Guatemala judge convicts 6 ex-officials in deaths of 41 girls in 2017 fire at state facility
They had all declared their innocence Tuesday. Judge Ingrid Cifuentes handed down sentences of six years to 25 years for charges ranging from manslaughter to abuse of authority. She also ordered the investigation of former President Jimmy Morales for his role in ordering police to work at a facility where minors who had not committed crimes were held.
Prosecutors had earlier requested sentences up to 131 years for some of those convicted, who were all former government workers, including several whose duties included protecting children.
On March 8, 2017, a girl at the Virgen de la Asuncion Safe Home 14 miles east of Guatemala City, lit a foam mattress on fire in the room where a group of girls had been locked up for hours without access to a bathroom. Smoke and flames quickly filled the room killing 41 girls and injuring 15.
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Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Billionaire David Geffen, 82, slams his boytoy ex who lodged explosive sex-and-drugs lawsuit against him
David Geffen has doubled down on insisting his estranged boytoy husband's claims he's a sex and drug-crazed abuser are 'a work of fiction'. Donovan Michaels, 32, alleges his billionaire ex-beau Geffen, 82, forced him to take drugs, subjected him to abusive sex and controlled his every move. Among the salacious claims in his lawsuit were that Geffen forced him to have all his body hair lasered off and once flew into a rage at the sight of an ingrown hair. The pair met in 2016 on a dating website often used by rich people looking for much younger partners. Geffen, a movie and music producer worth about $9 billion, allegedly paid Michaels $10,000 for sex on the night they met, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court as part of their messy divorce. The pair began a relationship and married in 2023 without a prenup, according to the complaint that accuses Geffen of breach of contract. Geffen promised the Daily Mail the claims were false and he would defend them, insisting there was never any agreement he would look after Michaels. 'There was no contract - express, written, oral, or implied - that has ever existed. We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit,' his lawyer Patty Glaser said hours after the lawsuit was filed. Geffen on Saturday made good on his promise with a written response to the court calling the claims 'ludicrous and contrived'. 'Plaintiff cannot embarrass Geffen and extort a settlement with petty gossip and salacious lies,' the document read. Geffen's lawyers denied Michaels' claim that the billionaire promised to give him a life of luxury until his death, along with shared ownership of assets. The response declared there were no agreements of this nature in Geffen's estate planning documents or financial records. He detailed how Michaels burned through massive amounts of cash during their relationship, using assistants to charge luxury purchases to Geffen's accounts. This included fine clothing, plastic surgery, extravagant gifts for friends, and as the marriage began to break down he spent big on OnlyFans and male escorts. 'Geffen loved Plaintiff and treated him with nothing but kindness, respect, and generosity throughout their relationship,' the filing claimed. The response cited the billionaire's friends and staff describing Michaels as 'living like a king' off Geffen's money during the marriage. All the while, it claimed, Michaels was hiding affairs and cocaine and ketamine addictions that persisted even after Geffen paid for rehab. Geffen's filing also rubbished claims he left Michaels destitute and homeless after cutting him off when he filed for divorce in May. He noted the younger man was living rent-free in one of his New York apartments and received a voluntary monthly allowance. Geffen's lawyers characterized the lawsuit as an attempt by Michaels to embarrass him into a settlement that he neither deserved nor needed, and asked for it to be dismissed. Michaels claimed in the lawsuit that he was targeted by Geffen because he was a vulnerable, marginalized young gay black man who spent the majority of his life bouncing around in the foster care system before turning to erotic dancing to make ends meet. The lawsuit claimed Geffen commanded Michaels to use drugs like cocaine and MDMA alongside the entertainment mogul's friends on his 450-foot superyacht, The Rising Sun. The suit also claimed Geffen enjoyed physically dominating his sexual partners and causing them pain, which triggered Michaels' childhood trauma. This allegedly caused him digestive issues, headaches and a desire to isolate himself. The complaint claimed Geffen told Michaels 'where to go, what to wear, what to read, what to watch, and what to say'. The lawsuit even accused the billionaire of making Michaels to undergo painful cosmetic treatments. Geffen is also claimed to have told Michaels he had to be constantly available to him, preventing him from being able to pursue a modeling career. Michaels' lawsuit claimed Geffen did this because after years of being 'a prop in Geffen's theater of virtue', Michaels finally approached his husband and asked to renegotiate the terms of their union. He 'wanted a new beginning wherein he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Geffen as an equal free from power dynamics that existed', the lawsuit claimed. Michaels claimed Geffen rejected this, cut him off financially, and immediately demanded a divorce. 