Joshua Brennan's Molotov cocktail revenge torched innocent person's home
On his way back to a house party after being kicked out for creepy behaviour, Joshua Peter Brennan stopped and threw a Molotov cocktail at an innocent person's home.
When he saw a light go on inside the home he fled, leaving behind $25,000 worth of damage as a fire
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Joshua Brennan's Molotov cocktail revenge torched innocent person's home
On his way back to a house party after being kicked out for creepy behaviour, Joshua Peter Brennan stopped and threw a Molotov cocktail at an innocent person's home. When he saw a light go on inside the home he fled, leaving behind $25,000 worth of damage as a fire
1News
3 days ago
- 1News
Judge quickly rejects mistrial request at Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial
A federal judge immediately rejected a defence request for a mistrial on Thursday at the sex trafficking trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, after his attorneys said prosecutors tried to imply to a jury that the music mogul interfered with the investigation into rapper Kid Cudi's firebombed Porsche in 2012. Although such mistrial requests are common during lengthy federal trials involving hundreds of pieces of evidence and dozens of witnesses, this was the first request at Combs' trial, which is in its third week of testimony in Manhattan. Combs has been active in his defence, regularly writing notes to his lawyers, and they have consulted with him as they questioned witnesses. Judge Arun Subramanian instructed the jury to disregard testimony about the destruction of fingerprint cards that occurred months after Cudi's car was set ablaze. Weeks before that firebombing, Combs became enraged when he learned that Cudi was dating Cassie, the singer who had a nearly 11-year relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018. The Molotov cocktail used to burn Cudi's car in his Hollywood Hills driveway was fashioned out of a 40-ounce Old English 800 malt liquor bottle and a designer handkerchief, according to Lance Jimenez, an arson investigator for the Los Angeles Fire Department, and photographs shown in court. The defence's mistrial request came after Jimenez testified that fingerprints taken from Cudi's burned-up Porsche 911 were destroyed in August 2012, about eight months after the fire. Jimenez said someone in the Los Angeles Police Department who was not involved in the investigation ordered the fingerprint cards destroyed. He said that was not normal protocol. ADVERTISEMENT Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he led a racketeering conspiracy for 20 years that relied on fear and violence to get what he wanted. If convicted, he could face 15 years to life in prison. Cassie and other witnesses have testified that she was repeatedly beaten by Combs, and she said she was frequently coerced to engage in unwanted sex acts. Defence attorney Alexandra Shapiro asked for a mistrial during a morning break with the jury out of the room. She told Subramanian that 'prosecutorial misconduct' had occurred and said 'there's no way to un-ring this bell.' She said prosecutors were on notice during jury selection that some prospective jurors had to be eliminated from consideration for the jury because they believed Combs could buy his way out of the racketeering conspiracy he's charged with. 'These questions were designed to play right into that,' she said. Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the prosecution's conduct 'outrageous.' Combs' lawyers argued that the prosecution's questions and Jimenez's resulting testimony were highly prejudicial because prosecutors were suggesting that Combs had something to do with the destruction of the records. Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said 'a mistrial is absolutely unwarranted here'. She said the subject of fingerprints was raised to counter defence suggestions through questions posed to other witnesses that the car firebombing was poorly investigated and that the area was not canvassed for fingerprints.
