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How a California family's battle for justice for slain teen has impacted victims' rights

How a California family's battle for justice for slain teen has impacted victims' rights

Wakala News04-05-2025
It shook the entire campus at the University of the Pacific. A freshman on her first day of college in 1979 was found unconscious, bleeding from her head, in a remote area of the school. Her name was Catina Salarno.
Harriet and Mike Salarno were getting ready for bed when the phone rang at their San Francisco home. Mike answered it. His tone signaled the news.
Harriet Salarno: I said … 'what's wrong?' … he says, Catina has been shot and she's in the emergency room.
The Salarnos' two younger daughters, Regina and Nina, rushed to their side. Then the phone rang again.
Harriet Salarno: And they said, 'your daughter passed away.'
Nina Salarno: I don't think it can be described in words, what it's like to watch your mom collapse, crying. My dad, very, very strong man, but you could tell he was shaken to the core.
Regina Salarno-Novello: And life just stopped. … I literally … life stopped, completely stopped.'
'48 Hours' first met the Salarno family in 1990. Harriet and Mike were making their weekly visit to Catina's resting place.
MIKE SALARNO (1990): I think coming out here and being able to talk to Catina gives me a peace of mind. Also that I can still communicate with my daughter, that it isn't, um, the final end.
At the time, Catina had been gone for 10 years, and her family was just embarking on a decades-long journey to keep her killer behind bars.
MIKE SALARNO (to reporters outside 1990 parole hearing): It's the first skirmish in a long, long battle that this we started today.
It was not a journey they had ever expected to make.
Erin Moriarty: Harriet, did you and Michael really have kind of a — the perfect life as parents, three kids?
Harriet Salarno: Yes. To answer you, yes. We were so blessed.
Both Mike and Harriet were juvenile commissioners assigned by the city of San Francisco to mentor boys and girls. Their arms and home were always open, says Nina, the youngest daughter.
Nina Salarno: I think the best way to describe it is it typified a middle-class American family that valued their faith, valued family, valued community as well.
They spent blissful summer days at the cabin in the mountains. Three carefree sisters with Catina leading the pack, says Regina, younger by 18 months.
Regina Salarno-Novello: She was the heart and soul of the family. … She had such a good heart. She loved being the older sister.
Nina Salarno: (I) think the best way to describe Catina is she is that person every person should meet in their life. She just brought an air of kindness.
CATINA SALARNO MEETS THE BOY ACROSS THE STREET
When Catina was 14, a new family, the Burns, moved in across the street in San Francisco. There were four children: a girl and three boys – all about the same age as the Salarno sisters.
Regina Salarno-Novello: And we were spying on them. So … we all made a big batch of cookies, giggled all the way across the street, knocked on the door, introduced ourselves, and gave 'em a batch of homemade cookies.
Soon, the friendship between the oldest Salarno sister and the second oldest Burns brother blossomed into a young love. Catina and Steven Burns started dating in the tenth grade.
Erin Moriarty: How would you describe Steven Burns?
Regina Salarno-Novello: Well, he was the big brother I never had, you know. And for me it was like, God, I have a big brother. And I was — I just thought he was great because we got to go to the football games.
Burns, who went to an all-boys Catholic school, was a star athlete and captain of the football team. He and Nina, a basketball and volleyball player, bonded over their shared love of sports.
Nina Salarno: I loved Steve. I idolized him. … He was a great athlete. He coached my teams … He would help me with my shot, and he took the time to do that.
Mike took Burns, who had a difficult relationship with his own dad, under his wing. He not only mentored him, but he also gave him a job at his TV store delivering TVs.
Regina Salarno-Novello: And my dad …who embraces everybody, brought him in and treated him as a son.
Mike trusted him completely says Regina. They all did.
Erin Moriarty: Did you ever see anything that between Steve and Catina that worried you?
Harriet Salarno: I have to tell you, I've given hours and hours of thought of that. Why didn't I see this? What was it?
Nina Salarno: You sometimes are close to people, you don't always see little signs or you ignore them.
But with hindsight, the sisters say, there were signs. In her senior year, Catina who'd been accepted to the University of the Pacific, wanted to break up with Steve. But he wasn't having it, says Regina. He started threatening her.
Regina Salarno-Novello: She said that Steve said that if I broke up with him, he would kill me …
But at the time, neither sister took him seriously.
Erin Moriarty: Neither one of you told your parents.
Regina Salarno-Novello: We just figured he was just saying it. And because of what our relationship was over the years, why would we believe that? … He enjoyed being part of the family. Why would he destroy a family that he loved?
Mike and Harriet never heard about that incident; never imagined the life they knew would come to an end.
Harriet Salarno: We thought we were doing good and everything would be fine and never thought the boy across the street would murder our daughter.
ONE LAST ENCOUNTER
When Catina Salarno arrived at the University of the Pacific in September 1979, she thought she had left Steven Burns behind for good. He said he was going to Santa Clara University and she was going to begin pursuing her longtime goal.
Regina Salarno-Novello: She knew she was gonna become a dentist. … She knew exactly what she was gonna do. It was planned for her. That was her goal, her dream.
But Catina's excitement was cut short soon after the Salarnos got to campus.
