Latest news with #Branham
USA Today
22-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
MSU basketball reportedly linked to Ohio 4-star combo guard Jason Singleton
Michigan State basketball is reportedly linked to a four-star combo guard from Ohio. Travis Branham, a recruiting insider at 247Sports, reported an update on four-star combo guard Jason Singleton that included the Spartans joining the mix. Singleton recently caught up with Branham to provide a recruiting update and one of the few teams mentioned was the Spartans. Other schools highlighted in the post were Nebraska, Ohio State, DePaul and Stanford. The Cornhuskers are set to host Singleton for an upcoming official visit as well. Singleton holds a recruiting rating of 96.35 and ranks as the No. 92 overall prospect in 247Sports' rankings for the 2026 class. He is also ranked as the No. 13 combo guard and No. 5 player from Ohio in the class. Michigan State has not yet offered Singleton, according to 247Sports. He does, however, hold notable offers from Ohio State, Nebraska, DePaul, Creighton, Dayton, Davidson, Harvard and Yale. Click on the post below to read Branham's complete recruiting update on Singleton and how the Spartans are getting involved in this top-tier prospect: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Yahoo
Cold case podcaster returns to Ohio to investigate homicide of 8-year-old girl
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – After recently investigating a homicide in Marysville, a true crime podcaster from Florida has returned to central Ohio to dig into the 2006 killing of an 8-year-old girl. Melissa Sandberg did not expect to come back to Ohio for the second season of her podcast 'Dog with a Bone,' but when she received a tip about the homicide of Mackenzie Branham and read up on the case, she felt compelled to investigate. Driver who stopped on I-71 before exit charged in three-car wreck 'It just really pulled out my heartstrings of this 8-year-old girl still seeking justice,' Sandberg said. In April 2006, Branham died in a fire at her mother's residence in Jeffersonville, which the mother shared with her live-in boyfriend. The blaze was determined to be arson. Both Branham's mother and the boyfriend escaped unharmed. Over the 19 years the case has remained unsolved, Branham's father and community members have raised concerns about the integrity of law enforcement's investigation. A now-deceased sergeant who responded to the fire was the brother-in-law of Branham's mother's boyfriend, and Branham's father has questioned how officers handled pieces of evidence. A 2018 petition even called for the removal of the Fayette County sheriff over the case. 'There were mistakes that happened in Mackenzie's case,' Sandberg said. 'Everyone in the community is aware, the investigating office is aware of mistakes that were made, but I do know that mistakes can be rectified.' Westerville's Antonio's Pizzeria to close after 'irreconcilable differences' with landlord Sandberg has flown to Ohio twice so far to conduct her own investigation. She said she visited the crime scene, along with interviewing the sheriff, a firefighter who responded to the scene, Branham's relatives and community members. She will detail her findings in the second season of 'Dog with a Bone' and plans to publish the first episode in early September. From there, an episode will be released once a week. Before looking into Branham's case, Sandberg investigated another case out of central Ohio. She dug into the homicide of John Burnside, 32, who was found dead in his Marysville home with a plastic bag placed taped around his head in December 1993. This marked the first season of her podcast, which she says has racked up 56,000 listens since its release last September. 'I've always wanted to be a cold case investigator, homicide investigator, and so this is really me able to live out my dream, but more importantly, it's able to give victims a voice,' Sandberg said. After Sandberg began to look into the case and reach out to different law enforcement agencies, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation decided to review Burnside's case. Sandberg provided the information she found to the BCI's Cold Case Unit. The agency told NBC4 it is still reviewing the case. How 'no tax on tips' could help, hurt Ohio workers Prior to starting her podcast, Sandberg examined cold cases for more than three years. More recently, in 2022 and 2023, Sandberg was part of an independent group of investigators who brought new leads to law enforcement in the suspicious death of a West Virginia woman named Judith Petty. While Sandberg spends a lot of her time investigating cold cases, she also has a full-time job in the healthcare industry. 'I work 40 hours a week and then I come home and I investigate, so after long days of work and two kids, I come home and I'm making calls,' Sandberg said. 'I'm interviewing people, I'm writing, I'm recording. It is another full-time job, basically, that you don't get paid for. It's really because you have a drive.' The episodes on Branham's homicide will be released on platforms that stream podcasts, such as Apple and Spotify. Updates on the new season can be found on the podcast's Facebook page. Anyone who has information on Branham's homicide may message Sandberg through the podcast's Facebook, and/or contact the Fayette County Sheriff's Office at 740-335-6170. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Ohio State basketball star traded to new NBA team
The Washington Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City), sources tell ESPN. Former Ohio State star guard Malaki Branham has been dealt from the San Antonio Spurs to the Washington Wizards after three years in Texas. The trade involved Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for veteran center Kelly Olynyk. Branham played just one year at Ohio State, but it was an exceptional one that improved his NBA draft stock so much that he decided to enter the draft after his freshman season. He was selected in the first round by the Spurs with the No. 22 pick and had a solid start to his career, averaging a little over ten points per game, while starting in 32 contests. Since then, Branham's production has dropped a little, and he was used sparingly last season, so the move could be a positive one with a fresh start. Sometimes all a player needs is a little change in scenery to resurrect things, especially for a guy with the skill of Branham. We'll keep an eye on Branham and what he does for the Wizards and wish him nothing but the best of luck in D.C. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
