January 2023 | Page 19 of 21 | My Crime Library

Sophia Negroponte Found Guilty Of Murder

Sophia Negroponte has been found guilty of second degree murder in the stabbing death of Yousuf Rasmussen. Sophia Negroponte who is the daughter of Bush administration official John Negroponte who acted as the National Intelligence Director. According to court documents Sophia Negroponte and Yousuf Rasmussen were involved in an argument that ended with Sophia stabbing the young man in the neck at a Maryland AirBnB. Sophia Negroponte would tell police she did not remember stabbing Yousuf Rasmussen but remembered taking the knife from his neck. Sophia Regroponte will be sentenced later this year

Sophia Negroponte More News

Kyler Alvord

Wed, January 4, 2023 at 11:21 AM EST·2 min read

Sophia Negroponte, Daughter of Former National Intelligence Director Convicted of Murder for Killing Friend, Yousuf Rasmussen, in Airbnb

Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (2) Sophia Negroponte, Yousuf Rasmussen

Sophia Negroponte, the 29-year-old daughter of Bush administration official John Negroponte, was found guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday in the 2020 stabbing death of her friend.

On the night of Feb. 13, 2020, officers in Rockville, Maryland, responded to a 911 call reporting that a man had been stabbed in the neck during an altercation at an Airbnb. When officers arrived, they found Negroponte covered in blood and laying atop 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen yelling, “I’m sorry,” according to charging documents obtained by PEOPLE.

First responders pronounced Rasmussen dead at the scene and took Negroponte into custody, where she reportedly told police that she did not remember attacking Rasmussen, but remembered arguing over a “silly issue” and later removing a knife from Rasmussen’s neck.

Kyler Alvord

Wed, January 4, 2023 at 11:21 AM EST·2 min read

Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (2) Sophia Negroponte, Yousuf Rasmussen

Sophia Negroponte, the 29-year-old daughter of Bush administration official John Negroponte, was found guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday in the 2020 stabbing death of her friend.

“Yousuf was a kind and gentle soul, a loving person who brought our family and his many friends great joy in his 24 years of life,” Rasmussen’s family said in a statement this week. “We will carry him with us forever.”

Following Negroponte’s conviction on Tuesday — in which the jury determined she acted with a “depraved heart” on the night of the stabbing — the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office announced that she is scheduled for sentencing on March 1, where she faces up to 40 years in prison.

The Negroponte family told The Washington Post that they are discussing a possible appeal with their attorneys.

egroponte is one of five children that John and Diana Negroponte adopted from Honduras.

John, now 83, enjoyed a lengthy career in politics dating back to the Reagan administration, over time serving as the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, Iraq and the United Nations.

Under President George W. Bush, he served as the nation’s first director of national intelligence and eventually became the deputy secretary of state.

“Neither the prosecutors nor perhaps the jury took into sufficient consideration the complexities and mitigating circumstances of the case — Sophia’s past trauma and other factors that led to a very troubled existence. She’s had severe alcohol use disorder,” John told The Washington Post after the jury announced its verdict.

“We love and care for this young lady very, very much,” he added. “We don’t want to see her life wasted in prison.”

John, who sat in the second row of the courtroom every day of the trial, according to the Post, said his daughter has been living with him and Diana and has been sober nearly three years now, suggesting that she stopped drinking shortly after Rasmussen’s death.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/daughter-former-national-intelligence-director-162111715.html

Ex UFC Fighter Phil Baroni Arrested For Murder

Ex UFC fighter Phil Baroni has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in Mexico. According to initial reports Phil Baroni was arrested after local police arrived at his residence after he called saying that he was fighting with his girlfriend, threw her into the shower where she hit her head and collapsed. Phil Baroni would then say he would help her to the bed where she would lose consciousness and he would call emergency services. However when police arrived they would discover the woman nude on the bed and covered in bruises to her body and face, Phil Baroni also had bruising to his hand. Phil Baroni would be arrested and charged with murder

Phil Baroni More News

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Phil Baroni has been charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend according to a report from Tribuna De La Bahia.

The former mixed martial artist and boxer was in San Pancho, Mexico, where he was arrested and charged with murder. According to the report, Baroni got into an argument with his girlfriend after she revealed she had cheated on him. Baroni then allegedly threw her into the shower after she refused to take one, which caused her to fall and hit her head. Baroni claims he helped her back to bed, then left the room to get her cigarettes and beer upon her request. When he came back into the room, the woman was unconscious.

