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Newlywed Wife Pushes Husband Off Cliff 8 Days After Wedding: Authorities

2013-09-13T14:27:00.001-07:00

A newlywed wife with doubts about her 8-day-old marriage confessed she pushed her husband face-first off a cliff in Glacier National Park, then lied about his death and told authorities he had driven off with friends, court documents said.

Federal prosecutors have given their version of what happened to Cody Lee Johnson, 25, two months after his body was found in an area of the park so steep and rugged that a helicopter had to be used in the recovery.

Jordan Linn Graham, 22, appeared Monday in federal court in Missoula, Mont., on a second-degree murder charge in Johnson's July 7 death. Her attorney, public defender Andrew Nelson, declined to comment.

Johnson's family and friends had called for an investigation since the body was recovered July 12 below the Loop Trail near the sheer cliff drops of the park's popular Going to the Sun Road.

Johnson loved her and was excited for their marriage after a two-year courtship, but his relatives suspected that Graham didn't exactly reciprocate, family friend Tracey Maness said. She was aloof, didn't want to spend time with his family, and clammed up when she did, Maness said.

He told his mother that Graham would change when they got married, Maness said.

"Nobody ever could have thought something like this could happen," she said.

Second Thoughts About Marriage

On the night Johnson died, Graham told a friend that she meant to talk with Johnson about "having second thoughts about having been married," according to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.

Just before 9 p.m., she texted the friend that she was about to talk to him.

"But dead serious if u don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened," Graham wrote, according to the affidavit.

Johnson was reported missing July 8 when he failed to show up for work, and Graham was questioned the following day.

She originally told investigators that Johnson sent her a text message the night of his death, saying he was going for a drive with a friend from out of town.

She said she arrived to see a dark-colored car pulling out of their driveway, and that Johnson was in it.

Confession?

On July 11, two days after that interview, Graham told a park ranger in Glacier that she had found the body below the popular Loop area, the affidavit said.

The park ranger commented that it was unusual that she found it.

"It was a place he wanted to see before he died," she said, according to the affidavit. "He would come up here with friends to drive fast when his friends were visiting from out of town."

Five days later, Graham admitted to authorities in a second interview that she had lied, according to the affidavit. She told them she and Johnson had an argument, were upset and decided to go to the Loop Trail.

They continued arguing on the trail, and it intensified. At one point, she turned to walk away, but Johnson grabbed her arm, she said.

She turned around, removed his hand from her arm and "due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back, and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff," the affidavit said.

Maness described Johnson as a "big goofball" with a great sense of humor who was into cars, video games, four-wheeling and kayaking. During their engagement, the couple would go to Glacier for some of the easy day hikes, most recently in May, she said.

She said the family is relieved that the investigation is finally complete and charges brought after two months.

man sticks his penis in womans mail slot has been charged

2013-09-12T19:26:00.001-07:00

Authorities in Sweden said they arrested a man accused of thrusting his genitalia through the mail slot of a woman he did not know.
Investigators said the 50-year-old southern Sweden woman noticed a man following her while she was walking home and she heard a noise coming from her front door a short while after she arrived at the house, The Local.se reported Wednesday.
The woman investigated the sound and discovered the man sticking his penis through her mail slot.
The man fled the scene when the woman opened the door. Police said the same man allegedly exposed himself to a woman on the street the following day.
The man has been charged with two counts of sexual assault stemming from the incidents in July. He faces minor drug charges after traces of amphetamines were found in his blood.

Mexican restaurant offers free burritos to make up for bloody diarrhea they gave customers

2013-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Maricopa County, Ariz., officials believe that an E. coli breakout sickened 74 people that ate at Federico's Mexican Food in what became known as the "bloody diarrhea outbreak."
Federico's will offer free burritos in its newly sparkling restaurant. The outbreak only occurred at its Litchfield Park location, which voluntarily closed after word of the sickness spread.
The free burrito promotion falls on Mexican Independence Day.
While Federico's Mexican Food was closed, they brought in the "Queen of Clean," a TV cleaning personality that has been featured on Oprah, to be their "cleaning consultant."
She will be there for her free burrito now that the restaurant is spic and span. The Queen of Clean recorded a video about how she got the restaurant back to clean.

