Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - School Employee Accused of Raping 11-Year-Old, Giving Him ‘Friends with Benefits’ Bracelet

Episode Date: November 16, 2023

A Connecticut educator stands accused of raping an 11-year-old boy in a car outside of his school. Authorities say Alyson Cranick allegedly gave the victim a bracelet that read “best friends for life with benefits.” The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy breaks down the sickening allegations on this episode of “Crime Fix,” a daily show that covers today’s trending true crime stories.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. A teacher in Connecticut is behind bars accused of having sex with an 11 year old boy and giving him a bracelet that said best friends with benefits for life. And if you think you misheard me just now, you didn't. You heard me right. The boy was 11. And yes, police said she actually gave him that bracelet. Allison Kranick faces charges, including two counts of sexual assault. The crime was first reported back in September and police said they investigated and found flirtatious and sexual messages on the boy's Snapchat and iMessages.

Documents say the boy told police he sneaked out of his house 14 times last year and had sex with Kranich in her car at Horace Porter School. At that time, the boy was 11 and then turned 12. Police wrote in an arrest warrant that Kranich downplayed any messages she had with the student and she claimed she was comforting him because he was having trouble at home. A judge told Kranich's parents they'd have to post 10% of her $500,000 bail so she could be released and she can't leave the state of Connecticut. I'm Anjanette Levy. It's Thursday and this is Crime Fix, law and crime's

rundown of the top stories in the world of both law and crime. In Florida, lawyers for a man accused in a murder-for-hire plot want the prosecutors kicked off the case. Mario Fernandez is accused of planning the death of Microsoft executive Jared Breidegen, the ex-husband of Fernandez's now-estranged wife, Shanna Gardner. Both Fernandez and Gardner face first-degree murder charges, and they could get the death penalty if they're convicted. In February of last year, Breitigan had dropped off his twins at Shanna Gardner's home in Jacksonville Beach and was driving back to his own house with his two-year-old

from his new marriage in the backseat. He apparently came upon a tire in the road and got out of the car to move it when he was shot several times. A man named Henry Tienen admitted to being the shooter and said he was hired by Fernandez. According to a motion filed by defense lawyers, the state attorney's office is using privileged communications between Fernandez and Gardner as evidence. They also allege that the state is accessing communications protected by attorney-client privilege, and that is a big no-no. The defense says dozens of people have been given access to a portal that contains confidential information. Now it's going to be up to the judge to decide whether to recuse the fourth judicial circuit state attorney's

office from the case now to seattle where cops make a big big mistake they broke down an apartment door only to realize they had the wrong address oops elizabeth wren filed a federal lawsuit claiming her civil rights were violated when police stormed into her home three years ago the lawsuit claims that not only were officers at the wrong apartment door, they were actually at the wrong building at the wrong address. Wren's lawyer says she was about to take a bath and barely had time to cover herself before officers came in. Police had been dispatched to a person in crisis call because someone was apparently throwing things out a

window and possibly hanging out of it but that was a half a block away at another apartment Seattle police say they can't comment on the lawsuit because the litigation is pending now to Ohio for an absolutely terrible terrible story of a man beating his five-year-old autistic son to death with a baseball bat. Matthew Ponamorenko called 911 in March of 2021, and he confessed he said he did it. He told the dispatcher he was hearing voices and didn't know why he had killed five-year-old little boy Jax. According to police, Ponamorenko brutally beat the boy with a baseball bat, leaving him with blunt force trauma to the head and face. Ponomarenko pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, kidnapping and endangering children.

The judge sentenced him to life in prison, but he'll be eligible for parole in 45 years when he's 79 years old. And now we have another really awful case about someone being beaten to death with a baseball bat. This time it's in Iowa. The second of two teenagers who admitted to beating a high school Spanish teacher to death is going to prison for an incredibly long time for the crime. The defendant shall be sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Jeremy Goodale admitted to his role in the death of Spanish teacher Noema Graber in 2021. In fact, police said it was Goodale's own words that led to him being

arrested. Those were comments made on social media that led police to him and his friend, Willard Miller, the night of the crime. Goodale told detectives that Miller wanted to kill Graber because he was failing her Spanish class. Graber's body was found hidden under a tarp and a wheelbarrow. Goodale spoke at his sentencing. I want to say I'm grateful for this chance to speak my peace. I offer my sincerest apologies to the Graber family, but I know my words will never be enough. I've had time to think on what to say, and I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. What I've taken can never be replaced. The prosecutors actually said that Goodale told police after he was caught that he didn't feel any remorse. And if you watch the sentencing,

