Category: Violent Crime
Convicted serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells has been executed in Texas despite his claims the drug that would be used to kill him could deliver an unconstitutionally painful death. Sells was sent to prison in 1999. ABC news reported he claimed responsibility for dozens of murders across the country. He was executed in Texas on…
Deaths of suspects in police custody are always a matter of grave concern. In a bizarre incident in South Dallas, a man has died after wrestling naked with police. Police used a Taser on him during the arrest. The death occurred on March 1 on the 3600 block of Colonial Avenue in South Dallas. Officers…
Gang crimes are among the most complex offenses investigators and prosecutors deal with in Texas because they can involve a raft of offenses ranging from money laundering, drug offenses and murder. They can also cross the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The complicated and far reaching nature of these crimes were illustrated this month…
The legal system in Texas is littered with wrongful convictions and the sad stories of defendants who have languished in prisons for crimes they did not commit. The case of Daniel Villegas appears to fall into an all too familiar pattern. As a young and vulnerable suspect he claimed detectives intimidated him into confessing to…
Family members said they knew Julie Ann Rodriguez’s life was in danger. She was a potential witness in a homicide trial involving an ex-boyfriend. But reports suggested they did not think the worst would happen. Tragically, she was gunned down in the driveway of her home a week ago. Associated Press said police reports identified…
In a case that attracted considerable media interest, a 44-year-old former stripper was recently convicted of attempting to kill her fiancé with the help of her teen son and his friend. Vicky Renee Miller, 44, was found guilty of attempting to kill Paul Key in November 2011. She received the maximum sentence of 20 years…
A teenager who was arrested following the homicide of 6-year-old Alanna Gallagher, has also been accused of shooting a police officer who attempted to arrest him. The recent killing of Alanna Gallagher shocked the Texas community of Saginaw after her body was found wrapped in a tarpaulin on a street corner. Associated Press reported Tyler…
A high profile investigation into the killing of a 6-year-old in Saginaw, Texas, highlights the increasing complexity of evidence gathering in the modern era. The death of Alanna Gallagher has shocked a Texas community. Her body was found earlier this month in the middle of a Saginaw road, naked and wrapped in a tarp. The…
Mistrials are rare but we see them from time to time. In a high profile case in Texas a mistrial has been declared after a jury was deadlocked in the trial of a woman charged in the 2011 stabbing death of a Huston-Tillotson University athlete in Austin. In the case, the jury deadlocked 11-to-1 on…
The important role played by a Texas forensic lab has been highlighted in relation to a high profile murder investigation in Massachusetts. Fox News reported the authorities in Massachusetts are sending evidence from the Molly Bish homicide investigation to the Orchid Cellmark lab in Dallas. Bish was just 16 in 2000 when she disappeared at…