Latest news with #GoldenStateKiller
NDTV
22-05-2025
- NDTV
On Camera, Chilling Moment Woman Admitted To Killing Her Baby 30 Years Ago
A New York woman calmly confessed to burning and strangling her baby boy in an Albany park about 30 years ago. A video, from the time of her interrogation in September 2024, shows the startling moment Keri Mazzuca, 52, confessed to killing her newborn son in 1997. She placed his body in a burnt cloth in a flowerbed close to the Moses statue in Albany, New York. A Freedom of Information Law request led to the release of the police interview. Mazzuca was charged with manslaughter in April 2025. The woman was interrogated last year over the death of "Baby Moses" after DNA testing on the baby's remains led investigators to her, News10 reported. Mazzuca provided a sample for the technology, which was reportedly used to apprehend Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, and Rex Heuermann, the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer, The New York Post reported. According to the footage provided by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, Mazzuca confessed with apparent casual indifference after being shown a graphic image of the newborn's burned remains. She denied setting Baby Moses on fire, saying the infant had died in the bathtub during childbirth and that she had given the body to a "random person" at the park after placing it in a bag. Mazzuca calmly told the officer, "I did it," before trying to defend her horrible action when she was in her mid-twenties. "I got pregnant. I gave birth to the baby. The baby died after I gave birth in my bathtub. I was not sure of how to get rid of it," she told the cops, still not showing any remorse. Detectives told Mazzuca that her story did not add up and that an autopsy revealed Baby Moses had not died of natural causes. "I was unsure about what to do," Mazzuca calmly acknowledged, before adding, "I set the baby on fire. It was dead." Mazzuca was arrested in September 2024, 27 years after the child's death, based on DNA evidence. Judge Roger McDonough of Albany County Court sentenced Keri Mazzuca of Altamont to 25 years in jail for her role in the murder of her newborn entered a guilty plea in February. She also received a sentence for interfering with physical evidence, beginning simultaneously with the manslaughter accusation. After her release, she will also be on probation for five years.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vincent Gallo & James Franco's Golden State Killer Thriller On Sale At Cannes Market With Lionsgate; U.S. Deal In The Bag
EXCLUSIVE: True-crime thriller Golden State Killer (previously known as The Policeman), starring Vincent Gallo and James Franco, is on sale this week at the Cannes market with Lionsgate. The film has secured a domestic distribution release via Lionsgate's longtime genre partner Grindstone. More from Deadline Neon Takes North America, UK, Australia & New Zealand On Cristian Mungiu's 'Fjord' With Sebastian Stan & Renate Reinsve - Cannes Market Cannes Chief Thierry Frémaux Addresses Trump's Tariffs: "Cinema Always Finds A Way Of Existing & Reinventing Itself" Kal Penn, Booboo Stewart & Nicole Elizabeth Berger To Lead Underground Chess Thriller 'Contra' Written and directed by Vito Brown, the movie has Gallo playing Golden State killer Joseph James DeAngelo, the serial murderer and rapist who began terrorizing California residents all the way back in the 1970s, only being brought to justice in 2018. Franco plays a detective who faces the impossible task of finding the serial killer at the height of his crime spree before he can claim his next victims. Producers are Scott Clayton, Jordan Gertner, Barry Brooker, Todd Williams, and Gary A. Hirsch. Gertner was previously aboard as writer-director but that's no longer the case, we understand. The project, which is currently in post-production, hit some turbulence last year when it was scrutinized by SAG-AFTRA over misconduct complaints against Gallo by multiple female actors. The complaints spotlighted sexual comments allegedly made by Gallo in the audition process, which took place in November 2023. Actor, filmmaker and musician Gallo, a Venice Best Actor winner, is known for subversive and provocative works including The Brown Bunny. 127 Hours, Spring Breakers and Pineapple Express star Franco has a spate of independent projects in production or post including Bunny-Man and Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde. He hasn't appeared in a studio movie since the 2021 settlement of a legal case brought against him by former students who accused him of sexual misconduct. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
San Francisco Chronicle
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
James Franco's first studio film since #MeToo settlement to get U.S. distribution
James Franco's first studio movie since his 2021 sexual harassment settlement has secured domestic distribution. The Palo Alto native stars in the true-crime thriller 'Golden State Killer,' which will be released via Lionsgate Films' longtime horror genre partner Grindstone Entertainment Group. The film, starring Vincent Gallo as the title character, is also on sale this week at the Cannes Film Festival market, according to Deadline, which first reported the news. The movie tells the true story of Joseph James De Angelo, who committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes and 120 burglaries throughout California beginning in the 1970s before being arrested in 2018. Franco plays the detective who tracks the notorious killer. The project, written and directed by Vito Brown, has already been mired in controversy since allegations of misconduct by Gallo during auditions in November 2023 surfaced last year. Two actresses accused Gallo of discussing his 'torture porn fantasies' as they auditioned for roles as victims of the killer, according to a 2024 report by Rolling Stone. After complaints were filed to SAG-AFTRA, the union said it was committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment on all film sets. A spokesperson for the film also said that a union intimacy coordinator had been hired. Franco's upcoming movies 'Bunny-Man' and 'Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde' (in which he plays Cuban dictator Fidel Castro) are in post-production. But the Academy Award-nominated actor hasn't appeared in a studio movie since a $2.2 million lawsuit brought against him by four former students at his Los Angeles acting school, Studio 4, who accused him of sexual misconduct. In the 2021 settlement, he admitted it was 'wrong' to have sex with his students. The first public allegations against Franco related to his acting school surfaced in January 2018, at the dawn of the #MeToo movement. Franco had recently appeared at the Golden Globes wearing a pin advertising the Time's Up campaign, which stood against such harassment. Meanwhile, Franco's brother, actor and filmmaker Dave Franco, is dealing with his own legal troubles. He and his wife Alison Brie were hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
