After 40 years on the run, escaped prisoner from Puerto Rico caught in Florida
Lee County Sheriff’s Office
(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — A man who escaped a Puerto Rican prison nearly 40 years ago was taken into custody in Florida, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Jorge Milla-Valdes escaped from a Puerto Rican prison in 1987. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice believed he was living under the name Luis Aguirre.
His criminal history included robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in Florida’s Monroe County, according to the sheriff’s office.
The LCSO Fugitive Warrants Unit searched for Milla-Valdes and obtained the original 1986 fingerprints from Puerto Rico, and a set from his criminal history in Monroe County.
“Latent Fingerprints Supervisor Tina Carver expedited the fingerprint comparison. 15-minutes later -and using finger prints that were taken over 40 years ago- Supervisor Carver was able to match the prints, and confirm that Aguirre and Milla-Valdes was the same individual who had escaped,” the sheriff’s office said.
The fugitives unit was informed of the match and Milla-Valdes was taken into custody two hours later in Ft. Myers Shores, according to the sheriff’s office.
“They don’t want me. They told me about two times,” Milla-Valdes told officers as he was taken into custody, police bodycam footage shows.
“Now they do. They changed their mind,” an arresting officer responded.
The sheriff applauded his unit’s fast response.
“My team’s skill is unmatched at every level; even if your crimes don’t start here in Lee County, I promise, they WILL end here,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement.
(SAN DIEGO, CA) — A cousin of the Menendez brothers said she’s “thrilled” that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is addressing the brothers’ request for clemency and ordering the parole board to investigate further.
“I certainly gasped in relief,” cousin Anamaria Baralt, one of at least 20 relatives in support of the brothers’ release, told ABC News at a virtual news conference Thursday. “This is huge.”
Lyle and Erik Menendez — who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents — have “cautious optimism” they’ll be released, Baralt said.
“They are the first life without parole prisoners on this path,” added another cousin, Tamara Goodell. “So when we look at any advancements … it’s definitely with hope, but also understanding that there are no promises.”
Newsom announced Wednesday that he’s ordering the parole board to conduct a 90-day “comprehensive risk assessment” investigation into whether the brothers pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if they’re granted clemency and released.
“There’s no guarantee of outcome here,” Newsom said Wednesday on his new podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” “My office conducts dozens and dozens of these clemency reviews on a consistent basis. But this process simply provides more transparency, which I think is important in this case, as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency.”
Baralt called Newsom’s decision a “positive step forward” and said she’s confident the parole board will determine Lyle and Erik Menendez are not a risk to public safety.
“We have seen their rehabilitation over the last three decades,” Baralt said.
She said the parole board’s investigation will find: the brothers’ repeated and sincere remorse; their work to improve prison culture and run several programs to help inmates reenter society; and how they’ve spent most of their lives in prison but still built meaningful lives helping others. The board will also consider their age at the time of the crime and their lack of criminal history outside of “making a horrific decision” as a direct result of the abuse they endured, Baralt said.
“We understand that this is not without professional risk for him,” Baralt said of Newsom.
Though the cousins praised Newsom, they were disappointed and frustrated by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s announcement last week that he’s asked the court to deny the brothers’ habeas corpus petition.
Lyle and Erik Menendez filed the petition in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father Jose Menendez; and allegations from a former boy band member, Roy Rossello, who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.
Hochman argued the letter failed the credibility test, saying if it existed, the defense would have used it at the brothers’ trials in the 1990s.
Hochman said Rossello’s allegation failed the admissibility test, because the brothers didn’t know about his claims until recent years, so it couldn’t have influenced their state of mind during the crime and “play a role in self-defense or premeditated murder.”
After Hochman’s announcement, Erik Menendez said to the family, “We need you strong,” Goodell recalled. “They both really mirrored our frustration, but they also said, ‘Let it go. We need to focus on moving forward.’ And so that is our focus.”
Baralt stands by the new evidence.
The letter to Cano, while received in December 1988, was not discovered until recent years, according to the brothers’ attorney.
Baralt stressed that Cano was 14 or 15 at the time Erik Menendez sent him that letter.
