murdering

As trial opens, Tetsuya Yamagami admits murdering Japan’s longest serving leader three years ago.

The man accused of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 has pleaded guilty to murder.

Forty-five-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami admitted all charges read out by prosecutors as his trial opened on Tuesday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Yamagami was charged with murder and violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon to shoot Japan’s longest serving leader.

“Everything is true,” the suspect told the court, according to the AFP news agency.

Abe was shot as he gave a speech during an election campaign in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Yamagami was arrested at the scene.

The assassination was reportedly triggered by the suspect’s anger over links between Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the Unification Church.

Yamagami held a grudge against the South Korean religious group due to his mother’s donation of 100 million yen ($663,218). The gift ruined his family’s financial health, Japanese media reported.

Long the subject of controversy and criticism, the Unification Church, whose followers are referred to disparagingly as “Moonies”, has since faced increased pressure from authorities over accusations of bribery.

The church’s Japanese followers are viewed as a key source of income.

The shooting was followed by revelations that more than 100 LDP lawmakers had ties to the Unification Church, driving down public support for the ruling party.

After Tuesday’s initial court session, 17 more hearings are scheduled this year before a verdict is scheduled for January 21.

The trial opened the same day as two of Abe’s former allies, LDP leader and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and visiting United States President Donald Trump, held a summit in Tokyo.

Abe, who served as Japan’s prime minister for almost nine years, is regularly mentioned by both during public events.

On Tuesday, Takaichi gave Trump a golf putter owned by Abe and other golf memorabilia during their meeting at the Akasaka Palace.

Media outlets have staged a front page protest to highlight the killings of more than 200 journalists in 22 months.

More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries have staged a front page protest highlighting the killing of more than 200 journalists in Israel’s war on Gaza, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media freedom group says.

“At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no-one left to keep you informed,” the group’s general director, Thibaut Bruttin, said in a statement on Monday.

The protest, also supported by the global campaign movement Avaaz, was featured on the websites of news outlets including Al Jazeera, the British newspaper The Independent, French newspapers La Croix and L’Humanite, and the German newspapers Tageszeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau, according to RSF.

About 220 journalists have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza since it began on October 7, 2023, according to RSF data. Independent analysis by Al Jazeera reveals that at least 278 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel over the past 22 months, including 10 from the network.

Monday’s protest was staged a week after five journalists – Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Salama, Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, freelance journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa working for The Associated Press, Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha – were killed in two Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Earlier in August, six journalists, including Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, were killed in an Israeli air strike on a tent sheltering media workers outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. The strike targeted al-Sharif.

In total, seven people were killed in the attack, including three other Al Jazeera staff – correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, 25, and Mohammed Noufal, 29.

Those participating in the protest “demand an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip and that foreign press be granted independent access”, the RSF statement said.

The media group said it has filed four complaints at the International Criminal Court for war crimes it said the Israeli army has committed against journalists in Gaza.

International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

A few selected outlets have embedded reporters with Israeli army units operating in Gaza under the condition of strict military censorship.

Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

A “MASTER MANIPULATOR” has been convicted of murdering his fiancée after her body was found in an overflowing bath.

Clifford Cowen, 59, told a 999 dispatcher he had concerns for 70-year-old partner Rita Fleming – claiming he’d spotted her feet sticking out the end of her bed after peering through the letterbox.

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However, when cops arrived at the property in Golborne Road in Kensal Town, west London, on June 23 last year they found her fully clothed in a nightdress in the bath, having suffered multiple injuries.

Officers at the scene became suspicious of Cowen as he repeatedly told them to check CCTV to prove he hadn’t been at Rita’s address – and he was arrested.

In interview, Cowen tried to claim that he was in a loving relationship with Rita, however officers found multiple messages and voice notes indicating that he would regularly get drunk and verbally abuse her.

He was charged with murder on July 5 2024 and following a four-week trial at the Old Bailey he was found guilty on Thursday.

The killer will appear at Kingston Crown Court on September 1 for sentencing.

DCI Alison Foxwell said: “As our investigation into Rita’s death developed, it became clear that Clifford Cowen was a controlling and abusive partner.

“Clifford called 999 that day and attempted to make Rita’s death look like an accident, as though she had drowned in the bath.

“Thanks to the information given by key witnesses and the work of our Specialist Crime Team, we have been able to show the court what a cowardly individual Cowen is.

“Cowen is a master manipulator who tried to portray his relationship with Rita as a loving one.

“He attempted to cover up his actions with an elaborate alibi, however officers were able to unpick this along with evidence of his controlling and manipulative behaviour.

“Rita was much loved by her family and friends and I hope that Cowen’s conviction gives them an element of closure.

“We understand how isolated victims of domestic abuse can feel.

“We encourage anyone to contact police and report so we can support alongside our specialist partner agencies.”

