Murder & Mayhem

It’s time to look back on 2020 and the top legal stories of the year. (Episode 70) More

December 17, 2020

PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday for stabbing his mother to death after he got angry when she threatened to kick him out of the house. Nathaniel Shimmel, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday after facing a first-degree murder charge and the possibility of […] More

December 17, 2020

Body camera video shows the first interactions police had with Gregory and Travis McMichael, the father and son charged with Arbery's murder. More

December 16, 2020

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for killing and dismembering nine people, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, in a case that shocked the country. The Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court found Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the […] More

December 15, 2020

17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was back in court for a probable cause hearing and like every aspect of this story, it was divisive. (Episode 69) More

December 10, 2020

Relatives said Casey Goodson, 23, was killed in the doorway of his grandmother’s house in Columbus as he walked through the front door. More

December 10, 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Twenty-nine inmates have been charged in connection with a South Carolina prison riot that left seven inmates dead and 22 injured in 2018, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday. The charges were filed against the inmates at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, Attorney General Alan Wilson said at a news conference. […] More

December 7, 2020

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A California attorney for an Illinois 17-year-old accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during a night of unrest in Wisconsin is extracting himself from his criminal defense after prosecutors raised ethical concerns about the lawyer.   Los Angeles civil lawyer John Pierce has been at the forefront […] More

December 7, 2020

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As days turned into years, Brett Woolley came to accept that his father’s murderer would never be found — and that his family’s private tragedy had become a Wild West legend, the kind of thing folks shared when they were a few too many drinks deep. […] More

December 7, 2020

A council of Kentucky prosecutors says it does not have the legal authority to appoint another special prosecutor in the Breonna Taylor case. More

December 4, 2020

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — There is enough evidence to warrant a trial for an Illinois 17-year-old accused of killing two men and wounding a third during a night of unrest in Wisconsin, a court commissioner ruled Thursday after a contentious hearing in which the defendant’s lawyer tried to show he had acted in self-defense. Kyle […] More

December 3, 2020

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A 17-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two men during an August protest in Wisconsin was due in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing in the case. Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, is also charged in the wounding of a third person on Aug. 25 during a night of unrest in Kenosha […] More

December 3, 2020

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015. U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn submitted a one-sentence notice of the decision concerning Robert Dear that did not include any explanation of the reasons […] More

December 2, 2020

GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (Scripps News Lexington) — David Sparks was sentenced to 50 years in prison Thursday for his role in the disappearance and murder of Savannah Spurlock. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to murder, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse. It wasn’t a normal courtroom proceeding. Due to COVID-19, the judge sentenced […] More

December 2, 2020

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A prosecutor in Nevada said Tuesday that three people from Texas could face terrorism and hate-crime charges following several Thanksgiving day shootings in suburban Las Vegas, including one that killed a man at a convenience store, and more shootings before their arrests in rural Arizona. Michael Schwartzer, a chief deputy Clark […] More

December 2, 2020

POLK CITY, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman has died weeks after a group of teenagers intentionally ran over her as she defended her son, who had been assaulted by the teens, deputies said. Suzette Penton, a librarian in Polk City, died last week from injuries suffered in the Nov. 9 crash, according to the […] More

December 1, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of raping and strangling 10 women in Los Angeles. However, the court reversed his conviction for the death of one victim’s fetus. Chester Dewayne Turner, a 54-year-old one-time pizza deliveryman, was convicted in 2007 of first-degree murder […] More

December 1, 2020

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newson has reversed parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, marking the fourth time a governor has blocked her release.   A California panel recommended parole in July for Van Houten, who has spent nearly five decades in prison. Newsom reversed her release once previously and his predecessor, Jerry […] More

December 1, 2020

Encore Episode – Court TV was on site for the first court appearance of the accused killers of jogger Ahmaud Arbery with gavel to gavel coverage. (Episode 67) More

November 26, 2020

Erica Stefanko was convicted of helping her then-husband, Chad Cobb, kill his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Biggs, during a custody dispute. More

November 24, 2020

Lynlee Renick is accused of killing her husband, world-famous snake breeder Benjamin Renick, who was shot to death. More

November 23, 2020

Joel Michael Guy Jr. was sentenced to two life terms for murdering and dismembering his parents over Thanksgiving weekend 2016. More

November 23, 2020

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities arrested a 23-year-old man in an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and killed, two were wounded and officers responding to a report of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot arrived to find the vehicle on fire. Roberto […] More

November 23, 2020

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — An Illinois 17-year-old accused of killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin was seen smiling in a photo with his lawyer and “Silver Spoons” actor Ricky Schroder after being released from custody by posting a $2 million bond. Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding […] More

November 23, 2020

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A 17-year-old from Illinois who is charged with killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin and whose case has become a rallying cry for some conservatives posted $2 million bail Friday and was released from custody. Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding […] More

November 20, 2020

UPDATED (COURT TV) Nov. 20, 2020 — An arraignment is scheduled for January 4, 2021, in the Colorado murder trial of Michael Close, the man accused of shooting a couple walking their dog in a Denver neighborhood, killing one. DENVER (AP) June 12, 2020 — Several hundred people gathered in a Denver suburb to remember […] More

November 20, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has rejected a divorce settlement between former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and his wife, citing the possibility of fraud. Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman did not discuss motives for the divorce in her October decision to reject an agreement that transferred most of the couple’s assets to […] More

November 19, 2020

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The British serial killer known as the “Yorkshire Ripper” died Friday, reviving unsettling memories of a killing spree that bred fear across northern England in the late 1970s. He was 74. Peter Sutcliffe was serving a life sentence for the killings of 13 women in Yorkshire and […] More

November 13, 2020

A Georgia judge denied bond for Travis and Gregory McMichael, the father and son charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery. More

November 13, 2020

LANCASTER, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man convicted of killing his teenage roommate and disposing of the body has been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Christopher Allen Holford, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday to murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in the February 2018 death of Austin Tyler Steele, 18, […] More

November 13, 2020