Doctor charged with arson for allegedly setting another doctor’s home on fire: Police
Lucas County Sheriff’s Office
(OHIO) — An Ohio doctor has been charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to another doctor’s house, officials said.
Andrew Campbell, 33, was arrested following an investigation into the Dec. 7 blaze, which police told ABC News they “determined to have not been accidental in nature.”
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Campbell on six counts of aggravated arson.
Authorities are looking into a possible connection between the fire and an alleged affair between Campbell’s wife and Dr. Tahir Jamil, who was targeted with the arson.
Jamil told police he and Campbell’s wife had an affair from late July to early August 2024, according to the police report. On Aug. 7, she allegedly told Jamil her husband had discovered their relationship.
A spokesperson for the University of Toledo confirmed Campbell is a fellow in their Hematology-Oncology program.
He was placed on unpaid administrative leave after the school was informed of the charges, the spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
“The University will decline further comment at this time as authorities conduct their investigation,” the spokesperson said.
In these booking photos taken Oct. 10, 2024, Erik and Lyle Menendez are shown. Via CRDC.
(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles County district attorney met with the Menendez brothers’ relatives on Friday, but said he is still reviewing the facts in the case and hasn’t yet decided if he’s in support of the brothers’ bid for freedom.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that when he came into office on Dec. 3, he promised to review all the facts in Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case. He said that effort has involved reviewing thousands of pages of confidential prison records, trial transcripts, speaking to all the prosecutors and defense attorneys involved and reviewing court filings.
Hochman said that effort continues, noting that he’s not finished reviewing all the prison files from the brothers’ decades behind bars.
Over 20 Menendez relatives met with Hochman on Friday in their continued push for the brothers’ release from prison.
Hochman described the conversation as “very productive” and “in some ways, an informal, off-the-record discussion.”
“They gave me all their thoughts about what should happen, their experiences they wanted to share, the ultimate direction they wanted this case to go,” he said.
Hochman did not reveal the details of the conversation.
In a brief address to reporters, Anamaria Baralt, cousin of the Menendez brothers, spoke out after the family’s meeting with Hochman Friday afternoon.
“We did have a meeting with the district attorney and we’re grateful for his time,” she said in a statement. “I want to reiterate our position as a family and as the victims’ families that this 35-year process has been incredibly traumatizing for us as I’m sure that you can all imagine.”
She said she the family was hoping to see an immediate release of the brothers, saying that going before a parole board “will only serve to re-traumatize us.”
The previous district attorney, George Gascón, announced in October that he was recommending the brothers’ sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and 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.
Erik and Lyle Menendez next appear in court for a hearing in the resentencing case on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.
This comes on the heels of an attorney for the brothers petitioning to move the case from the DA’s office to the California Attorney General’s Office, claiming a conflict of interest between Hochman and Kathleen Cady, whom Hoch just appointed director of the department’s Bureau of Victim Services.
Cady recently resigned as attorney for Milton Anderson, the one Menendez relative who has been pushing to keep the brothers in prison.
Hochman said Friday that Cady is “walled off from the Menendez case.”
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, who they gunned down in the family’s Beverly Hills home.
The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed for money.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 at the time of the crime, respectively, were sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
Besides the resentencing, the brothers have been pursuing two other paths to freedom.
In 2023, the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.
They also submitted a request for clemency to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In November, Newsom said he’d defer to Hochman’s “review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump will order a “national energy emergency” and issue a “presidential memorandum on inflation” as part of a slew of executive actions on his first day in office, incoming White House officials told reporters Monday morning.
Among the actions described by the official includes orders related to transgender Americans, as well as orders aimed at the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across federal agencies.
Trump and his advisers have also prepared an executive order directing the incoming attorney general and the heads of all departments and agencies to review law enforcement conduct over the last four years, multiple sources familiar with the matter said.
That order — which advisers are calling “ending weaponization in the federal government” — doesn’t explicitly direct any criminal investigations, but asks for a review of law enforcement activity and actions taken by the intelligence community over the course of Joe Biden’s presidency.
It’s not clear if Trump will sign that order on Monday, but it’s a sign that Trump’s administration plans to “investigate the investigators,” as he has previously indicated he would.
