Subscribe
78°
Brother Who Smothered Sister, 17, To Death In NY Gets Decades In Prison (Update)
A Dutchess County man will spend over two decades in state prison for killing his teenage sister in a case that dates back more than four years, prosecutors announced.
Mark Dedaj, 34, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Dutchess County Court after pleading guilty in January to first-degree manslaughter in the death of his 17-year-old sister, Maureen Nelson-Lanzi, the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office said on Tuesday, April 21.
The incident happened on Sept. 4, 2021, at a home on Harts Village Road in the Village of Millbrook. Dedaj admitted to causing his sister’s de…
Man Rapes, Kills Penn State Grad, Flees To Puerto Rico: Police
A woman was found dead on a bathroom floor after a violent assault inside a Dauphin County apartment, Susquehanna Township police announced on Monday, April 6.
Amanda Abeana Makor, 25, was discovered by officers responding to a report of an “unconscious female” at an apartment in the 300 block of North Progress Avenue, Harrisburg, around 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 30, according to police.
She was lying on the bathroom floor and was cold to the touch when officers arrived, authorities said.
Makor was a Penn State University graduate who earned her Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Analytic…
US Travelers Warned Of Terror Risks At Tourist Destinations, Universities
The US Department of State has issued new warnings for Americans traveling or living abroad, citing heightened risks of terrorist attacks at tourist destinations, transportation hubs, and American-affiliated institutions, including universities.
The advisory, updated Thursday, April 2, comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions and specific threats targeting US citizens and interests overseas.
A Worldwide Caution alert, first issued on Sunday, March 22, remains in effect, urging Americans to exercise increased vigilance globally.
The State Department has highlighted potential threat…
'I Let You Live': Taxi Driver's Knife-Point Kidnapping Ends In Jury Verdict Against NY Man
A Schenectady County jury convicted a 26-year-old man of kidnapping and violently robbing a taxi driver during a knife-point attack.
James Parker, of Cobleskill, was found guilty Tuesday, Jan. 13, of five felony and misdemeanor charges tied to the Nov. 13, 2024, attack, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office.
Parker climbed into a taxi on State Street in Schenectady, then attacked the female driver from behind, pressing a knife to her throat and ordering her to drive him and his girlfriend to Cobleskill, prosecutors said.
During the drive, Parker cut the victim’s fo…
NY Drug Dealer, Rehab Worker Killed Customer, Buried Her In Out-Of-State Grave, Jury Finds
A Putnam County drug dealer with a lengthy criminal history has been convicted in federal court of murdering a woman whom he suspected of stealing crack cocaine from him and burying her in a shallow grave in another state, federal officials said.
A jury found Dwayne Pulliam, 63, of Carmel, guilty of Travel Act murder, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and heroin, and multiple narcotics distribution charges following a one-week trial in White Plains before US District Judge Philip M. Halpern, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New …
'Sadistic Sex Maniac' ID'd Six Decades After Albany Woman's Grisly Slaying
Six decades after Catherine Blackburn was mutilated and raped in her Albany home, police have identified her likely killer.
Blackburn, 50, was found dead in her Colonie Street home in North Albany on Sept. 13, 1964, the victim of what a coroner decried as “a sadistic sex maniac.”
Investigators said Blackburn was bludgeoned, leaving her skull fractured, before her unconscious body was raped, slashed, and stabbed in the throat, Albany Police said. The killer then heated knives on a stove and seared marks into her lips and breasts.
Blackburn, a supervisor at Mohawk Brush Co. on Fuller Road, h…
Double Murder: Elderly Couple Burned, Stabbed After Letting Stranger Into NYC Home, Cops Say
A manhunt is underway for a parolee with a violent criminal history wanted in the deaths of a couple in their Queens, NY home, authorities said.
Jamel McGriff, 42, is wanted in the killings of Frank Olton, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77, which happened Monday, Sept. 8, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Tisch said McGriff went to the Oltons’ home that morning, claiming his cell phone battery was dead and he needed to charge it. Video shows McGriff speaking with Frank Olton before being allowed into the couple’s backyard, Tisch said. The two then walked inside through the back door of the…
Back-To-Back Subway Slashings: Rider’s Face Cut In Queens, Neck Slashed In Bronx
Police released photos of a man wanted for slashing a 29-year-old straphanger in the face aboard a Queens F train, authorities announced.
The suspect attacked the victim while riding a southbound F train at the Jamaica–179th Street station around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, police said.
According to a police source, the attacker approached the victim and asked, “What are you looking at?” The 29-year-old replied, “I don’t want any problems,” but was then slashed across the face with an unidentified sharp object.
