Latest news with #criminalhistory
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Erratic' Fullerton man bites officer, dies following gruesome arrest
Video posted on Friday shows the brutal and frantic moments during a Fullerton man's arrest that, for reasons yet to be released, ultimately led to his death. In the early morning hours of April 20, according to the Fullerton Police Department, an officer saw the suspect holding a smoldering cardboard box in a city park after closing hours. The man, who police said was acting in an 'erratic' manner, was identified as 46-year-old Jose Luis Naranjo Cortez. Officials noted Cortez's history of criminal convictions, which include voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, unlawful sex with a minor, possession of drugs, possession of burglary tools, DUI, criminal threats and more. The bodycam footage starts with an officer approaching Cortez at Lemon Park, ordering him to put the smoldering cardboard on the ground. Cortez initially argues against the officer approaching, saying, 'I'm not on probation.' The officer replies, saying, 'I don't care, put it on the ground. You can't light fires in public.' This back and forth continues while Cortez ultimately follows the officer's orders to sit down, but he continues to say concerning and at times, illogical things. At one point, he tells the officer, 'You're giving me tuberculosis.' It seems Cortez was trying to argue that he was attempting to leave the park, explaining that his brother and a lady were also there and had 'bugged it.' Cortez also says that he recently got out of jail. The situation escalates when the officer, now assisted by one other officer, begins to approach Cortez to make him stand. 'Where are you gonna take me to, man?' Cortez asks as they reach for his arms. 'You're giving me tuberculosis, sir,' he again claims, along with repeating that he's not on probation, and asking what he did wrong. Once the officers start putting more force into pulling Cortez up, he clearly becomes agitated, his voice cracking and he begins yelling. 'No! You can't eat me, sir,' Cortez shouts. The situation erupts as multiple officers jump in to force a now fully resistant Cortez onto the ground. Moments into this altercation, the officer with the bodycam is heard saying, 'Ah! He's f***ing biting me!' The department confirmed this assault, saying in a release that 'while attempting to take the male into custody, the suspect violently bit an officer on the arm, causing injuries.' The video continues on, showing Cortez fighting in agony to resist as more officers arrive and soon attempt to de-escalate his behavior, telling him to calm down and trying to reason with him, saying, 'We're gonna be gentle if you're gentle.' At one point, an unidentified man claiming to be Cortez's brother is heard running toward the scene, causing a few of the officers to leave Cortez to prevent his access. His self-proclaimed brother was later arrested for resisting and delaying an officer. Cortez's motions begin to calm down the longer he's forcefully detained, and while the officers begin backing away, a conversation is heard between the officer who was bitten and others who arrived after the fact. 'Damn it,' says the officer wearing the bodycam. 'That's a bad bite.' 'Is your hand alright, dude?' One officer is heard asking. 'He got my forearm,' the other officer replies. 'So I punched him like, twice.' As the scene continues to unfold, police are seen beginning to question whether Cortez is breathing, but soon discover that he is. It's not until paramedics arrive that Cortez eventually stops breathing, and life-saving measures begin at the scene. Footage of the incident ended there, but the incident briefing video continued on where an official explained that Cortez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 'Please keep in mind this is an initial review, and our understanding of this incident could possibly change as additional evidence is collected, analyzed, and reviewed,' police said in a release. 'The Fullerton Police Department also does not draw any conclusions as to whether or not our officers acted within our department policy, and the law, until all the facts are known, and the independent investigation by the Orange County District Attorney's Office is complete.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Lover of aristocrat Constance Marten who is accused of killing baby served 22 years in a US jail for rape
An aristocrat's lover accused of killing their baby is a convicted rapist, a court heard yesterday. Mark Gordon, 50, also committed an 'armed kidnapping' when he was just 14. He served 22 years in a US jail for a series of sexual and violent offences when he was a teenager, including a knife-point rape. Gordon, who stands accused with Constance Marten, 37, of killing their daughter by gross negligence, had previously been convicted of armed kidnapping, four sexual assaults, armed burglary and aggravated battery. Yesterday the Old Bailey heard Gordon broke into a woman's house in Florida with a knife and hedge clippers on April 29, 1989. He ordered the victim to undress before holding her captive for more than four and a half hours while he carried out a series of rapes and sexual assaults. Three weeks later Gordon committed an armed burglary, breaking into a family's home and battering a man over the head with a flat-headed shovel. