Maryland
Man gets 41 years for killing, dismembering daughter
BALTIMORE (AP) — A 68-year-old man was sentenced Monday to 41 years for the murder of his daughter, whose dismembered remains were left at a dumpster.
Malik Samartaney, previously known as Lawrence Banks, was convicted in October of second-degree murder and unauthorized disposal of a body in the May 2019 slaying of Dominique Foster. Prosecutors said the Baltimore man killed his 43-year-old daughter after expressing outrage at her drug addiction, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer handed down the maximum punishments, saying it’s “unfathomable” to think of how Foster suffered.
“When she got into her father’s van that day, she had no way of knowing that she would end up in pieces in a shopping cart,” Schiffer said.
Defense lawyer Deborah Levi presented a theory that Foster may have been killed by members of the notorious street gang MS-13. Levi said her client maintains his innocence and plans to appeal.
Some of Foster’s remains were found stuffed inside trash bags in a shopping cart after a suspicious package was reported near a dumpster, but her head, hands and feet were never found.
Police couldn’t link Samartaney to the crime with DNA evidence or a murder weapon. Prosecutors based their case largely on circumstantial evidence, such as Samartaney’s ex-fiancee’s testimony of having an unusually hard time reaching him the day Foster was killed.
Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Stock focused on Samartaney’s violent history. He had two previous murder convictions, pleading guilty in the 1990s to killing a friend and no contest to killing his teenage son. He received simultaneous 20-year prison sentences, and was released in 2002.
Samartaney also was convicted of assault after throwing Foster, then just 7 months old, through a glass door during an argument with her mother in 1975.
Samartaney asked the judge for mercy, saying that he had promised God after his son’s death that he wouldn’t kill again.
“Your honor, I’m very sorry for the death of my daughter, but I did not do that,” Samartaney said. “I dream every night that I find the person who would do that.”
Victim impact statements describe Foster as a loving mother, grandmother and sister.
“Your honor, I’m asking for the longest sentence possible,” Foster’s daughter wrote in her statement. “I ask this not for revenge but for everyone’s safety.”
New Hampshire
Documents: Man hid in woman’s attic, had tracking device
SOMERSWORTH, N.H. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who traveled to New Hampshire to meet a woman he met online hid in her attic, photographed her while sleeping, stole some of her underwear, and attempted to place a tracking device on her car, prosecutors said.
Court documents made public Monday revealed details of charges against the man who was arrested after police found him on the roof of the woman’s home earlier this month.
The documents indicate the man met the victim on the paid subscription website OnlyFans and drove about 350 miles (560 kilometers) to the woman’s home.
Somersworth police said the man broke into the woman’s home, stole her house key and had a duplicate key made. He came and went from the home several times, once photographing the woman while asleep, and spent time in the attic where police found personal items including a tracking device he intended to place in the woman’s vehicle, police said.
He’s charged with four counts of burglary. The Associated Press could not find a phone number for the man and his attorney didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday.
The man was released on $2,500 cash bail last week against the wishes of prosecutors.
Bail conditions require him to wear a tracking bracelet, and he’s not allowed to return to New Hampshire or have contact with the victim, WMUR-TV reported.
Massachusetts
Case against judge charged in immigrant’s escape to go on
BOSTON (AP) — The case against a Massachusetts judge accused of helping a man who was living in the U.S. illegally sneak out of a courthouse to evade a federal immigration agent can move forward, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The court on Monday declined to dismiss the case against Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph and a retired court officer, The Boston Globe reported.
Their lawyers had argued that the 10th Amendment to the Constitution bars federal agencies from requiring state officers to enforce federal law, and that Joseph is protected from federal prosecution under judicial immunity, according to court documents.
Judge William Kayatta, writing on behalf of a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the court does not have jurisdiction to review the case because Joseph has not yet faced trial.
Joseph and the court officer let the man escape out a rear door in April 2018 after a hearing while an immigration agent was in the courtroom to detain him. The Dominican man had twice been deported and been barred from entering the U.S. until 2027, prosecutors said.
They are charged with obstruction of justice.
