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Horrific new details emerge of how burlesque dancer died while she tried to flee flames engulfing her home - as cops name prime suspect accused of masterminding bungled arson attack and why it happened

Horrific new details emerge of how burlesque dancer died while she tried to flee flames engulfing her home - as cops name prime suspect accused of masterminding bungled arson attack and why it happened

Daily Mail​7 days ago
Tobacco wars kingpin Kaz Hamad and his 'buffoon' hitmen are being hunted by Victorian police for the bungled murder of Melbourne woman Katie Tangey.
Ms Tangey, otherwise known as Vivien May-Royale, died in the targeted house fire in Truganina, in Melbourne's west, in the early hours of January 16.
She made a desperate triple-0 call shortly after 2am, telling the operator she couldn't get out of the burning house in Dover Street.
Ms Tangey then desperately tried to escape the inferno through a window on the top floor of the home, but she became trapped and burnt to death in the flames.
On Monday, Victoria Police offered a $500,000 reward for anyone who could help bring Ms Tangey's killers to justice.
Two men who started the blaze are still on the run, but police have now publicly admitted for the first time that they believe Hamad ordered the bungled firebombing.
'I'm six months into the investigation now and what I can say is this - yes, he's involved,' Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Chris Murray said on Monday.
'From the information we have, the illegal tobacco trade is front and centre as to why this incident occurred.
'We know there was a theft of (Hamad's) commodities, being illegal tobacco and we know that he sought retribution.
'Unfortunately... the two buffoons who committed this act targeted the wrong address.'
Inspector Murray said he was not suggesting Hamad deliberately targeted Ms Tangey, but his alleged tasking of the job was ultimately behind the crime.
'We know he's overseas. We're all ears,' he said. 'In fairness, I'd say even he would be disgusted as to what's transpired here.
'If he's got any sense of decency, I'm sure he can get us on the phone and let us know the two individuals who actually did this.
'They should be held accountable. They should be held responsible and brought to justice so we can give some closure to Katie's family.'
Detectives refused to reveal who they believe was Hamad's real target for the firebombing on the night Ms Tangey died.
'We're very confident that we know the motive,' Det Insp Murray said.
'We're fairly solid on the motive now. We're fairly solid on what's transpired. Our focus is to identify those two individuals who committed this act.
'Others can be held accountable in various other ways, but we want to identify those two because they are solely responsible, in my view, for killing Katie.'
Inspector Murray described the horror Ms Tangey faced in her final agonising moments alive.
'(Ms Tangey) was a completely innocent individual who had nothing to do with this illegal tobacco trade at all,' he said.
'(She) was asleep in bed, in the early hours. One can only imagine how scared she must have been.'
In a fresh twist, it was revealed an anonymous phone call was made to Crime Stoppers in which police were given a pseudonym or nickname linked to the attack.
Police are now asking that person to contact them again in the hope they may be able to provide more information.
Detectives earlier released an image of a man, described as slim, Middle Eastern, and aged between 25 and 30, whom they wish to speak to about the tragedy.
'Detectives are particularly keen to hear from anyone who recognises the man in the image or has any further information on the nickname provided in the call to Crime Stoppers,' a police statement added.
In June, police raided a home in Dandenong in relation to the crime and seized a phone.
Ms Tangey had been house sitting with her brother's golden retriever, Sunny, who also died inside the three-storey townhouse.
Her brother Ethan Tangey and his wife Brooke were just days into their honeymoon when the fire took place.
CCTV captured the vehicle in which the killers fled the scene, travelling north on Forsyth Road in Truganina at approximately 2.12am.
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The heartbreak of watching a parent fall for fraud: ‘Dad, this is a scam – have you given her money?'
The heartbreak of watching a parent fall for fraud: ‘Dad, this is a scam – have you given her money?'

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

The heartbreak of watching a parent fall for fraud: ‘Dad, this is a scam – have you given her money?'