'It was a sick game,' the complaint claimed. 'Michaels became a prop in Geffen's theater of virtue, paraded around as evidence of Geffen's supposed altruism, while privately used as a sexual commodity.' The complaint claimed while Geffen was at the Jeff Bezos–Lauren Sanchez wedding in Venice in late June, he ordered Michaels to 'immediately vacate' their New York property, leaving him without a home. 'At the very same time, Geffen was decadently and extravagantly partying and dancing the night away in Venice, Italy with the other .0001 percent of the wealthiest people on the planet,' it claimed. One of the divorce documents prepared by Geffen's lawyers claimed the pair separated in on February 22, 2025, months before the Bezos wedding. As well as Michael's claims about their final days together, the lawsuit includes astonishing allegations about what went on during their relationship. 'Geffen also found additional ways to satisfy his unquenchable thirst for control over Michaels,' the lawsuit claimed. 'With backhanded insults and put-downs about Michaels' past and lack of sophistication, Geffen cultivated Michaels' insecurity and self-doubt. He critiqued every aspect of Michaels' appearance and exercised strict control over his body hygiene.' The billionaire record executive is accused in the lawsuit of ordering his ex-lover to 'undergo extensive, painful' treatments to conform to his idea of 'perfection.' 'Geffen required Michaels to undergo extensive, painful laser and dental treatments. Even something as minor as an ingrown hair could provoke Geffen's ire and prompt a barrage of instructions to correct the imperfection,' according to the complaint. Michaels claimed he was 'awestruck by Geffen', a 'philanthropist' who 'talked the talk' when the younger man revealed issues 'during his underprivileged upbringing', during the ill-fated couple's first meeting nine years ago. He claimed he 'opened up to Geffen', confiding in him 'about the painful realities of his life – his traumatic upbringing in the Michigan foster care system, his lack of a real family, his instability, and his prior run-ins with the law'. 'He spoke candidly, not to gain sympathy from Geffen, but because he believed he had finally found someone who could understand and maybe even care,' it added. But Michaels claimed his future husband 'weaponized [his] vulnerability to fulfill his own personal fantasies', including the lucrative financial transaction he alleges was made on the first night they met. The former model turned go-go dancer claimed in his lawsuit that Geffen 'used Michaels' tragic story not as a reason to offer genuine support, but as a grooming tool – casting himself as savior, "white knight," mentor, and gatekeeper to a better life'. The younger man claimed he became a 'private sexual object and a public prop' that Geffen allegedly used to show off his 'self-proclaimed altruism to impress his powerful network'. 'From that moment forward, Geffen began transporting Michaels across the globe as his paid sex worker,' the complaint claimed.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I was in prison with Manson family killer Patricia Krenwinkel. She's changed. Why I think she should be freed
Susan Bustamante was what she describes as a 'baby lifer' when she landed behind bars at the California Institution for Women in 1987. Aged 32, she had been sentenced to life without parole for helping her brother murder her husband, following what she said was years of domestic abuse. Inside the penitentiary that would become her home for the next three decades, it wasn't long before she met another 'lifer' - a notorious inmate who played a key role in one of the most shocking crimes in American history. That inmate, Patricia Krenwinkel, and other members of the Manson family murdered eight victims across two nights of terror in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969. But, despite Krenwinkel's dark past, Bustamante said the two women quickly became close within the confines of the prison walls. 