Regina Salarno-Novello: We were staying overnight and we went to the hotel lobby, and then all of a sudden there's Steve and his sister and family. And we were like, 'what are you doing here?' And he says, well, I'm going to UOP.
Nina Salarno: That's really, the first time I heard a lot of panic in her voice, uh, because that just caught her off guard.
For the first time, Catina turned to her father for help.
Regina Salarno-Novello: My dad walked up to him and said, OK, Steve. … Leave Catina alone. She has told you that. You guys move on to your own ways, be friends, and know that I will always be here for you.
The Salarnos headed back to San Francisco and Catina and Burns each moved into their respective dorm rooms on opposite sides of the campus.
Burns' new roommate, Les Serpa, remembers walking in the room and seeing Catina's picture everywhere.
Les Serpa: He said his girlfriend, uh, was at Pacific as well … there were pictures of her and him together … more pictures than I'd ever seen before, but they were everywhere on his desk.
Erin Moriarty: He didn't mention that she had wanted to break up?
Les Serpa: Not at all. It was all very positive. Everything was great.
Across campus, Catina was settling in with her new roommate, Joanne Marks. Then came a knock on the door. It was Steve Burns.
Joanne Marks: After he left, uh, Catina told me that he wanted to meet with her later in the evening for the last time.
Joanne Marks: She was not looking forward to meeting with him, but she was looking forward to it being the last time. She believed that he would stop bothering her.
Marks says Burns came by to pick up Catina about 7:45 that evening.
Joanne Marks: I said something like, you know, have a good evening, and he just grunted.
Catina told Joanne she would see her later; but that later never came.
A freshman out for a walk named Kevin Arlin would be the one to discover why. It was around 9:45 p.m. when he saw something on the sidewalk. Arlin, unnerved by what he saw, rushed back to his dorm and got a resident advisor. They both ran back to the scene.
Kevin Arlin: And … we got up to — to her and it was … a young lady that, uh, was laying on the ground and she was still alive … she was unconscious, but there was a big pool of blood around her head.
Arlin would later find out it was 18-year-old Catina Rose Salarno. She had been shot in the back of the head.
Kevin Arlin: Her arms … were twisted in a way that I never thought the human body could twist.
Kevin Arlin: I — I — I just remember the blood.
Erin Moriarty: That had to be heartbreaking.
Kevin Arlin: Yeah. I knew it was tragic or I knew it was, uh, it was very serious, a very serious injury.
While the two men waited for the ambulance to arrive, Steven Burns returned to his dorm room, where his roommate Les was watching 'Monday Night Football.'
Les Serpa: He went and laid on the bed, propped up a pillow and started watching the game.
Les Serpa: He was not nervous at all.
The ambulance arrived around 10 p.m. and rushed Catina to St. Joseph's Hospital. She was still alive, barely.
Years later, her family would learn she was not alone. Randy Haight – at the time a young patrol officer who was at the crime scene — met his partner at the hospital.
Randy Haight: I said, where's the family? And he says, she's a student at UOP from out of town. …They're not here. I said, Is anybody with her? He says, haven't seen anybody. It's just us.
Catina Rose was pronounced dead at 9 minutes after midnight.
Randy Haight: We made the decision to sit with Catina until the Coroners came. … even though she had passed, I just didn't feel right leaving her alone … I prayed. I said a prayer for her.
By then, homicide detectives were at Catina's dorm talking to Marks.
Joanne Marks: I told the police that, uh, Catina had been picked up by Steve Burns and I told them which dorm he was from.
Serpa and Burns were in their room when there was a knock at the door.
Les Serpa: I opened the door and, uh, I — you know, there's like five guys out there in suits. … And so I stepped out a little bit say hello, and I could see at the end of each hall was full of police officers. … And then they asked to search our room. … they went through everything, every bag, every drawer — everything.
Les Serpa: I didn't know at the time … but later I learned they were looking … for a weapon, for a gun.
Steven Burns was pulled from the room and taken to the Stockton police station, where he was fingerprinted and photographed. Officer Haight recalls seeing him there.
Randy Haight: He did not appear to be upset in any way. …
Burns told the police he didn't meet Catina on campus that night, and that he spent the evening in his dorm room watching 'Monday Night Football.'
Without the gun – it was never found – the police didn't have enough evidence to hold him. Steven Burns was released. His father took him back to San Francisco.
The police didn't publicly name a suspect. But Harriet Salarno didn't need a name. She already knew it.
Harriet Salarno: I just said to Mike,' it's Steve, Mike, it's Steve.' I — I — I don't know why … I just had that feeling.
After talking to the family, the police learned that Steven had threatened to kill Catina if she broke up with him. Two days after the murder of Catina Rose Salarno, Steven Burns was arrested at his home just across the street from where Catina grew up.
Nina Salarno: I remember … sitting up in the window, watching them walk him out in handcuffs and putting him in the patrol car. My whole world got taken from me, and really, in the flash of a gun. I mean, everything was gone.
A MURDER AND A BETRAYAL
Learning to live without their daughter has been a lifelong journey for Catina's parents — one crippled by what ifs. Mike Salarno never stopped blaming himself.
Harriet Salarno: He felt that as a father, he let her down.
For decades, Catina's sisters have also grappled with regret, wishing they had told their parents about Steven Burns threatening to kill Catina.
