Crime Time

Detective: Boys gunned down step-dad so they could run away

Police in Indiana say that two boys -- ages 12 and 15 -- fatally shot the older boy's stepfather so that they could run away to Arizona.

A judge has ruled that the boys will be tried as adults.

A detective told the judge that the boys, along with two friends who didn't take part in the shooting, plotted the killing of Phillip Danner, 49, for at least a month.

Danner was shot four times -- in the eye, the wrist and twice in the chest -- after the boys waited in the living room of Danner's house, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Crazed, hammer-wielding farmer attacks kindergarteners

What is going on in China?

For the third day in a row, a man has attacked students in a Chinese school.

This time it was a hammer-wielding farmer who attacked kindergarten students Friday in the eastern city of Weifang, injuring five of them before pouring gasoline on his body and setting himself on fire. The crazed farmer died.

None of the five student sustained life-threatening injuries.On Thursday, an unemployed man stabbed 29 kindergarten students in the city of Taixing and on Wednesday, a 33-year-old ex-teacher broke into a primary school in the city of Leizhou and wounded a teacher and 15 students with a knife, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Dallas baby left for hours inside car dies, officials say

A 7-month-old girl left inside a car for several hours outside a Dallas house has died, according to reports.

A family member who took the child's mother to work was supposed to take the baby to daycare, WFAA television reported.

Firefighters responding to an "unconscious person" call in the 1900 block of Sedona Lane found found the baby unresponsive inside the car, said Jason L. Evans, public information officer for the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department. Evans said the child was taken to Methodist Hospital in Dallas.

Firefighters broke the window out of the car to get to the girl locked inside, Evans said.

He said it was unknown why the baby was left in the car.

-- Lance Murray

The undead: 'Victim' of fatal crash found asleep in his bed

Alfred and Geri Espito of Mastic Beach, N.Y., must have had a true emotional roller coaster ride Saturday when police told them that their 26-year-old son "Freddy" was killed in an auto accident.

A police officer had found Freddy's driver's license clutched in the hand of one of the crash victims.

Ninety minutes later the couple found out that Freddy was alive, well and asleep at the home he shared with his brother. The brother, thought he was seeing a ghost, when he found Freddy.

Police aren't sure how 18-year-old Paul Richards, the real victim of the crash, had come to possess a copy of Freddy's license, but said they had once been frat brothers, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Wednesday's murder toll hits 20 in violent border city

Yesterday we told you about the discovery of the bodies of eight men shot to death outside a bar in Juarez, Mexico.

Well, that wasn't even the half of it.

Wednesday's death toll in the border city across from El Paso was actually at least 20.  The toll also included four teens gunned down inside a car in front of a convenience store and three people fatally shot in a Cadillac outside an elementary school.  Five other homicides were reported Wednesday night, the El Paso Times reported.

It was one of the deadliest days so far this year in Juarez, which is caught up in a more than 2-year-old drug cartel war.

-- Lance Murray

Guilty: Man drowned stepdaughter, 3, for insurance payoff

A jury in Washington state has convicted a man of drowning his 3-year-old stepdaughter so that he could collect on a $200,000 life insurance policy.

Joel Zellner, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Ashley McLellan who died after being found in the family pool.

Prosecutors told the jury that Zellner had a history of preying on single mothers he dated so that he could get potential insurance payoffs on their children. Other children he was around suffered broken bones, burns and near-drownings, the jury was told.

-- Lance Murray

'Disgusted' police chief takes aim at those who break rules

There's been plenty written in the past months about Fort Worth police officers in trouble -- from drunken driving accusations to yesterday's announcement by Chief Jeff Halstead that an officer had been fired on allegations that he possessed marijuana and tampered with evidence while on duty. 

Staff writer Deanna Boyd reports that a "disgusted" Halstead announced Wednesday that he's reorganizing the department from the top down. He'll be putting more high-ranking officers on the streets in an effort to increase supervision of the rank-and-file officers.

"To those very, very select few who think that you can stand against policy, that you can violate the public's trust, I will find you and I will fire you," Halstead said at a news conference attended by the department's newest recruit class.

You can read Boyd's full report here.

-- Lance Murray

28 kindergarteners, 3 adults stabbed in attack on class

In the second such attack in as many days, 28 children -- most about 4 years old -- and three adults were stabbed Thursday at a kindergarten in eastern China, the Associated Press reported.

The news agency reported that five of the kids were in critical condition. The adults were two teachers and a security guard.

Police said the suspect is a 47-year-old man.

On Wednesday, a man entered a primary school in southern China and wounded 15 students and a teacher with a knife, the AP reported.

-- Lance Murray

Counterfeiters pass bogus $100 bills to Keller youth athletic leagues

OK, you just shouldn't mess with youth athletic leagues.

Police in Keller say that counterfeiters passed three bogus $100 bills at the concession stands for the Keller Youth Association and two fake $100s at the concession stands for the Keller Soccer Association, the Keller Citizen reports.

Police arrested two men in connection with recent counterfeiting cases in the city, Star-Telegram writer Domingo Ramirez reports.

-- Lance Murray

Report: Bodies of 8 men found at Juarez bar

The El Paso Times is reporting that eight men were killed early Wednesday at a bar near Downtown Juárez.

The bodies were discovered at about 4:30 a.m. when police arrived at the scene, the Times reported.

The city continues to be in the grips of a deadly cartel war that has taken more than 5,000 lives since January 2008.  This year alone, more than 770 people have been slain in the city.

-- Lance Murray