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Death row inmate, 54, makes bizarre Vietnam War plea before his execution TONIGHT

Death row inmate, 54, makes bizarre Vietnam War plea before his execution TONIGHT

Daily Mail​5 days ago

A death row inmate set to be executed on Tuesday night tried to evoke a scandal from the Vietnam War in a last-ditch attempt to spare his life.
Anthony Wainwright, 54, is scheduled to be put to death via lethal injection over the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, who he and an accomplice kidnapped from a supermarket parking lot.
The killer and his accomplice brutally raped Gayheart before strangling and shooting her in a wooded area in Hamilton County, Florida. Richard Hamilton, the accomplice, who died in prison in 2023.
Ahead of his execution tonight, Wainwright's attorneys threw a Hail Mary plea to spare his fate.
They argued that his father was exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange when he served in the Vietnam War, which stunted his brain development.
Agent Orange was a potent weed killer sprayed by the US military during the Vietnam War that was later found to have severe health effects on Vietnamese civilians and US soldiers who were exposed to it.
Wainwright was conceived around six months after his father returned from the war after he was among the millions exposed to it, he said.
In a petition to the US Supreme Court, Wainwright's attorneys argued that the herbicide's health effects were not well understood when he was convicted.
His execution will coincide with that of Alabama inmate Gregory Hunt.
Hunt will be put to death with controversial nitrogen gas.
Although they claimed it could have been a 'mitigating factor' that a jury could have hypothetically considered when sparing him the death penalty, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Wainwright's plea hours before the execution.
In their failed petition, the killer's legal team alleged that execution would be 'disproportionate, excessive and cruel', as they argued he was stunted from birth due to the herbicide.
'Although Mr. Wainwright did not serve in the Vietnam War, and was not even a viable life at that point, he was catastrophically and immutably cognitively damaged from it,' the petition said.
'Unlike veterans, who make knowing sacrifices for our country in the face of grave risks, Mr. Wainwright had no such choice.'
As it rejected the petition, the court said Wainwright's mental state had already been decided upon in his early appeals.
'First, while Wainwright says he was unaware of the cause of his cognitive and neurobehavioral impairments, his intellectual, behavioral, and psychological issues have been an issue throughout the postconviction proceedings,' the court said.
'Thus, it is unlikely that one additional cause to explain this set of behaviors would result in a life sentence.'
When Wainwright and Hamilton killed Gayheart, who was 23 at the time of her murder, they had escaped from a minimum-security prison in North Carolina two days before.
After stealing a car and driving to Lake City, Florida, they kidnapped Gayheart from a parking lot at gunpoint and drove her to a remote area off State Route 6.
The fugitives brutally raped her before strangling and shooting her in the head. Gayheart's body was found four days later on May 2, 1994.
One day later, they were found by a Mississippi State Trooper in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and were captured after the trooper shot both men.
If Wainwright's execution goes ahead on Tuesday night, he would become the sixth inmate executed in Florida this year.
The execution would be followed by that of Thomas Gudinas, whose death is scheduled for June 24.
Gudinas was sentenced to death in 1995 over the rape and murder of Michelle Mcgrath the year prior outside an Orlando bar.
He had spent the evening drinking at a bar called Barbarella's, the same bar where McGrath was last seen.
Gudinas's friends told investigators that they left the bar without him, and McGrath's battered body was discovered at a nearby school the next morning.
A woman named Rachelle Smith said she had been attacked by Gudinas that same night, and it was found that McGrath's car was in the same parking lot.
Witnesses said they saw Gudinas in the area around the body until around 7am the next day, and one of his roommates said he found boxer shorts in their apartment stained with blood.
If both Gudinas and Wainwright's executions go ahead, the seven executions in Florida in as many months would mark a sharp increase in death sentences carried out in the state.
Only one person was executed in the entirety of last year in Florida, and six in total in 2023.

