https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/newham-stabbing-death-boy-london-b1836637.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ghislaine-maxwell-court-live-update-b1836554.html
Ghislaine Maxwell - live: Attempts to delay trial causing stress to Jeffrey Epstein victims, prosecutors say
Ghislaine Maxwell will face court in person for the first time since she was arrested on sex-trafficking charges for allegedly procuring under-age girls for Jeffrey Epstein.
While Maxwell has previously appeared via video conference, today will be her first trip from a Brooklyn jail to the federal court in lower Manhattan, New York.
The 59-year-old British socialite has previously pleaded not guilty, but will appear before the court to enter a plea on new indictments that add another alleged victim and increase the period of time being investigated.
Prosecutors allege Maxwell “enticed and groomed” minors by normalising their abuse through "discussing sexual topics, undressing in front of the victim, being present when a minor victim was undressed, and/or being present for sex acts involving the minor victim and Epstein”.
Maxwell’s lawyers are seeking a delay to the start of the hearing to review thousands of “highly confidential” photos submitted as evidence.
The arraignment is scheduled for 2.30 pm local Eastern Standard Time today, while her trial is set to begin on 12 July.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-court-qanon-b1827502.html
Ghislaine Maxwell demands in-person hearing after QAnon hijack livestream
Ghislaine Maxwell has demanded an in person arraignment on the latest sex trafficking charges after the “debacle” of her last court livestream being hijacked by QAnon supporters.
The British socialite is accused of grooming a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual acts with Jeffrey Epstein in Florida from 2001 to 2004.
Her lawyers have asked a judge to allow her to appear in a physical court room, rather than plead guilty or not guilty via video link, reports say.
Ms Maxwell’s January video hearing was reportedly illegally streamed on YouTube and watched by 14,000 people, with QAnon supporters posting messages in a live chat.
“As counsel has notified the government, Ms Maxwell is requesting an in-person arraignment. She will not waive that right, most especially in light of media coverage and the debacle that occurred during a remote proceeding in a related civil case before Judge Preska,” said her lawyers in a court filing, according to Newsweek.
During the January hearing a deputy clerk at Manhattan Federal Court interrupted proceedings to tell Judge Loretta Preska that the hearing had been live-streamed.
“Whoever is doing it, you are operating against the law,” the judge reportedly said.
“I suspect there is a way to find out. So I will ask you, most respectfully, to stop doing it.”
The livestream stopped and the hearing was able to continue.
The original charges against Ms Maxwell were related to crimes allegedly committed in the 1990s, while the new indictment states that the sex trafficking of “Minor Victim-4” took place between 2001 and 2004.
In the latest court filing, Ms Maxwell’s lawyers accuses prosecutors of abusing their power in bringing the latest indictment against her.
“That the government has made this move late in the game – with trial set for July 12th – is obvious tactical gamesmanship,” they stated.
“Adding charges that were never launched against Jeffrey Epstein based on evidence that was in the government’s possession for years is shocking, unfair, and an abuse of power.”
They have asked the in-person hearing be pushed back to 23 April in order for members of Ms Maxwell’s family to attend.
“Counsel appreciates that an in-person arraignment requires some logistical arrangements which may be accommodated by the requested date,” they stated in a separate letter to the court.
“Further, the extra time will permit Ms. Maxwell’s family members to adjust their schedules and make travel arrangements to attend the court proceedings.”
Ms Maxwell was arrested last July at her luxurious compound in New Hampshire, almost a year after the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein.
A month after his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, Epstein died by suicide after being found unresponsive in a Manhattan jail cell.
https://twitter.com/i/events/1385624895648780296
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/female-officer-stabbed-police-station-rambouillet-france-b931424.html
Knifeman is shot dead by police after stabbing female officer to death in France
President Emmanuel Macron said that France would never give in to “Islamist terrorism”
A knifeman was shot dead by police after a female police officer was stabbed to death in France on Friday.
The 49-year-old mother-of-two was fatally stabbed in the neck at the entrance to a police station in Rambouillet, a middle-class commuter town outside Paris.
She was returning from her break shortly after midday when the man entered the police station, according to local reports.
The 36-year-old assailant lunged at the officer, who had worked for the police since 1993, and her colleagues then opened fire on him and he was shot dead.
President Emmanuel Macron that France would never give in to “Islamist terrorism” after the fatal stabbing, AFP reported.
>https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/female-officer-stabbed-police-station-rambouillet-france-b931424.html
Prime Minister Jean Castex said: "France has lost one of its everyday heroines in a barbaric gesture of infinite cowardice.
“To her relatives, I offer my support on behalf of the entire nation. To our security forces, I want to tell them I share their emotion and their indignation.”
