Law enforcement officials are shown at the scene where six bodies were found in San Bernadino County, Calif., on Jan. 24, 2024. (KABC-TV)
(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities say they have arrested five suspects after six people were found shot to death last week in a desert community in San Bernardino County, California.
At a press conference Monday night, authorities said multiple search warrants were served on Sunday in the case. Five suspects, whom authorities identified as Toniel Baez-Duarte, Mateo Baez-Duarte, Jose Nicolas Hernandez Sarabia, Jose Gregorio Hernandez Sarabia, and Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, were arrested, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said.
All suspects are being held without bail. Eight guns were recovered during the arrests, authorities said Monday night.
Following an investigation, investigators believe the victims had arranged to meet for a marijuana transaction, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said. The victims appear to have been involved in criminal activity, authorities said Monday night.
The victims were shot to death, and four of the six bodies were burned, according to officials. Only three of the victims have been identified by authorities: Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, Franklin Noel Bonilla and Kevin Dariel Bonilla.
An official said there is a large, illegally grown marijuana problem in the area.
Last Tuesday night, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 911 call around 8:16 p.m. PT from Franklin Noel Bonilla, who said he had been shot, authorities said Monday. He was unable to give his location.
Authorities were able to determine the call came from the area of Lessing Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road in Adelanto, California. Sheriff’s personnel responded and found five dead. A short while later, the caller — Bonilla — was also found deceased nearby.
The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had offered assistance to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation into the bodies found in the desert about 50 miles outside of Los Angeles, but local investigators are handling the case themselves.
A blue Chevy SUV was also seen riddled with bullet holes in the area where some of the bodies were found.
(NEW YORK) — A leading Ukrainian arms manufacturer said Russia increasingly views the growth of Ukraine’s own domestic military-industrial sector as a “threat.”
Ukrainian Armor, a firm that produces mortar launchers and shells as well as several models of armored infantry fighting vehicles, said Russia has been increasingly targeting Ukrainian arms production sites lately when it launches barrages of missiles and drones.
“That means that they now consider Ukrainian military industry as a big threat,” the company’s director general Vladislav Belbas, told ABC News during an interview at one of the firm’s secret production facilities.
The threat from Russian missiles and drones is so acute that Ukrainian Armor said it spreads its production base thinly across multiple sites to minimize the impact of a potential strike.
“Whenever they attack, we have to be sure that only (a) small part of the manufacturing process will be destroyed,” Belbas added.
Employees have access to bunkers because, Belbas said, the lives of his workers are paramount, and any destroyed equipment can be rebuilt.
ABC News was given exclusive access to a series of non-descript industrial hangars at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
Visits to these sensitive sites are restricted in order to minimize the risk of Moscow discovering their location.
Ukrainian efforts to increase domestic arms production have taken on added urgency amid the hold-up in Congress over securing additional American military aid for Kyiv.
Ukrainian Armor said it now produces around 20,000 mortar shells every month and around 100 mortar launchers of varying calibers.
The largest version, which is wheeled and towed around the battlefield, can hit enemy positions at more than four miles, the firm claims.
Mortar shell production in Ukraine surged last year, with the country manufacturing 42 times the number of shells compared to 2022, Oleksandr Kamyshin, the minister for Strategic Industries announced in December.
Ukrainian Armor also manufactures infantry fighting vehicles. Its “Novator” model, a 5-seater armored personnel carrier, is built on top of a reinforced chassis of a Ford SUV and runs off a Ford engine.
The company claims the Novator can be made at about 70-80% of the cost of a similar model produced abroad.
Belbas, the company’s director general, said an added bonus of making the hardware in Ukraine is that most of the repairs and maintenance can be performed close to the war’s frontlines, which is not the case for some western-supplied military equipment.
However, he emphasized that the U.S. and other Western support for Ukraine was critical, both in terms of military aid and financial support for the country’s war-ravaged economy so that the government in Kyiv could continue to invest in its own arms industry.
Even during the last two years of war, Ukraine’s defense industry has been expanding rapidly, officials said. The sector employed 300,000 people last year, according to Ukrainian media.
In his New Year’s message, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy predicted that in 2024 Russia “will feel the wrath of domestic production.”
Key for the sector’s growth will be help from Ukraine’s allies.