'I was a baby lifer who needed to learn the ropes of being in prison,' she told the Daily Mail. '[Krenwinkel] helped mentor the new lifers... She was someone who would help you get through a rough day and the reality of waking up and being in an 8-by-10 cell for the rest of your life… someone you could go to and say 'I'm having a bad day' and she would help turn your thinking around.' Bustamante spent 31 years in prison with Krenwinkel before, aged 63, she was granted clemency by former California Governor Jerry Brown and freed in 2018. Now, 77-year–old Krenwinkel could also soon walk free from prison. Patricia Krenwinkel (during a parole hearing in 2011) is now fighting for her freedom after the state's Parole Board Commissioners recommended her early release In May - after 16 parole hearings - the state's Parole Board Commissioners recommended California's longest female inmate for early release, citing her youthful age at the time of the murders and her apparent low risk of reoffending. And as far as her former jailmate is concerned, it is time. Bustamante said she has seen firsthand that Krenwinkel is not the same person who took part in a murderous rampage at the bidding of cult leader Charles Manson. 'She's not in her early 20s anymore. Are you the same person you were then or have you learned and grown and changed?' she said. 'That's not who she is today, and she's not under that influence today. She's her own person.' She added: 'Six decades is long enough.' Over their shared decades behind bars, Bustamante said she and Krenwinkel attended many of the same inmate programs, celebrated birthdays and occasions together, watched movies and hosted potlucks. Bustamante said they were both part of the inmate dog program, where they were responsible for caring for and training their own dogs, which lived in their cells with them. Bustamante said Krenwinkel also attended college courses and tutored other inmates. It was Krenwinkel who was there for Bustamante when her mom and sister died, she said. 'We would go to each other for support,' she said. 'It's not easy doing time, so it's good to know there's somebody there for you.' Bustamante refused to reveal details of her conversations with Krenwinkel about her crimes. But she insisted she has seen firsthand that she has shown genuine remorse. 'You can't do time in prison without understanding what happened, what your part in it was,' she said. 'For almost six decades, she's been going to [inmate] groups, going through therapy. You can't do that without understanding your actions, your life, your situation. 'She has done everything within her power to fix herself.' In 55 years in prison, Krenwinkel's attorneys argue she has not faced any disciplinary issues and nine evaluations by prison psychologists have found she is no longer a danger to society. They also argue she suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of Manson, which played a key role in her crimes. But for the victims' families and loved ones, she should never be freed. It has now been 57 years since Krenwinkel, Charles 'Tex' Watson and Susan Atkins murdered actor Sharon Tate and four others at the Cielo Drive, Hollywood, home she shared with husband Roman Polanski back on August 8, 1969. Tate - who was eight months pregnant - was stabbed 16 times. A rope was tied around her neck, the other end of which was tied around the neck of her close friend, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring. He had been shot and stabbed seven times. On the lawn of the home, coffee heiress Abigail Folger was found beaten and stabbed 28 times. Folger's boyfriend, Wojciech Frykowski, lay close by with 51 stab wounds. He had also been beaten and shot twice. The body of 18-year-old Steven Parent, who was visiting the caretaker of the estate that night, was also found outside with gunshot wounds. It was Krenwinkel who had chased Folger across the lawn and plunged a knife into her 28 times. She testified in court that the attack was so vicious that her hand throbbed from stabbing. The next night, the Manson family struck again. That time, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten went to the Los Feliz home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary LaBianca. They stabbed Rosemary 41 times and wrapped a pillowcase over her head, tying it with an electric cord from a lamp. Krenwinkel stabbed Rosemary with a fork and scrawled 'Helter Skelter' and 'death to pigs' on the walls in her blood. Leno was stabbed 12 times and the word 'war' was carved into his body. His killers left a carving fork and a kitchen knife protruding from his abdomen and throat. For months, panic plagued the City of Angels before the Manson family members were eventually arrested. Krenwinkel, who was 21 at the time of the slayings, was convicted of seven counts of murder and sentenced to death in 1971. Her sentence was commuted to life without parole the following year when the death penalty was abolished in California. She has been held in a state prison for the last 54 years. At her latest parole hearing in May, several of the victims' families begged the board not to let her go free. Among them was Sebring's nephew, Anthony DiMaria, who urged commissioners to deny Patricia Krenwinkel parole for the 'longest period of time'. In an interview with the Daily Mail, DiMaria said the 'least' Krenwinkel could do is spend the rest of her life behind bars, noting she had already 'gotten off easy' when her death sentence was commuted. He said Krenwinkel acted with 'severe depravity', claiming eight victims - seven people and Sharon Tate's unborn son - and has never truly taken responsibility. 