Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 04.04.24

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

School employee harasses student for relationship. Tiger King has a nice ring to it, but what about Sheep Lord?  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. Joshua Herrera, a student success advocate at Las Vegas Western High School, drives to a female student's home and asks her mom's permission to have a relationship with the daughter. The mom tells Herrera to never speak to her daughter again, but he buys the girl lunch, gifts, and lends her his debit card. He offers to drive the girl home after a school concert. During the ride, Herrera holds her hand and kisses her. Herrera, 28, texts the girl over 1,000 times. Nancy, in addition to the incident where the pair kissed, Herrera removed his pants in a second encounter in his car,

and the student performed oral sex on Herrera. The student wanted to end the relationship, telling Herrera she had moved on with another student. Instead of backing off, Herrera confronted the girl's new boyfriend. Joshua Herrera, now charged with two counts of engaging in sex conduct with a pupil and one count of contacting a minor for sex. Tiger King has a ring to it, but what about Sheep Lord? Arthur Shoebarth, 80, busted for trafficking giant hybrid sheep to be used as trophy animals for hunters on private preserves in Texas.

Shoebart sold the hybrids and breeding rights to other ranchers for over $10,000. These sheep can weigh more than 300 pounds. They grow horns up to 5 feet long, but they are outlawed in the U.S. to prevent disease. Arthur Schubert pleads guilty to wildlife trafficking charges, facing five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. Authorities say a Utah grief writer accused of drugging her husband on Valentine's Day with a

sandwich in an attempt to kill him is now facing an extra charge of attempted murder. She was originally charged with spiking her husband's drink with a lethal amount of fentanyl. For more, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. Investigators say that on March 4, 2022, Corey Richens killed her husband, Eric Richens, at their Comis, Utah home. This led to Corey Richens' arrest last year on charges of aggravated murder. The 39-year-old Eric Richens was discovered unconscious at his home following a drink to commemorate his wife's business transaction. He had five times the fatal amount of fentanyl in his system, according to a medical examiner, and the drug was illicit rather than medical grade. That was allegedly not the first time Corey Richens gave her husband narcotics,

according to charging documents. Authorities claim that after his wife served him a lunch on Valentine's Day in 2022, Eric Richens came dangerously close to death. Documents show that Eric Richens texted his wife, complaining that he was not feeling well and that he would be heading to the hospital if he did not feel better soon. The records also reveal that his wife, who wasn't home at the time, advised him to take a nap. Also in the documents, details that Eric Richens contacted two close friends, telling them that his wife had left him his favorite meal from a nearby diner along with a note. You almost lost me, he said to a friend, and he talked about getting hives after biting into the sandwich. Prosecutors said in the filings that he had to take Benadryl and use his son's EpiPen.

The charging documents go on to say that, quote, Eric Richens told Witness 1 that he had almost died. Witness 1 could hear the fear in Eric Richens' voice and quote, Eric Richens told Witness 1 that he had almost died. Witness 1 could hear the fear in Eric Richens' voice and tell that Eric Richens was scared. Prosecutors claim that Eric Richens informed the other friend that he believed his wife had attempted to poison him. The records include information spelling out how hives and other allergic and pseudo-allergic reactions can be brought on by opioids, including fentanyl. Additionally, it mentions that Eric Richens had no dietary sensitivities. In the criminal documents, prosecutors claim that Corey Richens had bought illegal fentanyl twice before her husband's death in 2022,

one of them before the Valentine's Day supper. Corey Richens is currently behind bars pending trial and has already denied the accusations made against her. Despite having a finished draft in hand, the Iowa Attorney General's Office has stated that it is still working on an audit of its victim services, which has caused a delay in emergency funding for contraceptives for victims of sexual assault. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd put a stop to the funds as she awaited the audit's findings to determine whether to move forward with the payments. The AG's office says that the audit, which Byrd launched when she entered office 14 months ago, is reportedly in its, quote, final stages and a report will be out shortly.

Under her predecessor, Tom Miller, the policy had been to reimburse victims of sexual assault for a portion of the cost of contraceptives. Our friends with the Des Moines Register were informed last year by Sandy Tibbetts Murphy, the director of Miller's Victim Assistance Division, that in certain instances, the expense of abortion for victims of sexual assault was also reimbursed. In a statement, Planned Parenthood advocates of Iowa said that the audit is being used as a justification for stopping funds. Thanks, John. Kaylin Akins takes a flight from Arizona to visit family back in Springfield, Virginia. The day she's set to return home, she gets a ride to the airport from a former stepfather.

Instead of going directly to the airport, she has to be dropped off at the mall, saying she'll take public transit to the airport herself. Hours later, Kaylin's fian fiance gets a text from her saying, I'm not coming back today. I'll let you know when I get a new flight. Then her phone shuts off. Two days later, a road worker finds Caitlin's suitcase in a ditch an hour from the airport, scratched, missing a wheel. Inside, her wallet.

Caitlin Aikens, now missing over eight years. If you have info on Caitlin Aikens, call Spotsylvania County Virginia Sheriff's 540-582-7115. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.