Bomba wasn't the first, but she exploded in our lives like a digital grenade. She's not real, I told my dad – then in his early seventies. I was in Australia at this time, where I've lived for the last 13 years. Physically speaking, he was still in California – but within himself he was adrift in a rapidly sinking lifeboat, floating in a morass of debris primarily of his own doing. But it must be said before I go further: my dad isn't the bad guy in this story. Not this time. At times, he was the bad guy in other people's stories– but that is another story. If she's not real, he countered, then how is it that we've spoken on the phone? That we video-chatted? I'll admit that threw me. In most catfishing stories the catfish goes to great lengths to avoid video chatting. But my dad being the unreliable source he was, I wasn't entirely sure he was being truthful about that detail. It was a heartbreaking thing to have to break down for my dad. My dad – who had once been a handsome, charismatic Lothario with swagger, with game – now had to be told by both of his daughters that this chic Bomba was 100% not real, not into him, not what or who she says she is. He didn't believe us. Bomba had presented herself, via Facebook, as a widow living in Naples, Florida. She and her late husband had been in the gemstone business, and she was a millionaire. A lonely millionaire at that, looking for love and companionship. She's not real, Dad. I begged him to understand. But I've seen her bank statements. Why would she show you her bank statements? Because her money is tied up in Europe, she can't access it, but she wanted me to know she has it. Dad. This is a scam. Have you given her money? Did she ask for money? Dad? DAD? Needless to say, he didn't believe me. The thing about my dad and money is that he had lived a life of great abundance and great scarcity. He'd been born into 1950's Midwestern high-society, the son of a department store titan, and then – as many of his cohort did in the sixties and seventies, he 'dropped out.' He spent most of his twenties and early thirties in the Motown music scene – he was a talented saxophone player – and in that scene he became addicted to heroin and other substances. He was a low to mid-level drug dealer himself and I am pretty sure there are things I still don't know about that time. What I do know – because I lived it – is that, while he was never what you'd call 'straight' – he did straighten out. He began the long process of untangling himself from heroin after I was born, but he'd never kick his dependence on alcohol and weed – and that taste for opioids would come back for its pound of flesh. He aimed higher. He got 'good' jobs. He started businesses. He achieved as an athlete, and was the basketball coach at my high school. For a period of time he, and those around him, flourished. He had money. And then he lost it, along with his second marriage, his house in the California mountains, his fancy RV … and his pride. By the time Bomba appeared, he was still nursing the faint hope that he might – somehow, some way – get it all back again. Even though by this time he'd burnt so many bridges he was practically an island, and was thoroughly physically incapacitated by the severe scoliosis he'd always outrun as a younger, fitter man. For the pain that the gin couldn't help, his doctors prescribed OxyContin. We'll get to that. He never admitted to sending Bomba money, but my gut says he did. I'd hoped maybe that would be the last scam, but then this happened: my dad called one afternoon to tell me that he was going to buy my husband a better boat. How, I asked? Because I've won the lottery, he said. My heart sank. Dad. It's not real. He forwarded me the documents he'd been sent – on Facebook – by some guy, let's call him Bob. One was a 'winning certificate' telling him that he'd won US$580m. I pointed out to him that I couldn't find anything online to verify it – and plenty of things to alert us to the fact this was a scam. Other things he forwarded me were full of spelling errors and other 'tells'. Still, he was intractable and unpersuadable. By this time – the time that my sister and I refer to as the whole lottery thing – or just the scam – we knew, to the penny, what my dad had left in the bank – which was about $50,000. His social security checks were paltry, and he was carefully rationing what he had left on fast-food, cheap gin, weed, and dog food and meds for his golden retriever, Sonny. What happened next took place over a period of about six weeks … maybe more, maybe less – to be honest, it's all a trauma-blur. Like clockwork, the scammers told my dad that in order to receive his winnings he had to cover the costs of the paperwork, transfer fees, insurance, and other vague items – that bill was around US$10k, give or take. He paid it. Then he was told that because they'd be delivering the $580m dollars in cash to his doorstep, he'd need to cover yet more bank fees, and the cost of the delivery itself, and various other dubious requirements – to the tune of another $10k or so. He paid