Man in Colo. Accused of Drunken Horseback Ride

2013-09-12T19:19:00.002-07:00

University of Colorado police have arrested a 45-year-old man suspected of going on a drunken horseback ride through the city of Boulder.

Police spokesman Ryan Huff tells The Daily Camera ( http://bit.ly/18K6Yvs ) that witnesses saw the man hit his horse and then occasionally wander into traffic near the school Monday afternoon. Patrick Neal Schumacher of Colorado Springs faces several charges, including animal cruelty and riding under the influence of alcohol.

Police say he had a small pug named Bufford in his backpack, as well as beer cans and a black-powder pistol in his saddlebag. Officers say he told them he was traveling from Larkspur, Colo., to his brother's wedding in Bryce, Utah, and that he had to make the 600-mile journey by horse because he lost his driver's license.

Vince Gill confronts Westboro Baptist protesters

2013-09-11T14:19:00.002-07:00

Vince Gill didn't mince words when he confronted protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church prior to his concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday -- and the moment was captured in a YouTube video.
The country star was targeted by the fringe church, infamous for its strident anti-gay views and protests at the funerals of soldiers, because he has divorced and remarried. The church considers that adultery.
Gill split with Sweethearts of the Rodeo singer Janis Oliver in 1998, and he's been married to singer/songwriter Amy Grant for the past 13 years, according to CMT.
As the video begins, Gill is seen approaching the picketers. A woman asks: "Vince Gill, what in the world are you doing out here?" His answer: "I just came to see what hate looked like."
At the end of the video, Gill asks: "Are any of you guys Phelpses? Or are you guys like the C team?" That's in reference to Westboro Baptist founder Fred Phelps, whose family makes up most of the small congregation of the church.

8 Year-Old Yemeni Child Bride Dies of Internal Injuries

2013-09-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

An 8 year-old Yemeni child bride, a mere girl, recently died on her wedding night from internal hemorrhaging. She was married to a man five times her age. As disgusting as the tradition of marrying off children to much older men is, it is common practice in Yemen. More than a quarter of the female population are married before the age of 15.
In 2010, a 12 year-old girl passed away after struggling for three days in labor, attempting to give birth to a baby. Countless other children have been subjected to similar atrocities.

Miley masters art of flattering fans

2013-09-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

Say what you will about tongue-wagging, twerking queen Miley Cyrus, but she sure knows how to keep her fans salivating — and smash Vevo records in the process.
The social-media-savvy pop star set her 13.7 million Twitter followers abuzz this past weekend, promising that if her racy new Wrecking Ball video broke the record for most views in 24 hours, she'd unveil the track list for forthcoming album Bangerz (out Oct. 8). Lo and behold, the video premiered to deafening fanfare Monday, garnering more than 19.3 million views and easily besting the previous Vevo record-holder, One Direction's Best Song Ever (which hit 12.3 million views in July).
By giving fans incentives to help them achieve small milestones, pop stars such as Miley Cyrus not only drum up awareness of new music and videos, but also help fans feel that they've contributed to their favorite artists' success.
"They're able to use these very simple moments and build anticipation for a lot of different aspects of any project they're working on," says Mark Pasetsky, CEO of Mark Allen & Company, a public relations and content marketing agency that specializes in image branding. "It really connects them to their fans in a new and unique way."
MILEY CYRUS
The rundown: It wasn't the first time Miley has asked for fans' assistance. Throughout the summer, she frequently encouraged them to help increase her Twitter followers and We Can't Stop video views. After breaking the Vevo record Tuesday morning, she also asked fans to push Wrecking Ball to No. 1 on the iTunes song charts — and got there.
The reward: In return, she's given fans a director's cut of her We Can't Stop video, the Bangerz album cover and its deluxe-edition track list.
The verdict: "It's a number of things that makes someone like her successful," Pasetsky says of Miley's Twitter following. "It's the tone of voice, it's very conversational. You feel like she's talking directly to you." Pasetsky also applauds her way of mixing it up: tweeting photos, asking questions, providing updates and giving "really simple instructions" when it comes to purchasing music or watching videos.