Economic actions
As part of Trump’s executive actions that are expected to be signed “as soon as possible,” officials said Trump will “put an end to the [Biden administration’s] electric vehicle mandate.” Another order will focus solely on Alaska, which officials said has “an incredible abundance of natural resources.”
Officials said these moves were not only intended to spur the economy and bring down costs, but also “strengthen our nation’s national security,” citing the impending “AI race with China.”
The primary order Trump is expected to sign Monday will focus on “unleashing” American energy, which officials said would emphasize “cutting the red tape and the burdens and regulations that have held back our economy, have held back investments, job creation and natural resource production.”
The national energy emergency Trump expects to sign will “unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce more natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation’s national security,” officials said.
Officials did not share details on the presidential memorandum to address inflation, saying only that it would be an “all-of-government approach to bringing down costs for all American citizens.”
Drilling reached record highs during the Biden administration — but Biden he also took executive actions to ban future offshore oil and natural gas drilling on America’s East and West coasts, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.
Transgender actions
Incoming Trump White House officials outlined a series of first-day executive actions that they described as efforts to “restore sanity,” including executive orders declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize a person’s gender assigned at birth, prohibiting federal funds from being used in programs that acknowledge people who identify as transgender.
Among the most tangible changes Americans might see is a change to passports, rescinding a rule under Biden that allowed Americans to mark “X” as their gender marker on their U.S. passport applications.
Trump also plans to rescind rules set by Biden that withheld federal money from schools, including colleges, unless they followed certain rules to protect trans students from harassment.
Entities that receive federal dollars like prisons and shelters also would have to designate “single sex” spaces, officials said, assigning people to certain areas based on their gender assigned at birth.
In announcing the changes, which could have sweeping implications, officials took few questions from reporters and did not provide specifics.
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” one official said.
DEI actions
The incoming official said orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the federal government are intended to create “equal treatment” and end DEI in the federal government.
Saying it was “very fitting” for the orders to be coming on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the official said orders will ask for the Office of Management and Budget and The U.S. Office of Personnel Management to coordinate with the various agencies to “terminate” all DEI programs in the agency, including positions that have been renamed.
This also includes environmental justice programs, equity related grants, equity action plans, and equity initiatives, according to the official.
There will also be a monthly meeting planned between members of the Department of Justice and Deputy Secretary of Trump admin agencies to assess any other DEI programs that officials plan to dismantle further, the official said.
Specific programs the orders will look to end include the Federal Aviation Administration recruiting “individuals who suffer from severe intellectual disabilities” and the USDA spending a billion dollars on environmental justice.
While the action does not address any private companies’ use of DEI programs, the incoming Trump official, when asked, said to “wait and see” regarding further action regarding private companies.
“Private business should wait and see. We have more actions on DEI very soon,” the official said.
Iincoming Trump White House officials did not share the specific text of Trump’s planned executive orders. They will be circulated to the press once they are signed by the president, officials said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Two major winter storms are bearing down on the U.S. this week and are expected to bring some of the highest snow totals of the season for cities including Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The first storm, which spans from Colorado to Delaware, will hit Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning.
By 7 a.m. ET Tuesday, heavy rain is expected from Dallas to Nashville, Tennessee, while snow will be falling from Louisville, Kentucky, to Richmond, Virginia.
The snow will arrive in D.C. by noon on Tuesday and may last for over 12 hours. Some light snow may make it as far north as Philadelphia.
Four to 6 inches of snow is possible for the D.C. and Baltimore region.
Meanwhile, the heavy rain in the South may cause flash flooding.
By the time that first storm leaves the East Coast, the second storm will have already started in the Midwest.
At 7 a.m. ET Wednesday, widespread snow is expected from Colorado to Iowa to Missouri, while heavy rain will be falling from Houston to Louisiana.
In Chicago, the snow will begin around 9 a.m. Wednesday and may last for over 12 hours. Five to 9 inches of snow is possible in the Windy City.
Then, in the East, a mix of rain and freezing rain expected in D.C. and Philadelphia beginning after 5 p.m. Wednesday and continuing overnight.
In New York City and Boston, the snow is forecast to start Wednesday night and then change to rain overnight.
Both storms combined will result in hefty snow totals in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic, and potentially flooding rain for a wide swath of the South.