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Decapitated, disfigured and crushed to death… the most gruesome Disney disasters to hit beloved theme parks
Decapitated, disfigured and crushed to death… the most gruesome Disney disasters to hit beloved theme parks

The Sun

time17 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Decapitated, disfigured and crushed to death… the most gruesome Disney disasters to hit beloved theme parks

BENEATH the sparkle of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and the cheery tunes of Main Street USA, Disneyland and its sister parks have endured moments of sheer horror. Over the decades, a series of gruesome incidents - from decapitations to crushing deaths have hit the beloved attractions. 17 17 17 Tragic deaths and injuries have hit the parks in the past - but Disney has worked to modernize safety systems. Accidents are rare these days at the attractions. But these shocking incidents remain a sobering reminder that even in the most magical place on Earth, things can go terribly wrong. Here is a roundup of some of the most gruesome disasters to hit Disney parks. Decapitated on the Matterhorn Bobsleds The snowy peaks of the Matterhorn turned into a scene of horror on January 3, 1984. Dolly Regene Young, 47, was thrown from her bobsled and decapitated when fatally struck by another oncoming vehicle. According to Snopes, Young's seat belt was found unbuckled, but it was never determined whether she removed it herself or if it had malfunctioned. Her absence wasn't even noticed until the ride concluded and the grisly discovery was made. Disney was not held legally responsible, but the shock and brutality of the incident continue to haunt the ride's history. Crushed to death at America Sings 17 17 It was supposed to be a fun summer job. But on July 8, 1974, 18-year-old Deborah Gail Stone, a promising student and new Disneyland employee, was crushed to death in front of stunned guests. The rotating wall of the America Sings attraction closed in on her, trapping her between a moving and stationary section. It is unclear whether a misstep or insufficient training led her to the fatal spot, according to David Koenig's book 'Mouse Tales'. The attraction shut down for two days while emergency safety modifications — including warning lights and breakaway walls — were installed. No official blame was cast on Disney, but the case cast a long shadow over park operations. Dragged under Roger Rabbit ride 17 17 A trip to Toontown turned into a medical nightmare for four-year-old Brandon Zucker, who slipped from a Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin vehicle on September 22, 2000. He was dragged beneath the car, sustaining devastating internal injuries, brain damage, and cardiac arrest. According to the LA Times, the lap bar may have malfunctioned, and the child had been seated near an open side. After two years, Disney settled with the family for an undisclosed amount, without admitting fault. The settlement's terms were not made public, but guaranteed the boy would receive medical treatment for the remainder of his life. Brandon remained severely disabled until his death in 2009 at age 13. He was found unresponsive at his dad's home in Anaheim and died at Children's Hospital of Orange County, the Pantagraph reported at the time. Deadly derailment on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 17 17 17 A routine thrill ride became a fatal wreck on September 5, 2003, when Big Thunder Mountain Railroad derailed. Marcelo Torres, a 22-year-old graphic designer, suffered massive internal bleeding and blunt-force trauma when the ride's locomotive detached and slammed into his passenger car. As ABC7 News reported at the time, investigators discovered that fasteners on the train's wheel assembly had not been properly tightened — a maintenance error that caused the axle to come loose. Ten others were injured in the crash. Though Disney settled the lawsuit with Torres' family, the park was widely criticized for what some called a "cost-cutting culture" in the maintenance department during the early 2000s. 17 Fatal blow on the Sailing Ship Columbia A Christmas Eve cruise around the Rivers of America ended in death and chaos when a metal cleat tore loose from the Sailing Ship Columbia and struck two guests and a cast member in 1998. One man, 33, later died from head injuries. According to Aitken Law, the plaintiff's attorneys on the case, the cleat came free when a nylon rope — used in place of the standard, non-stretch hemp — snapped and recoiled, launching the hardware into the crowd. California's OSHA (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) fined Disney $12,500 for inadequate training and misuse of materials. The company paid the victim's family an estimated $25 million in a settlement. 17 17 Foot crushed on Alice in Wonderland ride A 15-year-old boy from Mesa, Arizona, left Disneyland with broken bones after his foot became wedged between a moving ride vehicle and a guardrail on December 21, 2000. Emergency responders were called after the teen's leg was crushed while riding the Alice in Wonderland attraction, the LA Times reported. Investigators found that the boy had likely been dangling his leg outside the vehicle — despite visible signage and lap bar restraints advising against it. Anaheim Fire Division Chief Kent Mastain said 'the car did exactly what it was supposed to do,' stopping automatically. Disneyland reopened the ride just hours later and was not found liable for the accident. Space Mountain ejection leaves teen paralyzed 17 In 1983, 18-year-old James Higgins was left partially paralyzed and brain-damaged after allegedly being thrown from his seat on Space Mountain. Higgins sued Disney, claiming a flawed lap bar design was to blame. His attorneys sought $3.3 million in damages. The case hinged on the ring-shaped lap bars then in use, which a physicist testified could be removed by guests, according to the LA Times. However, under cross-examination, the expert admitted gravity and proper positioning should have kept riders in place. The jury sided with Disney in 1985, 9–3, determining Higgins may have stood up mid-ride despite warnings. The lap bar was eventually replaced, but no fault was ever assigned to Disney. 'Permanently disfigured' after Blizzard Beach horror 17 17 Meanwhile in Florida, a 334-pound Disney World guest is suing the company after allegedly being 'permanently disfigured ' in a water slide accident at Blizzard Beach. Eugene Strickland filed a lawsuit in Orange County on May 29, seeking over $50,000 for 'permanent catastrophic injuries' he claims were caused by Disney's negligence. Strickland says he was allowed to ride the Downhill Double Dipper, despite exceeding the 300-pound weight limit set by ASTM guidelines. At the time, he weighed 334 pounds. A jury trial is scheduled for May 2027. Disney has not yet commented on the case. The Sun reached out to Disney for comment. Disabled woman dead after Jungle Cruise fall 17 In one of Disneyland's most recent cases, a disabled woman died of septic shock after falling while trying to exit the Jungle Cruise in 2021. According to Business Insider, a lawsuit filed by her family claims that Disneyland employees laughed at the woman's struggles and failed to offer a wheelchair-accessible boat. The 66-year-old suffered a broken leg that later developed into a fatal infection. The case is still pending, with no final ruling on Disney's liability. The allegations have raised serious questions about how the park accommodates disabled guests.