Delhi gang-rape verdict out; prosecution demand death penalty

2013-09-10T13:58:00.004-07:00

A Delhi court on Tuesday convicted all four accused in the gang-rape and death of a physiotherapy student in December last year--a crime that sparked nationwide protests and forced the government to bring in stringent rape laws.
The prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta were guilty of the attack on the 23-year-ol.
woman in a bus on December 16, ruled additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna in a jam-packed courtroom.

Besides gangrape and murder, the court held Mukesh (26), Vinay Sharma (20), Pawan Gupta (19) and Akshay Singh Thakur (28) guilty of attempt to murder, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping or abducting in order to murder. Gang of four: the men held guilty in Delhi gang-rape case.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna, presiding the court, also convicted them for kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confining a person, abducting to subject a person to grievous hurt and slavery, abducting woman to cause her defilement, and voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery of the IPC.
As soon as the verdict was delivered, Pawan broke down while Vinay was in a state of shock.
Mukesh was heard saying "that they would have to face the consequences for what they have done". The fourth convict Akshay seemed unaffected. We will have to suffer for what we did: Delhi gang-rape convict
"All the accused have been convicted for various offences including attempt to kill the complainant (victim's male friend), for gangrape with the victim and also for unnatural sex with her and killing the victim..."
"The accused have also tried to destroy the evidence after the incident, so they are convicted under section 201 of the IPC. They had abducted the victim to have illicit intercourse with her, so they are convicted under section 366 of the IPC," the judge said while pronouncing the judgement.
The murder charge, for which the four men have been convicted, entails a maximum of death penalty and life term as the minimum punishment. Delhi gang-rape convicts 'accept' verdict, protesters demand death
While pronouncing the verdict, the judge said, even though the proceedings against accused Ram Singh (34), who was found dead in his prison cell after he committed suicide on March 11, were abated, "he is also convicted under same sections (gangrape, murder and other offences)".

The court relied on the dying declaration of the victim, forensic evidence, including finger prints, dental models, DNA samples and other medical reports of the convicts, electronic evidence and the statements given by them to the police after their arrests.
The judge also said that the presence of the convicts in the bus in which the crime was committed has been established through the location of their mobile networks. who said what in court?

Before pronouncing the over 230-page judgement, the judge thanked the Delhi Police, the prosecution team and the defence counsel for bringing the case to its conclusion.
Defence lawyer A P Singh alleged the verdict has been delivered under pressure and the four men will now be punished for the offences which they have not committed.
Advocate V K Anand, who appeared for Mukesh, said he will appeal against this conviction in the superior courts as he was only driving the bus.
Mukesh's mother was seen crying in the court while the other family members refused to speak.

The four have been tried for offences under section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (2)(g) (gangrape), 377 (unnatural offences), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120-B (conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 365 ( kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC.

The court said the dying declarations of the victim, statements of 85 prosecution witnesses, DNA, forensic and electronic evidence proved the guilt of the accused.

Miley Cyrus' video 'Wrecking Ball' crushes it on vevo

2013-09-10T13:55:00.001-07:00

People can't resist watching Miley Cyrus -- even when she's not twerking.
The former Disney Channel star's new music video, "Wrecking Ball," dominated the Vevo Internet streaming service, wracking up 19.3 million views in 24 hours and setting a record for most views. Cyrus displaced the previous record holder, One Direction, whose "Best Song Ever" video had set the previous high water mark for one-day views (12.3 million views).
It's not hard to imagine why the music video attracted notice. Beginning with an arresting close up of Cyrus, a single tear flowing down her cheek, the singer ends up riding the wrecking ball of the title, wearing nothing but boots, and writhing suggestively on its heavy-duty chain.

Cyrus continues to try to break free from the chains of her days as chaste tween star of the Disney Channel show, "Hannah Montana."
The 20-year-old's raunchy performance during MTV's Video Music Awards (in which she did a bump and grind version of the twerk in a duet of "Blurred Lines" with Robin Thicke) reportedly cost her the cover of Vogue magazine's December fashion issue.
"Wrecking Ball" is the second single from the album "Bangerz," due out Oct. 8. The first single, "We Can't Stop," climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard charts and sold more than 2 million tracks.