“It’s only natural for a teenage boy to not realize he is sitting on critical evidence. Andy wasn’t a lawyer. He wasn’t even an adult,” she said. “To pose the question now, decades later, after he passed, of why wasn’t the letter submitted back then? It’s like asking a teenager who got in a fender bender why didn’t you call the police to file a report — because a teenager doesn’t know any better. He didn’t realize how vital that letter would be to the case.”
And as for Rossello’s admission in 2023, Baralt stressed that it’s common for abuse victims to not disclose for years.
“Roy coming out to share his story in his own time is new evidence” that should be considered admissible, she said.
Baralt said Hochman’s decision “felt extra hurtful, because it was only a few weeks ago that dozens of [relatives] sat in his office and described the horror of being in this victim family, with 35 years of being retraumatized.”
“We have become victims in this process,” she said. “We have been laughed at, ridiculed and forced to relive the pain over and over again.”
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez. The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors alleged they killed for money.
Besides clemency and the habeas corpus petition, another possible path to freedom is resentencing.
In October, then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced he supported resentencing for the brothers. Gascón recommended their sentences of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.
The DA’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
Weeks after Gascón’s announcement, he lost his race for reelection to Hochman.
Hochman, who came into office on Dec. 3, has yet to announce if he is in support of or against resentencing for the brothers. He’s expected to decide in the coming weeks.
A hearing regarding the resentencing case is set for March 20 and 21.
Food and water has been left out for pets roaming Los Angeles County without their owners or homes after wildfires blazed through the area in January 2025. Via ABC News
(Los Angeles) — Whimpers and whines can be heard long before the sad feline and canine faces are visible within one Los Angeles-area animal shelter that has been overflowing since the fires.
Nearly 1,000 displaced and stray animals have come through the Pasadena Humane Society, just half a mile from a stadium housing people displaced by the fire.
Hundreds of animals are unidentified and waiting to be found by their owners; others are being housed at the shelter while their families find a place to live.
Several of the four-legged guests are receiving urgent medical care for burn injuries.
Among those rescued is a mama dog that was nursing her tiny puppies against the back wall of her kennel when ABC News visited on Thursday.
A kitten named Angel had all four paws wrapped in casts, yet slept soundly in her kennel with a cone around her neck.
The unfortunate reality is that there are still many pets that have yet to be safely recovered and hundreds of pet owners have not located their beloved family members after losing their homes.
Lost-and-found pet posters stapled to telephone poles are no longer an option, especially in fire-ravaged neighborhoods in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, where over 10,000 structures have burned to the ground.
A handful of “lost and found” pet pages emerged on social media after the fires, aiming to reunite lost pets with their families.
Desperate owners have been posting photos of their pets, hoping someone has seen their beloved family member.
Pasadena Humane Society has taken to putting out food and water in their now-uninhabitable neighborhoods, hoping to lure pets back — or, at least, stay nourished until they are found and reunited with their owners.
Unclaimed animals — listed as strays — will be held at the Pasadena Humane Society for 30 days and then placed for adoption.
Animal volunteers are urging the parents of lost pets to check local shelters each day in the hope of being reunited with missing animals.
Meanwhile, other pet owners who evacuated and lost their homes are taking refuge at hotels across Los Angeles.
The famous Beverly Hilton, which is known for hosting both the Golden Globes and Daytime Emmy Awards, is currently housing hundreds of displaced residents and their four-legged friends.
A “glamorous zoo” is how Hilton spokesperson Cody LaGrow described the scene, with hotel staff doing everything possible to accommodate the animals from a hospitality perspective.
The hotel is providing “wee wee” pads, helping with pet food and buying pet beds for guests.
The “pooch invasion,” as LaGrow described it, is a story of hope — with the hotel becoming a site of coping, resilience and emotional support, for both people and their cherished pets.
ABC News’ Brandon Chase contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization is urging New York prosecutors to pursue hate crime charges against five suspects arrested in what authorities described as a prolonged “torture” killing of a transgender man.
The group, GLAAD, issued a statement calling on Ontario County District Attorney James Riffs to consider hate crime charges in the homicide of Sam Nordquist, whose body was found in a field in Benton, New York, in Yates County last week.
Riffs said the five suspects in Norquist’s killing were arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder under the state’s depraved indifference statute.
