Freedom of the press is critical to our democracy, which is why it’s protected by the First Amendment. However, so is protection against invasion of privacy and defamation.

Usually, celebrities and high-profile individuals are the ones unfairly targeted by the media in cruel ways. In the case of the following story, wrestler Hulk Hogan fought back after his privacy was invaded by Gawker. What was to follow was a lawsuit that proved to be one of the most expensive in history and was apparently 10 years in the making…

What Is Gawker?

In 2003, Gawker, an American blog, using the catchphrase “Today’s gossip is tomorrow’s news,” got its start. Founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers, the New York City-based website focused its attention on celebrities and the media industry.

Violating Privacy

Since its inception, Gawker has been under scrutiny for posting videos and content that violated copyrights and the privacy of its owners. Their most popular lawsuit was one involving former professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan…

It Began With A Sex Tape

In October 2012, Gawker published a video clip showing Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, having sex with his friend’s wife, Heather Clem. Gawker editor AJ Daulerio wrote a description with the video: Because the internet has made it easier for all of us to be shameless voyeurs and deviants, we love to watch famous people have sex…We watch this footage because it’s something we’re not supposed to see.”

Going Viral

The post received more than 7 million views and as expected, Hogan was furious. Hulk Hogan’s personal attorney, David Houston immediately demanded Gawker remove the sex tape clips that he says were filmed without Hogan’s knowledge. Gawker refused, which prompted Hogan to hire additional lawyers and prepare a massive lawsuit…

Removal Of The Video

Gawker eventually removed the video and published an update saying, “The video posted here has been removed pending litigation.” But that would not satisfy Hogan. He then hired attorney Charles Harder, who previously represented celebrities like George Clooney. Around the same time, Hogan became connected with Peter Thiel, who had his own vendetta against Gawker.

Enter Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel is PayPal’s co-founder and a venture capitalist and he also happens to be Facebook’s first institutional investor. In December 2007, Gawker published a story with the headline: “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.” Basically, Gawker publicly outed Thiel and he responded saying, “Gawker has been a singularly terrible bully.” Then, he compares Valleywag, Gawker’s Silicon Valley-focused website to Al Qaeda in an interview…

Impacting Freedom Of The Press

He said, “I think they should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters. I don’t understand the psychology of people who would kill themselves and blow up buildings, and I don’t understand people who would spend their lives being angry.” Valleywag was known to publish stories about Thiel and other high-profile figures in Silicon Valley.

Hogan’s Backer

Whether or not it was known to Hulk Hogan, Thiel effectively began funneling millions into cases against Gawker. Acting as Hogan’s backer, Thiel was hoping to drive Gawker out of business after outing him back in 2007. Denton soon learned about Thiel’s grudge that was years in the making and an “all-out legal war” began…  

Power And Its Consequences

Thiel claimed that his decision to back the lawsuit was “less about revenge and more about specific deterrence.” According to a book published by the best-selling author, Ryan Holiday, retribution was on Thiel’s mind as he discussed, “bribery, theft, bugging, [and] email hacking.” Holiday’s book, “Conspiracy,” is basically an in-depth look inside the Hogan lawsuit.

Conspiracy

Holiday claims that he decided to write “Conspiracy” after both Thiel and Denton approached him separately, wanting to share with him their views on the case. “I’ve spent the last year and a half piecing together Peter Thiel’s decade-long quest to destroy the media outlet Gawker,” Holiday wrote on Reddit. “When I started researching the 25,000 pages of legal documents and conducting interviews with all the key players, I learned a lot of the most interesting details of this conspiracy were left out of the previous coverage.” What were these details?

Who Is Mr. A?

Holiday claims that the secret weapon of the case was a 26-year-old man known as “Mr. A.” In the book, Holiday describes Mr. A as “not just young, but ambitious, ambitious in a way that makes observers slightly uncomfortable.” He even goes as far as to say that Mr. A told Thiel that Gawker must have made a mistake somewhere in its thousands of articles and Thiel’s team just had to find it.

Making His Move

Apparently, Hulk Hogan’s case was Thiel’s big opportunity. Holiday decided to keep Mr. A’s identity confidential, and he agreed in order to receive this inside information. Here’s what happened next…

Running Out Of Funds

In January 2016, Gawker executives agreed to sell a minority stake in the company to Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and his company, Columbus Nova Technology Partners. It was the first time the company ever took an outside investment and Gawker said that most of the money was used to defend itself from ongoing litigation.

Bollea vs. Gawker

Then, in March 2016, Hogan’s case against Gawker began. Hogan alleged that Gawker invaded his privacy when it published a video clip of him having sex with his friend’s wife. He testified that Gawker’s airing of the video “turned [his] world upside down.” Hogan sought $100 million in damages. While Thiel was the driving force behind the case, he had no idea if they’d exactly win…

Punitive Damages Totaling $140 Million

On March 18, 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan with a $115 million judgment after determining that Gawker invaded his privacy. That amount was later bolstered by an additional $25 million for punitive damages to a total of $140 million. The verdict was a huge win for Hogan, Thiel, and his team.

Fixated On Gawker

In response, Harder published a column in the Hollywood Reporter saying how his client won the case against Gawker. Harder wrote, “Think twice before you invade someone’s privacy or violate their rights.” But more than that, the case proved how much Peter Thiel was fixated on taking down Gawker and the win brought into question the legality of Thiel’s funding of the case…

Third Party Litigation Funding

“It’s not illegal for an outside entity to help fund another party’s lawsuit, and the practice, known as ‘third-party litigation funding’ has become increasingly common in the U.S.,” according to Forbes. Naturally, the outside party usually negotiates for a defined share of the proceeds.

Explaining His Reasoning

In May 2016, Thiel refers to his funding of the litigation as “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done.” He says he spent around $10 million in lawsuits against Gawker and claims he did not do it to make a return on investment, saying, it’s “not a business venture.”

Filing For Bankruptcy

On June 10, 2016, Gawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a judge denied a request for them to avoid immediately paying Hogan’s judgment. Then, on August 18, 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hulk Hogan more than $140 million in his invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker.

The End Of An Era

Founder Nick Denton, wrote on Gawker, “Gawker.com is shutting down today, Monday 22nd August 2016, some 13 years after it began and two days before the end of my forties. It is the end of an era.” Thiel and Hogan celebrated the win over a bottle of champagne.

How One Comment Turned Into The Most Expensive In Internet History is an article from: LifeDaily

For people who are born to the wrong gender, life can be a tricky and treacherous path. Not being understood by family and friends, while not receiving vital support from local authorities tasked with that job; being transgender can be tough.

When Kasey realized he was really a man he decided to go through the proper channels in order to get the hormone therapy he so badly wanted and felt he needed. But when he couldn’t get the help he required, Kasey took things a step further…

Transitioning

For transgender people, those transitioning from biologically female to male, testosterone supplements are a vital part of the process. And while Planned Parenthood does offer such supplements in liberal-leaning states like California, that was not the case until 2016 in states like Florida.

Program Expansion

Last year, Planned Parenthood expanded their horizons, offering their resources to minors, many of those in their early teens. As Dr. Suzie Prabhakaran, vice president of medical affairs for the Southwest and Central Florida explained, “Our motivation for expanding this was actually driven by parents who were calling us,” adding, “They were having trouble finding access to where their transgender children could start hormone therapy.”

First Steps

While more than 600 people received hormone treatment from centers in Florida, roughly half of those were under the age of 18, raising some questions. However, as Prabhakaran noted, “Every patient has a different path, but for the vast majority of patients, starting hormone therapy is the first step. For some, it’s all they want or will be able to do. Fewer patients go on to have surgery.”

Too Little Too Late

For Kasey, who used to be called Casandra, the assistance from Planned Parenthood was welcome, even if it did come too late. Kasey had wanted to start hormone treatment years earlier but was only able to start doing so at the age of 19. Having been a gay woman originally, Kasey didn’t know much about the transgender community at the time…

Coming Out

Growing up, Kasey attended River Ridge High in New Port Richey, and at the age of 15 discovered a blog written by a person who had gone through hormone therapy in order to become a man, “I knew right then,” Kasey recalls. “There was no denying what I am after that.” he said.

No More Fear

Kasey got just the boost he needed from that blog, and soon after reading it, found himself walking up to the front desk at his local Planned Parenthood center during his Freshman year at the Florida Gulf Coast University, “I walked right up to the desk and asked what kind of resources they had for the transgender community,” Kasey said, “She handed me a dusty old pamphlet that was so bad.”

Making A Difference

When Kasey read in the pamphlet he was handed that it still described transgender people as “hermaphrodite” he decided that enough was enough. With that in mind, he actually got a job at the FGCU wellness center and started hosting forums to bring transgender issues to the forefront of the community.

Feeling Uneasy

It was a far cry from his old stigmas back home in El Paso, but Kasey still wasn’t totally comfortable. Sure, nobody was calling him Casandra but he still looked like a woman, even though he dressed like a man. “When you’re not ‘passing,(as the opposite gender)’ people notice,” he said. “It compromises your safety.”

Holding It In

The issue surrounding transgender people, especially when it comes to which public bathroom they should use is a real one. Kasey explained, “It’s something you have to think about wherever you go. So I don’t use the bathrooms on campus. I just hold it until I get back to my dorm.” He said.

Complicated Treatment

As Dr. Diane Straub, a pediatrician and division chief of the University of South Florida’s College of Medicine pediatrics program explained, hormone therapy causes a lot of complicated changes in the body, “There are kids out there who know. They know that they are in the wrong assigned gender, and I think they know that when they’re very young,” she said.

Danger Danger!

For all it’s benefits, testosterone does have some long-term risks associated with it. Over time, for example, it can damage the liver and other organs, “It’s a big step to take hormones, and you are biologically altering your body,” Straub said. “For kids who are gender fluid, it’s important to stress that their development will be forever changed by this.”

Making Changes

Kasey was more than thrilled with the testosterone treatment. After months of high dose injections, his breasts were starting to shrink and he stopped having periods. Kasey was even able to grow some facial hair and his voice became a lot deeper as his body shape began to change…

Home For Christmas

“I was home for Christmas and I knew the next time they saw me, I was going to look different,” he said. “My dad told me that day, ‘I’d always be his little girl.'” Kasey had to take comments like that, as well as many others from his dad on the chin, “I know they love me, even if they don’t understand.” He said.

New Job

After Kasey was hired by his friend Nikki Kirdahy to work part-time at the school’s prevention and wellness center, the place he had originally received the outdated transgender pamphlet from, he became passionate about his job and spoke to anyone and everyone who would listen to his views on gender…

Found His Place

“I struggled to find my place here at first,” Kasey said. “There’s a huge gap between the students. So I wanted to fill it.” And fill it he did as Kasey gained much popularity as well as a bunch of new friends for his efforts. Kasey had finally found a place where he shone.

Trans 101

Back in the early part of this year, Kasey was thrilled when he was asked to host a “trans 101” public forum where fellow students could ask difficult questions anonymously. When almost 100 people showed up to the event, Kasey almost cried with joy at the popularity of the event…

Helping Nurses

Kasey just kept getting better and better as he then started to guide nurses on how to appropriately treat transgender patients if they came across them. He also initiated and led programs regarding sexual assault within the transgender community.

Taking A Toll

While Kirdahy confirmed that the antiquated pamphlets have now been updated to more modern and fitting leaflets, the job definitely takes its toll on Kasey, “Comments are made, and they can be hard on him,” she said. But that doesn’t stop the very determined Kasey from living his life and doing his job to the best of his ability…

People Person

There’s no doubt that Kasey Fraize is a people person and as such an asset to the transgender community as well as to his college, “He still goes out every day to teach people. So the next time they encounter a trans person, they might treat them with a little more kindness and not make the same mistake.” his friend Kirdahy said.

After College

For the time being, Kasey’s main concern is undergoing an operation to remove his breasts which he is currently saving up for. As far as the future is concerned, it looks bright for Kasey who wants to pursue a career as a public health advocate and educator. But first thing’s first as, “For now,” he said, “I just want to create a space on campus where other trans students can feel safe.”

Transgender Man Takes Local Planned Parenthood From Antiquated To Modern is an article from: LifeDaily

When the hospice at the California Medical Facility, located inside a California prison, opened its doors in 1993, it was in response to the AIDS crisis at the time, leading the state to offer prisoners more humane treatment as they lived out their days behind bars.

These days, however, the hospice isn’t populated by young men with AIDS, but rather by greying men in their latter years, wanting to finish their checkered lives with some dignity. For these prison inmates, caring for these patients is a “new lease of life”…

Fifty Five Plus

Interestingly, prisoners older than 55 make up the fastest growing age demographic in prisons across the nation, with an increase of more than 500 percent since 1990. Experts point to various policies which created this situation, including long sentences as well as a steady increase of older people entering the prison system.

Like Death Row

Until recently, if a person was admitted to jail with a terminal disease or a severe illness, it was like they had simply been sent to death row as correctional officers are not equipped to deal with such cases. In the old days, back in the 80s, prisoners would even be greeted by other inmates who would say jokingly, “welcome to death row.”

Purpose Inside

One of the main problems inmates, and therefore correctional officers face in the prison system is the lack of purpose that many prisoners have as they sit extended jail sentences. That lack of purpose often leads to a lack of hope and that can lead to depression, violence, and even suicide.

Giving Hope

To that end, prison bigwigs decided that it was high time to try and give inmates some purpose, while simultaneously solving another growing problem in jails; that of old or sick inmates who need hospital care and in some cases even hospice care in terminal cases…

Brave Men

Fortunately, even if they are hardened criminals in some cases, there are some brave men behind bars and those who want to do the best they can as they serve out their time. At the same California jail, there is currently a dedicated team of 25 men, called ‘Pastoral Care Service Workers’ and some of them are serving life sentences for murder.