you'll see that Goodale's nose actually started bleeding after he gave his statement. Noema Garber's son told the judge his mother loved people. I thought a lot about what I'm going to say in this moment. Mostly, I want to think about what my mother would want. And as you all know, my mother loved everybody that includes you and i know she wants the best for you even now i was just praying for you earlier today i mentioned both of your sisters i gave them a hug and i told them there's hope for you because i really do believe that j Jeremy Goodale got a somewhat lighter sentence than Willard Miller, who has to serve a minimum of 35 years before he's eligible for parole.

Another high profile case we've covered for you here at Law and Crime, of course, is the Murdoch saga out of South Carolina. And now the lead agent who helped put Alec Murdoch away for life for two murders, is talking for the first time publicly about the case. If you watch the trial, you probably remember SLED agent David Owen testifying and Murdoch's lawyers grilling him. But you never asked for those clothes, never tried to find those clothes, never executed a search warrant for those clothes, have you? No, sir. Now Owen is granting his first TV interview to Dateline. Remember the video from Paul Murdoch's phone? Prosecutors have said that video was taken right before

Paul Murdoch was murdered back in June of 2021. Alec Murdoch had told Owen, his family, and his friends that he hadn't been to the kennels that night. He told everybody that, but the kennel video proved otherwise, and Owen and another agent described what it was like when they realized that they had caught Murdoch in a lie. I listened to it three to four times to make sure I was hearing because I was in disbelief at the time. I immediately got on the phone to David Owen. I was really excited. Why? Because I can prove that Alec was lying to me. Did you know in that moment that the case had been blown wide open? Oh, yes. Now, for somebody serving two life sentences for murder, Alec Murdoch

is in the news a whole lot. He wants a new trial claiming the clerk of court tampered with the jury and Becky Hill actually denies that claim. And some big news we got on the Murdoch front today. Judge Newman has agreed to step aside from hearing Alec Murdoch's motion for a new trial in his murder case. It's something Murdoch's defense team wanted. They said Judge Newman could possibly be called as a witness to testify about the actions of Clerk Hill during the trial. While Murdoch got a win from the state Supreme Court on this issue, the chief justice said Judge Newman will stay on the financial crimes cases.

The jury in Caitlin Armstrong's murder trial in Austin, Texas, heard closing arguments Thursday. The prosecutor says Armstrong shot Mo Wilson because she was jealous that her on-again, off-again boyfriend was dating Mo Wilson. I was true to my word. I brought that evidence to you. And I also told you on that tape, heard two shots. And there was a four or five second pause. I told you in opening and I presented it to you pursuant to paragraph 12 evidence from the witness stand that she stood over her.

This young lady over here, the defendant, Caitlin Armstrong, I told her she stood over her after she shot her in the head twice and put another bullet right in her heart. But the defense says it was likely Colin Strickland, that boyfriend, who's the real killer. What a wonderful and easy way to paint a woman and to tell a story. The woman scorned. Whether the facts met the narrative or not, it's a great story. The truth of the matter is that Caitlin's emotions and her actions were normal and routine and human, but she had to be portrayed as a jealous psycho to create the motive. The problem, however, in Colin and Caitlin's relationship was not Mariah Wilson. The problem, however, in Colin and Caitlin's relationship was not Mariah Wilson.

The problem was always Colin Strickland. You probably remember that Armstrong fled to Costa Rica because she knew she was wanted for murder. The jury deliberated for only two hours before finding Caitlin Armstrong guilty of murder. In Florida, an update on that grandma accused of ordering a murder. A grand jury has indicted Donna Adelson in the plot to murder her ex-son-in-law, Dan Markell. The grand jury met in Tallahassee on Wednesday and returned the indictment charging Donna with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. Donna's son, Charlie, was convicted last week of the same charges.

