Phoenix Decapitation

Officers were called to a terrible scene in Central Phoenix recently, writes Fox10 Phoenix. Investigators said they found a woman’s body decapitated and two dogs killed inside an apartment. On Sunday, police identified the victim as 49-year-old Trina Heisch.

According to Reuters, the scene was discovered Saturday morning after a neighbor decided to check on the welfare of a married couple he knew had mental health issues.

When the husband opened the door to the couple’s home he was naked, a portion of his left forearm was cut off, and his right eye was missing.  

The neighbor called police who entered the home and found the headless body of Trina Heisch, 49, in a bedroom closet along with two dogs. The animals had also been decapitated. Large amounts of blood was spread across floors, cabinets and walls of the apartment, police said.

The suspect has not been named, but police said he was believed to be Heisch’s husband. He was taken to an area hospital where he underwent surgery. Police said he admitted to killing “three of his family members” and will be charged in Heisch’s murder when released from the hospital.

http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/29633362/2015/07/25/kind-neighbor-finds-gruesome-scene-after-man-kills-woman-two-dogs

Charleston Shooting Suspect To Stand Trial Next Year

Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson set a trial date for Dylann Roof, 21, who faces multiple charges stemming from the June 17th shootings at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The trial date is July 11th, 2016.

Roof reportedly sat quietly during the proceedings in a courtroom crowded with about 100 people.

Mr. Roof was presented copies of the indictments, and his public defender Ashley Pennington told the judge he would not seek bond at this time “based on the totality of the circumstances,” writes The Salt Lake Tribune.

The judge allegedly called Roof a flight risk, noting he was arrested in Shelby, N.C., about 250 miles away, on the day after the parishioners were shot to death during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/16/423612434/trial-date-set-for-charleston-shooting-suspect-dylann-roof

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/16/us/charleston-church-shooting-trial-date/

Murder-Suicide In South Carolina Kills 4

Police found the bodies of four people, including a local official, who’d been shot to death inside a Rock Hill, South Carolina, home on Sunday.

Authorities are not looking for a suspect in the case, which is being called an apparent murder-suicide, according to NBC News.

The victims have been identified as a man and his wife, her son and the son’s girlfriend, writes People Magazine.

Anna Moore worked as the Assistant Manager for York County in South Carolina. supervising Animal Control, the Department of Fire Safety, Emergency Management, the detention center, Public Safety Communications and the Summer Feeding Program, according to The Rock Hill Herald.

York County is near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Grandmother Shoots Daughter, Grandchildren in Florida Murder-Suicide

A woman shot her daughter and her two small grandchildren before reportedly killing herself inside the Greenacres, Florida, home they shared, police said Sunday.

Grandmother Nilda Sheffield, 53, shot her daughter Elizabeth Flores, 30, and grandchildren Xavier Neff, 7, and Sofia Chiddo, 2, said Greenacres police Lieutenant Brady Myers, according to the NBC News.

Police are searching for a motive in the apparent murder-suicide in the 4600 block of Chariot Circle in Greenacres, Florida.

The horrific crime scene was discovered by a family friend at about 12 noon on Saturday, Lieutenant Myers said.

“That friend told authorities they had not been accounted for since Friday evening,” Myers said.

A group of young adults and small children gathered at the edge of yellow police tape in the neighborhood on Saturday, at times weeping and hugging each other, writes NBC News.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3142570/Grandmother-shot-killed-daughter-grandchildren-aged-2-7-taking-life.html

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Grandmother-Shoots-Daughter-Grandchildren-in-Murder-Suicide-Police-310519521.html

Are The Chillicothe, Ohio Murders Related?

In the hills of Ohio’s Scioto Valley, the town of Chillicothe is unaccustomed to the widespread fear that has grown steadily as women have disappeared in the past year.

Six unfinished cases are causing residents to speculate that a serial killer is in their midst. Two women have been missing and four have turned up dead, writes USA Today.

The Washington Post states, “In little over a year, at least six women have disappeared from the town of only 21,000. Four of their bodies have been found, almost all of them dumped in creeks or streams flowing away from the town.”

Two of the dead – Timberly Claytor, 38; and Tiffany Sayre, 26 – were found within three weeks of each other, and both cases have been classified as homicides.