At the end of last year, Ukraine said it had signed “dozens” of new contracts with Western arms companies.
That announcement followed a joint Ukraine-U.S. defense conference in Washington.
Joint ventures between Ukraine and western defense firms will typically mean that weaponry is produced inside Ukraine, with those western companies providing guidance, technology and expertise.
For security reasons a senior Ukrainian official was unable to comment on the overall scale of planned arms production under these joint ventures but said work is already “moving” and called it a top priority for the Ukrainian government to ensure the country’s sustainability in the longer-term.
Ukrainian Minister Kamyshin also announced in December “agreements with two leading American companies” to jointly produce, in Ukraine, much-needed NATO-standard 155-mm artillery shells.
Ukraine has warned its stocks of those munitions are running low.
However, in an indication of the time needed to build up some areas of its manufacturing base, production of the 155-mm artillery shells is not expected to begin for at least two years, Kamyshin said.
A report published in December by the American think tank the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine and its partners were “executing a realistic plan to create a sustainable basis for Ukraine to be able to defend itself over the long term, with dramatically reduced foreign military assistance.”
Belbas, the boss of arms firm Ukrainian Armor noted, said Russia started building-up its military industrial base when Vladimir Putin first became president 24 years ago so. He said it will take Ukraine “years and years” to catch up with Russia.
Ukraine might struggle to match the quantity of weaponry Russia can produce, he added, but Ukraine’s strong industrial base, together with Western technology and know-how could, he hopes, give it a qualitative edge.
A Palestinian elderly woman crosses a street which has been bulldozed by the Israeli forces during a raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on January 29, 2024 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than 100 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 30, 6:41 AM
UNRWA funding cuts threaten Palestinian lives, NGOs warn
Twenty aid organizations have joined together to express deep concern and outrage that some of the largest donors suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the largest humanitarian agency in the Gaza Strip and the main provider for millions of Palestinians in the wider region.
A wave of countries, including the United States, have cut funding for UNRWA in recent days over Israel’s accusations that 13 UNRWA staff members in Gaza were involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack. UNRWA said it is investigating the allegations.
In a joint statement released Monday, 20 non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, urged the donor states to reverse their suspensions and warned that not doing so could lead to “a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.”
“We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job,” the NGOs said. “This decision comes as the International Court of Justice ordered immediate and effective action to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.”
The NGOs warned: “If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.”
“The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children, who rely on UNRWA aid in Gaza,” they added. “The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza.”
Jan 30, 5:35 AM
Israeli soldiers dressed in disguise kill 3 in raid at hospital in West Bank
The Palestinian Ministry of Health on Tuesday released security camera footage showing Israeli troops in disguise as they raideda hospital in the occupied West Bank overnight.
In the video, soldiers are seen dressed as doctors and patients while holding rifles and walking through the corridors of Ibn Sina Hospital in the city of Jenin. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said three people were killed during the raid, which it called a “flagrant violation of all international norms and laws.”
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the overnight raid in a statement early Tuesday, saying its troops “neutralized” three “terrorists” who were “hiding” inside Ibn Sina Hospital, one of whom was a member of Hamas and was allegedly planning an attack “inspired by the October 7th massacre.”
“For a long time, wanted suspects have been hiding in hospitals and using them as a base for planning terrorist activities and carrying out terror attacks, while they assume that the exploitation of hospitals will serve as protection against counterterrorism activities of Israeli security forces,” the IDF said. “This is another example of the cynical use of civilian areas and hospitals as shelters and human shields by terrorist organisations.”
Jan 29, 3:29 PM
Qatari prime minister: Hostage talks in ‘much better place’ now than a few weeks ago
The Qatari prime minister said Monday that the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas are in a “much better place” now than they were “a few weeks ago,” according to Reuters.
He also said he hoped the drone attack by Iran-backed militants that killed three American service members in Jordan won’t derail progress that’s been made on a hostage deal.
“I hope that nothing would undermine the efforts that we are doing or jeopardize that process,” Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani said at a think tank event in Washington, D.C., according to Reuters. “Yet it will definitely have an impact on it and one way or another, it will have an impact on the regional security and we hope that things get contained and not to get escalated beyond control.”