I spoke with Dan Markell's mother, Ruth, about the indictment. You know, we have been waiting and waiting. It's nine years or more already. And so it's starting to reduce some of the uncertainty. Now, as we've told you, Donna is accused of orchestrating the hit on Dan Markell because he was in a bitter custody dispute with Adelson's daughter, Wendy, and wanted her grandchildren moved to Miami to be closer to her. Donna's arrest, of course, is a relief to Dan Markell's mother, who's waited nearly 10 years for justice. An undercover FBI agent tried to rattle Donna several years ago with a fake blackmail attempt. It was a ruse to

get her talking on wiretapped phone calls. The encounter was called the bump in courts. This is just a news article related to the murder of Dan Markell. And what's the purpose of this written over here? Cell text. So the cell number right there is my undercover covert phone number. And the $5,000 was what was expected to be received from Mrs. Donna Adelson. Okay, so you hand her this piece of paper and her instructions are to call this number and you want $5,000. That is correct. Just a bit?

Pretty much, yes. Now, this case, of course, is all about custody of the grandchildren that Donna shared with Ruth Markell. I'm worried about my grandchildren. Like, you know, they have been very close to Donna as a grandmother who's taken them to school and different things. And so I'm worried about, you know, the fact that now they haven't got that kind of active support in their life. And I'm worried about what they're going to find out and how they're going to deal with it. Donna Adelson is still in jail in Miami-Dade, but could be picked up any day now to be taken to Leon County to face charges. She was arrested Monday night as she tried to fly to Vietnam,

which doesn't have an agreement to return people charged with crimes to the U.S. Remember that awful case we told you about earlier this week in Las Vegas, where a high school student died after being beaten to death? Now eight other kids are accused of murdering him. All subjects that were arrested in this incident range from the age of 13 to 17. The beating of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis was recorded and posted on social media by other students. It happened in an alleyway near Rancho High School right after school let out for the day on November 1st. Jonathan died last week. Police say Lewis had agreed to fight another student over a beef about stolen wireless headphones and a marijuana vape pen.

But after the first punch was thrown, a mob attacked Jonathan. Police are still looking for two other teens who are involved in the murder. The attorney for the accused, Gilgo Beach serial killer, says his client's wife believes he's innocent, despite filing for divorce days after he was arrested. Rex Horman's estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, showed up at court on Wednesday for one of his court appearances. Horman is accused of killing three escorts on Long Island. The women were Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, and Melissa Barthelome. They all died in 2009 and 2010. He's suspected in the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainerd Barnes.

Horman's attorney, Michael Brown, told reporters that it's his understanding that Ellerup doesn't think her husband could have committed the murders. The DA has said DNA, cell phone and email records and other evidence led to Huerman's arrest and the killings after more than a decade. Ellerup's lawyer Bob Macedonio isn't commenting on Brown's claims about his client's innocence, but I spoke to him in August about why Asa filed for divorce. Even if any percentage of the allegations that have been in the media are true, it's been an irreparable breakdown of the marriage. And, you know, she just needs to move

forward protecting herself at this point. It's going to take years for her husband's matters to play out in court. And honestly, we just need to protect her and have her move forward as quick as we can. Ellerup is apparently working with a documentary crew, but we don't know which one at this point. Rex Horman is being held without bail at the Suffolk County Jail. A killing in New Mexico was apparently a family affair, according to Albuquerque police. Authorities arrested a mother and her two children for murder. Officers responded to a home in October after a man reported he had opened his door to find Santiago Roybal with a gunshot wound to the stomach. The man told detectives when he went to close the door behind Roybal that he was shot too.

That man survived, but Roybal died. A criminal complaint listed a white SUV seen on several videos close to the homicide. It was registered to Reina Ruiz. Detectives arrested Ruiz and her two children, a teen boy and girl. The teen girl told police that a man had been looking in her window over the past few months and she saw that man again in the backyard. She, her mother, and her brother went looking for that man. They allegedly believed Roybal was the man who had been stalking the teen girl and had planned to possibly beat him up, but instead they decided to shoot him. Prosecutors say she will be tried as an adult. In California, police make a really quick arrest in the murder of a beloved restaurant manager

in Laguna Beach. Police say 26-year-old Dino Rojas Moreno killed Tatum Goodwin last weekend. They took him into custody last night. Goodwin's body was found behind Carmelita's restaurant where she had worked for four years. The suspect's bail has been set at $1 million, but there aren't really many details out there about what the motive might be. And that's it for your Crime Fix for this Thursday, November 16th of 2023. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. Remember, you can watch Crime Fix every night at 6 p.m. Eastern on Law & Crime's YouTube channel.

And of course, you can download it wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. I'll see you tomorrow.