Dignified In Death

Even if they are behind bars, and even if not everyone agrees; everyone deserves to die with dignity and with some self-respect. Three men, Lyman, Saephanh and Murillo head up the group of pastoral care workers and take great pride in their work, wanting to offer assistance to people who are at the apex of their life…

Learning Skills

Obviously, in order to qualify for the position, Lyman and his buddies needed to pass a series of tests including interviews and random drug tests. They all received around 70 hours of training on the job, learning about end-of-life care, bedside etiquette, and the bereavement process. This team of dedicated carers takes care of other patients in need with great pride and care.

24/7 Care

The hospital is manned on a 24/7 basis, and the men pull 10-15 hour shifts and sometimes need to work overtime. It’s the lowest paid job inside, earning just about 30 cents per hour, but that doesn’t stop the men from doing their jobs. They brush teeth, offer sore limb massages and generally attend to the needs of the people in their charge…

Nobody Dies Alone

The facility pride themselves on giving those who are dying some hope, even if it can only be temporary. Bedside vigils are performed whenever someone takes a turn for the worst or is in fact dying. A motto of the men who work at the center is “No prisoner here dies alone.”

Hard Work

Older people can be cantankerous and that’s just part of the job that Lyman and his colleagues need to deal with. One patient, for example, called Lamerrill Dawson, was in the facility for five months before he passed away. During that time he would scream and holler at his carers, telling them “Change my diaper, [expletive]!” And “This food is [expletive].” It didn’t bother the carers though, who have learned great lessons in anger management as a result of their job…

Ignorance Is Bliss

Due to the nature of the beast, with people in close quarters and incarcerated, carers make sure not ask patients what crime they were convicted of. The worry is that knowing too much about a patient’s history could have a detrimental effect on the care they receive. As Lyman commented, “Death can be an equalizer. The past falls aside. Time is grounded in the shifting demands of the body as it begins its decay.”

Hospice Barber

Saephanh was sentenced to life for crimes we would rather not highlight. However, having appointed himself the unofficial hospice barber, he feels he has found redemption in his role, “I’ve done a lot of bad things in the past, and I feel like I can do some good to try and make it right with him. It’s the Christian thing to do.” He said.

Different Styles

It’s interesting to note that all the men who work at the facility have uniquely different styles when it comes to caring for patients. Murillo, for example, who has been incarcerated since the age of 16 for murder in the second degree, is known to be very tender when he deals with frail people, and always handles the people in his charge with extreme care.

Giving Back

When Murillo was asked why he was so careful with his patients, he said, “I’m just returning something I didn’t get as a kid. All I wanted was kindness and to be held as a boy. Now I get to do that for somebody else. There’s also the regret of not being able to do that for my victims, for the people in my community who I hurt.”

Lucky Lyman

When Lyman first got to jail when he was 18, he noticed a lump on his right elbow. Thinking nothing of it, Lyman just focused on settling into his new reality behind bars. When the lump grew and Lyman went to get it checked out at the facility, he was lucky enough to be saved as that lump was cancerous. Ironically, he would never have been able to afford that kind of medical treatment had he not been put in prison.

Feeling Numb

Lyman spoke about the reasons why he got put in jail in the first place, after numerous gang-related murders, “I was lost. I was ignorant as to who I could be. Before, I was numb. Death didn’t hold the weight that it should have held.” He said, but it’s thanks to his work caring for other people that Lyman is happy…

Scared To Death

“Most people are scared to death of death, but I get the chance to be with people — to impart what I have, and they get to impart what they have,” Lyman said. “It gives me a chance to live.” And that just goes to prove just how effective the hospice is, not just for the patients dying there, but also for the carers who otherwise have little hope as they serve out life sentences.

Feeling Pain

Lyman had been caring for the cantankerous Dawson mentioned earlier for months. The two men had become close in a strange kind of way, but Lyman was devastated when after all that time, Dawson died overnight, alone in his bed. Lyman was upset but mainly with himself for not trying to do more to stay by Dawson’s side that night…

Phoning Home

Just to drive the point home, after a long day at the facility, Lyman picked up the receiver of the old payphone inside the center to call his son. While his boy is only 3 years old, he asked his day what he was doing. When Lyman replied “I’m at work,” his son responded with blunt honestly that befits a 3-year-old, “You not at work — you in prison.”

Bright Future

While Lyman and his colleagues know that they are inside for the long haul, they take each day as it comes and are thrilled to have the opportunity to help those most in need. Due to the success of the facility, it is reportedly expanding its operation soon so that it can help even more inmates who are in dire need of end-of-life care.

Inmates Who Care For Hospice Prisoners Given “New Lease Of Life” is an article from: LifeDaily

People make all sorts of hateful, violent, and extremist comments online behind the anonymity of their computer screens.

Most of those comments aren’t taken seriously since people see what they truly are: sad, empty threats. However, when an English woman saw a man was genuinely planning a terrorist attack, she immediately called the police. It wasn’t until the trial that the alleged homophobic terrorist and revealed why that was impossible…

An Accidental Invitation

In June 2017, a woman from Cumbria in North West England was accidentally invited into a Facebook group called the National Socialists Union standing against the New World Order by a Facebook friend, Ethan Stables, who also lived in the area.

A Disturbing Discovery

At first, the woman didn’t know what the page was about, but when she read some of Stables’ posts in the group, she was horrified by what she saw. The page was littered with the 20-year-old’s violent and radical far-right rants against homosexuals and other religions, as well as photos of Stables with Nazi memorabilia…

Empty Threats

The woman was disgusted but knew a lot of people write disgusting, hateful things online, However, when she saw what he posted on June 23, she knew she had to contact the police and make an official report as she believed lives were really in danger.

Pride Night

That morning, Stables had gone online and ranted about how furious he was that the New Empire Pub, a local bar in his town, was working with the Furness LGBT support group to host a Pride Night. According to the owners, the event was to show that everyone was welcome at the pub…

The Rant

The morning of the Pride Night event, Stables posted that he was ‘going to war’ and that he was going to, ‘slaughter every single one of the gay bastards.’ In addition to his threatening statements, Stables also posted photos of the machete he bought and planned to use later that night.

Speaking Up

“That’s not right, Ethan,” said the young woman who had accidentally been added into the radical Facebook group. “I’ve had enough,” Stables answered. “I don’t want to live in a gay world and I sure as hell don’t want my children living in one. What happened to our traditional qualities…”

A Real Threat

“I don’t care if I die, I’m fighting for what I believe in and that is the future of my country, my folk, and my race,” Stables added. “I’m going to make the news. I want them to know they’re being targeted. Tonight is going to be a good night, and the beginning of the end.”

Filing A Report

The woman immediately contacted the police and reported the terrorist threats that she found online and put out her own warning on her Facebook page. “If you’re in Barrow-in-Furness, please do not attend the LGBT gay pride night at the pub,” she wrote…

The Warning

In the post, the woman also included screenshots of Stables’ posts and their conversation as proof of what the 20-year-old was planning to do. “I’ve reported it to the police but still don’t go,” the woman warned.

Responding To The Tip

The police took the threat very seriously and immediately sent officers to the New Empire Pub, where the staff was preparing for Pride Night. “Four armed police came in with their guns ready to go,” said barmaid Katy Bolger. “It was so, so frightening. I felt like a deer in the headlights…”

Securing The Area

“The first thing they said was ‘is there any other way people can get in or out of this pub?’ And they said someone had made a terrorist threat and that this person was going to come in during the event and harm people,” Katy explained.

The Manhunt Begins

Armed officers secured the area and told the pub owners, Lorraine and Steve Neale, to continue with their event as usual. They promised that nothing would happen under their protection that night. Meanwhile, another team of officers was searching for Stables…

The Search Is Over

Just after 10 that night, the team of armed officers searching for Stables spotted him walking from his apartment to the pub, which was just down the road. Stables was unarmed, and police believed he was doing 1 last reconnaissance trip to the pub like he had earlier that day before carrying out his plan.

The Raid

After taking Stables into custody, officers broke down the door to his tiny apartment to look for evidence. Inside, they found a huge swastika flag on the wall, a variety of weapons, and evidence that he had been making a bomb by collecting the explosive residue from the tips of matches…

No Proof Of A Crime

While in custody, Stables would not answer any questions the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit in the Greater Manchester Police, who had taken over his case. Ultimately, they were forced to let him go because they had no proof of a criminal offense.

The Arrest

Just a few days later on June 27, the police arrested Stables again. This time, he admitted to writing the posts on Facebook and police had found a copy of a bomb-making manual on 1 of his devices, which was the evidence they needed to charge him with making threats to kill. Later, the charge was preparing an act of terrorism, which can lead to a life sentence…

The Bombshell

During the trial, Stables’ attorney argued he was never serious about the threats. He also explained that Stables had mental health issues and had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. He also told the court that Stables was ashamed about his bisexuality and only said those things to impress his far-right friends online.

The Prosecution

The prosecution, however, argued the threats were real and told the court how Stables posted videos of himself burning rainbow flags online, regularly searched for information on extremist groups, and searched for instructions on how to build weapons and be a terrorist. The prosecution also shared his conversations with people online. “My country is being raped. I might just become a skinhead and kill people,” Stables was quoted saying in 1 conversation…

The Jury Reaches A Decision

Stables’ own mother even testified that her son changed after a trip to Germany. Mental health services gave her little support, and she was ultimately forced to kick Stables out of her home when he was 17 because he threatened to decapitate her and burn the house down. The jury decided that the information about Stables’ sexuality was irrelevant, and found him guilty as he was a real threat to the people attending Pride Night.

The Sentence

When it came time to sentencing, Judge Peter Collier ordered Stables to an indefinite hospital order, which he would only be released from by a mental health tribunal or the Ministry of Justice. If released, Stables will be closely monitored for terrorism for 10 years and will be forced to indefinitely report his whereabouts. “The prosecution said it was a pack of lies as you tried to manipulate your way out of the situation. The very fact [your lying] is a live issue is one of the real risks you pose. Your responsibility is diminished by your condition. It is my clear decision the protection of the public requires a hospital order and a restriction order and that is what I make,” Judge Collier said.

Homophobic neo-Nazi Facing Terrorism Charges Drops Bombshell In Court is an article from: LifeDaily

Parents trust that when they send their kids to school, they will not only be provided with a supportive learning environment but will be surrounded by teachers and staff that have their best interests at heart too.

So when an Alabama high school hired a married mother of 1 who had made it her goal to make a difference in her students’ lives through a hands-on approach, they thought their students would be getting the best education possible. However, students’ parents have been left horrified since learning what her approach entailed…

At the start of the school year in September 2017, the faculty at Weaver High School in Calhoun County, Alabama announced that they would be welcoming a new teacher at the school who would be teaching history and a Bible as Literature class.

Alabama Native

The teacher, 28-year-old Stephanie, is a native of Alabama and had attended Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. After Stephanie graduated in 2012 with a history degree, she went on to earn a master’s degree in secondary history education at the school…

Jacksonville State

While at Jacksonville State University, Stephanie worked in the Department of Academic Enhancement as an academic mentor for the athletic department. In 2015, Stephanie moved on to teach history at Oxford High School in Oxford, Alabama.

At-Risk Students

“I recently left my position within the Department of Academic Enhancement at Jacksonville State University where I mentored at-risk students and student-athletes, motivating them to strive to become successful inside and outside of the classroom,” Stephanie said in 2015…

Life Dedicated To Teaching

“My goal as an educator is to provide students with the opportunity to engage and learn inside and outside of the classroom,” Stephanie said about the reason she decided to dedicate her life to teaching and her hopes of impacting her students’ lives.

All Individuals

“Each and every student that walks into my classroom is a unique individual. This requires a differentiated approach to instruction, involving tools, techniques, technology, and hands-on experiences to reach each and every student where they are academically,” Stephanie said…

A New Position

When a position opened up at Weaver High School, Stephanie applied and was given the job as she seemed like she would be a perfect fit at the school. “This year, I will be teaching U.S. History 10 and U.S. History 11 as well as Bible as Literature,” Stephanie said about her new teaching position.

Loves Her Husband

“I enjoy spending time with my family, including my wonderful husband…my insanely sweet and intelligent son, and our three dogs, Madison, Quinn, and Bella,” Stephanie wrote in her bio on the school’s website. “I love the fall and traveling…”

Making A Difference

As the new school year started, Stephanie was determined to ‘make a difference’ in her students’ lives and hoped that her lessons in the classroom left the teenagers inspired. In particular, the 28-year-old was excited to teach the Bible as Literature elective class.

Disturbing Information

“I’m specific about the fact that we’re looking at this from a literary standpoint,” Stephanie explained. However, in 2018, members of the faculty at Weaver High School were contacted by police, who had some disturbing information about the teacher…

Breaking The Law

According to the police, 2 students from Weaver High School discovered something disturbing happening at their school and decided to contact the police at the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. The students explained that a teacher at the school was breaking the law.

Getting Involved

“We got information today that a teacher and a student were having a relationship,” said Sheriff Matthew Wade. The 2 students, whose identities have not been released, told police that a teacher was Stephanie Henry Pruett, the new teacher at the school…

Exemplary Teacher?

Police immediately contacted the school about what had been reported, but when the faculty heard what Pruett was being accused of, they couldn’t believe it. So far, Pruett had been an exemplary teacher and seemed to be well-liked by her students.

A Loving Mother Too

Not only had Pruett appeared to be a dedicated teacher, but she always appeared to be a loving mother to her 4-year-old son and a devoted wife to her husband, Justin, who was her high school sweetheart. The pair had been married since October 2012…

Not Even Possible

The staff couldn’t understand how the woman they thought they knew could possibly have done what police were accusing her of. Yet when police sat down separately with Pruett and the student, they had enough to confirm the accusations.

