The five members of Wythenshawe's Newall Green Crew gang were sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail after pleading guilty to numerous offences, including armed robbery and burglary. They targeted homes with high-powered cars parked outside during an eight-month crime spree. After threatening, beating and robbing the homeowners, they would then use the cars for other crimes, mostly robberies.
The cars stolen included a Subaru Impreza, which was shown speeding around the Wythenshawe estate and pulling 'doughnuts' in a video posted on Youtube by one gang member. Also stolen between May 2007 and January this year by the gang were an Audi A4, Audi A3, a VW Golf and Seat Leon. Detective Constable Stephen Philips said: "These five men are repeat offenders who have shown a complete disregard for the law. "Between them they have targeted and terrified completely innocent members of the public. "Thanks to a lot of hard work by officers at the burglary unit we were able to identify the offenders as key players in a gang who prided themselves on their criminal background. "I am pleased they are all now starting considerable prison sentences. The streets will certainly be safer with them behind bars."
The gang were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday (28/11/08).
Michael O'Reilly, 20, of Barnwood Road, Newall Green, pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery and one count of burglary. He was jailed for seven years.
Jonathan Charles Costello, 22, of Foxlair Road, Poundswick, pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to five years.
Matthew Sam Hackland, 21, of Greenbrow Road, Newall Green, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary at an earlier hearing and has been sentenced to four years.
Derek Cotterill, 23, of St George's Court, Eccles, Salford, admitted two counts of burglary at an earlier hearing. He was jailed for three years.
Damien Lee Dean, 24, of Kennett Road, Newall Green pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and handling stolen goods at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to five years. Along with the five gang members, Paul Costello, 20, of Old Moat Lane, Withington, admitted handling stolen goods and going equipped for burglary at an earlier hearing and was jailed for nine months.

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Gordon Horsfall, 28, phoned an associate to deliver the gun and bullet-proof vest after a row at a busy nightclub on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Two people were hurt as he opened fire. He is now starting a six-year jail term as well as facing extradition to Spain over a stabbing.Gordon Horsfall phoned an accomplice to deliver the gun and a bulletproof vest after a confrontation with two men inside the club. The gun and vest were delivered by taxi before he opened fire at random. One women passer-by was injured by a ricochet and was only saved from serious injury because the shot bounced off her necklace. Horsfall, 28, then turned to doorman Anthony Nyangweso and shot him through the hand before fleeing in a taxi. Last night, Horsfall was behind bars after being sentenced to nearly six years in prison for the cowardly attack. He went on the run after the shooting and was captured in July when armed police posing as postmen raided an exclusive block of flats in Glasgow's west end. He faces extradition to Spain after being accused of a vicious knife attack on a man in Tenerife. It is understood he fled to a bolthole on the holiday island after the shooting in July 2004 but returned to Scotland early this year to look after "business" interests. CCTV pictures show Horsfall - wearing the bulletproof vest - arriving back outside Blanket nightclub in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. He phoned a friend and got him to deliver the gun and vest in a taxi. Terrified clubbers, who have spotted the weapon, run from the scene in panic. Next, the gun-toting gangster appears to be scouring the street, trying to identify a target.
He is shown shooting into the crowd of people around the club entrance before turning to flee. He then opens the door of a waiting taxi before jumping in and making his escape. The operation followed several weeks of surveillance on Horsfall, who officers said had "holed up" and rarely left the flat after returning from abroad. At the High Court in Glasgow, Horsfall admitted assault and reckless and culpable discharge of a shotgun outside Blanket, now renamed The Classrooms. He had been at the club with two Asian friends and, in a row with another group of Asian men, he was told he was going to be shot, prompting him to make the call for a gun.
The court was told he collected the items around 3.30am then opened fire on the group outside the club - firing around four times.

