If Only They Had A Gun

An 82-year-old Seneca man who was found dead in his home last week was the victim of a homicide, the Oconee County coroner said today. An autopsy revealed that James Carver of 655 James Carver Drive died from blunt force head trauma and that he was slain, said the coroner, Karl E. Addis. Carver’s body was found in his bathroom Thursday around 6:15 p.m. He had been living alone. More information here.

Things might have turned out differently 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.

A man was stabbed to death in West Philadelphia last night, police said. The victim, whose age and name were not available, was stabbed in the back with an unknown object around 10:30 p.m. in the area of 56th and Walnut Streets, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests were reported.  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 woman was reportedly found murdered inside Cellular Superstore on South Madison Street around 6:30 this afternoon. The victim’s name was reported to be Sandra Robinson, a store employee. Investigators reportedly believe the motive was robbery, but don’t have any suspects at this time. Police reportedly say Robinson’s boyfriend went to the store and noticed the doors to the business were locked, but saw blood through the window. When officers arrived, they found the woman’s body, according to news reports. More information here.

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

A woman was stabbed to death in front of her son by a former boyfriend who died of self-inflicted stab wounds after a police chase, Lebanon, Ohio police said this morning. Shena Lee Nolan, 32, was stabbed several times by her ex-boyfriend after an argument in front of her 8-year-old son at her apartment about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Lebanon Assistant Police Chief Bob Hawley. The boy was not injured. “What kind of a person stabs a mother anyway, but then to do it front of a child?” Hawley reportedly said Thursday morning. Nolan was taken to Atrium Medical Center in Middletown, where she was pronounced dead. More information here.

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

Mexican authorities reported Monday they have found the dismembered, burned body of a Mexican journalist kidnapped in 2007. Officials believe the journalist, Rodolfo Rincon Taracena, was killed by members of the Los Zetas cartel killed Taracena for his reporting on drug activity in the Gulf Coast city of Villahermosa. More information here.

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

Joliet, Illinois police say a 47-year-old man died of stab wounds today after coming to the aid of the victim in an alleged domestic battery incident. Police Chief Fred Hayes said officers found Reuben T. Abbott, 0-100 block of York Avenue, lying in a pool of blood on the front porch of a home on the 100 block of Nicholson Street at 4:04 a.m. Abbott, who was unresponsive, “had been stabbed in the back, stomach and neck,” Hayes said. More information here.

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

Prosecutors allege a New Hampshire man obsessed with getting a Harley-Davidson motorcycle beat his landlord to death, assumed his identify, and then stole his pickup truck in order to trade it for a motorcycle.  It is alleged that Paul McDonald traded his landlord’s new truck for the motorcycle and an older truck before fleeing to Vermont, where he was reportedly arrested.  Wilcox was found dead in June 2008 in the basement of the Danville home where McDonald lived as his tenant, according to police. More information here.

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

Atlanta police reportedly say 4 children found their 35-year-old mother’s body on the bathroom floor, after coming home from school. Keith Meadows of the Atlanta Police Department reportedly says Yolanda Johnson had been stabbed four or five times. Her body was found Thursday afternoon in her apartment, which is near Georgia Tech. Meadows says there were signs of a struggle in the kitchen and bathroom. More information here.

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

54-year-old Willie Anderson, of the 9400 block of South Michigan Avenue, was pronounced dead at 8 a.m. at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police responded to an emergency call at 7:09 a.m. to the 600 block of East 79th Street where they found Anderson on the sidewalk with multiple stab wounds, according to Officer Daniel O’Brien. More information here.

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

Huntsville, Alabama police say that a female professor at the University of Alabama opened fire on her colleagues at a biology faculty meeting.  It is alleged that the professor, reportedly identified as Amy Bishop, opened fire after she learned that she was being denied tenure.  Three faculty members were killed, and three other people — two faculty members and one staff member — were taken to Huntsville Hospital, with injuries ranging from serious to critical. More information here.

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

A Las Vegas man reportedly attacked a mother and her 4 month old son, using a medieval-style battle ax.  The crime appears to be a random act, and the suspect in custody, reportedly identified as 33 year old Harold E. Montague, denies remembering the attack, police say.   Montague also is reportedly accused of stabbing his sister-in-law, a mentally disabled woman, more than 20 times with a point of the ax shortly before he allegedly attacked the mother and her baby. 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.

Bond has reportedly been set at $4 million for a man accused of first-degree murder after authorities said he stabbed his 70-year-old landlord about 50 times near Antioch, Illinois last week. Jason Baker, 37, and his girlfriend Kimberly Caldwell, 37, had been living with David Queen in the 40200 block of Deep Lake Round for about a week before Baker robbed and stabbed Queen sometime around midnight Thursday night, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said today. More information here.

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

Lexington County deputies are hunting the killer of a West Columbia, South Carolina area man who died early Sunday after being stabbed with a butcher knife. William Lee “Willie” Adams, 41, was stabbed to death at his home at 233 Pine St. The Lexington County coroner’s office said Monday that an autopsy showed that Adams had died within minutes of being stabbed. The knife perforated his aorta, causing massive internal bleeding, the coroner said. More information here.

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

Alfredo Preciado-Ortega, 22, of the 500 block of Scribner Street in Joliet, was found dead with 23 stab wounds to his chest and back about 3 a.m. this morning in Joliet. It is the first homicide of the year in the southwest suburban city.  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.

A partially undressed woman was found strangled to death in Suburban Markham yesterday morning.  Police say that Sheila Nelson, a 47 year old woman from Harvey, was found murdered in a wooded area, near 160th Street and Oakley Avenue just before 10AM on Sunday.  Nelson was strangled to death, and a belt was around her neck.  An investigation is underway to determine whether Nelson was sexually assault, and police believe that her body was dumped in the wooded area from a car.  More information here.

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