Investigation Opened

“We spoke to both the teacher and the student and each gave facts that led to her arrest,” Sheriff Wade said. An investigation was officially opened and police found that Pruett had engaged in a sexual relationship with the student since October 2017…

Age Of Consent

Even though the age of consent in Alabama is 16, it’s illegal for a teacher to engage in a sexual relationship with a student. “It doesn’t matter if this was consensual,” Wade said. “Under the law it’s illegal.” Pruett was taken to the Calhoun County Jail and the district immediately placed her on paid leave until the school board takes further action. “That’s standard operating procedure for us,” said Randy Reaves, director of safety for Calhoun County Schools.

Wrong Is Wrong

“Wrong is wrong. She broke a trust. As a principal, I can’t say how disappointed I am that she crossed that line that no teacher should cross,” said Weaver High School Principal Michael Allison. After her arrest, Pruett was officially charged with engaging in a sexual act with a student…

Sex Offender

If found guilty, Pruett could face 20 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender. “It’s sad that a woman who has a family and went to college to become an educator is giving that all up. I just don’t understand why she went down that path. It’s very disturbing and troubling,” Sheriff Wade said.

Revolting News

Pruett has since been released from jail on bail until her trial, but parents are still horrified by the news. ”Very revolting. It turns my stomach. With it being a female teacher there’s no difference. She’s still a predator in the same stance, she’s still a grown woman. She knew right from wrong. She knew it was wrong to hook up with a minor regardless,” said parent Amber Carroll.

Alabama Mom Faces 20 Years In Jail For ‘Hands-On’ Approach In Classroom is an article from: LifeDaily

We’ve all heard the term “famous last words.” Indeed many of us have even read or heard the final messages of some of history’s most famous individuals. But not all last words end up being famous. Many are left only for the family members of the deceased.

Every so often, and especially in the age of social media, these family members will find such strength in the words of their loved ones, that they need to share them with the world. This is one such story…

Australian Girl

She came from New South Wales, Australia, a world away from many who will read this. Holly was a young woman in the prime of her life. She had a partner she loved, a family that cared deeply for her, and the world ahead of her. At 26 years old, she never expected that she might be living on borrowed time.

Sickness Grows

Like so many who find out about the unknown illnesses within themselves, Holly’s final journey began when she started feeling a little off. The sickness started small, innocuous pain growing into something she couldn’t bear any longer. By the time she got a chance to go to the doctor it was already too late…

Only the Good Die Young

The doctors performed a battery of tests on the girl and finally, after weeks of waiting, they had a diagnosis. Holly had Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that settles in and around the bones. Unfortunately for Holly and many like her, Ewing’s sarcoma usually affects young people more than anyone else.

Lost the Battle

Holly fought as best she could against the monstrous disease growing inside her, but the sarcoma proved to be stronger even than her prodigious resolve. Holly was just 27 years old when she finally lost her battle with cancer. But her end is merely the beginning of the story of her legacy…

Share her Message

Though her family was heartbroken at their loss, they soon learned that Holly Butcher was not quite done yet. Before she’d died, she’d written a note to her loved ones with advice and thoughts she wished to share with everyone she loved, and if they were willing to after that, with the whole world.

Booming Popularity

Holly asked her family to share her final message on Facebook. From there, the inspiring and heartbreaking note hit the Internet at large. Within just a few days, it had received more than 21,000 shares and 28,000 reactions. And it wasn’t about to stop there…

Gone Viral

The moving letter that Holly had penned shortly before her death had gone viral within a week. It’s messages, which were many, resonated greatly with a good number of people and it was shared almost 60,000 times since it was originally posted. In it, Holly spoke about love, life, mortality, and making things count.

Mortality a Reality

The reality of Holly’s own mortality was obviously apparent to her, even as she fought back against the deadly cancer. “It’s a strange thing to realize and accept your mortality at 26 years young,” she wrote. It must have been difficult, to see the moments pass by, each one punctuated by pain and treatment…

Days go By

“The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming, until the unexpected happens…” she explained in the note. Holly was always one to love life and like so many people in their mid to late 20’s, she never thought she’d die so young. She assumed she would live a long, full life and raise a family of her own.

Fond Imaginings

Still, she admitted that it was strange to finally come to accept that she would die so young. “I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey – most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life.” But life is a fragile thing, and in her last days, Holly came to understand that as well…

Life’s Fragility

Holly went on to discuss how much she desired to create that life for herself and her partner. “I want that so bad it hurts. That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given. I’m 27 now. I don’t want to go. I love my life.” Holly was truly a person who appreciated life’s little joys, especially when she found out she was dying.

No Trivialities

The letter also urged others to forget about the trivial things that we often let bother us. “You might have got caught in bad traffic today, or had a bad sleep because your beautiful babies kept you awake, or your hairdresser cuts your hair too short. Your new fake nails might have got a chip, your boobs are too small, or you have cellulite on your arse and your belly is wobbling…”

Let it Go

“Let all that s*** go.. I swear you will not be thinking of those things when it is your turn to go. It is all SO insignificant when you look at life as a whole.” she continued. And when one’s whole life is squeezed into a mere 27 years, it definitely behooves one to take stock of things and step back to see one’s life as a whole.

One More…

One of the things that she wished for, was to celebrate just one more birthday with her partner. “I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more Birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more…”

Look Past the Screen

Holly’s note also indicated that people should spend as much time as they can with friends and family and to learn to live life for themselves rather than spending time staring at a screen. “Life isn’t meant to be lived through a screen nor is it about getting the perfect photo…enjoy the bloody moment people!”

Everyone But You

She also warned people to stop seeing the world through a Snapchat filter or recording it on an Instagram wall. “Stop trying to capture it for everyone else.” Holly also spoke out against materialism and the dangers of missing out on experiences because they spend all their money on, as she put it, “material s***…”

Don’t Obsess

“I tried to live a healthy life, in fact, that was probably my major passion…” she began. Holly had always tried to live as healthy as possible. She was a health-conscious person who took care of her body but she knew that becoming obsessive about it was taking it a bit too far.

No Guilt

“Appreciate your good health and functioning body- even if it isn’t your ideal size. Look after it and embrace how amazing it is. Move it and nourish it with fresh food. Don’t obsess over it.” She also added, using her trademark humor, “Eat the cake. Zero guilt.” When it was all over, she made sure to include one more bit of advice for folks…

Donate Blood

Holly Butcher signed the note by asking everyone who read it to donate blood whenever possible. “Blood donation helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on earth with my family, friends, and dog.” I don’t know about you, but it’s good enough for me to go out and want to give blood.

Best Times

Regardless of the pain she went through and the suffering that she and her loved ones endured, Holly seemed to be glad that she got the chance to live through that last year. She closed the note by saying that, “In a year I had some of the greatest times of my life.” She will be greatly missed.

Young Woman’s Dying Words Resound Across Social Media is an article from: LifeDaily

In the wake of a devastating natural disaster, survivors are left fighting for months to rebuild their lives after everything they worked hard for was ripped away from them in mere seconds.

Ever since Hurricane Maria left catastrophic destruction throughout Puerto Rico in 2017, the people who call the Caribbean island home have been fighting to recover from the devastation. As the 2018 hurricane season approaches, a 99-year-old woman from Florida has found a way to show her support…

Featured photo credit: www.miamiherald.com

Hurricane Maria

On September 20, 2017, a Category 4 hurricane that had been named Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, which had already been battered by hurricanes and tropical storms earlier in that hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.

Extreme Conditions

The hurricane, which originated from a tropical wave on September 12 off the western coast of Africa, battered the island with winds up to 155 miles per hour. In addition to the extreme winds, Puerto Rico was pounded by heavy rainfall, which peaked at 37.9 inches of rain…

The Destruction

Hurricane Maria completely destroyed the island’s power grid, which left all 3.4 million residents without power and nearly decimated entire neighborhoods around the island. And after the hurricane made its way toward the east coast of the United States, residents still weren’t safe.

The Dangerous Aftermath

After Hurricane Maria, which is the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, passed over Puerto Rico, the island was hit by storm surges and flash flooding, which trapped thousands of residents in water 6 to 15 feet deep…

The Death Toll

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the official death toll in Puerto Rico was listed as 64, however, hundreds are still missing and recent reports even suggest that as many as 4,000 people may have died in the hurricane, which was the most intense hurricane to hit the island since 1928.

Dwindling Supplies

Many residents in Puerto Rico were left homeless and without any power. In addition, much of their medical and food supplies were also destroyed. In the weeks that followed, residents suffered from continuous flooding and dwindling supplies…

Worldwide Support

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the people trapped on the island were forced to wait for the painfully slow relief effort to begin. However, when the rest of the world saw what was happening in Puerto Rico, people quickly started donating money and supplies to help out.

Everything Counts

Hurricane Maria caused estimated total losses of more than $91.61 billion, and most of those losses occurred in Puerto Rico, which is why all of the donations and volunteer efforts made by people around the world made such a big difference to the survivors…

Old News

However, as months passed, people started to forget about Hurricane Maria and the catastrophic devastation it left behind in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands even though they are still far from being restored.

A New Warning

Now, as the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season is beginning, experts are warning that this season is expected to be hyperactive just as the 2017 season was and people in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean have been left terrified by what awaits them this season…

Preparing For The Worst

As news of the forecasted 2018 hurricane season made its way along the east coast of the United States, most people are trying to preparing for the worst-case scenario. Rather than waiting until a storm is on its way, people are now starting to prepare themselves and their homes.

Renewed Support

Some Americans like Florida resident Martha Heft, however, can’t help but think about the people in Puerto Rico who are still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and are finding ways to show their continued support and help them prepare for the season ahead…

A 99-Year-Old On A Mission

Martha Heft, who is from Clearwater, Florida was determined to find a way to help the people of Puerto Rico, however, at 99 years old, she knew there wasn’t much she could offer. However, when Martha heard orphanages on the island were running low on supplies and clothes for the children, she knew the perfect way to help.

A New Purpose

Martha decided to put a skill she had learned over 90 years ago to good use and sew dresses out of donated pillowcases for the little girls at Regraso de Paz, an orphanage in Aguadilla, which is home to children up to 10 years old…

A Lifelong Skill

“When I was 5 years old I started to sew on a Damascus Treadle Sewing Machine, and from then on and in high school I took home economics. I thought that was the easiest way to get As,” Martha said about the skill she’s now using to help orphans in Puerto Rico.

Made With Love

With the help of friends from her Methodist church group, Martha has made 60 dresses by hand for the children in the orphanage. According to Martha, the dresses are not only handmade but also come with a special note for the child…

A Special Delivery

“Smile because we love you,” a note in one of the dresses read. While Martha would have loved to deliver the dresses herself, her granddaughter and grandson-in-law, who works as the community outreach coordinator for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, traveled to Puerto Rico to deliver them for her.

A Blessing

When the children received their hand-made dresses they were not only excited to have new clothes but were touched that someone they didn’t even know cared about them so much. “For us, it’s a blessing to be cared for by people that don’t even know them,” said Magdalena Jimenez, the executive director at Regraso de Paz orphanage…

A Certificate Of Appreciation

After the 60 dresses were delivered to the orphanage, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Officer presented Martha with a certificate of appreciation for her hard and tireless work at 99 years old. “I never thought she’d be 99,” Martha’s daughter said when the department asked if she thought this is what her mother would be doing at her age.

Future Plans

Martha, however, wouldn’t want to spend the rest of her time on Earth any other way and plans on working to give back to places affected by natural disasters as long as she can. “As long as God grants me life and health, I’m happy to do this. I just wish I had a little bit more speed,” she said.

99-Year-Old’s Uses Lifelong Skill To Help Orphans Fighting For Their Lives is an article from: LifeDaily

It takes a lot to drive someone to commit murder and to risk living their entire life behind bars weighed down by the guilt of what they’ve done.

Yet, when Texas police discovered a 25-year-old had been murdered by his own aunt, police couldn’t understand why anyone would want to kill the young man, who everyone had described as selfless, kind, and loving. When officers looked through his phone, however, they discovered what their prime suspect had at stake if she didn’t kill her nephew…

The Home Instruder

At around 8 in the morning on August 9, 2016, officers from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office were instructed to make a visit to a home in the 12500 block of Dry Run in far west Bexar County. According to dispatch, a woman reported someone was trying to break into her home.

A Familiar Address

When officers saw the address, however, they knew exactly where they were going as they had been sent to the home before. In the last year alone, eight 911 calls had been made from the address for criminal mischief, reckless driving, and neighborhood disturbances…

A Simple Mistake

When the officer arrived at the home, he met 35-year-old Andira Abdelaziz, who lived in the home with her husband and children. She explained that she thought someone had been trying to break into the home, but it was just her nephew, 25-year-old Mohammed Abdelaziz.

No Charges Filed

“A BCSO deputy was called to the home when a woman reported someone was attempting to break into the house. The deputy discovered there was no burglary, and that the woman had gotten into an argument with her nephew who used to live at the home. The woman told the deputy there was no longer an issue and no charges were necessary,” Bexar County Sheriff’s Office explained…

Another Disturbance

“Neither one of them wanted to press charges so our deputy documented the report and then left,” said James Keith from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. “He was literally about a block or two away when some family members ran up to him and said you need to get back over there, they are at it again.”

A Grisly Discovery

This time, the officer returned to a frantic scene. Mohammed was found laying on the wheel of his car, which he had crashed into the home. The officer discovered a knife sticking out of the 25-year-old’s back, and tried desperately to save him…

Putting The Pieces Together

Sadly, the officer’s efforts were unsuccessful and Mohammed was pronounced dead at the scene. After that, officers tried to figure out what exactly happened in the minutes before they were able to return to the house. “We have very emotional family members who were literally running all over the place while our deputies were trying to piece the pieces together,” James Keith added.