Regina Salarno-Novello: What if I had said something? What if we told them about the threat?
Erin Moriarty: You're living with guilt, too.
Regina Salarno-Novello: And it doesn't change after 40 years. … it's the hole in my heart from missing my sister and what we could have had together.
In the wake of the murder, each member of the family retreated into their own private grief.
Harriet Salarno: I didn't even care if I even lived. I wanted to join Catina.
Regina Salarno Novello: I didn't know what to do anymore. My whole plan, my whole world, my whole bubble blew up.
Nina Salarno: I mean I never felt that kind of hurt. … I lost my entire family because they fell apart … It was painful enough that my sister had been murdered, but the person that I viewed as a brother and loved, betrayed me by taking her life.
The Salarnos would learn that the young man they had trusted had stolen a gun from Mike's store weeks before Catina's murder.
Erin Moriarty: You believe he planned that murder?
Harriet Salarno: Yes.
Nina Salarno: Oh, absolutely. … the fact that he stole the gun prior. There was no reason for the stealing of the gun, otherwise.
They came to believe Burns may have been planning to use that gun to kill Catina even before she left for college.
Regina Salarno-Novello: The night before we took her to UOP, I heard this noise outside … and it was Steve Burns … pacing in front of the bedroom window. …he had a big, white towel wrapped around his left hand.
Regina says Burns tried to climb up the side of their house and enter through the window of the bedroom the girls shared, but Catina told him to leave.
Regina Salarno-Novello: She said, 'No, I'm not opening the window, go to bed, Steve. Go — you're — I'm going to school tomorrow.' You know, 'stop, just stop, just stop.'
Nina Salarno: Then there was a sound like he fell, and it was a very distinct sound of metal hitting metal.
Erin Moriarty: What do you think now, when you look back on that, that sound of metal against metal?
Nina Salarno: I think if I had opened the window and he got in, there'd be three dead girls.
Erin Moriarty: You think he had a gun with him then?
Nina Salarno: Absolutely.
Six months after Catina's death, 19-year-old Steven Burns went on trial for her murder. It was a bitter awakening for the Salarnos, who say there was more concern for the defendant and his rights than there was for his victim. Neither of Catina's parents were allowed in the courtroom — not even while Nina, who was only 14 years old at the time – took the stand. She had to testify at the trial on her own without a victim's advocate to support her.
Erin Moriarty: What was that like on the stand?
Nina Salarno: Ugh. … I think the best word was just awful. I was in a courtroom. The only person I knew in the courtroom was the guy that had murdered my sister.
The prosecution argued that Burns met Catina that night carrying the stolen gun with the intention of killing her if she wouldn't continue their relationship. Still, the jury did not convict him of premeditated first-degree murder. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 17 years to life with the possibility of parole.
Nina Salarno: We all thought 17 years to life meant life – that they would never let him out.
They would learn they were wrong. Just 10 years into his sentence, Steven Burns came up for parole. The Salarnos were outraged. In 1990, they talked to then-'48 Hours' correspondent Bernard Goldberg the night before the first parole hearing:
HARRIET SALARNO: I had no idea the parole system was so rotten.
BERNARD GOLDBERG: OK, Steven Burns was handed down a 17-to-life sentence.
HARRIET SALARNO: That's right.
HARRIET SALARNO: That's right.
BERNARD GOLDBERG: But you — you don't want him out after 17 years, after 20 years, after 25, you — is that fair?
HARRIET SALARNO: Oh, that's a very fair question. Absolutely, I don't want him out, but I don't even wanna go up there before 17 years because that's what I was told!
Going into this hearing, they know there's a chance he could get out.
On March 28, 1990, the Salarnos and a bus full of supporters headed to Steven Burns' parole hearing.
MIKE SALARNO (to Goldberg): That bus ride was the longest ride in my life. The first hardest thing was when she died, this is the second.
For the first time since Catina's murder, the Salarnos confronted the man they had once considered part of the family.
MIKE SALARNO (parole hearing): Steve sentenced my daughter to death forever. I ask for a fair trade. I ask you to sentence Steve to life in prison.
Then it was Burns' turn to speak.
STEVEN BURNS (parole hearing): It's hard to say the words how difficult it is to live day to day about the feelings I have inside about what I did. Regardless of what I do, I can't bring Catina back. … But I know this that I am deeply sorry for what I did. And I will work each day of my life, whether it be in prison or out — outside to make up.
He apologized, but the Salarnos noticed he never looked at them while he did it.
NINA SALARNO: If you can't look at someone in the face and say you're sorry, then you know damn well you're not sorry.
After an excruciating wait, the parole board came back with a decision. Steven Burns was found unsuitable for release, but he would get another chance at freedom in just two years.
HARRIET SALARNO (1990): Two years, we got two years. And I feel very, very drained, and I know my family's so worn out.
NINA SALARNO: We'll be here.
HARRIET SALARNO: We'll be back.
MIKE SALARNO: We'll be back. We'll be back.
And back they would come over and over again for the next 35 years.
FIGHTING FOR VICTIMS' RIGHTS
There is one thing you can count on with the Salarnos. Every week for almost 46 years, they have gone to the cemetery where Catina now rests.
These days there's another grave to tend. Mike Salarno died in 2013 of cancer.
There's something else you can be sure of. Every time Steven Burns comes up for parole, they will be there.
