Kosovo fighter's sentence cut to 13 years despite court upholding convictions for murder and torture
Pjetër Shala was convicted a year ago for his role in the abuse of detainees being held by the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, at a makeshift jail in a metal factory in Kukёs, northern Albania, during Kosovo's 1999 war for independence from Serbia .
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lam sisters acquitted in 2022 killing of 88-year-old mother
A pair of sisters left the Ottawa Courthouse with lawyers by their side after being found not guilty Sunday afternoon of first-degree murder in the killing of their mother almost three years ago. It took the 13 jurors five days to acquit Chau and Hue Lam in the death of their 88-year-old mother Kieu. Throughout the trial, the sisters never denied they killed her in her sleep. Both admitted so to police on the night of her death in October 2022. In the end, the jury accepted their argument that they acted in self-defence after enduring decades of abuse. Chau Lam's lawyer Ewan Lyttle had told jurors the life the sisters knew was one of "isolation ... devoid of love, compassion and protection, and filled with control, violence and cruelty." Both sisters left the courthouse Sunday evening as free women. Hue, who has Parkinsons, was pushed by a lawyer while Chau walked slowly ahead of her. Another lawyer carried black trash bags filled with the sisters' belongings. They have been in custody since their arrest. Crown prosecutors had argued that Chau, 59, and Hue, 62, brutally murdered their aging and frail mother. Prosecutors had told the jury the woman was "sleeping defenceless" in bed when the sisters smashed her head with a hammer and strangled her. Chau Lam, who testified during the trial, acknowledged that she was "angry" at the time of the killing — as she told police following her arrest. Justice Narissa Somji delivered her instructions to the jury Tuesday night after hearing closing arguments, before sending them to deliberate on a verdict. The trial started at the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa in June.
New York Times
7 hours ago
- New York Times
State Trooper Is Said to Be a Suspect in 2 Fatal Shootings
A New Jersey state trooper who previously was a supervisor on the governor's protection detail is suspected of killing his former girlfriend and a man in Hunterdon County before killing himself, according to two people briefed on the investigation. The deaths were discovered around 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, when local police officers responded to a 911 call in the Pittstown section of Franklin Township made by someone who had found an unconscious woman with physical trauma. The officers found two people who had been fatally shot in what investigators believe was a targeted act, according to the Hunterdon County prosecutor's office, which released a statement on Sunday. Investigators identified the victims as Lauren Semanchik, 33, of Pittstown, and Tyler Webb, 29, of Forked River. The two victims were found in Ms. Semanchik's home. While the prosecutor's office did not name a suspect, he was identified by a person familiar with the investigation as Ricardo Santos, a state trooper and Ms. Semanchik's ex-boyfriend. A second person familiar with the investigation confirmed the name of the suspect. Officer Santos had served several years ago in the State Police's executive protection unit on Gov. Philip D. Murphy's detail. More recently, he was assigned to the agency's dignitary protection unit, which guards other important people in the state government, one of the people said. He was found dead in a vehicle in Johnson Park in Piscataway, N.J., on Saturday, according to one of the people familiar with the investigation. The local police in Piscataway referred questions to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, which was closed for the weekend. Deanna Semanchik, Ms. Semanchik's sister, said in an interview Sunday that the trooper had been harassing Ms. Semanchik in recent weeks. She said the two had dated for only a few months earlier this year, but that he would not leave her alone. 'She was the most empathetic person I have ever met,' Deanna Semanchik said. 'She just had such a big heart.' Lauren Semanchik, a veterinarian, owned the home where the shooting occurred, property records show. Mr. Webb was a volunteer firefighter, according to the Pinewald Pioneer Fire Company, which announced his death in a Facebook post Sunday. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey attorney general's office, which oversees the State Police, said that the office was devastated by the tragedies and extended sympathies to the victims' families and loved ones. A spokesman for Mr. Murphy said that the governor's office was shocked by the killings. Neighbors in Pittstown reported Sunday in a local Facebook group that there was a heavy police presence on Upper Kingtown Road, near where the bodies were found. Members of the New Jersey governor's security detail are assigned to guard the governor and his family around the clock, including at their home in Middletown and at Drumthwacket, the executive mansion in Princeton. While on the detail, Officer Santos worked as a trusted supervisor, records show. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
Fox News
8 hours ago
- Fox News
Two men arrested in connection to Tennessee murder suspect
Fox News' Madison Scarpino reports on the latest development as authorities arrest two men for allegedly assisting in the murder of a Tennessee family.
