Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Florida man accused of Trump assassination attempt seeks to act as his own attorney | Crime Alert 6AM 07.15.25

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

Ryan Routh, the Florida man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election, is seeking to represent himself at trial. During a July 10 hearing, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee — took up the request but has yet to issue a ruling. Prosecutors warn Routh intends to turn the proceedings “into a circus.” He was arrested on Sept. 15, 2024, after a Secret Service agent allegedly spotted him holding a rifle through a fence at Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was playing a hole away.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime alert. I'm John Lemley, a Florida man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump now wants to act as his own lawyer. In federal court, 59-year-old Ryan Routh told US District Judge Eileen Cannon he wishes to dismiss his court appointed attorneys and represent himself. Judge Cannon asked if he'd prefer new counsel. Routh replied, quote, No, I will represent myself. The judge then closed the courtroom for about an hour to discuss attorney-client matters in private. Prosecutors alleged Ralph planned the attack for weeks before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as Trump played golf on September 15th, 2024 at his country club in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before Trump came into view.

When Routh allegedly aimed his weapon at the agent, the agent fired first, causing Routh to drop his rifle and flee without firing a shot. Law enforcement later located Routh with help from a witness who had seen someone running from the scene. Prosecutors say the witness was flown by police helicopter to a nearby interstate, where Routh was arrested and identified. Routh has pleaded not guilty to several federal charges, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He also faces state charges of attempted murder and terrorism. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled defendants have the right to represent themselves if

they can show a judge they're competent to waive legal counsel. Routh's federal trial is set for September. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison. Thanks, John. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com and please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Lemley. Maine County police are investigating the death of a local paddleboarder as a homicide.

The body of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart of Tennant's Harbor was found July 3rd on Crawford Pond in Union. Officials have ruled her death a homicide, but aren't revealing the cause. Police are asking anyone who saw Stewart paddleboarding July 2nd between 6 and 9 p.m. near 100 Acre Island to come forward. The pond, about 80 miles northeast of Portland, is popular with campers and boaters.

Loved ones calling her Sonny have launched a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $19,000. Police say they understand the community's fear and urge residents to stay alert as the search for her killer continues. Two former West Virginia correctional officers have been sentenced to decades behind bars for their roles in the beating death of an inmate at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver. 41-year-old Mark Holdren received a 20-year prison term, while 33-year-old Jonathan Walters was sentenced to 21 years. Prosecutors say in March of 2022, Holdren and Walters handcuffed and restrained 37-year-old pretrial detainee

Quantez Burks in an interview room with no cameras, where they repeatedly struck, kicked, and pepper sprayed him. After Burks became unresponsive, Walters swung his head into a metal door before officers dropped him on a concrete floor. Burks died soon after. The U.S. Justice Department says Holdren and Walters admitted knowing officers used camera blind spots to assault inmates. There among six officers indicted, former supervisor Chad Lester was sentenced in May

to over 17 years for helping cover up the attack. Two other officers had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Initially, the state medical examiner ruled Burke's death natural, but a private autopsy ordered by his family revealed multiple blunt force injuries. A Utah judge has set an execution date for a death row inmate with dementia, nearly four decades after the crime. 67-year-old Ralph Leroy Menzies is scheduled to die by firing squad September 5 for the 1986 abduction and murder of Maureen Hunsiker, a 26-year-old mother of three.

Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant July 9th, ruling that despite recent cognitive decline, Menzies consistently and rationally understands why he is being executed. Menzies' attorneys argue his dementia has worsened, leaving him wheelchair-bound, dependent on oxygen, and unable to comprehend his legal case. A hearing on his competency is set for July 23. Menzies, convicted in 1988, chose firing squad decades ago, an option for Utah inmates sentenced before 2004. If carried out, it would make him only the sixth prisoner in the U.S. executed this way

since 1977. The Utah Attorney General's Office expressed confidence in the U.S. executed this way since 1977. The Utah Attorney General's Office expressed confidence in the ruling. Hunziker was kidnapped from a convenience store in Kearns near Salt Lake City and later found strangled with her throat cut in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Thanks, John. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com and please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace.