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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Man or something arrested in Oregon in death of Mouseketeer plank holder

2019-07-09

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) ‐ Authorities in Oregon have arrested a man in the death of an original member of Disney’s "The Mickey Mouse Club." Daniel James Burda, 36, was taken into custody Friday on suspicion of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, abuse of a corpse, criminal mistreatment and identity theft in the death of Dennis Day, Oregon State Police said. Burda was being held in Jackson County Jail, where records show he had been booked on June 26 for violating probation on a previous robbery charge. It was unclear if he has an attorney. Oregon State Police Captain Timothy R. Fox said Burda did jobs around the house for Day and his husband. Police declined to provide more details about Burda’s connection to Day, though neighbors say Burda had lived with the elderly couple at their home in southern Oregon. Day, 76, was a founding member of the Mickey Mouse Club for two seasons in the 1950s. In February, members of Day’s family spoke with "Dateline," a television news show, and said the investigation into Day’s disappearance had been poorly handled. Day was first reported missing last July 15 by his husband, Ernie Caswell, who has memory loss. Day’s car was later found at the Oregon coast and a missing person report said Day had uncharacteristically left his dog with a friend on the day he disappeared.

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Africa Horn

Ugandan Rebel Forces Recruit, Murder in South Sudan

2010-08-24

[Gulf Times] When the dreadlocked gunnies burst out of the jungle at night firing AK-47 assault rifles, the men of the scenic village took up bows and arrows to defend their families. But the brave defence was futile. The rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) simply shot the men and dragged off others into the forest to join their force. "Two of us were killed, and three more maimed," said Vanetta Tamenda, who fled as the rebels began their work, torching his small farming scenic village of Basukangbi, on south Sudan's remote border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The scenic village's simple defence force—calling themselves the Arrow Boys—were swiftly overrun. "They are too strong," Tamenda said, pulling up a ripped shirt to show bullet wounds in his shoulder and back. "We need guns to defend ourselves." Tens of thousands of people have been killed in two decades of fighting since LRA chief Joseph Kony took up arms—initially against the Ugandan government. Driven out of Uganda, the guerillas have carved out a vast region of control in the dense forests of northeastern DR Congo, south Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR). The jungle allows easy movement across porous borders for the rebels, who abandoned faltering peace talks in 2008. Their acts of startling brutality have forced more than 25,000 people to flee their homes in south Sudan since January, according to the UN. "The attacks this year by the LRA seem to be on the increase," said Sapana Abuyi, deputy governor of Western Equatoria, the state in south Sudan hardest hit by the rebels. "Not a week goes by without us receiving a message they have attacked a scenic village." They call the rebels here the "tong-tong" - or "chop-chop" - named after the machete attacks on their victims when they wish to save a bullet. Its top leaders, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, are accused of massacres, mutilation, forcibly enlisting boys as child soldiers, and taking girls as sex slaves. Several hundred of those who most recently fled have gathered in the small settlement of Nzara, searching for security, shelter, food and medication. "People left so quickly they could take little," said Daniel James Banjen, chief of the Sangwa area, which was attacked in early August. "Some of us are staying with families, others under plastic sheeting, and all of us are living off the food that we are given." The people here say an upsurge in attacks is linked to the ripe harvests currently in the fields. "They leave us alone while we cultivate," said Terezina Mathew as a child clutched her skirt. "But when the crops are good they come, forcing us away so they can take all our food."

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Drooling idiot arrested, accused of threatening to kill Obama

2009-06-07

A man accused of making threatening statements about killing President Obama has been arrested in Nevada, the Secret Service said Saturday. Daniel James Murray was arrested Friday night in the parking lot of the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, said Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley. Likes to take chances, does he? Murray recently withdrew $85,000 from a bank in St. George, Utah, in two separate visits and told a teller, "We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States," according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Utah. "Yeah, I could have told a 7-11 clerk who would have no idea who I am but I thought it might be scarier if I told someone who knows all about me, including my social security number and how much dough I have on me." "And what kind of soft drinks I buy." According to the complaint, Murray opened an account at Zions First National Bank on May 19 with an $85,000 check. "With all this mess going on under President Obama with banks and the economy, I'm sure if citizens happen to lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths," he said, according to the complaint. "and arrests, too, don't forget the arrests" On May 27, he returned to the bank and tried to withdraw $12,000, but lacked proper identification. "Not to be disrespectful, but if I don't get this money, someone is going to die," Murray said, according to the complaint. That seems pretty disrespectful to me. A bank manager was summoned and Murray was allowed to withdraw the money without proper identification. The bank manager was thinking "if you do withdraw this money, somebody is going to prison," but he forebore to say so. Murray would not accept a check and demanded bills no larger than $50, the complaint says. "Yes sir, here's your money, Mr. Murray, a thousand and one, a thousand and two, a thousand and three ..." "We are 94 million miles from the sun, and are in-between the sun and moon, and the eagle that flies between them and it's a giant step for mankind. ... I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen. ... the banking system will fail and people will die. ... there will be chaos in the world," Murray said, according to the complaint. Sounds like there's plenty of chaos inside his head. He then made his threat against the president, the complaint says. "I'm going to get my giant sun eagle to snatch him right out of the Rose Garden and fly him to the Moon. He can't breathe there, you know: No air, and the ground is covered with Fruit Loops and there isn't a casino anywhere around. Got a drink?" The next day, Murray returned to the bank, withdrew the rest of his money and closed the account, a bank teller told authorities. "and we all wished him a happy honeymoon with Bubba."

