Detroit synagogue president found stabbed to death outside home
The president of a Detroit synagogue board was found dead Saturday morning with multiple stab wounds outside her home, police said.
The victim, Samantha Woll, was the president of the board of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, which is in downtown Detroit, the synagogue said in a Facebook post.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our Board President,” the synagogue said. “May her memory be a blessing.”
Officers were called Saturday morning about a person lying on the ground unresponsive and when they arrived at the scene, they found a “trail of blood” leading them to Ms. Woll’s home, according to a statement from the Detroit Police Department.
Policebelieve the crime took place insideher home. Officers found Ms. Woll’sbody with multiple stab woundsand she was pronounced deadat the scene, authorities said.
A motive for the killing is not yet known, the police department said.
DetroitMayor Mike Duggan said
Ms.Woll’s death “has left a huge holein the Detroit community.”
Former cop sentenced for sexual assaults
A former Philadelphia police officer has been sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting women and girls — often while in uniform and in the back of his police vehicle.
Patrick Heron, 54, entered the pleas Friday after reaching an agreement with prosecutors in advance of a trial on more than 200 counts that included child sex assault, child pornography, kidnapping and related offenses, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
JaneRoh, spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, said victimswho are now spared the traumaof a trial welcomed the guiltyplea. Defense attorney AnthonyList also said he hoped the pleawould spare the victims the anguishof having to testify, and added “hopefullyeveryone can move on.”
Heron, who retired from the force in 2019, was initially accused last year of posing as an active officer to lure girls. Investigators said they later found photos and videos indicating predatory behavior spanning years and including dozens of often vulnerable young women and girls including those who had run away, been arrested or struggled with addiction.
LyandraRetacco, chief of the prosecutors’special investigations unit, saidthe crimes occurred from 2005 throughlast year, and Heron met manyvictims while on the force. She saidinvestigators have identified 48 victims,though many of their identitiesremain unknown, and more likelyhaven’t come forward.
10 charged in $20M plot to sell HIV drugs
Federal prosecutors have accused 10 people of orchestrating a $20 million scheme to “get rich” by buying and selling black market HIV medications that in some cases had been purchased from low-income patients who risked their lives by selling it.
Someof those accused in the case thenused the proceeds to buy luxury cars,waterfront real estate in New YorkCity, designer clothes, jewelry andgold, according to a statement releasedFriday by Damian Williams, theU.S. attorney for the Southern Districtof New York.
According to a 24-page indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the scheme also involved bribing patients to use specific local pharmacies that were involved in the plot and defrauding
Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies of millions of dollars since 2017.
Mr. Williams said those accused in the case had been “preying on vulnerable members of society.” Several of the defendants are facing decades in prison on various charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud and money laundering.
Storm in northern Europe kills at least 4
A storm battered Britain, northern Germany and southern Scandinavia on Saturday for a third day, with powerful winds, heavy rain and storm surges that caused floods, power outages, evacuations and disrupted flights, railway service and ferry lines.
SinceThursday, at least four peoplehave died in the storm, named Babetby the U.K. Meteorological Office.The latest victim was a 33-year -oldwoman who was killed when a treefell on her car on the Baltic Sea islandof Fehmarn on Friday afternoon,German news agency dpa reported.Three storm-related deaths werereported in England and Scotlandon Thursday and Friday.
Gale-force winds whipped up storm surges on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, breaking through flood defenses in coastal areas in Denmark and northern Germany. In Flensburg, a German city just south of the border with Denmark, water levels rose more than 2 meters to the highest level recorded in a century, dpa said. Power was cut to flooded parts of the city for safety reasons.
Ferry lines and railway service were temporarily suspended in affected areas in Germany, Denmark and southern Sweden. Copenhagen’s airport canceled 142 flights due to the storm on Friday but resumed operations on Saturday morning.