July 22 NEVADA: Witness says suspect told him that he was defending himself A man charged with killing his roommate and burying him under the floor of their apartment has said little in his defense. However, the man who turned him in to the FBI testified Wednesday that it was a case of self-defense. Mark Hegge said Greg Stiegler went by the name of Craig when he met him in Flagstaff, Ariz., where, Hegge said, Stiegler told him "he was wanted in Las Vegas for murdering someone." Stiegler is being tried on a murder charge in the death of Robert Wilson at his home at the Orleans Square Apartments in the 500 block of South Maryland Parkway and then burying him in concrete under a stairwell in the apartment. Prosecutors say Stiegler continued to live in the apartment with Wilson's body underneath the floor for months until it was discovered in May 2002. Hegge, who said he smoked methamphetamine with Stiegler daily, said he initially didn't believe Stiegler, but as Stiegler elaborated, Hegge said, "it rung true to me." "Craig had elaborated on what happened and said the guy was buried under his floor," Hegge said. "He said a friend buried the body." Hegge, a landscaper who lives in Arizona, said Stiegler said he "defended himself from a guy coming at him with a gun to shoot him." He said Stiegler told him he "tried to hit the gun out of his hand and there was a struggle for the gun." Hegge said he didn't recall Stiegler ever saying he had a weapon. Friend or not, Hegge said he felt he had little choice but to alert the FBI. "If someone buries a body under the house you don't know what kind of person your dealing with," Hegge said. He said FBI agents would later locate and run Stiegler down in the woods. Earlier during Wednesday's testimony the manager of the apartment complex, Grete "Heidi" Raser, who found Wilson's body, testified. Raser choked up in court as she explained that after Steigler was evicted, she had to have new carpet installed in the apartment. She said she noticed a cut in the living room carpet under the stairway to the 2nd floor. She pulled it back and revealed a rectangular area covered with black roofing tar. Raser, who knew Wilson was missing, said she first knocked on the floor, jokingly saying, "Bob, are you in there?" But her mood changed after she poked her finger into the soft tar and released the smell of something decomposing. Raser contacted the police, and Wilson's body, wrapped in plastic sheeting secured with masking tape, was found. The prosecution is expected to continue its case on Friday morning. (source: Las Vegas Sun) FLORIDA: Grand jury indicts 8 in 7 slayings----All but one, a teenager, could face death penalty if convicted. A Duval County grand jury returned 1st-degree murder indictments against eight defendants in seven homicides Thursday, including a man accused of fatally stabbing his schoolteacher ex-wife and a 16-year-old who was the 1st of 8 juveniles charged with murder this year. The indictments open the door for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against all but the teenager, but State Attorney Harry Shorstein said no decisions have been made. All of the defendants will face at least mandatory life prison sentences if convicted of 1st-degree murder. Among those indicted was Frederick Addison, 46, arrested in May and charged with fatally stabbing Cynthia Addison, a teacher at Brookview Elementary School. The couple had been divorced 2 weeks and Cynthia Addison had a temporary protective order against her former husband that had not yet been served when she died. Frederick Addison is scheduled to be arraigned this morning on the new charge. The grand jury also indicted Daniel Alvarez, 16, and two men in the robbing and fatal shooting of William Allen Tutton, 21, in May. Police said Alvarez conspired with Michael Casey, 26, and Eric Grooms, 18, to rob and shoot Tutton. Tutton's fiancee reported him missing May 5, and police found his body in the woods 3 weeks later after one of the suspects led them to it. Alvarez is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, Aug. 4. Casey's arraignment is Tuesday and Grooms' is Wednesday, Aug. 31. Other indictments returned Thursday charged: James Watkins, 43, with 1st-degree murder, sexual battery, kidnapping and armed burglary. Watkins was arrested in May on charges he fatally stabbed Stacie Stratton, 19, a relative's ex-wife, in a house on Hastings Street. Lavario Ray, 27, and Damontrio Glee, 23, with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the September deaths of Larry Gibson and King Brookins. Police said Ray and Glee were part of a large drug ring responsible for numerous reports of violence around Moncrief Road and U.S. 1. Samuel Rhett, 22, with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the March 2004 shooting deaths of Santino Bradford and Sandra Navarro in a Ricker Road home. (The Florida Times-Union) INDIANA: Boys' mother: 'I had to kill them'----Murder charges filed in bludgeonings "I had to kill them," Magdalena Lopez, covered in blood and standing barefoot in her driveway, told police as they arrived at her home Tuesday. "They're in a much better place now." Lake County prosecutors filed murder charges late Thursday against Lopez for allegedly bludgeoning to death her 2 sons -- Antonio, 9, and Erik, 2 -- with a 10-pound free weight in the family home in a quiet neighborhood of duplexes and single-family homes. Lopez was quoted in court records based on a report by the first officer who arrived at the home. When police went inside they found Erik lying face down in a pool of blood in the living room and Antonio in the dining room. A pathologist pronounced them dead from blunt-force injuries to the skull. The responding officer, David Swinford, said he observed a black weight with blood on it near Erik's body. According to court records, Swinford said Lopez told him she used it to kill her sons, further stating that she couldn't take care of them any more and they would be better off in heaven. After continued homicides of children across the state in cases involving the child protection agency, officials found themselves on the defensive this week. Lake County's Child Protection Services agency received three phone calls in March and April about the children, said Susan Tielking, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Child Services. A caseworker visited the home twice and determined the children were not in danger, she said. Tielking said the caseworker recommended counseling for the mother, which she was already receiving privately. "We will do an investigation and see if there's anything we can do differently," Tielking said. "Our caseworkers walk in and try to make the best decision based on the information they have at the time." At the Schererville home of Irene Lopez, the children's grandmother, 6 men sat on folding chairs in the driveway smoking cigarettes. A man who identified himself as Robert Lopez, the boys' father, said his mother did not want to discuss the case. "With the tragedy that happened and the ongoing investigation, we have no comment," Robert Lopez said. The Lopez duplex in Dyer was cordoned off with police tape Thursday, and a van sat in the driveway. A worker said he was hired to clean up the crime scene. Several balloons and teddy bears sat in the doorway, and cars occasionally slowed down to point out the house. Several neighbors said they had seen the children out playing often with their mother but did not want to comment on a tragedy one called "very personal." Joe Emrich, 89, whose house backs up to the Lopez yard, knew the family better than most because Maggie Lopez reached out to him after his wife died and he broke his pelvis. She invited him over for dinner and had Antonio bring over plates of food a few other times. She once included a slice of upside-down cake, he said. Emrich said the husband had been barbecuing the night before the murders. The neighbor said he was "dumbfounded" to hear what happened. Emrich said the boys were overactive at times, which appeared to bother the mother. Still, he said, the mother did not seem to discipline them, even when Antonio once hit her with a branch. "He didn't seem to mind her well," Emrich said. "But I never saw her lay a hand on either boy." (source: Indianapolis Star)