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The Sicilian mafia’s hitmen are skilled and practiced, their murders are rarely botched, even when carried out from the back of a motorcycle traveling at speed.
But one of the many mysteries that surrounds the Cosa Nostra is where its killers acquire their lethal dexterity. It is known they have practiced in the Sicilian countryside. But the flat crack of a pistol, which sounds quite unlike the report of a shotgun, can swiftly attract unwelcome attention.Part of the answer to the puzzle has emerged in Palermo’s notorious Zona Espansione Nord (Zen) - a complex of housing estates on the edge of the city which was the fiefdom of the city’s top mobster, Salvatore Lo Piccolo, known as the Baron, until his arrest last year.There, 10 meters below ground in a warren of passages, police have found a firing range littered with 9 x 21 caliber ammunition - the Italian mobster’s favorite.Sara Fascina, the police commander whose officers discovered the complex, said it also seemed to have been used for hiding fugitives and providing them with an escape route in the event of a raid. “The housing blocks that make up the Zen are strongholds that are impossible to enter unobserved,” she said.The officers came across the shooting range by chance. While searching the flat of a suspected drug dealer, one officer noticed a large bunch of keys and asked what they were all for.
They found what appeared to be a shed in the courtyard, with an entrance opened by remote control. From there, they descended to an armored door beyond which was a refuge for fugitives, complete with TV, air conditioning and €7,000 (£6,000) in cash.
When another security door was forced open the police found themselves navigating some 100 meters of passageways circling the foundations of the block. At the end of the last passageway was the firing range - 10 meters long and sound-proofed.

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Fausto Gonzalez, 37, who was branded a "killing machine" by prosecutors, will have to serve the new terms consecutively, virtually ensuring he will never be freed.Remorseless biker-gang assassin who murdered six people was hit with two life sentences Friday by a Manhattan judge who called the crimes "immorality in such epic proportions.""I saw not a twinge of regret or any decent human emotion during the trial," said Supreme Court Justice Daniel FitzGerald.The judge imposed two life sentences with no possibility of parole for two of the murders and four sentences of 25 years to life for the others.He imposed separate sentences for each victim's death to recognize the value of their lives, "something that never crossed your mind," the judge told Gonzalez.Gonzalez is already serving life in prison for another gang murder in Connecticut.Assistant District Attorney Robert Walker said before sentencing that Gonzalez was an "unrepentant" and "merciless" thug who sometimes killed "for no reason at all."A defense lawyer asked for the sentences to be served concurrently. He had argued that fellow gang members were the only witnesses to the slayings and may have lied to obtain reduced prison sentences.Gonzalez started killing to punish or rob gang rivals, then moved on to thrill killings like the murder of Richard Fedor, who was shot in a robbery as he walked to the bank from his East Harlem drugstore.Gonzalez also gunned down East Village restaurateur Halil Korkmaz, also known as Alexander Pierce, because he wanted to steal his motorcycle.Not satisfied with the bloodshed, Gonzalez even ran over the body of Korkmaz, who had been waiting at a red light on E. Houston St., authorities said.John Akdikmen, a friend of Korkmaz, called Gonzalez "a coward and a lowlife" who killed "a good and decent man who never hurt anyone."Carolyn Recchio, one of the jurors who convicted Gonzalez, said justice has been served.
"I feel very happy to have been a part of this," she said.

