Husband kills himself days after breakthrough in wife’s 25-year-old disappearance
A man whose wife disappeared in 1998 has died by suicide just as the cold case was getting renewed attention. Jim Sweeten, 79, called police in Texas to say that he was going to take his own life. Law enforcement found him dead at his home at an RV park in Welasco, about five miles from the border with Mexico on Wednesday, according to Fox 23. The authorities said he was found in a shed with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The discovery was made just two days after the disappearance of his wife, 25 years ago, was once again in the news as police found a barrel in a body of water close to the home in Oklahoma where they had lived until she disappeared. Peggy Sweeten, a special education teacher, was 52 when she vanished. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma wrote on Facebook that “Law enforcement returned to the former Sweeten home Monday this week to conduct an underwater search and retrieve a metal barrel that was discovered a few weeks ago and could possibly have been a burn barrel that was noticed to be missing around the same time as Peggy’s disappearance. No human remains were located. This is a cold case that has been under active investigation”. When she vanished, Mr Sweeten claimed that she had left with a lover, but no evidence was found to support this theory, and he shortly stopped cooperating with the investigation. He rejected efforts to conduct a property search or take part in a polygraph test. When questioned in 2011, Mr Sweeten told officials that he thought “he should consult an attorney,” according to Valley Central. A detective wrote in an application for a search warrant that Mr Sweeten “appeared to be deceptive and evasive” and he “appeared to be attempting to find out how far the investigation had progressed and what [the investigator] knows and what direction the investigation was headed”. Police assumed that Ms Sweeten was dead as the years passed following her disappearance. She was last seen on 13 January 1998. Police shared the worry with local media that, as the investigation progressed, Mr Sweeten might kill himself or flee to Mexico, according to Fox 23. Mr Sweeten was a former Kansas superintendent who had been having an affair with a teacher from another district, according to the 2011 warrant. He filed for divorce just weeks after Ms Sweeten’s disappearance. He claimed to police that when he got back from a conference, Ms Sweeten had left him a note to say that she was leaving him, but all her belongings, including her car, clothes, and personal mementos, were left behind. There was nothing indicating that she was planning to leave. Mr Sweeten told law enforcement that his wife had met a man online, but she never used email and didn’t have an email address. Read More Thirty tonnes of explosive chemicals go missing in the Mojave Desert Oklahoma lures Enel solar panel manufacturing facility with $180M incentive package More women sue Texas, asking court to put emergency block on state's abortion law
2023-05-23 21:48
Family of Christian Glass, who was shot and killed by police after calling 911, receives record $19m settlement
The family of Christian Glass, who called 911 after his car got stuck and was later shot and killed by police, will receive a $19m payout – the largest payout for police misconduct in the history of Colorado. Mr Glass was shot and killed in Silver Plume, west of Denver in the central parts of the state, in the summer of last year. Four local governments in the state will each pay parts of the settlement to reach the record amount. In addition to the funds, the family will also receive assurances that the state and its police agencies are enacting measures to ensure a similar incident doesn’t occur again, according to 9News. Mr Glass called 911 on 10 June last year after his car got stuck on a road in the small town, a former silver mining camp. Seven officers from five agencies responded. Mr Glass was shot and killed an hour and ten minutes after he had called for a mental health check. He told the officers on several occasions that he was scared to open the door of the car or to roll down his window, but the police still attempted to get Mr Glass to get out of the vehicle. Clear Creek County Deputy Andrew Buen, who has since left the job, broke the passenger-side window, Tased Mr Glass, and shot him with bean bags, which were non-lethal. Officers have said that Mr Glass then reached out with a small knife, prompting Officer Buen to shoot him five times, killing Mr Glass. His parents, Simon and Sally Glass, said in a statement via their lawyers that they hope that the settlement will work as a message that injustice will not be accepted and that those responsible for their son’s death will be held accountable, including the officers who didn’t act to protect Mr Glass. The family has said previously that they wanted further indictments for those offices. University of California, Los Angeles law professor Dr Joanna Schwartz told 9News that “$19m is a lot of money”. “I think this agency will be thinking carefully about how it operates in the future, and other departments in the region and across the country are also going to take notice of this suit. But I think it’s the noneconomic changes that will most directly impact the department in the immediate future,” she added. Clear Creek County, Officer Buen’s former department, has the largest payout – $10m. As part of the settlement with the county, Mr Glass’s parents will get to speak to new patrol recruits joining the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office. The county is also set to create a crisis response team before 1 January 2025. The co-responder programme across the county will couple mental health workers with paramedics to respond to calls along with police to make sure that what took place in the case of Mr Glass doesn’t occur again. Dr Schwartz told 9News that in many instances, police agencies aren’t interested or willing to agree to settlements like this one. “I really haven’t heard of another settlement that involves the parents actually themselves speaking to officers, which is truly novel in my experience,” she told the local station. More follows...
