EXCLUSIVE Dark revelations of woman who dated accused Colorado killer Barry Morphew after his wife vanished
The Colorado woman who fell for Barry Morphew after his wife's disappearance has ended their relationship – and her silence.
'Obviously, this is my worst fear coming true – that he could be responsible,' Shoshona Darke told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview, in tears after her ex's arrest on a first-degree murder charge for Suzanne Morphew's 2020 death.
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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Woman with ties to a cultlike group to appear in court after border agent's killing
A woman charged in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont is due in federal court Tuesday in one of multiple criminal cases linked to a cultlike group known as Zizians. Authorities have said Teresa Youngblut fired the bullet that killed agent David Maland during the January traffic stop. Another agent fired back, wounding Youngblut and killing her companion, Felix Bauckholt, officials have said. The Zizians are a group of followers of Jack LaSota, a computer scientist who has blogged as 'Ziz' on subjects including veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence. The group mostly consists of computer scientists who met online, shared anarchist beliefs and became increasingly violent. Youngblut and Bauckholt were both affiliated with the group, which authorities have also linked to killings in Pennsylvania and California. Youngblut has pleaded not guilty to charges of intentionally using a deadly weapon towards law enforcement, and using and discharging a firearm during an assault with a deadly weapon. The Tuesday federal court appearance is a discovery hearing in Burlington. Discovery is a pre-trial proceeding in which both sides of a case exchange evidence and information. Both sides declined to comment in advance of the court date. The office of Steven Barth, who has represented Youngblut, said it had no comment on the case. Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont, said the office 'does not comment on ongoing cases beyond the public record.' In Vermont, authorities had been watching Youngblut for several days after she and Bauckholt checked into a hotel wearing black tactical gear and carrying guns. Local border patrol agents also were told that Bauckholt was a German citizen with unknown immigration status. Authorities said Youngblut shot Maland after being pulled over. The shootout was one of several violent incidents that has been linked to the Zizians. Members of the group have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on California landlord Curtis Lind in 2022, Lind's subsequent killing, and the deaths of a Pennsylvania couple.
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Florida set to execute man convicted of raping and killing a woman outside of a bar
A man convicted of raping and killing a woman near a central Florida bar is scheduled to be executed Tuesday. Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, barring a last-day reprieve. He was convicted in the May 1994 killing of Michelle McGrath. Gudinas would be the seventh person put to death in Florida this year, with an eighth scheduled for next month. The state also executed six people in 2023, but only carried out one execution last year. A total of 23 men have been executed in the U.S. this year, with scheduled executions set to make 2025 the year with the most executions since 2015. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, while Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each. Alabama has executed three people, Oklahoma has killed two, and Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana and Tennessee each have one. Mississippi is set to join the other states on Wednesday with its first execution since 2022. McGrath was last seen at a bar called Barbarella's shortly before 3 a.m. on May 24, 1994. Her body was found with evidence of serious trauma and sexual assault in an alley next to a nearby school several hours later. Gudinas had been at the same bar with friends the night before, but they all later testified that they had left without him. A school employee who found McGrath's body later identified Gudinas as a man who was fleeing the area shortly beforehand. Another woman also identified Gudinas as the person who chased her to her car the previous night and threatened to assault her. Gudinas was convicted and sentenced to death in 1995. Attorneys for Gudinas have filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawyers argue in their state filing that evidence related to 'lifelong mental illnesses' exempts Gudinas from being put to death. The Florida Supreme Court denied the appeals last week, ruling that the case law that shields intellectually disabled people from execution does not apply to individuals with other forms of mental illness or brain damage. Meanwhile, a federal filing argues that the Florida governor's unfettered discretion to sign death warrants violates death row inmates' constitutional rights to due process and has led to an arbitrary process for determining who lives and who dies. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet released its decision.