Jan 29, 12:30 PM
IDF: Quarter of Hamas terrorists killed
One “quarter of Hamas’ terrorists have been killed and at least another quarter are wounded,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday while visiting troops at the Gaza border.
Gallant said fighting the remaining terrorists “will take months.”
“On the other hand,” he continued, “the terrorists don’t have supplies, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have reinforcements.”
ABC News’ Dana Savir
Jan 29, 11:50 AM
Dossier from Israel alleges 4 UNRWA employees involved in kidnappings
A dossier from the Israeli military has revealed new allegations against employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees who are accused of being involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The report obtained by ABC News alleges that 13 UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack, including six employees who allegedly infiltrated Israel.
Four UNRWA employees were allegedly involved in kidnappings and one employee allegedly supplied logistical support, the report said.
One UNRWA teacher is accused of kidnapping a hostage, who has returned to Israel and identified the UNRWA teacher, the report said.
Nine countries, including the U.S., have paused funding for the UNRWA in wake of the allegations. The commissioner-general of UNRWA is investigating.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Jan 29, 7:00 AM
IDF general answers questions about alleged war crimes in southern Gaza
ABC News embedded with Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 98th Division that currently controls the southern Gaza Strip, and questioned him about alleged war crimes, the recent killing of an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white flag and the controversial buffer zone.
On Saturday, ABC News met with Goldfus in what looked like a post-apocalyptic neighborhood in Khan Younis, where machine guns chattered, detonations thundered and the blasts of tank fire rang out. Some of the explosions were so powerful that they blew in the curtains of the commandeered Palestinian home that the general and his staff have turned into a temporary headquarters.
Outside the headquarters were a series of arena-sized basins. One was about 60 feet deep and larger than a football field. A month ago, it was a multi-acre cemetery. Flanking the destroyed cemetery was the remains of a mosque — half of a dome listing on its side like a sinking ship. Goldfus told ABC News that his troops had dug up most of the cemetery looking for tunnel shafts belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza. The general pointed out where he said they found tunnel shafts, but ABC News could not visually verify due to the depth of the pit.
When asked what his troops do with the bodies if they dig up graves while hunting for tunnel shafts, Goldfus told ABC News: “We’ll put them aside.”
The intentional destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries, without military necessity violates international law and could amount to war crimes. But Goldfus said he’s not concerned because Hamas had turned the cemetery and the adjacent mosque into a “military compound” that was “used to attack my forces again and again and again.”
“I’m not digging up a cemetery, I’m digging up a military compound,” he added.
When asked what he would say to the families of the people who were buried there, the general told ABC News: “I’m very sorry about it. Your relatives are being used as a human shield.”
Last week, British television network ITV captured what it said were Israeli snipers in Khan Younis gunning down an unarmed Palestinian man carrying a white flag who had moments earlier told the news team that he was trying to cross the battle lines to reach his family. At the time, Israel claimed the ITV video was edited and that there was no way of telling who fired the shots. However, while speaking to ABC News on Saturday, Goldfus appeared to take responsibility for the incident.
“Yes, it was my troops and I’m investigating that incident,” he told ABC News. “That is not the way we carry out rules of engagement. No, we don’t fire people waving white flags. We don’t fire at civilians.”
When pressed on the fact that Israeli troops have killed civilians in Gaza, the general said: “They are mistakes. It is war.”
Asked whether Israeli soldiers could face criminal charges for the fatal shooting, Goldfus told ABC News that “it depends.”
“We investigate every mistake that is done,” he added.
The general also answered questions about the buffer zone the IDF is creating inside Gaza along the coastal enclave’s border with Israel.
“This is part of the area that will become a buffer zone … to dismantle Hamas and prevent any entity that will try to carry out any terror attacks against our people,” he told ABC News while looking at a table-sized aerial map of the Gaza-Israel border.
Goldfus said the buffer zone will create an area inside Gaza that is under Israel’s control.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Sohel Uddin
Jan 28, 2:24 PM
‘Constructive meeting’ with officials but ‘gaps’ remain, Israeli PM’s office says
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a statement on Sunday’s talks between CIA Director Bill Burns, the prime minister of Qatar and intelligence officials from Israel and Egypt.
The meeting was “constructive” but “significant gaps” remain, the statement said, adding that more meetings are expected this coming week.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Jan 28, 4:40 AM
UN chief appeals for continued UNRWA funding
The secretary-general of the United Nations appealed on Sunday for continuing funding for the U.N. aid agency responsible for Gaza.
