Griem: Bashara likely will be charged in wife's murder

Detroit— Robert Bashara will likely be charged in his wife's murder, said the attorney who was allowed Tuesday to withdraw from representing the Grosse Pointe Park man.

And Bashara, who already faces charges on accusations he tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife's alleged murderer, will probably testify in both trials, attorney David Griem said.

By Christine Ferretti and George Hunter
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Macomb County teacher, foster dad facing child porn charges

Detroit— A fourth-grade teacher from Macomb County who also is a foster parent will appear in federal court today after being charged with possessing and receiving child pornography.

David Joseph Kiluk, who teaches at George Washington Academy in Mount Clemens, was charged Friday after federal agents allegedly found 55 child porn photos and videos on his home computer.

By Robert Snell
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Van Buren Township teacher faces sex charge

Detroit— A Van Buren Township teacher has been charged with furnishing a 15-year-old boy who wasn't her student with sexually explicit material and alcohol at a softball field.

Andrea Brennan, 37, of Ypsilanti was charged Monday with distributing sexually explicit material to a minor, use of a computer to commit a crime and furnishing alcohol to a minor. If convicted, she could spend up to four years in prison.

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2 charged with larceny in connection to deaths of Westland teens

Detroit—Two people were arraigned Saturday on charges of larceny, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence in connection to the deaths of Westland teens who were shot and left in a Detroit field.

Police arrested Casey Green, 39, and Larry Anderson, 40, at 1 a.m. July 24 as they were removing items from a vehicle belonging to one of the victims.

By Lauren Abdel-Razzaq
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Brothers to learn today if they'll be out of jail

They have been granted new trial in 1987 murder case

Detroit — Janet Hirth has waited more than two decades for her nephews to come home.

Raymond and Thomas Highers, both 46, of Flat Rock, have served 25 years of a life prison term in a 1987 murder that the men maintain they did not commit.

Today, the brothers are expected to learn if they'll be released and reunited with relatives after a Wayne Circuit Court judge last week granted the Highers a new trial.

"We've always believed in their innocence. For a while, we didn't think there was much hope," said Hirth, 57, of Roseville. "They are so happy and can't wait to get home. They feel justice is finally served. It's all about the truth."

By Christine Ferretti
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Suit claims NFL player beat patron with bottle at Birmingham bar

Pontiac — A Detroit man is suing the recently closed South Bar in Birmingham, five unidentified bouncers and an NFL football player he claims smashed a champagne bottle over his head on March 26.

The Oakland Circuit Court lawsuit filed this week by Robert Ford, 30, alleges he was returning from a restroom area when — for unknown reasons — Ronald Talley, a defensive end with the Arizona Cardinals, smashed the bottle over Ford's head multiple times, causing it to break and glass shards to pierce his skull.

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Police: Lake Michigan rower's assailant may have followed her blog

Traverse City — Five weeks ago, Jenn Gibbons set off on 1,500-mile solo rowing journey around Lake Michigan to raise money for breast cancer survivors, blogging along the way about life on the water. Police say someone following her well-chronicled voyage from a distance may have used the information to do her harm.

A man broke in as Gibbons slept in the vessel's cabin, police say, and sexually assaulted her while the boat was moored along the shore in the Upper Peninsula. She is going public about the ordeal, hoping it helps catch the assailant and sends a message of strength to others who have been assaulted.


By John Flesher
Associated Press
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Witness, audiotape link Bashara to hit-for-hire plot

Judge orders him to trial on solicitation of murder charges

Detroit— In a tape-recorded setup in June, Robert Bashara allegedly hatched a plan with a Detroit appliance store owner to carry out the killing of a handyman for $20,000 — and a phony complaint from Bashara about a refrigerator would be the cue to set the deal in motion.

Two days later, Bashara allegedly returned to the store on East Warren, made a $2,000 down payment and took a receipt.

Details of four June meetings were revealed Tuesday through testimony and muffled tape recordings in 36th District Court during a preliminary examination before Chief Judge Kenneth King, who ordered the Grosse Pointe Park man to stand trial on charges of solicitation of murder. Bashara faces up to life in prison if convicted.


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Man accused in 2006 murder extradited to Michigan

A man wanted in connection with a 2006 murder and robbery in Scio Township has been extradited to Michigan, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Jonathon Lee Aiden, 32, is being held without bond at the county jail on open murder charges. His next court date is scheduled for July 31.