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison on February 11, 1994 and served 22 years of the term. Following his release, Gordon came to the UK where he was later convicted of assaulting two police officers at a hospital where Marten gave birth to their first child under a false name in 2017. Marten is a member of the aristocratic Sturt/Marten family, from which she is estranged. Her father was a page to Queen Elizabeth in the 1970s. After Gordon's assault and their four children were taken into care, the couple decided to go on the run with their fifth child, Victoria, in December 2022 to stop her being taken away by social services. The baby died after they decided to camp in a tent on the South Downs, East Sussex, in freezing temperatures. On March 1, 2023, the infant was found buried under rubbish in a shopping bag that had been discarded in a shed. Experts have been unable to determine whether Victoria died of hypothermia or if she was smothered by her sleeping mother in a cramped tent. Last week when Gordon gave evidence about his earlier life he failed to mention his convictions. He said to jurors he had a 'reasonably decent background' and that he had been taught 'empathy' at an early age by his mother. He told the court: 'I have a great respect for the law', adding 'I like to follow the rules'. Yesterday he claimed he had been subjected to an 'unfair and unlawful' prosecution when he was a teenager. Gordon, who is representing himself after his lawyers quit, said America had a history of racism and 'framing innocent people'. But the court was then told that Gordon had pleaded guilty to armed burglary and aggravated battery and had been convicted by a jury of the kidnapping, sexual assaults and burglary in 1994, discrediting his claim. Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence and an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. At an earlier trial the couple were convicted of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice by hiding Victoria's body. The trial continues.
Wall Street Journal
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Administration Declines to Say Whether Migrants Were Deported to South Sudan
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration said Wednesday that it had deported eight migrants with criminal histories to a third country willing to take them, but declined to say whether they had been taken to South Sudan. At a press conference titled 'Migrant Flight to South Sudan,' Trump officials declined to disclose further details about the men's locations, the day after lawyers said their clients might have been taken to South Sudan in violation of a court order.
The Sun
17-05-2025
- The Sun
I looked in evil serial killer Rose West's eyes & told her Fred had killed himself – her reaction was terrifying
MONSTER murderess Rose West barely flinched when she was told husband Fred had killed himself. But there was a terrifying 'glint' in her eye when she heard he had taken his own life while in prison awaiting trial in 1995. 7 7 Prison governor Vanessa Frake-Harris, who broke the news to the female serial killer, thinks Rose believed Fred's death would mean she could pin their gruesome crimes entirely on him. She said: 'I told her along with the duty governor that Fred had committed suicide, and there was no emotion. She blinked a couple of times and then said, 'Oh right'. 'She didn't even flinch — nothing had altered in her expression. No tears, no nothing — just that glazed stare. The level of control and dissociation was staggering. 'I firmly believe she felt that with Fred dying, she would get off all of the charges. 'There was almost a glint in her eye as if to say, 'OK, he's dead — he can take the rap for it. I'm happy to plead to the lesser charges'. 'Fortunately for all the victims and survivors, she was convicted.' Now three-part Netflix docuseries Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story is re-examining their case. The couple's crimes are some of the most horrific in criminal history. They raped, tortured and murdered at least 12 women before burying the bodies beneath the patio and cellar of their home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, between 1973 and 1987. Vanessa reveals that West was a manipulative and dominant prisoner at Holloway Prison in North London, ahead of her trial. 'Narcissistic psychopath' She was given ten life sentences at Winchester Crown Court in November 1995 for ten murders. And The Sun on Sunday can reveal that, now aged 71, her routine has barely changed in 30 years. Currently held at HMP New Hall, near Wakefield, West Yorks, she spends her days knitting, listening to The Archers on Radio 4, baking and feeding the birds. In an exclusive interview, Vanessa says: 'Rose was very compliant and charming. She did what she was told, when she was told to do it. She was no problem to the staff. 'But you always felt there was an underlying sense that she was full of her own importance. And I had no doubt she was guilty. 'Like a typical narcissistic psychopath, she is devoid of any kind of emotion — very manipulative, lacking in empathy, no remorse. 