Though it isn’t the only avenue they are pursuing, local law enforcement officials haven’t discounted the possibility of a serial killer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/24/as-women-keep-on-washing-up-dead-ohio-town-fears-a-serial-killer-is-on-the-loose/

Murder – Suicide In St. Louis County

On Thursday, a mother and her adult son were found dead in a home in Wildwood, St. Louis county, Missouri, after an apparent murder-suicide, said police.  According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, authorities believe Eric Scherrer, 23, shot and killed his mother, Janet Scherrer, 54, then killed himself.

Someone called a neighbor about 8 p.m. Thursday night, concerned about the Scherrers, according to police.  The neighbor checked the ranch-style home the Scherrers shared in the 4600 block of Fox Crest Drive and found Janet Scherrer unresponsive, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 Authorities arrived and found both Scherrers dead inside.

Police did not know a motive in the murder-suicide.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-kills-mother-then-self-in-murder-suicide-at-wildwood/article_106cf6a9-1d7a-5d79-adee-c6a2027cd5d0.html

http://fox2now.com/2015/06/19/police-investigating-possible-murder-suicide-near-wildwood/

Murder-Suicide Near Tempe, AZ

Two people were killed Tuesday morning near Tempe, Arizona, in what police believe was a murder-suicide, according to a police spokesman.

Police said David Joseph Engel, 40, fatally shot his estranged wife, 45-year-old April Louise Engel, and then turned the gun on himself at an apartment near University Drive and Greenfield Road in Mesa, writes AZ Central.

Police said say Joseph Engel had recently been served divorce papers by April, according to YourWestValley.

AZ Central reports that the couple had a history of domestic violence that started in 2008, when David Engel was arrested on suspicion of assaulting April Engel, police say.

http://www.yourwestvalley.com/valleyandstate/article_3699b762-0985-11e5-ab44-5b6c2da8ce54.html

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2015/06/02/mesa-police-murder-suicide-greenfield-abrk/28346387/

http://www.kpho.com/story/29215404/estranged-couple-dead-in-shooting-at-mesa-apartment-complex

Former Pastor Arrested For 2011 Murder Of Fort Walton Beach, FL Woman

A former pastor has been arrested after the case of a missing Florida woman was featured on a national “cold case” television show, according to gulflive.com.

Ty Flanders was arrested Thursday in Arizona on a second-degree murder charge related to the 2011 killing of Marie Carlson, according to Fox 10.  Interestingly, Carlson was the mother of Flanders’ newborn child, states the report.

Carlson disappeared on Oct. 17th, 2011.  According to authorities, text messages were sent from her phone to several people saying she was leaving town to “do something she had always wanted to do.”  Her ex-husband reported her missing seven days later after he couldn’t contact her, writes gulflive.com.

3 Men Shot Execution-Style In Birmingham, Alabama

Korde Lorodius Turner

Three men shot execution-style in a house in Birmingham, Alabama have now been identified.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims as Willie Cornelius Washington, 35, Johnny Kordara Griffin, 24 and Korde Lorodius Turner, 24. All were identified by family members, said Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates.

The bodies were found inside the home at 457 3rd Street North at 12:05 p.m. Monday. They were officially pronounced dead at 12:58 p.m., according to al.com.

al.com writes that Washington was found dead on the floor just inside the front door where it appears he had been sleeping prior to his death. He was lying on a pillow with a blanket on top of him. Griffin and Turner were found lying on couches. Police recovered all three bullets underneath each of the victims, writes al.com.

In 2013, Turner was acquitted for the 2009 murder of another man.  On April 10, 2009, Leroy “Little Fred” Yarbrough was shot in the chest while in the 300 block of Fourth Terrace North in Smithfield.  Turner admitted to shooting Yarbrough in self-defense, and that was his only arrest, according to al.com.

No arrests have been made in the killings, said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards. Police are looking into several tips.

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/05/3_men_shot_execution-style_in.html

Crowdfunding Website For Baltimore Police Charged In Freddie Gray’s Murder Shut Down

A “crowdfunding” site for a campaign to raise money for the six Baltimore police officers charged in death of Freddie Gray was shut down, according to The L.A. Times.

The Baltimore police union launched a GoFundMe page Friday, but a spokeswoman said the page has been removed because it violated GoFundMe company policy.

“GoFundMe cannot be used to benefit those who are charged with serious violations of the law,” said Kelsea Little, GoFundMe’s public relations manager. “The campaign clearly stated that the money raised would be used to assist the officers with their legal fees, which is a direct violation of GoFundMe’s terms.”

The L.A. Times writes that the website specifically bars campaigns “in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts.”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gofundme-baltimore-cops-20150502-story.html