Aiden had been in prison in Florida for burglary charges.

In November, he was officially charged with open murder in the 2006 crime at a Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership on Jackson Road.

Another suspect, Shane Noel Roscoe, was convicted June 8 of felony murder, safe breaking, breaking and entering and resisting and obstructing.

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Witness wore wire in alleged plot of hit

Detroit — Steve Tibaudo couldn't recall meeting Jane Bashara, but while testifying in court Tuesday, he broke down in tears twice after he mentioned her name.

Tibaudo, owner of Steve's Furniture and Appliances on Detroit's east side, was the prosecution's star witness in Tuesday's preliminary examination against Robert Bashara, who is charged with solicitation of murder. Prosecutors say Bashara agreed to pay Tibaudo $20,000 to kill Joseph Gentz, a handyman who is in jail after being charged with Jane Bashara's Jan. 24 murder.

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Second man charged in Macomb County robbery spree

Chesterfield Township— A second man has been arrested and charged in a November armed robbery spree, officials said Tuesday.

Travis Wayne Blubaugh, 21, was arraigned Monday on two counts of armed robbery in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore, said Det. Sgt. Deron Myers with the Chesterfield Township Police.

Bond was set at $500,000 for Blubaugh, who is in the Macomb County Jail. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Police say Blubaugh is an accomplice and the getaway driver for Michael Zech, 28. Zech is accused of three armed robberies Nov. 15-17 in Chesterfield and Clinton townships.




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Man charged with mutilation of Allen Park pair due in court

Allen Park— A 39-year-old house guest charged with killing a couple who'd been hosting him, dismembering their bodies and dumping them in a river is due in court.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says Roger Bowling will be arraigned Monday.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy on Sunday charged Bowling with two counts of first-degree murder, mutilation of a body and felony firearm in the July 16 slayings of Danielle Greenway, 32, and Chris Hall, 42. The Allen Park man is also charged with tampering with evidence.

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Worthy: Probe of Oakland County child killer hindered

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy blasted Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper on Wednesday for naming a person of interest in the Oakland County child killer case and releasing DNA test results, saying those actions "severely compromised our investigation."

Cooper's revelation at a press conference Tuesday was described as a breakthrough in the unsolved murders of four children in 1976 and 1977. In an appeal to the public to come forward with information, Cooper named convicted pedophile Archibald Edward Sloan as a person of interest and said that a hair found in Sloan's red 1966 Pontiac Bonneville has the same mitochondrial DNA profile found on victims Mark Stebbins and Timothy King, the first and final victims.

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Dismembered bodies found in Detroit River were shot to death

Detroit— The man and woman whose dismembered bodies were found floating in the Detroit River on Tuesday died from gunshot wounds, according to an autopsy by the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

"The male had multiple gunshot wounds, and the female had a fatal gunshot wound to the head," said county spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell. "Both were caucasian, either in their 30s or 40s, although they haven't yet been identified."

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Suspect in Blissfield sisters' slayings found dead

The man wanted for the shooting deaths of two Blissfield sisters killed himself Tuesday night in a cabin in rural West Virginia as police closed in on him.

The U.S. Marshals Service, following up on a lead, discovered the body of Thomas Fritz in a remote cabin near Sistersville, in Tyler County, W.Va., according to Michigan State Police Lt. Sean Furlong.

Fritz, 38, an ex-convict and Iraqi war veteran, apparently shot himself.

"He is deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Furlong said. "His body was found in a cabin in a very remote area after it was surrounded by U.S. Marshals and members of the local sheriff's office."


By Tom Greenwood
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Bloody nose leads to boxer's arrest

FBI agent retrieves swab after fight, links DNA to bank robbery

In a life with few victories, Martin Tucker had a big one in April.

The struggling boxer won a unanimous decision during a four-round fight in Toledo. He was cheered by a hundred friends and relatives. Sitting ringside were Buster Douglas and Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns.

But someone else was in the audience — an FBI agent, according to court records.

Afterward, Special Agent Robert Schmitz retrieved a Q-Tip swab that had been used for a bloody nose sustained by Tucker.

Believing the light-welterweight had been involved in the robbery of a Monroe credit union in 2009, Schmitz brought the swab to an FBI lab that matched its DNA to genetic material from a black mask worn by one of the robbers, according to a criminal complaint.


