Month: September 2022

Police said on Tuesday that the body found in a Memphis neighborhood Monday was confirmed to be a Tennessee woman who was abducted late last week. 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher was seen on surveillance video being forced into an SUV while she was jogging near the University of Memphis early Friday morning.

38-year-old Cleotha Abston, the suspect arrested in the case, is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping. Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis told reporters it was possible others would be charged in the case but as of Tuesday morning no one else has been.

Fletcher’s body was found behind a vacant duplex, Davis said. A police affidavit said officers noticed vehicle tracks next to the duplex’s driveway and smelled an odor. Purple running shorts consistent with the shorts Fletcher was wearing were found in a discarded trash bag nearby, the affidavit said. According to the chief, it was too early for investigators to determine how and where Fletcher was killed.

District Attorney Steven Mulroy said Abston would be arraigned on the murder charges Wednesday, telling reporters: “We have no reason to think this was anything other than an isolated attack by a stranger.”  Abston appeared before a judge earlier Tuesday on charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card; he was issued a $510,000 bond. Abston said he could not afford bond and he could not afford a lawyer. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi appointed a public defender to represent Abston.

A mother of two and a school teacher, Fletcher is the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis hardware businessman and philanthropist. Fletcher taught kindergarten at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis.  The family said in a statement Tuesday said they were “grateful beyond measure” to authorities for finding Fletcher and for arresting a suspect, adding: “We are heartbroken and devastated by this senseless loss. Liza was a such a joy to so many … Now it’s time to remember and celebrate how special she was and to support those who cared so much for her.”

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The Coast Guard announced Monday that their search for nine people who have been missing since the crash of a floatplane off Seattle on Sunday has been called off.   One person was already confirmed dead in the Mutiny Bay area of Puget Sounds after a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter floatplane carrying 10 people went down off Whidbey Island about 3:10 p.m. Sunday. The Coast Guard said that one of the nine who were included in the now-suspended search is a child.  The plane took off from Friday Harbor, Washington, roughly 100 miles north of Seattle, en route to the Seattle area; the crash site off Whidbey Island is about 40 miles north of Seattle.

Capt. Daniel Broadhurst of the 13th Coast Guard District said in a statement Monday: “It is always difficult when it comes time to make a decision to stop searching. The hearts of all the first responders go out to those who lost a family member, a loved one or a friend in the crash.”  The Coast Guard said a remotely operated underwater vehicle and a drone will continue to assist in searching for wreckage and debris.

The Coast Guard was assisted by other agencies in the search including the Island County Sheriff’s Office, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and South Whidbey Fire/EMS. The federal agency said that “in total, the Coast Guard conducted 26 search sorties, searching 1,283 nautical miles of track line covering an area of approximately 2,100 square nautical miles.”

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One of two suspects in the Canadian stabbing attack that killed 10 people has been found dead, police confirmed on Monday. Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the body of 31-year-old Damien Sanderson was found on the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan at 11:30 a.m.; the search continues for Myles Sanderson, his brother. Myles Sanderson, 30, may be injured, but that has not been confirmed.

Blackmore said at a news conference: “We do want the public to know this as there is a possibility he may seek medical attention. It does not mean he is not still dangerous.” Damien Sanderson had visible injuries that are not believed to have been self-inflicted, Blackmore said. A cause of death will be determined later, adding that his body was found “outdoors in a heavily grassed area in proximity to a house that was being examined.”

19 people were injured in the attacks, which spanned 13 identified crime scenes, officials said. Including the discovery of Damien Sanderson’s body, the number of deaths involved in the case rose to 11. The identities of the dead were not released by police Monday, but Blackmore said that none of them were infants or children.

Investigators believe some victims may have been targeted and others may have been attacked at random, but an investigation is ongoing. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the attacks shocking and heartbreaking:  “This kind of violence, or any kind of violence, has no place in our country,” Trudeau said.

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A federal judge in Florida was presented arguments by lawyers for both the Justice Department and former President Donald Trump, on whether a special master should be assigned to review documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Judge Aileen Cannon did not immediately rule if a third party should be assigned to determine whether the documents seized from Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla. estate contained possibly privileged information, but said she would issue a written ruling later. Cannon on Thursday said she would consider allowing the intelligence community to continue to review the seized documents if a special master is appointed, while also temporarily blocking the Justice Department from accessing the materials for its criminal probe.

The FBI said it recovered more than 320 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, including 100 seized in August when agents executed a search warrant. Trump voluntarily turned over 15 boxes to the National Archives in January, and his team turned over other materials under subpoena in June. FBI agents seized another 33 boxes during the search of Mar-a-Lago.

“The government should provide to the special master and to movant a copy of the seized materials, a copy of the search warrant and an unredacted copy of the underlying application materials,” Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing Wednesday. Trump lawyer James Trusty accused the Justice Department of trying to “criminalize” the Presidential Records Act, saying: “We’ve characterized it at times as an overdue-library-book scenario where there’s a dispute — not even a dispute — but ongoing negotiations with [the National Archives] that has suddenly been transformed into a criminal investigation.” 

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On Thursday, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham must comply with a subpoena and testify before the grand jury in the criminal probe into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.

Judge Leigh Martin May limited the scope of questioning but will allow questions about alleged efforts to persuade Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to alter election practices. Said May: “Senator Graham may be questioned about any alleged efforts to encourage Secretary Raffensperger or others to throw out ballots or otherwise alter Georgia’s election practices and procedures. Likewise, the grand jury may inquire into Senator Graham’s alleged communications and coordination with the Trump Campaign and its post-election efforts in Georgia, as well as into Senator Graham’s public statements related to Georgia’s 2020 elections.”

May wrote in her decision that Raffensperger “has stated publicly that he understood Senator Graham to be implying or otherwise suggesting that he (Secretary Raffensperger) should throw out ballots. As the Court has previously stated, any such ‘cajoling,’ ‘exhorting,’ or pressuring of Secretary Raffensperger (or any other Georgia election officials) to throw out ballots or otherwise change Georgia’s election processes, including changing processes so as to alter the state’s results, is not protected legislative activity under the Speech or Debate Clause.”

The judge’s order also said the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits “questions about Senator Graham’s investigatory fact-finding on the telephone calls to Georgia election officials, including how such information related to his decision to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

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