Nina Salarno: We all said we would be back and we've continued to be back 12 times, not just because he murdered Catina, but because he is a dangerous murderer that will kill or harm again. And that's just the bottom line.
In January 2025, they were about to go to their 13th parole hearing.
NINA SALARNO (praying at gravesite): Give this family the strength to continue to fight.
That fight for victim's rights has shaped all their lives.
Regina Salarno-Novello: Was I gonna be a nurse 40 years ago? No. And now I am … the reason why I did it is because I swore nobody would die alone.
Nina says she was so traumatized by the trial, she vowed she would become a prosecutor. And so she did. She became a specialist in domestic violence cases.
Nina Salarno: I believed like my sister, so many victims are either not heard, afraid to be heard, or just don't understand the magnitude of what's happening to them.
She became the DA in Modoc County – cowboy country – about as far north in California as you can get.
Nina Salarno: Being able to be out in the mountains and/or, um, work on a cattle ranch or ride my horses and have that time is just — it's who I am.
Harriet went on to start Crime Victims United, an organization that has changed hundreds of laws. Before Harriet Salarno, victims in California weren't allowed to give impact statements at sentencing. Now they are. Parents – even if witnesses – can now attend the trial. And children, unlike Nina, must now be accompanied by a support person when testifying.
Nina Salarno: She's my hero. … my absolute hero. … it's just so significant to see … how she supports people and just really fights for what's right.
Harriet Salarno: I have a passion.
For Harriet that has meant fighting to keep Steven Burns behind bars.
Harriet Salarno: I've been doing it for 45 years and I will continue to do it. … As long as I'm alive and as long as he's in prison.
Burns has been in prison for 45 years. But the Salarnos are convinced he hasn't changed.
Nina Salarno: He still has yet to admit to … the facts of the crime.
Burns' story, says Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau, has changed at least 12 times over the years.
Robert Himelblau: He had said repeatedly that Catina pulled the gun, that Catina was the one who had the revolver, ignoring the fact that we knew that he had stolen Catina's father's revolver. … sometimes she shot him, sometimes they struggled over the gun and it accidentally went off.
In 2016 – 37 years after the murder – Burns finally stopped lying about Catina's actions, says Nina. He told the commissioners, 'I became very, very angry … and I pulled out a gun and shot Catina.' But Burns continued to deny that he stalked her to UOP to kill her if she didn't get back together with him.
Nina Salarno: The shooting of the gun murdered my sister, but the behaviors and the need for his power and control, and the obsessiveness is what makes him dangerous.
And according to a complaint brought up at the last parole hearing, he has shown those same obsessive behaviors inside prison. A professor who taught incarcerated students reported that Burns' behavior towards her was quote disturbing and manipulating.
Nina Salarno: He was relentless towards her because she would … not allow him into a class. He focused on her and was not going to stop till he got what he wanted.
Erin Moriarty: Do you think that if Steven Burns is released, he could hurt someone?
Robert Himelblau: Yes. The next woman he goes out with who says no.
But there are some who believe that Burns deserves a second chance.
Kevin Anderson, once a respected pediatrician, got to know Burns when he was incarcerated — also for murder. After 24 years in prison, Anderson was released on parole in 2023. He started working as a counselor.
'48 Hours' first spoke to him the day before Burns' 2025 parole hearing.
Erin Moriarty: Do you think that Steven Burns is a danger to society?
Kevin Anderson: I can't say 100 percent … But I do think that Steven Burns has done a lot of the work … to get to that point where you're no longer a danger to society.
Burns has earned a college degree and has worked with hospice patients. He has participated in numerous anger management and rehabilitation programs, some alongside Anderson.
Kevin Anderson: I think that … he has the tools now that he didn't have before.
Anderson worked with Burns in mock hearing sessions to help him prepare for the upcoming parole hearing.
Kevin Anderson: We had to push him. And once we got him to get off of the denial on certain issues where the real honesty had to come out, now he's able to talk about it in the honest terms that maybe he wasn't able to do 10 years ago, 15 years ago.
Anderson says Steven told him he snapped when Catina rejected him.
Kevin Anderson: She said, I want you to stay away from me and my family. … and he said, at that point I just lost it. … And as he was describing this, he was crying. … 'cause now he realizes where he was going with this, and what this was leading to.
And Catina saw it too, says Anderson.
Kevin Anderson: He described to me her body language, what her eyes were doing, how they had just grown really big. I said, what else? And he said … her voice was shaking. … And I said, and what did that mean to you? And he would say, it meant she was scared to death.
But it didn't stop him. Steven Burns shot the woman he claimed to love in the back of the head and walked away, leaving her to slowly bleed to death.
Erin Moriarty: Did he say why he left and didn't get help for her?
Kevin Anderson: He did say that what he did afterwards was a very cowardly act.
Steven Burns is about to get another chance to convince commissioners that the same man who left Catina to die that night, is a changed man. And this time, the Salarnos fear the odds are in his favor.
Regina Salarno-Novello: It scares the living daylights outta me, having him come out.
STEVEN BURNS' 13th PAROLE HEARING
As Harriet Salarno counts down the days to the 2025 hearing, she does what she has done for the past four decades; she goes to work.