By Francis X. Donnelly
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DNA links hair found in car to two victims of Oakland County Child Killings

Pontiac— More than three decades after the Oakland County child killings terrorized Metro Detroit, authorities Tuesday announced a "significant breakthrough" in the case.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, who has faced fierce criticism from victims' families over the slow pace and secrecy of the probe, said authorities have a "person of interest" based on DNA test results that link hair samples taken from a car and two victims.


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Sex offender charged with possessing child porn

Mount Clemens— A Macomb Township sex offender has been charged with possessing child pornography, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said Tuesday.

Daniel Joseph Morris, 45, has been charged with 10 counts of child pornography possession and a count of using a computer to communicate with another to commit a crime. Each count of the child porn charge is a four-year felony, and the computer charge is a seven-year felony, Wickersham said.

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Detroit lottery winner convicted of murdering daughter's ex-landlord

Detroit — The wife of an Australian man who was gunned down by a lottery winner last year said she has mixed feelings about the guilty verdict handed down Monday by a Wayne County jury.

Australian native Greg McNicol, 45, was murdered in 2011 outside an apartment complex he was renovating on Detroit's east side, following a longstanding dispute with one of his tenants over $1,000 in unpaid rent and loud, unruly visitors.

Former postal worker Freddie Young, 63, who won an estimated $1.57 million share of a Michigan Lottery jackpot in February 2011, was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder.

"I'm thankful that justice was done, but I'm not happy," said McNicol's widow, Katie Scartezini. "There's nothing to be happy about. My husband was cowardly murdered. I'm not celebrating — I'd be celebrating if my husband was still here by my side."

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Two teens to be arraigned in fatal carjacking outside Detroit coney island

Detroit — Two teens are set to be arraigned Monday afternoon in connection with a fatal carjacking of a young father in a coney island parking lot.

Victor Jerome Newell, 19, and Trenton Anthony Shell, 18, are charged with felony murder, carjacking, arson, receiving and concealing stolen property and firearm offenses in the July 12 death of 23-year-old Wyman Shaver.

Detroit police say the teens were arrested within nine hours of the 4 a.m. killing in the parking lot of Olympia Coney Island at Harper Avenue and Chalmers. Investigators apprehended the teens with the assistance of the Comprehensive Violence Reduction Partnership.

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    The Detroit News

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Police seek Ohio man in killing of 2 Michigan sisters

Blissfield— A nationwide search was under way Sunday for a 38-year-old ex-convict from Ohio suspected of shooting his ex-girlfriend and her sister to death and wounding their mother in southeastern Michigan.

State police Lt. Mardella Horhn said Thomas J. Fritz, of Sylvania, Ohio, hasn't been charged but is wanted for questioning. Fritz was released from an Ohio prison in 2008 after serving a 1-year sentence for criminal sexual conduct.

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Plea deal talks next for Gentz

Detroit— The lawyer for a handyman who claims he was hired to kill Jane Bashara said Wednesday she hopes to move swiftly to cut a deal for her client now that he's twice been deemed competent for trial.

Joseph Gentz, who did odd jobs for Robert Bashara, has claimed the Grosse Pointe Park man offered him $2,000 and a Cadillac to murder his wife.

Gentz's attorney, Susan Reed, said she hopes to reach a plea deal in advance of her client's Aug. 13 preliminary examination on murder and conspiracy charges.


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Grandmother formally charged with murder in teen's shooting

Pontiac — A West Bloomfield Township woman charged in the May 18 slaying of her teenage grandson appeared Thursday in Oakland Circuit Court for formal arraignment on charges in the death.

Sandra Layne, 74, stood mute before Judge Denise Langford Morris, who entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf and set a Sept. 13 status conference in the case.

Layne is charged with open murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the shooting death of her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, 17, in their condominium.

The diminutive Layne, dressed in orange jail garb with her arms shackled by belly chains, smiled as several of relatives, including her husband, Fred, waved to her from a front row. She is held in a two-woman cell in the Oakland County Jail without bond.

Outside the courtroom, Layne's attorney, Jerome Sabbota explained to reporters that while his client may be smiling, it masks her internal pain.

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Home raided after dogfight claim in video

Detroit— It was remarkably swift action, coming just days after a video went viral allegedly showing a local rapper bragging about dogfighting and offering a tour of the site: Police and humane society workers swooped in Wednesday and removed animals from a west side home believed to be the site.

