Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 05.30.23

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

Argument in a bar turns deadly. Animal rescue board member poisons neighbors' dogs.  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, Travis McDermott, 40, Grace and Sleto, 32, argue at a North Dakota nightclub. Sleto threatens to fight McDermott, who reaches for his concealed weapon. Sleto pushes McDermott to the ground. McDermott fires two shots, killing Sleto. The argument and subsequent shooting at the original nightclub is caught on surveillance video. McDermott claims Sleto reached The argument and subsequent shooting at the original nightclub is caught on surveillance video. McDermott claims Sleto reached for his gun, prompting McDermott to fire the weapon, but the video does not reflect that. It does show that after the initial shot, Sleto

slumped and began to fall before McDermott shot him again. McDermott now charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment. James Golston III and wife Agnes Golston leave threatening notes for neighbors, the Ridleys, after one of the Ridley dogs wandered into Golston's yard. Weeks later, all three Ridley dogs become extremely ill. Two of them die. A vet determines the dogs were poisoned with antifreeze. The Golstons admit to South Carolina police they left poisoned squirrels in the Ridley's yard for the dogs to find. James Golston, a board member for Saving

Grace Animal Rescue, steps down from his position. The couple now charged with animal cruelty. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. A Virginia man has received a lengthy prison sentence for killing his girlfriend's two-year-old daughter in 2018 by delaying medical attention for several hours after she suffered severe burns. For more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. 38-year-old John Tucker Hardy of Norfolk was sentenced by Norfolk Circuit Judge Jack Doyle for his involvement in Harley Williams' death. Hardy was found guilty last summer of malicious wounding, felony child neglect, and second-degree murder. For her part in the girl's

murder, Shelby Love, the girl's mother, entered a guilty plea to felony homicide and child neglect in 2020. Love's sentencing is scheduled for June. Hardy received a sentence of 45 years in jail, 10 of which were suspended. Upon release, he will also be required to complete a decade of supervised probation. At Hardy's trial, Love testified that she routinely left her daughter with Hardy, with whom she had been living for roughly two months. When Love returned home on April 23, 2018, she said that Hardy told her that Harley had been burned by hot bath water. Love claimed she wanted to call 911, but Hardy refused to let her do so because he feared going to jail. She claimed that she agreed to stay silent out of

concern for her safety and that they started treating Harley with petroleum jelly, bandages, cream, and medication. Harley began experiencing respiratory problems, so Hardy ultimately dialed 911. She was declared dead at a hospital in Norfolk. After doing an autopsy, a doctor ruled that Harley, who had numerous bruises all over her body and significant head wounds, had died from scalding-related complications. A Montana woman accused of torturing and killing her 12-year-old grandson more than three years ago has entered a plea agreement with the state in which she agrees to spend the rest of her life behind bars while admitting to purposeful homicide and two other offenses. In West Yellowstone

in February 2020, Patricia Butts was charged in the death of James Alex Hurley. Her trial has been postponed until July 11th. According to the terms of her agreement, she also admitted to witness tampering by attempting to persuade family members to give false statements to authorities and felony criminal child endangerment for failing to seek medical attention for him

after he was critically injured. A jury in Los Angeles has convicted a man of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a father who was camping with his children and in the attempted deaths of the two young girls, all of which occurred in a well-known park in Southern California. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. 35-year-old Tristan Beaudet was camping with his kids in a tent on June 18, 2018, when Anthony Rauda fatally shot him in the head. Rauda was found guilty of a second-degree crime despite the jury clearing him of a first-degree murder charge. He'll be sentenced next month and might receive anywhere from 40 years to life in jail. If the government can

demonstrate both intention and premeditation, the conviction will be for first-degree murder. Beaudet was killed 30 miles or so west of downtown Los Angeles in Malibu Creek State Park. His daughters, who were two and four years old at the time, weren't hurt, but they were thought to be the victims of a murder attempt. Although the jury found Rauda guilty on the counts involving the girls, they disregarded his claim that he intentionally killed the girls or had planned to do so. Rauda was not present for the verdict because he had waived his right to appear in court. The prosecution chose not to comment on the verdict. The criminal case that exposed the blood testing scam at the center of Elizabeth Holmes Theranos Company is moving toward its conclusion as she prepares to report to prison this week. The 11-year sentence is

retribution for the wide-eyed woman who overcame the tech-bro mentality to become one of Silicon Valley's most well-known businesswomen, only to be discovered as a phony. Eventually, Holmes came to represent the startup culture's penchant for blatant exaggeration. However, there are still lingering questions about her motivations, questions so complex that even the federal judge who oversaw her trial seems perplexed. Meanwhile, Holmes' supporters continue to question whether the sentence is appropriate for the crime. Lester L.J. Jones Jr., a biomedical engineering grad student at Mississippi State University,

leaves campus to visit friends in Jackson. The 25-year-old, caught on surveillance video stopping for gas just 15 minutes away from his destination. He leaves the gas station, heads in the direction of his friends, but never makes it. Jones's phone found in the gas station restroom his car, a blue 2002 Ford Expedition with Mississippi tag KTW714, has never been recovered. Jones is now missing 13 years. If you have information on Lester Jones's disappearance, call Starkville PD 662-323-4134. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.