If Only They Had A Gun

Police believe they know why a 78-year-old Florida man was murdered: He was likely the victim of mistaken identity. Deputies reportedly arrested 21-year-old Robert Pascale for allegedly using a baseball bat to beat Hugh Edwards to death inside his home earlier this week, and believe Pascale may have mistaken Edwards for a sexual predator who lives in the area.Another man charged as an accessory to murder has reportedly been talking to police. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

A Nova Southeastern University science professor is dead following an overnight home invasion. Police say that an armed man entered the home around 12:34 a.m. at Northwest Sixth Court and 75th Terrace in Plantation, tied up a married couple and robbed them. Police spokesman Detective Robert Rettig said the robber then fatally shot the 46-year-old man. Investigators say the intruder then set multiple fires inside the house before fleeing the scene. The woman escaped the burning house with her 5-year-old child. She ran to a neighbor’s house and he called the police. When firefighters arrived on scene they discovered the victim inside the home. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

The 43-year-old was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital after allegedly being stabbed twice in the chest and slashed on his arms. Police have arrested a 31-year-old man. Police said the incident took place in Bilson St about 8.30pm. It is believed two men went to the house following a dispute with the alleged victim earlier in the day. “When the pair arrived at the house they called out to the resident and then went inside,” Sen-Constable Wayne Wilson said. They spoke briefly with the man before they allegedly produced a knife. After the attack the two men fled. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Shortly before 2 a.m., a man entered the front door of a split-level home in the 600 block of Adams Landing Court in unincorporated Lawrenceville, Georgia and went to a lower bedroom, police said. “Gunshots were heard, and the victim was struck at least once with a large-caliber weapon,” Gwinnett County police spokesman Officer Brian Kelly said. The man died from his wounds, and was found on the floor of his bedroom, Kelly said. He was identified as Yassin Mahmoud, 36, of Lawrenceville. The shooter, who had his face obscured, fled in a dark-colored sedan, witnesses told police.  More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

A Yonkers man, who reportedly raped and robbed a woman over a three hour period in an act of revenge against her boyfriend, has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison and 25 years parole. Kevin Denham, 28, had been convicted by a Westchester County Court jury of two counts of rape in the first degree, two counts of burglary in the first degree, two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of robbery in the first degree, one count of assault in the second degree, and one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, according to news reports. The attack reportedly took place on March 1, 2009 when Denham broke into the woman’s Yonkers apartment through a rear window and attacker her as she slept in her bed. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

The victim, Patricia Hall, said two men she did not know forced their way into her home wearing masks and gloves. She also told investigators stole some items, and stabbed her before leaving. Hall is reportedly hospitalized and listed in fair condition. No suspects are in custody, police say. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Rabina Bibi, 35, died after being stabbed at least 15 times in Foleshill, Coventry, in September 2007. She called police twice on the night of the stabbing and her daughter, aged seven, reported the fatal attack. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it would never be known if Ms Bibi would still be alive if police had acted appropriately. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

A convicted sex offender was found guilty Tuesday of strangling and stabbing his neighbor and her two teenage children in their trailer home in southern Wisconsin. Jurors deliberated for only about 90 minutes before convicting James Koepp of Janesville of three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 38-year-old Danyetta Lentz, her 17-year-old daughter, Nicole, and her 14-year-old son, Scott. Koepp faces mandatory life in prison when he is sentenced April 27. District Attorney David O’Leary said the victims’ DNA on Koepp’s clothes and his DNA under Lentz and Nicole’s fingernails was crucial in convincing jurors. Koepp could not explain how it got there, O’Leary said. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

New Orleans police said an elderly couple was killed Sunday morning. Officers arrived at the 5400 block of Seminary Place just after 8 a.m, where the front door had been broken into. The elderly couple was found murdered inside. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

On Monday morning, 73 year old Florence McCollum of Chicago was fatally stabbed in a building owned by her cousin, who had asked for her help with the laundry. She was in a downstairs apartment of her cousin’s building in the 3400 block of South Giles when she was attacked, possibly by a burglar. McCollum was known as an individual who volunteered at a food pantry, taught religion, and cared for her older cousin, according to friends and family. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Armed men struck an Oak Cliff apartment complex late Tuesday, holding a baby at gunpoint and robbing her mother before fatally shooting a 32-year-old man and injuring his two brothers in a separate incident. Investigators believe the three robbers first accosted the baby’s mother in the complex parking lot in the 300 block of North Ewing Avenue, near East Eighth Street. The men then went to her apartment, where she lives with her husband and five children. One robber held a gun to the woman’s 10-month-old daughter’s head, police said. The men stole nearly $2,000 worth of cash and electronics. Minutes later, the robbers encountered one of the brothers on a second-floor balcony and forced him into his apartment, police said. Police do not believe the shootings were drug- or gang-related, Miller said. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

