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.

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.

Enraged that his girlfriend walked out on him with their child, a Hoffman Estates man fatally stabbed the woman’s father, sister and grandmother and critically injured her mother during a bloody attack outlined by prosecutors Saturday. Most of the eight people there were sleeping when Howard showed up at 1:30 a.m. Friday, prosecutors said. Soon the couple began arguing again—waking those sleeping above the first-floor family room. A bloody killing spree soon followed.  More information here.

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

Chicago police are searching for a 19 year old man who is wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend. Police say that they have probable cause to believe that 19 year old Orlin Ortiz fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Maribel Moreno, of the 4300 block of West Thomas Street. Moreno was found dead Thursday at 2:30AM in her home. Witnesses say that multiple people were fighting in the residence immediately before the stabbing occurred. More information here.

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

Authorities trying to unravel the mystery of a rampage at a North Carolina nursing home that left eight dead said the shooting spree wasn’t a “random act of violence.” One suspect is in custody. 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.

Wilmette police found the three bodies in a house on the 800 block of Greenleaf Avenue while performing a well being check on the occupants. Preliminary evidence is said to suggest that the man fatally shot the woman and the teenager before turning the gun on himself. Police are withholding the names of the individuals until their families can be notified.
UPDATE: The man who lived at the house in question was reportedly sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing his 25-year-old wife to death back in 1985. He claimed insanity, saying that he committed that homicide while suffering from “intermittent explosive disorder.”
UPDATE 2: Neighbors have identified the shooter as Richard C. Wiley, and his victims as Kathy Wiley-Motes and her son Christopher Motes.  Kathy was a church office coordinator, and Chris was a 17 year old student at New Trier.  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.

Police have charged a suspect with the January 24, 2009 murders of Nova Henry, an ex of former Bulls basketball player Eddy Curry, and her 9 month old daughter Ava Curry. Police allege that 36 year old Frederick Goings entered Nova Henry’s South Loop apartment, and then killed her and the young child after a dispute. Police also say that they have forensic and surveillance evidence against Goings, who had previously had an order of protection against him after allegedly stalking Henry. More information here.

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