| Second lawyer in Vegas homeowner association scandal found dead Mar 28th 2012, 19:12 By msnbc.com staff Two lawyers linked to a homeowner association scandal that has rocked Las Vegas have been found dead in less than a week. The body of prominent attorney David Amesbury, who was named in a fraud investigation, was found Sunday hanging in a northern California shed just five days after Nancy Quon, a construction-defect lawyer, was found dead in her Henderson, Nev., bathtub, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. While an autopsy will take time to complete, Nevada County Chief Deputy Coroner Paul Schmidt told the Associated Press he didn’t suspect foul play in Amesbury's death.
Las Vegas media characterized Quon, 51, as a major player in the investigation. Officials are awaiting toxicology tests to determine Quon’s cause of death. As in Amesbury’s case, investigators do not suspect foul play. David Amesbury, 57, had taken a plea deal in October in a federal investigation where defendants have admitted steering legal and construction contracts to favored firms. Ten people agreed to cooperate with federal investigators probing kickbacks and rigging of homeowner association board elections, the AP reported. Two others also have died, according to the Review-Journal. Christopher Van Cleef, a retired police officer, shot himself in September 2008 when his name surfaced in connection to the probe. An ex-homeowners association board member, identified as Robbi Castro, died of a drug overdose in 2010, the Review-Journal reported. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook |  Judge: Texas boy kidnapped 8 years ago shouldn't see parents for now Mar 28th 2012, 18:27  KPRC-TV Miguel Morin was 8 months old when he was kidnapped in 2004. By KPRC-TV HOUSTON — A court ruled Wednesday that a boy who was kidnapped eight years ago shouldn't be reunited with his natural mother and father. Miguel Morin, 8, was kidnapped in November 2004. He was 8 months old when he disappeared. Miguel was found earlier this month after a woman turned in her sister, Krystle Rochelle Tanner. Tanner has been charged with felony kidnapping. Read this story on NBC's Click2Houston.com Fernando Morin and Auboni Champion-Morin have been proven to be Miguel's parents, but a judge said Wednesday that they should not see or be granted visitation with their son until a plan to limit trauma is made.
Attorneys said the parents and Miguel need to undergo therapy before they can be reunited. "The child does not know reality as we know it," child psychologist Charles Cleveland said. "That information needs to be reintegrated to him in a gentle, thoughtful way." Champion-Morin said she left her son with Tanner, a friend whom she considered the child's godmother. When she went to pick up Miguel the next day, both Tanner and the child were gone. According to Children's Protective Services workers, Miguel was given a new name and a new birth date, and when shown a picture of Tanner, he identified her as his mother. Officials said he thinks he is 6 years old. The next court hearing will be held in mid-May. Miguel is staying with a foster family. His birth parents asked that he be placed in the care of a relative, but a judge denied that request. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook |  Fox pulls 'Neighborhood Watch' movie ads due to Trayvon Martin case Mar 28th 2012, 18:16  20th Century Fox By Bob Tourtellotte, Reuters Twentieth Century Fox movie studio on Tuesday said it is removing posters and a promotional trailer for its summer comedy "Neighborhood Watch" from theaters in Florida following the death of teenager Trayvon Martin. "We are very sensitive to the Trayvon Martin case," Fox said in a statement, "but our film is a broad alien-invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida." The poster for the movie starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill shows a picture of a shadowy figure with a line across it and the movie's title underneath. The film, which is scheduled for release on July 27, tells of a group of people hunting aliens in their neighborhood. Fox said the poster and trailer - promotional clips taken from the movie that run in advance of the scheduled feature film - were made well before the killing of 17-year-old Martin on February 26 by a neighborhood volunteer in Sanford, Florida. "The teaser materials were part of an early phase of our marketing and were never planned for long-term use. Above all else, our thoughts go out to the families touched by this terrible event," Fox said. Was the studio right to pull the ads, or are they overreacting? Tell us on Facebook. Related content: |  Body of 4-year-old Caleb Linn found in Arkansas river 4 days after he vanished Mar 28th 2012, 18:04 By msnbc.com staff and news services  Arkansas State Police via AP Emergency crews Wednesday found the body of 4-year-old Caleb Linn in the South Fork of the Spring River in northern Arkansas' Ozark foothills, law enforcement officials said. The boy disappeared Saturday morning in the Camp Kia Kima Boy Scout Camp area in Hardy. Tuesday, the focus turned to the Spring River when the child's shirt was found in the water near
an area where he had last been seen, NBC station KARK reported.
