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After 6 women found dead, Portland officials warn against serial killer speculation

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(PORTLAND, Ore.) — The Portland Police Bureau in Oregon took a strong stance against “online rumors” Sunday, shutting down theories of a potential serial killer after the deaths of six women under the age of 40 within the last three months.

The agency publicly condemned the speculation, accusing social media posts and news articles of spreading “anxiety and fear in our community” without being “supported by the facts available at this point.”

“While any premature death is concerning…PPB has no reason to believe these six cases are connected,” the law enforcement agency wrote in a press release.

Officers with the PPB first found human remains in Multnomah County, Oregon, in February, later determining that the remains belonged to Kristin Smith, 22, who was reported missing on Dec. 22, according to the PPB.

Smith’s cause of death is unknown, and the investigation around her death is ongoing, according to a press release from the PPB.

More than a month later, police in nearby Clark County found the body of Joanna Speaks, 32, on an abandoned property. The Clark County Coroner ruled Speaks’ death a homicide from “blunt head and neck injuries,” according to ABC affiliate KATU.

On April 24, police located two additional bodies in Multnomah County. Deputies with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office located the body of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, in a culvert, according to officials. Law enforcement is investigating the incident as a suspicious death.

The same day, officials found the body of an unidentified woman in a tent in the Lents neighborhood of Portland, according to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office. Officials are still trying to identify the women, who they estimate are between the age of 25 and 40, and possibly Native American or Native Alaskan.

“There is no indication that foul play was suspected by the [Medical Examiner] on scene, or the officers who were there to assist,” according to a release from the PPB.

A week later, officials with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office located the body of Bridget Leann (Ramsey) Webster. Law enforcement is asking the public for information about the suspicious death according to KATU.

The remains of Ashley Real, 22, were found by police on May 7 in a wooded area of Clackamas County, according to PPB. Real was last seen in late March and her death is being investigated as suspicious but is not conclusively a homicide, according to officials.

While the PPB has communicated with nearby agencies about some of the suspicious deaths, the organization pushed back against the idea that the interagency communication means the cases are connected.

“Like with all investigations of this nature we are routinely in contact with our law enforcement partners,” PPB wrote in their release. “That has happened here, but that should not suggest a connection has been made.”

Promising to communicate with the public if anything changes, PPB said the cases do not present an “articulable danger” at the moment.

Thousands of women participate in sit-in at Colorado Capitol against gun violence

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(DENVER) — Thousands of women participate in a sit-in at the Colorado state Capitol Monday, calling on Gov. Jared Polis to sign an executive order to ban guns and implement a system to buy them back.

The Here 4 the Kids movement, which advocates to end gun violence, is behind the event. Organizers said roughly 2,000 people were among the first to gather. They are also calling on white women specifically, to participate in the demonstration.

Tina Strawn, the movement’s cofounder, told ABC News that Black people have always been on the frontlines for social justice.

“So, it’s time for white women to show up. It’s time for white women to put their bodies, their privilege and their power on the line to save our kids,” she said. “And it is something that they are recognizing that they need to be doing. That’s why they’re showing up.”

On the importance of the sit-in, cofounder Saira Rao said “We have lost our imagination to dream bigger and envision a life where our kids are safe wherever they go. This is not a way to live. It is not a way to live. Bulletproof backpacks [are] not normal, and we’ve gotten used to this as if it’s normal.”

“It’s got to stop, and nothing has worked since … the 24 years since Columbine,” she said, referring to the 1999 high school shooting in Littleton, Colorado, which left 15 dead.

Organizers said the mood of the sit-in is solemn, and the names of people who have died from gun violence since the start of the Here 4 the Kids organization in April are read at the beginning of each hour.

Actress and director Lake Bell is one of the thousands of women participating in the sit-in.

She told ABC News “This is the thing to do — which is to show up, to make the effort, to participate in the action of really advocating and demanding for change.”

Bell, who is a mother of two, said “I don’t think there is a child in America that goes to school that doesn’t live with anxiety and fear around the idea of an active shooter, or a lockdown scenario. They are not blind to that.”

“My daughter was very nervous of my coming here,” she continued, noting how common guns are. “So, I think it affects the mental wellness and the mental health of our children.”

Other celebrities, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Niecy Nash and Amanda Seales, also voiced their support for the movement.

In response to the sit-in, the governor’s office released a statement Monday, writing that Polis supports the right to bear arms and is also concerned “about improving public safety including reducing gun violence.”