Nine countries, including the United States, paused their funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Mark Regev, an Israeli spokesman, told ABC News in a phone interview Sunday that Israel gathered intelligence about the alleged connection to terrorism through videos released by Hamas and others during the Oct. 7 attack and claimed there’s “clear unrefutable evidence that U.N. paid staff were involved in crimes against humanity.”
About 2 million people in Gaza depend on the agency for daily survival, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Sunday.
According to Guterres, “Of the 12 people implicated, nine were immediately identified and terminated by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini; one is confirmed dead, and the identity of the two others is being clarified.”
“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” he said in the statement.
He added, “But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Edward Szekeres and Kevin Shalvey
Jan 27, 5:13 PM
9 nations suspend contributions to UNRWA due to Oct. 7 allegations
The number of nations pausing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has risen to 9 — an unprecedented number for a UN agency. This withdrawal of funding comes amid allegations from Israeli officials that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
On Saturday, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the U.S., Australia and Canada in pausing funding to UNRWA.
“UNRWA lifesaving assistance is about to end following countries decisions to cut their funding to the Agency. Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing. I am shocked such decisions are taken based on alleged behavior of a few individuals and as the war continues, needs are deepening & famine looms,” the commissioner general of UNRWA said in a statement.
“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us,” the statement said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech during a meeting celebrating International Youth Day at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on Feb. 12, 2023. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A little over three months after the Biden administration lifted most economic sanctions on Venezuela, they are reimposing some of them — warning the regime of Nicolas Maduro that if he does not lift a ban on opposition candidates, they will reimpose the rest.
A National Security Council spokesperson confirmed Monday night that the Treasury Department has ended a waiver that authorized transactions with Venezuela’s state-owned gold mining company, effective two weeks from now. They warn that the waiver for Venezuela’s oil and gas sectors — the strongest U.S. penalties — will end in April “unless the Maduro [government] and his representatives in Venezuela are able to get back on track with allowing all presidential candidates to run.”
“We have made clear that all who want to run for President should be allowed the opportunity, and are entitled to a level electoral playing field, to freedom of movement, and to assurances for their physical safety. It is up to Maduro and his representatives to correct course,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Last week, Venezuela’s top court upheld a ban on Maria Corina Machado, the conservative opposition figure who is supposed to face off against Maduro in presidential elections later this year. That’s a clear violation of the agreement reached in October between the Maduro government and the opposition — a deal the U.S. backed by granting Maduro sanctions relief, until Monday’s reimposition.
But Maduro’s team had been violating parts of that deal for months now, and the pressure had been growing on President Joe Biden to do something in response — with even a group of Democratic senators writing a letter to the administration Monday calling for sanctions to be reimposed.
Critics, especially Republican lawmakers, have claimed the Biden administration — desperate for Maduro’s cooperation on migration or energy — had not done enough to impose costs on the Venezuelan leader for flagrantly violating the October deal.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate negotiators are racing to put the finishing touches on a national security spending bill they hope can simultaneously fund Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and offer legislative solutions to slow the surge of migrants at the southern border. Yet fresh criticism Monday from former President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders threatened to derail the efforts that the White House is accusing them of treating like a “political football.”
Trump on Monday said that “a border bill is not necessary,” blasting the ongoing negotiations.
“They are using this horrific Senate Bill as a way of being able to put the BORDER DISASTER onto the shoulders of the Republicans. The Democrats BROKE THE BORDER, they should fix it,” Trump posted on his social media network.
On Saturday, at a campaign rally in Nevada, the Republican presidential front-runner seemed to gloat about his efforts to kill the bill.
“As the leader of our party there is zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America. It’s not going to happen,” Trump said. “I notice a lot of the Senators are trying to say — respectfully they are blaming it on me, I say that’s OK please blame it on me, please, because they were getting ready to pass a very bad bill.”
As Trump has become more and more forceful in opposition to the bill, many congressional Republicans have fallen in line behind him — even though they haven’t even seen the bill. Some Republicans have made clear they don’t want to give Biden a political win in the run-up to the November election.