Inside Asa Ellerup and Gilgo Beach suspect husband Rex Heuermann's marriage, and why she still loves him
Inside Asa Ellerup and Gilgo Beach suspect husband Rex Heuermann's marriage, and why she still loves him

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Inside Asa Ellerup and Gilgo Beach suspect husband Rex Heuermann's marriage, and why she still loves him

Asa Ellerup breaks into a smile as she remembers her husband Rex Heuermann revealing that he had a 'big surprise' waiting at home. It was July 2009 and Ellerup had gone to Iceland for five weeks to visit family with her two children, Victoria and Christopher. Heuermann stayed behind on Long Island, saying he was busy with work at his Midtown Manhattan architecture firm. 'He said to me: "I made a big mess,"' Ellerup beams fondly in the new Peacock docuseries 'The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets'. Heuermann had gutted the basement bathroom, totally remodeling it from the tiles to the toilet. 'That was Rex. He's a problem solver,' she says of her beloved husband of 27 years. To Ellerup, this was a romantic gesture from a doting family man, her 'tall, dark and handsome hero who had taken her and Christopher in when she was a young, single mother working at a 7-Eleven. But, according to authorities, it was something far darker: a calculated move by a suspected serial killer intent on covering his tracks and destroying forensic evidence of the murder of a young woman inside his own home. Another 14 years would pass before Heuermann, now 61, was arrested in July 2023 and later charged with murdering seven women - many of them sex workers -between 1993 and 2010. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Prosecutors allege in court documents that he lured victims to his house when his wife and children were away. It was during Ellerup's July 2009 visit to Iceland - and Heuermann's sudden surprise bathroom makeover - when Melissa Barthelemy went missing. Barthelemy, 24, told a friend she was going to meet a client and was never seen alive again. Her remains were found in December 2010 wrapped in burlap along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, beside three other victims. In the days following her disappearance, Barthelemy's teenage sister received taunting calls from her sibling's phone. The male caller branded Barthelemy a 'whore' and gloated he had 'killed her'. The calls stopped when Heuermann flew out to join his family in Iceland. Inside the remodeled bathroom, where Barthelemy may have died, Ellerup appears more upset at the state in which investigators left it than by the horrors that might have happened there. 'They took it - brand new,' she says in the show, gesturing to where the door used to be. 'They ripped it up looking for trace evidence of blood,' she adds, as the camera reveals a panel in the bathtub cut out during a police search. A family rift The docuseries marks the first time that Heuermann's relatives have spoken publicly since his arrest - and it exposes an explosive split at the home over his potential guilt. Throughout the episodes, Ellerup doesn't waver in her belief that the man she married could ever be a serial killer. She lights up when talking about their lives together, proudly referring to him as her 'hero' and takes issue with the suggestion that he used sex workers. 'They're telling me that he was soliciting sex with sex workers? I don't have sex with my husband? I don't satisfy him?' she asks incredulously. 'He comes home, he eats my dinner. It's not good enough? No, I don't believe my husband did this.' Even after Heuermann has spent two years behind bars, Ellerup describes seeing him at court hearings as 'comforting' and likens her prison visits to going 'on a first date'. When confronted with DNA, timelines, his chilling computer hard drive and cellphone data, she refuses to consider that the allegations are true. 'I would need to hear it from Rex, face-to-face, for me to believe he killed these girls,' she says. Meanwhile, their daughter Victoria, 28, is less certain. In a bombshell moment, after reviewing case files, she admits to having reached the gut-wrenching conclusion that her father is 'most likely' the notorious Gilgo Beach serial killer. Attorney Bob Macedonio, who represents Ellerup, tells the Daily Mail that 'time will only tell' if she will ever accept she may have been married to an alleged serial killer for almost three decades. 'After Victoria viewed the information and after it was explained to her, she was able to process and form her own opinion that her father most likely is the Gilgo beach serial killer,' Macedonio says. 