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Dante Ferrazza, who was sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole in 1967, is scheduled to be released from prison in January after the governor in October endorsed a recommendation from the Parole Board.Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith on Monday filed an application to appeal the decision in Macomb County.
Ferrazza was convicted of first-degree, premeditated murder along with Harry Whitney, who has since died, for the April 1966 strangling death of Gary Grayvold, 28, of Detroit. The slaying was a gangland-style execution among small-time criminals in which Ferrazza and Whitney abducted Grayvold at gunpoint at Pampa Lanes in Warren, strangled him in a garrote-style execution and dumped his body in a lake at Stony Creek Park (now Metropark) in Washington Township, according to published reports at the time. His body, which had been weighted with two cement blocks, was found May 6 by two Warren High School students at a dam in the park, reports say.
Brad Grayvold, 42, one of Gary Grayvold's three sons, and Max Grayvold, 29, Gary Grayvold's brother, told The Macomb Daily this week they are angry and dismayed the governor OK'd Ferrazza's release.Brad Grayvold, an elementary school principal in Norway, Mich., in the Upper Peninsula, said he "nearly fell off my chair" when he saw the e-mail informing him of the decision."It was like a dagger," he said. "He took away something from me that can never be given back. He knew it exactly what he was doing. He deserves to die in prison."The Gravolds said they believe Granholm did not read the case or a letter submitted to her by Brad Grayvold because she would have rejected it if she did. Ferrazza had two prior armed robbery convictions and was on parole at the time of the slaying.Max Grayvold of Royal Oak, a business owner in Birmingham, said Ferrazza remains a danger to the community as well as he and Brad, since Ferrazza saw them speak at the Parole Board hearing."We don't believe the governor was given the right information," Max Grayvold said. "He is a danger to the community. I feel in danger myself. He is 71 years old; that's middle age nowadays. ... Show me one way he will be a contributing member of society."Assistant Macomb prosecutor Robert Berlin argues in the brief seeking the appeal: "The decision constitutes an abuse of discretion based upon the very serious nature of the instant offense and the expectations of society and the victim's family as to the serving of the life sentence."A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8 in front of circuit Chief Judge Richard Caretti.The Attorney General's Office also opposed the release at the parole hearing, the Grayvolds said.Attorney General spokespersons could not be reached for comment Wednesday.Granholm spokeswoman Megan Brown said Wednesday the governor approved Ferrazza's release because he no longer poses a danger to the community."He's 71 years old. He's served 42 years," she said.
Granholm's commutation of the sentence is part of her effort to reduce the cost of and reform the state Department Corrections, which in recent years has increasingly strained the state budget due to a rising prison population.Granholm this year has approved 40 early releases after approving 18 in her prior five years in office, according to Brown.Candidates must fall into one of three categories — elderly, frail or nonviolent.Ferrazza does have some medical conditions but was considered to be too old to be a threat. He has an exemplary prison record.Brown pointed out the governor only grants a tiny percentage of the "hundreds" of requests for early release each year. The number of applications may have hit 1,000 this year, she said.
"We are very meticulous" and consider the clemency requests "very, very seriously," Brown said.John Lasko, the assistant prosecutor who handled the case, submitted a letter to the governor supporting Ferrazza's release, Brown said.Brown said the governor's office invited Brad Grayvold to meet with the governor's legal team but he has not responded.Max Grayvold, who attended much of Ferrazza's trial in 1967 in front of Judge Frank Jeannette, called Ferrazza a "manipulator" and "sociopath" who remains capable of returning to the bad habits of his past.Ferrazza and Whitney fled the state and were arrested in Evanston, Ill, a Chicago suburb, after being suspected of robbing a supermarket there and committing other robberies, according to a published report in 1966.Among other evidence, Ferrazza and Whitney were tied to Grayvold by a similar tattoo all of them had on their ankles — a stick figure of a man that Max Grayvold said appears to be the logo from the TV series "The Saint."
Ferrazza's sister argued for her brother's release at the parole hearing in January 2008 in Jackson, the Grayvolds said.Max Grayvold admitted his brother was involved in criminal activity and had two armed robbery convictions but said he was killed because he agreed to cooperate with police in an investigation of a check forgery scheme conducted by the three men.Max Grayvold said he saw his brother the day he went missing."He told me he was going to meet these guys," he said. "He didn't suspect anything. That day he confided in me he did something wrong."He said he, his brother and a third brother grew up "very poor," and Gary Grayvold probably liked the fast money that can come with criminal activity. But he said his brother was talented and, with his cooperation with police, may have been wishing to become a law abider."He loved his wife, he liked being a father," Max Grayvold said. "It was tough losing a brother that way. He was physically fit. He was very bright, very witty. He was somebody everybody would like. He wouldn't let anyone bully anyone else."His wife, Gloria Jean, last saw him that day, too, when he left their home on Stout Street in a 1958 Chevy.His wife, now Gloria Jean Holmes, lives in the Upper Peninsula, was pregnant at the time with Brad, and they had two other small boys — Tony, now 46, and John, now 44 — both of whom now also reside in the U.P. Holmes, a U.P. native, moved the family there shortly after the murder. She later married William Holmes, and they had a child, David Holmes.Brad Grayvold, a high school football coach and president of the Michigan Football Coaches Association, vowed he will fight Ferrazza's release like a linebacker pursing a running back.
"I will not let this die," he said.Ferrazza had been serving at a prison in the Thumb area but was recently moved to Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township.