The statement added that his “staff has met with the organizers and have expressed concerns that the requests being made are either unconstitutional or require legislative action. The Governor takes the weighty responsibility of executive action and the trust Coloradans placed in him to govern responsibly seriously, and will not issue an unconstitutional order that will be struck down in court simply to make a public relations statement — he will continue to focus on real solutions to help make Colorado one of the 10 safest states.”

The organizers said they plan to continue the sit-in until an executive order is signed, and they expressed optimism that it will be.

“We have to believe that any decent human being with the power to end children’s pain and suffering will absolutely choose their right to live over the right to bear arms,” Rao said. “We believe [Polis] will do it because what decent human being wouldn’t do it?”

Amid military aggression, China ramps up diplomacy with US

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Although U.S. officials have accused China’s military of carrying out dangerous provocations in recent days, diplomats from both countries are ramping up engagement at the same time — a two-prong approach that seems to be increasingly driven by Beijing.

On Monday, White House spokesperson John Kirby condemned a close call in the Taiwan Strait over the weekend when a Chinese warship crossed just about 150 yards across an American destroyer’s bow, a move the Pentagon described an “unsafe maritime interaction.”

“We urge them to make better decisions about how they operate in international airspace, and sea-space,” Kirby said, adding that this incident as well as a Chinese fighter jet recently coming within 400 feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace speaks to an “increasing level of aggressiveness” demonstrated by Beijing’s military.

But despite that public chastisement by the Biden administration, high-level U.S. officials from the State Department and the National Security Council held private talks in Beijing — the latest sign that tensions between the powers are easing, at least on the diplomatic front.

The State Department’s deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel described the meetings as “candid and productive discussions as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication,” and an effort to build on other recent high-level engagements.

“President Biden has been clear we don’t seek any kind of new Cold War and our competition must not spill over into conflict,” Patel said.

While the Biden administration has been consistent in seeking to maintain open lines of communication across areas of government, Beijing’s split-strategy has become more evident in recent weeks as it apparently seeks to thaw relations with Washington while continuing to show its military might in the Indo-Pacific.

China’s reticence to participate in military-to-military communication with the U.S. across senior and working levels is a longstanding tradition, and one on display last week when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s request for a face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore was rejected.

A reason for that hesitancy, sources and experts say, is that the Chinese government sees military communication between the countries as dominated by the Taiwan issue — a matter where Beijing sees virtual zero room for compromise, and thus, little need for conversation.

But in other arenas, Beijing sees plenty of potential benefits in engaging with Washington — particularly when it comes to the U.S.-China trade relationship.

Although China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has periodically sent mixed messages about its posture towards the U.S., its actions in recent weeks have displayed a renewed enthusiasm for diplomacy. In May, Beijing appointed an ambassador to the U.S. after the post was left vacant for months and sent a delegation to Detroit to participate in trade talks.

Officials from both countries also see the recent visit by U.S. officials to Beijing as an important precursor for rescheduling Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip the city, which was scrapped in February after a Chinese surveillance balloon was identified over the U.S. mainland.

Sources say that getting that trip back on track is something that both countries want to see happen, and that it may be added to the calendar before the end of the summer.

While there are examples of progress in the bilateral relationship, American officials have warned that a gap in military-to-military communication may still result in a dangerous blind spot, which could lead to additional close-calls between countries and dangerous escalation.

“It won’t be long before somebody gets hurt,” Kirby said of the intercepts. “They can lead to misunderstandings. They can lead to miscalculations.”

ABC’s Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

Apple announces mixed reality headset Vision Pro

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) — Apple announced a mixed reality headset called Vision Pro on Monday at its annual developer conference.

The headset, which will cost at least $3,499, allows users to see apps messages and other virtual programs displayed within their physical space, the company said.

When individuals approach a user’s physical space, the headset becomes transparent, allowing a user’s counterpart to see his or her eyes, the company noted.

Users can enter search queries using voice commands and scroll through the results by gently tapping their fingers, the company said.

“Vision Pro is a new kind of computer that augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “This is the first Apple product that you look through and not at.”

“In the same way that the Mac introduced us to personal computing and an iPhone introduced us to mobile computing, Vision Pro will introduce us to spatial computing,” Cook added.

Vision Pro affords users wide latitude to shrink or expand a program that appears within the display, including movies and TV shows, the company said.

“Turn any environment into your own personal movie theater,” the company added.

Alongside Cook, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a partnership between the two companies that will make Disney+ content available on “Day 1” of Vision Pro.

Vision Pro will be available for purchase online and in-store in the U.S. early next year, with additional countries to follow later in 2024, the company said.

Shares of Apple fell slightly after the Vision Pro announcement.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

FBI agent turned notorious spy Robert Hanssen dies

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(DENVER) — One of America’s most notorious spies, Robert Hanssen, was found dead on Monday at a maximum security prison in Colorado, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told ABC News.

