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DNA evidence linked Raul Meza to 2019 death, court records say

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- DNA evidence from several years ago had already linked Raul Meza Jr., 62, to the 2019 death of Gloria Lofton, 66. Now, he's charged with her murder. According to the Austin Police Department, they are investigating Meza in connection to several cold cases in the area, after arresting him earlier this week for Lofton's death and the recent death of an 80-year-old Pflugerville man, Jesse Fraga.An affidavit obtained by KXAN details what led to these charges. IN-DEPTH: Court documents detail what led to 80 year old’s death, ‘serial killer’ arrest Last week, Meza called 311 and told the responding officer he knew police were looking for him. On the call, he confessed to murdering a woman "on Sara Drive." Following the call, police looked into deaths of women on Sara Drive in Austin from 2013 to 2021. Gloria Lofton’s reported death on May 9, 2019, was the only incident that fit the description, according to the affidavit. According to the final medical examiner rep...

Matt Wallner, Jose Miranda lead Saints past Bisons 6-2

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

BUFFALO. N.Y. — Matt Wallner and Jose Miranda both went 3-for-5 with a home run to lead the St. Paul Saints to their fourth consecutive victory, 6-2 over the host Buffalo Bisons in a Class AAA baseball game on Wednesday afternoon at Sahlen Field.Wallner hit his solo home run in the seventh inning to put the Saints up 4-1. Miranda hit his home run, a two-run shot, in the ninth to make it 6-2.Starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez got the win for St. Paul, giving up just one unearned run in five innings. He allowed four hits, while striking one one and walking one.The Saints improved to 29-22, a season-high seven games over .500.Game 3 of the six-game series is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.Related ArticlesMinnesota Twins | Kenta Maeda, Matt Wallner ignite Saints in 9-1 rout of Bisons Minnesota Twins | Jair Camargo’s grand slam spurs Saints to 10-6 win over Storm Chasers Minnesota Twins | Saints’ Austin Schulfer inching his way c...

Montgomery County updates police dispatch center

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

FULTONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Prepared Live 911 is a computer system that helps connect a caller to dispatchers. What makes the difference for call centers is the opportunity to have a live video feed sent from a user’s phone directly to the call center.Montgomery County’s Technical Communications Coordinator, Brittney Dobbs, says a dispatcher can send a link to a caller’s phone that gives them a choice to share their camera. Free of charge, Dobbs says this technology allows everyone involved to react more quickly. EMS Recognition Week at Bennington Rescue “Prior to, we never had any kind of visualization of what the caller was actually seeing to help better prepare our first responders. Now we have the ability of within not even a minute, we can get a live view of what’s going on and help better prepare everybody who is responding. So we have the right resources and we’re able to direct them to the correct location," explained Dobbs. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and comm...

New St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore: ‘Failure is not an option’

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

ST. LOUIS – During his first full-day in office as the city's top prosecutor, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore explained why he wanted to take the job and his priorities moving forward.Gore said during his interview with Governor Mike Parson, the governor didn't ask about politics, instead he wanted to know how he was going to get the circuit attorney's office back on track."I will say that we have our work cut out for us," Gore said. "It's going to be a challenge. Failure is not an option."With a backlog of thousands of cases, many of which are violent, the newly-appointed circuit attorney has his hands full."Within an hour of being sworn in, I assigned someone to specifically conduct a detailed assessment of where the warrant office is and provide me a report of that," Gore said. "We're in the process of doing that right now, so I can't speak to it." Victim in fatal St. Louis Kitchen shooting identified Last week, in an exclusive interview, Parson said his legal counsel, Eva...

Federal judge halts Missouri execution of man convicted in jailbreak killings

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday halted next week's scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing two Missouri jailers amid questions about the literacy of a juror in the case.U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough ruled that Michael Andrew Tisius' execution at the state prison in Bonne Terre should be delayed to give the court time for a hearing on the juror.The delay comes after Tisius' lawyers earlier this month claimed a juror in his 2010 resentencing could not read or write.Missouri law requires jurors to be able to read and speak English. Victim in fatal St. Louis Kitchen shooting identified In an affidavit signed by the juror May 3, the juror stated “someone at the courthouse” helped him fill out his juror questionnaire.“I told the Courthouse employee that I could not read," according to an excerpt from the affidavit included in Bough’s ruling. "The Courthouse employee took me into a private room. The Courthouse employee read word for word the ques...