that, too. When the money didn't arrive and the scammers went quiet, my dad finally understood he'd been scammed (or so we believed). The FBI got involved, only to tell him that his money was, essentially, unrecoverable. They told him the obvious: don't give them anything more and stop contact. This is where things get really weird and where my dad's fragmenting mind and broken spirit came into stark relief. Now that my dad knew he'd been scammed he was understandably furious. But because of his own days as a low-level crim who had engaged in his own scams (there's a weird story about a fake timeshare business he was a part of, and something to do with diamonds) – he was determined that he'd out-crim the crims. Somewhere in this timeline my dad had been hospitalised for the third or fourth time in as many months. We'd recently been told that he had alcohol induced brain atrophy. And there was all the oxy. And the deep well of anger, sorrow and fear. Somewhere in this timeline I'd had to call the police multiple times from my home in Australia and send them to check on my dad – who had, again, threatened suicide. Against this backdrop – my dad resumed communication with the people he knew had already stolen around US$20k from him – nearly half of all the money he had left in the world – the people the FBI had verified were, indeed, scammers. Weird, scary things happened. He threatened them. They threatened him. At one point, a plan was made to meet in a park after dark where, apparently, they were going to give him money. To this day I'm unsure as to whether my dad did, indeed, go to a park at night, wander around in his painful gait, confused, ashamed and angry, his pants too big for his dwindling frame – an image that cuts me to the bone. I was so angry with him. He was honest with me about not having cut communication – and then he relayed the fact that they were, again, asking him for money. It was, essentially, to cover the same kinds of fake costs that he'd already paid. But this time, he was sure they were going to make him whole. So he gave them the rest. All of it. Every last cent. In the last week of his life he was texting friends and family asking for $300 to send to the scammers for the petrol they said they needed to drive him his millions. In the last days, he was, quite literally, penniless. A few days after my dad died the scammers found my sister and me. We typed our outrage into the ether, screamed into the void, told them that they had blood on their hands – but we know that there was not a single person on the other end of that message. There are whole fleets. My dad was likely talking to multiple people – many of whom are probably living their own tragedies, in service of traffickers. Knowing that our experience wasn't uncommon was a cold comfort. We knew we weren't the only adult children grappling with the devastating fallout of financial scams. The scammers my dad encountered were not sophisticated, he suspended his own disbelief wilfully. But many scammers are sophisticated – their scams don't have spelling errors and inconsistencies. With AI, they are getting harder and harder for people to detect. Especially people who aren't tech savvy. As their children and loved ones, talking to them about changing their passwords and not clicking on links feels like the epitome of taking a knife to a gun fight. Financial scams aren't the only scams – I've come to see the other 'scams' that, over time, chipped away at my dad. Fox News convinced him that all of his many troubles could be blamed on immigrants, feminism, China … others. The Maga cult that conned him into thinking that Donald Trump would usher in a new era of success aimed at those who most needed it. The big pharma scam that told my dad that he could manage OxyContin – even though he'd told them he couldn't. These days, I've come to fear that the entire American project is a scam. The call is no longer only coming from shadowy figures on Facebook, it's coming from inside the house – the White House – with the President himself hawking gold bibles and bizarre coins and EFTs. My dad fell for all of that, too. There is a character in my new novel, Mother Tongue, named Eric. Eric has fallen for the Maga scam, for the Fox News scam, the Christian Patriarchy scam … but he goes down a far, far darker path than my dad did. Creating Eric was cathartic, as was creating his daughter, Jenny – who, like my sister and me, felt the sting of knowing that her father's view of the world, of women, of humanity, was so painfully distant from her own – and that it was a worldview that, if realised to its fullest potential, would cost her dearly. When I first began to draft the character of Eric, I thought I was writing about something rare, drawn from the distinct and precise experiences I'd had with my own dad. By the time I finished, it was clear that I was writing about something many children are grappling with when it comes to their susceptible parents, and my heart breaks for them, too. Mother Tongue by Naima Brown (Pan MacMillan, $16.99) is out now

