Latest news with #AdaCounty
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Meridian church sues longtime neighbor, who says: ‘We did not do that'
Alleging an intrusive shed, a protruding carport and sprinkler damage, a Meridian church has taken legal action against a longtime neighbor. In a lawsuit filed in Ada County District Court in late April, Meridian Missionary Baptist Church accused Alicia D. Williams of property damage in excess of $1,000, according to court records obtained by the Idaho Statesman. The suit was filed under Idaho Code 6-202, which addresses civil trespassing. Meridian Missionary Baptist, which is seeking a jury trial, sits on the corner of Meridian Road and East Carlton Avenue in a mixed residential area near downtown Meridian. The defendant's house, which Williams says she has occupied for 19 years along with her husband, borders the church to the east. The church claims it proceeded with the lawsuit after speaking on 'numerous occasions' with Williams and another occupant of the home, and later sending letters on April 29, 2024, and Sept. 16, 2024. Those letters, according to the lawsuit, went unacknowledged by the defendant, and no action was taken to rectify the damage or the 'general trespassing issues.' In official filings responding to the lawsuit, Williams denied the allegations and asked that the case be dismissed. 'We got a letter a few years back asking if they could buy our house because they wanted to make a bigger parking lot,' Williams told the Idaho Statesman. 'We did not sell, and then in the last couple of years, they've started with these couple of complaint letters.' One big issue in the case will involve ownership of a fence. According to the lawsuit, the Williamses erected a shed against the church's fence. The roof of the shed sits on the fence, causing damage, and protrudes onto church property, the suit claims. 'That fence is legally ours. We're legally permitted to build anything we want against our own fence,' Alicia Williams said. 'And if it's sagging a little and needs some repair, that's on us as well, but that has nothing to do with them.' The defendant also is accused of building an RV carport that juts onto church property, and in doing so killed the arborvitae that are planted along the fence line. Alicia and her husband, John Timothy Williams II, say the carport is permitted and legal, and said the church was actually responsible for damaging the trees. 'What's amazing about that is we watched them cut those trees,' Alicia said. 'We did not do that.' The lawsuit also alleges that Williams tore up and broke the church's sprinkler heads. John Williams told the Statesman that he did accidentally run over one of the church's sprinklers, and then offered to fix it, but was told there was no need. The church is asking for reimbursement for alleged damages and the cost associated with investigating the trespass, injunctive relief to prevent future harm and cost of attorney's fees. 'Defendant's actions herein constitute a substantial interference with the Church and Plaintiff's real property and were intentional and unreasonable in character,' the lawsuit alleges. 'Defendant's actions herein constitute an obstruction to the Plaintiff's free use of its property, so as to interfere with its comfortable enjoyment of its real property.' Meridian Missionary Baptist Church has hired Eagle attorney Matthew C. Williams, while the defendant has chosen to represent herself, according to court records. A church representative told the Statesman that it would not comment on ongoing litigation, but later offered to provide a written statement, which the Statesman has not received. Reporter Rose Evans contributed to this story.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger's last dash for freedom... as his phone calls and porn searches are revealed
is making a string of last-ditch pleas to a judge in a final court hearing before he goes on trial for his life. The quadruple homicide suspect returned to a courtroom in Ada County, Idaho, Wednesday morning where Judge Steven Hippler is expected to make a series of decisions that will shape his looming capital murder trial this summer. This comes less than a week after bombshell new details emerged in the case, including Kohberger's phone calls to a family member after the murders, his chilling porn choices and disturbing online searches about serial killer Ted Bundy. During the 11th-hour hearing, the prosecution and defense is going head-to-head one final time over what evidence jurors will be able to see in order to decide the fate of the accused killer. Among the final pieces of evidence still at play is Kohberger's eerie criminology research paper intricately detailing a fictional crime scene about a woman being stabbed to death at a trailer park. The 30-year-old PhD student could also finally reveal details about his claim of an alternative suspect in the case - with his defense planning to argue he was framed and that two killers must have committed the shocking crime. Phone records and bank transactions for both the accused killer and some of his alleged victims as well as surveillance footage from locations close to the crime scene are also likely to be discussed. The judge could also lay down rules for jury questionnaires and instructions and lists on exhibits and expert rebuttal witnesses for the sentencing phase could also be finalized. Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the brutal murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. The four University of Idaho students were all slaughtered in a horror knife attack in the early hours of November 13, 2022, inside the off-campus student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, that the three women shared with two other roommates. The two roommates - Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen - survived, with Mortensen coming face-to-face with the masked killer inside the home that haunting night. On December 30, 2022 - around six weeks on from the massacre - Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and charged with the murders. He stood silent at his arraignment and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Now, after more than two years of delays and legal wrangling - including the trial being moved to another county - the suspected killer who struck terror into the heart of a safe, tight-knit college town is finally heading to trial. Jury selection is slated to begin July 30, with the trial getting underway on August 11. The high-profile trial is expected to last around three months, barring the sentencing phase. If convicted, Kohberger faces the death penalty and, following recent changes in Idaho state law, he may even face the firing squad. To date, 13 separate defense efforts to take the death penalty off the table have been denied by the judge - including one where they cited his autism diagnosis as a reason to block capital punishment from the case. The judge has also dealt a series of other blows to Kohberger's defense strategy in recent weeks, ruling that jurors can hear the harrowing 911 call made by the victims' surviving roommates and see their panicked texts after Mortensen saw the masked killer inside their home. The judge has also ruled against Kohberger in allowing Mortensen to describe the man inside her home using the term 'bushy eyebrows.' Jurors will also be able to see Kohberger's Amazon shopping history, which prosecutors say reveals he bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon back in March 2022. A matching sheath was found next to Mogen's body, with DNA on the sheath being traced back to Kohberger. The murder weapon has never been found. Since the last court hearing in April, it has come to light that Kohberger placed a series of phone calls to his dad Michael Kohberger just two hours after the horror stabbing spree. The 30-year-old criminology PhD student called his dad three times on the morning of November 13, 2022, according to explosive cell phone records obtained by NBC's Dateline. The calls began at 6.17am - just two hours after Kohberger is accused of murdering the four students at around 4am - and each lasted up to 54 minutes. What exactly the father and son spoke about remains a mystery. It is also unclear if this was typical behavior for Kohberger to call his father at that time. Kohberger's parents live in Pennsylvania, which is three hours ahead of Pullman - making the first call around 9am for Michael. Following those calls to his father, Kohberger allegedly returned to the scene of the murders, with his phone pinging off a cell tower close to 1122 King Road at 9.12am. Just one hour after that - at around 10.31am - the quadruple homicide suspect was back at his Pullman, Washington, apartment, where he snapped a creepy selfie posing with his thumbs up and an eerie smile as he stood in front of his shower. Over another hour passed before the bloodbath was discovered at 1122 King Road and the now-haunting 911 call was placed just before midday. The shocking revelation of the call records comes after prosecutors revealed they plan to call some of Kohberger's own family members to testify against him at his trial. Which family members will testify for the prosecution and why remain a closely-guarded secret. In the two-plus-years since his arrest, the Kohberger family has kept a low profile. The only public comments ever made by the family was a statement released immediately after his arrest where they said they 'care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children', that they were cooperating fully with the investigation and that 'as a family we will love and support our son and brother.' In the April court hearing, Kohberger's lawyers revealed that the family continues to support him and has 'no interest in helping' the prosecution in its case. New details have also emerged about Kohberger's online activity and behaviors around the time of the murders, including creepy selfies and disturbing porn and serial killer searches. According to Dateline, Kohberger made several searches around serial killer Ted Bundy - who was put to death for a string of murders including the killings of female students in a sorority house in Florida. On August 16, 2022 - three months before the murders - Kohberger allegedly Googled 'ted h7ndy' and one of his professors, including a paper she had written about Bundy. In the days after the murders, Kohberger - on multiple occasions - then also allegedly watched shows about the serial killer. On December 28, 2022 - just three days before his arrest - Kohberger then also allegedly watched a YouTube show named 'Ted Bundy: Essence of a Psychopath.' After watching that, Kohberger snapped a series of other selfies. These haunting images show the man soon to be charged with a brutal quadruple homicide dressed in a black hoody and staring into the camera. The photo, Dateline reveals, appears to impersonate the hooded image of Bundy on the show he had watched that day. He also searched and listened to the Britney Spears' song Criminal. Other online searches after the murders show the suspect was researching the killings - as well as his own name, the show reported. Kohberger had also searched for pornography that included the words 'sleeping' and 'drugged.' He also had a trove of images of female students from WSU and UI, many of them in bikinis. The images, Dateline reported, appeared to have been taken from social media accounts of students who followed or were friends with either Kernodle, Goncalves or Mogen. Sources close to the investigation told Dateline that the intended target of the attack is believed to be Mogen - based in part on the path the killer allegedly took after entering the home, going straight up to her room on the third floor. It has now emerged that a sixth young woman was also supposed to be staying in the home that night - but a last-minute decision saved her life. Ashlin Couch's mom Angela Navejas told that Couch was best friends with Mogen and was the sixth roommate still on the lease at 1122 King Road at the time of the murders. Couch had moved out of the home in the summer of 2022 after graduating early. But she would often return to Moscow to spend weekends with her friends and would stay with Mogen when she did. She had planned to visit that weekend but her mom was on vacation in Florida and Hurricane Nicole had hit the Sunshine State - derailing her journey home. Navejas asked her daughter to stay at home and look after their dogs, and so the senior canceled her plans to join her friends. This last-minute cancellation may have saved her life.
