Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 04.19.24

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

Man poisons pregnant girlfriend, killing her and baby. Drug smugglers use a torta to conceal fentanyl.  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. Jade Benning, five months pregnant, is rushed to a Nashville hospital when her boyfriend, Blaise Taylor, calls 911 to say she's having an allergic reaction. Two days later, her unborn baby dies. Benning's condition turns critical and she dies nine days after arriving at the hospital on her 25th birthday. Cops investigate as Benning had no known allergies. Taylor now accused of poisoning the mom-to-be. Nancy, police have not revealed what Taylor used to poison Benning,

but opioids can cause allergic reaction type symptoms. Benning worked as a pastry chef and ran her own catering business. Benning was extremely excited about becoming a mother, posting several photos holding sonogram pictures and a pint of Ben and Jerry's half-baked to mark the milestone in her pregnancy. Blaze Taylor, believed to be the baby's father, charged with two charges, first-degree murder, the DA seeking life without parole. Customs and Border Patrol agents in Texas reporting creative tactics by drug smugglers. A drug-sniffing dog alerts to an item in a woman's car. Cops retrieve a torta, a sandwich made with steak, ham, and avocados.

The woman nervously jokes the dog must be hungry, but tucked inside that sandwich is a baggie full of fentanyl. The sandwich discovery adds to the nearly 250 pounds of drugs seized by customs in just two weeks. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In the case of a fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film Rust, a movie weapons supervisor has now been sentenced to 18 months in prison. We turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online for more.

During the hearing, emotional relatives and friends testified demanding justice in a punishment that would increase accountability for safety on film sets. It was back in March that a jury found movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the murder of cinematographer Helena Hutchins. She's been behind bars at a county jail outside of Santa Fe for more than a month. Gutierrez-Reed was accused by the prosecution of disobeying fundamental gun safety procedures and inadvertently carrying live ammunition onto the Rust set, Gutierrez-Reed was accused by the prosecution of disobeying fundamental gun safety procedures and inadvertently carrying live ammunition onto the rust set, where it was specifically forbidden.

Gutierrez-Reed was unsuccessful in her request for a reduced sentence, telling the judge that she was not the monster that people had painted her to be and that she had tried her hardest on the set despite not having, quote, proper time, resources, and staffing. According to an email from defense attorney Jason Bowles, Gutierrez-Reed intends to appeal the verdict and punishment. In October 2021, at a movie rehearsal on a set outside of Santa Fe, Alec Baldwin, the principal actor and co-producer of Rust, was pointing a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Regarding the charge of involuntary manslaughter against him, Baldwin has entered a not guilty plea. His trial is set to take place in July at a Santa Fe courthouse. The judge in charge of the proceedings against Baldwin, Mary Marlowe Sommer of New Mexico, also handed down the sentence against Gutierrez-Reed. The judge declared that considering the significant violent act that Gutierrez-Reed's recklessness amounted to, anything less than the maximum punishment would not be appropriate. Gutierrez-Reed's defense attorney said in court that their client is remorseful and had breakdowns after Hutchins died. They also pointed out systemic issues that contributed to the incident. Now to the Midwest, where a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation has been imposed on a northern

Illinois man charged with killing four people and injuring seven others by stabbing, beating, and driving over them. Once again, Crime Online, Sidney Sumner. Judge Deborah Schaefer of Winnebago County ordered Christian Soto's evaluation after the 22-year-old appeared in court by way of video link for a first-degree murder plea. May 17th has now been scheduled for Soto's current arraignment. Although a motive has not been determined, authorities have stated that Soto was responsible for a string of frenzied attacks on March 27th, which occurred at multiple homes in a neighborhood of Rockford, Illinois. The dead have been identified by the Winnebago County Coroner as 15-year-old Jenna Newcomb, 49-year-old Jay Larson, 23-year-old Jacob Schutbach,

and 63-year-old Ramona Schutbach. According to Jay Hanley, the state's attorney for Winnebago County, Soto told police that he had used marijuana with Jacob Schutbach and it had made him paranoid because he thought the drugs, quote, were laced with an unknown narcotic. Authorities allege that after Soto fatally stabbed Schutbach and his mother, he beat, stabbed, and ran over Larson, a mail carrier with a truck. Officials say he then beat Newcomb, her sister, and a friend with a baseball bat inside one house, injuring three more people inside another. The attacks all took place within a couple of minutes. Investigators have stated that Soto was apprehended by Winnebago County Sheriff's officers while he was running from another residence where he had also stabbed a woman. Rockford, Illinois is located approximately

90 miles northwest of Chicago. Thanks, John. Goldie Morse joins a friend to hunt blackberries near Cobb, California's Black Rock Golf Course. The friend heads down the hill to the berries. When he comes back, Goldie's gone, only her shoes left behind. Later that night, people report seeing Goldie in a grocery store parking lot about a mile away from the golf course. In their early morning hours next day, construction workers say Goldie asked to sit in their truck after crossing the Kelsey Creek Bridge.

They offered her food, and she walked away. Five hours later, she knocks on a stranger's door and asks to use the phone. The homeowner offers to get her a pair of shoes. When they return with the shoes, she's gone. No one knows where Goldie may have gone or why. Goldie Morse now missing two years. If you have info on Goldie Morse, call Lake County, California Sheriff's 707-263-2690. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.