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15-year-old gang associate was in critical condition Friday after he was wounded twice by his own gun during a struggle with a 32-year-old he pointed the weapon at, police said.The man, who police said was a former paratrooper in the Honduras army, was not hurt and waited for police to respond to where the confrontation happened. He gave a statement to investigators before he was arrested on suspicion of assault while the district attorney's office determines whether he acted in self-defense.
Police would not release the name of the teen or the adult pending the district attorney's review.The shooting happened just before 2 a.m. Friday in the 3700 block of Foothill Boulevard in the Fruitvale district. The area is a known hangout of certain gang members and police said the 15-year-old is associated with the gang.
The man was on his cell phone when he was confronted by the teen, and possibly some other youths, said Officer Robert Trevino, who is investigating the case with Sgt. Drennon Lindsey.The teen pointed a pistol at the man, who had never seen him before, and used a street term to see if he was in another gang, police said. Police said the man is not a gang member and has only been in Oakland eight months, seeking work.
When the teen was momentarily distracted by a passing car, the man grabbed the gun and the two began struggling over it, Trevino said. During the struggle the gun went off twice, hitting the teen in the neck and shoulder, police said.He was taken to a local hospital by friends where he underwent surgery. The man waited for police to come to the scene and gave them the pistol.

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Jorge Rojas and Juan Gonzalez, two gunmen from the Tijuana drug cartel, have been convicted in a San Diego court in connection with last year's kidnapping of businessman Eduardo Gonzalez:The pair led a group known as Los Palillos (the Toothpicks) that focused its attacks on alleged associates of the Arellano-Felix drug-smuggling organization, which has controlled the flow of narcotics from Tijuana into Southern California for more than 15 years. Law enforcement officials say Rojas organized the gang of disgruntled ex-gunmen believed responsible for as many as 20 kidnappings and a dozen murders in San Diego County beginning in about 2004.
Rojas and Gonzalez face life in prison, and four other defendants allegedly involved with the kidnapping of Gonzalez are scheduled for trial in January.

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Two men were killed and a third critically wounded early this morning as they left a popular downtown Detroit nightclub.The three men were leaving Club Bleu on Woodward at John R shortly after 2 a.m. today when they flashed hand signals associated with a metro Detroit gang and exchanged words with three men in a black Dodge Charger.
A passenger in the front seat of the car threw a liquor bottle at the group, striking one of the men in the head and the rear seat passenger in the car pulled out a gun and shot all three men.Two of the men — ages 19 and 21 — were shot in the chest and died. The third, an 18-year-old who also was the man hit in the head with the bottle, was shot in the shoulder and was listed in critical condition at a Detroit hospital.Police are investigating whether gang rivalries caused a shooting this morning outside a downtown nightclub that killed two men and critically injured a third. The 2:13 a.m. incident near the Bleu Room Experience -- commonly called Club Bleu -- began after one of the victims stood outside making gang signs with his hands, said Detroit Police Second Deputy Chief James Tate said.
A black Dodge Charger with three men inside pulled up and a front passenger lobbed a liquor bottle, striking an 18-year-old man in the face. A passenger in back fired shots into a crowd and killed two men, ages 19 and 21. They were both shot in the chest at least once, Tate said. The man who was struck in the face with the bottle also was struck in the right shoulder by at least one bullet. He was listed in critical condition at a hospital, Tate said. About 40 people were outside the club at the time, according to broadcast media reports. Police did not release the names of the victims. He did not know if the victims were friends or just happened to be standing next to each other.
The gang signs were ones known to be used by a Highland Park gang, Tate said. Investigators still are probing the attack and had made no arrests, he said.

