The Shane Todd Case: An International Corporate Conspiracy

Back in June of 2012, Montana native, Shane Todd [31], was found dead in his apartment in the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore. Police ruled the death a suicide, reporting that Todd had concocted an elaborate pulley system involving a series of ropes and screws in the bathroom wall where he hung himself. Shane’s parents, Rick and Mary Todd; however, believe something very different happened to their son: they believe he was murdered. Shane Todd moved to Singapore for work; he was an engineer working for a top technology firm, Institute of Microelectronics (IME), in the island nation. Just before his death, Shane resigned from his position from IME's research department and made preparations to move back to the United States. Shane told his parents that he resigned from the tech company because his work on superconductors for IME might have been passed to China’s Huawei Corporation, for use in systems that could involve jamming U.S. radar.

Dalia Dippolito Calling for “New Trial”

It’s a story straight out of a made-for-TV movie. Police waited for newly married Dalia Dippolito to return to home to inform her that her husband, Michael Dippolito, had been murdered. However, he was not dead. Instead, police set up the scene to record her reaction. They had already had her on tape paying an undercover officer, unbeknownst to her, to kill her husband. It was a very unique murder-for-hire sting operation. 

Just as bizarre was the trial, wherein Dalia claimed the unprecedented “reality-TV defense,” in which she claimed her and her husband set up the whole thing because they wanted to get a reality show. Michael Dippolito called the accusation “ridiculous.” After a three-week trial in 2011, Dalia was convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison by Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath, who called Dalia “pure evil” during his sentencing remarks.

Amanda Knox to face “Retrial”

The Supreme Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court, met this morning in Rome at 10:00 a.m. and overturned the acquittals of both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. The ruling means that the case against Knox and Sollecito will be sent back to be reheard at an appeals court in Florence. Italy’s highest Court ruled today on questions of procedure, not on the merits of a case. This should make Knox’s upcoming interview on Diane Sawyer a bit more interesting, to say the least. An extradition will only be requested once a definitive conviction is reached. At which point, the conviction would then have to be upheld by the Court of Cassation again. We could be looking at another year or so.

Italian Supreme Court Set to Rule on Amanda Knox Verdict

The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation is scheduled to rule on the prosecution’s appeal of the Amanda Knox appeal verdict tomorrow. In 2011, Knox and her Italian boyfriend at the time Raffaele Sollecito were released from an Italian prison, on appeal, after previously being convicted of participating in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007. Based on the Galati-Costigliola Report (112-page final appeal document), the prosecution’s appeal attacks the approach of the appeals court and their handling of trial from both a procedural and a reasoning standpoint. 

13-Month-Old Shot in Head by Teen

Not sure yet that society is eroding right before our eyes; or that guns kill people at a much faster rate than they protect them? For every story that the NRA can provide that actually helped save a “helpless” single woman; I can provide 20 that take innocent life in cold blood. Just when you think you’ve heard the most horrendous crime—Newtown shootings, Sandy Hook shootings—another seems to pop up; each more shocking than the next; and they are occurring more frequently these days. 

ABC News’ Diane Sawyer Set to Interview "Amanda Knox"

She has been out of the news for some time now; but don’t think that Amanda Knox is going anywhere anytime soon. Knox’s book, “Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir” is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 by HarperCollins. And on that very day, Amanda Knox has an interview scheduled with ABC’s Diane Sawyer at 10:00 p.m. The interview ahead for Knox is one of great anticipation. It has been almost four years since she last spoke (at her trial, June 2009, on the witness stand) about the night Meredith Kercher was murdered, which did little to clear-up what her involvement in the murder was, if any.

Some Law Enforcement Challenges Dealing With “Computer Crimes”

In recent years forensic computing has greatly evolved, moving from a pseudoscience to a recognized discipline with skilled practitioners and guiding principles relating to the conduct of their activities. The law states that “possession is nine-tenths of the law,” and because computer based data can be so easily and undetectably modified during its collection, impounding, and analysis; certain new “rules of evidence” have been enacted, evolving from more general codes of practice. These new rules deal with a verifiable chain of custody that must exist in regard to digital evidence. For example, according to the U.S. House Advisory Committee on Rules, its rule 1003 (Admissibility of Duplicates), “a counterpart serves equally as well as the original, if the counterpart is the product of a method which insures accuracy and genuineness.”