Ah yes, the MSNBC's crime & punishment section. Through this lense, the world is a weird place to live in, and a funny one too.
In Georgia, an 86-year-old man did not want anyone getting too close to his fishing lines, so he took a few shots at a pair of fishermen competing at a tournament. One of them was hit in the arm. He was jailed on a charge of aggravated assault and later released on bond.
Read Faks here
Old-fashioned modern slavery
A millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in their luxurious Long Island home for years — viciously inflicting abuse for perceived offenses — have been indicted on federal slavery charges.
The women were subjected to beatings, had scalding water thrown on them and were forced to repeatedly climb up stairs and take as many as 30 showers in three hours — all as punishment for perceived misdeeds. In one case, one of the women was forced to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time.
Read Faks here
Firingman
In New York, a former fashion writer was convicted Wednesday of charges that he sexually abused a woman for almost 13 hours after posing as a firefighter on Halloween to bluff his way into her Manhattan apartment.
Braunstein's lawyers did not dispute that he carried out the attack, but said he was so mentally ill that he was unable to form the intent to be held criminally responsible. The trial included graphic testimony from the victim, as she recalled Braunstein stripping her naked, putting stiletto heels on her feet, groping her and videotaping the encounter.
Read Faks here
Vanished after sending the divorce papers
On the day she vanished, Lisa Stebic of Plainfield Illinois mailed off a petition seeking to remove her husband from the suburban Chicago home the couple shared with their two children while going through a divorce.
Mysteriously, her husband reported that he saw his wife leave the house carrying only her cell phone and purse (no enveloppe). He reported her missing the next morning. The police insist that the husband is not a suspect. Hard to believe.
Read Faks here
The heroe cat is flat
A fake veterinarian got busted thanks to the help of Freddy the tabby. This rescued stray, with the help of some random police officials, helped collar some sick animal-torturer. The guy was actually performing unauthorized pet medicine for small amounts of money. He's been sentenced by the US Supreme Court to do time in a mental institute.
Freddy the Tabby got a tiny badge on his collar, a Law Enforcement Appreciation Award and was honored at an adopt-a-thon benefit hosted by Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters. Officials had planned to use him in a classroom program about animal care, but the 15-month-old tabby died in August after wandering from his caretaker’s home and into traffic.
He ended up being neutered after all! (Ouch, stinging!)
Read Faks here
