FUGITIVE SEX OFFENDER FROM PLANO ARRESTED IN NEW MEXICO
A convicted sex offender and former Plano Teacher of the Year has been arrested in New Mexico after being on the run from authorities for more than two years, the Dallas Morning News reports. Joe Wayne Cates, 51, was placed on the Texas Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list after he tried to fake his own death and went into hiding. “He’d mailed a suicide note and will to one of his friends right before he disappeared in 2006,” said Dirk Fillpot, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General’s Office. “It said he’d hired people to kill him and hide his body. He left similar notes about this in his home.” Click here to read this story from the Dallas Morning News.
POLICE: ROBBER IS ARRESTED WHEN HE RETURNS TO SCENE
The arrest of a robbery suspect could serve as Lesson No. 1 for criminals: Don’t return to the scene of the crime once you get away. Fort Worth police were interviewing a robbery victim Sunday when the suspect suddenly drove by, police said. “The victim yelled out, ‘There they are,’” according to a police report on the incident. Police had searched the area but couldn't find the robber. Officers were still talking to the victim who had called 911 when a gray Mercedes passed by, police said. Click here to read this story from NBCDFW.
ROOMMATE FINDS MAN DEAD IN CREEK NEAR PLANO APARTMENT
A 24-year-old man was found dead Tuesday night in a creek just west of U.S. Highway 75 in Plano, the Dallas Morning News reports. The man’s roommate told Plano police that the victim, who was intoxicated the night before, was gone when he woke up the next day. When the man did not report to work, his roommate searched the area and found him dead in the creek near the Creekwalk Apartments in the 600 block of West 16th Street, police said. Click here to read this story from the Dallas Morning News.
POLICE: WOMAN MADE NO ATTEMPT TO FLEE SCENE OF HUSBAND'S MURDER
Authorities say an Allen woman accused of killing her husband was determined to finish the job but made no attempt to flee the bloody scene, the Dallas Morning News reports. Charles Shanks, 49, was stabbed, beaten with a stone and had his wrists cut in the couple's home Sunday, police said. His wife, 51-year-old Kimberly Shanks, was being held Tuesday in the Collin County Jail, charged with murder. Unlike most people in her situation, she smiled for her mug shot. Click here to read this story from the Dallas Morning News.
POLICE: PHONY COP HAD NOT-SO-REALISTIC ID CARD
Grapevine police arrested a man accused of impersonating a police officer Sunday night, after getting a 911 call from a driver who said a truck was following him with red and blue flashing lights. The 911 caller was headed north on Highway 360 and stayed on the phone with a police dispatcher who directed real officers to the man's location. When police got there, they stopped the white pickup truck and found it had an elaborate police lighting system, similar to what some departments use on undercover vehicles. Click here to read this story from NBCDFW.
MAN FOUND GUILTY OF ENTICING MINOR TO ENGAGE IN SEX ACTS
A Fort Worth jury has convicted Randall Howard Wolford, 54 of Midlothian, on one count of enticement of a child. Wolford was charged in a federal complaint in September 2008 and was then indicted by a grand jury in Fort Worth the following month. He has been detained pending the disposition of his case. Wolford faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison. Sentencing is set for April 17, 2009. Click here to read the complete news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
IRVING MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS KIDS COULD GET RETRIAL
A judge will consider Wednesday whether the defense attorney for a man sentenced to die for killing his children was qualified to represent him and whether she deliberately undermined his case, the Dallas Morning News reports. Hector Medina fatally shot 3-year-old Javier Medina and 8-month-old Diana Medina at their Irving home after their mother left him in March 2007 State District Judge Andy Chatham, who presided over Mr. Medina's trial, will listen to arguments today and recommend to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals whether Mr. Medina should be granted a new trial. Click here to read this story from the Dallas Morning News.