The Attack

“It’s believed the victim and his aunt went back into the home after the deputy left, at which time the woman grabbed a knife and stabbed her nephew. The man was able to go outside and get in a car, but instead of driving away he crashed the car into the house,” Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said…

A Murder Charge

That morning, the police arrested Andira Abdelaziz and charged her with a single charge of murder. The family was absolutely devastated and police opened up an investigation to figure out why Andira would possibly want to murder her own nephew.

The Victim

After talking to the family, police discovered that the victim had grown up in Ramallah, Israel/Palestine and had returned to live in San Antonio when he was 16 years old to live with his Palestinian American family and help run the family businesses that his father and uncles owned…

Fighting For Human Rights

While in the United States, Mohammed earned a political science degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. After that, he went to Washburn University in Kansas and earned a law degree. According to his family, he wanted to be an international human rights lawyer.

A Selfless Son

“He made a personal choice … to come back to San Antonio because he wanted to take the Texas Bar, be around (his family) and help them out because they were struggling financially,” said Mohammed’s cousin, Sarah Alfadda. “He was just very compassionate. He could have gone anywhere in the country, he could have taken the Kansas Bar, he could have done multiple different things, but he made the choice to come back here to support them and help them financially…”

A Bright Future

“He actually wanted to go home this summer and get married. He was looking forward to that,” Mohammed’s sisters-in-law Nadia Abdelaziz said. “He just wanted to be happy. He wanted to have kids one day. He wanted to be a dad; he was a good uncle.”

Something Doesn’t Add Up

The family had only good things to say about Mohammed and how he had such a bright future before it was taken from him. Police couldn’t understand why anyone would want to kill the 25-year-old, but then they found something interesting in his phone messages…

The Affair

Police found a text conversation in Mohammed’s phone with Andira that revealed the 2 had been having an affair. On the day of his death, Mohammed sent vicious, threatening messages to Andira that he was going to tell everyone about their affair.

Keeping The Victim Quiet

During the trial, the prosecution argued that Andira was afraid Mohammed would reveal her shameful secret and killed him to keep him quiet. Andira’s defense attorney, however, argued that wasn’t the whole story. According to the defense, Andira, whose marriage was arranged when she was 14, was afraid that the truth about the affair would harm her children or make her a target of honor killing, but that wasn’t why she stabbed him…

The Real Victim

Andira’s lawyer explained that the affair with her nephew by marriage had started out as a ‘tender relationship’ before he went away to college. When he came back, however, he was different. Mohammed allegedly abused alcohol, Adderall, and OxyContin. He also started physically and verbally abusing Andira, who was already living in an abusive environment as her husband had a conviction for assault and family violence. “She was suffering bruising and massive beatings to all parts of her body,” said Andira’s attorney Michael McCrum. “Text messages from him show a character of domination. He just wanted to dominate her.”

Threats Of Violence

During the trial, text message conversations between the 2 were used as evidence of the abuse. Mohammed would regularly call Andira a ‘daughter of a whore,’ and demanded she slept on the couch instead of in bed with her husband. If she wasn’t asleep on the couch when he peeked through the window in the middle of the night, he threatened to kill her and her kids. “Your life is over. Your kids are over. You’re dead,” Mohammed wrote in one message…

Fighting For Her Life

According to Andira, she truly believed Mohammed was going to kill her and harm her children, which is why she had to fight back when she still had the chance. “She was trying to survive,” defense attorney Liza Rodriguez said. “The state didn’t contest that she was a victim of domestic violence. Usually, the woman is the one who is dead. If you believe she acted in fear for her life, find that she did this in sudden passion.”

The Verdict

Andira faces up to life in prison, but the jury took just 2 hours to determine the crime was an act of sudden passion, which drastically reduced the possible maximum sentence, and sentenced her to 2 years in prison. The verdict, however, has left the family permanently divided. “I have lost my son,” Aziz Abdelaziz said. “Nothing will bring him back. I cannot say what should be done with Andira. Andira is a human being and me and my family don’t wish harm on anyone. We leave it with God. Islam asks us to forgive but also says if a life is taken, then you take a life, but I am not going there.”

Texas Mom Murdered Nephew When He Threatened To Reveal Shameful Secret is an article from: LifeDaily

There is a necessary protocol followed in missing person cases. Just like for the man in the following story, police dotted their I’s and crossed their t’s in the case of this missing airman. But the case ran dry for many years until 2017 when a Facebook post prompted investigators to reopen it.

What they discovered was nothing like what they expected and it prompted authorities to figure out where they went wrong. When they finally dug deep enough into the case, they learned the airman had outsmarted them for nearly forty years…

Joining The Military

Michels was born in East Liverpool, Ohio and when he was 24-years-old, he moved on to a promising career in the military. He was enlisted as one of the junior ranks in the U.S. Army, and his position was E-3, also known as Private First Class (PFC).

Air Force Base In North Dakota

In hopes of making his way higher up the rank, Michels was on active duty from the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. He was to report for duty on July 6, 1977, at the air force base, but he never showed up…

Missing Person Report

Michels was 25-years-old at the time and no one knew what happened to him. In response, a missing person report was issued for Michels, alongside a photograph showing his face at the time of his disappearance.

Searching For Michels

Initially, the trail went cold pretty early. Authorities went to his hometown in Ohio and they looked around North Dakota, but they found nothing. Then after some time went by, it became more difficult to find him…

“Veteran Doe”

Fast forward to July of 2017, nearly four decades after his disappearance and Jeffrey Michels’ photo was posted on Facebook by the group “Veteran Doe.” The page’s purpose is to bring attention to the many missing veteran/active duty cases and unidentified person cases where there is a possible military connection.

The Only Photo Of Michels

They posted the last known photo taken of Michels when he was 25, so now, being that he would have been 65, even if he was alive, it’d be difficult for anyone to identify him. But soon, authorities discovered a shocking discrepancy…

Who Is Jeffrey Lantz?

There was a man named Jeffrey Lantz living in Florida with his wife and two children. He was 65-years-old and he shared the same birthday as Jeffrey Michels. Records show that in 1998, Jeffrey Lantz obtained a business license from the state of Florida for his construction company called Atlantic Development Corporation.

Living Large In Florida

So, investigators put two and two together and determined that Michels wasn’t missing at all. He was actually living in a beautiful $400,000 Sanford, Florida home, with a wife and children. He started a new life for himself and thought no one would figure it out. But, why did he do this? And why did it take so long for authorities to find this veteran?

Staying Under The Radar

Changing his name was a way for Michels to stay under the radar and it made it really difficult for police to find him. His disappearance could have been for many reasons, but the simple answer is that he was running away from something. It could have been a person, someone he owed money to, or possibly his life in the military. But to go to such lengths and literally disappear to do so, is quite extreme.

Did His Family Know?

After discovering Michels was indeed alive and well, there are many questions on people’s minds. Being that he has a family, was there any chance his wife and children knew he was hiding this massive secret?

Did His Family Know About His Double Life?

That’s the big question we’re left with as officials have not said anything about it yet. However, it would seem that the wife might have had some idea, being that they were married and had children together. She would have known if she looked into his social security number for example.

Would Legal Action Be Taken?

The next big question was if any legal action would be taken against Michels? The military has the right to decide what they want to do in this case and Michels future was ultimately at their discretion. He was facing two penalties…

Michels Faced Two Penalties

The first was that if he was arrested for deserting, the punishment was 5 years in prison. The second was that if he deserted during a time of war, he could actually be punishable by death. Luckily for Michels, the air force didn’t want to press any charges against him so here’s what they did instead.  

Dishonorable Discharge

The air force reinstated Michels to his post at 65-years-old and then they gave him a dishonorable discharge. “The statute of limitations ran out, and Michels won’t be charged or court-martialed,” said Special Agent John P. Longmire IV, Det. 802 Commander. He continued…

Double Life

“He has been brought back onto active duty at his previous rank of E-3. He will be given a discharge under ‘Other Than Honorable’ conditions,” Longmire said. Still, many wondered how Michels managed to get away with leading a double life. It certainly baffled Longmire and Michels peers.  

How Do People Get Away With Leading Double Lives?

While we may never really know, what we do know is that Michels isn’t the first person to get away with leading a double life. In fact, we hear stories nearly every day of investigators discovering people leading two completely different lives. Just ask Wall Street banker, Howard Rubin…

Howard Rubin

Unlike Michels, Rubin was leading a double life under everyone’s noses in his hometown of New York. He didn’t uproot himself or change his name, he just lived how he pleased, hoping no one would find out. Of course, it’s hard to keep a secret like this for long, and soon, stories began circulating about him.

His Dark Side

Despite having a booming career and retiring in 1999 as one of the “most respected” men on Wall Street, Rubin had a darker side to him. He enjoyed the company of much younger women and he enlisted the help of two former models to reach out to bikini models and exotic dancers on Instagram saying something like, “My boss wants to meet you.”

Human Trafficking

They eventually flew the women out to New York, paying them $2,000 and if Rubin liked them, the women would go to Rubin’s secret sex dungeon. The ladies would sign a non-disclosure agreement before doing so and then head to his 76th-floor penthouse of Metropolitan Tower in New York.

Lawsuit Against Rubin’s

What happened in that penthouse was so violent that some of the women required medical attention upon leaving. Additionally, some claimed that Rubin beat them severely while in his “sex chamber”. Rubin was ultimately charged with rape and human trafficking of women and the women fighting the lawsuit against him sought $20 million in damages. Rubin is just one of the many men who has led a double life in this way, and in the end, just like Michels, they both got caught.

Four Decades Later, Authorities Discover That “Missing” Airman Was Hiding A Massive Secret is an article from: LifeDaily

Despite the concerted efforts of many dedicated law enforcement agencies over the years, the war on drugs started by former President Richard Nixon is still being fought. It seems that no matter how many drug runners and criminal kingpins they bring down, five more rise beneath them to fill their ranks.

This is a story that shows that all hope is not lost. There are many folks out there doing their best to keep the rest of us safe from the perils out there. It may be a hard road ahead, but strides are being made…

Crime Ridden

New York City doesn’t have the most stellar reputation when it comes to crime. For decades, centuries even, the back alleys and abandoned buildings of the Big Apple have been a hotbed of petty crime, organized criminal enterprises, and since the 1960s, drug peddlers. It’s a situation that’s gotten better in recent years, but not by leaps and bounds or anything.

Flooded City

In the most recent string of crimes, large quantities of drugs have been flooding into the New York City area from Mexico. These drugs are the bread and butter of one of the most terrifying new drug cartels to arrive from south of the border in the past three decades: the brutal Sinaloa Cartel…

El Chapo

Known as “El Chapo” for his short, stocky frame, Joaquín Guzmán, is the ingenious 55-year-old whose Mexican drug empire rivaled that of famed gangster, Pablo Escobar. His track record as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel is punctuated by at least 3 escapes from capture and a ruthlessness towards his enemies that gives new meaning to the term sadistic.

Sinaloa Cartel

Since the death of Pablo Escobar in 1993, El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel has been capitalizing on the power vacuum and raking in a fortune. They took over the sale and distribution of not only Columbian cocaine but also marijuana, methamphetamines, and recently opiates and illegal narcotics of every kind…

Hit Fast

The drug that most interested the NYC police department, however, was something called Fentanyl. This opioid, which is used as a pain medication, is often mixed together with other medications for use as an anesthesia drug. It hits fast and even harder than heroin, and it lasts up to two hours.

Cheap and Potent

On top of all that, fentanyl is also cheaper to produce than heroin. This means that the potential profit margin is much higher than heroin and therefore a better sell. It’s just as addictive though and repeat customers are a common occurrence. These factors all add up to a dangerous import for people in the NY area…

Many Overdoses

Today, all across the Tri-State area, opiate abuse and overdoses related to things like fentanyl have skyrocketed. The same conditions apply all across the nation and the death toll has been steadily rising over the years. The people of the United States are looking for anything that can take them out of their depression and it seems that more and more, opiates are the drug of choice.

Many Seizures

Last year alone, seizures increased from 35 pounds to 491 pounds, but this hasn’t stopped the drug from coming into the US. And even these staggering numbers have not stopped the number of fatal overdoses tied to fentanyl from persisting. They reached an all-time high of more than 1,400 in New York City in 2017. The police needed to find where it was coming from…

The Man

In order to track down the source of these drugs, the Sinaloa Cartel, NYC police officers and DEA agents began tracking the shipments back to one Mexican lieutenant in the Sinaloa Cartel, a man named Francisco Quiroz-Zamora. This was the man who oversaw the delivery of multi-kilogram loads of fentanyl to New York.

The Scheme

The US authorities subsequent investigation found that Quiroz-Zamora lived in San Jose del Cabo in Baja, but they also discovered his scheme as well. He had the drugs smuggled by cars, trucks, and couriers over the border into Arizona and California, After that, the supplies would be sent to New York for distribution…

Undercover Info

The investigation began last year when an undercover officer posing as a drug dealer infiltrated his way into Quiroz-Zamora’s camp. He even spoke to the new drug lord by phone and struck a deal with him to buy an amount of fentanyl worth between $45,000 and $50,000 per kilo. He would meet the drug lord in NYC.

Interception

In November of last year, Francisco Quiroz-Zamora traveled to New York to collect payment from the undercover officer. He had no reason to believe that there was anything wrong. After all, he’d been selling drugs to New York for years without any whiff of authorities catching on. He proceeded to Manhattan as if nothing was wrong…

The Sting

His misplaced confidence notwithstanding, agents intercepted Quiroz-Zamora just as his train pulled into Penn Station in Manhattan. The 41-year-old was arrested before he could even mount any sort of an escape and was taken into custody. Now that they had him, they had to connect him unequivocally to the fentanyl.

How Many Pounds?