2023-05-23 21:29
Woman accused of drunk driving that killed bride on wedding night says her ‘life is over’ in jail call
The woman accused of fatally hitting a South Carolina bride on her wedding night in an alleged drunk driving crash said that her “life was over” in a jailhouse call. Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, allegedly crashed her red Toyota Camry into Samantha Miller and Aric Hutchinson’s golf cart after they left their wedding reception in Folly Beach last month. The bride, who was still wearing her wedding dress, was killed instantly and the groom was injured in the shocking incident. “I can’t believe this is my life … and my whole life is going to be over,” she said in a teary call obtained by The Post and Courier. “Oh my God. I just can’t believe this happened to me.… Why me?… I’m going to be here for years and years and years and years.” Ms Komoroski’s father told her that she needed to “suck it up” and “get tough” during the call that was made from the Charleston County Jail. “I want it to be over,” the suspect told him. Investigators say that Ms Komoroski’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit at the time of the crash and that she was allegedly driving at 65mph on a 25mph road. The suspect had been working at a Mexican restaurant before the crash and has been charged with three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide. “I just pray and hope that the judge understands how regretful and remorseful I am and that I’m not a bad person and that I’ll never do anything bad again,” she said in another call. And in another call, she called the incident a “freak accident “Obviously, I didn’t mean it to happen. I just feel like a terrible person, like, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen,” she said. A GoFundMe for the couple has raised nearly $730,000 since the accident. Read More Truck driver arrested for suspected DUI over Oregon crash that left seven dead Widowed husband sues driver, bars after DUI crash killed bride on wedding night Devastated husband of bride killed by alleged drunk driver on wedding night breaks silence
2023-05-23 21:29
Driver who crashed outside White House charged with threatening president
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A man who crashed a rented box truck into security barriers near the White House was charged with
2023-05-23 21:23
EU seeks top court backing in $14 billion tax fight against Apple
By Foo Yun Chee LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -EU competition regulators appealed to the bloc's highest court on Tuesday to override a
2023-05-23 21:21
A U-haul truck, a Nazi flag and threats to kill the president: What we know about the White House crash
It was a balmy, spring night in Washington DC when a U-haul truck suddenly slammed into security gates close to the White House. The driver, who was allegedly carrying a Nazi flag, then made threatening statements about the building that President Joe Biden calls home. Now, the male suspect has been arrested on charges of threatening to kill or harm the president, Vice President Kamala Harris or one of their family members. The details so far remain scant, with the identity of the driver, his alleged motive and plans still unclear. But, what we do know about the incident will no doubt be setting off alarm bells around Capitol Hill – coming at a time when lawmakers and government officials have faced growing threats and just two years after Donald Trump supporters succeeding in storming the US Capitol in the January 6 riot. Here’s what we know so far about Monday’s incident. What happened? The incident unfolded just before 10pm ET on Monday night when the white U-Haul box truck crashed into the security barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square on 16th Street, Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service chief of communications, said in a statement on Monday night. The crash took place just a few hundred feet away from the White House, where Mr Biden had been holding talks with Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy just hours earlier. Video, posted by eyewitness Chris Zaboji, appears to show the truck driving into the barricades once and then driving into them a second time. Mr Zaboji, an airline pilot living in Washington, said he was walking home after jogging on the national mall when he heard a loud crash. He pulled out his phone to capture what was going on. “I looked back and saw that the U-Haul van had rammed into the barricade. I backed away behind a guy on a golf cart and took the video on my phone,” he told Reuters. “After I saw it rammed again I didn’t want to be anywhere near the truck and left.” Nazi paraphernalia and threats A police source told NBC News that the driver made