"The Talk of the Town"
(WASHINGTON) — A hacker gained access to an online secure document-sharing file between attorneys involved in a civil lawsuit brought by a close friend of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Documents including unredacted depositions from key witnesses in the case are believed to have been taken, sources said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WILLINGBORO, N.J.) — Police are searching for the gunman who shot and killed a mother and daughter during a home invasion in New Jersey.
Catherine Nunez, 33, and her mother, Marisol Nunez, 54. were found dead in an upstairs bedroom of their home in Willingboro early Wednesday, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said.
It appears the intruder broke a first-floor window to enter the home, prosecutors said.
No arrests have been made, prosecutors said.
Authorities said they believe the crime wasn’t random and don’t think other residents in the neighborhood are at risk.
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(NEW YORK) — Vandals have destroyed a specialized viewfinder that allowed colorblind visitors to see the vibrant fall foliage in Tennessee, officials said.
The incident took place sometime during the night on Sept. 21 when officials from the National Park Service said that vandals not only destroyed the specialized viewfinder located in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in Oneida, Tennessee, but also managed to rip “a large hole in the floor of the overlook balcony that has been temporarily repaired but will have to be completely replaced later this autumn,” according a statement from the National Park Service released on Monday regarding the incident.
“Individuals with protanopia and protanomaly — more commonly known as red-green color blindness — are not able to fully observe the effect of nature’s transition from deep green to brilliant shades of red, orange and gold,” officials said. “The viewfinder featured lenses for alleviating red-green color deficiencies, enabling visitors with color blindness to see the foliage just as it appears to people with typical vision.”
The National Park Service had partnered with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to install the specially-equipped viewfinder at Big South Fork’s East Rim Overlook, a popular overlook that offers impressive views of the Big South Fork River gorge.
“The National Park Service strives to provide opportunities for people to enjoy their park to the greatest extent possible,” said Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas. “But thanks to an act of sheer, wanton vandalism, visitors with color blindness will no longer be able to experience the joy of seeing the majestic fall colors of this beautiful landscape.”
Anyone with information concerning this incident is encouraged to contact the NPS at 423-215-9740 or leave a confidential message on the Resource Protection Tip Line at 423-569-7301.
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(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has recommended resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are each serving two life prison terms without parole.
“We are going to recommend to the court [on Friday] that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and they would be sentenced for murder,” which would be a sentence of 50 years to life, Gascón said at a news conference Thursday. But because of their age — they both were under 26 at the time of the crimes — they would be eligible for parole immediately, he said.
“I believe that they have paid their debt to society,” he said.
“The final decision will be made by the judge,” he stressed.
Gascón’s recommendation follows pressure from the brothers’ relatives, attorneys and supporters in the public.
Gascón told ABC News this month that any recommendation for resentencing would take into account the decades that the brothers already served and their behavior in prison. The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, called them model prisoners who worked tirelessly to reform themselves with no expectation they’d be released.
The decades-old case began on Aug. 20, 1989, when Lyle and Erik Menendez fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family’s Beverly Hills home. Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, used shotguns they bought days earlier.
Prosecutors alleged the brothers killed their wealthy parents for financial gain.
The defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.
Their first trials — which captured the nation’s attention with cameras in the courtroom — ended in mistrials.
In 1996, at the end of a second trial — in which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
The sensational case gained new attention this fall with the release of the Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the Netflix documentary “The Menendez Brothers.”
Gascón said this month that his office was evaluating new evidence: allegations from a member of the boy band Menudo who said he was molested by Jose Menendez, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse.
Erik Menendez’s cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but Erik Menendez’s letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t unearthed until several years ago, according to Geragos.
Nearly two dozen of the brothers’ relatives united at a news conference last week to push for their resentencing.
“Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, said. “As their aunt, I had no idea of the extent of the abuse they suffered.”
“It’s time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of their past,” she said.
Behind bars, the siblings “sought to better themselves and serve as a support and inspiration for survivors all over the world,” added Jose Menendez’s niece, Anamaria Baralt. “Their continued incarceration serves no rehabilitative purpose.”
The brothers “deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them,” Baralt said.
Despite the massive show of support, one relative — the brothers’ uncle, Milton Andersen — is adamant about keeping them behind bars. He said in a statement he firmly believes his nephews were not sexually assaulted and were motivated by greed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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