'Asa, on the other hand, maintains the belief that Rex, the father of her children and her ex-husband of 27 years, is not capable of committing these horrific acts.' But attorney John Ray isn't convinced by Ellerup's denials. Ray represented some of the victims' families and, for years, kept attention on the case - loudly criticizing the investigation when it was being hampered by corrupt law enforcement. He tells the Daily Mail that he finds it hard to believe that mother and daughter are living under the same roof while being at odds over Heuermann's guilt. 'You mean to tell me that they are just happily getting along?' he questions. 'One person said my husband did not slaughter women and chop them up in that house or anywhere, and the other one says yes he did. 'They made it sound like an academic debate. It is impossible for those two people to live together and not have a completely dramatic falling out if they maintain those positions.' Ray also doubts Heuermann's family didn't know what the man they lived with was allegedly doing. 'It's a sham,' he says, adding that Ellerup's outright denial and Victoria's turmoil before reaching her conclusion is all about them 'creating [their] innocence' in the case. 'They are both very cleverly distancing themselves from any responsibility to what happened - and that is a consistent theme.' In the Peacock series, Ellerup and Victoria say they didn't notice any signs of Heuermann's alleged crimes and they have not been accused of having any information prior to his arrest. Horror in the family home But regardless of how much they may wish to distance themselves, the women in Heuermann's life have been thrust into the heart of the case. While his family is not suspected of any involvement in the crimes, the home where Ellerup, Heuermann, Victoria and Christopher shared so many family memories is also believed to be the place where other families' sisters, daughters and mothers took their last breaths. In the docuseries, the two women are seen in the basement where authorities believe victims were held, tortured and killed. As a child growing up in the home with his parents, the basement was a space where a young Heuermann had his bedroom. As an adult living there with his wife and children, it became the site of a large gun vault - and, inside that, a hidden room that no one else was ever allowed to enter. The vault - dubbed the 'kill room' - was a focal point in the police searches. A chilling planning document found on Heuermann's computer hard drive allegedly indicated it was where his victims died. Heuermann's wife and daughter have also been unwittingly allegedly linked to several of the murdered women through DNA evidence. Hairs found on six of the seven murdered women have allegedly been matched to Heuermann, Ellerup Victoria or a woman he lived with between 1990 and 1993. According to prosecutors, hairs belonging to Victoria were found on the bodies of victims Amber Costello and Valerie Mack. Victoria was just three years old when her father allegedly murdered and dismembered Mack in 2000. Despite DNA evidence thrusting Ellerup and Victoria into Heuermann's criminal case, according to criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett, the family's public comments could impact whether they are called as witnesses. While witnesses cannot testify about their 'general opinions', Bassett says - if he were Heuermann's defense attorney - he would be paying attention to what Victoria and Ellerup say about his innocence or guilt. 'It could impact their testimony on cross-examination for example if the daughter takes the stand and says: 'I think he's absolutely innocent.' Then they could be cross-examined on any contradictory statements they made in the documentary,' he tells the Daily Mail. However, while Victoria's belief may make her an unfavorable witness to the defense, Bassett believes she is unlikely to be called anyway, due to her age at the time of the killings. Ellerup, meanwhile, married Heuermann two years after he allegedly killed his first victim, Sandra Costilla. A fairytale love story Ellerup looks back fondly on her love story with the man now accused of being a serial killer. She was 18 and working in a 7-Eleven when she first met the 'tall, dark and handsome' college boy. Despite being 'madly in love', both Ellerup and Heuermann ended up marrying other people. Ellerup reveals her first marriage 'did not go well at all', and that her ex-husband 'became somebody completely different' after their son Christopher was born. When she tried to seek a divorce, she says he 'wasn't very nice about it' and made it clear he wouldn't accept her being happy with someone else. The way Ellerup tells it, Heuermann was something of a knight in shining armor, accompanying her to pick up her son and helping to take her ex-husband to court. 