at Central Bucks High School West.
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler spoke at a closed-door meeting Monday with the district’s superintendent and about 75 to 100 player parents.
Parents said the meeting in the school’s auditorium previewed information district officials planned to disclose publicly at a school board meeting Tuesday.
Superintendent David Weitzel says he learned Oct. 14 about pre-season rituals for rookies that included grabbing another player’s genitals while fully clothed and placing towels over players’ heads and leading them into the shower.
School board President Paul Faulkner issued a statement Monday supporting the decision to cancel the season’s final two games.
Colorado
Battle for Marvel superheroes goes on in courtroom
DENVER (AP) — Spider-Man, X-Men and The Hulk will loom large in a federal appeals court as Disney battles for the rights to Marvel’s iconic comic book characters in a longtime dispute.
A panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday in an ongoing case involving Colorado-based Stan Lee Media and The Walt Disney Co.
A federal judge last year dismissed a lawsuit in which Stan Lee Media claimed copyright of the characters and sought profits Disney made from movies and merchandise featuring them. Disney bought Marvel in 2009.
Stan Lee Media, which is no longer affiliated with comic book writer Stan Lee, appealed the judge’s order. Disney has argued that other courts have already ruled against Stan Lee Media on the same matter.
Vermont
Judge doubts murder charge in alcohol death
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont judge says he has concerns about the murder charge against a Hardwick woman who police say was involved in the killing of her disabled son when her boyfriend put alcohol in his feeding tube.
In court Monday, Judge Robert Bent said he’d like to know how prosecutors can prove the second-degree murder charge filed against 38-year-old Melissa Robitille.
Robitille and Walter Richters both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Robitille’s 13-year-old son, Isaac Robitille. The boy was found dead at home Aug. 22. Richters told police he poured vodka in the boy’s feeding tube to quiet him.
The Caledonian Record reports Robitille is asking to be released pending trial.
Her attorney didn’t return a call seeking comment.
Richters faces a hearing Wednesday.
