Little Falls homeowner found guilty of murdering teens
By Amy Forliti
Associated Press
POSTED: 04/29/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: 14 MIN. AGO

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. -- A Minnesota homeowner who shot and killed two teenagers during a break-in has been convicted of premeditated murder.

Bryon Smith had claimed he was simply defending himself during the break-in at his home in the small city of Little Falls on Thanksgiving Day 2012.

Smith's attorney said the 65-year-old was fearful after previous burglaries.

But prosecutors argued that Smith waited in his basement and intended to kill the teens. A total of nine shots were fired at 17-year-old Nick Brady and 18-year-old Haile Kifer.

Minnesota law allows a person to use deadly force for defense, but that action must be considered reasonable. Jurors found him guilty of both first-degree and second-degree murder charges.

Suspect in Conn. school stabbing under psych evaluation
HARTFORD, Conn. -- A teenager charged with stabbing a fellow high school student to death on the day of their junior prom is being held in a hospital under psychiatric evaluation where he will likely remain for two weeks, one of his attorneys said Saturday.

The 16-year-old suspect, who was charged as a juvenile offender, will not appear at an arraignment scheduled for Monday in New Haven, attorney Richard Meehan said.

The teenager is accused of fatally stabbing Maren Sanchez, 16, in the hallway of Jonathan Law High School in Milford. The attack occurred Friday morning, hours before the school's junior prom, and authorities were investigating whether Sanchez was stabbed after turning down the suspect's invitation to the dance.

"He asked her to prom; she said, 'No, I have a new boyfriend,'" junior Jill Davis told CBS News. "He strangled her and then slit her throat and then stabbed her in the arm and then ran, and the cops got him."

ST. LOUIS (AP) — After he was convicted of armed robbery in 2000, Cornealious Anderson was sentenced to 13 years behind bars and told to await instructions on when and where to report to prison. But those instructions never came.

So Anderson didn't report. He spent the next 13 years turning his life around — getting married, raising three kids, learning a trade. He made no effort to conceal his identity or whereabouts. Anderson paid taxes and traffic tickets, renewed his driver's license and registered his businesses.

Not until last year did the Missouri Department of Corrections discover the clerical error that kept him free. Now he's fighting for release, saying authorities missed their chance to incarcerate him.

CPD: 2014 sees lowest 1st-quarter murder total in 56 years
April 1, 2014 (CHICAGO) -- Chicago's first-quarter murder total this year hit its lowest number since 1958, police say.

The first three months of the year saw 6 fewer murders than the same time frame in 2013--a 9 percent drop--and 55 fewer murders than 2012, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

There were 90 fewer shootings and 119 fewer shooting victims, drops of 26 and 29 percent respectively, according to police statistics. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, there have been 222 fewer shootings and 292 fewer shooting victims.

Overall crime is down 25 percent from last year, and police said more than 1,300 illegal guns were recovered in the last three months.