'So fast forward, I got my divorce. There was no reason to hold back. You know what I mean?' she says of her relationship with Heuermann, smiling. Following her divorce, Heuermann took her and Christopher into his home. Not long later, Ellerup became pregnant with Victoria and the couple married in 1995. 'There's a picture of me and I'm looking up going: "I finally got him. He's mine,"' she says, thinking back on their wedding day. Ellerup describes their love story like a fairytale - where Heuermann rescued her and they lived happily ever after. 'He's my hero,' she says. Choosing 'weak wives' Dr Gail Saltz, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, tells the Daily Mail that serial killers deliberately choose certain types of spouses - 'weak wives who are malleable, with low self esteem, who will believe or at least go along with what they say and can be controlled. 'Mostly they marry docile, passive, controllable partners. Partners who won't question them or push back,' she says. 'The wife may, for her own needs, feel her husband is good and decent because believing he is a murderer would make being with him intolerable and she needs him.' Besides a troubled first marriage and life as a young single mother, Ellerup - who was adopted from Iceland - had suffered other traumas at the hands of men. She was sexually assaulted by a classmate aged 16 and tried to kill herself. At 19, she narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt by hiding in a dumpster for hours. As well as choosing someone who 'needs' him, Saltz says that serial killers also often marry 'to keep an appearance of normalcy to the outside world, to look non-suspicious, more than actually having a real relationship'. And, for 27 years, Heuermann appeared to do just that, keeping up the act of being a loving 'family man' as the couple lived something of a typical suburban family life on Long Island. They raised their children in the popular commuter town of Massapequa Park while he traveled into the city to work as an architect. How could you not know? Ellerup insists that she never saw any signs that her husband was leading a double life. 'I know what bad men are capable of doing,' she says. 'I've seen it, and I've heard it from other men. Not my husband. You have the wrong man.' Victoria also insists her dad was never violent. The biggest display of rage she ever saw was when he threw plates into the sink after what she believed were stressful days at work. Still, Ellerup faces skepticism about whether she truly knew nothing of her husband's alleged crimes. 'How could you not know? How could you not know that your husband was a serial killer?' Ellerup says. 'Know what? My husband was home. He is a family man,' she insists. It's a question Kerri Rawson, the daughter of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, says she and her mother have heard a 'million times'. 'I understand having reasonable questions. Is she in denial? Is she lying? Is she disassociated?' Rawson says in the show. 'The thing is, when you're sitting in the cheap seats with the popcorn, you're in hindsight-land… you're not sitting in the everyday with a normal man.' She says that people underestimate 'the control' and 'manipulation' in such situations. While Rawson and her mother never saw signs of her father's double life, they accepted his guilt after he was arrested. 'No matter what' After sitting 'on the fence', Victoria appears to be doing the same - envisioning a future where she has a 'love-hate relationship' with the man who raised her. 'Whether I like it or not, he is my dad. I think if he was guilty, it would be a love-hate relationship. This is my dad and I love him as my dad,' she says. 'The hate is the other side of him that came out.' But Ellerup's seems to be still in a place of denial about the man she has known and loved since the age of 18. Professor Salz says that a wife may align with a suspected serial killer if she 'cannot accept this was their marriage, their partner and they feel overwhelming shame and guilt and so they deny to themselves this could be true.' Even if Ellerup's changes down the line, she shows little sign of wanting to let go of what she thinks of as their fairytale. To the man accused of slaughtering multiple women, she has an unwavering, romantic message: 'I love you, no matter what.'