These pictures are shared by outlet “Observando la Bahía”. Beard, hand tattoos, built, and the fact that Baroni had posted recently of being in San Francisco, Nayarit, match things. pic.twitter.com/xWl0RrBBK8

— Rodrigo Del Campo González (@RodDelCampo) January 4, 2023

Baroni alerted police, who found his girlfriend lying naked on the bed covered in a sheet with no vital signs. Bruises on her face and body indicate she was assaulted. An autopsy will be held to figure out the cause of death.

Known as the “New York Bad Ass,” Baroni was a fan-favorite fighter due to his action-heavy style and boisterous persona. Ultimately, Baroni left the sport with a middling record of 16-19, having gone 3-6 inside the Octagon. The 49-year-old last fought in mixed martial arts in 2019, although he boxed professionally in 2021. Baroni also had several pro wrestling matches, including a match for Game Changer Wrestling at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport in 2019.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ufc-veteran-phil-baroni-charged-053255466.html

Megan Hess Gets 20 Years For Selling Body Parts Out Of Funeral Home

Megan Hess was the owner of a funeral home in Colorado and apparently she would take body parts from her deceased clients and sell them. Now Megan Hess is going to spend the next twenty years in prison for a bizarre crime. According to court documents Megan Hess would carve up the corpses and then sell the body parts without the knowledge of the families. Seems she was also shipping the body parts around the country which is highly illegal. Along with Megan Hess her 69 year old mother Shirley Koch was helping by carving up the corpses. The authorities believe the amount of victims is over 550 bodies.

Megan Hess More News

A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a federal court judge.

Megan Hess received the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to mail fraud in November under a plea agreement in which other charges against her were dropped, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. authorities said that on dozens of occasions, Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, who also pleaded guilty to mail fraud, transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families’ knowledge.

U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello in Grand Junction also sentenced Koch on Tuesday to 15 years in prison. Arguello sentenced the pair after victims testified about the pain they’d suffered under the scheme.

Hess, 48, and Koch, 69, operated the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in the western city of Montrose. They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials.

A grand jury indictment said that from 2010 through 2018, Hess and Koch offered to cremate bodies and provide the remains to families at a cost of $1,000 or more, but many of the cremations never occurred.

Hess created a nonprofit organization in 2009 called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a body-broker service doing business as Donor Services, authorities said.

On dozens of occasions, Hess and Koch transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families’ knowledge, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services and families were given ashes that were not those of their loved ones, authorities said.

Megan Hess and Koch also shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonged to people who died from, infectious diseases including HIV and Hepatitis B and C, despite certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, authorities said.

Hess’ attorney, Ashley Petrey, told the court Tuesday Hess was motivated by a desire to advance medical research

Assistant Unites States Attorney Tim Neff scoffed at the argument.

“Eight years of repeated conduct of this nature is all the court needs to know about her history and character,” Neff said.

Koch said during the sentencing hearing, “I acknowledge my guilt and take responsibility for my actions. I’m very sorry for harm I caused you and your families.”

Megan Hess declined to address the court.

A victim restitution hearing was scheduled for March.

CBS Colorado previously reported that state regulators had received complaints of wrongdoing at the facility but state law doesn’t allow them to enter a funeral home unless there are criminal charges.

Representatives Matt Soper and Dylan Roberts said they planned to change that.

“One thing that I heard over and over from the families is it was like a second death,” Soper told the station.

He said Colorado funeral home directors are the least regulated in the country.

“It just kind of hits your gut,” Soper said. “You can’t believe that body brokering, selling body parts, chopping up body parts, giving people concrete, they’re not things you hear about in the United States of America.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/megan-hess-sentenced-colorado-funeral-home-owner-accused-selling-body-parts/

Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan Charged In Power Station Attacks

Tacoma Washington police have arrested Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan and charged them with four power station attacks that left 14,000 people in the dark. According to police reports Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan (pictured above) would fire guns at the power stations leaving residents in the dark and nearly $3 million in damages. Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan have been charged with conspiracy to damage energy facilities and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan More News

Two Puyallup men have been charged in attacks at four Pierce County power substations that left thousands in the dark on Christmas.

Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, are charged with conspiracy to damage energy facilities and possession of an unregistered firearm, according to U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Nick Brown.