On Wednesday, crews set up a net on the river and used cadaver dogs, said Fulton County Sheriff's dispatcher Arles Lenderman. Officials believe that the boy accidentally fell into the river, which was swollen after recent storms.  Jeannie Nuss / AP file Searchers walk toward the river at Kia Kima Boy Scout camp near Hardy, Ark., before 4-year-old Caleb Linn's body was found. Caleb lived in Springdale, Ark., about 150 miles from the site, with his parents and three siblings. His parents were staying at the camp during the search. Roughly 1,000 people had been involved in Caleb's search. On Tuesday, Linn's great grandmother, Carolyn Truex, said she and her family had been holding tightly to the hope the missing boy took a wrong path. Or that he fell into the fast-moving stream but managed to pull himself out and survive alone. Authorities narrowed their focus to the water late Tuesday and called off the ground search for Caleb, who had tagged along with his aunt and several other children to help clear storm debris from a bridge at the 900-acre Camp Kia Kima Boy, which his aunt was looking after while the regular caretaker was away. When five of the children left to go back to the cabin area around lunchtime, Caleb asked if he could follow. His aunt told him he could, but that he had to stick to the road, Fulton County Sheriff Buck Foley said. The last she saw of him before she turned around to resume her work, he said, was Caleb standing at the end of the bridge. This article includes reporting by NBC station KARK, Reuters and The Associated Press. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook |  Cops: Couple held disabled woman, cashed checks Mar 28th 2012, 13:31 Two people have been arrested and accused of kidnapping, starving and beating a disabled New York woman. Police say they held the woman for more than a year and stole her Social Security checks. WNBC-TV's Brynn Gingras reports. By NBCNewYork.com Two people have been arrested and accused of kidnapping, starving and beating a disabled woman in a Queens home for more than a year, police say. Police found the 58-year-old victim inside the Rockaway Park home last Thursday, after her niece in Pennsylvania became concerned she hadn't heard from her in months. The victim was found locked in an empty room that could only be opened from the outside, huddled on the floor, bleeding from the head and malnourished, authorities said. For more, visit NBCNewYork.com She was taken to a hospital with broken ribs, a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and other injuries. Authorities said Patrick Donovan, 42, and Mae Washington, 63, repeatedly beat the victim with their fists and with a cane, locked her in a room and sometimes bound her with tape. She was also forced to clean up after their dog and multiple cats, even though she is partially paralyzed on the left side of her body, authorities said. The couple also stole her Social Security checks and cashed them, authorities said. "I'm devastated," the victim's niece, Deborah Patton, told NBC New York in a phone interview. "I can't believe a human being could treat another human being like that." The victim had been living with the couple since January 2011, when she was approached by them while at an assisted living facility, the Queens prosecutor's office said. They convinced her to rent space with them to save money. The victim is now recovering in the hospital. Washington and Donovan have been charged with kidnapping, assault and endangering the welfare of a disabled person. This was their second arrest this month; they were previously arrested for burglarizing their neighbor. The two remain jailed with no bond. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison. They're expected to return to court in April. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook |  JetBlue suspends captain following in-flight meltdown Mar 28th 2012, 11:48 Tony Antolino and Laurie Dhue, passengers aboard the JetBlue flight that made an emergency landing after the pilot had a mid-air meltdown, talk to TODAY's Ann Curry about the bizarre incident. By NBC News services JetBlue announced Wednesday that it is suspending the captain whose bizarre behavior prompted his fellow co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit on a flight from New York to Las Vegas. Clayton Osbon, 49, has been a pilot at JetBlue since 2000, the airline's first year of flying. The company said a "medical situation" occurred onboard the plane on Tuesday but wouldn't elaborate. Passengers