Murder charge filed against Anaheim man accused of gunning down estranged wife

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SANTA ANA - A murder charge was filed today against a 35-year-old Anaheim man accused of gunning down his estranged wife near the Irvine day care center where she worked.

John Rand Agosta is also facing a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, which makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors will decide later whether to pursue capital punishment or life in prison without parole. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

An armed Agosta allegedly waited Thursday in his Ford Mustang outside the workplace of his estranged 28-year-old wife, Alejandra Hernandez, said Farrah Emami of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

When Hernandez left the day care center in the Turtle Rock neighborhood to get lunch about 2 p.m., Agosta allegedly trailed her in his car for about a half-mile. When she parked her car in a cul de sac and got out, Agosta allegedly shot her nine times in the chest, Emami said.

Agosta tried to get away in his car, but for some reason it wouldn't start and he ran away instead, but not before allegedly kicking Hernandez as she was bleeding to death, Emami said.

Agosta called a friend -- who was unaware of the shooting -- to pick him up and take him to his friend's home in Mission Viejo, where he was eventually arrested, Emami said.

Agosta, who was being held without bail, was scheduled to be arraigned sometime this afternoon.

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Tennessee man accused of killing ex-girlfriend in Calera is now facing upgraded capital murder charges

CALERA, Alabama -- A Tennessee man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Calera is now facing upgraded charges of capital murder.

Terry L. Griggs, 52, was initially charged with murder in connection with the death of Wendy Marie Thompson, whose body was found June 4 in her Milstead Road home.

Griggs, of Thompson Station, Tenn., now has been indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on two counts of capital murder in connection with Thompson's death.

Griggs is accused of choking Thompson to death between June 3-4 and stealing her car, according to an indictment filed today.

Griggs has been in the Shelby County Jail on a $1 million bond since he was brought back to Shelby County after being taken into custody by police in Orange Beach the day after Thompson's body was found in her Calera home.

If convicted of capital murder, Griggs could face the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Bomb accused wife recalls blast

8 February 2011 Last updated at 18:10 Victoria Fabian suffered leg injuries in the blast The wife of a former soldier accused of trying to murder her by booby-trapping her car has described the moment an explosion ripped through her vehicle.

Victoria Fabian, 33, suffered serious leg injuries in the blast in Vigo, Kent, on 5 March last year.

Her husband, Nicholas Fabian, also 33, denies attempted murder at Maidstone Crown Court.

The prosecution argues Mr Fabian stole a hand grenade from a firing range and planted it in the car.

Mrs Fabian, who still walks with crutches, was giving evidence on the second day of the trial.

She said the family had planned to return the Mazda car she had borrowed from her mother and take the children for a haircut before going for a meal.

'Loud bang'

She said she got in the borrowed car with Charlie, her son from a previous relationship.

Her husband got in the family's Vauxhall Zafira with their own son Harry, then aged three.

Mrs Fabian said she started to reverse out of the parking bay.

"The windscreen shattered and there was a loud bang," she said.

"I can remember thinking a tree or something had fallen on the car and Charlie was asking me what had happened, and I couldn't feel anything from my waist down so I told him to get out of the car."

She said the next thing she remembered was her husband running towards her crying.

"He was trying to get me out of the car," she said. "I remember feeling that I was losing a lot of blood."

Mrs Fabian was pregnant at the time of the blast but gave birth to a healthy baby boy three months later.

Jurors were told Charlie, eight, managed to get out of the passenger door unscathed.

'Good husband'

A neighbour also rushed to help get her out of the vehicle and extinguish Mrs Fabian's jeans, which were on fire, before the car was engulfed in flames.

The explosion blasted holes in Mrs Fabian's legs and she needed skin grafts to repair the damage. She was in hospital for two months.

Earlier, the court was told Mrs Fabian confronted her husband the day before the explosion happened after discovering he had run up £1,400 of debt on a credit card.

Nicholas Fabian was a reservist in the Army for 10 years

She had also suspected he was having an affair with a woman named Jackie Phillips, whom he knew from working at the Battersea Dogs Home site at Brands Hatch.

When asked by prosecutor Graham Reeds QC what her relationship with Mr Fabian had been like, she said: "He was a good husband and a good dad."

But questioned further, she added: "There were ups and downs. Probably more downs."

Later, Ms Phillips gave evidence, saying she had embarked on an affair with Mr Fabian after he started working at the dogs' home in 2009.

Asked if Mr Fabian had ever talked about his relationship with his wife, she replied: "He said that he didn't love her any more, that they were only really together for the sake of the children."

Jurors previously heard Mr Fabian was a reservist soldier after serving in the Army between 1994 and 2004, and had been called up to do a tour of Afghanistan in January last year.

Mr Fabian denies attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and causing an explosion likely to endanger life.

The trial continues.

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In brief: 'I'm wrongly accused of blasphemy' says Christian woman on death row

A Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan on charges of blaspheming Islam said yesterday she had been wrongfully accused by neighbours due to a personal dispute, and appealed to the president to pardon her.

Asia Bibi, a mother of four, is the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy law which rights groups say is often exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

The 36-year-old farm worker was convicted on November 8. Her case has drawn international media attention as well as appeals by human rights groups.

Campaigners injured in police clashes

Clashes broke out between the Muslim Brotherhood and police at a campaign rally north of Cairo, Egypt, yesterday, leaving 10 injured amid an intense government crackdown on the opposition group ahead of next week's parliamentary elections.

Abdel Galil el-Sharnoubi, who runs the Brotherhood's website said police beat the supporters of the group's candidate Mohammed Fayyadh and arrested four others.

Donor organ in crash reaches patient

A donor organ that was involved in a plane crash was rushed to a UK hospital and implanted in a patient, officials said yesterday.

The Cessna carrying the organ clipped an antenna as it was landing at Birmingham Airport in thick fog on Friday, catching fire as it hit the ground. Two crew members were injured, but rescuers managed to rush the organ to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Suicide bombers on bicycles kill four

Suicide bombers on bicycles killed four people and wounded 31 in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, the latest attacks to underscore the challenges Nato leaders face as they plan an exit from the war.

One bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint in Mehtar Lam, the provincial capital of Laghman province, with the second striking several hundred metres away. All of the dead were civilians.

Terrorist plan to break into Reichstag

Germany's decision to step up security measures this week was prompted by a discovery of militant plans to break into the Reichstag parliament building and shoot hostages, a German magazine said yesterday.

The weekly Der Spiegel, citing security officials, said a jihadist living abroad had informed them of a plan for armed militants to enter the building in Berlin and open fire. It said police considered the information credible.

Madagascar coup crushed by army

Madagascar's army yesterday stormed a barracks housing dissident officers to end a four-day mutiny by a group who wanted to overthrow President Rajoelina.

Some of those officers who backed Rajoelina's rise to power last power last year were the ones calling for him to quit this week. Rajoelina has so far failed to win acceptance of the international community. The US froze development aid and the African Union slapped sanctions on him and 100 of his supporters.

Denmark welcomes Mermaid's return

Denmark's famed Little Mermaid statue is back on her perch after six months in China. The landmark left Denmark in April to become the centrepiece of the Danish pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai.

The move to China was controversial in Denmark, as some considered it disrespectful to ship a cultural treasure across the globe as a pr gesture.

Sunday Independent

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