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday morning, Ritts’ office said that prosecutors filed a certification with the Hopewell Town Court “indicating that the Grand Jury of the County of Ontario voted at least one felony charge against all 5 defendants charged in connection with the death of Sam Nordquist.”
The suspects arrested in the case were identified by New York State Police as Precious Arzuaga, 38, of Canandaigua, New York; Jennifer “Brooklyn” Quijano, 30, of Geneva, New York; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester, New York; Patrick Goodwin, 30, also of Canandaigua; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima, New York.
The statement from Ritts’ office says the felony charge in the indictment against the suspects will be disclosed once it is filed in Ontario County Court.
“As this is an ongoing investigation and law prohibits us from disclosing any additional information at this time. This is the only update we can provide today,” according to the statement.
A criminal complaint filed in the case alleged that the suspects sexually assaulted Nordquist with a “table leg and broomstick.” The complaint further alleges that the suspects subjected Nordquist to “prolonged beatings by punching, kicking and striking [Nordquist] with numerous objects, including but not limited to sticks, dog toys, rope, bottles, belts, canes and wooden boards.”
According to the complaint, the torture allegedly took place in room 22 at Patty’s Lodge in Hopewell, New York, in Ontario County between Jan. 1 and Feb. 2.
In a joint statement released on Sunday, the state police and Ritts addressed whether investigators are pursuing hate crime charges against the suspects.
“At this time we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime,” the joint statement reads. “To help alleviate the understandable concern his murder could be a hate crime, we are disclosing that Sam and his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense.”
Authorities said they released the information after getting “multiple inquiries from across our community, New York State and the entire nation.”
In the statement, officials noted that under the New York State penal code, a hate crime is defined as an offense committed “in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.”
In response, GLAAD released a statement Tuesday, saying, “While we are encouraged to see law enforcement act swiftly to investigate this horrific act, we caution investigators from ruling out hate crime charges.”
“Anti-LGBTQ hate can be perpetuated by anyone, regardless of their relationship to the victim or their own gender identity or sexual orientation,” GLAAD said.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, added, “Our hearts are broken over the loss of Sam Nordquist.”
“Sam was more than just a statistic — he was a son, a brother, a friend, and and bright light in the lives of those who knew him,” Ellis said in a statement. “His life was stolen from him after enduring unspeakable cruelty. We stand in solidarity with Sam’s family, friends, and community as they demand justice. We refuse to let Sam’s story fade into silence. We demand accountability, we demand justice, and we demand a world where transgender people are safe, respected, and able to live freely.”
Nordquist’s family filed a missing person report with the New York State Police on Feb. 9, after last hearing from Nordquist on Jan. 1, according to a missing-person flyer issued by the Missing People in America organization.
According to the flyer, Nordquist’s family said he left Minnesota on Sept. 28, 2024, with a round-trip plane ticket to New York. The family, according to the flyer, alleged that Nordquist met a woman online who convinced him to visit her.
The family claimed Nordquist was planning to fly back to Minnesota within two weeks, but never boarded his return flight.
“I don’t understand why someone would do that to another person,” Kayla Nordquist, Sam’s sister, told Saint Paul, Minnesota, ABC affiliate KSTP-TV. “Sam was amazing and would give the shirt off his back to anyone.”
When asked at a news conference on Friday about the missing-person flyer, Capt. Kelly Swift, a New York State Police investigator, declined to comment.
Swift would not disclose details of the abuse, saying the investigation is in its early stages. However, she said, Nordquist was “subjected to repeated acts of violence and torture in a manner that ultimately led to his death.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Sunday that she had directed the State Police to provide any support and resources to Ritts’ office “as they continue their investigation, including into whether this was a hate crime.” The statement further said that Hochul had directed the New York State Division of Human Rights Hate and Bias Prevention Unit to offer assistance and support “to all community members affected by this terrible act of violence,” adding, “There must be justice for Sam Nordquist.”
Hochul also said that she had instructed the New York State Office of Victim Services to offer support to Nordquist’s family.
“The charges against these individuals are sickening and all New Yorkers should join together to condemn this horrific act,” Hochul said in the statement. “We are praying for Sam Nordquist’s family, community and loved ones who are experiencing unimaginable grief.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James also said in a statement, “This is beyond horrifying, and those responsible for this terrible act must be held accountable.”
