Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 12.13.23

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Man shoots pregnant wife, takes off with their toddler. Corrections officers find drugs in detainee's underwear.  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. Idaho cops call to a convenience store when Jeremy Best wanders inside, buck naked. Best taken to the hospital, but released that afternoon when his confusion subsides. The next day, his wife, Callie Randall, calls 911.

By the time cops get there, Randall is dead. Best and their 10-month-old baby, Zeke, both missing. Two days later, hunters stumble upon Best, naked in a sleeping bag, on the side of the road. Little baby Zeke found yards away, dead. Nancy, we're learning that Best's wife, Callie Randall, was six months pregnant with their second child at the time of the murder. A neighbor overheard the couple arguing and saw Bess leave the home in his SUV. The neighbor then discovered Randall shot to death in the driveway. Baby Zeke's cause of death has not yet been released. At his first court appearance, Judge Jason Walker ordered Bess to undergo a mental evaluation. Jeremy Best, 48, now charged with

two counts of murder. Caleb Phillips, 46, apprehended for missing a DUI court date. As he's processed at Indian River County Jail, a prison guard finds a pill bottle in his underwear. Phillips, of course, denies knowing how the bottle got where the sun don't shine, even telling cops someone must have planted it there while he, quote, was asleep. Phillips further claims he believes the bottle has Advil in it. Well, guess what? It's methamphetamines. Phillips now additionally charged with possession and smuggling contraband. There's definitely a lesson to be learned here. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley.

An arrest has been made in connection to the stabbing death of a leader of a Detroit synagogue whose death following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war sparked speculation that anti-Semitism may have played a role in the killing. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. Detroit Police Chief James White has now stated that anti-Semitism does not seem to have been the cause of the attack that resulted in the killing of 40-year-old Samantha Wall outside her near-downtown home on October 21st, just hours after returning from a wedding. This is the second arrest that the city's police department has made public since the murder. According to investigators, Wall's house was the scene of the attack. Last month, a suspect who had been detained at first was freed without facing any charges. When asked if the suspect in custody is the same one that was initially detained in connection with the case,

Detroit police declined to comment. Wall served as the Isaac Agri downtown synagogue's president. In addition to her work with the synagogue, Wall has previously worked for State Attorney General Dana Nassel's political campaign and for U.S. Representative Alyssa Slotkin. We're now learning from our friends with the Associated Press that they have been informed by the lawyer of the individual detained in November that her client is not the person of interest that the police are presently holding. A man who spent almost 20 years behind bars for firing the rounds in Ray Carruth's planned killing of the then Carolina Panthers player's pregnant girlfriend has died. According to online prisoner records from the State Department of Adult Corrections,

Van Brett Watkins died on December 3rd at the age of 63. Department spokesman Keith Acree says that Watkins, who had been incarcerated at Raleigh Central Prison, died of natural causes in the hospital. Watkins, whose death was initially reported by Charlotte television stations, was sentenced to more than 50 years in jail after pleading guilty to his role in Carruth's 1999 attempt to murder Sharika Adams. He was convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy, and other offenses. Corrections records reveal that his predicted prison release date was 2045. Authorities in Georgia now claim one of the five co-defendants on trial with rapper Young Thug has been stabbed at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, delaying the proceedings by at least a day. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner.

Natalie Amons, a spokesperson for the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, has now confirmed that Shannon Stilwell has been stabbed. Amons says that her office will release further details in the days to come. After roughly 10 months of jury selection, the racketeering conspiracy trial for Stilwell, Young Thug, and four others began in November. Chief Judge Ural Glanville of Fulton County Superior Court excused the jurors from duty on Monday morning, citing a medical issue involving one of the defendants. The jury will reconvene later this week, according to Glanville, who stated that they will, quote, see how things go at that point in time and will take the week as it comes. The prosecution contends that Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams,

was the leader of the deadly street gang known as Young Slime Life, or YSL, which for around 10 years committed murders, shootings, carjackings, and other offenses. They claim he promoted the group and established its domination on social media by using his lucrative music career. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, claim that jailhouse informants who had every incentive to give the authorities what they wanted to hear were a major source of information for both police and prosecutors. Thanks, John.

Jamie McTurin finishes her after-school shift at Tasty Freeze in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She takes the cab to a friend's house to wait for her to get home she returns, Jamie's gone. The mother immediately reports Jamie missing, telling police she saw a dark colored sedan turning the corner off the street when she came back outside to the porch. It's unknown if the car has anything to do with Jamie's disappearance. The car and driver never located. Jamie McTurin, now missing nearly 30 years. Her baby daughter growing up without knowing what happened to mom. If you have info on Jamie McChurin, please call Muskogee PD 918-683-8000. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.