Do you know more? Email [email protected]

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A childhood friend of Lucy Letby has revealed the serial baby killer attended her wedding day while she was on police bail after being granted ‘special permission’ to go

A childhood friend of Lucy Letby made a shocking revelation after showing off pictures of the baby killer at her wedding – while she was on police bail.

Letby was first arrested in July of 2018 on suspicion of murdering eight babies. She was officially charged in November 2020 before being found guilty across two trials of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more. Dawn Howe, who went to Aylestone Secondary School in Hereford with Letby, brought out a stash of photos during a new ITV documentary called Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt?

And some pictures showed Letby smiling and dancing at Dawn’s wedding, which took place while Cheshire Police investigated whether the neonatal nurse at Countess of Chester Hospital was possibly Britain’s most prolific child killer.

Speaking on the documentary, Dawn said: “Definitely got some holiday snaps, birthdays, holidays I’ve forgotten we even had. The wedding photos are definitely my favourite.”

Laughing, she added: “There is Lucy at my wedding. I am just so glad she could be there because it was while she was on bail, she had to get special permission to be allowed to come from the police.”

The shocking photo shows Letby, wearing a red top and grey skirt, beaming while others alongside her clap on the dance floor.

Another image shows a just-married Dawn walking past Letby, who is throwing confetti in the air.

Dawn and Lucy met as teenagers and reflecting on the wedding snaps, she said: “Shortly after this she was held in custody so… I don’t think Lucy has seen these.”

Speaking about how she reacted when her friend was arrested before her big day, she said: “I watched it all unfold every step of the way. I just couldn’t believe it. It was beyond belief that this could be happening.”

And later in the programme, Dawn features once again. She is seen driving to Letby’s former school, where they spent most of their adolescence together.

Out of their friendship group, she said Letby was the only one who had a clear career path, and during her A-levels, she was eager to one day “be a nurse and deal with really poorly babies”.

And speaking on camera, she said: “We were here and then university and then a few years after university is when she is supposed to have gone off on this killing spree…”

Dawn was working when Letby’s guilty verdict was announced in August 2023 and she described being “dumbfounded” when she heard the news.

Her immediate thought was what happened next. She remembered thinking: “She can’t just spend the rest of her life in prison.”

Letby lost two attempts last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeals. Her legal team meanwhile, led by barrister Mark McDonald, also submitted evidence from a panel of international experts to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in April, in an attempt to have her convictions overturned.

Dawn supported Letby throughout the trial and is continuing to do so now, but she said she felt guilt for being free while her friend was serving 15 whole-life sentences.

She concluded: “I am living a life Lucy should be living beside me in parallel. We should both be having families and we both bought our houses and we were looking forward to the next chapter of our lives and then all this happened.

“It is just… there is so much guilt that I am sort of living a life that Lucy should also be living.”

Cheshire Police were contacted regarding claims made in this story but they chose not to comment.

Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? will air on ITV1 at 10.20pm on Sunday August 3.

Dan Serafini was a first-round draft pick from a prestigious private high school. He pitched professionally for 22 seasons and earned more than $14 million while with six Major League teams and two in the Japanese League.

Now he might spend the rest of his life in prison.

Serafini, 51, was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of his father-in-law, Robert Gary Spohr, 70. He also was found guilty of the attempted murder of Spohr’s wife, Wendy Wood, and first-degree burglary.

Serafini entered the Spohrs’ Lake Tahoe home June 5, 2021, where prosecutors said he secretly waited with a .22 caliber gun for several hours for the victims to return before ambushing them. Two children, ages 3 years and 8 months, were in the home at the time.

“The guilty verdicts come after a six-week trial during which the jury heard testimony from dozens of witnesses and the presentation of physical evidence, including digital, cell phone, and other forensic evidence,” according to a Facebook post from the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.

According to evidence presented at trial, when the Spohrs arrived, Serafini shot both of them in the head and fled the house. Wood survived and called 911. She died by suicide in 2023.

Two years later police arrested Serafini and his nanny-turned-lover, Samantha Scott, 33. Scott pleaded guilty in February to an accessory charge.

Serafini’s motive centered on a $1.3-million dispute over the renovation of a ranch, according to prosecutors. Serafini, prosecutors said, hated his in-laws and had written “I’m gonna kill them one day” in a text message mentioning $21,000, according to ABC News Sacramento affiliate KXTV. The victims had given $90,000 to Serafini’s wife, Erin, the day of the shootings.

“It’s been four years since my mom and dad were shot, and it’s been four years of just hell,” said Adrienne Spohr, the victims’ daughter and Serafini’s sister-in-law, said after the verdict.

Adrienne Spohr was heard gasping and crying along with others in the courtroom when the verdict was read aloud, according to KXTV. Serafini shook his head in disagreement.

