Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 08.16.24 | Doctor's Body Found in Attic Crawl Space

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Doctor murdered by boyfriend for his money. Woman arrested for husband's birthday Taco Bell battery.  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. Detroit police respond to a call about a white Range Rover blocking a driveway and they find blood inside the car. The car belongs to Dr. Devin Hoover, 57, who doesn't appear to be home when cops knock on his door. Next day, his family asks for a welfare check and cops find blood at his back door. They force their way inside and find Hoover's naked body wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet, shoved into an attic crawlspace, shot twice in the head.

Nancy, Hoover's family became concerned when he failed to visit his dying mother in the hospital. After discovering his body, cops processed several sets of fingerprints on Hoover's car. They belonged to Desmond Burke, Hoover's boyfriend. Cops then discover Burke's cell phone traveled to and from Hoover's home multiple times the day before his car was discovered. A search warrant at Burke's home turns up Cartier watches belonging to Dr. Hoover. Hoover's boyfriend, Desmond Burke, 34, now charged with murder and

grand theft. Esha Prasad, 34, buys her husband a Taco Bell feast for his birthday, expecting a warm response. But she's infuriated when he actually complains. He was hoping for something a little fancier for his celebration. In anger, Esha Prasad grabs several tacos and hurls them at her husband. Cops are called, and with burritos still on her hubby's face, Esha Prasad arrested for domestic battery by taco. Happy birthday. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. Actor Akeely McDowell, best known for his role in the television series David Makes Man and appearances in Billions and the Astronaut Wives Club,

has now been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting at a Houston apartment complex. We turn to Sydney Sumner of Crime Online for more. The Harris County, Texas Sheriff's Office reported that the 21-year-old McDowell has been charged with the murder of 20-year-old Cesar Peralta. According to authorities, the incident occurred on July 20th in Houston.

McDowell is currently held on a $400,000 bond. Deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the apartment complex on July 20th and discovered Peralta unresponsive with gunshot wounds. Witnesses indicated that Peralta had been involved in a physical altercation with another man who fled the scene on foot. McDowell gained recognition for his betrayal of David in David Makes Man, a series on Oprah Winfrey's own network which depicts a teenager navigating life between his magnet school friends and the drug dealers in his South Florida neighborhood. Our friends with IMDb are reporting that McDowell also appeared in episodes of Billions and the Astronaut Wives Club, and he was recently featured in the movie The Water Boys.

In a landmark decision, South Carolina's Supreme Court has ruled that the state can resume executions using one of three methods, firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair. As Crime Online's Sydney Sumner tells us, this ruling could end a decade-long hiatus in the state's use of capital punishment. The court's unanimous decision was not without dissent on specifics. Two justices raised concerns over the legality of the firing squad, and one voiced that the electric chair constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Justice John Few, writing for the majority, emphasized that allowing inmates to choose their method of execution is not meant to cause pain, but to make the death penalty less inhumane. There are currently eight inmates who have exhausted traditional appeals, but the timing of any resumed executions remains uncertain.

Legal representatives for death row inmates are reviewing the court's 94-page decision and considering further appeals. Governor Henry McMaster expressed support for the ruling, stating that it aligns with the law and brings the state closer to providing closure and justice for victims' families. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 individuals, with lethal injection being the preferred method since its introduction in 1995. However, the state has not carried out an execution since 2011 due to the expiration of its lethal injection drugs and the refusal of pharmaceutical companies to supply them under public scrutiny. In response, South Carolina lawmakers authorized the use of a firing squad in 2021, providing an alternative to the electric chair. This prompted legal

challenges from inmates who argued that both methods were unconstitutional. In 2023, the state legislature passed a shield law to protect the identities of lethal injection drug suppliers, allowing the state to secure the sedative pentobarbital and switch to a single drug protocol for lethal injections. Currently, South Carolina has 32 inmates on death row. While four inmates are actively suing the state, others have run out of appeals with two awaiting competency hearings before potential execution. Thanks, John. Nancy Brittner, 45, gets a few meals together for her sister Betsy, who's undergoing cancer treatments. Nancy gets a ride from her fiancé to Betsy's Winchester,

Virginia apartment and stays with her all morning. That afternoon, she visits her daughter and grandchildren who live in the same complex, then returns to Sister Betsy's apartment around 6 to heat up dinner. 11 p.m., she starts to call around for a ride home. Betsy suggests she stay the night, but Nancy doesn't want to miss a visit from her son and his children, who she hasn't seen in nearly a year. She's still looking for a ride when Betsy falls asleep. Next morning, Nancy is gone, but she isn't home when her son visits. There's no surveillance footage at the complex, and Nancy's phone stops pinging in Frederick County, Virginia. Nancy's 5'4", 110 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, and has a cross tattoo on her left

shoulder. If you have info on Nancy Brittner, now missing over a year, please call Winchester, Virginia PD 540-662-4131. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com and please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.