The authorities were able to connect him with the seizure of more than 44 pounds of fentanyl the prior year. They had received a tip that someone was passing the opioid out of a hotel in the Bronx and also at an apartment in upper Manhattan which Quiroz-Zamora was using as stash houses…

Seinfeld Link

That Manhattan apartment, located a Central Park West, was actually one quite a few people might recognize: particularly native New Yorkers. You see, that Central Park West building was used for exterior shots of Elaine Benes’ apartment in the popular 90’s sitcom “Seinfeld.” The interior of course was all shot in Los Angeles.

Charges

Francisco Quiroz-Zamora was facing down drug-trafficking conspiracy charges as a result of the investigation. The agencies who ran it, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of Special Narcotics, and other law enforcement agencies, had all worked together to make it so…

Collaborative Approach

“This indictment demonstrates our collaborative approach and commitment to tracking those at the top of the lethal supply chain and putting them out of business permanently,” explained Bridget Brennan. Now all that was left was seeing if any of Quiroz-Zamora’s men rolled with him at all.

Pleas

The feds had Francisco Quiroz-Zamora over a barrel, but he pleaded not guilty just the same. He was held without bail and another defendant, Carlos Ramirez, was also held on a $2000,000 bail. He too pleaded not guilty. Obviously, his attorney maintains that his client is not guilty…

An Eye on Drugs

“Every day, this department is focused on intercepting deadly drugs headed for New York City….My thanks to the detectives, agents, and prosecutors whose work makes New York City safer.” said NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill. It just goes to show that even with one drug peddler safely in custody, the NYPD is still dedicated to fighting drugs at every opportunity.

Insight

Almost as important as the lives they saved, this investigation also helped to provide some insight into the Sinaloa Cartel as it currently exists with El Chapo still in custody. Hopefully taking down drug traffickers like Francisco Quiroz-Zamora will slow things down and deal a powerful blow to whoever is running the cartel today.

Undercover Officers Capture Elusive Criminal Responsible For NY Opioid Outbreak is an article from: LifeDaily

It is a government’s job to take care of its people. Whether it’s a king, a queen, a president, or a prime minister, it is the duty of those in power to make sure that citizens are allowed the rights and privileges of anyone else.

This is the story of a woman whose country’s ills as a whole adversely affected her and her family in ways that we in the Western world could never understand. It’s also about the incredible strength of will required to lift one out of such a place….

Growing up Starving

Grace was like most children her age. She played outside, she did her chores, she loved her siblings, and she listened to her parents. And like most children in her region at that age, Grace also grew up hungry. This was mostly due to the fact that she grew up in one of the most impoverished places in the world, North Korea.

North Korea

It began with the Korean War, the proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union that was fought in the North and South of Korea. When the dust settled, there was no clear victor but the country remained forever divided. The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea has slowly transformed themselves from a communist nation to one ruled by a corrupt dictatorship…

Illusion

Even today, decades after Grace was a child in impoverished post-war North Korea, the nation is one where people struggle to survive every day. Of course, the government that runs the country would have you believe that this is not the case. Their largest cities are full of ornately built train stations, public roadways, public parks, and supermarkets, all of which are basically abandoned.

Famine Raged

This is because most of the populace can’t afford to live there. Indeed, most of the populace can’t even afford to eat and in the mid-1990s, when Grace was a child, famine ravaged the country. Millions of Koreans were starving to death and those who didn’t die suffered greatly from malnutrition. Grace Jo and her family were among them…

The One Meal

Yes, despite the outward impression of North Korea as a thriving example of the beneficial nature of Communism, the people of the nation were suffering. Grace Jo and her family were so poor that they ate, on average, one meal a week. It was usually rice, but sometimes they couldn’t get any rice…

Long Time Between Meals

If the family couldn’t find any rice for dinner, they’d rely on the kindness of their equally impoverished neighbors. When that didn’t work, they had to try and catch wildlife to feed upon. Of course, thousands of others were doing the same. That meant that the “game” the Jo family would rely on was far less appetizing than a wild rabbit…

Make Ends Meet

If they didn’t find anything else to eat, the family would catch mice up from the floor and cook them. It wasn’t much, but wretched as it was, at least it was food. Other times, Grace and her siblings would sit along the sides of the road selling dried fish, a meager meal in and of itself, so that they could buy rice.

Losing Family

Days and weeks passed, Grace, her brothers, and her sister were all weak from exhaustion and malnutrition. Soon enough, her relatives succumbed one by one to the starvation. First was her grandmother, then her two younger brothers. Grace’s father looked on in horror. There was nothing he could do to help, but perhaps someone could…

Seeking Help

With no other options, Grace’s father snuck into China to find help. He had some distant relatives there who might be in a better position to send them food. He returned home but was captured by the North Korean authorities before he could give his family the good news he had received.

State Death

Her father was killed by the state soon after: beaten to death for daring to try and save his starving family. Desperate to save her remaining children, Grace’s mother did the only sensible thing she could do. She packed up the kids and their meager belongings and followed her deceased husband’s path into China. She couldn’t take everyone though…

Left Behind

Unfortunately, Grace’s mother could only risk taking her and her sister into China with her. Grace’s brother had to stay behind for their own safety. The trip was long and arduous, and for three already starving people, was a very slow one. All in all, it took months longer than they had originally expected it too.

Watching Him

Grace thought back to the day they left, when her five-year-old brother had to stay behind and stay with one of her mother’s friends. “My mom’s friend was supposed to watch him,” she explained “But she kicked him out on the street…a boy of five.” By the time they arrived in China to send word, it was too late…

His Death

Grace’s five-year-old brother, like her other brothers, and so many other North Korean children, even today, had died cold, hungry, and alone. Her family’s experience and loss is not unusual in the country and certainly not amongst people of her generation. But with the losses came strength, and the Jo family’s journey was far from over.

More Poverty

Grace and her mother and sister survived their ordeal and built a new life for themselves in China. Still, they kept looking for something better. China was just as impoverished and they wanted to find a place where they could truly be free. The obvious choice was the United States, but it wouldn’t be easy…

Eventual Resettlement

While they were living in China, the Jo family applied for refugee status and eventually resettled in the United States. Grace herself became an official U.S. citizen in 2013. Her family’s dreams had finally come true. Though she was given no formal education in North Korea, Grace ended up getting a job as a dental assistant and an advocate.

New Life

Grace Jo is a healthy woman now, as are her mother and sister. They are no longer a wretched, starving group of refugees, but a happy, well-adjusted family and people can’t believe when they tell them what they’ve gone through. Still, the lessons of her painful childhood continued to inspire her, even in this new place…

Speaking Out

This story comes on the brink of the historic meeting between North Korea and the United States. There’s no doubt that it’s a delicate time for both countries and that much hangs on this meeting, but it’s important to understand the stories of the people who came from these places, especially now.

So Many Lost

Grace Jo, of course, had some words to say about the situation and the dictator who is currently running North Korea under the auspices of a democracy. “Not only my family died,” she began “There are hundreds of families that lost their family members.” But rather than dwell on the past, she has tried to move on…

Cherish Freedom

“I think that’s called freedom,” said Grace Jo “It’s a very cherished thing for my family and for me.” This brings me back to my point from earlier, that every being in this world deserves the right to the basic essentials and that any government, by refusing to grant people those rights, are robbing from the people.

Human Rights

To close out, North Korea hasn’t exactly been known for its consideration of Human Rights. Indeed, Human Rights Watch describes North Korea as “one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world” and has reported that the government is guilty of various offenses, including but not limited to: Extermination, Enslavement, Imprisonment, Torture, and Persecution. Food for thought.

North Korean Defector Battled Starvation And Violence To Escape Corrupt Country is an article from: LifeDaily

Every year, millions of people search the Internet’s most popular dating sites looking for love. Now, not everyone will find a match on a site like e-Harmony or Match.com, but thankfully there are options out there for those seeking a more specific type of partner.

Of course, putting yourself out there on the Internet also opens you up to the perils of prevarication. Lies and “Catfishing” run rampant on even the most reputable of sites, so when you find someone you can trust, it means a lot. When that trust is also born of lies and betrayal however…

Calling Cops

The police had been called to answer a domestic disturbance at a Palo Alto, California home. The girl on the phone was beside herself. She didn’t want to give her name or show her identification when the police arrived, but even a cursory examination proved her boyfriend had indeed been attacking her.

Only Housemates

For his part, the “boyfriend” tried to explain to the officers that the two were not romantically involved at all. They were not engaged to be married, they hadn’t even dated, they were only housemates. It was definitely a contrasting opinion to the complainants, but that wasn’t uncommon…

Arrest and Robbery

Erring on the side of caution, the police arrested the man and took him into custody. Kim, the man’s fiance, refused medical treatment and was left home to recover from her ordeal. When the man was released for lack of evidence less than a day later, he came home to a most unwelcome sight.

Liar

Following the man’s arrest, the police had already begun to suspect that Kim had lied to them about the whole alleged incident. A fraud detective was brought in to investigate her and they soon learned that this type of behavior seemed very similar to a case that happened in Mountain View, California sometime earlier. They couldn’t prove it though until the man called them back…

Picked the Bones

Unbeknownst to the investigating officers and the befuddled boyfriend, Kim had spent her time “recovering” by cleaning out the apartment the two of them shared. She hit the road soon after, but was eventually spotted and picked up by the Palo Alto police. It was only once they had her in custody, they learned the truth.

Parole Violation

Police in Palo Alto discovered that their fellow officers in Mountain View, California, were already conducting an investigation into a woman named Sunmee Kim. Once they had her in custody, the Palo Alto officers called Mountain View, a city 400 miles north, to tell them that they’d caught their culprit. And what a culprit she was…

Same Crimes

What Sunmee Kim was, beyond everything else, was a terrible human being. She also happened to be a parole violator and had not been allowed to leave Mountain View. She seemed to have forgotten that fact when she moved to Palo Alto, 400 miles away, and took up with another man.

Dating Site

Sunmee Kim had been like many other single people out there. She was alone, in her early 40’s and looking for love in all the wrong places. As a Korean, she wanted to find others like herself, to find people who could share in her heritage. Luckily for her, she discovered a Korean dating site, KoreanCupid.com…

Arrested on Suspicion

One of the fellow Korean singles that Sunmee Kim met was a man named Deukman Lee. The two hit it off right away. Mr. Lee was a businessman and was fairly well off. He was the perfect pigeon for what would become Ms. Kim’s modus operandi. Sunmee would come to accuse Lee of violence towards her.

False Accusations

They were together for only a little while before Ms. Kim called the police on him. She told the authorities a similar story to the one she told in Palo Alto, that Lee had attacked her and tried to rob her. Then, once he was safely in police custody, she set to work at stealing all his valuable belongings…

Release and Repeat

Thanks to the police recognizing some glaring inconsistencies in her story, Deukman Lee was released less than a day later. Unfortunately, he was also served a restraining order which barred him from returning to his own home. It was during that time, Kim set to work stealing as much as she could.

Keep Away

He eventually was allowed to return home after Kim had fled, but he found his place ransacked and stripped of everything valuable, including a large amount of cash. He would eventually turn his ire for Ms. Kim towards the city of Irvine when he sued them for $150,000. As for Sunmee Kim, she was far from done…

Not Her First Rodeo

This fraud, which happened in 2011, along with several others in 2013, might not have been her first foray into this sort of thing either. It seemed that Sunmee Kim’s life as a conwoman can be traced back to 2009 when she reportedly faked her own kidnapping while living in LA. Her reason for this was so that she could shake down her current beau for the fake ransom money.

Fake Names

Sunmee’s life as a conwoman also had her using a number of false identities as well. These fake names included: Sunny Jean Kim, Jean Kim, Jiin and Ashley Kim, and possibly many more. These were the names she gave on KoreanCupid.com and many were the names she gave to the police when reporting the alleged assaults. Eventually, though, all her misdeeds caught up to her…

KoreanCupid

Her crimes are myriad, but more than just the actual criminal nature of the crimes, it’s the callousness that strikes most people the most. Kim didn’t care about the men she was using, not about their feelings or their desperation. All she cared about was using and abusing the trust of these already lonely men to further her own felonious ends.

Prolific Pilferer

“She was sentenced in Orange County for almost the exact same crime and then she disappeared for about five years,” said police spokesperson Katie Nelson. “This isn’t something that happened out of happenstance. We’re thinking her (modus operandi) is pretty prolific.” She’d gotten away with it before and fled the city, which added parole violation to the charges…

Many Charges

After the incident in Palo Alto, the Mountain View police have tracked her down and brought her in. They are currently working with Santa Clara County prosecutors to determine what kind of criminal charges they should file against her. The list, once completed will no doubt be an expansive one indeed.

Eight Counts

After the incident in Palo Alto, police caught up to Sunmee. She plead guilty to eight counts of false imprisonment, four counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of grand theft, and one count of identity theft. She was sentenced to four years in state prison, but it could be more if the police find more victims…

Other Victims

Police believe that there are many other victims out there and that they haven’t come forward for fear of the embarrassment, the shame they’d feel if the world knew they’d been had. What they need to remember is that she is the one at fault and if they do come forward, they are only ensuring that Ms. Kim never gets the chance to repeat the crime…again.

Abuse of Trust

Sunmee Kim’s abuse of trust just goes to show that you have to be very careful when internet dating. I mean, you have to be careful dating at all, but the age of the Internet has added an additional tool to those wishing to use others for their own gain. Still, it doesn’t mean you can’t trust or even find love, just be careful out there.

String Of Lonely People Discover That The Person They Love Has Used Them In The Worst Way is an article from: LifeDaily

When love turns sour and one of the parties has the taste of revenge on their lips, there’s no telling what they’ll do to get back at the lover who slighted them. But what happens when your ex is the biggest dealer in New York?

