Good grief

Woman intentionally struck by car after dispute involving two vehicles

A road feud that included a gun ended in a female pedestrian being intentionally hit and severely injured at a busy Lexington intersection, police said.

At Harrodsburg and Lane Allen roads, two vehicles with people inside who knew each other had an altercation of some sort about 12:30 p.m., police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said. A person in a white Kia pointed a gun at the people in the second vehicle. A woman in the second vehicle stepped out of it to confront the people in the Kia. The Kia driver pulled in front of the second vehicle and reversed, hitting the female pedestrian.

Her leg nearly needed amputating, according to the story. The police have arrested those involved, apparently. But it's very scary to think people like that are out driving. And I do wonder why anyone who is being threatened with a gun from another car would get out of their own to confront the other person. There must be some very bad blood between these people.

This was actually the second pedestrian to be hit in Lexington today, although I'm assuming the other was an actual accident. Watch out folks! I know what it feels like to be hit by a car, and I was aware of my surroundings and in the crosswalk with the light and it still ran over my foot and hit me, breaking my ankle, seemingly out of the blue, with the driver swearing he didn't see me even though I was in two extremes of coloured clothing, the sun was shining, and I was clearly in the sidewalk. Add things like darkness, bad weather, and the like, and it can be an absolute disaster. And even everything you can do can go to naught if you have a bat-shit crazy driver who is aiming for you.

So weird.

How horrible

Hopes pinned on wounded girl in French Alps killings

This seven-year-old and her four-year-old sister survived a terrible attack on their family, which left her mother, father, and grandmother dead, as well as a person who happened upon the scene. The four-year-old survived by hiding for eight hours under her dead mother's skirt, but has been unable to give authorities much information. The seven-year-old is in a medically-induced coma after being shot and beaten. Such a horrible thing for such innocent children to witness and endure.

I have a suggestion for how he can prevent future fatherhood

Unfortunately I don't think the courts can mandate that...

Pregnant woman set on fire, shot by ex-boyfriend gives birth

The pregnant Detroit woman who was kidnapped, set on fire, and shot early Saturday morning has successfully given birth to a baby boy. The woman, who Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV has identified as 22-year-old LaTonya Bowman, was due to deliver in three weeks, but went into labor at about 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon and gave birth at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday morning via an emergency C-section at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

“She has to be one of the most courageous women I have ever encountered,” said Warren Police Deputy Commissioner Louis Galasso. “She had the will and instinct to live.”

Apparently the ex-boyfriend, who had two children by two different women already, didn't want this child born and plotted with another man to kill Bowman and her unborn baby. Both men are in custody.

This guy sounds like a real winner, with a criminal record, living with his mom, his new girlfriend, and the roommate who was part of the attack. At the very least, I think the man should maybe be educated in the use of a condom or learn about a vasectomy. But there's another word or two that would fit this situation, too, as far as I'm concerned, in terms of what should happen to lowlifes who try to get out of fatherhood through kidnapping and murder.

How sad that this should happen over a relatively small dispute

Police Arrest Man in Burning Death of Woman

She fired him from a job moving some of her stuff after accusing him of stealing a VCR and a large cake pan. He claimed she owed him $300 and left an invoice she did not pay in November [although I've heard up to $2,000--still, not worth a woman's life, and in such a gruesome, painful demise]. And this was the result? So sad. Good that he is now in custody, though.

Strange

Four needles successfully extracted from boy--2-year-old's heart punctured by one of 42 needles; stepfather arrested

Needles removed from Brazilian 'black magic' child

The father was apparently directed by his mistress to kill the child slowly via magical ritual so that they could stay together. The needles were blessed by a woman who practises the Afro-Brazilian Candomble (think something like Voudoun--Voodoo), although this was not a ritual native to Candomble but appears to be something the mistress came up with on her own. The practitioner did not know what use was to be made by the needles, and although briefly arrested, was let go by authorities without being charged.) The child, 2, has needles in several organs and there are still many needles inside him that need to be removed.

The last chapter in the Von Bülow case, but the mystery remains

Those of you in your twenties or even early thirties will not remember the celebrated trial of Claus von Bülow, who was first convicted and then acquitted of trying to kill his wife with insulin injections after she was found unresponsive--she was found in 1980, after all. But I do, since as you've no doubt figured out, I have a fascination for murder and mystery, and I suppose I did even as a teenager, although I didn't read mysteries back then.

Martha Crawford Von Bülow--called Sunny--an heiress, died today after almost 28 years in a coma. I can scarcely imagine spendng nearly half of one's life in such a state.

Their daughter, Cosima, is my age. She was initially disinherited by her maternal grandmother for siding with her father in the case, but was supposed to be reinstated after Mr Von Bülow renounced any claim on his wife's money. She still had to spend three years litigating the case to receive her share of the inheritance.

Mr Bülow's guilt or innocence was hotly debated at the time and tore the family apart, with the two children from Mrs Von Bülow's first marriage encouraging prosecution. It was not quite as celebrated as the OJ Simpson murder trial, but it was in the news quite a lot. The second trial presented the defence that no insulin was injected (the needle had insulin on the outside, but not the inside, according to his Wikipedia article) and that her symptoms of confusion and altered mental state, then coma, fit an injested drug overdose combined with alcohol. (A few weeks before her final coma, for example, there were over 60 aspirins found in her stomach, which would indicate her mental state). Also, she had bouts of depression, despite seeming to have a perfect life from the point of view of many. And records eventually released showed the Von Bülow did not favour taking his wife off of life support as was alleged.

But there were two trials. An appeal was granted, but a great deal of the evidence that was presented in the first trial (in which he was convicted) was held back in the second (in which he was acquitted).

I don't know if we'll ever know what really happened between the Von Bülows, the family, the maid (a major witness), etc. Claus Von Bülow and his daughter both live in London now, and their lives have gone on.

But Mrs Von Bülow's's life for all intents and purposes ended that day right before Christmas in 1980 when she was found unresponsive. That she lived on for nearly 30 years is amazing, but it's sad that this is how things turned out. She essentially became a footnote to a historical trial. But I'm sure those close to her will mourn and remember her, as it should be. But some of us ordinary folks remember to, and can sympathise over the situation, even though we do not understand the life lived by princesses and heiresses.

For a detailed look at the Von Bülow case, check out the Crime Library's article. Most of what I've given here is from Wikipedia, but this examines the evidence in greater detail and goes through the specifics of the two trials.