1News
23-05-2025
- 1News
Rapper Kid Cudi testifies at Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial
Rapper Kid Cudi testified that Sean "Diddy" Combs broke into his Hollywood Hills home in 2011 after finding out he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and that someone set fire to his car weeks later. Speaking at Combs' federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Cudi said he and Cassie briefly dated and he took her to a hotel to get her away from the seething Combs. While there, he got a call from Combs' assistant, Capricorn Clark, who told him Combs and an affiliate were in Cudi's house and that she had been forced to go with them. Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, said he called Combs while driving home and asked why he was in his house. He said Combs calmly replied, "I want to talk to you". But Combs wasn't there when he arrived, Cudi said. Instead, he found that someone had opened Christmas presents he'd bought for his family and locked his dog in a bathroom. Cudi said he wasn't sure what was going on, so he called the police. A few weeks later, Cudi testified, his Porsche 911 convertible was destroyed by fire while parked in his driveway. Cudi said he was at a friend's house when his dog-sitter called and told him his car was on fire. Jurors were shown photos of a hole that had been cut in the car's fabric roof. A Molotov cocktail was found on the passenger seat, Cudi said. Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, testified last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi's car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the Grammy Award-winning rapper, who was known for his alternative hip-hop style. Cudi told jurors that Combs denied involvement in the car fire when they met to try to smooth things over the next day at a Los Angeles hotel. He said he sought the meeting because "after the fire, I said this is getting out of hand. I need to talk to him." Cudi said he didn't have conflicts at the time with anyone other than Combs. "I knew he had something to do with it," Cudi said, leading Combs' lawyers to object. Jurors were told to disregard the remark. At the end of the meeting, as they stood and shook hands, Cudi said he asked Combs, "What are we going to do about my car?" Cudi said Combs gave him a "very cold stare" and responded, "I don't know what you're talking about". Cudi said he was annoyed by Combs' answer but let it go, and there were no more episodes at his house. A few years later, Combs apologised "for everything" when they ran into each other at a hotel, Cudi testified. Combs seemed subdued as Cudi testified. Although he looked toward the witness stand, neither man seemed to react to the other. Cudi didn't look at Combs when he left the stand. Wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, Cudi arrived at the courthouse smoking a cigarette while someone held an umbrella over him in the rain. He didn't stop to speak to reporters while leaving. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He denies using threats or his music industry clout to abuse women and others and denies forcing Cassie or anyone else to take part in drug-fuelled sexual performances called freak-offs. During the defence cross-examination of Cudi, Combs' lawyer Brian Steel painted Cassie as the villain in her relationships with Combs and Cudi, suggesting she had played both of them and had been living a "double life". Cudi testified that when he started dating Cassie in late 2011, she led him to believe she and Combs had broken up. In reality, Cassie testified earlier, she was still seeing Combs for freak-offs and using a burner phone to contact Cudi and keep their relationship secret from Combs. "Ms Ventura was living two different lives, is that true?" Steel asked. "Yes," Cudi replied. Cudi said he was upset to find out she later decided to go back to Combs. The federal investigation of Combs began in November 2023, a day after Cassie sued him alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. The lawsuit was settled by Combs for US$20 million (NZ$33 million) the next day. In four days of testimony last week, Cassie said Combs physically abused her during most of their relationship from 2007 through 2018. She said she ended her relationship with Cudi in late 2011 after only a few weeks because Combs learned about it. George Kaplan, Combs' personal assistant from 2013 to 2015, testified earlier Thursday that he saw Combs be violent with Cassie once, on a 2015 trip to Las Vegas on Combs' private jet. He said no one helped her as she screamed, "Isn't anybody seeing this?" Kaplan said he didn't intervene because he feared losing his dream job but quit after that attack and a later episode in which he saw Cassie with a bruised eye. After Cudi, jurors heard from makeup artist Mylah Morales, who had worked for Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and other stars. She said Combs stormed into Cassie's bedroom at a hotel on the weekend of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Combs shut the door, and she heard "yelling and screaming". Then she saw Cassie with a "swollen eye and a busted lip, and knots on her head". Later, the general manager of the ritzy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel testified that Combs frequently stayed there using aliases such as Frank White and Frank Black — names Cassie said he used when checking in for freak-offs. Frédéric Zemmour said Combs' guest profile noted he "ALWAYS spills candle wax on everything and uses excessive amounts of oil". The profile instructed staff to "place the room out of order upon departure for deep cleaning". The trial is set to resume Tuesday.
