These are the crime stories making headlines today, July 28, 2016 …
- Man convicted in Chandra Levy’s murder won’t be retried. Washington, D.C.’s U.S. Attorney’s Office said they are dropping the charges against Ingmar Guandique, whose conviction for the 2001 murder was overturned last year. The prosecutors said they could no longer prove their case beyond a shadow of a doubt “based on recent unforeseen developments that were investigated over the past week.” It’s unclear if this decision means the investigation into Levy’s murder will be reopened. [AP]
- Feminist writer leaves social media after receiving rape threat targeting her five-year-old daughter. New York Times bestselling author and Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti said she received the threat from someone on social media. “I can deal with a lot of things, I’ve taken a lot of abuse over the years,” she wrote on Twitter. “But my child? No.” Valenti called out law enforcement and social-media companies for not doing more to protect people from online threats and abuse. Valenti said she will be suspending her social-media accounts indefinitely. [NY Daily News]
This morning I woke up to a rape and death threat directed at my 5 year old daughter. That this is part of my work life is unacceptable.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 27, 2016
- NYPD searching for a man who groped and then beat a woman in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood. According to police, around 1:45 A.M. on Saturday, the victim was walking home when the unknown assailant grabbed her butt; when she confronted him, he punched her in the face repeatedly before taking off. The suspect is described as a white male, age 20 to 25, 5′ 8″ tall and weighing approximately 140 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored shirt and blue jeans. Police released a surveillance photo of the suspect and are looking for any information that leads to his arrest. [CBS New York]
- Former Fox News reporter arrested for rape in Virginia. Orlando Salinas, a former reporter with WDBJ in Roanoke, is facing rape and forcible sodomy charges stemming from a January 2016 incident. According to the indictment, the victim has not been identified, but she is not his wife. Salinas is currently being held without bail. [Roanoke Times]
- Alan Bennett will serve two life sentences for killing his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend within only minutes of one another. Bennett first stabbed his girlfriend, Lynne Freeman, to death, and then went over to his ex-girlfriend Jodie Betteridge’s house and stabbed her 132 times, killing her in front of their three young children. The 34-year-old is expected to serve at least 32 years behind bars for the brutal murders. [BBC]
Domingo Juan Andres [Photo: Riverside Police Department]
- Southern California police are looking for a man they say is contacting underage victims over Facebook Messenger, then sexually assaulting them. Investigators are trying to track down Domingo Juan Andres of Riverside – who may use the nickname “Junior” – for allegedly committing two separate assaults against a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old. [NBC Los Angeles]
- Vermont man sentenced to three years in prison for killing his girlfriend’s disabled son with vodka. Walter Richters pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting he put the alcohol in the child’s feeding tube; he was credited with already serving one-and-a-half years of the three-year sentence. In exchange, he’s agreed to testify against the child’s mother, who he said gave him permission to give the 13-year-old boy the alcohol. [NY Daily News]
Jessica Broom [Photo: Police handout]
- Another day, another woman with a bag of heroin hidden in her vagina. Jessica Broom, 28, was stopped by North Dakota police and a search of her person allegedly recovered a bag of heroin found inside her vagina. KNEXT]
Main photos: AP Images