Albert Cronkite, Author at DR News - News, Retirement, Finance

Police say dying man named brother as shooter outside apartment

The case turned on what a neighbor saw after a single shot at the apartment, say police. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police in Albuquerque say a neighbor’s real-time account helped them build a homicide case after a man was shot outside a northeast apartment and his brother was found beside him on the ground. The witness perspective matters because it bridges the gap between the gunshot inside the apartment and the evidence detectives later said they …

Man accused of beating victim with rock and stomping on him

Three defendants face different charge sets after investigators said an unhoused man was abducted, beaten and left fatally injured in a vacant house. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Prosecutors in southern Oregon are dividing a fatal beating case into distinct alleged roles after charging three people in the death of Kolton Esparza, an unhoused man whom police say was kidnapped, attacked and left in a vacant Klamath Falls house with injuries that later killed him. The …

Bonfire brawl between two women at bonfire ends in death after custody argument

The charge points to a case built around a deadly assault allegation without a public claim of an intentional murder plot. OWEN COUNTY, Ind. — Prosecutors in southern Indiana have charged Samantha Mae Mayhew with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Kiersten Moore, a decision that frames the bonfire killing case around a fatal fight rather than an alleged premeditated murder. That choice matters because it tells the public what the state appears ready to …

State Department worker linked to fatal Beltway stabbing attack

Investigators have outlined the deaths and injuries, but the cause of the escalation remains unresolved. ANNANDALE, Va. — Investigators have established the broad outline of the March 1 Beltway stabbing in Fairfax County: a crash happened, four women were stabbed, one of them died, and the suspect was later shot by a state trooper. What they have not yet explained is why it happened. That open question sits at the center of a case that …

Yoga teacher accused of killing professor girlfriend before he fled the country and built a new identity

The sentencing of Jorge Rueda Landeros revived prosecutors’ account of a relationship that mixed romance, business dealings and, they said, a lethal break. ROCKVILLE, Md. — When a Montgomery County judge sentenced Jorge Rueda Landeros to 25 years in prison for killing professor Sue Ann Marcum, the facts revisited in court pointed repeatedly to the money that prosecutors said had fractured their relationship before her death. This version of the case was never only about …

She answered the door and was killed in her husband’s workplace rival

A jury found Ernest Cunningham guilty after prosecutors said anger at a former co-worker carried him to the man’s apartment and into a killing. DENVER, Colo. — Prosecutors say the path to Kelsey Roberts-Gariety’s death began before anyone reached an apartment door, with a firing, an angry former co-worker and a dispute that followed a man home. That chain ended in court with a 42-year prison sentence for Ernest Cunningham, 53, of Westminster, who was …

Mother’s boyfriend convicted after 3-year-old girl killed with hairbrush

The death of 3-year-old Makinzlee Handrahan moved from a bedroom in Edgecomb to two courtrooms before jurors convicted Tyler Witham-Jordan in March. EDGECOMB, Maine — The case that ended this month with Tyler Witham-Jordan’s murder conviction began in a child’s bunk bed on Christmas morning 2022, when Makinzlee Handrahan’s mother called 911 and said she thought her 3-year-old daughter was dead. From that moment forward, nearly every step in the case carried both urgency and …

Police say divorce threat came before wife vanished after husband took her to work

Police and court records show how officers pieced together a timeline using family accounts, phone data, camera hits and a storage-lot search warrant. DRAPER, Utah — Investigators in Utah say a trail of cellphone data, camera sightings and card activity helped them move from a missing-couple report to a homicide charge after a woman was found dead in a camper trailer at a storage facility. The significance of the case lies in how the investigation …

Prosecutors say repeat offender convicted of threatening incident at Walmart later stabbed a woman then killed 3 more after parole

A Denver-area prosecution built around one violent day in 2025 has grown to include a separate 2022 death in Englewood. AURORA, Colo. — The Colorado case against Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith first drew wide attention because authorities said three people died within hours during a June 2025 crime spree, and prosecutors have now added a fourth homicide charge tied to a 2022 death in Englewood. The immediate drama of the case still sits in those 2025 …

Father and daughter killed at Facebook Marketplace meetup to buy PS5 family says

The victims were headed to buy a PlayStation 5, say relatives, while authorities have confirmed only the deaths, the scene and an ongoing investigation. SARDIS, Miss. — What relatives described as a routine Facebook Marketplace pickup for a PlayStation 5 instead ended with Victor Gonzalez and his daughter Serenity Gonzalez found shot to death inside a vehicle in Panola County. The significance of the story lies not only in the killings, but in the way …