Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 09.01.23

Episode Date: September 1, 2023

Woman fakes her murder. Students suspect their teacher is drunk! 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, Margaret Sweeney calls a friend and says someone's trying to kill her. The call drops. Sweeney's friend calls North Carolina police, reporting Sweeney is in trouble or may already be dead. Police launch a search for Sweeney and find her the next day alive and well and in no danger. Sweeney made the whole thing up, even going so far as to report her murder to social services. Nancy, the reasons behind Sweeney's farce are still unclear. Sweeney made several odd comments on a Facebook post from the Franklin Police Department providing an update on her case. Sweeney wrote,

Social media has us believing we're entitled to know about people or situations that have nothing to do with us. In place of support, we ridicule those that do not answer questions that make them uncomfortable. I decide when, what, and with whom I can fight in. No one for a long time. Sweeney, 37, now charged with false report and obstruction. On their first day back to school, Oklahoma third grade students noticed the teacher, Kimberly Coates, has red eyes, slurred speech, and can't seem to finish sentences, so they ask another teacher for help. She gets the school's resource officer, who performs a breath test, that Coates fails with a whopping three times the legal limit for alcohol. The officer finds a cup full of wine on Coates' desk. As she's escorted out of school, Coates asks if she'll be fired.

The principal responds, you can resign. Coates, 53, now charged with public intoxication. More crime and justice news after this. And now for the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in central New York as authorities say 10 people have been charged in connection with the death of a man abducted from a homeless camp outside of Ithaca. For more, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. The accusations were made public 100 days after 33-year-old Thomas Roth went missing from the jungle, a tract of woodland home to improvised huts and tents hidden behind a row of shops less than two miles from Cornell University. The victim's body was later discovered buried in another county. Nine of the individuals are accused of kidnapping, while two are accused of murder.

According to authorities, the men and women were detained over the course of the last two weeks, and further arrests are anticipated. Officials did not disclose Roth's cause of death or address a potential motive at a news conference this week, saying only that the investigation was ongoing. State Police Captain Lucas Anthony stated that, quote, these people all knew each other, also saying that he wouldn't go so far as to say it was a planned event, but that it was a continuous event from beginning to end. Numerous people live year-round at the campground where police began their investigation with a wellness check for Roth on May 20th. It was on August 3rd of this year that Roth's remains were found hidden in a wooded area of Tioga County. Now to Michigan, where a man from Metro Detroit associated with an anti-government group and detained just before the 2022 election has received a one-year prison term for offenses involving

firearms. Timothy Teigen, a member of the Boogaloo Boys, a group preparing for a U.S. Civil War, had attended several demonstrations clad in a Hawaiian shirt and carrying an AR-15-style rifle. The 23-year-old Teigen was not charged with terrorism. However, he admitted to lying on his application for a weapons purchase about his regular marijuana usage and having a rifle and ammo while using drugs. Both of those are considered federal offenses. A seasoned politician from Los Angeles has been given a three and a half year prison term for his part in a plot to obtain benefits for his son in exchange for backing lucrative government contracts with the University of Southern California's School of

Social Work. Once again, Crime Online, Sidney Sumner. Mark Ridley Thomas, who was most recently a member of the Los Angeles City Council, was convicted in U.S. District Court for seven felonies, including conspiracy, bribery, and fraud, stemming from activities he took while serving on the influential Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. 68-year-old Ridley Thomas was also given a $30,000 fine by Judge Dale S. Fisher. In March, a jury ruled that Ridley Thomas and Marilyn Louise Flynn, the former dean of USC's School of Social Work, conspired in 2017 and 2018 to use the university to transfer $100,000 from a Ridley Thomas campaign fund to a non-profit organization led by his son. According to the prosecution,

the son also benefited from the plot and bribes by receiving graduate school admittance, a scholarship, and a paid professorship. 84-year-old Flynn entered a guilty plea to one count of bribery last year and received a one-and-a-half-year home detention term as a result. At the time of the verdict, Ridley Thomas expressed regret for his deeds and apologized to his family and the audience. However, he also insisted that what he did was not necessarily against the law. Following Ridley Thomas' conviction, the city council suspended him and announced that his seat was open.

Destiny Sanath, 27, borrows mom's car to go on a visit to a friend in southwest Philadelphia. When Destiny does not return, mom calls the friend who says Destiny never made it. Sanath reported missing. New Jersey cops realized they spoke to Destiny in the early morning hours the day after she left. Her car broke down, so cops helped her move it to a nearby parking lot, then gave her a lift to a convenience store. Destiny's caught on surveillance video entering the store to buy a drink

before disappearing behind the building. Destiny Saneth has not been seen in over a year. If you have info on Destiny Saneth, call Philly PD 215-686-3013. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. For This Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.