U.S.! Woman arrested on multiple shoplifting charges, A Texas man is executed for the killing of a pastor during a robbery at a church, Trinity Arias: Arrested for alleged felony possession of controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, Boston lawyer found dead on houseboat as mystery woman faces murder charge, A New Jersey woman who died from a drug overdose in 2023 was actually murdered by her older sister with help from the victim’s boyfriend, Two arrested after robbery at Evansville gas station, Man nearly beat stranger to death with chunk of concrete after being arrested twice in 3 days, Woman who says she was attacked on Boston street calls for more safety measures, Hollywood producer convicted of murder in deaths of model and her friend, Placer County Sheriff’s Office identifies remains of 1990 Jane Doe cold case, Geknakte levens in Kensington de zombiedrug tranq vreet de VS van binnenuit op 2025.2.6-2.10

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2025.2.10 Missing Berkeley woman identified Placer County cold case: ‘It is believed that somebody killed her’
“It is believed that somebody killed her. And so now we’re investigating and trying to determine who may be responsible for her death.”

PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — After three decades, the family of a missing Berkeley mother has some closure after her remains were officially identified.

On Monday, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office called the new findings groundbreaking after the case was initially deemed a Jane Doe cold case. The remains of the 21-year-old Berkeley mother were initially found off an embankment back in 1990 down Yankee Jims Road in Colfax.

“Her name was Wendy Abrams-Nishikai. And we know that the last time she was ever seen was on Halloween night on Oct. 31 of 1989 in Berkeley. And so at that time, a missing person’s case was opened with the Berkeley Police Department,” said Elise Soviar, spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

She said they searched for her until the case went cold. Then in February of 1990, her remains were found by target shooters in Colfax.

Investigators tried to identify her, but she was classified as a Jane Doe.

The case went unsolved until 2023, when the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Investigations team was formed and reopened the case with a focus on technology and forensic genealogy.

“This is one of the cases that those investigators begin looking into, and we did have some of those remains. We actually sent off some fingernails to the DOJ (Department of Justice) in Richmond, and they ran for a DNA check and they did get a hit back for a family match,” Soviar said.

In January of 2025, Wendy Abrams-Nishikai was officially identified after doing DNA comparisons with family members.

ABC10 spoke to her older brother Dale Abrams over the phone on Monday.

He said he remembers his sister being very creative and athletic. But she was mostly known for being a loving mother.

For decades, the family has lived with the absence of closure, and what that meant was suspended grief. But now, they can at least start to begin the process of grieving.

Soviar said they are still investigating what exactly happened to the mother of one, and they’re asking people who may know anything to contact them at PCSOTipLine@placer.ca.gov.

“Identifying her is a huge step in moving toward figuring out what happened and who is responsible. So, it is believed that somebody killed her. And now, we’re investigating and trying to determine who may be responsible for her death,” Soviar said.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office says they believe these new advances in technology will also bring hope to other families who may not know what happened to their loved ones or at least give them some answers.

Hollywood producer convicted of murder in deaths of model and her friend
Prosecutors said David Pearce victimized women around Los Angeles

A Hollywood producer is facing life in prison after a drug-fueled night of partying led to the deaths of two Los Angeles women.

David Brian Pearce, 42, was convicted earlier this week of first-degree murder for the deaths of Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Additionally, Pearce faced previous charges of rape and sexual assault against seven women – spanning from 2007 to 2021 – and was found guilty on all counts.

“A serial rapist was held accountable for the deaths of [Giles] and [Cabrales-Arzola], both of whom tragically died as a result of fentanyl poisoning, and the victimization of seven other women across Los Angeles,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “The office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who illegally supply fentanyl and destroy lives, especially those who commit sexual assaults.”

On the night of Nov. 13, 2021, Giles, a model, and Cabrales-Arzola, an architect, met Pearce, along with Brandt Osborne and Michael Ansbach, at a nearby warehouse party, according to Los Angeles police. They returned to Pearce’s nearby home, where he provided GHB – commonly referred to as a “date rape drug” – and fentanyl to the group.

Several hours later, surveillance cameras showed the women being dropped off at two different hospitals by a group of masked men driving a car without license plates, according to prosecutors.

Giles was pronounced dead after staff members found her lifeless body outside Culver City’s Southern California Hospital. Cabrales-Arzola was resuscitated after being dropped off two miles away at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital, where she died 11 days later.

The men were arrested one month later, according to the LAPD.

Osborn, Pearce’s co-defendant, is charged with two counts of accessory after the fact and is set to be re-tried next month after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.

An investigation following the murders revealed that Pearce was a habitual offender, using drugs to commit numerous sexual assaults against multiple women, authorities said. Seven of Pearce’s victims took the stand at the trial to testify to his sexual depravity and violent tendencies, according to prosecutors.

Pearce faces 148 years to life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13.

