Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 07.19.23

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Man breaks into a home using a chainsaw. Man orders an Amazon package, then holds the delivery driver at gunpoint.  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. A Kentucky homeowner wakes up to the sound of breaking glass and grabs his gun. He discovers Richard Hamadani actually using a chainsaw to knock out the back door glass and open it from the inside. Hamadani, still armed with a chainsaw, approaches the homeowner, who then fires four shots, striking the burglar. Nancy, Hamadani is rushed to the hospital to treat the gunshot wound and is said to be in serious but stable condition. Authorities believe Hamadani was having a psychotic breakdown and tried to break into the home because he was hearing voices, in particular, someone screaming for help. Thankfully, the chainsaw was not running

when Hamadani used it to get through the door. Hamadani, 44, charged with burglary. No charges for the homeowner. Stephen Sazlo, apparently unfamiliar with implications of ordering on Amazon. Sazlo buzzes the Amazon driver through the gate at his Pennsylvania mansion, but when she parks to deliver the package, he comes out of his home pointing a short barrel shotgun at the delivery woman. Sasslow approaches the car, holding the driver at gunpoint,

demands his package, and tells her to leave. The driver, who had her children with her, speeds off and calls 911. Sasslow, 70, charged with reckless endangerment. What about Ag Assault? More Crime and Justice news after this.

Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. An escaped inmate on the run for 11 weeks following the South Carolina Supreme Court's rejection of an undisclosed deal that reduced his 35-year murder sentence by 16 years has now been apprehended by police. For details, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. The State Law Enforcement Division of South Carolina

says Geroyd Price was apprehended peacefully at an apartment in New York City following a tip to South Carolina detectives. Price's attorney, State Representative Todd Rutherford, and the prosecutor, Byron Gibson, decided to petition a judge to reduce Price's sentence since he alerted authorities to an escapee serving a life sentence before the inmate was missed and saved two guards from serious injury. In South Carolina, this is the only way a conviction can be commuted.

However, there was no public hearing on the agreement, and in April, the state Supreme Court decided 3-2 to revoke the order. Price was supposed to go back to jail right away, but authorities say he was on the run for 11 weeks. At a news conference, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson stated, quote, he was aware the Supreme Court had made its ruling. The 2010 law allowing jail terms to be lowered when offenders offer information that safeguards the safety of prison personnel and others was brought to light by Price's release. A federal jury has ruled that the shooter who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is deserving of the death penalty. This now sets the scene for additional evidence and testimony regarding whether he should receive

a death or life sentence. Robert Bowers, who launched an online tirade against Jews before assaulting the Tree of Life synagogue with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons in the country's bloodiest anti-Semitic incident, is facing the death penalty. The jury came to the same conclusion as the prosecution that Bowers had established the necessary lawful intent to kill. Bowers spent six months preparing the massacre and has subsequently voiced remorse that he didn't kill more people. Bowers' attorney contends that his mental illness and a delusional notion that he might halt a genocide of white people by killing Jews who aid immigrants impaired his capacity to create intent.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has intervened to support the reintroduction of a bill that would toughen up the state's laws against child trafficking. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. Child trafficking would become a serious crime in California under State Senator Shannon Groves' measure. The three strikes law in California, which imposes a sentence of 25 years to life in prison on anyone found guilty of at least three major felonies, applies. Grove anticipated that the bill would face little opposition in the Assembly because it had passed the Senate without much trouble earlier this year. The bill is now in danger of not passing this year after members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee decided not to

move the measure further. Newsom expressed his amazement that the bill had stalled. The governor told reporters that he contacted Grove to discuss the measure and that the conversation, quote, is indicative of my desire to see what we can do with it. According to Newsom, who noted that he signed a state budget last year that contained $25 million for programs for children who had been sex trafficking victims. The subject is one that he cares about deeply. It's unusual for Newsom to publicly participate in a disagreement at the Capitol. Newsom frequently declines to comment on current legislation when questioned by reporters because he prefers to remain out of such issues.

Michelle Bernstein Schultz spends the day at the apartment she shares with her boyfriend in Phoenix with a cold. The 36-year-old texts back and forth with a friend all day, asking the boyfriend to keep his distance just in case she has COVID. That night, the boyfriend comes home late, goes to sleep on the couch. Next morning, peeks in the bedroom. She's gone without her cell phone, wallet, or keys. Her car still parked in the bedroom, she's gone without her cell phone, wallet, or keys. Her car still parked in the apartment. Arizona cops believe Michelle left the apartment on foot carrying a backpack. Michelle

Bernstein Schultz now missing over a year. If you have info on Michelle Bernstein Schultz's disappearance, please call Phoenix PD 602-262-6151. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.