Joseph’s lawyer said “we are reviewing all our options.”
Missouri
Man charged after suspected thief is killed
WINDSOR, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri man is charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors said he chased down two people he thought had stolen from his property and shot one of them.
Mark A. Fielder, 63, of Windsor, was charged with killing 41-year-old James Fannon late Thursday after a confrontation on a Henry County road near Fielder’s home, The Sedalia Democrat reported.
Fielder also was charged with two counts of armed criminal action, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and second-degree assault. He was being held on $500,000 bond.
Prosecutors said Fielder saw two people fleeing in a car after stealing what one witness said was three fishing poles from his property.
Fielder and two others chased the car, which eventually pulled over. Fielder pistol-whipped the driver and when shot Fannon in the head, prosecutors said, before driving away.
The driver of the other car dumped Fannon’s body for several hours before contacting law enforcement, Pettis County Sheriff Brad Anders said.
Fielder was arrested later at his home.
Online court records did not name an attorney for Fielder. The other people involved have not been publicly identified.
Maine
County to have dedicated courthouse therapy dog
HOULTON, Maine (AP) — An Aroostook County courthouse is poised to be the first in Maine to have a dedicated therapy dog to provide emotional support for people dealing with traumatic experiences.
A yellow Labrador puppy named Holiday has begun up to two years of training with a goal of becoming a calming presence in a stressful environment.
Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins told the Bangor Daily News that courthouse dogs can help traumatized children and victims of crime. They can also provide emotional support for law enforcement officers, first responders and others, too.
“A courthouse dog can provide emotional support for everyone,” he said.
The Houlton courthouse already has an unofficial therapy dog — an English Mastiff named Nephi — who can sometimes be found in the office of his owner, Valerie Eldredge, the victim/witness advocate in Houlton.
Holiday will have a much more focused job once she completes her training, said Tyler Jones, owner of Purpose Pups in Houlton who is training Holiday to become an officially licensed courthouse dog.
Karley Allen, owner of Northern Woods Labs, which donated the puppy, said she believes in the power of dogs to heal.
“They are truly heart healers that give endless love and can give so much back to our communities when placed in these roles,” she said.
Wisconsin
Man who killed sister committed for 40 years
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Madison man who fatally shot his sister on Christmas Eve in 2019 has been committed to the state Department of Health Services for 40 years.
Joseph Green earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional homicide in the death of his sister, Shelia Green. He was also found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect as part of a plea agreement.
Green told a judge in Dane County Circuit Court Monday he didn’t know what he was doing when he shot his sister.
“My sister had those qualities that people like,” Green told Judge Julie Genovese. “That’s why we got along the way we did. I didn’t want her dead. That’s not what I was doing there. But I was drugged. She drugged me again.”
Genovese ordered the 40-year commitment because it “appears to me Mr. Green has no insight” into his illness or the need for medication to treat it. Without that, she said, he will remain dangerous, the State Journal reported.
Under state law, Green can petition the court every six months for release from a mental health institution and into community supervision, but it must be shown that he is not a danger to himself or others.
In one of the letters sent to the judge, the writer described Sheila Green as someone who cared deeply about her friends and family, going out of her way to lend support to them and celebrate special occasions with them.
Missouri
Woman pleads guilty in death of man and his son
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. (AP) — A woman pleaded guilty Monday to several charges in the stabbing deaths of a suburban St. Louis man and his toddler son in 2018.
Onyai S. Turner, 25, of St. Louis, entered the pleas for her role in the deaths of Malcom Mathis II, 33, and his 22-month-old son, Malcom Mathis III, the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office said.
Turner’s boyfriend, Traveon Sims, was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths.
Prosecutors say Turner and Sims carried out the attack at Mathis’ home in Maryland Heights in February 2018. Sims was Mathis’ nephew.
Sims’ grandmother and Mathis’ 4-year-old daughter also were stabbed several times but survived.
Turner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery and three counts of armed criminal action.
Authorities said Mathis had kicked Sims out of their home months before the attacks.
Turner was scheduled to be sentenced April 29.