Former 'Family Feud' contestant Timothy Bliefnick guilty in wife's slaying

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A jury Wednesday convicted a former contestant on the television game show “Family Feud” of first-degree murder and home invasion in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois.Timothy Bliefnick, 40, was found guilty in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Rebecca Bliefnick.The Adams County Circuit Court jury in Quincy deliberated about four hours after Timothy Bliefnick did not testify and the defense did not call any evidence. Adams County sheriff's deputies took Bliefnick into custody immediately after the verdict was read.Bliefnick is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11The body of Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, was found by a family member inside her Quincy home after she failed to pick up her children from school. She had been shot multiple times. Timothy Bliefnick was arrested March 13, 12 days after his Quincy home was searched.The couple was separated and going through a divorce.In 2020, Timothy Bliefnick and some of his family members appeared on ABC's “Family ...

Kiszla: Nuggets’ unstoppable run to NBA Finals pushed by the Joker, a soothsayer in wheelchair and 87-year-old fan dancing as fast as she can

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

Although Nicholas Owens cannot walk, he has been there every step of the way with the Nuggets during their run to the first NBA Finals in team history.When Owens rolls his wheelchair into the Denver locker room before every home game to study video of Kevin Durant, LeBron James or the next superstar standing in the way of a championship 56 long basketball seasons in the making, center Nikola Jokic greets Nicholas with these words: “Good to see you, my brother.”If you did not grow up with this franchise, forced to fight for every smidgeon of respect since the Denver Rockets fired their first jump shot as an outlaw in the renegade ABA back in 1967, maybe it’s impossible to fully understand the hullabaloo shaking down thunder in the Rocky Mountains.What we’re witnessing is more than a quest for a championship by a team born during the 1960s, back when Hampden Avenue marked the end of local civilization rather than the beginning of endless suburban sprawl.With only Miami left to conquer...

12 moments that defined the Nuggets’ magical run to NBA Finals

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

Denver’s historic run has been months in the making. Here are 12 of the team’s defining moments:All smilesDate: Oct. 19Score: Jazz 123, Nuggets 102Jamal Murray scored just 12 points in a season-opening loss to Utah, yet after the game, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. For the first time since tearing his ACL in April of 2021, Murray was back on the court for a regular-season game. “I’ve never smiled in a loss before,” he said after the game. Murray considered returning late in the regular season during the prior year but knew he needed to allow his left knee to recover longer. His return served as a landmark moment for him and one that had been 18 months in the making.Jamal Murray (27) of the Denver Nuggets is introduced before the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)MPJ buying inDate: Oct. 22Score: Nuggets 122, Thunder 117Michael Porter Jr., back after missing most of last season ...

Three men sentenced in Denver to prison for crime spree and shooting death

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

Three men were sentenced Wednesday in Denver to long prison terms for their parts in a 2021 metro area crime spree that included an armed robbery and the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old student.Noah Loepp-Hall was sentenced to 65 years in prison, Aiden Sides to 41 years and Isaiah Freeman 30 years, according to a Denver District Attorney’s Office news release.The crime spree included the burglary of five businesses, the shooting and robbery of a man and the shooting death of student Shmuel Silverberg in West Denver outside a Torah school. The shooting victim who was robbed, Thomas Young, is paralyzed from a spinal cord injury in the attack. Two additional defendants await sentencing.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | 18-year-old defendant sentenced to life in prison for double shooting in Lakewood Crime and Public Safety | Cold case homicide suspect arrested for 2009 New Year’s Day shooting in Ignacio Crime and Public Safety | ...

Security guards save life of choking baby in Beverly Hills

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:34 GMT

Video captured the moment a security guard in Beverly Hills grabbed a child who was choking and turning blue from his frantic mother and saved the baby's life.  The terrifying incident unfolded last Friday outside a 76 gas station on Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive.  Surveillance cameras at the station show the mother carrying her child, desperately calling out for a doctor who could help the choking baby. The security guard can be seen taking the child and lifting him up as the mother, bereft, falls to the ground.  “She was very devastated,” said Jose Peraza, an attendant at the 76 gas station who helped console the mother. “He was dying, not breathing or anything. So, a couple of security guards, they helped her out.” The guards work for Covered Six, a private security firm contracted by the city of Beverly Hills.  “My partner told the security guard to hit the little baby on the back. That’s the way he reacted, you know,” Peraza told KTLA.  ...