Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 11.10.23

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

Man behind bars for burning woman alive. Couple uses the names of deceased babies to create new identities.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Texas firefighters discover a woman on fire on the side of the road, but they're too late to save her. Cops use fingerprints to ID her as Melissa Davis. Surveillance footage shows Melissa meeting Andrew Cole at a hotel the day before she dies. The next morning, Cole loads a heavy

object into Davis' car and drives off. Just minutes before the fire is reported, Davis' car spotted driving past where her body's found. Nancy, the relationship between Davis and Cole is unclear. Davis' family says the last time she spoke with them, she was heading to the Apple store to get her phone fixed. Surveillance video shows that another man entered the hotel with Davis and Cole, but authorities have not said if he had a role in her murder. A police dog uncovered a butcher knife near Davis's body, but it did not appear she had been stabbed or cut. The medical examiner believes she was alive when the fire was set. Andrew Cole, 45, now charged with tampering

with evidence. More charges likely. Bobby Ford dies just three months after his birth. Julie Montague passes away three weeks after hers. Both babies buried in Texas cemeteries, but are also living as a couple in Hawaii. Walter Primrose and Glenn Morrison fake their IDs using children's names to avoid an incredible debt they've been ducking for nearly a decade. Walter Primrose even using the fake identity to join the Coast Guard. Prosecutors initially think the couple might be part of a Russian spy plot, but they assured investigators they just wanted to, quote, start a new life. Primrose and Morrison now facing 17 years behind bars

for their conviction on conspiracy, falsifying documents, and aggravated identity theft. Poor babies. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in Michigan, where police say a suspect is in custody in connection with the deadly stabbing of a Detroit synagogue leader,

a woman whose death sparked concerns about whether anti-Semitism was a driving force behind the killing. For more, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. According to Detroit Police Chief James White, the arrest, quote, does not represent the conclusion of our work in this case. Instead, at this point, in order to maintain the integrity of the arrest, quote, does not represent the conclusion of our work in this case. Instead, at this point, in order to maintain the integrity of the remaining critical steps, the investigation's specifics will remain confidential. The victim is 40-year-old Samantha Wall, who served as president of Isaac Agri Downtown Synagogue. Investigators have stated that hours after returning from a wedding on October 21, Wall was discovered dead outside

her Detroit home. No charges have yet been made public. According to Chief White's statement, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office and local police are still cooperating on the investigation. In the weeks since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the chief has stated a number of times that anti-Semitism did not seem to play a role in Wall's death. He hasn't revealed many details, nor has he offered a possible motive for the crime. Wall's October 22nd funeral drew around 1,000 attendees. She had previously worked for U.S. Congresswoman Alyssa Slotkin and was a campaign worker

for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Now to Tennessee, we're following an inquiry into the unapproved publication of writings by a gunman who killed six people, including three children, at a private Nashville elementary school, officials say seven police officers have been placed on administrative assignment. This week, a conservative pundit published what he claimed to be three screenshots of Audrey Hale's handwritten notes from March 27th, the day of the shooting. Local authorities were alerted to the leak and requested an investigation. Families connected to the

Covenant School shooting were deeply disturbed by the disclosure and for months had been against the materials being made public. The officers were put on administrative assignment in order to, quote, protect the integrity of the active, progressing investigation. This according to Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department. In what would be the first effort in U.S. history to execute a prisoner by means of nitrogen gas, Alabama has now scheduled an execution for January. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama has announced that Kenneth Eugene Smith will be executed by nitrogen hypoxia on January 25, 2024. Smith was one of two

men found guilty in the 1988 Northwest Alabama murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett. Gina Miola, a spokesperson for Governor Ivey, sent out an email stating, quote, the execution will be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by the inmate as an alternative to lethal injection. In opposition to earlier attempts to have Smith executed by lethal injection, Smith's attorneys had pointed out that the state was developing the nitrogen method, this according to the statement from the governor's office. The attorneys representing Smith filed a federal court lawsuit claiming that Alabama was trying to use their client as a, quote, test subject for this novel and experimental method. The lawyers pointed out that last year,

the state attempted to kill Smith by lethal injection but was unsuccessful. When the execution team failed to get Smith linked to the two necessary intravenous lines, the Alabama Department of Corrections canceled the execution. Although there will be a legal battle before nitrogen gas is used, the news of the execution date brings Alabama one step closer to being the first state to try such a technique. Although no state has employed it, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi have approved the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. Lani Uribiz walks to a neighbor's home, 3.30 a.m., rings their doorbell.

She waits several minutes, then leaves when it's clear the neighbors won't be answering. A few minutes later, their ring camera spots Uribiz's car leaving their California neighborhood. She never returns. Uribiz's 2000 RAV4 found abandoned on a remote dirt road an hour north, five hours after she's seen driving off.

Her purse, cell phone, and shoes were in the car. Extensive searches of the area turn up nothing. Lani Uribe's now missing over three years. There's a $10,000 reward for info leading to her discovery. If you know anything about Lani Uribe's, please call San Bernardino Sheriff's 909-387-3690. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

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