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Anti-Mafia police on Friday arrested 10 Sicilian businessmen who had allegedly been paying Mafia 'protection money' for over 40 years. Giuseppe De Riggi, who spearheaded the operation, described the arrests as "a winning move" that could encourage more businesses to go to the police. "Today's arrests are a surprising result that will be of future help and encouragement to business people paying 'protection money' who want to report their extortionists to police," he said."Police and magistrates need to give support to businesses and anti-Mafia associations that oppose paying protection money," De Riggi added.In July this year, 18 businessmen who became victims of the Mafia's protection racket or 'pizzo' chose to identify their suspected extortionists in court. The suspected extortionists were separated in the courtroom from their victims by a two-way mirror. The Addiopizzo (Goodbye Pizzo) anti-racket youth movement hailed the victims' court testimonies as "historic". Over 255 entrepreneurs, shopkeepers and other small business people have publicly refused to pay Mafia protection money, as well as over 9,000 consumers, according to Addiopizzo.

The Italian private employers organisation, Confindustria, last year decided to expel members found to be paying Mafia protection money.

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Netherlands has again been used as a hiding place for top Mafiosi. Clan leader Giuseppe Nirta, of the ‘ndrangheta in the Calabria region, was arrested in Amsterdam, together with his family and private driver. Nicola Gratteri, of the Italian ministry of justice, says that Nirta could be arrested only due to Italian intelligence. Italian crime fighters have regularly complained about the negligence of Dutch police and justice department regarding Italian criminals.

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Sean Cloherty (27), known to gardai as a drug dealer, was targeted in his home on Ashcroft Grove, off the Blakestown Road in Mulhuddart. There was no sign of a struggle or forced entry. The victim, originally from Champions Avenue in the city centre, had been shot up to six times in the head, neck and chest. Cloherty was known to city centre detectives for dealing cocaine, particularly in the Temple Bar area. He was targeted by officers in the South Central Division and was arrested and taken to Pearse Street station during the summer. He had convictions for drugs, abusive behaviour and traffic offences. “Gardai have come across this man before and know his track record. He was associated with some of the big heads on the Blanchardstown scene,” said a source. A neighbour noted that Mr Cloherty, his partner and two children had only been living in the area for a short period.
The body was found slumped on a couch in the living room, and it is believed the killer calmly walked out of the house, closing the door behind him. It is likely that the gunman was either known to his victim or that he arrived at the house under false pretences and was invited inside. The weapon was probably fitted with a silencer. The grim discovery was made shortly after 8pm when a man who had a prearranged appointment to view a car for sale, looked through the living room window. He immediately contacted a doctor who arrived at the scene and the man was pronounced dead immediately. Gardai arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and the area was sealed off as top level investigators moved in. The Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was expected to arrive in Mulhuddart this afternoon and will carry out a post-mortem. The body will remain at the scene until a crime scene unit have completed a detailed examination of the home. The house was the subject of garda attention and had been raided by detectives exactly a week ago today. In recent months the man was said by sources to have been picked up by gardai near a heroin seizure in Louth. The victim's next door neighbour said that she was at home all yesterday evening but heard nothing. “It wasn't until all the gardai started arriving that people realised something had happened,” she said. The victim previously had an address at Champions Avenue in the north inner centre.
This year ten people have died in gangland murders in Dublin alone. Another known drug dealer from Dublin, Paddy Doyle, was shot dead near Estepona in Spain in February.