San Francisco Chronicle
02-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Bay Area high school teacher was stabbed in her classroom in 1978. Police just identified her killer
Recording grades on the last day of the school year nearly 50 years ago, a Bay Area high school teacher was stabbed in the chest by a man police wouldn't be able to find for decades. Diane Peterson, a 26-year-old English teacher at Branham High School in San Jose, had just been told she would be laid off because of dwindling enrollment in the school, newspapers reported in 1978. But she was stabbed in the chest before the day's end. Bleeding profusely from the wound, she ran screaming across the campus for 70 yards before collapsing on the floor. Her colleagues tried to stop the flow of blood, but she died at a local hospital. In the immediate aftermath, police said they were mystified as to a motive and had no suspects. No weapons were found; the only clues were some fingerprints on the doorknob. But on Monday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced they had solved the cold case and identified her killer: Harry 'Nicky' Nickerson, a student at the school who was 16 years old at the time. Nickerson was not her student. Nickerson emerged as a suspect in the killing, but for years, police were unable to corroborate witness accounts or develop any usable forensic evidence, district attorney's spokespersons said. A booking photo of the teenager four days after the killing 'bore a strong similarity' to the sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the attack, spokespersons said. Five years later, the family of a Branham student told police that their son claimed to have seen the murder and had identified Nickerson as the murderer — but the student later denied making that statement. The following year, in 1984, a witness told police that Nickerson had 'implicated himself' in the murder, allegedly admitting he killed Peterson after she discovered him in the act of a drug deal. Nickerson allegedly was carrying a knife that had 'Teacher Dear' written on it, a witness said. But with no murder weapon or clear DNA linking him to the crime, police were unable to arrest Nickerson, who in the years following the murder was arrested and convicted of other charges, including armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping, spokespersons said. In 1984, the same year a witness claimed Nickerson had implicated himself in the shooting, Nickerson was shot and critically injured while attempting to commit a drug robbery. No charges were filed 'given the circumstances,' spokespersons said. In 1993, Nickerson shot and killed himself. Investigators finally broke the case in 2025, after meeting with one of Nickerson's family members who admitted that the teenager had come to their home 'minutes after the killing' and confessed to the stabbing. District Attorney's spokespersons said because the relative was not involved in the killing or an accessory after the fact, no crime was committed and thus the witness would not be subject to arrest, even if '(we) think they should have come forward earlier.' Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that he was pleased by the work the office's cold case unit had done to solve the case, even if the murderer was not alive to face justice. 'This marks the end of a terrible and tragic mystery,' said Rosen. San Jose police chief Paul Joseph said he hoped the resolution would bring a measure of peace to Peterson's loved ones — and to a 'community that has carried this loss for too long.' Since being established in 2011, the DA's cold case unit has solved over 30 cold case murders from as early as 1969, officials said. Peterson's case is the fourth to be solved by the office in 2025. In a statement, Peterson's family member — who wished to stay anonymous — thanked investigators for 'not giving up for 47 years.' 'Diane was a beautiful and wonderful person who is missed dearly,' the relative said.
Global News
07-05-2025
- Global News
Pet raccoon holding a meth pipe in driver's seat surprises Ohio police
Police officers respond to a lot of strange calls, but a recent incident involving a pet raccoon and a methamphetamine pipe in Ohio may take the cake for most unusual interaction. An officer in central Ohio encountered Chewy, a pet raccoon, during a traffic stop Monday evening. While the car was initially pulled over for an active warrant on the driver, who also had a suspended licence, it was Chewy who alerted the cops to additional potential crimes. Springfield Township police officer Austin Branham first approached the vehicle and detained a cooperative 55-year-old woman by the name of Victoria Vidal. When Branham turned his attention back to the car, however, 'things took an unusual turn,' the Springfield Township Police Department wrote in a press release shared to Facebook. Story continues below advertisement 'As Officer Branham returned to the vehicle, he observed a raccoon named 'Chewy' sitting in the driver's seat with a meth pipe in its mouth. Chewy had somehow gotten hold of a glass methamphetamine pipe, leading officers to further inspect the vehicle.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Body camera video released by police showed the calm raccoon playing with the meth pipe, and at one point putting it in his mouth, while the officers laughed, incredulous at the sight. View image in full screen A zoomed-in video still shows Chewy with the meth pipe in his mouth. Handout / Facebook / Springfield Township Police Department Chewy's adventures in drug paraphernalia led the officers to further search the car, where they found a bulk amount of methamphetamine, crack cocaine and three used meth pipes, police said. Vidal was charged with possession of drugs and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and was cited for driving under suspension, authorities said. She was also subsequently turned over to Cuyahoga Falls Police on her active warrant, where additional charges related to crack cocaine possession will be presented at a grand jury pending lab results. Story continues below advertisement 'Thankfully, Chewy the raccoon was unharmed, and notification was made to the proper authorities to determine that she has the proper paperwork and documentation to own the raccoon,' police said, adding that Vidal did have all the right papers. 'While our officers are trained to expect the unexpected, finding a raccoon holding a meth pipe is a first!' 'No raccoons were hurt or injured in this incident,' authorities confirmed. 'As always, we remain committed to keeping our community safe — no matter what surprises may come our way.'