said the pilot was yelling and acting unruly in the cabin after he was locked out of the cockpit. A group of passengers tackled the captain and restrained him until the plane landed in Amarillo, Texas. JetBlue spokeswoman Allison Steinberg said Wednesday that Osbon was taken off active duty pending review of the incident. Two passengers aboard JetBlue Flight 191 recounted Wednesday the dramatic and bizarre situation of the plane's captain leaving the cockpit, acting erratically and eventually being subdued. JetBlue's CEO, meanwhile, said the captain was a "consummate professional." The captain "became increasingly agitated," passenger Tony Antolino told TODAY's Ann Curry, adding that several passengers grabbed the pilot, "tackled him to the ground" and sat on him. Osbon, since charged with interfering with a flight crew and now getting medical care, left the cockpit, tried to enter an occupied lavatory and then became increasingly agitated when he couldn't get back into the cockpit. "The first thing I saw was the captain running down the aisle," passenger Laurie Dhue said on TODAY, adding he was "banging on the door, saying 'Let me in! Let me in!' " Dhue credited the "brave people on board" for handling the situation, saying it was "literally like a scene from a movie." JetBlue CEO Dave Barger, also appearing on TODAY, told host Matt Lauer that he knew the captain personally and said there were no signs that pointed to the in-flight meltdown. "It was a true team effort at 35,000 feet yesterday," Barger said of the response by passengers and crew. JetBlue CEO Dave Barger speaks out after a JetBlue flight made an emergency landing due to a pilot's mid-air meltdown. Flight 191 was scheduled from John F. Kennedy Airport to Las Vegas, but was diverted to Amarillo, Texas. On Tuesday, Antolino told NBC New York the captain began yelling about an unspecified threat linked to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. "They're going to take us down, they're taking us down, they're going to take us down. Say the Lord's prayer, say the Lord's prayer," the captain screamed, according to Antolino. A JetBlue flight made an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas, Tuesday after the pilot had a "medical situation" and had to be restrained by passengers. NBC's Tom Costello reports. John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and former airline pilot, told the Associated Press that incidents in which pilots become mentally incapacitated during a flight are "pretty rare." He said he could only recall two or three other examples in the more than 40 years he has been following commercial aviation. Airlines and the FAA strongly encourage pilots to assert themselves if they think safety is being jeopardized, even if it means contradicting a captain's orders, Cox said. Aviation safety experts have studied several cases where first officers deferred to more experienced captains with tragic results. In-flight outbursts by airline crewmembers are rare, but they do happen. Earlier this month, an American Airlines flight attendant was taken off a plane for rambling about 9/11 and her fears that the plane would crash. "I'm not responsible for this plane crashing," the crew member said over the public-address system, according to passengers. Passengers wrestled the flight attendant into a seat while the plane was grounded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport; the flight attendant was hospitalized. In 2008, an Air Canada co-pilot was forcibly removed from a Toronto-to-London flight, restrained and sedated after having a mental breakdown on a flight. The FAA is likely to review the unidentified captain's medical certificate — essentially a seal of approval that the pilot is healthy. All pilots working for scheduled airlines must have a first-class medical certificate. The certificates must be renewed every six months to a year, depending on the pilot's age. To receive the certificate, the pilot must receive a physical examination by an FAA-designated medical examiner that includes questions about pilot's psychological condition. Pilots are required to disclose all physical and psychological conditions and medications. Passenger Charlie Restivo thought it was clear the pilot suffered a medical episode. "I don't think when he got up this morning that that's what he was intending to do," Restivo told the AP. "Unfortunately, I just think it happened to him." The Associated Press and NBC New York contributed to this report. Related stories | |