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The mobile phone pistol was capable of holding four bullets and was fully-loaded and ready to be used.The antenna works as the barrel of the pistol.By sliding the key part, the phone turned into a gun and could be fired using one of the buttons on the pad.The phones first emerged in Eastern Europe in 2000 and their use by the Mafia is seen as a worrying development..22 calibre pistol, was seized by Italian police during an early morning blitz.Besides the mobile phone gun, officers also found two traditional handguns, bullet proof vests, drugs, ammunition and 8500 euros (£7,242)The operation against the Camorra, the version of the Mafia in the crime-ridden southern port city of Naples, took place in the Torre Annunziata suburb.
This is the first time that such a weapon has been seized and shows the sophistication that the crime syndicates are turning to.Officers from the paramilitary Carabinieri police were involved in the raid against the Gionta clan crime family who control the area.A police spokesman in Naples said: "Tests are being carried out on (the gun) to see if it has been used recently and involved in any shootings."A 28-year-old man, identified as Luigi Gaito, was arrested by police during the operation but several others escaped.He is facing charges of receiving stolen goods, drugs trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.
Earlier this month, 47 people including the wife of jailed Godfather Valentino Gionta - the leader of the crime family syndicate - were arrested.Police say the Gionta clan is involved in murder, extortion and drug trafficking.Investigators believe that Gemma Donnarumma allegedly ran the clan after her husband was convicted and sentenced to life for murder.As part of the raid bank accounts and assets worth about 80 million euros (£68m) were also seized.

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Border Patrol agents from the Tucson, Arizona sector arrested a man found to have a criminal record for armed robbery and with known ties to the “Sureno” gang.
Yesterday at 3 a.m. agents from the Casa Grande Station arrested the 20-year-old male illegal alien on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. Criminal record checks revealed information detailing a previous conviction in 2005 for armed robbery in Atlanta. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for this crime and ordered to serve three. He was then deported in 2007.Records also revealed that the subject was an active member of the “Sureno” gang. He admitted to being a former member of “Sureno” as he revealed his gang tattoos with the distinctive “13.” The “Sureno” gang, better known as a part of the “Mexican Mafia” started in California state prisons. The Mexican Mafia is a highly organized criminal entity thought to have more than 100,000 members and be involved in extortion, drug and human trafficking, and murder.The subject will be criminally charged with re-entry of an aggravated felon, as well as processed for removal.

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The Latin Kings, Surenos and MS-13 gangs, all with ties to the Mexican Mafia are operating criminal enterprises in Kentucky. Cells have been identified in Shelbyville, Louisville and Lexington. A narcotics officer told us some illegals have wired 15000 dollars a week for months to cartels in Mexico.Shane Sutter said, “We don’t have a swat team. We don’t have a gang task force. We’re just a small town.”Suttor says it’s a small town preparing for a siege.FBI agents tell us they have investigated reports of gang initiations involving murder.The MS-13’s weapon of choice? The machete.The FBI has compared MS-13 to the old “Cosa nostra” or Italian Mafia. MS-13 is active in 42 states, including Indiana and Kentucky. MS-13 is highly organized, with trained business people in its top ranks. They operate counterfeit check rings; steal identities, strip cars, run guns and traffic drugs.
U.S. Attorney David J. Huber said, “This is not surprising, because Mexico supplies approximately 80 percent of our meth and another amount of cocaine and marijuana.”
Since 2004, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Louisville has prosecuted nearly 100 felony cases involving illegal aliens; many suspects were in organized crime rings.
Huber said, “they bring us heroin, they bring us everything; (the gangs are) operating in Kentucky. These drug busts are an indication of that.”In Shelby county, illegal immigrants make up nearly 20 percent of the jail’s population on any given day; most felony suspects are deported weekly by immigration and customs enforcement. Illegal aliens cost Shelby county taxpayers more than a thousand dollars a day to keep in jail.One arrival at the jail this day is a landscaper named “Gerardo.”“Gerardo” was caught driving a company truck without a license. “Gerardo” says he paid a smuggler $1500 dollars to get across the border three years ago. “Gerardo” will likely be deported.At the jail, repeat offenders sometimes aren’t immediately recognized. And officers often don’t know if inmates are low-risk like “Gerardo”, or murderers, drug dealers and gang leaders. A few months back, an MS-13 leader was captured, but authorities didn’t know it at the time.Sutter said, “Now is the time to get on this. It isn’t something we want to wait for. We need to be very proactive with this.”Shelbyville’s quality of life may depend on it.The latest report by the National Drug Intelligence Center reports drug cartel activity involving the Federation Cartel in Louisville and the rival Gulf Coast Cartel in Lexington.Authorities fear violence in the future as these two groups begin to fight over territory here in Kentucky.