Local MP Aurore Bergé, said: “Whenever our law enforcement agencies are attacked, it is France that is attacked. Rambouillet is a town that is not at all used to being subjected to violence.
“This reminds us that our law enforcement agencies put their lives at risk every morning when they go to work.”
The attacker was of Tunisian nationality and residing in France on legitimate papers.
He is said to have arrived in the country in 2009.
He was not previously known to police or anti-terrorist authorities and had recently moved to Rambouillet after living in the Val-de-Marne.
According to some media reports, the knifeman shouted Allahu Akbar, however a security official has denied this.
The Versailles prosecutor is currently investigating.
The French anti-terror police have also opened an investigation.
The incident follows the fatal stabbing of four people in the headquarters of the Paris police force in 2019.
In October last year teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded after showing students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad at his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris.
https://www.crimeonline.com/2021/04/19/i-want-her-kidnapped-for-seven-days-and-injected-with-heroin-twice-a-day-doctor-uses-dark-web-to-plot-wifes-kidnapping-police/
‘I want her kidnapped for seven days and injected with heroin twice a day’: Doctor uses dark web to plot wife’s kidnapping
A Washington doctor is behind bars after police say he reached out to “hitmen” on the dark web.
The Spokesman-Review reports that Dr. Ronald Craig Ilg has been charged with federal attempted kidnapping after investigators got a tip about a scheme to kidnap the suspect’s wife. According to authorities, the request was made on the “dark web,” which has been connected to illegal activities carried out under a collection of secret Internet sites.
A woman who received the tip-off told investigators that Ilg wanted someone to kidnap his wife while he was away in Mexico. Ilg also allegedly wanted his wife injected with heroin for a week.
“I need a rush job for next week. I need the target kidnapped for five to seven days. While being held she is given at least daily doses of heroin. She is also strongly persuaded to do a few things within two weeks,” Ilg allegedly wrote under the screen name, Scar215, the Daily Beast reports.
“1, stop ALL Court proceedings, 2, return to your husband and the chaos you created, 3. Tell absolutely no one about this. Also, the team should plant heroin and used needles with her DNA inside. After about seven days she is returned to her home.”
Ilg allegedly sent another message later, stating that his wife should be told that her family and children would be in danger if she didn’t follow the rules.
“She should be told that her families health, including her father and her kids, depend on her completing these rules. It would be unfortunate if her older boy became addicted to heroin. Or her dad be severely beaten or her dog be slaughtered. Any and all persuasion should be used.”
When Ilg and a girlfriend he traveled with returned from Mexico, federal investigators questioned him. Ilg initially denied the allegations, court records state. On Sunday, however, investigators found evidence inside Ilg’s home that reportedly connected him to the crime, with the intent of having his wife drop “court proceedings against him.”
Later, Ilg told authorities that he “used a Tracfone to contact a hitman on the dark web, but claimed that the phone was tossed into a swimming pool in Mexico by [the girlfriend] after she suspected Ilg of using the phone to talk to other women.”
According to the criminal complaint, Ilg’s wife told investigators that she has been married to him for around five years and they have a young child together. The relationship reportedly went sour when Ilg invited another woman into their relationship–the same woman who went to Mexico with him.
The doctor’s relationship with the other woman made Ilg’s wife extremely uncomfortable. In turn, she filed for divorce.
On April 13, authorities received a call from the Ilg household about an assault. An arrest report indicated that the suspect “attempted to kill himself.” When deputies arrived at the home, they found Ilg “with a black eye, lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.” Deputies also noted that “that there were approximately 46 missing pills of Xanax.”
Ilg allegedly left a note behind for his girlfriend that investigators found.
“I love you with everything I have. I’m sorry. Please remember the good. I loved no other more than you,” the note read.
Ilg also reportedly left a note for his wife stating that he destroyed her “big heart.”
During the investigation into the wife’s alleged attempted kidnapping, investigators uncovered evidence in Ilg’s locked safe that contained the username Scar215 and his password. Investigators used the information to log onto the dark web and discovered that Ilg tried to have a co-worker physically harmed in February.
“The target should be given a significant beating that is obvious. It should injure both hands significantly or break the hands,” the posting reportedly read.
Although the deed was never carried out, Ilg allegedly planned to put around $2,000 into an escrow account for the hitman. It’s unclear why Ilg allegedly wanted a co-worker harmed.
Ilg ultimately revealed that he tried to hire someone to kidnap his wife as a way of committing suicide. He said he hoped that his assets would transfer to his girlfriend and not his wife.
Ilg remains behind bars at the Spokane County jail.
>Flight Vibes
https://www.justice.gov/