We wrote a blog item earlier today about the parallels of the Casey Anthony and Deborah Milke child-murder cases, and mentioned the name of little Chris Milke’s actual killer, Vietnam vet James Lynn Styers. Didn’t take but a few minutes before someone informed us about an Arizona Supreme Court…
As Casey Anthony soon returns to a society that wants no part of her, a woman in her late 40s continues to sit on Arizona’s death row, convicted nearly two decades ago of killing her 4-year-old son. Deborah Milke’s case was a huge one in the Valley, though it paled…
Seems that everywhere we went yesterday, everyone wanted to discuss the surprise acquittal of Florida’s Casey Anthony, who went from facing the death penalty to the cusp of being set free into a world that hates everything about her. Many folks also ask our opinions of one Nancy Grace, the onetime prosecutor-turned-angry-TV…
An 86-year-old Scottsdale man pleaded guilty this morning to endangerment in the assisted-suicide case of a Phoenix woman who killed herself in 2007. In April, a Maricopa County jury could not agree on whether Franklin Langsner was guilty of manslaughter by assisting in the suicide of 57-year-old Jana Van…
James Mullins, the Kentucky career criminal who falsely confessed in 2005 to shooting a young Tempe woman to death — a murder that police have pinned on accused ‘Baseline Killer’ Mark Goudeau — testified yesterday at Goudeau’s trial. …
Jack Harris, the career Phoenix cop whose controversial tenure as chief ended abruptly a few months ago, has been named as a surprise recipient of the national Freedom From Fear Award. To be sure, the honor isn’t one that would be doled out by the Fraternal Order of Police or…
Got a call from a pal who works for the city of Maricopa, you know, that wildly overbuilt burg about 15 miles off Interstate 10 down in Pinal County. He told us that a British newspaper was reporting that the city of about 40,000 was about to “shut down” because of…
Parker allowed us into his locker room–a rather frightening place at times — and into his much-more-comfortable home for an up-close-and-personal look at a complicated man and his controversial program. We came to admire and respect Coach Parker, as much for his hardscrabble back story, the tale of…
The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s key ruling in a methamphetamine-possession case against a local woman, concluding that the Mesa police “coerced” her into admitting she was carrying the drug. In a unanimous ruling issued last Wednesday, the panel agreed with Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George…
Unless you are totally off the news grid (and probably wouldn’t be reading this), you, too, are hooked in some fashion on the Casey Anthony murder case down in Orlando. It’s probably the nation’s most high-profile criminal case perhaps since O.J. Simpson walked out of court a free man (only…
The scene inside unit 313 at the Biltmore Terrace Apartments in Phoenix was gruesome. A man’s naked, bloated body was on the floor next to a bed. He was on his back, and his badly bruised arms were frozen in front of his head. A substantial amount of blood from…
For the record, real-life criminal trials are not at all like what appears on Law and Order. …
Arizona State’s women’s softball team proved once and for all that it is the nation’s very best last night, pounding the Florida Gators 7-2 to win the NCAA championship in Oklahoma City. The Sun Devils swept the best-of-three series against the formidable Gators in fine fashion, outscoring their opponents by…
Strange game, fast-pitch softball. Alas, the Devils pulled their own comeback and stole a 6-5 victory on their way to the championship round of the NCAA College World Series in Oklahoma City…
Mark Goudeau began a trial for his life yesterday, with a county prosecutor telling jurors that an overriding need to rape drove the defendant to commit a rash of sexual assaults, robberies, and nine murders during a rampage that ended with his September 2006 arrest. Speaking without notes, Deputy County…
Mark Goudeau, the alleged so-called “Baseline Killer,” who already is serving a 438-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting two sisters, goes on trial today for a string of murders, rapes and robberies that terrorized Phoenix in 2005 and 2006. The case will be heard by a jury in the downtown…
Arizona State and Florida, the two best-hitting teams in the Women’s College World Series, won berths in the championship finals in Oklahoma City yesterday. The best-of-three series promises to be a great one, with veteran, well-coached teams evenly matched in every facet of the game but the most crucial one–pitching. That’s…
The ASU Sun Devils took a big first step yesterday at the women’s College World Series, getting by the Oklahoma Sooners 3-1 in a tautly played game in Oklahoma City. Games like this one always come down to a few critical plays, and this one was no exception.The moments that…
Authorities later this morning will announce the surprise arrest of a former Phoenix businessman who faked his own drowning a quarter-century ago as police closed in on him in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme. Law enforcement sources tell us that Robert Arcieri was arrested yesterday at his home in Palm Springs,…
The top-ranked Arizona State women’s softball team takes the field this afternoon against the Oklahoma Sooners in a first-round game at the NCAA World Series in Oklahoma City. The 4 p.m. game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 (Channel 32). It should be a tight low-scoring affair that comes down…
Top-ranked ASU found itself down to its final strike in its NCAA softball Super Regionals opener last night against Texas A&M, down 2-1 with the bases loaded. The Aggies had managed all of two hits against the Sun Devils freshman ace pitcher Dallas Escobedo, but both were solo home runs,…
Marion scored a season-high 26 points in the intensely fought game, and did a terrific job defensively on one of the world’s best players, the taller and younger Kevin Durant.Dallas surely wouldn’t have won the game if Marion hadn’t been so good on both ends of the floor…