Just before 7 a.m. on Monday morning, Hanssen, 79, was found dead in his cell, the official said.

The crimes Hanssen committed were some of the most dangerous and egregious in American history. Beginning in 1985, Hanssen worked with handlers from the Soviet Union, using the alias “Ramon Garcia.” providing highly classified national security information in exchange for $1.4 million, according to the FBI.

Hanssen used encrypted communications, “dead drops,” including one just outside of Washington, D.C., at a park in Fairfax County, Virginia, and other methods to provide information to the KGB and Soviet Union.

On more than 20 separate occasions, Hanssen left packages for Russian authorities at various drops around the Washington area, the FBI said, totaling more than 6,000 pages of classified material. Some of the material was used to hunt down confidential human sources in Russia, according to the government.

After the FBI arrested CIA analyst Aldrich Ames, who was convicted on espionage charges, the agencies realized there was a mole inside the FBI. Hanssen, who was working at the State Department when the FBI realized he was potentially a spy, was moved back to FBI headquarters and given a bogus assignment, according to details from the case.

By 2001, investigators believed Hanssen was going to make a “dead drop” of information at a park in Virginia, just outside Washington. Agents said they observed Hanssen trade a plastic bag full of classified information for $50,000 in cash.

“Robert Hanssen’s death brings a somber end to one of the most infamous espionage cases in U.S. history,” Javed Ali, former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, said to ABC News.

“While acting as a senior agent on the Soviet/Russian counterintelligence program at FBI headquarters, Hanssen betrayed his country for money and caused major damage to U.S. national security by revealing a significant amount of highly sensitive U.S. intelligence, the status of ongoing FBI investigations, and the identity of human sources,” he said. “As reported by the media in the aftermath of his arrest, his actions led to the death of those sources in Russia or elsewhere, and most very likely made it difficult to replace their placement and access on intelligence topics for some period of time, if ever.”

Hanssen pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage on July 6, 2001. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Judge who once did legal work for Trump can continue in criminal case

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Neither former President Trump nor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg object to Judge Alvin Hellerstein presiding over a matter related to Trump’s criminal prosecution, the two sides indicated Monday in separate letters to the court.

Hellerstein revealed last week that he had once performed legal work for a Trump entity in the 1990s while in private practice but said he did not believe that would affect his impartiality. He retired from the firm in 1998.

“After considering Your Honor’s letter, and consulting with our client, we agree with Your Honor’s conclusion that the prior work does not provide any basis for a recusal in this matter,” defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote.

“The People believe that the circumstances identified by the Court do not present any appearance of impropriety, reason to question the Court’s impartiality, or other basis for recusal,” assistant district attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote.

On June 27 Hellerstein will hear oral arguments to decide whether to move Trump’s criminal prosecution to federal court, where he has argued it belongs since the alleged crimes occurred while he was president.

Prosecutors oppose the move, arguing the charged conduct had nothing to do with the presidency.

In his letter to Trump’s attorneys and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Hellerstein said he once performed legal work for Trump Equitable Fifth Ave as a partner at a Stroock Stroock Lavan.

“In my opinion, my impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned and no appearance of impropriety exists,” Hellerstein wrote.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

Joran van der Sloot, suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance, plans to appeal extradition: Lawyer

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, on Monday refused to sign the laissez-passer that would allow him to be extradited to the United States, his lawyer tells ABC News.

Van der Sloot plans to appeal his extradition to the U.S., Maximo Altez, his lawyer, said. A hearing on the appeal will likely happen Tuesday or Thursday, he added.

This process could slow down when van der Sloot is transferred to the U.S., but it is unclear how much this action will delay his extradition.

A National Penitentiary Institute of Peru spokesperson had previously said van der Sloot will likely be extradited to the United States on Thursday night.

Van der Sloot left the Challapalca prison in Peru on Saturday to be transferred to another prison in Lima, where he’s awaiting his extradition to the U.S.

The Dutch citizen has been serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores.

U.S. Justice Department officials acknowledge that a “temporary surrender” was granted by Peru under Article X of an existing extradition treaty between the two countries. The department would not comment on the timing of his movement, citing policy regarding safety and security concerns.

In the U.S., van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges stemming from an accusation that he tried to profit from his connection to the Holloway case.

Holloway, 18, went missing in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba. She was last seen driving off with a group of young men, including van der Sloot, then 17.

Van der Sloot, who was detained as a suspect in the teen’s disappearance and then later released, was indicted by an Alabama federal grand jury in 2010 for allegedly trying to extort Holloway’s family.