When Jimmy split up with his girlfriend and mother of his child after many years together, he never thought she would snitch on him and turn him in to the police. But when love turns to angst, anything’s possible. The takedown was remarkable…

Normal Day

It was a normal day in January when Jimmy’s disgruntled ex-girlfriend decided it would be a good idea to rat out her boyfriend who was a big pot dealer in Queens. After walking into the Drug Enforcement Administration office on Long Island, the bitter women gave agents chapter and verse about her former boyfriend Jimmy and his antics.

Shocking Information

While the agents over at the DEA weren’t used to accepting people off the street in this way, they made an exception for this woman who had her and Jimmy’s baby in tow, just for maximum effect. When the agents heard all she had to say, even they were in shock at first…

A Woman Scorned

Whatever Jimmy did to upset his girlfriend, he paid for it a thousandfold after she spilled the beans to the agents that day. What began as tale-telling from a scorned woman would soon turn into a seven-year criminal investigation which even went beyond the agents’ wildest dreams.

Playboy Lifestyle

Jimmy Cournoyer was born to a French Canadian family and spoke both English and French fluently. Having spent more than a decade trafficking huge quantities of cannabis throughout New York, Jimmy was a playboy and always had stunning girls by his side, usually three at a time…

Interesting Life

Despite being a criminal due to the drug dealing, Jimmy had what can only be described as a very interesting life. As well as being a martial-arts expert, he also had a serious taste for fast, expensive cars and liked to race through the streets of New York showing off his latest purchase.

Using People

Where money is concerned there will always be someone using someone else to make a quick buck, and Jimmy was an expert manipulator. He even had underlings to do his dirty work, including Native Americans who he usually used as smugglers, as well as Hells Angels and Mexican money launderers…

Massive Operation

The cannabis operation that Jimmy ran was a massive one and sometimes was more like something out of a James Bond movie than anything else. Jimmy would ship man-sized bales of cannabis across borders using motorboats and even snowmobiles. But for more than a decade Jimmy wasn’t caught, and if it weren’t for his ex-girlfriend, he probably never would have been.

Big Money

According to the investigators, Jimmy laundered in excess of $1 billion during his drug-dealing career. While most of that cash was laundered through the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, and ferried back to Canada in pickup trucks, other huge amounts were laundered through organizations like offshore banks…

Nobody Close

There’s no doubt about it, Jimmy Cournoyer was respected highly by the very men who were seeking his demise. New York Federal prosecutor Steven L. Tiscione, who supervised the task force who caught Jimmy said, “We never saw anything like this guy before. In terms of his longevity and scope, and the connections he had around the world, nothing, nobody, comes close.”

Celebrity Status

Jimmy had made the bigtime and his lifestyle professed to that in almost every way. At the height of his career, Jimmy was seen driving a Porsche Cayenne and also owned a $2 million limited-edition Bugatti Veyron. More than that, he also had some high flying friends and was said to have attended parties with A-list celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio…

Many Arrests

Over the years, Jimmy had been arrested for dealing weed a number of times, but no serious charges were ever brought against him. At just 18, Jimmy and his brother Joey were growing and selling cannabis from their apartment. In 1998, Jimmy was found guilty for selling drugs but avoided a jail sentence and only got probation. Two years later and he was caught again, selling baggies from his Jeep at the Kanesatake Mohawk reservation. He pleaded guilty but also got away without jail time.

Finally Caught

It was many years in the making but cops finally got a solid lead and went in for the proverbial kill. Third time round Jimmy wasn’t so lucky after he was caught by an undercover officer at the Hilton in Toronto where he tried to sell 10,000 ecstasy tablets for $65,000. Jimmy tried to run but was captured and taken into custody…

Not Done Yet

However, nothing was going to stop this man easily, and even while in jail Jimmy was still running drugs across borders. As the prosecutor wrote in a legal memo at the time, “Determined to never again be found in the compromising position of physically touching narcotics, Cournoyer began expanding his roster of associates and installing additional layers of subordinates between himself” and the drugs.

Right Hand Man

As Jimmy sat in jail doing hard time, his right-hand man, Patrick Paisse, who was from Quebec and only had one leg, was arranging deals. On one occasion he arranged for the Hells Angels to drive massive amounts of cannabis from fields in British Colombia to America. The sophisticated greenhouse factories he operated were equipped with special air filters, off-the-grid- power systems and were all hidden beneath oversized tarps…

Stop At Nothing

While he was inside, Jimmy instructed Patrick to make contact with Native American smugglers who were his friends. They would move their cannabis south across the St. Lawrence River, using small boats in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. This man would stop at nothing to sell his wares, and even prison didn’t stop him.

Grand Jury

After five long years of flipping witnesses, setting up wiretaps and doing late night stakeouts, authorities finally had a case to bring Jimmy Cournoyer down. A Brooklyn grand jury indicted him on drug conspiracy charges in 2012, but a month later he tried to abscond to Cancun. But this time, his luck had run out…

Wrong Decision

Jimmy may have thought at the time that it was a good idea to fly to Cancun but he was wrong. As soon as he landed he was arrested by Mexican authorities who detained him based on Interpol intelligence. The Mexicans tried to put him on a flight three times back to the U.S. to face justice, but each time he threatened to “harm the captain and the crew.” Eventually, he was hooded and put on a flight to Houston.

Violent Operation

The agents working the case had put in so many hours that they just had to secure a conviction against this man. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that the operation Cournoyer ran was a violent one and one that led to other criminal gangs killing people for money and drugs. Nevertheless, his friends and family all vouched for him, penning a letter to the Brooklyn court praising Jimmy as “good-natured.”

Love Of Money

When it came down to it, Jimmy was simply obsessed with money; plain and simple. As McMahon, Jimmy’s attorney explained, “There’s a lot of weed smokers here on the Eastern Seaboard, a lot of them. That’s why he came to New York, for the capitalist markets. It was basically a Karl Marx kind of thing.”

Justice Served

After he was extradited back to Houston and taken in front of a grand jury, Cournoyer finally pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cannabis and cocaine and money laundering. He was sentenced to 27 years in jail despite the numerous pleas to the judge for clemency. Then again, many people think that 27 years was a light sentence for man who ran the biggest drug dealing operation in New York history.

New York’s Most Notorious Dealer Taken Down By Ex-Girlfriend Snitch is an article from: LifeDaily

Back in 1945, around the time of the end of the second world war, two babies were born at the Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul. The girls were born only 31 minutes apart and that led to some confusion in the hospital at the time.

But it would take more than seven decades before the women would even find out that they were switched at birth and that they weren’t who they thought they were at all. All those years passed before an amazing revelation would change the lives of two families…

Ancestry Buff

Denice had always been an ancestry buff and had a keen interest in genealogy from a young age. She never took a DNA test but she had a sixth sense that maybe she was a little different from her family, although she never looked into the matter further.

Health History

At the age of 72, and already a grandmother, Denice decided that she wanted to have her DNA tested so that she could get a better idea of her health history, to find out whether there may be any genetic pointers for her wellbeing. At the age of 72, Denice thought, one can’t be too careful…

DNA Sample

Denice contacted 23andMe, a website dedicated to helping people find out where they come from and their genealogy. They told her she would need to pay some money before they would send her a sample kit so that she could get the health history report that she needed. But she would also be getting a bunch more information; information she was not expecting.

No Match

Soon after Denice sent off her DNA sample, she received some shocking news; while she had many relatives, none of them actually matched her DNA, so she was understandably taken aback, “I didn’t match anybody,” she said, as she wondered if there could have been a mix up with her sample over at the 23andMe lab…

Switched At Birth?!

Denice knew that it was highly unlikely, even if it was a possibility, “Either 23andMe made a mistake,” Denice said, “or I was switched at birth.” As it happens, when Denice was born, at 2:17 am on December 19, 1945, another baby named Linda Jean Nielsen was born in the same hospital 31 minutes later.

Terrible Mixup

Being switched at birth could happen to anyone, although in this modern age it doesn’t happen so often due to technology and other things in place to avoid such a situation. However, back in 1945, hospitals weren’t privy to such technology and mistakes happened more often than they do in 2018; as was the case here, for Denice and Linda…

People Assumed

“It’s a crazy thing,” Denice said, “People just automatically assume they got the right family.” And whilst only a few weeks have passed since Denice and Linda learned they were switched at birth, the two women have already bonded closely, after Linda’s daughter told her mom, “We believe you’ve been switched at birth.”

Wanting To Know

Linda simply didn’t believe what her kids were telling her so she decided to contact 23andME directly in order to get a DNA report first hand, “I did my DNA right away because I’ve got to see this on paper,” she said. But how the two women were switched at birth remains a big mystery…

Nobody Knows

“We’ll never know,” Linda said, “and I’m sure the nurses are dead that probably took care of us.” At the same time, for both of the women who are now good friends, the fact they have no idea and never will know what happened back in 1945 pains them.

Athletic Family

Denice always thought it a little weird that her family was all well coordinated and very athletic, while she was the complete opposite. For years her father played baseball at a high level, and her brother was also an avid player, “Sometimes I had that sense that I didn’t quite fit in,” Denice said… On the other hand, Linda was athletic from a young age at competition level, even if her “family” weren’t.

Living Life

It’s amazing to think that for more than 70 years Denice and Linda were essentially answering to the wrong names, “I was really supposed to be another person,” Denice said. Nevertheless, finding out the new information, even at the age of 72, is something both Denice and Linda are happy about when they think about the big picture.

Sneaky Suspicion

Back in 2002, Linda’s daughter Michelle went on a mini-mission to see where her mother came from. All her life Michelle had a sneaky suspicion that her mom was different, telling her often, “You don’t look like the rest.” Michelle went as far as checking public birth records but soon dropped her pursuits in the matter…

Still Alive

Amazingly, Denice’s mother Marianne is still alive and kicking at the age of 99. While she raised Denice, her real biological daughter is Linda, who she met for the first time at her nursing home recently. Marianne isn’t complaining though, as she now has two daughters, sort of, and enjoys all the extra visits from her “new” grandchildren.

Laughing Together

Denice, Linda, Marianne and everyone involved in this mix up could be very upset about what might be considered a life wasted. However, they all remain positive and make the best of what they have, armed with the new knowledge given to them by 23andMe. “Now you have more grandchildren – red-haired ones,” Denice quipped to her mother…

Sad Life

For Linda, life was always a struggle after her mother (who was really Denice’s mother) passed away at the age of 42. “She’s been gone so long,” Linda said, trying to hold back tears. Linda was only 17 when she lost her mom, but at the age of 72 was thrilled to have found her real mother still alive.

Better To Know

It was a painful thing for both Denice and Linda to find out they were switched at birth, especially all those years later. Nevertheless, they feel that it’s a good thing that they now know and weren’t left in the dark any longer. “I consider it a gift,” Denice said, albeit a bittersweet one…

Family Reunion

The revelations for these two families have had far-reaching effects. Obviously, it’s not only Denice and Linda who are affected by the news but also their kids and extended family. As such, both families decided it would be a good idea for them to arrange a two-family reunion.

Born Easily

Denice recalls that her mother often told her that she was “born easily” meaning that she was easy to give birth to. However, Denice now knows that not to be true as her mother had in fact given birth to Linda. There were many instances where the two women could have become very upset at the situation, but for the most part, they have just taken things in their stride…

Happy Or Not?

When the women were asked by reporters during a tv interview whether or not they are happy to have found out they were switched at birth so late in life Linda said, ” I think so” nodding at Denice. “Good things come out of it I think,” replied Denice.

New Friends

While the whole story has been a rollercoaster for these two women and their families, both Denice and Linda are happy to have found each other. They spoke about the special bond they share as a result of their unique situation, as Linda concluded, “We’re just new friends.”

Women Switched At Birth Find Out The Truth 72 Years Later is an article from: LifeDaily

Anyone who has ever been a part of a team knows that there is strength in numbers and a team is only strong when every player is working together for 1 common goal.

In late May 2018, a team of football players witnessed a horrific car crash while they were heading home after a long weekend spent competing in a football tournament. Rather than wait for help arrive, they jumped into action and put their teamwork to good use…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5791921/Heroic-Idaho-youth-football-team-lifts-jeep-save-woman-trapped-underneath-highway-crash.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-youth-football-rescue-20180531-story.html

Youth Football Team Overcomes Multi-Ton Obstacle In Harrowing Situation is an article from: LifeDaily

Rebecca was a cheerful and upbeat young woman with a penchant for making the world smile right along with her. Her exuberance and intelligence were so infectious that she’d landed the perfect job, as a youth counselor aboard the Disney Cruise Ship, Wonder.

In March of 2011, as Wonder set sail down the Pacific Coast of Mexico, something changed inside Rebecca, something that would change the course of her life that day, and those of all those who loved her…

No Show

The Disney Wonder was bound for Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, and Rebecca, who was always punctual and upbeat about her position aboard the ship, had missed her shift. The crew had paged her, checked her room, and even went so far as to check the entire ship, but there was no sign of her. They decided to check the surveillance footage for clues.

Unreachable

On March 22, surveillance video aboard the Wonder caught Rebecca walking around the deck, looking distraught. Nearly 12 hours before that, she’d sent her last Facebook message to her parents. It was odd for her to not reach out to them, even at sea, but her parents thought nothing of it: until they got a call from Disney saying that their beloved daughter was missing…

The Adventurous Type

Rebecca was born in Chester, England. She was a brave, some would say, brazen child, who loved to take risks and be the center of attention. Right from the get-go, Rebecca, or Bex as she was nicknamed, would go to great lengths to prove how adventurous she truly was. One of her first jobs was working at a local zoo, and it was there her journey began.