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Afghanistan

Iranian-born British army spy jailed for 10 years

2008-11-29

An army corporal who was the personal interpreter to Britain's most senior officer in Afghanistan was jailed for 10 years on Friday for spying for Iran. Daniel James, an Iranian-born flamboyant salsa-dancing fantasist who liked to be known as "General James", was caught passing information to an Iranian official in coded emails. His trial heard evidence that he believed he had been denied promotion because of racism and jealousy. James, 45, worked for General David Richards, who will take over as chief of the British army in August, but at the time headed the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Sentencing James, judge Roderick Evans said: "The gravest part of your offending and what made this case unique was that you engaged in this activity when you were actually serving in a war zone." The judge said James was a "ripe target" for the Iranians because of his nationality, disenchantment with the British army and "narcissistic" personality. It emerged during his trial that he was 25,000 pounds (30,000 euros, $38,000) in debt. The judge agreed with defense lawyers that the army should never have appointed James to such a sensitive position. James, who immigrated to Britain as a teenager, was found guilty earlier this month of communicating information useful to an enemy under the Official Secrets Act. The charge related to emails he sent to Colonel Mohammad Hossein Heydari, military attaché at the Iranian embassy in Kabul. On Thursday prosecutors announced they would not proceed with a re-trial on two further charges that jurors in the trial were unable to agree a verdict on. James was told that he would serve half the term in custody, minus the 709 days he has already been on remand, and the remainder on license. That means he could be out in just over three years.

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Britain

Ex-British soldier convicted of spying for Iran

2008-11-06

A former British army interpreter was convicted of espionage Wednesday for sending emails to an Iranian diplomat whilst serving in Afghanistan. Iranian-born Cpl. Daniel James, whom prosecutors depicted as an eccentric character who fantasized about being a hero, was found guilty of communicating information to an enemy. The jury continued to deliberate on two other charges related to a memory stick that contained secret NATO documents and a count of misconduct in public office. His sentencing will not take place until the verdicts on those charges are finalized. The Defense Ministry said he will be discharged from the military. In 2006, James was stationed in Afghanistan, where he acted as interpreter for former Gen. David Richards, then-NATO commander in the country. Nice background check... James, 45, who was born in Iran but moved to Britain as a teenager, denied the charges. He also told the court he was a Voodoo priest and had used black magic to protect Richards from the Taliban. And the general made it out alive, did he not, your honor! I rest my case! Prosecutors said James, a former salsa dance instructor, was heavily in debt. They also said he was a fantasist and "something of a Walter Mitty character." The description refers to a character who fantasized about being a hero in a story by the late American author James Thurber. Oooooh, salsa! He'll be the dancing queen of the cellblock! Prosecutors said James began sending coded e-mails after meeting an Iranian military attache in late August 2006. One read "I am at your service," prosecutors said. "The defendant's loyalty to this country wavered and his loyalties turned to Iran, the country of his birth," prosecutor Mark Dennis told jurors during the trial. "He turned his back on those with whom he was serving in Afghanistan and sought to become an agent for a foreign power." During the trial, James denied that charge, saying, "nonsense. I am still loyal to Britain. I am still a soldier." James said his emails were an attempt to set up a deal for Afghanistan to buy gas from Iran, and believed that any arrangement could benefit the US by reducing energy prices. Sure. Don't all British army corporals have the power to set up energy deals between foreign countries? He said the emails weren't a code, but rather an attempt to sound "sexy and important." Oh, you'll soon feel "sexy and important". You might not like it though... James joined the British army reserves in 1987, and was called up to serve a tour in Afghanistan in March 2006. Two months later, he was appointed translator for Richards, who was then the overall commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

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Iraq

British interpreter accused of espionage

2008-10-14

An interpreter who worked for Britain's top commander in Afghanistan has been accused of spying after being passed over for promotion. London's Old Bailey court was told on Monday that Corporal Daniel James sent a coded message to an Iranian military attaché in Kabul, telling him, "I am at your service." Prosecutor Mark Dennis claimed the two men exchanged emails and 'many telephone conversations'. Dennis, however, said it was not clear whether Corp. James had attempted to become an agent or was already one. Does it matter? "The concern is not so much the actual damage done by the known disclosure of information, but in the potential damage that could have occurred if his activities had not been curtailed by his early detection and arrest," Dennis said. Corp. James has denied collecting and communicating information useful to an enemy and willful misconduct in public office. The Iranian-born translator, however, is accused of carrying confidential NATO files on a computer flash drive when he was arrested in December 2006. "The value of these documents to anyone trying to sell himself as an agent to a foreign power, or to continue promoting himself as such, trying to show how close he was to sensitive information, is all too clear," Dennis claimed. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks. Some sessions are expected to be held behind closed doors. The revelation about James' alleged spying charges comes at a time when Tehran is at loggerheads with London over the imminent release of the only surviving culprit involved in a 1980 terrorist attack on the Iranian embassy in London. Iran has asked Britain to deport Fowzi Badavi-Nejad, the convicted terrorist, to his home country. Badavi-Nejad's release, meanwhile, will reportedly allow the felon to enjoy a safe stay in the UK.

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Britain

Top British Army aide accused of spying for Iran

2006-12-21

A military aide to the commander of British forces in Afghanistan appeared in court yesterday accused of spying. Cpl Daniel James, 44, is charged under the 1911 Official Secrets Act with "prejudicing the safety of the state" by passing information "calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy". It was said he had communicated with a "foreign power" in the incident on Nov 2, believed to be Iran. Most of the hearing at Westminster magistrates' court yesterday was held in secret and no mention was made of James's job or his address. But The Daily Telegraph has learned that he acts as an interpreter for Gen David Richards, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan and one of the most senior officers in the Army. If the trial goes ahead, it will be the first espionage prosecution under Section 1 of the 1911 Act for a generation. The last involved Michael Bettany, an MI5 officer who was jailed for 23 years in 1984 for passing information to the Soviet Union.

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