Woman accused of trying to illegally auction off Graceland will remain in custody
Jared Kofsky/ABC News
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Lisa Findley, the Missouri woman facing federal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to illegally auction off Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate, will remain locked up while her case is pending.
Findley, 53, appeared in U.S. District Court in Memphis Friday afternoon for the second week in a row for what was expected to be a detention hearing, but public defender Tyrone Paylor told Magistrate Judge Annie Christoff that Findley would be waiving her right to the hearing.
Christoff asked Findley if she understood that this meant that she would remain in custody.
“Yes,” replied Findley, who sat at the edge of the jury box, handcuffed and wearing jail-issued clothing.
Findley was arrested in Missouri on Aug. 16 on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She was transported to Tennessee several weeks ago.
Paylor formally entered a not guilty plea on Findley’s behalf Friday. He declined to comment to reporters as he left the courtroom.
Federal prosecutors allege that Findley formed a “brazen scheme” to try to “extort a settlement from the Presley family.”
She allegedly forged the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s late daughter, and Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick on documents that claimed Lisa Marie took out a $3.8 million loan from a purported company called Naussany Investments prior to her death and listed Graceland as collateral.
Naussany Investments, an unregistered entity that Findley is accused of creating, filed public notices in May stating that it would auction off Graceland at the front of the Shelby County Courthouse.
A Shelby County chancellor issued a temporary injunction at the time that prevented such an auction from taking place, citing an affidavit from Philbrick that stated that her signature was forged and that she never met Lisa Marie.
Philbrick testified before a federal grand jury in August and also spoke exclusively to ABC News, telling GMA3 anchor Eva Pilgrim that she had no idea how her name became associated with the attempt to sell Graceland.
(CECIL TOWNSHIP, Pa.) — Fracking has been on the national stage this election season and swing state Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes in play, is at the center of the issue with one the largest natural gas deposits in the U.S.
Eight years ago, Michelle Stonemark built her dream home in Cecil Township, Pennsylvania, on the same street as much of her extended family. She was followed by some new neighbors — a fracking operation.
As the Stonemarks’ home was under construction, a natural gas company built a well pad for oil and gas production just a few feet away.
“I was scared to death. I was scared about what harms it would cause us,” she told ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos.
It’s a significant industry in Pennsylvania, but there is precedent for states banning fracking — it’s happened in California, Maryland, New York, Vermont and Washington.
Only Congress has the power to completely ban fracking, but presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris see it as a topic that resonates with voters in the Keystone State.
Former President Trump says Harris is against the practice.
“Starting on Day One of my new administration, I will end Kamala Harris’ war on Pennsylvania energy,” he said at an Oct. 26 rally. “And we will frack, frack, frack.”
In 2019, when Harris was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, she firmly stood for a ban on fracking. During a CNN town hall on climate change in 2019 when she was still a senator, Harris said, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”
Now, Vice President Harris has positioned herself as a supporter of fracking. Harris reiterated that she would not ban fracking during the ABC News Presidential Debate.
“I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States,” she said during September’s ABC News debate. “And, in fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking.”
The Stonemarks documented the experience of living so close to an active fracking operation, with video showing flames shooting into the sky in the middle of the night as excess natural gas was burned off.
Their windows and tools in their garage often vibrate with the hum of machinery at the nearby well pad.
“The noise that comes off of that … are low-level sounds, low-level frequencies, more like a bass that cause vibrations, more like a constant hum, the kind of noise you feel in your chest and in your ears and in your head,” Michelle Stonemark told ABC. “We suffered from headaches and nosebleeds during that time.”
In Cecil Township, there’s legislation that would require new fracking operations to be placed at least 5,000 feet away from schools and 2,500 feet away from homes. The current minimum distance is 500 feet. The city council passed the resolution on Monday night.
Stonemark supports the legislation, but it may not change her situation. The family has already upgraded their air filters and installed air quality monitors outside, but she’s angry about it.
“Every day we wake up and we don’t know what we’re going to get. We don’t know how loud it’s going to be, how what it’s going to smell like outside,” she told ABC News. “[Or] If my kids can play outside; we don’t know if we can have people over.”
She’s also concerned that it’s causing health issues for the family.
“We don’t know if the nosebleed my daughter has is from fracking. We don’t know if the nausea and the headaches that we’re feeling are from fracking,” she said. “Every day is undue stress and anxiety on myself, my husband, my kids. So, yeah, it pisses me off.”