Disney Opportunities

Eventually, the “adventurous” life of a zookeeper proved to be insubstantial for her. She wanted more, so she joined the British Army cadets. After college, she searched for a career worthy of her drive and once she heard the Disney Cruise line was looking for new employees, jumped at the opportunity. After interviewing amongst hundreds of applicants, Bex was invited to travel to Disney World in Florida for training. She had made it, she was in…

Sad Homecoming

Traveling aboard the wonder allowed Bex to visit a number of Disney ports of call on the Mexican Riviera, and even the Panama Canal. She was far from home though and she missed her parents and siblings. When she found her grandfather had died, she made the long journey to England to attend the funeral. This would be the last time her family saw her in person.

Search the Seas

The aforementioned security camera footage was timestamped for 5:45 am, rather early even on a cruise ship. It shows Rebecca talking on one of the ship’s internal phones and walking away very upset by the conversation. She vanished after that. Before long, the Mexican Navy and the US Coastguard started searching the waters the ship had sailed through…

Unwelcome Arrival

Despite an exhaustive search, they came up with nothing. Rebecca’s parents, Mike and Annmaria Coriam, Rebecca’s parents, were flown in to meet with investigators and Disney officials. They were dismayed however to find that the detectives brought in to help had spent only a day interviewing people on the ship before concluding she had fallen overboard while swimming in the crew pool.

Weak and Exhausted

The Coriams were exhausted, suffering from extreme jet lag, and emotionally drained. Disney officials took advantage of this and didn’t give them much chance to ask too many questions. They were taken to Rebecca’s room and shown her belongings, including an unusually floral pair of flip-flops they’d found near the staff pool. The problem was, these weren’t Rebecca’s shoes…

Victim of the Sea

The flip flops were way too big to be their daughter’s and they just seemed to be out of place amidst Rebecca’s normal style. Still, with no new leads and nothing to go on except the theory that she’d simply been another unfortunate victim of the sea, they went home to mourn their daughter. Two months later, they received some news.

Still Alive?

Annmaria Coriam had received an email from Rebecca’s bank telling her that despite her being declared missing, there had been some suspicious activity on one of her accounts. Their belief was that someone had either stolen her credit card and was using it, or that Rebecca Coriam was still alive somewhere out there…

More Suspicions

The news that someone was allegedly using her accounts was just the first suspicious thing. Soon, her uncle John, who had known her Facebook password, noticed that it had been changed by someone. It was becoming more and more apparent that either Disney or someone involved with her disappearance, knew more than they were letting on.

Revealing Article

In October of that year, journalist Jon Ronson got involved, with her parents’ blessings of course. Wanting to find out what happened to Rebecca, he took a cruise aboard the Disney Wonder and interviewed several more crew members. His story confirmed the Coriam’s suspicions, that Disney and the Bahamian police were hiding something…

Overboard

Despite this, it seemed that everyone he spoke with came to the same conclusion: that Rebecca Coriam had gone overboard from inside the crew pool. Yet there seemed to be no CCTV evidence of her being swept up in any sort of swell. The other suspicions surrounding Bex’s disappearance pointed to her state of mind at the time, though these were unsubstantiated.

Disgruntled Romance

One crew member said that the final phone call Rebecca made aboard the Wonder had to do with her girlfriend. Their intense relationship had problems of its own and there were whispers of a third party, a male, becoming involved in their relationship. It wasn’t until 2018, seventeen years later, that the truth would finally come to light…

Broken Silence

29-year-old Tracie Medley, who had been romantically involved with Rebecca Coriam prior to her death, has finally come clean about what happened in the days following her mysterious disappearance. According to Tracie, Bex was far from the happy-go-lucky person that her family seemed to think she was. She was a deeply troubled young woman.

Guitless

“I have nothing to hide,” announced Tracie. “My silence was never an admission of guilt, my silence was to protect the image of a friend. I’ve spent six years reading claims from Rebecca’s family that she was a fun-loving, never-sad athlete with no issues and a love for life…” Deep down though, Rebecca had spoken openly about jumping overboard and struggled with both drug abuse and depression…

From Her Lover’s Mouth

Tracie Medley’s claim is that her lover deliberately leaped 100ft to her death off the side of the Wonder on the morning she vanished. She says this because she knew that Bex had spoken about not being able to deal with the internal turmoil that came from being sexually assaulted as a teenager. In fact, she used cocaine to help repress these feelings, but that only worked for so long.

Suicide

She lays much of the blame for Rebecca’s mental state on her family. She says that she believed her family was ashamed she was a lesbian and that her sister was embarrassed about her new gay friends. Tracie’s opinion is that the fact that her family is unwilling to consider their daughter’s suicide, speaks volumes about her mental state as well…

The Night Before

As for the rumored threesome with a boy? This part was true as well. The night before she disappeared, Bex, Tracie, and Tracie’s boyfriend, Deven, were intimate together. “She walked me through a lot of feelings about my sexuality. When we took things to the next level it felt right. We were madly in love.” explained Tracie.

Last Goodbye

When she left the room early the next day, Tracie asked if she wanted company and if she was coming back. She never did. When Tracie woke up and saw the door still unlocked, she knew something was wrong. Today she is happily married with two children but felt that she needed to come clean if only to honor Rebecca’s memory and draw attention to those who suffer in silence.

Seventeen Years Later, Ex-Lover Comes Clean About Disney Cruise Worker’s Mysterious Disappearance is an article from: LifeDaily

While all new parents gain an appreciation for the miracle of life when they finally meet their newborn child for the first time, parents who struggled to conceive know all too well just how fragile that life can be.

After going through multiple rounds of fertility treatments, an Iowa couple were overjoyed when they finally became parents to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. For weeks, the couple barely left the safety of their home to ensure no harm came to their miracle baby. Tragically, when they finally ventured out for the first time, their worst fear came true…

A Miracle Baby

After struggling to conceive, new parents Kassy and Lee Hovenga were overjoyed when they finally gave birth to their first child. Because of how hard it was for the Iowa couple to conceive, they knew better than most how precious life is and vowed to do everything to give their baby girl a good life and keep her safe.

7 Weeks Of Hibernation

For the first 7 weeks of baby McKenna’s life, Kassy and Lee kept their newborn mostly in the safety of their home and only ventured out with her to go to doctor appointments, visit nearby family, and stop at the grocery store quickly…

The First Outing

After 7 weeks, however, Kassy and Lee thought it was about time they take McKenna for a real outing and figured Lee’s recreational softball tournament in Waverly, Iowa would be a perfectly safe place to bring their daughter.

Enjoying The Weather

“It had been an abnormally cold and snowy spring in Iowa, with snow as late as the end of April and it was a great evening of warm weather to finally escape the confines of the house,” said Laura Heise, McKenna’s great aunt…

A Safe Spot

While Lee was out on the field playing in the tournament on May 2, 2018, Kassy found a spot to sit on the bleachers behind a fence beside the third baseline. At the time, she thought it would be the perfect spot to safely watch the game with her 7-week-old.

Time For A Feeding

After Lee’s game finished up, another pair of teams started a new game and Lee made his way over to the bleachers to sit with his family. “Another pair of teams were playing and Lee was helping Kassy get situated with a blanket over her, so Kassy could breastfeed,” Laura said…

Too Focused For Their Own Good

As Lee was focused on helping his wife stay covered while she breastfed their daughter, Kassy was absorbed with the task of feeding McKenna in public, which she was still getting used to as a first-time mom. Unfortunately, the couple was so focused on what they were doing that they didn’t realize what had happened on the field.

A Freak Accident

“At the moment my Daddy turned away from the field to help my Momma cover-up, the second baseman threw the ball to the third baseman to try to get the runner out,” Laura wrote in a blog post in McKenna’s voice. “The third baseman lost sight of the ball and the ball went past him, hit the fence and popped over the railing…”

The Impact

The ball was headed straight for Kassy and the baby and neither Lee nor Kassy had any idea. Seconds later, the softball hit Kassy in the bicep. At first, Kassy and Lee were relieved as they thought McKenna hadn’t been hit by the ball.

A Devastating Realization

“The ball came over the fence – and either hit McKenna first or hit Kassy first. We’re really not sure as it happened so fast and Kassy was looking down at McKenna as she was feeding,” said Laura. “McKenna didn’t begin to scream until a few seconds afterward…”

The Damage

“They were unaware that she was even hit until the large lump formed. It happened that fast,” Laura explained. As soon as the couple realized what happened, they rushed McKenna to a nearby health center, where scans revealed the 7-week-old had a skull fracture and 2 brain bleeds.

Treatment Begins

McKenna was then airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota as she had started experiencing violent seizures. Once at the hospital, doctors fought to get the seizures under control and treat the damage to her brain…

Stopping The Seizures

Doctors placed McKenna on anti-seizure medications and then got to work treating the fracture and brain bleeds. The team of doctors treating the infant also dimmed the lights in the room and limited the amount of time she was touched to try and get the seizures to stop.

2 Days Later

Ultimately, the team was forced to put McKenna on a ventilator and put her into a ‘deep coma’ to allow her body to heal. On May 4, doctors took more scans and found that 1 of the bleeds in her brain had gotten bigger, which was not a good sign…

A Crushing Diagnosis

McKenna was given a blood transfusion and doctors explained that she may have sustained brain damage from the hit but it was still too early to tell. Kassy and Lee were absolutely devastated. “Lee and Kassy went through three rounds of [fertility treatment] to have McKenna,” Laura said. “This has been especially crushing to them.”

Staying Positive

Over the next few weeks, Kassy and Lee tried to remain positive that McKenna would recover or at least show signs of improvement. About 20 days after the accident, their prayers were finally answered. McKenna woke up from the induced coma and started showing signs of significant improvement…

Signs Of Improvement

“She definitely has more awake periods and her eyes are wide open. She tracks Kassy’s face and voice,” said Laura, who also explained that McKenna was moving her legs and having bowel movements. “Her status is constantly changing,” Kassy and Lee said. “Our little McKenna is a fighter, and we are hopeful she will continue to fight to overcome this.”

40 Days Later

Eventually, McKenna was taken off the ventilator and was weaned off all the medications she was being given to prevent seizures and help her recover. After 40 days in the hospital, McKenna wasn’t having any trouble breathing on her own and hadn’t had any new seizures so doctors told Kassy and Lee they could finally bring their baby girl home again…

The Recovery Continues

McKenna is now safely back home in Iowa with her parents as she continues to recover. However, because the areas of the brain that were damaged are areas related to motor skills and development, doctors warned that they won’t be able to tell if she’s sustained any permanent brain damage until later on in her recovery.

Never Losing Hope

For now, Kassy and Lee are happy McKenna is finally at home and are staying hopeful that she will make a full recovery. The couple is also thanking anyone who has offered words of support or donated money to their YouCaring page to help with current and future medical bills. “We are so thankful and deeply moved by the generous support and the uplifting messages that we are receiving from friends, family and those we do not know, but now consider our friends,” they said. “At this time, we are uncertain what the outcome of this will be. We have to take everything that is happening hour by hour.”

Infant Miraculously Survives Traumatic Injury That Came Out Of Left Field is an article from: LifeDaily

Animals are so in tune with their instincts and senses that they often notice the small signs of disasters that humans overlook or completely fail to notice.

When a pit bull pup noticed that her human family was in mortal danger long before they had any idea what was coming for them, she quickly got to work getting them to safety. At first, the dog’s owner couldn’t understand what was causing the bizarre behavior, but then she looked outside…

A Puppy And A Newborn

When Nana Chaichanhda, a single-mother from Stockton, California, brought home a baby pit bull around the same time that she had given birth to her now 7-month-old baby girl, she was nervous about how the dog would act around her daughter.

The Stereotypes

Nana had heard the negative things about the breed, but when she finally saw the 2 together, all her worries immediately faded away. Not only was the pit bull puppy named Sasha, now 8 months old, extremely gentle with baby Masailah, but she was extremely protective…

An Unbreakable Bond

As the months passed by, Nana watched as Sasha and Masailah formed an incredible bond. “She’s in her bed every day. They take baths together and everything,” Nana said about how Sasha and Masailah do absolutely everything together.

An Unusual Decision

Nana now considers Sasha part of the family and normally lets her sleep inside the apartment with her and her daughter. However, on the night of Sunday, June 3, 2018, Nana made a decision that she had no idea would help save her and her baby’s life…

Time For Bed

Rather than having Sasha sleep inside like she always did, Nana decided to let Sasha sleep outside in the backyard and enjoy the fresh air since it was getting warmer in the apartment at night. After letting Sasha out, Nana put Masailah to bed and fell asleep herself.

A Confusing Disturbance

Just a few hours later, however, Nana was woken up by the sound of frantic barking at around 10-11 p.m. Nana couldn’t believe it but the barking sounded like it was coming from her backyard. At first, Nana thought it couldn’t possibly be Sasha…

Uncharacteristic Behavior

Nana couldn’t understand what was happening since the 8-month-old pit bull had never done anything like it. Sasha had never woken her up during the night and barely barked, so initially, Nana thought it must be someone else’s dog.

A Frantic Puppy

However, as the frantic barking continued, she realized Sasha really was making all the noise. “I was awoken by my pitbull pup Sasha banging and crying at my backyard door. Little did I know, Sasha would become my hero…”

Unexplained Agitation

After getting herself out of bed, Nana made her way to the back door and found Sasha barking and jumping up on the door, but she still couldn’t understand what was making her normally quiet and well-behaved dog so agitated.

A Red Flag

Nana thought Sasha was possibly upset about being left to sleep outside overnight, but when she opened the door, Nana knew something serious had to be wrong since the 8-month-old still wouldn’t stop barking and frantically running around…

A Beeline For The Bedroom

“I open it and she runs in and starts barking at me like crazy, and I was like, ‘OK, this is weird. This is not like her,'” Nana explained. “I’m like, ‘What the heck is wrong with you? Like, you don’t do this.'” Then, without any warning, Sasha ran toward the bedroom.