'She committed profound crimes across two separate nights with sustained zeal and passion. She delivered more fatal blows than Manson ever did,' said DiMaria. 'Manson didn't tell her to write 'Helter Skelter' on the wall in her victim's blood - she chose. Manson didn't force her to pick out the butcher's knife and a carving fork - she chose to do that on her own.' DiMaria rejects the long-standing portrayal of the Manson Family as a naive hippy cult and of Manson's so-called 'followers' as helpless flower children under his spell. In truth, he says, they were a gang of willfully violent criminals - a group with the optics of a commune but the structure and intent of a criminal enterprise. He argues the false narrative has obscured the full scope of their crimes and allowed some of the killers - particularly Krenwinkel - to skirt responsibility by hiding behind decades of revisionism. 'They start dressing themselves up as victims of Manson, and suddenly they're the ones deserving sympathy… It's truly sociopathic,' added DiMaria. 'Meanwhile, our families are still carrying the grief, still walking into parole hearings to make sure these people stay where they belong.' Tate's younger sister, Debra Tate, declined to be interviewed for this story. Debra also spoke at Krenwinkel's last hearing, warning that she still presented a grave danger to society. 'Releasing her... puts society at risk. I don't accept any explanation for someone who has had 55 years to think of the many ways they impacted their victims, but still does not know their names,' she said. 'My life, the victims' families are forever affected. [Krenwinkel] has not addressed that. I have asked for the opportunity to have a sit-down meeting, possibly 19 times, but that has never been granted. 'You know who wrote me a letter, Charles Manson wrote me a letter. Interesting. For that reason, and many more, Krenwinkel is unsuitable for parole.' Tate's close friend Ava Roosevelt - who would have been at Cielo Drive that fateful night if it weren't for a twist of fate - also told the Daily Mail that Krenwinkel is undeserving of release. 'Sharon would've lived to be 82 now had she not been brutally murdered. So, ultimately, my question is: why is this woman even still alive? Let alone potentially being free again… why is she not on death row?' she said. 'What message would that be sending to society? That it's okay to commit multiple murders, serve some time, and now you're allowed the freedom to live your life again?' Bustamante said there is no denying Krenwinkel's crimes were especially brutal. But she believes she has become a 'political prisoner' due to the infamy of the Manson murders. 'There's a sensationalism and stigma of being a Manson,' she said. 'Pat deserves to spend her last years in freedom but people want to keep her in because of the notoriety of the crime.' Bustamante has stayed in contact with Krenwinkel since her own release and says she has introduced her to her children and grandchildren. Now, Krenwinkel's fate lies in the hands of the California Parole Board, which has a 120-day deadline from the recommendation to review the decision. After that, Governor Gavin Newsom will have another 30 days to reverse the board's decision. It's a step he took once before when Krenwinkel was recommended for parole the first time in 2022. Bustamante fears Newsom will once again veto her friend's release due to his own political ambitions. 'I think he wants to be president, so I worry he will let that influence his decision.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Investigation begins after fire engulfs Hove home
An investigation is set to begin after a fire which saw flames and smoke rising from the top floor of a domestic property in Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) said it was called to Egmont Road at about 19:00 BST on Saturday, with about six fire engines in attendance at the height of the residents were advised to close windows and doors and members of the public were asked to avoid the area while crews worked at the said Sussex Police and South East Coast Ambulance Service also attended. A fire service spokesperson said crews had since left.