Kim Kardashian reacts to 'unimaginable' Idaho murders - and urges public to help find missing woman
Kim Kardashian reacts to 'unimaginable' Idaho murders - and urges public to help find missing woman

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Kim Kardashian reacts to 'unimaginable' Idaho murders - and urges public to help find missing woman

Kim Kardashian is feeling the weight of two heartbreaking true crime cases, and she's using her platform to shine a spotlight on both. On Sunday morning, the SKIMS mogul, 44, shared her raw reaction after watching One Night in Idaho, Amazon Prime's gripping documentary about the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. 'I'm watching One Night In Idaho, I thought I knew the story from the news but really had no idea,' Kardashian wrote on her Instagram Story alongside a photo of her TV screen. 'It's really emotional and you can feel every friend and parents pain.' She continued: 'So many details I just didn't know. Ugh it's just unimaginable.' The timing of Kardashian's post comes just days after Bryan Kohberger — the man convicted of killing Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — was sentenced to four life sentences plus 10 years. The brutal stabbings rocked the small college town of Moscow, Idaho in November 2022 and captured national attention for months. Though Kardashian didn't speak directly about the verdict, her emotional response to the documentary echoed the pain still felt by the victims' families and public. Just an hour later, the mother-of-four posted about another case, this time, a haunting missing persons mystery, covered in Netflix's Amy Bradley is Missing. 'This doc is mind blowing. Must see,' she wrote. ' We must find Amy! This is so crazy.' The documentary, Amy Bradley Is Missing, recently hit Netflix and revisits the baffling 1998 disappearance of the 23-year-old American woman who vanished from a cruise ship off the coast of Curaçao. Despite alleged sightings over the years and multiple theories, Amy has never been found. With over 356 million followers on Instagram, Kardashian has previously used her platform to advocate for wrongly convicted prisoners and to highlight flaws in the justice system. In May, she completed her law school program after a six year journey. Kardashian didn't attend traditional law school. In California, individuals can become lawyers by completing a four-year Law Office Study Program (LOSP), also known as 'reading the law,' instead of going to law school. 'I thought I knew the story from the news but really had no idea. It's really emotional and you can feel every friend and parents pain,' Kardashian wrote on her Instagram Story She still needs to pass the Bar Exam to practice law in the state. Over the past six years, Kim has dedicated roughly 18 hours a week to studying law, totaling more than 5,000 hours. Her efforts paid off when she passed the 'baby bar' back in 2021. Kim's process took longer than four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and her busy schedule. Kim had already passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination back in March — a big exam for her program — sources told TMZ. She is following in the footsteps of her late father, legendary attorney Robert Kardashian. He gained national recognition in the mid-1990s for his involvement in O.J. Simpson's murder trial, where he served as a friend and defense attorney on Simpson's legal 'Dream Team.' He passed away in 2003 from esophageal cancer. He was 59 years old. The reality TV star reportedly plans to take the bar exam in 2026.

Knifeman who stabbed 11 people inside Michigan Walmart identified, to be charged with terrorism
Knifeman who stabbed 11 people inside Michigan Walmart identified, to be charged with terrorism

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Knifeman who stabbed 11 people inside Michigan Walmart identified, to be charged with terrorism

Authorities have identified the knifeman who stabbed 11 people inside a Michigan Walmart as Bradford James Gille. Gille, 42, will faces charges of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder, officials have confirmed. Chaos unfolded at the Walmart in Traverse City on Saturday after the Gille allegedly entered the store during a calm shopping afternoon and randomly stabbed the victims with a folding pocket knife, authorities say. Investigators believe he selected his victims at random. Minutes after the attack, he was in custody with the help of bystanders at the store. Gille remains in custody at the Grand Traverse County Jail and is expected to be arraigned Monday or Tuesday. Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said quick action by bystanders helped to save lives. 'I cannot command everyone that was involved enough. When you stop and look from the time of call to the time of actual custody, the individual was detained within one minute,' Shea said at a press conference. 'That is remarkable. When you look at it in that mitigated Lord knows how many additional victims.' Shea said the 11 victims were both men and women and they ranged in age from 21 to 84. One victim was a Walmart employee. Munson Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Schermerhorn said at a press conference Sunday that one patient was treated and released; two were in serious condition; and the rest are in fair condition.

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