Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 10.17.23

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Stalker uses plane to harass uninterested woman. Retail thieves make off with single shoes.  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. Michael Arnold puts the move on a married New York cafe owner, Cassie Willish. Willish makes it clear she's not interested. And Arnold continues. The pilot uses his plane to circle her home for hours. He follows her in his car and he sends her threatening emails. Well, that's one way to win a woman over. Nancy, the harassment began nearly four years ago with increasing escalation. Arnold flew so low over Welush's home, the window shook and on several

occasions Arnold threw things at the home from the plane. Arnold also sent disturbing messages to Welush, including one that said her karma was responsible for her husband's colon cancer death and her teen daughter is next. Arnold also claims Welush is crazy and has no idea who she is. A protective order banning Arnold from flying led to his arrest at an upstate New York hangar. Michael Arnold now facing nine counts criminal contempt and stalking. A group of thieves target a Nebraska vintage clothing shop, first trying to wiggle the front door open, then breaking a display window to get inside. Surveillance footage shows the three men ransacking the store,

trying and failing to get into a locked back room. The owners work with cops to estimate the damage, and although the thieves make off with nearly 20,000 bucks of merchandise most of the stolen items were left shoes left shoes only the matches were all kept in the back room the thieves couldn't get into good luck selling those more crime and justice news after this now with the latest crime and justice breaking news crime online's john limley a trial date has been set for a man accused of raping a woman a year before he was charged with killing a school teacher out for an early run. With details, Sydney Sumner with Crime Online.

Tennessee authorities say that because the sexual assault kit took a long time to analyze, Cleotha Abston was not detained on rape charges prior to Eliza Fletcher's death. 39-year-old Abston entered a not-guilty plea in each of the cases. Judge Lee Coffey of Shelby County set Abston's trial for April 8 on the allegations of raping and kidnapping a woman in September of 2021. Abston is accused of robbing Fletcher on a street close to the University of Memphis and forcing her inside an SUV a year later. Her body was discovered next to an empty duplex. After being accused of Fletcher's murder, Abston, who has also gone by the name Cleotha

Henderson, was charged with the 2021 rape. The rape trial in April will take place before the Fletcher case. Prosecutors have stated that if Abston is found guilty of first-degree murder, he will face the death penalty. No trial date for that case has yet been scheduled. The Memphis community was horrified by the death of Fletcher, a 34-year-old mother of two and a kindergarten teacher, with her family receiving an outpouring of support. By agreeing to enter a guilty plea, a 79-year-old South Carolina man has escaped the possibility of being executed for ambushing police officers approaching his residence, murdering two of them, and injuring five more. The court appearance for Frederick Hopkins in Aiken County was not announced, and the courtroom was absent of reporters normally

covering the highly publicized case. Aiken County is located approximately 120 miles from the site of the October 2018 attack. Two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder were brought against Hopkins. Now to South Florida, where a judge has dismissed the lead prosecutor from the rapper YNW Melly's double murder retrial. Once again, Crime Online, Sidney Sumner. Melly's defense team has argued that the prosecution had concealed the fact that the primary detective gathering evidence in the case had earlier been charged with lying. Exerting extreme caution, Judge John Murphy of the Broward Circuit Court granted the defense's move to remove prosecutor not prosecute the case if the defense intended to call her as a witness over the reliability of one of the investigators. Attorneys representing Mellie, whose real name is Jamel Demons, requested last week that Murphy exclude the Broward State Attorney's Office from the case and perhaps dismiss it completely. The request was made in response to testimony

given by Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros of the Broward office, who claims to have heard the lead investigator in the Demons case, Mark Moretti, ask a Broward County deputy to fabricate an account of his presence when last October Moretti used an unlawful search warrant to forcibly seize a phone from Demons' mother as part of an investigation into witness tampering. The process of choosing the jury is set to commence this week, and Bradley's replacement has not yet been announced. Wendy DeHoop drops her husband off at work before starting her commute 30 miles north to the Georgia Pacific Mill facility, Halsey, Oregon. She never makes it.

Wendy's boss calls her husband when she doesn't show up. He's concerned, reporting her missing. Six days later, a man walking his dog finds Wendy's purse and turns it into a Buy Mart store in South Eugene, the opposite direction of Wendy's commute. Four days later, investigators speak with the dog walker. He leads them to an abandoned car near the store. It's Wendy's. Wendy to hoot one of three women who go missing in the area within a month.

Now, 18 years ago. The two other women found murdered. No leads in their cases. If you have info on Wendy DeHoop, call Lane County Sheriff's 541-682-4311. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.