Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 05.25.23

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

U-Haul kidnapper busted after hit and run. North Carolina police department considering new animal sidekicks.  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. Several people called 911 after witnessing a U-Haul crash and depart cars and then keep driving. Maryland State troopers track down the U-Haul, flip on the blue lights, driver Dennis Bell leads cops on a chase, ending with Bell in a ditch. After cuffing Bell, cops search the U-Haul and find a naked woman locked in the back with multiple stab wounds. Nancy, the woman tells police Belle approached her outside a convenience store, put a knife to her back, and pushed her into the truck. Once inside, Belle cut off her clothes, then stabbed each of her fingers. Belle drove around

for hours before striking the parked cars, which sparked witnesses to call for help. After crashing, Bell refused to get out of the truck, and cops had to break the passenger side window to gain access and force Bell to exit. Bell, 62, facing 33 traffic and criminal charges, including first-degree assault, kidnap, and false imprisonment. North Carolina cops tried to pull over Joshua Minton for speeding, but Minton goes even faster down a rural road, leaving cops in the distance. Officers eventually catch up to Minton, but the man abandons his car and disappears. Frustrated, cops give in and set to abandon the search,

but a herd of grazing cows in a field on the side of the road start to gather in one spot. Cops follow their lead straight to Menton. Menton 34 charged with fleeing the scene. Boone Police Department considering adding a bovine unit to the force but are concerned about methane production. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Lemley. An ex-convict suspected of killing a woman stabbed

15 times in the back on a Phoenix desert trail may go on trial in January. The day after a Maricopa County grand jury indicted 22-year-old Zion William Teasley on one count of first-degree murder, Teasley's counsel submitted a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. The county attorney's office stated that it's investigating the matter to decide whether to seek the death penalty. According to Phoenix Police, the body of 29-year-old Lauren Heike was discovered near a hiking trail close to her home on April 29th. It's thought that she was murdered the day before. Heike may have been chased over or through a barbed wire fence as she sustained defensive wounds on both her wrists and arms. Investigators looking into the homicide think Teasley followed

her on the trail, which led to the alleged random and unprovoked attack. Still unclear is a possible motive. Defense attorneys for an alleged drunk driver accused of slamming into a pair of South Carolina newlyweds on a beach road are now seeking bond. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. According to various news sources, Jamie Komoroski's attorneys submitted a motion last week

claiming she does not pose a flight risk or a threat to the public. It asks for a $100,000 bail with the requirements that she complete an inpatient rehabilitation program, stay under the supervision of her mother, and not have access to a car or alcohol. In the April 28 crash at Folly Beach that killed 34-year-old Samantha Miller and injured the groom, Eric Hutchinson, 25-year-old Komorowski was charged with vehicular homicide and three counts of felony DUI, resulting in serious bodily injury. Authorities claim Komorowski was traveling over twice the speed limit when she plowed into the rear of a golf cart as the couple was leaving the wedding celebration. A toxicology report revealed that Komorowski had a blood alcohol level of.261.

That's more than three times the legal limit. One of two inmates who escaped from an Ohio prison have been apprehended in Kentucky after a police pursuit of the men's suspected getaway vehicle ended in a crash and a foot chase. 50-year-old Bradley Gillespie remained at large after 47-year-old James Lee was apprehended at the scene. Lee was serving a sentence handed down in 2021 for burglary and safe-cracking, while Gillespie had been behind bars since 2016 for murder. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction says the two males were reported missing from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio. Officials have withheld other information such as how the escape took

place or when the men were reported missing. Cops attempted to stop the car the men were allegedly driving after spotting it in Henderson, Kentucky. That's when the chase began. The crash occurred after a brief pursuit. The two prisoners then made their getaway on foot. A Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota college student 20 years ago has officially had his death sentence reduced to life in prison. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. According to court documents, the sentence amendment for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was approved by Judge Ralph Erickson of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals last week. Sex offender Rodriguez was found guilty in 2007 of kidnapping 22-year-old Drew Shodan from a Grand Forks mall on November 22, 2003.

After cutting her neck and sexually assaulting her, he left the University of North Dakota student to die in a ditch not far from Crookston, Minnesota. Chaudin's body was found five months later. In March, U.S. Attorney Max Schneider of North Dakota submitted a notice to federal court rescinding his request for the death penalty. According to him, he carried out this action on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's direction. Schneider's filing left Rodriguez with no other option except to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Avid hiker Catherine True takes a trip to her favorite beach at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California, January 6. January 9, park rangers find Catherine's Ford truck parked near the beach,

two of her dogs still inside, a third leashed to a nearby rock. The next day, the truck's still there. Authorities begin to search for Truett. Canines follow her scent from the truck to a beach trailhead, but lose the scent there. 37-year-old Truett now missing 13 years. If you have information on Catherine Truitt's disappearance, please call the Alameda Police 510-339-8311. For the latest crime and justice news,

go to crimeonline.com. For This Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.