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According to investigators, 27-year-old Piero Emanuel Fuentes-Hernandez of Capitol Heights, Maryland was arrested Tuesday and charged with felony murder. They say Hernandez is a known gang member, and he has confessed to the murders. Police stress that tips from the public were crucial in his apprehension.
Detectives believe the Spevaks were attacked on Thursday night or early Friday morning by a man who used a telephone cord to tie the couple up, stole three computers, credit cards, and the couple's car. According to court documents, police first saw the suspect on Ingraham Street, where they found the couples' burned out car. It's still unclear just how police connected Hernandez to the crime, but according to a court affidavit, he was first spotted by police on Sunday morning as he was going into the front door of 622 Ingraham Street. That's the same house where police found evidence connected to the crime in the backyard. When investigators took him in for questioning, they say Hernandez at first said he had nothing to do with the crime. But when they searched his home in Capitol Heights, the affidavit says they found a number of items related to the murders.
The document reads: "The evidence seized included an 8 X 10 color photograph of (Virginia Spevak) between the mattress and box springs of (defendants) bed, (Michael Spevaks drivers license and credit cards were recovered from the closet, Chuck Taylor tennis shoes with red stains consistent with blood were recovered from the floor next to the bed, a key which fit the (Spevaks) front door, a sharp curved blade with a wooden handle was recovered in a utility sink in the basement."
When Hernandez agreed to cooperate, police say he admitted to buying a gallon of gas and setting the couple's Toyota on fire. He told police he wanted to destroy his fingerprints.
The court documents also say: "(The defendant) also identified himself as a member of the MC Gang. The MC Gang is known as "Master Criminals". (this detective) knows that the MC Gang is an affiliate of the STC Gang (Street Thug Criminals Gang)."
The Spevaks were well known in their Chevy Chase community. Michael Spevak, 68, was a psychiatrist who worked with troubled youth, and Virginia Spevak, 67, was a retired school teacher who was involved in foster car

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Armed gangs stormed several tourist sites and hotels and killed at least 78 people in a series of attacks. Chaos and fear gripped the streets of Mumbai on Wednesday as gunmen started targeting American and British nationals. According to Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, no Canadians have been injured or killed in the attacks. But that doesn't mean Calgarians with family members in the area aren't fearful for their loved one's safety. The Garrisons have a daughter and grandchildren in Mumbai. In fact, they live two streets from where Wednesday's attacks began. At around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the Garrisons received a phone call from their daughter Averil. "She was saying there was shooting and some bombs had gone off nearby in the Taj Hotel and that she was at home with the children and they were safe and not to worry," says Derrick Harrison. The upper floors of the five-star Taj Mahal hotel burst into flames and thick smoke poured out of balconies. Screams and gunfire could be heard into the night. Alex Chamberlain, who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News TV that a gunman in his early 20s stormed into the dining area looking for people with U.S. or British passports. "They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything -- and thank God they didn't," he said. Chamberlain said he snuck away as the gunmen forced the restaurant's patrons to walk up a flight of stairs. It appeared that the group was being taken hostage, he added. Indian police officials said that four of the alleged gunmen were killed as they fled in a car. Home Minister R.R. Patil added that nine more suspects were taken into custody. An obscure group called the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks Wednesday