Padilla has ‘serious questions' for Noem after he was dragged from press conference: ‘How does she not know the senator from California?'
Padilla has ‘serious questions' for Noem after he was dragged from press conference: ‘How does she not know the senator from California?'

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Padilla has ‘serious questions' for Noem after he was dragged from press conference: ‘How does she not know the senator from California?'

Sen. Alex Padilla of California said that he has serious questions for Kristi Noem after Secret Service and FBI agents forcibly pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him after he tried to ask the Homeland Security Secretary a question during a press conference in Los Angeles. Padilla spoke to Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday and responded to some in the Democratic Party who have called for Noem's resignation. 'That's maybe not my focus right now,' Padilla said. 'But I do think there's some serious questions, how does the cabinet secretary not know the senator from California when she steps foot into Los Angeles? She came to the Senate at one point.' The incident happened when Noem came to Los Angeles after President Donald Trump had deployed the National Guard into California without the consent of Governor Gavin Newsom as well as U.S. Marines. The deployment came after protesters pushed back against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, at times, led to the destruction of property, such as setting WayMo self-driving vehicles on fire. Noem said at the press conference the Trump administration came to 'liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership.' Padilla, who has a Senate office in the same building, introduced himself and said 'I am Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary' which directly contradicted what Homeland Security later said. Padilla had criticized the fact that the administration had used half a dozen violent criminals to rationalize the large-scale mass deportations and raids it has conducted. That led to agents pushing back against him, throwing him out of the press conference, pinning him down and handcuffing him. During his interview with CNN, Padilla said that Homeland Security's actions have consequences. 'How does Secretary of Homeland Security not know how to de-escalate the situation?' he said. 'It's because you can't, or because they don't want to, and it sets the tone. Donald Trump and Secretary Noem have set the tone for the Department of Homeland Security and the entire administration in terms of escalation and extreme enforcement actions.' Padilla was not arrested or charged with any crimes. But he did say later that the administration's action show just how easily they could treat other people without official government titles. The incident with Padilla is not the only time that the Trump administration has escalated situations with Democratic lawmakers. Last week, Rep. LaMonica McIver from New Jersey was indicted on federal charges, which said that she allegedly impeded and interfered with immigration officers outside of a detention center in her state. Padilla later appeared on CBS's Face the Nation where moderator Margaret Brennan asked him about polling, including from CBS, that showed that much of the public supports mass deportations, a key part of the Trump's 2024 campaign. 'It depends on how you ask the question,' Padilla said. 'If you ask the same people, do they think we should maintain due process in the United States of America? The answer is overwhelming yes. Do DREAMers deserve better than the limbo that they find themselves in? Overwhelmingly, on a bipartisan basis, yes.' Padilla said that border security mattered, as does creating a more orderly process for immigration. 'But we can't forget the millions of long-term residents people who have been here working, paying taxes raising families, buying homes contributing to the strength of our economy,' he said. 'They deserve better.'

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