Man arrested for murder in case of couple missing from California nudist community
(REDLANDS, Calif.) — Police have arrested a man in connection with a couple who went missing from a nudist community in California. Police are now confident the couple is dead.
The couple’s neighbor, 62-year-old Michael Sparks, was arrested for murder late Thursday, days after the couple were reported missing, according to the Redlands Police Department. Police had been trying to locate Sparks on Thursday, breaching a home and conducting a search using remote video equipment to find him.
Sparks was found underneath his home and he surrendered after lengthy negotiations, according to Redland Police. He has been booked at West Valley Detention Center.
Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, were reported missing on Sunday, according to police. During a press briefing on Thursday, the Redlands Police Department said foul play was suspected after being tipped off by a source in the couple’s neighborhood.
Police are in the process of searching for the couple’s bodies, which they believe are on the suspect’s property. Search teams, including cadaver dogs, are on the property.
The couple’s dog, a white shih tzu named Cuddles, has also not been found.
A source told police on Thursday that a person involved in their disappearance was on the property as they were conducting interviews, leading police to lock down the property and eventually arrest Sparks.
Significant damage was dealt to the suspect’s home when police breached it, but they plan on searching the home as soon as it is safe to enter.
The couple was last seen at their residence on Olive Dell Ranch — a family nudist resort — at around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. Their unlocked vehicle was found down the road from the residence that day, according to police.
Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their residence along with both of their cellphones, according to police.
(NEW YORK) — Testimony about the psychiatric history of a man who died in a chokehold aboard a New York City subway is only meant to “smear” the victim and should be precluded from upcoming trial of a former Marine charged with manslaughter, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a new court filing.
Daniel Penny is scheduled to stand trial next month after he put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold in May 2023 aboard an F train in what his attorneys say was an effort to “protect the lives of his fellow passengers.” Penny’s attorneys are seeking to call a forensic psychiatrist who they said would “opine regarding the extent of Neely’s K2 abuse” and why that may have caused him to allegedly become “insanely threatening” to subway passengers.
Prosecutors asked the judge to exclude the testimony of the psychiatrist, Dr. Alexander Bardey, and limit what the defense can show from Neely’s psychiatric records.
“The psychiatrist’s testimony and the unredacted psychiatric records are inadmissible and their suggested introduction is a transparent attempt by the defense to smear the victim’s character so that the jury will devalue his life,” assistant district attorney Dafna Yoran said in a motion to preclude Bardey’s testimony from trial.
“Numerous witnesses will testify regarding Mr. Neely’s aggressive behavior on the date of the incident,” Yoran said. “The jury does not need and cannot be permitted to hear Dr. Bardey’s opine as to why Mr. Neely was aggressive.”
The defense has said Neely’s psychiatric history includes non-compliance with medication and chronic K2 abuse and argued that is relevant for the jury to hear.
“Neely’s history of volatile behavior while in treatment, and the steps taken to subdue/restrain him, are documented in these records, and speak to why our client had to use the force necessary to restrain him on the date of incident,” said defense attorney Thomas Kennif, who has argued Penny was justified in seeking to subdue Neely.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and negligent homicide charges. He is scheduled to begin trial Oct. 21, re-submitting the highly charged case into the public consciousness less than a month before the election.
(WASHINGTON) — Housing costs are top of mind for voters across the country, as rising prices force many renters and potential home buyers to empty their pockets.
Nearly half of all renter households were cost-burdened by their rent in 2023 — meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on housing costs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
And housing costs? They’ve outpaced inflation since the 1960s, rising 2.4 times faster, according to an analysis of housing data published by property advice site Clever Real Estate in March.
The study found that if home prices only kept pace with inflation, the median home could cost about $177,000 instead of the roughly $431,000 it actually costs.
Housing policy was mentioned during Tuesday’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, as Harris touted her newly released policy proposals several times.
“We know that we have a shortage of homes and housing, and the cost of housing is too expensive for far too many people,” she said.
When it comes to housing and rent, here’s a look at the policies Harris and Trump have signaled support for if elected in November.
Harris’ proposals
Harris is calling for the construction of 3 million new housing units to address the supply shortage, she said, by proposing a tax incentive for companies who build units to be sold to first-time homebuyers.
