National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Lifer resentenced for triple slaying gets ‘only’ 75 years in prison

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh man who killed three elderly neighbors in 1986, when he was just 14, has been resentenced to 75 years to life in prison.

Donald Zoller, who is now 45, was resentenced by an Allegheny County judge on Monday because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has outlawed mandatory life sentences for juvenile killers.

Zoller was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing 78-year-old Edward Kalberer, then also killing his 75-year-old wife, Mary, and 93-year-old mother-in-law, Ann Jacobs, because they witnessed the first killing.

Defense attorney Christy Foreman asked the judge to consider Zoller’s claim that he has found God in prison, and he apologized for the killings.

But Mary Jenkins, the Kalberers’ daughter, says her children were affected by the slayings which “did not help them find God.”

Texas
Man sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences

RUSK, Texas (AP) — An East Texas man has been sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences plus consecutive prison terms totaling 450 years after he was convicted of 34 counts of child sexual abuse.

The Jacksonville Daily Progress reports a Cherokee County jury on Thursday found Kevin Ray Morris Sr. guilty of molesting, raping and threatening multiple children ranging from age 4 to 16 for more than 20 years before he was charged.

State District Judge R. Chris Day decided to stack the sentences and told Morris, “If I could give you more time to serve, I would.”

The jury also ordered Morris to pay $340,000 in fines.

Ohio
Imprisoned man gets 3rd trial in ex-girlfriend’s strangling death

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A man who has been twice convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend but maintains his innocence is getting a third trial in northeastern Ohio.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports 53-year-old Willard McCarley goes to trial Tuesday in Summit County court after an appellate court again found errors with his previous trial.

He has spent 11 years in prison for the slaying of 26-year-old Charlene Puffenbarger, who was found strangled with a belt, suffocated and hit at her Twinsburg Township apartment in 1992. McCarley wasn’t charged until 2004, after a cold case team re-examined the slaying and new DNA testing was done on the belt.

Puffenbarger’s family alleges McCarley killed her to avoid paying child support for their then-2-year-old son.

McCarley says he was at his home sleeping when Puffenbarger died.

Florida
Cops: ‘Stop ­calling 911’ order wasn’t made to killing victim

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Police in Florida say an officer wasn’t directing a “stop calling 911” comment to a woman who was fatally shot along with her 8-year-old son hours later.

Police were called to a home in the Orlando suburb of Sanford on March 27 after Latina Herring’s boyfriend called 911 to complain she had taken his keys.

Police bodycam video shows an officer saying, “We’re going to handle it” and “Stop calling 911 to make accusations you don’t know about.” But police say the comment was directed at “a third party complainant who continued to make 911 calls about the incident while officers were on scene.”

Extended bodycam video released by police appears to verify that the comment wasn’t directed at Herring.

Authorities say Herring’s boyfriend killed her and her son hours later.

New York
Drug dealer gets life in prison for officer’s death

NEW YORK (AP) — A drug dealer convicted of fatally shooting a New York City police officer during a foot chase in 2015 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Tyrone Howard appeared Monday in a Manhattan courtroom. The 32-year-old Howard was convicted last month on charges including murder, robbery and weapons possession in the death of 33-year-old Randolph Holder.

On Monday, the slain officer’s father, Randolph Holder Sr., told the judge that his son was a decent man whose life was wrongly cut short.

“I can’t explain the feeling that I have. I just don’t want to call his name, it’s so bad. I just want to call him a beast,” Holder said of Howard, according to the Daily News of New York. “He shouldn’t be on the streets. I think he should be put away for life and throw away the keys so he can never see daylight again.”

Outside court, Holder urged parents to teach their children respect for the police.

“I just want to send a message out there to the mothers and fathers to take care of their children. They deserve every day discipline ... manners ... so they can be respectful to the police.”

The officer and his partner approached Howard as he was on a stolen bicycle on an East Harlem street in October 2015. Authorities say Howard fled on foot, then pulled out a handgun and shot Holder in the head on a footbridge over the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive.

Authorities say Howard had been involved in a gunfight with drug dealers just before he was confronted by the officers.


Rhode Island
Judge approves settlement over 38 Studios

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge has approved a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over Rhode Island’s failed $75 million deal with the videogame company owned by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

Under the settlement approved Monday by U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell, the state’s economic development agency will pay a $50,000 penalty. It did not admit wrongdoing.

Schilling’s 38 Studios moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island for a $75 million state loan guarantee, then went bankrupt.

The SEC lawsuit alleged the state agency and Wells Fargo Securities made misleading statements about bonds used to fund the deal.

The lawsuit is still pending against Wells Fargo and one of its employees. They have disputed the allegations and said no investors were harmed.