“Biden people admit they don’t want to secure the border. What they want is bipartisan support for a Senate bill they know is dead in House & that he will never enforce anyways,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., posted on X. “Then he can both keep the border open AND blame House GOP for it.”
According to sources, the deal, worked out by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., would require the Department of Homeland Security to nearly shut down the border if migrant crossings increase above 5,000 per day on any given week or if average daily encounters reach a 4,000-a-day threshold in a one-week span.
But some sources familiar with negotiations refute that the bill would allow thousands of migrants into the country each day. The number that triggers the border to shut, one source familiar with the bill said, is based on capacity. When there’s no longer capacity within the county to detain migrants, the authority to shut the border down would be triggered. The authority remains in place until crossings reduce to 75 percent of the trigger number.
Lankford appeared on Fox News on Sunday to defend the package against attacks from his colleagues and clarify the migrant-crossing numbers. He called the assertion from some Republicans that the bill would allow 5,000 illegal crossings a day “the most misunderstood section of this proposal.”
“They’re still waiting to be able to read the bill on this. And this has been our great challenge of being able to fight through the final words, to be able to get the bill text out so people can hear it,” Lankford said on Fox News Sunday. “Right now there’s internet rumors is all that people are running on. It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day. This bill focuses on getting us to zero illegal crossings a day. There’s no amnesty.”
Still, Lankford acknowledged the shifting political realities that make passing the bill a steeper uphill climb.
“It is interesting, Republicans, four months ago, would not give funding for Ukraine, for Israel and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy. So, we actually locked arms together and said, ‘We’re not going to give money for this. We want a change in law,'” Lankford said.
“And now, it’s interesting, a few months later, when we’re finally getting to the end, they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding, I actually don’t want a change in law because of presidential election year,'” he added.
Even if the bill passes in the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who regularly talks with Trump, has said the deal appears “dead on arrival” in the House.
On Saturday, Johnson drew even further away from the bipartisan bill while responding to President Joe Biden, who said in a statement Friday that he would use new authorities granted in the bipartisan bill to “shut down the border” on “the day I sign the bill into law.”
“President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border, but he knows that is untrue,” Johnson said in a statement. “According to reports, the Senate’s pending proposal would expressly allow as many as 150,000 illegal crossings each month (1.8 million per year) before any new ‘shutdown’ authority could be used. At that point, America will have already surrendered.”
During the White House press briefing Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Johnson of making the bipartisan Senate border negotiations a “political football,” arguing that the deal would take action at the border and “is exactly what [House Republicans have] been asking for.”
“The speaker seems to want to make this a political, a political football, right? It’s like a hot potato. They don’t want to hold on to it,” Jean-Pierre said.
The bipartisan bill, as drafted, would give Biden and any future president greater authority to regulate the border, though many Republicans insist that Biden is currently failing to utilize authorities he’s already granted.
On Monday, Jean-Pierre said the deal being discussed includes new “enforcement tools” that do not currently exist.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will ultimately have to help navigate the bill. A staunch advocate of Ukraine aid, McConnell’s support was a key component in tying the border package to funds for Ukraine in the first place. Waning support for the border package could very well jeopardize future aid to Ukraine as well.
Republican advocates of the bill have long maintained they need a strong bipartisan showing to pass this bill to the House with any hope of passage.
McConnell faces a challenge to see if he can move forward without majority support from Senate Republicans. Presently, it’s unclear if the legislation can even get the 60 votes it’ll need to clear the chamber, as some progressive Democrats are likely to oppose it as well.
It’s not yet clear exactly if or how the border legislation may move through the chamber once it’s eventually released.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is investigating a Democrat in the House of Representatives for allegedly misusing government funds for personal security, according to sources familiar with the matter.
DOJ issued a grand jury subpoena to the House Sergeant at Arms for documents.
“This is to notify you formally pursuant to rule 8 of the rules of the House of Representatives that the office of the sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives has been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents issued by the U.S. Department of Justice,” the clerk announced on the House floor earlier Monday.
It was not immediately clear what the subpoena is seeking and what member it relates to, but sources told ABC News it relates to a House Democrat allegedly misusing government funds.
Punchbowl News first reported the subpoena was related to allegations involving a House Democrat using government funds related to personal security.
