National Roundup

Ohio
Aug. trial set in kidnapping of multiple women
CLEVELAND (AP) — A tentative Aug. 4 trial date has been set for an Ohio man accused of kidnapping three women and holding them in his home for about a decade.
Ariel Castro, with his wrists and ankles shackled, appeared in court in Cleveland for a brief hearing Wednesday.
As in previous court appearances, he kept his chin tucked in his chest. He answered “yes” and “no” to the judge’s questions about his understanding of the proceedings.
Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo mentioned plea deal discussions raised by the defense last week. He asked that any plea deal that emerges be submitted by attorneys in writing.
The 52-year-old Castro faces another pretrial hearing June 26.
Also Wednesday, lawmakers in Columbus planned to discuss providing relief payments to the three women.

Mississippi
Shipping fraud case set to go to trial in Gulfport
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A couple accused of running a fraudulent shipping business in Biloxi will stand trial Aug. 5 in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
The Sun Herald reports 34-year-old Dustin Lee Griswold and his wife, 37-year-old Jennifer Lynn Griswold, each pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court.
A grand jury indicted each on a conspiracy charge. Dustin Griswold was also indicted on 15 counts of wire fraud in allegations involving their company, Harmoni Shipping.
The indictment alleges the couple claimed to own an international shipping business with barges to move ocean freight, and hired companies such as UPS Freight to make land deliveries for their customers. They’re accused of conspiring to take money in advance but failing to pay the delivery companies.
The wire fraud charges allegedly involve more than $52,500 in shipping orders placed with UPS between May and July 2009.
Dustin Griswold is held without bond. He was wanted on two fugitive charges from 2006 and 2009, has been convicted of assault and thefts, and faces up to 20 years in prison for each of 15 counts of wire fraud, U.S. Magistrate John M. Roper Sr. wrote in a detention order.
Dustin Griswold also is accused of committing similar crimes in other states, the judge said.
Roper gave Jennifer Griswold a $25,000 unsecured bond. He ordered her held pending approval of her living arrangements and other conditions of release.
The indictment said Harmoni also claimed to own numerous delivery trucks and had agreed to handle shipments for AWM Transportation.
Harmoni allegedly hired UPS for AWM’s deliveries, and asked AWM to send its payments to a Biloxi check-cashing business.
UPS tried to collect $29,000 in unpaid bills from Harmoni in July 2009 for the AWM shipments, but the couple allegedly gave UPS excuses such as the check was in the mail, their home had been burglarized, their computer files had been erased and their bank account had been frozen, according to court records.
Court papers allege the couple then notified AWM its freight was being held for ransom on a roadside until Harmoni Shipping received payment.

Pennsylvania
Report says man castrated patient who’s paraplegic 
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 41-year-old man is being held on $5 million bail after police say he castrated a paraplegic during a dispute at an assisted living facility in Philadelphia.
Authorities say Edgar Bonilla is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and other counts in Monday night’s attack inside the Inglis Apartments at Elmwood. Lt. John Walker says Bonilla was visiting a female friend at the facility and that she apparently had some sort of dispute with the victim.
Walker says Bonilla was apparently trying to settle that dispute. The victim, Bonilla and the woman were all apparently friends.
Bonilla is in custody and it couldn’t immediately be determined if he had an attorney. The name of the victim wasn’t released, but he remains in critical condition at a hospital.

Louisiana
Boy, 13, charged in ‘wrestling’ death of girl, 5
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV.
“The 13-year-old reported he started to wrestle with the victim and practiced ‘WWE’ style wrestling moves on the 5-year-old,” Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
Those moves allegedly included repeatedly slamming the girl on a bed, punching her in the stomach, jumping on her and striking her with his elbow. A coroner’s investigation found the girl died of multiple injuries, including broken ribs, lacerations of the liver and internal bleeding.
In a statement released Tuesday, WWE offered condolences to the victim’s family but cautioned against attributing the death to its industry.
“Authorities have already charged the accused with second-degree murder and determined that this was not an accidental death due to a wrestling move,” the organization said.
“As in similar cases, criminal intent to harm and a lack of parental supervision have been the factors resulting in a tragic death.”
The boy had been left to babysit the girl by his stepmother when the alleged beating occurred, authorities said. After the beating, the girl later complained of a stomach ache. When she stopped breathing, the boy called 911. Emergency responders could not revive her and she was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The boy was taken to a juvenile facility and booked on a second-degree murder arrest warrant after he was interviewed by homicide Detective Matt Vasquez.
Authorities released the name of the suspect but The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify juveniles charged with crimes.
The detective said the boy told him that he knew the wrestling moves on TV were fake, but he was smiling and appeared to enjoy talking about them.
“The 13-year-old continued by saying the victim complained that she was hurting, but he continued to slam, punch and elbow her for an additional two or three minutes, stopping when his mother called him on the phone to check on he and the victim,” sheriff’s officials said in the news release.