Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 08.09.23

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

Suspect refuses to cooperate with SWAT, sets apartment building on fire. Missing emu case solved.  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. Kevin Wright robs a Washington business, then heads to his dad's apartment. Worried by his son's erratic behavior and the stolen goods, Wright's dad calls police. Wright refuses to answer the door for police and stacks furniture to barricade himself inside. A SWAT team arrives to negotiate with Wright, but they force the entry after hearing a smoke alarm inside. They find Wright had started a large fire, and SWAT team calls for the fire department. Nancy, the fire quickly grew and spread to 21 units before firefighters were able to put it out. The SWAT

team spent three hours trying to convince Wright to exit the unit after his father called 911, afraid that his son would hurt him. The father and many other families are now receiving aid from the Red Cross and trying to find alternate housing. Three police officers were treated for smoke inhalation, but there were no other injuries. Wright, 21, charged with armed robbery, arson, and domestic violence. An Indiana community comes together to solve a case of a missing emu. Rigby, a six-foot-tall flightless bird, escapes from his enclosure

while his dad, Sam Messimer, is away on a backwoods hiking trip. The community does their best to keep Rigby off the roads and herd him toward home until Messimer finally gets cell phone service and is notified Rigby has escaped. After returning, Messimer gathers friends to help wrangle Rigby, who can run 30 miles an hour, finally getting a rope around him, leading him safely back home to a newly reinforced paddock. So far, the six-foot emu has managed to dodge escape charges. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in Maine as a woman who admitted to manslaughter after her one-year-old son

died from an overdose has started her prison term. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. In accordance with a plea deal, 29-year-old Mariah Dobbins of Easton, Maine, was given a four-year sentence last month after her son Jaden Raymond died on March 19, 2022. At the time, the Maine State Police provided little specifics, but an autopsy later confirmed the child had overdosed on fentanyl. Dobbins told police officers on the scene that Jaden was unresponsive when Dobbins awoke after she and her two sons had fallen asleep while watching TV. Dobbins was charged by law enforcement of being inattentive to the point of being criminally negligent. Following several high-profile child fatalities,

defense attorney Steve Smith said that the prosecution sought a severe punishment. Dobbins was given a 12-year prison term on July 20th, with the majority of the term suspended. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has come under fire after several instances of child abuse and neglect-related child deaths. Also in Maine, there have been several cases of babies and young toddlers overdosing, usually after ingesting pills that were left out in the open. All of this in the wake of the state's opioid abuse epidemic.

A New Hampshire man has declared his innocence in the death of Harmony Montgomery, his five-year-old daughter who vanished in 2019 after he was granted custody. The child is believed to be dead. 33-year-old Adam Montgomery made the statement in court prior to being sentenced on unrelated firearms charges. Harmony was not reported missing until November 2021, nearly two years after detectives say her father murdered her. Although the child's body has never been found, Harmony's stepmother has agreed to assist police in their investigation. An Arizona woman stands accused of poisoning her husband's coffee

every day for several months in an effort to kill the man. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. A grand jury indicted Melody Johnson of Tucson on counts of attempted severe assault, attempted first-degree murder, and poisoning food or drink. Robbie Johnson, the suspect's husband, first noticed a bad taste in his coffee back in March while his family was stationed in Germany. This according to court documents obtained by our friends at KVOA. The court filing states that Robbie Johnson used pool testing strips to find that his coffee pot showed high levels of chlorine. He allegedly used a concealed camera to catch Melody Johnson adding an unknown ingredient to the coffee maker. Johnson told investigators he pretended to continue drinking the coffee so he could wait until they returned stateside to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

before filing a police report. Jessica Foster, 20, makes a sudden decision to move to Las Vegas from Calgary, Canada, but seems happy according to frequent communications with her family. Foster moves in with a boyfriend, Peter Todd. Months later, she stops communicating with family entirely. Todd tells them Jessica left for a dentist appointment and never came home. Foster's belongings are missing. Her cell phone goes to voicemail and there's no activity on her debit or credit cards. Foster's family hires the PI who learns Foster had been sex trafficked by a man named Donald Vaz and forced into sex work with her so-called boyfriend, Todd, as her pimp.

Jessica Foster, now missing 17 years. Foul play suspected. If you have info on Jessica Foster, contact Vegas PD 702-633-1773. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.