In 2023, a taxpayer-funded study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh found that children who live within one mile of unconventional natural gas development — including fracking — were found to be five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma, a type of cancer. It was also linked to adverse birth outcomes and exacerbating existing asthma symptoms.
In the race for the White House, politicians are hoping a vow to keep fracking will secure them votes. However, the issue is more complex for the people with fracking operations in their backyard. Even pro-fracking Republicans like Scott Byrd are in favor of the proposed changes.
“First of all, I’m very pro fracking,” he told ABC News. “It just has to be done in an industrial rural area.”
However, Byrd noted that neither of the candidates have offered particulars on the issue.
“I’m mainly motivated by responsibilities as a parent,” he said. “You see your two children, you have to do everything you can do to protect them.”
In a statement to ABC News, Range Resources, which runs fracking operations in Cecil Township, noted that it works closely with “municipalities and residents to foster open communication, address community concerns, and proactively minimize any potential impacts.”
However, it said that the township’s ordinance is “a stark outlier from the 50 other municipalities where Range operates, as it seeks to restrict future natural gas development within its borders.”
Byrd emphasized the need to frack safely.
“If the technology is not there to do it without hurting children, everybody else, we need to get more into research and development. We’re not just going to jump the gun,” he said. “They’re running with it and ignoring the risks. We have to do something.”
Stonewall noted that fracking is a polarizing topic, but it shouldn’t be something people are simply for or against.
“I’m neither for it or against it — I believe it has its place. I believe that we need to be an energy independent nation,” she said. “I just don’t believe that we need to be doing it at the expense of people living their everyday lives.”
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Francine was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane early Tuesday ahead of its expected landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm’s winds remained at about 65 mph just after midnight, the center said in its 1 a.m. CT update on Tuesday.
“Francine will likely become a hurricane today, with significant strengthening expected before it reaches the coast,” the update said.
Weather officials issued a series of hurricane warnings and watches for coastal areas as the storm has churned in the Gulf of Mexico. Strong winds are extending about 140 miles outward from the storm.
Francine is expected to make landfall Wednesday afternoon in southwestern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds.
A Storm Surge Warning was in effect for High Island, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River and Vermilion Bay in Louisiana. A Hurricane Warning was in effect for the Louisiana coast from Sabine Pass eastward to Morgan City, officials said.
The storm is expected to bring rain to much of the coast from northeastern Mexico through Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Most areas in the storm’s path will see between 4 inches and 8 inches of rain, with a few areas getting as much as 12 inches.
“This rainfall could lead to considerable flash and urban flooding,” weather officials said.
(PAWLET, Vt.) — A son has been arrested for the murder of his father, his father’s wife and her teenage son, who were found shot to death at their Vermont home, police announced Friday.
The triple homicide was discovered early Sunday. Officers responded to a report of a “suspicious person” and the investigation led them to a home in the town of Pawlet, Vermont State Police said.
Inside they found the three deceased victims — Brian Crossman Sr., 46, who was a Pawlet government official; his wife, Erica Crossman, 41; and her son and his stepson, Colin Taft, 13, police said. They were killed sometime early Sunday morning inside their home, police said.
Crossman Sr.’s son — Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York — now faces counts of aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shootings of his father, stepmother and stepbrother, Vermont State Police said Friday.
“The Vermont State Police investigation identified significant evidence that linked Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries, and various interviews,” Vermont State Police said in a statement.
New York State Police located Crossman Jr. and took him into custody. He is being detained without bail pending an appearance before a judge in New York to initiate proceedings for his extradition to Vermont, police said.
Police have not released any details on an alleged motive in the killings.
He was set to appear in court in Glens Falls, New York, Friday afternoon. It is unclear if he has an attorney at this time.
It is unclear when he will return to Vermont, police said.
All three family members died from gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled as homicides by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, police said. Crossman Sr. was shot in the head and torso, Erica Crossman was shot in the head and her son had multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Crossman Sr. had joined the Pawlet Select Board this year, where he served as a liaison to buildings and development and to the town’s highway department, according to the town’s website.
Pawlet Select Board Chair Mike Beecher remembered him as a “friend and neighbor” and a “hardworking community member.”
“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving,” Beecher said in a statement Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on.”
Pawlet, a town of about 1,400 people, is located in western Vermont on the New York state line.