Federal prosecutors alleged that in March 2010 van der Sloot contacted Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, through her lawyer and claimed he would reveal the location of the teen’s body in exchange for $250,000, with $25,000 paid upfront. During a recorded sting operation, Beth Holloway’s attorney, John Q. Kelly, met with van der Sloot at an Aruba hotel, giving him $10,000 in cash as Beth Holloway wired $15,000 to van der Sloot’s bank account, according to prosecutors.

Then, van der Sloot allegedly changed his story about the night he had been with Natalee Holloway, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot claimed he had picked her up but that she had demanded to be put down, so he threw her to the ground. He said her head hit a rock and she was killed instantly by the impact, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said van der Sloot then took Kelly to a house and claimed that his father, who had since died, buried Natalee Holloway’s body in the building’s foundation.

Kelly later emailed van der Sloot, saying the information he had provided was “worthless,” according to prosecutors. Within days, van der Sloot left Aruba for Peru.

ABC News’ Jack Date and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr didn’t “mean any offense” with viral BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend festival performance

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Royal Blood frontman Mike Kerr says he “meant no offense” with the band’s performance at the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend festival last week.

As previously reported, Kerr took a moment during the duo’s gig to ask if anyone in the crowd of the mostly pop event was a fan of rock music. When met with a tepid response, Kerr commented, “Nine people, brilliant.”

“We’re having to clap ourselves because that was so pathetic,” Kerr said, before imploring one of the camera operators to clap for them. When Royal Blood’s set ended, Kerr walked off the stage with both middle fingers raised to the crowd.

Reflecting on his band’s viral-for-the-wrong-reasons performance, Kerr tells BBC Radio 1 he’s “amazed, honestly, at how that escalated to that kind of size.”

“Walking off from that show, I felt I was being entertaining in a way of trying to make light of the situation,” Kerr explains. “Perhaps I was doing a performance where I felt a little bit out of place. I expected to be a little bit bemused and maybe confuse a few people, but not to that kind of scale.”

Kerr adds that he “actually really enjoyed playing” the set and that his middle finger salute to the crowd was supposed to be more of a “pro wrestler” move.

“I felt like a sort of pantomime villain,” Kerr says. “I didn’t feel like I’d done anything morally wrong. I felt like a bit of a wind-up, honestly.”

“I don’t mean any offense,” he continues. “My intention is never to alienate anyone or push anyone away.”

Royal Blood will release a new album, Back to the Water Below, on September 8. They launch a U.S. tour in the fall.

‘Super Mario Bros.’ super on streaming, too

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The Super Mario Bros. Movie keeps racking up points. The animated film, starring the voices of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day and Anya Taylor-Joy, just surpassed the $1.3 billion mark worldwide, surpassing Frozen to become the second-highest-grossing animated film in history.

And according to Fandango’s streaming service Vudu, the movie continues to power up outside of theaters, as well: In its third week on streaming, Mario jumped to the #1 slot on the streaming charts for the week of May 29 through June 4. For the previous week, it was Number 2.

For the past week, Mario bested John Wick: Chapter 4, which ranked second, followed by a new release — Ben Affleck‘s thriller Hypnotic — which debuted in third place last week. Adam Driver‘s dinosaur sci-fi movie 65 took the fourth spot, followed by another new streaming release, the horror film Nefarious, rounding out the top 5.

Disney+ content headed to Apple’s new headset device, the Vision Pro

June 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

At its Worldwide Developers Conference in California Monday, Apple unveiled its long-in-development so-called “spatial computer,” the Vision Pro.

And while on the surface they may look like your everyday VR goggles, the company’s promises sound like the bleeding-edge tech is more like those seen in Ready Player One than others that have come before.

According to the company, the Apple Visions Pro’s visionOS is “the world’s first spatial operating system” that “lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space.”

Further, “an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays” makes “every experience [feel] like it’s taking place in front of the user’s eyes in real time.”

And speaking of eyes, the Augmented Reality goggles are transparent, meaning even though somebody is wearing them, you can still see their peepers as they control the computer with voice, eye, gesture and finger inputs.

The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, promised a “new era for computing” that will change our lives the way the Mac and iPhone have.

Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Technology Development Group, went further, calling the Apple Vision Pro “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.”

Not only can the device change the way people use FaceTime and other apps, it promises to make content fully immersive via a “screen that feels 100 feet wide.”

To that end, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that content from Disney+, which of course boasts movies and TV shows from properties like Star Wars and Marvel, would be available on the device, which will retail early next year starting at $3,499.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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