threatening statements about the White House at the scene but was quickly detained by law enforcement. Inside the truck, police also found a Nazi flag. The flag was seen in photos captured by a Reuters photojournalist on the ground next to the truck. Following a search of the truck, officials found it contained no weapons or explosives. There were no injuries in the crash and there is no ongoing danger to the public, officials said. “There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel and the cause and manner of the crash remain under investigation,” said Mr Guglielmi. The suspect The identity of the suspect has not been released by authorities and the motive remains unknown at this time. However, on Tuesday morning, US Park Police spokesman Thomas Twiname said that the male suspect had been arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on the president, vice president or a family member. Mr Guglielmi said on Monday night that the preliminary investigation indicated that the driver had “intentionally” collided with the security barriers. Threats against officials It is not clear if the president and first lady were home at the time of the incident which comes amid a rise of potential threats against politicians. Data from the Capitol Police revealed that the agency had investigated about 7,500 cases of potential threats against members of Congress in 2022. While lower than the 9,600 threats recorded in 2021, it was twice as many as in 2017. In October, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center and the US Capitol Police sent a joint intelligence bulletin to law enforcement partners across the country warning that a rise in domestic violent extremism (DVE) and “perceptions” of election fraud could lead to a spike in violence. Among the most “attractive targets” to extremists are lawmakers, government officials and personnel involved in elections including both political candidates and election workers, it warned. “Potential targets of DVE violence include candidates running for public office, elected officials, election workers, political rallies, political party representatives, racial and religious minorities, or perceived ideological opponents,” the bulletin read. That same day – 28 October 2022 – the husband of then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi husband was the victim of a violent hammer attack at the couple’s home in California. David DePape, a 42-year-old hemp jewellery maker, allegedly broke into the couple’s San Francisco home in the early hours of the morning searching for Ms Pelosi. Ms Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, 82, was home alone, with his wife away in Washington DC at the time. Mr Pelosi managed to call 911 but the suspect allegedly struck him over the head with a hammer when officers arrived. This came over one year after the January 6 Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 when a mob of Mr Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol – fuelled by his lies that the presidential election was “stolen” from him – to try to overturn Joe Biden’s win. Chilling footage from that day reveals how some of the rioters hunted for Ms Pelosi, chanting “Where’s Nancy?” as they ransacked her office. Others were seen chanting “Hang Mike Pence” after the vice president refused to attempt to overthrow the election in Mr Trump’s favour. Read More Nazi flag recovered from scene after U-haul truck ‘intentionally’ slams into railings near White House
2023-05-23 21:21
U-Haul truck driver who crashed into security barrier at park near White House is arrested
A man police believe intentionally crashed a U-Haul truck into a security barrier at a park across from the White House has been identified as a 19-year-old suburban St. Louis resident
2023-05-23 21:18
Climate Resiliency Challenge Launches with Up to $1M in Prizes
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2023--
2023-05-23 21:18
Velo3D Promotes Alexander Varlahanov to Chief Technology Officer
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2023-05-23 21:17
Millennial Money: How to pick a socially responsible bank
Now is a great time to look for a bank or credit union that aligns with your values
2023-05-23 20:57
Jockey suicides shadow horse racing, bring attention to stress and mental health concerns of the job
The horse racing community was stunned earlier this year when 23-year-old Avery Whisman and 29-year-old Alex Canchari died by suicide less than six weeks apart
2023-05-23 20:57
Tempers rise as German government's clean heating plans go up in smoke
Germany’s government is facing a major test after two junior partners in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition sparred publicly over a key element in the country’s ambitious climate policy
2023-05-23 20:56