The Department of Justice declined to comment. Representatives for the office of the House Sergeant at Arms have not responded to ABC’s inquiries. Speaker Mike Johnson did not answer questions from reporters regarding the matter.
(NEW YORK) — A judge denied Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial Monday in the homicides of his wife and son.
Judge Jean Toal dismissed a motion filed by Murdaugh’s attorneys last year that claimed the jury for the murder trial was tampered with by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, who they allege was protecting a book deal. Hill, who testified during the hearings over the motion, denied she tampered with the jury.
Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison after a jury convicted him last March of murdering his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22.
They were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.
Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings.
Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in prison in November after he pleaded guilty to 22 counts for charges including fraud and money laundering after being accused of scheming to steal millions of dollars from his law firm and clients.
Murdaugh’s attorneys filed their motion for a retrial in September, contending Hill “tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.”
Hill and several jurors testified Monday during a hearing about the motion.
A few jurors have claimed that Hill told them to watch Murdaugh’s demeanor and actions when he testified in his trial and to pay attention to him. Hill denied the allegations testifying that at most she gave the jurors a pep talk on the day Murdaugh took the stand, saying, “Pay attention, it’s going to be a big day today.”
Hill, who cowrote the book Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, which was pulled from publication over accusations of plagiarism, admitted that she wrote things in the book that were not true.
All of the jurors testified they stood by their verdict and were not swayed by anything Hill may have done.
In her ruling, Toal admonished Hill for her actions, arguing that she was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” but concluded they had no effect on the jury.
Toal also told the court that she read the trial’s entire lengthy transcript and found the verdict just.
“Each member of this jury took their involuntary assignment very seriously. They obeyed the instructions of the court. They obeyed the oath,” the judge said.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement that it was “time to move on and forward.”
“As with all cases, the Attorney General’s office and SLED’s (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) only mission is to seek the truth and deliver justice, wherever the facts lead,” he said in his statement.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Department of State has issued a new warning for American travelers headed to the Bahamas due to violent crime that has impacted the local population.
The advisory, issued on Jan. 26, urged travelers to “exercise increased caution” should they decide to visit the Caribbean country.
What to know about US travel advisory for the Bahamas
According to the State Department, the majority of crime — which includes burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assaults — has occurred on the island of New Providence, home of the Bahamian capital of Nassau, and on the island of Grand Bahama.
“In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population,” the government alert states.
Violent crime has been happening “in both tourist and non-tourist areas,” according to the alert, so the State Department is urging travelers to “be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence.”
The State Department also suggested that U.S. travelers steer clear of activities like boat tours with commercial recreational watercraft because they are “not consistently regulated.”
“Watercraft may be poorly maintained, and some operators may not have safety certifications. Always review and heed local weather and marine alerts before engaging in water-based activities,” according to the State Department. “Commercial watercraft operators have discretion to operate their vessels regardless of weather forecasts; injuries and fatalities have occurred. Due to these safety concerns, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use independently operated jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.”
Click here for additional travel information on the country information page.
The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas also issued a security alert on Wednesday, advising “U.S. citizens to be aware that 18 murders have occurred in Nassau since the beginning of 2024.”
“Murders have occurred at all hours including in broad daylight on the streets,” the statement declared. “Retaliatory gang violence has been the primary motive in 2024 murders.”
Safety tips for travel to the Bahamas
If you do decide to travel to the Bahamas, the State Department shared a checklist of dos and don’ts to help Americans stay safe.
Do not answer your door at your hotel/residence unless you know who it is.
Do not physically resist any robbery attempt.
Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
Follow the Department of State on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Review the Country Security Report for the Bahamas.
Prepare a contingency plan for emergency and medical situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.
Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel.
The embassy in Nassau also issued its own list of safety precautions for U.S. travelers.
Exercise extreme caution in the eastern part of New Providence Island (Nassau).
(WASHINGTON) — A former IRS contractor who pleaded guilty to leaking tax documents belonging to former President Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans was sentenced Monday to five years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.
Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October to one count of taking tax return information without authorization, for leaking the documents to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.
“The scope and scale [is] unparalleled in the IRS’s history,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said regarding Littlejohn’s crime as she handed down his sentence Monday in Washington, D.C. “You have caused and have risked causing immense harm to thousands of Americans.”
According to a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors, Littlejohn “abused his position by unlawfully disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to multiple news organizations” that sources said included the New York Times.