At 92, Harriet still goes to the office at Crime Victims United every day.
Harriet and Nina are picking out photos to show the commissioners at the parole hearing.
Nina Salarno: It's important that they understand that she was a beautiful human being … and her life was taken for no reason
Nina has been preparing for this hearing for month.s.
Nina Salarno (showing file cabinet): And in here, I keep everything from the trial, everything from the trial to all those subsequent parole hearings.
Nina, the prosecutor, is leaving nothing to chance.
Nina Salarno (holding binder): Here's transcripts from the 2010 hearing.
But Nina, the protector, is calling on Catina and her dad to help the things she can't control.
As a DA, Nina knows Burns' chances of getting out are better than ever.
Keith Wattley is founder of UnCommon Law, an organization that helps incarcerated people navigate the parole process.
Keith Wattley: From what I've seen so far on paper, in terms of the time he's done, the program … that he's put together for himself and how well he's performed there, he does seem like somebody who, under the law, should be granted parole.
Wattley, who has never met Burns, but has reviewed his last two parole transcripts, says Steven has two other important things going for him: his age — he was only 18 — when he committed the crime.
Keith Wattley: California … has passed laws to say that we have to consider someone's youth at the time of the crime … none of us are fully developed in the brain by — before we're age 25.
And his age at the time of the hearing — 63. Wattley says Burns is eligible for special consideration under the elderly parole program. He says people simply age out of crime, especially violent crime.
Erin Moriarty: But in Steven Burns' case, isn't there a possibility that … if he gets out, he gets involved with someone and they leave him, he'll do the same thing?
Keith Wattley: It's a great question. It's an important question. The science and the statistics say no. … They say that people who come home from a life sentence are among the least likely to recidivate. That's just true.
But sometimes statistics are no match for the human spirit.
Erin Moriarty: When the family comes consistently to these parole hearings, especially a family like the Salarnos, doesn't that make it much more difficult for someone like Steven Burns to get a chance at parole?
Keith Wattley: I would say yes. Yes, it does … have an impact on the process.
The Salarnos are praying they'll make an impact again this time. Harriet, Nine, her daughter Lexy, and a group of loyal friends head to the DA's office in Stockton, California, where they will attend the parole hearing via video — the post-COVID new normal.
Harriet Salarno: It does. It really does. I am shaky, very shaky.
Erin Moriarty: You are right now?
Harriet Salarno: Yeah. Sad thing. But I'm — I'm afraid of him being released, Erin. … I — just afraid that he'll come after us.
Harriet braces herself as she heads into the conference room knowing she will have to again see the man who put her daughter in a grave.
Harriet Salarno: Looking at Steve Burns when he walked in … he just looks dangerous. He acts dangerous. And what he says is dangerous.
'48 Hours' was not allowed to record video or audio during the hearing, but I was able to sit with the family and friends to observe.
Steven Burns — his affect flat, his voice monotone — once again denied he planned to kill Catina that night. Audio was recorded by the parole board:
COMMISSIONER: You didn't plan to kill her?
STEVEN BURNS: No.
COMMISSIONER: And you deny that you've threatened to kill her at — previously, correct?
STEVEN BURNS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER: Do you understand why previous panels … have found that you minimize what you did and — and your intentions?
STEVEN BURNS: Based on that, yes.
After almost four hours, the commissioners retreated to make their decision.
Erin Moriarty: Is this the hardest part? Just waiting — to see?
Harriet Salarno: Waiting. This is the most difficult part.
Twenty minutes later, the family was called back into the conference room. The decision was in.
COMMISSIONER: Even after 45 years in prison … we see very little change on those issues that led you to murder Catina, that led you to do things in prison that offended others … We see very little change.
Steven Burns was found unsuitable for parole.
Harriet Salarno: We can go home and really sleep tonight!
Erin Moriarty: This is the first real smile I've really seen on your face.
Nina Salarno (to her mother): I'm very proud of you.
When Kevin Anderson, Burns' friend from prison, read the transcript of the hearing, he was stunned. He sent '48 Hours' an email, some of which I read to him when we spoke again after the hearing.
Erin Moriarty (reading email): 'Reading this transcript is hurting my head, heart and soul. This man is absolutely not ready to be released.'
Kevin Anderson: No. The way he came across in that hearing, he was absolutely not ready … All the work he has done, I didn't see it showing up there at all.
Four days after the hearing, Nina and Harriet went to the gravesite to deliver the news.
Nina Salarno: We got a five-year-denial, dad. So I'm still holding strong to my promise to you.
It was Catina's 64th birthday.
Nina Salarno: Catina, I think that's the best birthday present we could give you was that denial. So thank you for watching over mom and watching over everyone
Harriet Salarno: Happy birthday Catina … I love you both so much and miss you.
Steven Burns is expected to go before the parole board again in 2030.
Produced by Liza Finley and Gabriella Demirdjian. Cindy Cesare and Greg Fisher are the development producers. Lauren Turner Dunn is the associate producer. Doreen Schechter, Gregory F. McLaughlin, Chris Crater and Michael Vele are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
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Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice - War on Gaza