SoCal man who killed wife and tossed her severed legs in trash gets 15 years to life in prison
For more than two decades, Jack Potter had fooled people into believing his dead wife, whose severed legs were found in a Rancho San Diego trash container in 2003, was still alive, prosecutors say. On Friday, one of the region's most disturbing cold cases concluded when 72-year-old Jack Potter was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Laurie Potter. Potter pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to smothering his 54-year-old wife to death in February, prosecutors said. For almost 20 years, prosecutors say, Potter was living large and profiting off of Laurie's death while pretending she was still alive. He fraudulently opened credit cards in her name and used family court to sell their home in Temecula and pocket the profits, prosecutors said. He met a new girlfriend at a strip club and gifted her a Hummer SUV and a ski boat, leased her an apartment and gave her a credit card with a $30,000 limit, prosecutors said. The girlfriend eerily shared his wife's name. Potter expressed remorse during Friday's hearing, apologizing and saying he loved his wife. "I let my emotions get the better of me that one time," he said. "I don't know why. It just happened and I'm sorry." A maintenance worker at the Country Hills Apartment complex in Rancho San Diego had discovered Laurie's legs in October 2003, but law enforcement was unable to identify her and the case went unsolved. That was until 2020 when new DNA investigative techniques led to a breakthrough in the haunting cold case. Detectives ran the crime scene DNA through a national database and matched it to a distant relative. Detectives then progressively asked closer relatives to share their DNA until — 20 people and six months later — they reached Laurie's adult son. His sample allowed them to identify Laurie and a subsequent investigation yielded evidence connecting her husband to the crime, according to a 2021 news release from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. When Potter was arrested in 2021, Laurie's family, though unaware of her whereabouts, thought she was still alive, according to the Sheriff's Office. Read more: The untold story of how the Golden State Killer was found: A covert operation and private DNA She was never reported missing and without genetic testing — the same technology used to identity the Golden State Killer and crack scores of cold cases — this murder would have probably gone unsolved, the Sheriff's Office said in the news release. Laurie's son, John Carlson, said during Potter's sentencing hearing that he'd lost touch with his mother, but had tried to contact her and renew their relationship. Carlson said Potter told him his mother "just wanted to be alone, which unfortunately I believed. And this really hurts to this day.' Laurie's case marked the first time the San Diego County Sheriff's Office attempted to identify a murder victim using investigative genealogy. 'This case is a stark reminder that the pursuit of justice never stops,' San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan said in a statement Friday. 'And neither does the grief of those who lose someone to violence. Today, we honor Laurie's memory and stand with her family in their long-awaited moment of justice.' City News Service contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
03-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
SoCal man who killed wife and tossed her severed legs in trash gets 15 years to life in prison
For more than two decades, Jack Potter had fooled people into believing his dead wife, whose severed legs were found in a Rancho San Diego trash container in 2003, was still alive, prosecutors say. On Friday, one of the region's most disturbing cold cases concluded when 72-year-old Jack Potter was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Laurie Potter. Potter pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to smothering his 54-year-old wife to death in February, prosecutors said. For almost 20 years, prosecutors say, Potter was living large and profiting off of Laurie's death while pretending she was still alive. He fraudulently opened credit cards in her name and used family court to sell their home in Temecula and pocket the profits, prosecutors said. He met a new girlfriend at a strip club and gifted her a Hummer SUV and a ski boat, leased her an apartment and gave her a credit card with a $30,000 limit, prosecutors said. The girlfriend eerily shared his wife's name. Potter expressed remorse during Friday's hearing, apologizing and saying he loved his wife. 'I let my emotions get the better of me that one time,' he said. 'I don't know why. It just happened and I'm sorry.' A maintenance worker at the Country Hills Apartment complex in Rancho San Diego had discovered Laurie's legs in October 2003, but law enforcement was unable to identify her and the case went unsolved. That was until 2020 when new DNA investigative techniques led to a breakthrough in the haunting cold case. Detectives ran the crime scene DNA through a national database and matched it to a distant relative. Detectives then progressively asked closer relatives to share their DNA until — 20 people and six months later — they reached Laurie's adult son. His sample allowed them to identify Laurie and a subsequent investigation yielded evidence connecting her husband to the crime, according to a 2021 news release from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. When Potter was arrested in 2021, Laurie's family, though unaware of her whereabouts, thought she was still alive, according to the Sheriff's Office. She was never reported missing and without genetic testing — the same technology used to identity the Golden State Killer and crack scores of cold cases — this murder would have probably gone unsolved, the Sheriff's Office said in the news release. Laurie's son, John Carlson, said during Potter's sentencing hearing that he'd lost touch with his mother, but had tried to contact her and renew their relationship. Carlson said Potter told him his mother 'just wanted to be alone, which unfortunately I believed. And this really hurts to this day.' Laurie's case marked the first time the San Diego County Sheriff's Office attempted to identify a murder victim using investigative genealogy. 'This case is a stark reminder that the pursuit of justice never stops,' San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan said in a statement Friday. 'And neither does the grief of those who lose someone to violence. Today, we honor Laurie's memory and stand with her family in their long-awaited moment of justice.' City News Service contributed to this report.