“In the case of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, he was under no legal obligation to disclose them,” Reyes told Littlejohn Monday. “What you did in targeting a sitting president of the United States is an attack on our constitutional democracy.”
Littlejohn testified that he acted out of a “sincere belief” that he was serving a cause, but acknowledged that his actions caused “significant harm.”
The former contractor said he felt that taxpayers “deserved to know” how easy it is for the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying taxes.
His attorney, Lisa Manning, said Littlejohn was deeply sorry for his actions.
“He has very deep remorse, he has deep remorse for the victims,” Manning told the judge. “And if he would, he would take it back.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who read a victim impact statement at the hearing, asked the judge to sentence Littlejohn to the maximum amount, saying Littlejohn “abused his position of trust” to “harm Americans,” including Scott and his family.
“Donald Trump, Elon Musk … all attacked for political purposes,” Scott said.
Republic members of the House Ways and Means Committee had asked Judge Reyes, in a letter last week, to sentence Littlejohn to the statutory maximum of five years in prison.
“In our view, the seriousness of the crimes and the context surrounding them justify an upward variance. So that similar conduct is deterred in the future, we respectfully ask that you sentence Mr. Littlejohn to the maximum sentence of five years,” the letter said.
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Reyes said that because only 152 victims had their information published, the scope of the harm is not “necessarily known or done,” pointing out that Littlejohn admitted to leaking tax records belonging to “over a thousand” wealthy taxpayers.
The judge compared Littlejohn’s actions to the actions of some of the Jan 6. defendants she has sentenced.
“It cannot be open season on our elected officials,” Judge Reyes said.
(NEW YORK) — Schools are the third-highest location for hate crimes in the United States, with as much as 10% of all reported hate crimes in 2022 happening at schools across the country, according to a new report the FBI released Monday.
Secondary schools — comprised of preschool to 12th grade — saw the highest amount of hate crimes from 2018 to 2022, the report found.
In 2022, there were more than 1,300 reported hate crimes at schools and college campuses — 890 of which happened at secondary schools that year, the FBI found.
“During these five years, over 30 percent of juvenile victims of hate crimes, experienced the offense at school and nearly 36 percent of juvenile offenders committed the offense at school,” the report said.
Hate crimes at school came in behind hate crimes committed at home and on the road, the FBI found.
School hate crimes saw an increase in 2022 — the most recent year of data obtained by the FBI.
The 2022 uptick is noticeable compared to the previous two years when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many students from traditional places of learning such as schools and college campuses. Also, there was a drop from 2019 to 2020 when the pandemic occurred. The FBI noted in its report that a 3.9% drop in reported of hate crimes from 2019 to 2020 “may have been due to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders causing schools to shift from in-person classes to online learning.”
Asked by reporters Monday about the impact of the pandemic on the hate crime data, FBI officials did not answer.
There is a more common time of year for hate crimes in schools, according to the FBI.
“The most common quarter for the occurrence of hate crimes reported at schools during the entire five-year period from 2018 to 2022 was October – December, with nearly a third (32.7 percent) of offenses reported for this quarter,” the report said.
During the five-year period, the FBI found the month of October had four hate crime offenses per day in schools across the country.
Anti-Black or African American hate crimes were the highest with 1,690 offenses that took place at schools over the five-year period, followed by anti-Jewish hate crimes, which saw 745 and anti-LGBTQ, which saw 741, according to the FBI.
In 2022, there were more hate crime offenses than the previous years in the five-year FBI review. The FBI found that there were 11,643 reported hate crime incidents involving 13,346 related offenses reported in 2022. The FBI defines an “incident” as one or more offenses committed by the same offender, or group of offenders acting together at the same time and place — therefore, “an incident may involve more than one offense,” the FBI wrote in the report.
While 2022 had the most overall reported hate crime offenses, 2020 was not far behind with 12,895, and 2021 had 12,470, according to the FBI. There were nearly 5,000 more reported hate offenses in 2022 than in 2018, the FBI report said.
Intimidation was the biggest form of hate crime, according to the FBI, followed by vandalism and simple assault.
On the call with reporters, the FBI said it wants the report to “draw attention to the data,” and said state and local law enforcement are best to offer resources to schools — not the FBI.