When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli colonial settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet's slaying – and if Israel's track record on the other three deaths is any guide, it seems unlikely to happen. Yet Musallet's father and a growing number of U.S. politicians want to flip the script. 'We demand justice,' Kamel Musallet said at his 20-year-old son's funeral earlier this week. 'We demand the U.S. government do something about it.' Still, Musallet and relatives of the other Palestinian-Americans say they doubt anyone will be held accountable, either by Israel or the U.S. They believe the first word in their hyphenated identity undercuts the power of the second. And they say Israel and its law enforcement have made them feel like culprits by imposing travel bans and, in some cases, detaining and interrogating them. Although the Trump administration has stopped short of promising investigations of its own, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has urged Israel to investigate the circumstances of each American's death. Writing on X on July 15, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he'd asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate the murder" of Musallet and that "there must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act." Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and 28 other Democratic senators have also called for an investigation. In a letter this week to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, they pointed to the 'repeated lack of accountability" after the deaths of Musallet and other Americans killed in the West Bank. Families have demanded independent investigations American-born teenagers Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Khdour were killed in early 2024 by Israeli fire while driving in the West Bank. In April 2025, 14-year-old Amer Rabee, a New Jersey native, was shot in the head at least nine times by Israeli forces, as he stood among a grove of green almond trees in his family's village. In the immediate aftermath of both cases, Israeli authorities said that forces had fired on rock throwers, allegations disputed by the families and by testimony obtained by the AP. Israel pledged to investigate the cases further, but has released no new findings. The teens' families told the AP they sought independent investigations by American authorities, expressing doubts that Israel would investigate in good faith. According to the Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din, killings of Palestinians in the West Bank rarely result in investigations — and when they do, indictments are uncommon. The U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction to investigate the deaths of its citizens abroad, but does so after it gets permission from the host government and usually works with the host country's law enforcement. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem declined to say whether the U.S. has launched independent probes into the killings. A spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement that investigations are 'underway' in Israel over the deaths of the four Americans and that its staff is pressing the Israeli authorities to move quickly and transparently. In a statement to AP, the embassy spokesperson said, 'We continue to press for full, transparent, and rapid investigations in each case and understand that they are underway' in Israel, adding that consular staff were in regular communication with Israeli authorities. Sen. Van Hollen said that when the U.S deals with Israel, it 'either doesn't pursue these cases with the vigour necessary, or we don't get any serious cooperation.' 'And then instead of demanding cooperation and accountability, we sort of stop — and that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to allow American citizens to be killed with impunity," the Maryland Democrat said. Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on Israeli terrorist settlers attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Nearly 1000 Palestinians killed Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers to account under the bounds of the law, and that the lack of indictments does not mean a lack of effort. A prominent recent case was the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for broadcaster Al Jazeera, killed in the West Bank in 2022. An independent U.S. analysis of the circumstances of her death found that fire from an Israeli soldier was 'likely responsible' for her killing but said it appeared to be an accident. Despite an Israeli military investigation with similar conclusions, no one was ever disciplined. Violence by Israeli forces and terrorist settlers has flared in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023. More than 950 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Instead of justice, restrictions and detentions Rather than a path toward justice, the families of Khdour, Rabee, and Abdel Jabbar say they've faced only challenges since the deaths. Khdour, born in Miami, Florida, was shot and killed in April 2024 while driving in Biddu, a West Bank town near Jerusalem, where he had lived since age 2. U.S. investigators visited his family after the killing, his family said. Abdel Jabbar was killed while driving down a dirt road close to Al Mazra as-Sharqiya, his village in the northern West Bank. Khdour's cousin, Malek Mansour, the sole witness, told the AP he was questioned by both Israeli and American investigators and repeated his testimony that shots came from a white pickup on Israeli territory. He believes the investigators did not push hard enough to figure out who killed his cousin. 'The matter ended like many of those who were martyred (killed),' said Hanan Khdour, Khdour's mother. Two months after the death, Israeli forces raided the family's home and detained Mohammad's brother, Omar Khdour, 23, also an American citizen. Videos taken by family and shared with the AP show Omar Khdour blindfolded and handcuffed as Israeli soldiers in riot gear lead him out of the building and into a military jeep. He said he was threatened during questioning, held from 4 am to 3 pm, and warned not to pursue the case. 'Here, being American means nothing' Omar Khdour said Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have prevented him from leaving the West Bank to visit Israel or Jerusalem. Two other American fathers of Palestinian-Americans killed since Oct. 7, 2023, reported similar restrictions. Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar's father, said he and his wife were blocked from leaving the West Bank for seven months. His son, Amir Abdel Jabbar, 22, remains restricted. The father of Amer Rabee says he and his wife have also been stuck in the West Bank since their son's killing. He showed AP emails from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in which a consular official told him that Israel had imposed a travel ban on him, though it was unclear why. Israeli authorities did not respond to comment on the detentions or travel restrictions. Rabee said that in a land where violence against Palestinians goes unchecked, his family's American passports amounted to nothing more than a blue book. 'We are all American citizens,' Rabee said. 'But here, for us, being American means nothing." Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:

