Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 04.18.24

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

Pre-med student kills mom on visit home. Identity theft puts man in mental hospital! 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. Emmanuel Espinoza, a pre-med student home from college for a weekend family get-together, plans to stay with mom Elvia. Elvia opens the door on Saturday and her son attacks, stabbing her multiple times. She was on the phone with a family member and they hear the mom screaming and running from her son until she falls to the ground and dies. Nancy, immediately after the stabbing, Emanuel Espinoza calls 911 and confesses to the murders. Espinoza says he really loves his mom, but she irritated him. Elvia Espinoza was a beloved elementary school teacher

and described as always having a smile and everyone's biggest cheerleader. Emanuel Espinoza was a beloved elementary school teacher and described as always having a smile and everyone's biggest cheerleader. Emmanuel Espinoza tells Florida police he killed his mom because she, quote, got on his nerves. Espinoza, 21, charged with murder. William Woods briefly works with Matthew Kearns at a New Mexico hot dog stand in the late 80s. Forty years later, Woods notices several loans taken out in his name. When he speaks with the bank, he cannot answer the security questions set up, and bank staff call police. Keerans, posing as Woods, tells cops over the phone the man at the bank's trying to steal his identity and tells them the man's real name is Matthew Keerans.

The real Woods is taken to jail, where he insists he truly is William Woods. A judge sends him to a mental hospital. Once released, the true Woods seeks out a DNA test proving he's related to the father listed on William Woods' birth certificate. Kearan, still posing as Woods, is arrested in Iowa for aggravated identity theft, now facing 32 years behind bars. And it all started at a hot dog stand.

More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in Australia as the attacker who fatally shot himself after stabbing six people at a crowded Sydney retail mall has now been identified by authorities. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. 40-year-old Joel Couchy is suspected of carrying out the attack Saturday afternoon at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction, located near the well-known Bondi Beach in the eastern suburbs of the city, this according to New South Wales Police. During a press conference, NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cook informed reporters that Couchy had unidentified mental health problems and that police detectives were not considering the attack to be

related to terrorism. Police were summoned soon after the beginning of the attack at 3.10 p.m. on April 13 at the Busy Retail Mall, among the busiest in the soon after the beginning of the attack at 3.10 p.m. on April 13 at the busy retail mall, among the busiest in the country and the center of activity on a very warm autumn afternoon in Australia. Six people aged between 20 and 55 were slain in the attack, five women and one man. Twelve additional people were hurt and are still being treated at a hospital, among them a nine-month-old infant whose mother was killed in the incident. The male victim, a 30-year-old from Pakistan named Faraz Tahir, was working as a security guard at the shopping mall. The day following the attack, the Ahmadi Muslim community of Australia said in a written statement that Faraz had been in the country for less than a

year and was a, quote, cherished member of our community. A witness captured video of numerous individuals running away from the mall as Couchy, brandishing a knife, lunged at them. In another video, a man was seen approaching the assailant on a mall escalator while brandishing what looked to be a metal pole. Couchy was shot and killed by Inspector Amy Scott, the first emergency responder to arrive on the scene. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters that the officer was certainly a hero and that many more lives had been spared by her decisive action. Couchy's family released a written statement later,

expressing their shock at what happened on Saturday and that they have no issue with Scott shooting their son because the woman, quote, was only doing her job to protect others. Investigators say the mall will be a crime scene for days to come. Since the weekend attack, many flowers have been left outside the now-closed shopping center as a memorial to the victims. Back in this country now, as authorities have now announced that the two Kansas women who vanished while traveling to Oklahoma to pick up children for a birthday celebration are dead. For more, we again turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. In making their announcement, detectives have detailed a two-week-long attempt to ensure the children's safety and prevent violence in the

process of apprehending four people on suspicion of both kidnapping and murder. It was one day after the four suspects in the case were taken into custody that two bodies were found in a rural area of Oklahoma. According to officials, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jillian Kelly of Hugaton, Kansas, were traveling through the Oklahoma panhandle to pick up Butler's kids for a birthday celebration in Kansas on March 30. After failing to show up, their vehicle was discovered abandoned on a rural roadway close to the Oklahoma-Kansas state boundary later that day with signs of foul play. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation detailed an intense search for the two women, along with the detectives' efforts to ensure the children's safety while arresting the

suspects without violence. Hunter McKee, an OSBI spokesman, stated that Butler and Kelly had died and that the four defendants are accountable for the women's disappearance. However, McKee said his department will not confirm that the remains discovered belong to the missing Kansas women until the Medical examiner's office has completed its report. Authorities in Oklahoma report that they have taken into custody and charged four individuals, each on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to conduct first-degree murder. 44-year-old Cora Twombly, 50-year-old Cole Earl Twombly, 54-year-old Tiffany Michelle Adams, and 43-year-old Tad

Burt Cullum. Texas County Court Clerk Renee Ellis says that all four suspects are being held without bond at the Texas County Jail with a court appearance scheduled to take place before the end of the week. Thanks, John. Gregory Peterson tells his family he's going out to help an acquaintance who's having car trouble and leaves their Cloverdale, California home. When he's not home after several hours, family reports him missing. Next day, Gregory's car is found 15 miles north of home on the side of the highway on fire. No trace of Gregory. Gregory Peterson, 62, white, bald, 6'3", 200 pounds. If you have info on Gregory Peterson,

please call Sonoma County, California Sheriffs, 707-565-2185. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.