National Roundup

South Dakota
Investigators crack cold case murder of woman
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The murder of a pharmacist who was raped and strangled in her home in a South Dakota city more than half a century ago has been solved with the use of DNA technology and genealogy databases, police said.

Investigators believe Eugene Carroll Field killed 60-year-old Gwen Miller in 1968 when he was a 25-year-old living in Rapid City, Detective Wayne Keefe said at a news conference Monday. He said there was enough evidence to charge Field with first-degree murder, but that he died in 2009.

It is “a little surreal” to finally identify the killer after 51 years and up to 5,000 hours of work, Keefe said. The motive remains unknown.

“Today, there’s a slight celebratory mood because the case has been solved,” Police Chief Karl Jegeris said. “But I assure you, the fact of how horrific this crime was wears heavy on each and every one of our hearts.”

Miller had no children and worked as a pharmacist at a Rapid City hospital. After she didn’t show up to work Feb. 29, 1968, two co-workers went to her house, where they found a broken window in the back, Keefe said.
The coroner found she had been raped, suffered a broken neck and rib bones, and died by strangulation.

Last year, Keefe sent a DNA profile of semen from the crime scene to forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, who used public genealogy websites to identify Field’s brother. Keefe then searched for the family’s name in old phone directories to determine that the suspect had lived near the victim.

Field was a ticketing agent for Western Airlines at the Rapid City airport, which Miller frequented. Keefe also determined that Field had rented a room in the house next door to Miller for several months in 1963. The detective interviewed two women who had been married to Field. Both said he had abused them. He also contacted Field’s brother and only sibling, who provided a DNA sample that showed a 99.23 percent probability of being from a full sibling of the killer.

Field has no known connections to any other cold case and does not seem to have previously been a suspect in Miller’s death, Keefe said.

The Associated Press was not immediately able to locate Field’s survivors Tuesday, and police declined to provide contact information.

Kay Miller-Temple, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, said her great-aunt was a “very independent and confident” person, especially for a single woman in the mid-1900s. She said her family members, who came from across South Dakota and as far away as Arizona to attend the news conference, wanted their experience to give hope to other families with cold cases.

“The family of Gwen Vivian Miller offers you our gratitude and our appreciation,” she said through tears. “Thank you for giving us an answer.”


California
Mexican pleads guilty in massive drug money laundering case
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Mexican man arrested last year in what prosecutors called the biggest international money laundering investigation ever in San Diego has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

The Union-Tribune reports Manuel Reynoso Garcia admitted Tuesday that his organization moved more than $19 million in cash from the U.S. to bank accounts controlled by Mexican shell companies.

The 63-year-old from Tijuana was the last of eight defendants to plead guilty in the case. Prosecutors said they laundered drug proceeds on behalf of Mexican criminal organizations that included the Sinaloa Cartel.

Reynoso Garcia’s sentencing on the conspiracy charge, which carries a 20-year maximum prison term, is set for September.

New Hampshire
Man won’t ask for early release in Dartmouth ­stabbing deaths
NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) — A man serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two Dartmouth College professors has withdrawn his request for early release after the victims’ families objected.

The 16-year-old James Parker and 17-year-old Robert Tulloch, of Chelsea, Vermont, posed as students conducting a survey. Parker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder to killing Suzanne Zantop and agreed to testify against Tulloch, who stabbed her husband, Half Zantop.

The Valley News reports that Parker’s attorney Cathy Green said that her client will remain in prison until his minimum release date in May 2024. He’s allowed to petition for a reduced sentence because he’s served two-thirds of the minimum time.

Tulloch’s serving a mandatory life sentence, which will be examined in December after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against mandatory life sentences for minors.

New York
Attorney Michael Avenatti faces November trial
NEW YORK (AP) — California attorney Michael Avenatti learned Tuesday that he faces a November trial date on charges he tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike.

The Nov. 12 trial date was set by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan.

Avenatti participated by telephone. Afterward, he said in a statement that he looks forward to a New York jury hearing all evidence related to Nike.

“I have complete confidence in the truth and am confident that I will be exonerated at the end of the trial,” he said.

His lawyer, Scott Srebnick, said it was likely that he’ll challenge the government’s prosecution on several fronts prior to trial.

The challenges will include whether searches of Avenatti’s electronic devices and other property were carried out legally.

Another Tuesday hearing scheduled over allegations he defrauded porn star Stormy Daniels was postponed. That case in which Avenatti is accused of pocketing several hundred thousand dollars paid to Daniels as part of a book deal is proceeding before a different federal judge.

Avenatti was charged in March with trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to go public with claims that the sportwear company was facilitating improper payouts to promising young athletes and their families.

Avenatti gained fame representing Daniels over a nondisclosure deal regarding an alleged affair with President Donald Trump.

He also faces federal fraud charges in California.