Gabbard releases more Russia documents to accuse Obama of ‘manufacturing' intelligence
Gabbard releases more Russia documents to accuse Obama of ‘manufacturing' intelligence

Egypt Independent

time2 days ago

  • Egypt Independent

Gabbard releases more Russia documents to accuse Obama of ‘manufacturing' intelligence

One day after President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of treason over the intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and sought to help Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a highly sensitive congressional report she claimed was more evidence of a 'treasonous conspiracy.' The release of the redacted report, written during the first Trump term by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, was the latest step in a multi-faceted effort from Gabbard and other Trump allies to attack the FBI's Russia investigation and the intelligence community's assessment on Russian election interference. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday evening that the Justice Department was creating a strike force to assess the evidence released by Gabbard and 'investigate potential next legal steps which might stem from DNI Gabbard's disclosures.' Speaking from the White House podium on Wednesday, Gabbard stopped short of accusing Obama of treason, deferring to Justice Department lawyers. But she alleged that 'the evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment.' 'They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true,' she said. Gabbard insisted the Russian goal in 2016 was to sow distrust in American democracy — not to help Trump, a key judgment of the 2017 assessment that Republicans have long challenged. But her claims that the Obama administration 'manufactured' the assessment are not supported by the newly redacted House report — or CIA Director John Ratcliffe's own review of the intelligence assessment, which he released earlier this month. Ratcliffe's review argued the assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'aspired' to help Trump win the 2016 election should not have been a so-called high confidence judgment, which indicates the intelligence community's level of certainty, and it took issue with some of the analytic procedures underpinning the assessment. But Ratcliffe's review found that 'the overall assessment was deemed defensible.' The House report — which involved intelligence so sensitive it was kept in a so-called 'turducken,' or a safe within a safe, at CIA headquarters — took a similar stance on the key judgment that Russia sought to help Trump, arguing that the assessment made analytical leaps based on relatively thin sourcing and failed to weigh contradictory intelligence highly enough, but neither argued that it was 'manufactured.' Still, the release of the House Intelligence Committee review, led by former Rep. Devin Nunes when now-FBI Director Kash Patel was a top aide, was a long-sought victory for Trump — in large part because it pushes back against a similar review conducted by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020, which found the intelligence supported the conclusions that Putin interfered to help Trump and there were no 'significant tradecraft issues' in the preparation of the assessment. Gabbard's decision to publicize the report when multiple predecessors had declined to do so, including Ratcliffe during Trump's first term, comes at a moment when her standing within the Trump administration had been in question. In June, Trump publicly undermined Gabbard's assessment on Iran's nuclear capabilities and she was absent from at least one major national security meeting to discuss Israel and Iran. CNN reported at the time that the president viewed her as 'off-message.' Former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper dismissed Gabbard's allegations on Wednesday, calling them 'patently false and unfounded' on CNN's 'The Source.' Referring to the House Republican report, he said, 'I can attest to the inaccuracies in that report on things they said about me, which were wrong or false.' 'I'd be going dark' Democrats accused Gabbard of jeopardizing intelligence community sources and methods by releasing the report. 'The desperate and irresponsible release of the partisan House intelligence report puts at risk some of the most sensitive sources and methods our Intelligence Community uses to spy on Russia and keep Americans safe,' Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. 'And in doing so, Director Gabbard is sending a chilling message to our allies and assets around the world: the United States can no longer be trusted to protect the intelligence you share with us.' One Democratic congressional source said intelligence agencies were still in the process of proposing redactions to the document ahead of its release, but that Gabbard declassified the report Wednesday before the process had been completed. An ODNI official said the decision to declassify the document was made by Trump and 'he has constitutional authority to declassify and is not under the same consultation obligations' normally required between intelligence agencies. A former senior US intelligence official said they were alarmed by some of the material in the report that remained unredacted, warning it could alert Moscow to how intelligence was collected and potentially endanger sources. The report includes an explanation from the classified assessment that some judgements are based on a human intelligence source with secondhand access for several specifics, including Putin's order to pass collected material to WikiLeaks, Putin's views on Hillary Clinton, and details about 'specific, planned Russian Foreign Intelligence Service efforts.' 'It should also scare the crap out of any source we have who reports on politically inconvenient subjects,' the intelligence official said. 'If I were them, I'd be going dark about now.' In 2017, the US extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government. Trump and his allies in Congress have sought to release the House Intelligence Committee report for years now. The material that was being scrutinized was so sensitive that the CIA would only let congressional staffers view it at CIA headquarters, requiring their work stay locked up at Langley. The committee brought in its own safe for its files — which became known as the 'turducken' — that remained locked away at the CIA during the Biden administration. It's not clear whether the full extent of the classified House Intelligence Committee report was redacted, declassified and released on Wednesday. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Trump allies pushed Ratcliffe, who was then the director of national intelligence, to release a redacted version of the report. But Ratcliffe ultimately did not so do amid strenuous objections from CIA and NSA officials, who warned it would damage sources and methods and US relationships with allies. Instead, the report was part of a large collection of documents brought to the White House in the final days of the first Trump administration, which were redacted so they could be declassified and released. The redacted documents were not ultimately released before Trump left office in 2021, though he did so in March. But an unredacted copy of the documents — including the highly sensitive intelligence that was redacted from what was released Wednesday — went missing and was apparently never found. US intelligence officials scrambled to assess the potential damage of the binder's contents becoming public after it went missing at the end of the first Trump administration, according to a source with direct knowledge of the events. There are hints at why the intelligence agencies were so concerned with the report in the declassified version released Wednesday. The report includes redacted lines that detail what signals intelligence the assessment had relied upon, as well as what Putin was being told and how it was obtained. 'One scant, unclear and unverifiable fragment' The House document provides one of the most detailed glimpses to date into the raw intelligence relied upon by analysts to produce the 2017 assessment — but one that is impossible to compare to the Senate review that reached the opposite conclusion on the judgment that Putin was aspiring to help Trump. Much of the documentation for that panel's reasoning remains classified. The House report accuses Obama administration intelligence leaders of relying on thinly sourced and uncorroborated intelligence to conclude that Putin preferred Trump, while alleging that the assessment suppressed intelligence that Putin did not care who won and that Russia's intelligence services allegedly possessed damaging information about Clinton that was not released before the election. The January 2017 assessment does note there was a disagreement on the level of confidence in that assessment: the CIA and FBI had high confidence, and the NSA had medium confidence. But the GOP report argues that the conclusion was flawed, based upon previously unpublished intelligence reports, including three that were 'substandard.' One report, based on a single human source the House panel said was biased against both Trump and Putin, contained a claim that Putin was 'counting' on Trump's victory, according to the committee. That claim was interpreted in different ways by different analysts but was ultimately used to reach the 'aspire' judgment, the report said. 'One scant, unclear and unverifiable fragment of a sentence from one of the substandard reports constitutes the only classified information cited to suggest Putin 'aspired' to help Trump win,' the report states. The Ratcliffe-led CIA in its review found that the 'aspire' judgment was 'plausible and sensible, but was an inference rather than fact sourced to multiple reporting streams,' noting that it also rested on an assessment of 'the public behavior of senior Russian officials and state- controlled media, and on logic.' It said that the assessment authors had properly interpreted the sentence fragment. The report also details what US intelligence knew about Russian intelligence material collected on Clinton that was not released before the election, including allegations about her health, which Republicans wrote 'would have created greater scandals' than the hacked materials from John Podesta released by WikiLeaks. Republicans questioned why this information wasn't released if Russia was trying to help Trump (CNN was unable to confirm the origin or veracity of any of the allegations). CNN reached out to Clinton aides for comment. The GOP report criticizes the assessment's inclusion of the infamous and discredited dossier written by British intelligence official Christopher Steele, which was paid for by the Clinton campaign and alleged coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. A summary of the dossier was included as an annex in the January 2017 assessment, after CIA officials objected to including it in the report itself. The intelligence analysts who prepared the report told the Senate Intelligence Committee the dossier played no role in the analysis of Russia's interference. Special counsel John Durham, who was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump's first term, spent four years investigating a wide range of topics, including potential wrongdoing by the FBI and intelligence community during the 2016 post-election period. He never accused any US officials of any crimes related to the 2017 intelligence assessment. This story has been updated with additional details. CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.

