Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Sentence Handed Down for Man Who Burned Pastor's Wife Alive | Crime Alert 04.24.25

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

7 years after the crime, the man who severely injured a North Carolina Pastor and killed his wife is finally sentenced. Surveillance video proves kidnapping claims false! 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. Tommy Ellington bleeds out in his driveway after being shot twice. From there, the shooter breaks into Nancy and Reverend John Alford's home. The Reverend, beaten and tied to a bed, Nancy, 76, kidnapped and forced to go to a bank to withdraw money. When she and her kidnapper return home, the kidnapper sets the home on fire. Nancy Alford burned alive. The Reverend manages to escape with severe burns. Nancy, the attackers are identified as Kevin Munn and Lester Kearney. After his arrest, Munn was also implicated in a shooting just months prior to the home invasion.

Tommy Ellington was found shot to death in his driveway about a month after his wife called 911 to report a man with a gun prowling inside their home. Ellington was the owner of a John Deere dealership, and investigators believe Munn intended to pull a robbery plot on the Ellingtons similar to what befell the Alphards. Munn agrees to a plea deal just a few months after his arrest, exchanging testimony against his accomplice for the barring of the death penalty. However, Munn was hospitalized during Kearney's trial for an overdose behind bars and did not testify. Jurors could not reach a decision on Kearney's guilt, but before he could be retried,

Kearney agreed to an Alford plea and was sentenced to 13 years behind bars. Munn was never sentenced, but last week, attorneys formally entered his guilty pleas for both murders. Kevin Munn, guilty, first-degree murder in both cases, given two life sentences. Caroline Miller and her two children shop in a Georgia Walmart. She says a man approached her asking where to find Tylenol, then tries to kidnap her two-year-old son. Mahendra Patel, 56, arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping, assault, battery. The glam mom's story convinces the grand jury to indict him. Then, shocking security footage

reveals it's not as it seems. In the video, Patel's briefly seen with Miller and her children who were riding in a motorized car, but moments later, he's seen with an employee finding Tylenol in a completely different part of the store. His lawyer says he thought the child was about to fall, so he reached over to help reposition the boy on Miller's lap. Prosecutors have been asked to drop the charges. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Prime Online's John Limley. A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a New Mexico state trooper who stopped to help him. Jeremy Smith

pleaded guilty to federal charges after shooting officer Justin Hare on March 15, 2024, along I-40 near Tucumcari. Haar had pulled over to assist Smith with a flat tire. Moments later, Smith opened fire, then stole the patrol car. Hare, a 35-year-old father, was found fatally wounded an hour later. The weapon was stolen from a South Carolina woman, Fenicia Machado 4, whom Smith is also accused of murdering. He drove her car across the country before being caught in Albuquerque two days later. U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison called Hare a hero and said Smith left, quote, a trail of destruction. Smith still faces murder charges in South Carolina where the death penalty is possible. In the wake of a tragic shooting at Florida State University, students who previously endured the Parkland Massacre are voicing strong opposition to proposed changes in Florida's gun laws.

Crime Online's Sydney Sumner has more. Just days after a deadly shooting at Florida State University, 28 students, many of whom also survived the 2018 Parkland High School massacre, have penned a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis, urging him to oppose legislation that would lower the firearm purchase age from 21 to 18. The current age restriction was enacted following the Parkland tragedy, where 17 lives were lost. Jacqueline Corrin, a co-founder of March for Our Lives and one of the letter's authors, emphasized the danger of

reversing this law, stating it would be unthinkable and dangerous. The recent FSU shooting involved 20-year-old student Phoenix Ichner, who used his stepmother's former service weapon to kill two individuals and injure six others near the student union. The victims included campus dining director Robert Morales and Aramark executive Tiru Chaba. Governor DeSantis and some Republican lawmakers support the proposed age reduction, arguing that individuals eligible for military service should also be allowed to purchase firearms. However, Florida Senate President Ben Alberton remains undecided, expressing the need for careful consideration and consultation with law enforcement before making a decision. The legislative session concludes this week, leading the fate of the proposed changes uncertain. Thanks, John. Martha Ann Overholzer, 66, travels alone on a commercial tour of the Grand Canyon's south rim, Arizona. Reported missing when she fails to return to the bus after taking a walk near the Grand

Canyon Visitor Center. Last seen at the famous lookout Mather Point. Her cell phone's found about three and a half miles away below the canyon rim along Hermit Road near an area called The Abyss. The silver-haired, blue-eyed woman is 5'2", 110 pounds, wearing a long off-white coat, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and carrying a navy blue bag. If you have seen Martha Ann Overholzer, please call toll-free 888-653-0009. 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.