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Los Angeles Police Department and sheriff's investigators had initially focused their investigation on Escalante's work at the Men's Central Jail, where he guarded the most dangerous inmates, including members of the Mexican Mafia. Investigators have combed Escalante's personal life for clues. But they are now zeroing in on the possibility that Escalante was slain by local gang members -- perhaps by assailants who were not even aware that he was a lawman.Authorities are especially interested in the long-running feud between the notorious Avenues Gang and the rival Cypress Park gang, whose territory includes the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood where Escalante was killed.Investigators know that finding new witnesses four months after the killing is difficult, especially when there's a risk of reprisals from gang members. Standing in a neighborhood where gang roots run deep and allegiance carries over from generation to generation, Escalante's wife told reporters that detectives had assured her that anyone with information could contact the LAPD anonymously.
"Don't be afraid not to say something because you are scared of retaliation," she said.By calling, she said, tipsters will allow her three children to know that "our justice system works.""Abel lived and breathed for his kids. It is hard," she said, with Alexander Abel, 10, Marissa, 8, and Julian, 3. She said they ask, "When is Dad coming from the cemetery?""How do I explain to you Dad is not coming home," Escalante said.The holidays are the most difficult, she said. It was tough to smile without her husband as her children went trick-or-treating on Halloween. Thanksgiving will be another test. "This family is suffering greatly at this time," said LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, standing with Escalante and her children to announce a $95,000 reward for information leading to a prosecution in the case.
The deputy was preparing to leave for work from his parents' Thorpe Avenue home Aug. 2 when someone came up from behind and shot him in the head as he was adjusting a child's car seat in the family's car. Sheriff Lee Baca said the crime will only be solved with the public's help. "We are looking for people to do the right thing," he said. Councilman Ed Reyes, who helped arrange the reward, said there was no greater gift to this family this holiday season than to come forward and bring the killer of a loving husband and father of three to justice. "We can make a difference," he said.

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Charged are Andrew 'Blacka Shines' Cox, 19, Adrian 'Banga' Lofters, 23, Lenford 'Bungie' Brown, 21, and 22-year-old Jerome Millwood. When the case was mentioned yesterday, the prosecution outlined that the investigating officer was in a car accident and unable to make arrangements to have the main witness in the matter taken to court. The men were charged with five counts of murder for the July 2006 massacre in the volatile Norwood community where five family members were killed and their homes set on fire. In light of the circumstances a new date of February 4, 2009 was set. Allegations are that gunmen shot and killed 43-year-old Patrick Anderson, 29-year-old Natalie Ferguson, 57-year-old Linda Malcolm, her common-law husband, 62-year-old Michael The attackers also torched the houses of Anderson and the Montaques.

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Two gang-bangers from Virginia, have been dealing drugs out of a Dania Beach motel, according to authorities.That is, they had been until Tuesday night, when Broward sheriff's deputies knocked on the door of the men on the lam since July.Joshua Daly, 20, and Tavon Pauley, 21, are now in county lock-up, held there until Virginia authorities come pick them up on outstanding second-degree murder warrants. Daly and Pauley, both of Norfolk, Va., are accused of shooting and killing Dawan Floyd, 23, in the middle of the street on July 25 over some sort of gang-related skirmish, according to America's Most Wanted's website.On Daly's right arm is the tattooed initials ''GD'' -- for Gangster Disciples. Pauley is a member of the Bloods, AMW reports.The pair disappeared shortly after the killing, only to resurface hundreds of miles south.Four months to the day after Floyd's death, BSO detectives received a tip that two men were selling drugs out of the Roadway Inn, 2440 State Road 84.
Little did they know the men inside the room were wanted for far worse.Norfolk police have been alerted to the arrest, BSO said, and will travel to Broward to interview the men.

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Anthony Stillitano, 72, has been charged with being an accessary after the fact to the murder of Ross "Rosco" Brand outside the Bandidos' bikie clubhouse on October 22.
He also has been charged with a range of weapons and drug offences.A brief hearing at the Geelong Magistrates Court was told a search warrant was executed at Stillitano's house on Wednesday where police allegedly seized the canopy of a vehicle allegedly used in the fatal shooting.Magistrate Stephen Myall granted Stillitano bail on a number of conditions, including that he report weekly to police and surrender any valid passport.Stillitano was ordered to reappear at the same court on February 13 next year for a committal mention.
Mr Myall suppressed Stillitano's address.Earlier on Thursday, Stillitano's two step-grandsons were remanded in custody for the murder of Brand.John Bedson, 25, of Ocean Grove, and Derrick Bedson, 21, of Highton have both been charged with murder and intentionally causing serious injury.They were both remanded in custody to reappear before the same court on February 13 next year.

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