US citizen among eight Druze family members executed during Syria's sectarian violence
US citizen among eight Druze family members executed during Syria's sectarian violence

Egypt Independent

time5 days ago

  • Egypt Independent

US citizen among eight Druze family members executed during Syria's sectarian violence

CNN — An American citizen from Oklahoma was among eight men, all family members, rounded up and killed in an execution-style attack during the sectarian violence that flared in Syria last week. Hosam Saraya, a 35-year-old Syrian-American, was identified by a friend and a US relative as one of eight men whose killing was captured on a video that circulated on social media over the weekend. The video, which has been geolocated by CNN, shows a group of armed men wearing military uniforms and face masks firing on eight captives while shouting 'God is great.' CNN cannot independently verify the identify of the gunmen in the video. A friend of the Saraya family said he believed they were militants aligned with the government. A school in Suwayda founded by Hosam Saraya also blamed government-linked fighters for the attack. CNN has reached out to the Syrian government for comment. Saraya's brother Kareem and other family members were also executed, according to the US relative, who asked not to be named for her safety. She spoke directly with relatives in Syria who said the family's male members had all been killed – leaving only their wives and daughters. The killings occurred on July 17 amid an outbreak of sectarian violence between Syrian Druze groups and Bedouin tribes in the Druze-majority Suwayda province. Saraya, who had studied in Oklahoma before returning to Syria, belonged to the Druze community, an Arab religious group of roughly one million people who primarily live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. He had gone to Syria to care for his father who was ill, the US relative said. The relative said female family members who survived the massacre recalled how militants had stormed the family's multi-story home early in the morning, prompting the residents to fight back in defense. After one of the family members was wounded, the rest surrendered their weapons, she said, and the men were taken outside. The friend who CNN spoke to corroborated these details, saying he witnessed the militants storm the home and forcibly remove eight men, while leaving female family members inside. 'Pray for us' The US relative first learned of the attack when one of the female survivors sent her a desperate message: 'Pray for us, they kidnapped the boys, they shot the house, they stole stuff'. Twelve hours passed as the family desperately waited for news, hoping their relatives would return safely. It wasn't until another overseas relative saw the videos circulating of their execution that they realized the eight men had been killed. The friend who spoke to CNN said relatives later told him the captives were marched 200 meters to Tishreen Square, where they were lined up and executed. One of the men had sent a final message to friends that read, 'Come and help us if you can. They surrounded us,' the friend said. The friend, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, identified Hosam Saraya's body after watching the video. 'I don't know how monsters can do that,' the US relative told CNN. Asked about Saraya, the US State Department confirmed Monday that an American citizen had died in Suwayda. It did not offer details about the death but said it was 'greatly concerned when any US citizen is harmed overseas, wherever they are' and called 'for accountability in all cases where US citizens are harmed abroad.' Oklahoma Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin also confirmed the killing of an American from the state in Syria. 'Hosam was an Oklahoman and member of the Druze community who was tragically executed alongside other members of his family in Syria,' Lankford wrote on X. 'We are praying for his family, friends, and the entire community as they grieve this senseless loss.' Mullin wrote on X that an 'American citizen from Oklahoma' was 'brutally executed alongside his family members in Syria,' adding he was working with partners in the region to learn more. His tweet did not name the Saraya family. Widespread violence between the Druze minority and Bedouin tribes in southern Syria erupted on July 13 and has left hundreds dead in the latest explosion of sectarian bloodletting since the authoritarian rule of Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a coalition of Islamist rebels. The violence drew Israeli intervention in support of the Druze, as well as US condemnation and an international scramble to stop the fighting spiraling further. The Syrian government said over the weekend that clashes in Suwayda had stopped after a ceasefire agreement was reached between the government, Druze groups, and Bedouin tribes. A separate ceasefire was agreed between Syria and Israel. The deal was announced by US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who said it was 'embraced' by Turkey, Jordan and other neighboring countries.

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