'She could be very charming to those in her circle — for us, that meant the prison staff — and willing to do whatever it took to appear totally different to the person she actually is.' Vanessa spent three months with the killer, who spent her days in large 'Coke-bottle glasses' while dressed in dowdy cardigans. The ex-jail boss says: 'We used to call her 'Auntie Rose' because she was just like the old auntie you'd pop round to see for tea and cakes, and because she had the big glasses and knitted all the time. 'She had this real sing-song way about her, saying 'Mor-ning' in a chirpy kind of way. She was never any bother. She just wanted to knit. 'At the time we didn't allow knitting needles in, but the governor made an exception because West was kept in the segregation unit. 'She was separated from the general population, not only for her safety but the safety of others. 7 7 7 7 'Staff would give her wooden knitting needles — then collect them from her later — and she would always have multicoloured wool collected from the canteen every day. 'All day long she would knit. She never had any patterns and we never knew what she was knitting — it was just constant knitting. It was never anything in particular. She would stare into the distance while she did it, but you could tell that behind her glazed expression, a lot was going on. 'It was if her brain was busy. On what, I dread to think. 'She was constantly monitored as there was a risk of self-harm. And at the time she was allowed to wear her own clothes — very dowdy cardigans, blouses and trousers. 'She wore the standard-issue plastic shoes we called jellies. 'Her days were routine. She ate all her meals in her cell and did a bit of cleaning on the landing. 'In the afternoon she exercised by herself in a fenced-in yard and at 6pm we'd get her out of her cell to the communal room for an hour so she could watch TV.' At New Hall she has her own cell, with a shower, on a special unit called the Rivendell wing — for women with complex personality issues — and goes to church services conducted by the rural jail's chaplain. A second prison source says: 'She knits endlessly. She is quiet and doesn't cause any conflict. West will die in prison 'If you saw her, you could never think that she is a killer.' West was sent to New Hall in 2019. The source adds: 'She looks her age now — she is a pensioner. 'She is overweight, struggles with stairs and her eyesight is failing. 'She likes going to church but she has never shown any remorse.' Vanessa, who spent 16 years at HMP Holloway before moving to Wormwood Scrubs, eventually quit because she developed PTSD from dealing with violent cons. She says: 'I have no doubt West will be lording it up there now. 'She was a very dominant character with other prisoners but never over-dominant — always staying just below the line. 'She was a big woman so her stature gave her that dominance in the first place, but her manipulation and coercion of others was quite plain to see.' She is a very complex character. She has many facets and Rose West will do what Rose West wants when Rose West wants to do it Vanessa on West In 1997, Home Secretary Jack Straw imposed a whole life tariff — only the second time it had been used on a woman, after serial killer Myra Hindley in 1990. It means West will die in prison. Vanessa, who has written a book titled The Governor: My Life Inside Britain's Most Notorious Prisons, says of West: 'When she was sentenced in court, there was no emotion, and that's the typical trait of a psychopath. 'She is a very complex character. She has many facets and Rose West will do what Rose West wants when Rose West wants to do it.' During her service Vanessa also encountered Moors murderer Hindley, who had a relationship with West in Durham Prison, after she was asked to help in her transfer to a new jail. Hindley, along with Ian Brady, sexually assaulted and murdered at least five children in and around Manchester between 1963 and 1965. The former governor remembers that a 'manipulative' Hindley, who was 'legendary for getting staff wrapped around her finger', made her a cup of tea. Vanessa says: 'Hindley was a narcissist of the purest kind. 'She craved notoriety. She wanted to be feared and revered. 'She was the sort of person who would get a kick out of seeing my shock when she gave me the tea. 'Revel in her notoriety' 'She would have loved nothing more than to watch my eyes grow wide upon her return, and I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she had that effect on me.' Vanessa says she was not surprised that Hindley and West had a relationship. She says: 'The power struggle there must have been intense because they were both truly evil women. Serial killers like West and Hindley gravitate towards each other because that is what they have in common.' She believes that West will love featuring in the new Netflix documentary — although it could bring her danger. Vanessa says: 'She will revel in it because of the notoriety, and love the fact that Netflix has done this series on her and Fred. But there could be concerns around her safety. A newcomer might see an opportunity to make a name for themselves. There's always one. And some women just love to kill. 'Gone are the days when we thought women were mad and not bad. 'There are bad women just as there are bad men.'