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Travis Decker's ex breaks silence after he 'killed their daughters' - and reveals painful details about their marriage
The heartbroken mom of three little girls who were allegedly murdered by their dad has spoken publicly for the first time in a moving tribute to her daughters. Whitney Decker spoke through tears at a memorial service for her girls, nine-year-old Paityn, eight-year-old Evelyn and five-year-old Olivia on June 20 - more than two weeks after police tragically found their bodies at a Washington state campground. Their father, Travis Decker, failed to return the girls home after a short custody visit. He is suspected of carrying out their murders and remains on the run in the dense wilderness. 'I know that Evie would have loved to ooh and ah over all of your outfits. She would have been amazed by all the color out there and just thought you guys look fantastic,' Whitney told the crowd who had gathered for the emotional service. 'Paityn would have sought each and every one of you out to try to find something to give you a compliment for.' Whitney shed new light on each of her daughters' personalities, revealing how they coped with her divorce from their father. 'After my divorce, there were a lot of feelings flowing through my house. As you could imagine, me going through a divorce with three small, tiny women,' she said. With the help of a team of therapists and the Children's Home Society, she and her daughters embraced the 'three feelings' technique, in which every night at bedtime, the girls would discuss their emotions. 'Some of the feelings were easier to talk about than others,' she said. 'I would ask them what three feelings they felt during that day. No feeling too big or too small, and what was going on when they felt those feelings.' The girls all had different responses to the technique. Paityn 'always had more than three. 'Consistently eager to tell me about every minute of her day. She was always interrupting her sisters to make sure I knew every single one. 'For Ev, we would talk about her feelings one-on-one right at bedtime because she wasn't always ready to share them with her sisters. 'And for Olivia, we were still working on how to describe all of her feelings. But with beyond a shadow of a doubt, one was always happy.' In turn, one of the girls would ask Whitney to describe her three feelings too, even when she 'tried to avoid' sharing. 'I'm so thankful for the time that I had with the girls. And how the three feelings allowed us to connect when the world slowed down,' Whitney said. Whitney spoke about the tragedy at the service, thanking the crowd who had gathered for dressing up for the occasion 'And it really gave me an inside look into their day. I believe doing this with them allowed them to come into the world with open hearts and kindness.' Whitney urged her community to try the technique at home in their own lives, to connect deeper with their loved ones. 'Thank you everyone for being here tonight and the outpouring of love that you have shown me and my family over the past few weeks,' she said. 'I truly hope that the legacy of the girls lives in everyone's heart forever. They were incredible.' Decker remains on the run, but the Chelan County Sheriff's Office (CCSO), alongside Kittitas County Sheriff's Office (KCSO), the Washington National Guard and the US Marshall Service are ramping up their efforts to track Decker down. He is believed to be discretely roaming the Teanaway Valley and Blewett Pass areas, which are the broader regions near the campground where the girls' bodies were found. 'Human, air, and K9 resources have spent countless hours working to ensure that if Decker is in or comes to Kittitas County, we're there to arrest him,' the KCSO wrote on Friday. Authorities are calling upon the community to speak out if they notice anything out of the ordinary that could lead them to Decker's whereabouts. 'We again ask property owners and visitors to be keenly aware of any disturbance or activity at their property, including any missing items or anything out of place,' the KCSO wrote. 'If you have cameras anywhere in the Teanaway, Blewett, or Liberty areas, please review them for unusual activity or contact us with permission to do so.' Decker has been missing since May 30, when he failed to return the three little girls home and switched off his phone, so he was unreachable. On June 2, a search party led to the chilling discovery of the sisters' dead bodies near Rock Island Campground in Chelan County along with Decker's truck. Deputies found the girls' bodies about 75 to 100 yards from Decker's truck. An autopsy revealed the girls died from suffocation and police reported their wrists were zip-tied and plastic bags were over their heads when they were found, court documents said. Police collected 'a large amount of evidence' from the truck, including male blood and non-human blood. The alleged-killer's dog was found nearby as well and taken to an animal humane society, Fox 8 reported. The discovery of the children's corpses kicked off the massive search for Decker. State and federal authorities believe they may have spotted him hiking in a mountainous area. On June 10, a helicopter crew saw someone running off a trail near Colchuck Lake. Police speculate it was Decker. The lake is roughly 12 miles from the campground the girls were left near. Chilling audio from just months before the harrowing murders captured the fugitive father begging for more custody time to go camping with his daughters. In the recording from a September 2024 custody hearing, Decker makes an eerie promise that no harm would come to the girls if he's given more time to take them camping in Washington State's wilderness. With an extensive combat background, authorities and locals are concerned about Decker still being on the loose. He joined the Army in 2013. He served in Afghanistan before transferring to the Washington National Guard in 2021, Karina Shagren, communications director for the Washington Military Department, confirmed to the Daily Mail. He was a full-time member of the Guard until 2023 or 2024, when he switched to part-time. Decker stopped attending mandatory monthly drills a little over a year ago, and the Guard was in the process of a disciplinary discharge. He likely has advanced combat training and was an airborne paratrooper who earned the elite rank of 'Ranger,' indicating he would have excellent wilderness and survival skills, Fox 13 Seattle reported, citing social media posts. Decker is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.