The mandatory minimum for first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement is 25 years to life, but could increase to 35 years depending on how the charges are applied.

“My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage,” Adrienne Spohr said earlier in the trial.

The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., the same school all-time home run king Barry Bonds attended. Serafini made his big league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched in parts of seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.

Serafini pitched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the U.S. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs that he blamed on medication he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

On June 28, 2015, Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nev., was featured on an episode of “Bar Rescue.” The bar’s named was changed from the Bullpen Bar to the Oak Tavern as part of the makeover, but not before his financial woes were described as blowing through $14 million in career earnings and taking a $250,000 loan from his parents.

Serafini’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 18. He will remain in custody without bail until then.

“At this point, our focus is on the sentencing and making sure that Dan Serafini never sees the outside of a jail ever again,” Adrienne Spohr said.

Australian woman Erin Patterson is guilty of murdering three relatives with a toxic mushroom lunch, a jury has found.

The 50-year-old has also been found guilty of the attempted murder of the sole guest who survived the beef Wellington meal in 2023.

Patterson’s much-watched trial in the small Victorian town of Morwell heard evidence suggesting she had hunted down death cap mushrooms sighted in nearby towns, before trying to conceal her crimes by lying to police and disposing of evidence.

Her legal team had argued she unintentionally foraged lethal fungi, then “panicked” upon accidentally poisoning family members she loved. The jury on Monday ruled she did it intentionally.

Three people died in hospital in the days after the meal on 29 July 2023: Patterson’s former in-laws, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

Local pastor Ian Wilkinson – Heather’s husband – recovered after weeks of treatment in hospital.

Patterson’s estranged partner Simon Patterson had also been invited to the lunch but pulled out at the last minute. She was originally accused of attempting to murder him too – on several occasions – but those charges were dropped on the eve of the trial and the allegations were not put to the jury.

The case captured the world’s attention, becoming one of the most closely watched trials in Australian history.

Over nine weeks, the Victorian Supreme Court heard from more than 50 witnesses – including Patterson herself. Detectives described rifling through her garbage bins for leftovers, doctors outlined the gradual but brutal decline of the victims’ health, and Patterson’s estranged husband emotionally explained the souring nature of their relationship.

The only thing the case was missing was a motive – something key to Patterson’s defence.

Prosecutors argued Patterson had faked a cancer diagnosis to coax the guests to her house, then poisoned them and feigned illness to ward off suspicion.

She admitted to lying to police and medical staff about foraging for wild mushrooms, dumping a food dehydrator used to prepare the meal, and repeatedly wiping her mobile phone – all evidence of her guilt, prosecutors said.

From the witness box, Erin Patterson told the court she loved her relatives and had no reason to harm them.

She repeatedly denied intentionally putting the poisonous fungi in the meal, and said she realised days after the lunch that the beef Wellingtons may have accidentally included dried, foraged varieties that were kept in a container with store-bought ones.

She also told the court she had suffered from bulimia for years, and had made herself throw up after the beef Wellington meal – something her defence team said explained why she did not become as sick as the others who ate it.

The lie about having cancer was because she was embarrassed about plans to get weight-loss surgery, Ms Patterson said. She also claimed she didn’t tell authorities the truth about her mushroom foraging hobby because she feared they might blame her for making her relatives sick.

Ultimately, after a week of deliberation, the jury decided: returning four guilty verdicts which could see Patterson spend the rest of her life in jail.

A MAN has pleaded guilty to murdering his ex-wife by their teen son’s grave on what would have been his birthday.

Martin Suter, 86, brutally attacked 71-year-old Ann Blackwood at the cemetery in Stubbington, Hampshire.

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The mum was discovered by their son Christopher’s grave in July 2023 on what would have been his 16th birthday.

Suter admitted murder in court in May last year but the case was subjected to reporting restrictions.

But his plea can now be reported after a judge lifted the restrictions.

It can also be revealed that at the same time as his murder confession, Suter had faced court accused of historic sex offences.

He admitted indecent assault of a girl under 14 in May 2023 and faced five further charges at a trial in July last year but was cleared.

Police were called to Crofton Cemetery on July 24, 2023, following reports of an assault.

Ann was treated at the scene by paramedics but sadly couldn’t be saved and was declared dead shortly after.

Paying tribute, her family said: “Her daughter, brothers, their families and all her friends are absolutely devastated by the loss of Ann Blackwood.

“A loving, caring, kind-hearted mother and friend who was very popular in her local community, she was enjoying her retirement with an active lifestyle which included tennis, sailing, cycling and music”.

Suter was a Green Party member and council election candidate.

The killer was also an active member of the St Faith’s Church in Lee-on-the-Solent where he lived.

He will be sentenced in September at Portsmouth Crown Court.

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