A pair of teenagers, aged 16 and 18, have been charged with attempted first degree murder, armed robbery, and aggravated battery in connection with the home invasion robbery and stabbing of a Streamwood man. Police say that a 16 year old Schaumburg High School student, 18 year old Carmichael Nation (a Jamaican national), and a 3rd accomplice who is at large, entered the home of a Streamwood man to steal a safe on Saturday morning. The suspects allegedly held down the victim, stabbed him in the stomach, chest, and legs, and robbed him. The victim has undergone extensive surgery to repair the damage caused by the stabbing that he suffered, and is reportedly in stable condition as St. Alexius Hospital. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Police in the Northwestern suburb of Huntley are investigating a double homicide which they believe was not a “random act.” Huntley police were performing a wellbeing check on a woman named Jennifer Beaudion, 33, when they found her and a 39 year old male dead from gunshot wounds on the 11000 block of Janice Drive. The identity of the male victim is being withheld until his family is notified, according to police. Huntley Police Chief John Perkins believes that the murders are not random, and say that the community is in “no danger as a result of this incident.” Details are few as the investigation unfolds, but more information is expected to be forthcoming.  More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Shortly before midnight on Valentines Day, a mother and her daughter were brutally stabbed and left in critical condition. Police say that an ex-boyfriend allegedly entered the woman’s home, which is on the 2500 block of North Lowell Avenue in the Hermosa neighborhood, and then attacked. A suspect is in police custody, but has not yet been charged. The victims are being treated at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to a city official.  More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

An 85 year old woman in Rossmoor, California stated that the home invasion and brutal rape she suffered two years ago was a worse experience than the holocaust. Thee woman (who name is not given for privacy reasons) was 13 years old when the holocaust came to her native country of Czechoslovakia. Her parents and five siblings were killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp, and she herself was beaten. A man who her parents had trusted to keep her safe was sexually abusive, and stole the little money that her mother had sewn into her jacket, before he abandoned her in the winter (without a jacket).

However, she told Superior Court Judge Daniel B. McNerney that an experience two years ago was even worse: She was confronted in her kitchen by a brutal home intruder. Her house was ransacked. Her life was threatened. The man beat her mercilessly. He kicked her when she was down. And he repeatedly sexually assaulted her in several rooms of her house. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

58-year-old small business-owner Robert Chae was pronounced dead at his home with multiple stab wounds, after home invaders entered his home to steal money. Police said the suspects attacked Mr. Chae as he was preparing to leave for work. Chae’s wife and two children were forced into the basement where they were bound with duct tape and pistol whipped. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

On June 13, Ramirez and Pineda allegedly went to the woman’s home and attacked her, choking her and causing her to lose consciousness. Ramirez and the victim had dated, but she broke off the relationship in November 2007, according to prosecutors. The men reportedly dragged her into a bedroom, where they revived her by pouring beer on her face and demanded at knifepoint that she have sex with them, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. Ramirez then reportedly ordered Pineda out of the room and raped and sodomized the woman, according to prosecutors. After the sexual assault, Ramirez and Pineda reportedly took pictures of the victim and threatened to kill her if she reported the attack to police, prosecutors said.  More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

The victim said the assailant ripped off her clothes, raped her, then gagged her and bound her wrists and ankles with a bra and scarves. The assailant stole $85 from the victim’s purse and, in a final insult, stomped on the elderly woman’s chest as he left. The judge called this “one of the most horrific crimes” in her memory.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

Police are investigating a home invasion and double shooting that has left one man dead and a woman with serious injuries. Police say a man entered the home armed with a handgun and began firing shots. After shooting his victims, the suspect escaped on foot. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.

A 39-year-old man was shot by one of of the three robbers who forced their way into his home on South Marshall Street in Hartford, CT, as he was returning home, police reportedly said.  The criminals then proceeded to ransack the man’s home. One of the home invaders was disappointed by the man’ belongings, and shot him. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently if only they had a gun.