Society's Child

US: Renato Seabra, Alleged Castration Killer of Carlos Castro, too Crazy for Trial, Lawyer Says

Melissa Grace
New York Daily News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:20 UTC

© Siegel for News
Wearing a neon orange prison jacket and jet black hair, Renato Seabra stared straight ahead during the hearing

Accused castration killer Renato Seabra may claim he is too crazy to be tried for the torture death of his Portuguese lover in a midtown hotel, his defense lawyer said Friday.

Lawyer David Touger asked a Manhattan judge to give him more time to review St. Luke's hospital records - where Seabra, 21, headed before his arrest but after the ultra-violent, hourlong slaying of acclaimed fashion journalist and gay activist Carlos Castro, 65.

"Until we get those records, we are not making any decisions," the defense lawyer said. "They were the first people who saw Renato - they're the most important."

Wearing a neon orange prison jacket and jet black hair, Seabra stared straight ahead during the hearing. The male model's mother sat in the audience behind him.

US: Prep Star Hits Game-Winning Shot for Perfect Season, Falls and Dies

Cameron Smith
Rivals High
Sat, 05 Mar 2011 08:38 UTC

Tragedy struck Western Michigan on Thursday night when Fennville (Mich.) High basketball star Wes Leonard hit a game-winning shot in a 57-55, overtime victory over Bridgman (Mich.) High, then collapsed on the court while celebrating the victory and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly thereafter.

According to the Associated Press, Leonard, who you can see making the game-winning shot above, was celebrating his game-winning layup with the rest of his teammates when he collapsed to the ground. Paramedics tried CPR on the star at the site and in the ambulance, but he was pronounced dead upon reaching nearby Holland Hospital.

The star's death was due to an enlarged heart, Ottawa County medical examiner David A. Smart told ABC News after concluding an autopsy on the player's body on Friday.

"Obviously, in the midst of celebration, I think shocking is exactly the word," Fennville Superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer told The Holland Sentinel about Leonard's collapse.

US: Man Leaps to His Death from Casino on Las Vegas Strip

Timothy Pratt
Reuters
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:08 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
A view of the darkened Las Vegas Strip during Earth Hour in 2010. The Earth Hour global movement to help fight climate change is going beyond asking people to turn off their lights to making firm commitments to protect the environment, organisers said Wednesday

A man committed suicide on Friday by leaping off a ledge at the newly-built Cosmopolitan hotel and casino onto the famed Las Vegas Strip, police said.

Witness accounts place the man on a ledge at either the 6th floor or the 14th floor of the Cosmopolitan, the newest hotel and casino to open on the Strip, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Marcus Martin said.

The hotel, which opened to much publicity on December 15, has 50 floors and nearly 3,000 rooms.

Marcus said police received calls that a man, who was not identified, was threatening to jump from the Cosmopolitan at about 4:45 a.m., Martin said.

Thieves Break-in to New Zealand Prison

Robyn Beck
Agence France-Presse
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:20 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
A locked cellblock at a prison in the US. A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in

A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in.

Police said Saturday that thieves had broken into the prison at New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, just before midnight and stolen a large plasma television.

"If any members of the public saw anyone carrying a big TV at that time of night, or heard or saw anything in the area of the prison, let police know," Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said.

Violence in Libya Turns Deadly as Gadhafi Forces Clash With Rebels

Lauren Frayer
AOL News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:28 UTC

At least 15 demonstrators were reported killed today in a fierce struggle for control of the Libyan city of Zawiya, and 30 miles away in Tripoli, protesters rallied in the capital's streets as security forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi fought back with firearms and tear gas.

There were conflicting reports of casualties as violence worsened across the North African nation. Sky News reported 30 people dead and up to 50 injured after Gadhafi forces fired on demonstrators in Zawiya. The Associated Press, quoting a witness who was at the city's hospital, reported at least 18 people were killed and 120 wounded, and CNN reported that at least 15 were killed there.

Mercenaries brought in by Gadhafi "have been opening fire on people here," a man identified as Ibrahim told Reuters. "Hundreds of victims are now in the town hospital."

Libyan state TV claimed Zawiya was back in the hands of Gadhafi's forces. "It is liberated this afternoon, and we are going to take you there tomorrow to see for yourself," a government spokesman was quoted by The New York Times.

