Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 03.23.23

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

A man locks his girlfriend in a closet for months. Wanted man shoots at cops.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. An emaciated woman with cuts on her face runs up to construction workers begging them to call 911. Tennessee cops learn her boyfriend, Brenton Bell, has kept her locked in a closet nearly two months without food or water. Crime Online's John Limley. Nancy, the woman was so scared that she hid underneath the new home build where she found the construction workers until the police arrived. The woman told officers she was only allowed out for about an hour a day while she pointed out the house where she was kept.

The woman weighed less than 100 pounds when she was checked into the hospital for treatment. Bell, 30, now charged with aggravated kidnap. Michigan police execute an arrest warrant at Andre Hardaway's home, knocking and identifying themselves several times before breaking through the door. Officers met with gunshots from Hardaway, who injures two officers before he also is hit. Hardaway barricades himself in a room with his wife and child for over three hours before surrendering. Hardaway had an outstanding warrant for several weapons charges. In court, Hardaway's defense for the shooting was that it was a no-knock warrant and he thought someone had broken in.

But his wife and child admitted they knew police were there, and body cam footage clearly shows police identifying themselves and knocking no less than seven times before entering the home. Hardaway busted on assault with intent to murder and the original gun charges. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. Two school administrators have been shot at a Denver high school after a gun was found during a search of a student. The juvenile suspect remained at large and the gun was not immediately recovered following the shooting at East High School about 10 a.m. Wednesday. One of the administrators was critically injured and the second was in stable condition.

East High School, not far from downtown near a busy street that cuts through the city, was placed on lockdown as police investigated the shooting. It was unclear if the shooting happened inside or outside the school. Denver Public Schools confirmed the victims were administrators. Earlier this month, students from the same school skipped class and marched to Colorado's state capitol to demand stricter gun laws, following the death of a fellow student who was shot while sitting in a car near school. A mother whose son was found dead in the middle of a South Carolina road eight years ago is opening a private investigation into his death after raising $90,000 amid the publicity surrounding the murder trial of Alec Murdoch. Sydney Sumner is with Crime Online.

Lawyers for the mother say there is no current evidence linking Stephen Smith's death to the Murdoch family. State investigators who are also looking into Smith's death have remained tight-lipped about taking over the case, which was reopened during the investigation into Paul and Maggie Murdoch's murders, crimes for which Alex Murdaugh is now serving a life sentence. But the lack of evidence hasn't stopped speculation, and that attention in turn helped Sandy Smith raise more than $87,000 through GoFundMe in less than two weeks. Her goal was $15,000, enough to pay to exhume her son's body and have a private autopsy. Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a two-lane Hampton County road on July 8, 2015. His car was found a short distance away with the gas cap removed and his wallet still inside. Police said it appeared

he ran out of gas and was walking for help, but a Smith family attorney says Stephen Smith didn't make any calls on his cell phone and his shoes, which were tied loosely, were still on his feet. People hit by cars are often found without their shoes from the force of the wreck. His family thinks Stephen Smith's injuries, including head injuries and a dislocated arm bent behind him, indicate he was beaten to death and dropped on the highway. According to another Smith family attorney, there were no skid marks on the road or debris like broken glass or mirror parts found nearby. A 15-year-old boy died and five young women were injured in a Milwaukee shooting in the latest violence to target the

city's young people. The 15-year-old boy died at the scene following the shooting that occurred at about 11.30 p.m. Monday on the city's north side. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified the boy as Davion Patterson. Five women, ages 18, 19, 21, and two 22-year-olds, were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-fatal injuries. Investigators said they were looking for unknown suspects and trying to learn what led up to the shooting. Jacqueline Moore told our friends at WTMJ-TV her 16-year-old daughter was shot and killed in the same area nearly three years ago. A former truck driver about to face trial for a shooting massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue more than four years ago

has schizophrenia and structural and functional brain impairments. This, according to the defendant's lawyers. Crime Online's Sydney Sumner brings us more details. Lawyers for Robert Bowers told a federal judge they were concerned a prosecution proposal to have their own psychiatric experts examine or evaluate him would be a, quote, broad-ranging, invasive, and constitutionally problematic investigation into his life, mind, and body. The defense said prosecutors should be limited to looking for evidence that would dispute defense assertions and argued they should not be allowed to investigate every possible aspect of his mental health. A message seeking further comment was left with defense attorneys, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh declined to comment.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin next month in Bowers' trial for shooting to death 11 people and wounding seven others at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the nation's most deadly attack on Jewish people. Bowers has offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Carlene Beiswanger gets angry with her boyfriend and starts throwing things at him, including a metal rod and an avocado that hits him in the face, leaving him with a black eye. A neighbor in their senior living community witnesses the altercation and calls Florida cops. Beiswanger, 39, now charged with battery on a senior. Well, that's just pitiful. Get it? Avocado pit. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.