The vice president’s proposal also includes a $40 billion fund to support local governments in “innovative methods” of building affordable housing that have proven to be successful, referencing the construction of housing units in Wake County, North Carolina.
She supports the Stop Predatory Investing Act, which is aimed at removing tax benefits for major corporate or Wall Street investors who acquire large numbers of single-family rental homes and mark up prices.
Harris also backs the passage of the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, which would prohibit the use of algorithmic systems to artificially inflate the price or reduce the supply of leased or rented residential dwelling units.
Additionally, Harris plans to provide $25,000 in down payment support for first-time home buyers, with expanded support for first-generation home owners.
Trump’s proposals
Trump has promised to eliminate certain regulations on the construction of new homes, which he says will help with the cost.
The former president did not say which specific regulations he hopes to eliminate. During his term as president, he signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, which lowered the corporate tax rate and created Opportunity Zones, in which people can invest in low-income areas and temporarily defer tax on eligible gains.
Trump also plans to open up portions of federal land for large-scale housing construction.
“These zones will be ultra-low tax and ultra-low regulation,” he said in a Q&A at The Economic Club of New York on Sept. 5.
Trump claimed that undocumented immigrants are behind the rise in housing costs in his policy proposals and speeches, adding that he would ban mortgages for undocumented people. Researchers and officials have attributed rising housing costs to high interest rates, the housing shortage, rent gouging and an increase in construction costs and supply chain constraints to the rising costs.
Trump’s Agenda47, which outlines his plans if he’s elected in November, also notes that he intends to “promote homeownership through Tax Incentives and support for first-time buyers.”
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols continued Monday, with the cross-examination of a Memphis Police Department (MPD) lieutenant who trained the defendants.
Kevin Whitmore, who is representing ex-officer Tadarrius Bean, cross-examined Second Lt. Larnce Wright on training methods at the police academy, noting that Wright did not train Bean in several courses, so he could not speak to what Bean was taught, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.
Wright did not teach the officers how to write reports, provide medical classes for them or teach them about the duty of an officer to intervene if another officer engages in misconduct, according to WATN.
Last Thursday, Wright testified that the scenario of the initial traffic stop involving Nichols should have been low-risk, according to WATN. Wright said during the initial stop, Nichols voicing that he was trying to do what was asked should have led officers to deescalate the situation. Wright claimed officers were not following training for several reasons and described Nichols’ behavior as human nature, according to WATN.
The former officers — Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid — charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Monday, Whitmore showed Wright several presentation slides he uses in training, which the attorney said denoted that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop, which “could turn violent in an instant,” according to WATN.
The defense argued that training is only as good as the trainer.
Wright claimed that if a violent felony was not committed, pursuit is not allowed, according to WATN. Body-camera footage shows Nichols fled after police initially pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The beating triggered protests and calls for police reform.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate Nichols was driving recklessly.
Whitmore asked Wright if an officer could have tunnel vision during an arrest, alluding to the possibility that Bean was focused on handcuffing Nichols and didn’t see what was happening to the suspect, according to WATN.
Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, the two additional officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
The prosecution told ABC News in a statement Thursday that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition where he later died. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
Michael Stengel, Haley’s attorney, officially asked for a mistrial on Friday due to the forms — known as response to resistance — that were submitted as evidence for the trial, according to WATN. The ex-officers were required to fill out these forms to explain their use of force against Nichols. Stengel argued the documents were protected by Garrity. Garrity rights protect public employees from being compelled to self-incrimination during investigative interviews conducted by their employers, according to a Tennessee attorney general legal document. Stengel argued that the response to resistance forms the ex-officers filled out could not be used as evidence to protect the ex-officers’ Garrity rights.
Judge Mark Norris decided the documentation forms do not violate the ex-officers’ Garrity rights and ruled in favor of keeping them as evidence, according to WATN. Norris said on Monday that there are 37 witness testimonies left in the trial, and that a juror has potentially been lost due to illness, according to WATN.
Martin, one of two ex-officers who plead guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols, was called to the stand after Wright was finished with questioning. Martin began his testimony Monday, towards the end of day.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that has since been disbanded after Nichols’ death. All the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.