But others disputed that. "That is [a] lie," Mohamed Magid, an opposition spokesman, told The Washington Post. "We are still in the square. Zawiya has not fallen."

US: Mississippi boy found in oven died from heat

Holbrook Mohr
Associated Press
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:47 UTC

Jackson - A toddler whose body was found inside the electric oven at his family's home died from heat injuries, according to preliminary results from medical examiners released Friday.

Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson said the pathologist was still trying to determine if 3-year-old Tristan Robinson was conscious when he was put inside the oven. He also appeared to have suffered trauma to his head.

Greenville Police found the boy's body at his mother's apartment Wednesday after responding to an emergency call just after midnight. The mother, 24-year-old Terrie A. Robinson, has been charged with murder. She is being held on a $5 million bond.

Cupcakes and Britain's New Epidemic of Anger: How the Nation is Boiling with Rage

Frances Hardy
The Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:13 UTC

© Wales News Service
Cake fury: Sally Dodd, left, was attacked by the unknown woman while shop assistant Terri Mammett, right, witnessed the incident

Sally Dodd has worked as a pub landlady. She has broken up drunken brawls and calmed the high spirits of armies of tanked-up Welsh rugby fans. But nothing prepared her for the day this week when a female customer ran amok in her genteel cupcake shop.

Mrs Dodd, 43, owns Sugarswirlz, a bakery selling decorated homemade cupcakes in an airy Victorian arcade in the centre of Cardiff.

The shop was full of lunchtime customers when a woman - middle-aged, sturdy and wearing a belted mackintosh - launched an extraordinary attack.

She lashed out at a display of cakes, sending them flying through the air, then flung her arm across a window display, scattering its contents around the shop.

Then events turned from farcical to terrifying. She grabbed Mrs Dodd by her hair, pulling it out by the roots in clumps, and launched a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse.

UK: Police Chief on Child Sex Charges

Mirror News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC

A senior police officer has appeared in court accused of child sex offences and possessing indecent images of children.

Inspector Geraint Lloyd Evans, 47, of South Wales Police, was remanded in custody after appearing at Llanelli Magistrates' Court.

Evans was charged with seven separate offences yesterday and was remanded to appear at Swansea Crown Court on March 11.

The allegations include conspiring with others to incite engagement in unlawful sexual activity with a child under 13.

He is also charged with three offences of making indecent images of children, possession of four child abuse images and possession of extreme pornography.

UK: Mum 'Tried to Stop Dad Killing Kids in Icy River Plunge'

Mirror News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC

A mum wept yesterday as she told a jury how her ex-lover sped off with their children and drove them into an icy river.

Kim Smith, 37, tried in vain to rescue the children when their dad Christopher Grady, 42, gave her 10 seconds to "say ta-ra".

He sat sobbing in the dock with head in hands while she gave evidence.

Grady allegedly plunged his car into the River Avon in Evesham, Worcs, last February. Daughter Gabby, five, died days later. Son Ryan, six, survived.

Ms Smith told the jury: "The last thing he shouted at me was 'river'. His face was contorted.

Libya rebels losing one city, but take another, as dozens die

MSNBC.com
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:30 UTC

Hundreds protest against Gadhafi in Tripoli; 17 die in blast at arms depot

Tripoli, Libya - After a battle in which at least 30 civilians were killed Friday, forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had cornered rebels and claimed to have retaken a key city near the capital.

The rebels, for their part, claimed to have taken Ras Lanouf, a key oil port, while hundreds rallied in the capital Tripoli against Gadhafi. Live ammunition and tear gas were fired to break up the protest, witnesses said.

Friday's assault on Zawiya, about 30 miles west of Tripoli, appeared to be the strongest yet by Gadhafi's forces after repeated earlier forays against it were beaten back.

An improvised force of rebels had been pushed back to the central Martyrs Square in Zawiya, a rebel spokesman said. "Many people were killed in Harsha, which is now occupied by them," rebel spokesman Youssef Shagan told Reuters by phone, referring to a small town outside Zawiya.

"They shot at civilians. We still control (Zawiya's) central square," he added. "They are four to five kilometres away."