Latest news with #homicide
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Death of prisoner at Mt Eden Corrections Facility treated as homicide
Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo: RNZ Multiple investigations have been launched after a man died at Mt Eden Corrections Facility in Auckland. Police said they were made aware of the death at about 4pm on Friday after an 'incident' at the prison. Detective Inspector Greg Brand told RNZ the death of the man was being treated as a homicide. Do you know more? Email "Police were made aware at about 4pm yesterday of a man who had died at the prison following an incident," he said. "Officers continue to follow positive lines of inquiry." Mt Eden Corrections Facility is the main prison for newly remanded prisoners in the Auckland region. The Department of Corrections said the man's next of kin has been notified and all evidence will be given to the police. "Corrections will also carry out a full investigation," Mt Eden Corrections Facility general manager Dion Paki said. "As the prisoner was in a double-bunked cell, the second prisoner who was residing in the cell has been moved to a single-cell." Paki said Corrections was expressing "sincere condolences" to everyone affected. "We acknowledge this will be distressing for staff and other prisoners in the unit and we are providing people with support," he said. Paki said this included access to chaplains and any cultural support. The Inspectorate Office for the department, which operates independently, would also be investigating the death. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for New Mexico man
Jun. 27—Federal prosecutors in New Mexico said Friday they plan to seek the death penalty for the first time since 2018 in the case of a man charged in two homicides and other crimes. The request by U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison of New Mexico also marks the state's first capital punishment case since President Donald Trump's administration lifted the ban on federal executions on Feb. 5. The request comes in the case of Labar Tsethlikai, 52, an enrolled member of Zuni Pueblo, whom federal prosecutors have described as "a serial murderer, kidnapper and sexual abuser" who victimized Native American men, the U.S. Attorney's Office has said. He has been charged with 17 felonies, including first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping resulting in death, according to a superseding indictment filed in December 2024. Other charges include aggravated sexual abuse, assault with intent to commit murder and nine counts of kidnapping. "The maximum penalty for the kidnapping resulting in death charges is death, and Attorney General Bondi has authorized and directed the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico to pursue capital punishment in this case," Ellison's office said in a news release issued Friday. Federal executions in the U.S. have been on hold since former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium in 2021. On his first day in office, Jan. 20, President Trump ordered the attorney general, now Pam Bondi, to pursue the death penalty "for all crimes of a severity demanding its use." The last time federal prosecutors in New Mexico filed a notice to seek the death penalty was in January 2018, according to the Federal Capital Trial Project website. The notice was filed in the case of defendant Kirby Cleveland, who was charged in the 2017 fatal shooting death of Houston Largo, a Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety law enforcement officer. The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico withdrew the notice months later. Cleveland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. In Tsethlikai's case, Ellison, a Trump appointee, notified U.S. District Court Judge David H. Urias on Friday of his intent to seek the death penalty. Tsethlikai "engaged in a pattern of predatory and sexual violence against other individuals," Ellison and two assistant U.S. attorneys wrote in a notice of intent to seek the death penalty filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. The alleged crimes were committed "in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse" of the victim, Ellison wrote. The notice also said that Tsethlikai had previously been convicted of two or more offenses "involving the infliction, or attempted infliction of, serious bodily injury or death upon another person." Tsethlikai is from Zuni but traveled extensively around New Mexico, including Gallup, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He is believed to have worked in the Native American jewelry industry. Tsethlikai initially was charged in April with second-degree murder in the Jan. 18, 2024, death of a man found dead in a remote area of the Zuni reservation. Tsethlakai now faces first-degree murder in that death. In July, Tsethlikai was charged in the October 22, 2022, death of a man identified as "John Doe 1," who died as a result of a kidnapping, according to a superseding indictment. Additional charges are part of a larger series of violent crimes committed by Tsethlikai against Native American men across New Mexico between 2022 and 2024, the agency has said. Prosecutors said the victims were Native American men, but none are identified by name in court records. Most of the attacks occurred in McKinley County. "Simply put, (Tsethlikai) preys on a vulnerable segment of the population, that being males who are either homeless or addicted to controlled substances, or both," prosecutors wrote in an April 29 pretrial detention motion. U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing in May ordered Tsethlikai to remain in custody pending trial. He faces a mandatory life sentence or death if convicted of first-degree murder or kidnapping resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
Strathroy-Caradoc police investigate homicide after fatal stabbing
A quiet residential neighbourhood in Strathroy was turned upside down Friday night as police in the community investigate what they're calling a homicide. Strathroy-Caradoc police were called to Ashby Crescent just after 5 p.m. following reports of an altercation between two men. Police say they arrived to find one man with stab wounds. The 27 year old later died of his injuries. A 25-year-old man has been arrested and taken into custody. Witnesses tell CTV News the two men had been working in the area, though this has not been confirmed by police. Strathroy-Caradoc Det. Sgt. Jason Cartwright said the service is getting help from OPP Major Crimes and Sarnia Police Forensics units. 'We aren't sure exactly what the relationship is between those two individuals. We're still investigating. The OPP Major Crimes Unit as well as the Sarnia Police Forensic Investigation Section is attending to give us a hand. This just occurred in the last couple hours, so charges, we will be looking at charges pending in the future,' said Det. Sgt. Cartright. In the meantime, a portion of Ashby Crescent has been cordoned off and closed to vehicular traffic as police investigate. Yellow crime scene tape can be seen wrapped around the front yards of two homes next to one another on the small street.
CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
Man dead in north Surrey shooting
Vancouver Watch A homicide investigation is underway in Surrey after gunshots rang out at a home on 129th Street.
CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Police ID 53-year-old man killed in stabbing at North York shelter
Toronto police have identified the man killed in a double stabbing at a shelter in North York earlier this week. Emergency services responded to the Wilson Avenue and Beverley Hills Drive area, east of Highway 400, on Sunday just after 12 p.m. for a stabbing. Police investigating fatal stabbing at North York shelter Police investigating fatal stabbing at North York shelter Officers found 53-year-old Roger Borges and a 51-year-old man suffering from stab wounds. Both were taken to the hospital, but Borges died shortly after. He is the city's 17th homicide victim of the year. Police said a 72-year-old man was arrested at the scene. In a news release on Friday, he was identified as Jose Diaz of Toronto. He has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. The circumstances that led to the stabbing are still unknown, and police have not said what relationship the suspect may have had with the victims.
