National Roundup

Connecticut Church burglar leaves apology note after theft of equipment WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A man who broke into a Connecticut church and stole $3,000 worth of electronics apparently felt enough remorse to leave an apology note. Police have released video of the man they say broke into Mount Olive AME Zion Church in Waterbury at about 1 a.m. Sunday and stole cameras, monitors and a microphone used to broadcast religious services. Members of the congregation tell WVIT-TV he also left a note that said "Pray 4 Me!! Sorry brothers. Save me," and drew a little sad face. Member Craig Smith says some members of the congregation heeded the note and prayed for the suspect at a later service. Police are asking anyone who recognizes the suspect to contact them. Iowa @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Man pleads guilty to birthday bank heist CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A man has pleaded guilty to robbing an eastern Iowa bank on his birthday. Records say 46-year-old Joseph Kripner, of Monticello, entered the plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. His sentencing date hasn't been set. Authorities say he robbed the Security State Bank in Spring­ville on his birthday, June 1, getting away with nearly $4,000 after showing his handgun to a teller. Kripner's distinctive tattoos helped authorities zero in on him as the robber after a tipster helped identify the robber's getaway car. Kripner was arrested in Colorado. Indiana Man charged in alleged plot to poison baby girl FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana man has been charged with conspiring with his girlfriend to try to poison her infant niece by adding crushed painkillers to a bottle of breast milk. The Journal Gazette reports that 23-year-old Sir Marshall S. Snyder III, also known as Marshall Snyder, is accused of telling Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda to kill the girl in text and Facebook messages. Records say the 23-year-old Fort Wayne man helped her flee to Michigan, where she was arrested last September. Snyder is charged with aiding attempted murder. Court records don't list a lawyer for him. Rodriguez-Miranda was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder. Authorities say the Fort Wayne woman tried to poison her niece in January 2017 using a bottle of milk containing enough crushed painkillers to kill an adult. North Carolina Infant saved, stolen car found after doll ­mistaken for baby LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say a man saw a doll inside a parked truck and called police about an unresponsive infant, leading to the recovery of stolen truck and real baby. Lumberton Police Department Capt. Terry Parker tells The Fayetteville Observer that a woman reported her pickup truck stolen and 3-week-old baby missing Monday. Parker says the woman was taking two other children inside a house when someone stole the vehicle and baby inside it. Police issued an alert, and Parker says the truck and baby were abandoned in a nearby parking lot minutes later. He says a man walking past the truck noticed a window was down and peered inside. Parker says the man saw a doll lying on the floor and called police. Parker says no arrests were made as of Tuesday. New York Woman who killed baby daughter in '80s freed from prison SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - A 75-year-old New York woman who was convicted of killing her baby daughter in 1985 and suspected of killing seven of her eight other children has been freed from prison. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed Tuesday that Marybeth Tinning has been released from Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills and will be supervised by officials in Schenectady County, where she lives. Her release was approved in July after a parole hearing, her seventh since being imprisoned in 1987. A jury convicted Tinning of killing her ninth child, 4-month-old Tami Lynne, in December 1985. She was one of Marybeth and Joseph Tinning's eight young children to die between 1972 and 1985 under suspicious circumstances. Marybeth Tinning was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. New Jersey @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:<*p(0,0,0,18.5,0,4,g(P,S))>Ex-cop convicted for 2nd time in friend's ­shooting death WOODBURY, N.J. (AP) - A former New Jersey police officer has been convicted for a second time in the shooting death of his friend. James Stuart initially was convicted in October 2015 of murder and aggravated manslaughter in the January 2013 death of David Compton. But a state appellate court ruled in August 2017 that the former Deptford patrolman deserved a new trial because of errors in jury instructions. A Gloucester County jury convicted Stuart of reckless manslaughter on Tuesday. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he's sentenced Oct. 19. Prosecutors say Stuart shot Compton in the face at Stuart's home while he was off-duty. The 27-year-old died days later. Stuart has said he didn't know the gun was loaded and would never have hurt Compton. Illinois Ex-state ­congressman wants corruption trial moved URBANA, Ill. (AP) - Former Illinois congressman Aaron Schock is seeking to move his corruption trial from a federal court in Urbana to Peoria. Schock's attorneys argue in a motion filed in U.S. District Court that because a number of the allegations occurred in Peoria the trial should be held in that city. It's the second time Schock's attorneys have sought to move his case to Peoria. Before recusing herself from the case, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough, who sits in Springfield, said no to a move to Peoria. Schock, a Peoria Republican, resigned in 2015 and was indicted on allegations of misusing funds in 2016. The removal of U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce from Schock's case was announced Friday after the discovery of an email exchange between the judge and a member of the U.S. attorney's office. Bruce commented on and joked about one of his trials in progress at the time. Published: Thu, Aug 23, 2018