Officers with a search warrant entered the home on the 12200 block of West Outer Drive just before noon, Detroit Police said.

Police and the Michigan Humane Society began investigating after receiving tips about the video allegedly showing someone who appears to be Young Calicoe touring an unidentified home with roosters and barking pit bull-like dogs in kennels. The tour guide calls them "champions in the making." At other times, a man refers to fighting dogs. "I hope we don't get indicted for that — that Michael Vick-type (expletive)," he said in reference to the NFL quarterback imprisoned for his role in a dogfighting ring.

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A hug, a dance, a fatal shot raise doubts

Detroit— Questions continued to swirl Monday around the fatal shooting of a Detroit woman as she danced with an off-duty police officer early Sunday morning.

The victim's mother doesn't understand why the officer was carrying a loaded weapon during a party in his yard. Firearms experts said they don't see how dancing could cause the handgun to discharge.

Adaisha Miller, who would have turned 25 Monday, was dancing with Officer Isaac Parrish, 38, when she hugged him from behind during the fish fry, said police. A .40-caliber handgun, held in Parrish's waist holster, fired and struck Miller in the lung and heart.

By Steve Pardo, Tony Briscoe and Francis X. Donnelly
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Dogfighting, Metro area rapper link probed

The Michigan Humane Society is investigating animal cruelty claims raised by a viral video allegedly of a Metro Detroit rapper that shows pets believed to be used in dogfighting.

The undated footage, posted Monday on LiveLeak.com and other websites, allegedly shows Young Calicoe touring an unidentified home he says has a backyard "zoo" with some pit bull-like dogs in kennels and one chained beside a doghouse.

The rapper, pointing to a caged rooster, says: "We fight them, too. That's a grand champ right there."


By Mark Hicks
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Michigan man charged in fatal stabbing of elderly mother

A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his elderly mother in a Detroit-area home.

Alan Shields was arraigned Friday in Southgate District Court.

He was arrested Thursday, a day after Southgate police discovered the body of 86-year-old Irene Shields.

Alan Shields faces a preliminary examination on July 20. He was ordered to be jailed.
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Organized crime crackdown targets 4 in pallet thefts, Schuette says

Lansing— Four Michigan residents were charged Friday in the thefts of plastic pallets used by the auto industry in what state Attorney General Bill Schuette called an organized crime operation.

Damian Massa, 52, of Mason, James Tabor, 43, and his wife, Zaklina Tabor, 40, both of Carleton, and David Wendler, 40, of Monroe were charged with a total of 27 felonies.

They could each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charges of conducting a criminal enterprise. The charges stem from an undercover investigation by Livonia police working with the Attorney General's office and General Motors Co.

By Steve Pardo

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Fenton mortgage fraud kingpin Ronnie Duke pleads guilty

Detroit— The ringleader of one of the largest mortgage fraud rings to ravage the country pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court and faces a lengthy prison term.

Ronnie Duke, 45, of Fenton admitted his role in a four-year scheme that federal agents say generated as much as $100 million in losses as he and his co-defendants turned fake loans into high-end travel, upscale homes, expensive boats and even a helicopter. Duke is free on bond and faces 10-15 years in prison, prosecutors say.

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Ex-Highland Park EM to appeal charges

Highland Park — The former emergency manager of Highland Park said Wednesday he plans to appeal a decision by the state Appeals Court to reinstate criminal charges against him.

By Kim Kozlowski

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911 tape: 'I'm going to die,' shot teen says

Bloomfield Hills— Sandra Layne sobbed Monday in court as she heard her grandson's voice on the 911 recording: "My grandma just shot me — I'm going to die."

The chilling call came May 18 from Layne's West Bloomfield Township condominium as Jonathan Hoffman, 17, pleaded with a dispatcher for help.

The call depicted a struggle between two people, one of them with a gun. At one point, Hoffman said, "I've just been shot," and gives the condo's address. He told the dispatcher it's his grandma who shot him: "I'm going to die."

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Roseville couple injured by suspected drunken boater

Harrison Township-- A 47-year-old Roseville man and his wife were injured Saturday night after a suspected drunken boater collided with their anchored boat on Lake St. Clair, according to the Macomb County Sheriff's Office.

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