An Eye-Catching Visual

“Sasha ran into our home, straight into our bedroom. I was confused for a minute,” said Nana, who was about to turn and chase after Sasha when something outside caught her attention out of the corner of her eye…

The Fire

“I looked up and there’s black smoke coming from my neighbor’s house. You can see the flames coming out,” Nana said about the moment she realized the apartment complex next door, which was being rented by her cousin, was on fire.

Time Is Running Out

“My neighbor’s home was totally destroyed, and the fire was quickly spreading to my unit,” Nana said about the terrifying moment she realized what was happening. “Sasha my sweet pup was banging on my backyard door and crying. Little did I know she was trying to warn us of the fire…”

A Mad Dash

The fire was quickly growing and Nana’s apartment was already starting to catch on fire as well. Knowing her cousin wasn’t home at the time, Nana ran into the bedroom to grab her daughter and Sasha, and get out of the apartment before it was too late.

A Proactive Pup

When Nana ran into the bedroom, however, she was stunned by what she saw. Instead of waiting for her to figure out that they were all in danger, Sasha had already started working to save baby Masailah and get her out of the home…

A Heroic Act

“I ran into the bedroom, where Sasha was already dragging my 7-month-old baby off the bed by her diaper,” Nana said about the moment she saw Sasha pulling her baby out of bed as gently as she could. “She has my baby by the diaper just dragging her off the bed — trying to get her to safety.”

Good And Bad News

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are you doing,'” said Nana, who grabbed her daughter and her dog and ran outside to safety. “Thanks to Sasha we were able to get out safe and call 911. We got everyone out of their homes and to safety.” Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after and were able to put out the flames. Most of the units in the apartment complex were saved, however, Nana’s apartment and her cousin’s were both completely destroyed…

Rebuilding Their Life

Now, Nana, her baby, and her 2 other kids who were not home at the time of the fire are staying with her aunt while Sasha is being kept at another family member’s home. “She misses the kids and sleeping in their beds. I take the kids over there so Sasha doesn’t cry all day,” Nana said. “It’s hard to answer the questions, ‘Where are we going to live?’ and ‘Are we going to be homeless?’ when I’m trying to figure that out as well, so right now we’re leaning on each other.”

A True Hero

Since the fire, a GoFundMe account has been set up to help Nana rebuild her life. Now, Nana is just trying to spread her story to help change the negative stereotypes about pit bulls. “If it wasn’t for her, I would have still been in bed and things could have taken a worse turn,” Nana said. “I owe Sasha my life and my children’s. She saved us all. She is our hero. Without her, we probably would’ve never made it out.”

Pit Bull Pulls Baby From Bed To Save Her From Disaster No One Saw Coming is an article from: LifeDaily

You never know what kind of cab driver you’re going to get in New York City or any other city for that matter. Whether it’s hailing a yellow cab, or Uber, Via, or Lift, it’s the luck of the draw. Sometimes, you’ll have a really pleasant experience, and other times you’ll wonder why you didn’t just walk or take the train.

For the most part, despite how crappy your driver may be, the most important thing is that you get to your destination safely. But, unfortunately, for one young woman living in NYC, she experienced a nightmare when hailing a taxi one summer night. Even though the ordeal left her emotionally scarred, three years later, she finally stood up to her attacker in court…

A Night Out In Williamsburg

A 26-year-old non-profit employee living in New York recalls how she hailed a yellow cab in Williamsburg on May 26, 2011. It was Cinco de Mayo at the time and after working an entire day then getting drinks with friends, it was safe to say she was exhausted.

Yellow Taxi Cab

She got in the first cab that stopped for her and figured there was no harm in taking a little nap on her way to her Manhattan apartment. This decision turned out to be one of the worst she’s ever made…

She Could Never Forget That Night

She describes how flashbacks of that night forced her to leave the city a year later and she wound up moving to the West Coast. To this day, she still struggles on a daily basis with the emotional distress caused by the disturbing ordeal.

Her Worst Nightmare

“I was terrified I wouldn’t make it out alive,” she recalled. “I still have nightmares.” The whole thing was totally traumatic for her, but what actually happened that night? 

Woke Up In An Unfamiliar Place

She briefly fell asleep and by the time she woke up, she was a few blocks away from a nightclub, at the corner of Rodney St. and South 1st, in Manhattan. So instead of being taken home, she was taken to a darkened corner where the cab driver allegedly pulled out a knife on her, bound her wrists together with a scarf and blindfolded her.

Treating Her Like Garbage

She was then raped against her will and when the attacker was done with her, he stole her cell phone, $20 cash, and threw her out of the cab while speeding away. By then it was 6 am and she was left with no money and no phone to call for help…

A Difficult Man To Find

To say it was a traumatizing night for this young woman would be an understatement. The woman immediately went to police and the hunt was on for the yellow taxi cab with a rapist driving behind the wheel. But how would they find him if there are nearly 13,000 yellow cabs in the city?

Another Woman Spoke Out

The case initially ran cold for a few months, until September 23 when another woman in Harlem was raped by a cab driver. The woman told police that the rapist put paper towels in her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He also stole her credit card, which is what ultimately led police to him…

Undercover Sting Operation

Using the victim’s credit card record, detectives linked Singh, a cab driver with the Taxi and Limousine Commission, to that attack. Investigators got a partial identification of the cab’s plate and medallion number, then police, along with the Taxi and Limousine Commission, launched an undercover sting operation.

Fooling Singh

Police tricked Singh by posing as Taxi and Limousine Commission inspectors when they offered Singh a cup of water. They secretly snagged his DNA off the cup, which turned out to be a match…

The DNA Matched

Police matched Singh’s DNA to forensic evidence they recovered and that’s how they nailed him. The case was taken to trial and Gurmeet Singh was believed to have raped two women in 2011.

Lying Under Oath

But in an attempt to be let off without punishment for the horrific crime he committed, Singh insisted that the sex was consensual. Although it was a desperate and outrageous claim, Singh’s father spoke on his son’s behalf saying, “I confidently say that my son cannot do this kind of work.” He continued…

He Belongs To The Sikh Faith

“Never, ever. He’s very religious. He’s very God-fearing,” Dhain Singh said. Dhain was referring to his son belonging to the Sikh faith. Singh’s sister even called her brother, who is a father of two, “a gentle, generous, compassionate human being.” Their statements showed just how little they really knew about their own blood.

Standing Up To Her Attacker

Singh’s first victim was the woman pioneering the lawsuit against him and she wrote a powerful letter to the Brooklyn Supreme Court. “You may have bound, gagged and blindfolded me, but I’m the one who’s speaking now,” she said. “You will be serving time.” She testified how she woke up with the bearded, foul-smelling sicko straddling her after she dozed off in the backseat following a night out in Williamsburg…

Tough Deliberation

The members of the jury deliberated for over a day and some actually bought Singh’s account that the back-seat sex was consensual. “It was tough,” said a 27-year-old juror, who pointed out that the victim was tired and had a few drinks. “You have to be more aware of your surroundings,” she said.

A Chilling Atmosphere In The Courtroom

However, a 61-year-old female juror said of the victim’s testimony, “I was terrified. I thought it was really scary.” “But that wasn’t the worst of it,” the juror added. “I heard things in the jury room that really shocked me,” said the teacher.

Brooklyn Jury

The jury eventually agreed that the woman must have passed out and couldn’t have thrown herself at the driver. “I thought, ‘I’m going to get killed,’” the victim recounted through tears.

Struggling To Reach A Verdict

Brooklyn jurors described sitting on the panel as a heart-wrenching experience. “I’m so relieved to be out of there,” one of them said. Despite the numerous disagreements the panel had during deliberations, they finally reached a verdict…

The Charges

Gurmeet Singh, 42, was guilty and given a 20-year sentence (five years shy of the maximum), all thanks to the brave victim who took the stand against him. He was convicted of rape but acquitted on other counts, including predatory sexual assault and robbery. 

More Truth Comes Out

Defense lawyer Collin Moore said that Singh later admitted to paying prostitutes for hanky-panky in his cab. But as far as the cases against him, he argued that the rape was an “aberration.”

Three Years Later, Pervy New York City Cab Driver Pays The Price For His Crimes is an article from: LifeDaily

Another day, another college shooting. In these all too common events its easy to forget that the feeling of safety we have can easily be shattered. No one is safe in these events, no matter how hard we try to stay out of it or want to hide or think this can’t happen to us, there is always a chance.

If the shooter has a goal it is almost impossible for them to be stopped and you won’t even know what happened until the moment strikes…

Sound Of Silence

They say sometimes that you hear the bullet that gets you. That you know that this is the one that is coming for you and that will be the end. It is hard to know if any of that is true or not, maybe you never hear it, maybe that is the better way to go. We can’t really ask anyone about it, it isn’t like anyone lives to really tell the story.

Napping on the job

When police found Ron, he had already been shot when they found him on the ground, dead in his print shop. You can wonder if he heard it, the bullet coming toward him from the gun. Maybe he heard the footsteps of the attacker approach or the cocking of the shotgun. Maybe it was silent in the moment before and he never processed any of the noises.

What We Know

All we can know for sure is that Ron, at age 44, was shot dead at the school print shop where he worked by a former co-worker. Maybe the whole thing was nothing, just another one of those statistics of school shootings that seem to happen all the time.

But why

Or perhaps there was something more to this. A motive, a reason, some sort of rationale that might exist to explain the death of Ron in his print shop on a Monday morning on what was otherwise a fairly quiet and ordinary day in Florida. All that we do know for sure are some simple facts.

A Nice guy

At the time of his death, Ron was 44 years old and he had been an employee of the college for some time. He was generally well-liked by the faculty, other campus personnel, and even the students who worked with Ron at the print shop. As the head of the print shop, Ron was in charge of not only other faculty but of work-study students as well.

Getting through school

It was due to one of his work-study students that all of Ron’s trouble sadly began. Kenneth Morgan Stancil was one of Ron’s former employees. As part of his financial aid packet, Kenneth was awarded by Wayne Community College in North Carolina a fixed amount of money that goes toward his tuition and bills so long as he works on the campus.

Help is needed

It was in this capacity that Ron and Kenneth met each other, Ron got an extra pair of hands around the shop and Kenneth was in a better position to afford the degree he had been seeking. Much to the dismay of Ron however, Kenneth wasn’t all that good of an employee. He was frequently late or just didn’t show up to work at all.

Go home

So in March, Kenneth was let go from the shop. He just wasn’t a reliable enough employee for Ron to keep around, and he just couldn’t depend on him to get the work done. Something must have triggered Kenneth after he was told that he no longer had a job at the print shop.

The Crazy 88’s

He became unreasonably angry and couldn’t seem to let it go or maybe he just didn’t want to let it go. On a weekend in April Kenneth gave himself a tattoo. The number 88 on his left cheek just below his eye. The following Monday he took his motorcycle to campus, walked up to the building that housed the print shop, climbed to the third floor, and fired a single round into Ron, killing him.

Run Run Far

Kenneth immediately fled before the cops were able to arrive. The campus was placed on lockdown but Kenneth had no intention of harming anyone other than his former boss. By the time the police arrived Kenneth had already long since fled and the search to find him was on.

Ninja Vanish

About 80 miles south of Wayne’s Goldsboro campus along I-95 police recovered Kenneth’s motorcycle abandoned on a median but there was no sign of him anywhere nearby. While police began to search for him, a few of them went to his house to found any clues as to why this tragic moment happened.

Long Story Short

Kenneth left behind a 6-page letter and a video explaining his motives, though police have not released any of that footage to the general public as of it. His mother, Debbie, however, told officers, “He was verbally inappropriate with Morgan at school. Very much verbally inappropriate, he would tell him to stop and he kept on.”

Beach Vacation

The college knew of no complaints lodged against Ron and couldn’t backup what his mother had said to the officers. The manhunt for Kenneth only lasted a day as he was reported to the local police of Daytona Beach the next day having been found asleep on the sand.

Easy Target

When police arrived to arrest him he was found with a large knife on him but no sign of the suspected murder weapon. Luckily he went with police quietly and was taken back up to North Carolina to be tried and investigated. Police aren’t exactly sure how Kenneth even managed to get to Florida having abandoned his bike 420 miles to the north.

Initiation?

During his arrest and arraignment police noticed the tattoo that he had given himself just this past weekend. The 88 on his face worried officers as that has become a symbol of neo-nazism and although Ron was white, he was also gay and a good target for the well-established hate group.

Just a Poser

In his defense, his mother argued that Kenneth wasn’t actually a neo-nazi, he was angry, but the tattoo is new and he was likely more of a wannabe than anything else. He was a troubled kid, having lost his father to suicide in 2009. It changed him, how could that not, but he had maintained good grades and was doing well, or so everyone assumed.

Crazy Relative

When Kenneth appeared in court for the first time to stand trial for what he had done he made a number of odd and outlandish statements to the judges and lawyers present. He told the court that Ron was a bad person, that he had sexually assaulted a relative of his and that there is one less child molester in the world now.

False Testimony

In private, and on the record, Kenneth’s mother told everyone that she knows for certain that what Kenneth says can’t be true about the sexual assault as the relative in question and Ron had never met before. She feels that her son must be rattled and confused, but knows what he did was wrong and that he needs mental help because he seems out of his mind.

Took it poorly

The coordinator of the educational support facilities, Brent Hood, remarked on the incident to the associated press. “I guess from my point of view, Kenneth was angry over getting dismissed from his duties, he worked very well with Ron; he worked very well with my other employees.”

Hard to feel safe

No verdict has been made yet regarding the murder of Ron, and as of now, the judge has denied Kenneth bond forcing him to remain locked up while the investigation continues. In the meantime, police and investigators are still looking for clues and answers, and the college as a whole in trying to recover from what is becoming a common event nationally.

Investigators Discover Behind Violent Incident On College Campus is an article from: LifeDaily