Oklahoma
Woman convicted in husband's deathdies in prison
McLOUD, Okla. (AP) - Oklahoma prison officials say a 25-year-old woman convicted of second-degree murder for pushing her husband to his death from the 25th floor of their apartment has died in prison.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terri Watkins says Amber Hilberling was pronounced dead at 5:33 p.m. Monday at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center, where Hilberling had been serving a 25-year prison sentence for the 2011 death of her husband, Joshua Hilberling.
Watkins says the state medical examiner's office will determine Amber Hilberling's cause of death.
Prosecutors alleged that Amber Hilberling shoved her husband through the window after they'd argued over splitting up. Hilberling, who was 19 at the time and seven months pregnant, argued that the death was an accident caused by "unusually thin" windows in the couple's apartment.
Pennsylvania
Police find decomposing body under man's bed
ALQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) - Police have found a body under a western Pennsylvania man's bed.
Officers received a tip that Donald Teaford had been sleeping on the bed over the decomposing body of a person who he did heroin with in his Hopewell Township apartment for three weeks.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WPXI-TV, officers lifted the bedsheet and found 34-year-old Justin Cogan's body wrapped in garbage bags with a knife next to it.
The criminal complaint claims Teaford's girlfriend had died of a drug overdose in the same bed.
Teaford is charged with abuse of a corpse and is held on $100,000 bail. It's not known if he has a lawyer.
Georgia
Man convicted of killing ex-boxing champ Forrest
ATLANTA (AP) - A third man has been convicted of murder in the 2009 robbery and killing of ex-boxing champion Vernon Forrest in Atlanta.
News outlets report that a Fulton County jury is expected to decide Tuesday whether 38-year-old Charmon Sinkfield should receive the death penalty for shooting the former Olympian outside a gas station.
Forrest was killed in July 2009 as he chased Sinkfield's accomplice Jquante Ware, who had robbed him of a championship ring and Rolex watch.
The Monday conviction follows the sentencing of Ware and Demario Crews, who have been serving life sentences since 2012 and 2009, respectively.
Forrest was a member of the 1992 Olympic team along with Oscar De La Hoya. The fighter later won welterweight and junior middleweight titles and compiled a professional record of 41-3.
California
5 deaths at care home may be murder-suicide
TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say five men found dead after a fire gutted a Southern California adult-care facility may have been victims of murder-suicide.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department says four of the men found at the Temecula home on Aug. 29 had gunshot wounds. The fifth may have committed suicide after the fire was set.
Four men ranged in age from 26 to 37. The fifth was the home's 50-year-old operator.
Monday's statement didn't identify which man was the killer or provide a motive for the shootings.
The Renee Jennex Small Family Home was a state-licensed facility that cared for severely disabled adults.
State regulators say no deficiencies were found during an annual inspection in November.
New York
Top court: Youth hockey league not liable for brawl
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York's highest court says a local youth hockey association is not responsible for a brawl among spectators at a 2006 tournament for 13-year-olds.
A man who suffered a head injury in the melee sued the Rome Youth Hockey Association alleging it didn't enforce a "zero tolerance" policy on violence in the stands. A second man pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the injuries.
The game featured several on-ice fights and some players and a coach were ejected. Afterward two female spectators started fighting, prompting a brawl involving several others.
The court ruled Tuesday that the hockey association could not have foreseen the incident.
Hockey association attorney Matthew Kelly says a ruling against his client would have devastated youth sports leagues who he says can't afford private security.
Kentucky
Art at Muhammad Ali Center stolen off wall; value $5K
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Artwork showing Muhammad Ali in a classic pose, in white trunks and red boxing gloves, was stolen from the Muhammad Ali Center in a brazen theft.
Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell says the signed print of a painting by LeRoy Neiman was taken Saturday. He says the artwork is valued at $5,000. Mitchell says investigators are trying to locate "a person of strong interest."
The signed artwork was displayed in the Ali Center's LeRoy Neiman Gallery.
Ali Center spokeswoman Jeanie Kahnke says security has been increased to prevent similar thefts.
Neiman, who died in 2012, was best known for his brilliantly colored images of sporting events and leisure activities.
Ali died in June at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
West Virginia
Coal CEO wants misdemeanor overturned in deadly blast
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Attorneys for Don Blankenship and the federal government are back in court this week as the former coal operator appeals his conviction in connection with the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday before a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case that other coal mining executives fear could set a precedent exposing them to criminal conspiracy charges as well.
The former Massey Energy CEO is serving a one-year sentence for the misdemeanor of conspiring to willfully violate safety standards at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine before the 2010 explosion killed 29 men.
Former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says he's "extraordinarily confident" Blankenship will lose. Blankenship attorney Bill Taylor says "what matters is what the judges feel."
Other coal mining executives fear a precedent that could expose other mining leaders to criminal conspiracy charges.
Published: Wed, Oct 26, 2016