The men were strangers, authorities said. After the random attack, the suspect …
Lawmaker Shooting Suspect's Wife Found With Gun, Cash, Passports; Shooter's Car Found Abandoned
The wife of a man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses—killing two and critically injuring the others— was found with thousands of dollars in cash, a firearm, ammunition, and multiple passports in the truck of her car, according to reports.
KSTP in Minnesota reported that Jenny Boelter, the wife of suspect Vance Boelter, was pulled over during a traffic stop in Onamia, Minnesota, roughly 100 miles from their home, on Saturday, June 14.
Police detained her for questioning along with three relatives who were also in the vehicle, the Minnesota Star Tribune report…
These Hudson Valley Cities, Towns Among Top 10 Safest In NY, New Report Says
If you're looking for peace of mind in New York, the Hudson Valley might be the place to be.
According to a new report by Safewise, several communities in the region were ranked among the 10 safest cities in the state for 2025 based on FBI crime data.
The list includes:
Bedford in Westchester County, ranked at No. 1:
Carmel in Putnam County, ranked at No. 2;
Rye in Westchester County, ranked at No. 3;
Hyde Park in Dutchess County, ranked at No. 5;
East Fishkill in Dutchess County, ranked at No. 6;
Scarsdale in Westchester County, ranked at No. 7;
Yorktown in Westchester County, rank…
FBI Leaving DC Headquarters, Director Kash Patel Announces
The FBI is leaving its longtime headquarters in Washington, DC, and relocating around 1,500 workers, according to the agency's director, Kash Patel.
The J. Edgar Hoover Building, a low-rise office building located on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, has been the FBI's home base since 1975.
Patel said there were 11,000 FBI employees in a 50-mile radius around Washington, DC.
"That's a third of the workforce," Patel told Fox Business in an interview on Friday, May 16. "A third of the crime doesn't happen here. So we're taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out.
"Every state is getting a plus u…
US Issues Urgent Travel Warnings Covering 2 Countries: What To Know
The US State Department is warning Americans against traveling to part of one country and has issued a do not travel warning for one of its neighboring nations.
A Level 3 Reconsider Travel Advisory covers these parts of eastern Colombia:
Arauca, Cauca (excluding Popayán), and Norte de Santander departments in Colombia;
The Colombia-Venezuela border region.
"Violent crime, like murder, assault, and robbery, is common in many areas in Colombia," the advisory says. "In some places, organized crime is rampant. This includes extortion, robbery, and kidnapping."
A Level 4 Do No…
US Travel Advisory Expanded: These 23 Nations Now Under Warning
In a significant move to safeguard American travelers, the US Department of State has updated its travel advisory system, identifying 23 nations where heightened caution is urged.
The advisory system evaluates a range of risks, including crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health threats, and natural disasters.
The State Department reviews Level 1 and 2 advisories annually, while Level 3 and 4 warnings are reassessed every six months.
According to a department statement, "A Travel Advisory will also be updated anytime there is a change in US government posture, normally as it relat…
Five Charged With Armed Home Invasion Robbery That Involved Zip-Tying Two Victims In Wallkill
Five people have been charged in connection with a violent gunpoint home invasion robbery in the town of Wallkill in Orange County, during which a family, including four young children, was terrorized.
Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim announced the arrests alongside FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy on Thursday, Jan. 16.
The suspects—Bhupinderjit Singh, 26, Elijaiah Roman, 22, Corey Hall, 45, Erik Suarez, 24, and Divya Kumari, 26—were taken into custody and will face charges in White Plains federal court.
According to court documents, the robbery occurred on Sunday, Dec. …
Capital Region Man To Spend Years In Prison For Violent Sexual Attack
A Capital Region man found guilty by a jury of a violent 2023 attack and sexual assault faces up to 25 years in prison.
Saratoga County resident Michael Pelletier of Moreau was convicted on Wednesday, Sept. 25, for the Saturday, June 24, 2023 attack, said Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen.
According to court documents and testimony, Pelletier violently assaulted a 32-year-old woman, physically and sexually, inside his home with children present.
The woman, who was injured all over her body, was transported to Saratoga Hospital for her injuries.
Pelletier faces u…
Man From Region Nabbed For Slaying Of Sneaker Reseller 'Upscale Cracc'
Police have arrested and charged a New York man in the June murder of a popular Bayonne, NJ sneaker reseller who went by the name, Upscale Cracc, in Lower Manhattan.
Jayquan Straker, age 35, of Poughkeepsie, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon in the Tuesday, June 25 killing of Javier Osorio-Mejia, in SoHo, the NYPD announced.
Rest in peace to Upscale Cracc, born Javier Osorio-Mejia, a reseller who was a mainstay at sneaker releases in New York City for years. If there was a lineu…