The men were arrested on Saturday following an investigation by the FBI.

The four substations that were vandalized were the Graham and Elk Plain substations operated by Tacoma Power and the Kapowsin and Hemlock substations operated by Puget Sound Energy.

Power was cut to more than 14,000 customers. All of the attacks happened in the middle of the night, according to Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss, Jr.

The damage to the Tacoma Power substations alone is estimated to be at least $3 million.

The men were identified as possible suspects through cellphone records and surveillance video.

At one substation, Tacoma Power recorded images of one man and a pickup truck that appeared to be connected to the attack. A similar truck was found to be connected to the suspects, according to the Justice Department.

In addition, distinctive clothing seen in the surveillance photos was found during a search of the men’s home.

Agents also seized two unregistered short-barreled guns. One of the weapons was equipped with a makeshift silencer.

Both men will appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday, where prosecutors will ask that the suspects remain detained at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac pending future hearings.

Conspiracy to attack energy facilities is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Possession of an unregistered firearm is punishable by up to ten years in prison

https://www.kiro7.com/news/south-sound-news/2-men-charged-attacks-4-pierce-county-utility-substations/GPL4RPGKFBGZBGSWPZU37WKGO4/?outputType=amp

Tyrone Harvin Gets Life For Elderly Woman Murder

Tyrone Harvin is a convicted teen killer who was just sentenced to life in prison for the sexual assault and murder of a 83 year old woman. According to court documents Tyrone Harvin, who was fourteen years old at the time, would sexually assault and murder 83 year old Dorothy Mae Neal inside of her Bridgeview-Greenlawn Baltimore Maryland home. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma. Tyrone Harvin would later be arrested and convicted of murder and sexual assault. Now Tyrone Harvin will spend the rest of his life in prison

Tyrone Harvin More News

A Baltimore City Circuit judge on Tuesday sentenced one of Baltimore’s youngest homicide suspects to life in prison for the rape and murder of an 83-year-old woman in 2018.

Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer called the circumstances of Dorothy Mae Neal’s killing “heartbreaking” and said the nature of the crime “demands punishment,” despite Tyrone Harvin’s age at the time of the crime. He was 14 years old.

Schiffer requested Harvin, now 18 years old, be sent to the youth offender program at the Patuxent Institution.

Harvin’s legal team asked the judge to send him to a juvenile sex offender program where they argued he could receive better clinical treatment. His attorneys declined to comment following the hearing.

A jury in June convicted Harvin of raping and murdering Neal, who was found in 2018 beaten inside her Bridgeview-Greenlawn apartment when police were called for a wellness check. Police found used condoms and a lamp prosecutors say was the murder weapon inside Neal’s home. The medical examiner’s office said Neal died from blunt-force trauma and that she was sexually assaulted.

At the Tuesday sentencing hearing, prosecutor Elizabeth Stock said life in prison would be appropriate because of the “excessive level of harm” done to Neal, because she said Harvin acted alone, without group influences, and because of subsequent rule violations while he was in custody

A cousin of Neal’s spoke at the sentencing by Zoom and asked for “justice” following the act of violence. Rita Pickett, the cousin, noted Neal was old enough to be Harvin’s grandmother or great-grandmother.

Neal lived through the Civil Rights era and Jim Crow laws, Pickett said, only to have her life shortened by an “act of violence” from someone she trusted.

Harvin’s attorney, Deborah St. Jean, however, argued that the state hadn’t proven Harvin acted alone, and pointed to some conflicting DNA evidence from the crime scene.

St. Jean said Tuesday that neuropsychological and psychosocial evaluations had found Harvin would benefit from clinical treatment. She said there had been “missed opportunities” for intervention during Harvin’s previous interactions with the juvenile justice system.

The evaluations had found Harvin was “years” behind his peers’ development and that, without treatment, “no good can come of that.”

Harvin appeared at court in a yellow jumpsuit and shackles. He declined to speak on his own behalf.

Then-State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a news conference following June’s guilty verdict that there is “no winner in this case,” noting it showed the “dire” importance of reaching young people early.

“Two people have lost their freedom,” Mosby said, “one at the dawn of their life and one at the sunset of theirs.”

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-tyrone-harvin-elderly-neighbor-rape-homicide-20230103-kfyk5wgn7ve3nhhi6zlgqipcbu-story.html