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February 5, 2025: Hollywood Producer Convicted of First-Degree Murder in Fentanyl Drugging of Two Women in Beverly Hills in 2021
Media Relations Division

David Pearce faces 148 years to life in state prison for the murders of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola in November 2021

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman today announced that David Pearce was convicted by a jury on February 4 of two counts of first-degree murderin the fentanyl overdose deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola in Beverly Hills in November 2021. Pearce was also convicted of rape and other sexual assaults against seven different women between 2007 and 2021.

“Today, a serial rapist was held accountable for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, both of whom tragically died as a result of fentanyl poisoning, and the victimization of seven other women across Los Angeles,” said District Attorney Hochman. “I thank the trial team, Deputy District Attorneys Catherine Mariano and Seth Carmack, for their tireless pursuit of justice and determination to give a voice to the women who bravely came forward to report the crimes committed against them. The office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who illegally supply fentanyl and destroy lives, especially those who commit sexual assaults.”

The jury found David Brian Pearce (DOB 2/17/82) guilty in case BA498423 of all charges and allegations: two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola; three counts of forcible rape; one count of sexual penetration by use of force; one count of sodomy by use of force; one count of rape of an unconscious woman; and one count of sexual penetration by foreign object in the sexual assaults of seven different victims.

Pearce is scheduled to be sentenced March 13 in Dept. 109 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Pearce faces 148 years to life in state prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on both counts of accessory after the fact in the charges against Brandt Walter Osborn (DOB 9/12/79).

Osborn returns to court for a pretrial hearing on March 13 in Dept. 109 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

On November 13, 2021, at approximately 3 a.m., Pearce, Osborn, and Michael Ansbach, an acquaintance, met victims Giles and Cabrales-Arzola at a warehouse party in East Los Angeles. About two hours later, Giles and Cabrales-Arzola accompanied Pearce, Osborn, and Ansbach back to Pearce’s Beverly Hills apartment. While at the apartment, Pearce provided Giles, Cabrales-Arzola, and Ansbach gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and fentanyl, causing Giles and Cabrales-Arzola to fatally overdose.

Within about thirty-five minutes of arriving at the apartment, Cabrales-Arzola called a rideshare service to leave the location, but neither Cabrales-Arzola nor Giles left the residence until Pearce carried Giles out of the apartment about eleven hours later and carried Cabrales-Arzola out about an hour and a half afterwards. Pearce dropped the victims off at two different local hospitals. Giles was deceased when she was dropped off at the hospital. Cabrales-Arzola was resuscitated and died eleven days later, one day short of her 27th birthday.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Pearce committed numerous drug-facilitated sexual assaults against multiple women. Seven victims testified at trial to Pearce’s sexual depravity and violent tendencies.

The case was prosecuted by the office’s Sex Crimes Division and investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.

CHICAGO — A multi-convicted felon had quite a week in early November: charged with a felony on November 2, released by a judge on November 3, arrested for trespassing on November 4, released by another judge on November 5, and, on November 6, prosecutors say, he nearly beat a man to death with a chunk of concrete.

James Garcia, 44, of Calumet City, is now detained as a public safety threat. He is the 33rd person accused of killing or shooting—or trying to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago last year while having a felony case pending. The cases involve 49 victims, 14 of whom died.

The November problems began when police responded to a shopkeeper’s 911 call about a man throwing a fire extinguisher through a store window in the 2400 block of West Devon, according to CPD records. The police arrested Garcia in connection with the criminal damage and also charged him with a felony drug count for allegedly having a baggie of cocaine in his pocket.

Judge David Kelly released Garcia the next day.

On the day after that, November 4, Chicago cops arrested Garcia for trespassing based on a complaint filed by staff at the Safer Foundation, a “reentry assistance” organization in the 2800 block of West Filmore, another CPD report said.

Judge Susana Ortiz released him on November 5, even though the trespassing charge violated the pretrial release conditions he was given two days earlier.

About 12 hours after Garcia was released, someone attacked a 49-year-old man with a chunk of concrete in the 300 block of South Pulaski.

Chicago police detectives quickly released surveillance images of the suspect to media outlets. They asked for help identifying the assailant.

According to prosecutors, Garcia was the attacker.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Garcia striking the victim in the head with the concrete, causing massive damage to the man’s skull. Other footage showed Garcia walking around with the blood-covered rock after the attack, a CPD report said.

In a detention petition, prosecutors said the victim suffered “significant brain damage.”

Judge Shauna Boliker, writing in the order that kept Garcia in jail, said there was “no evidence” of a relationship between the men. Medical personnel believe there is “no hope” that the victim will recover, the judge said, adding that he had “essentially lost his life” to Garcia.

Incredibly, two days after the attack, while police were still trying to identify the assailant, Garcia got arrested yet again.

On November 8, he allegedly climbed into the driver’s seat of a Tesla in the 2500 block of West Devon while a woman sat in the passenger seat. The woman, 35, feared for her life, bailed out, and sought help from the car’s owner, who had stepped away for a moment.

The man returned to the car and had to physically pull Garcia out of it, prosecutors said, charging him with unlawful vehicular invasion.

Even though Garcia had been arrested three times in a week, he was still not kept in jail: Judge Ankur Srivastava sent him home on an ankle monitor.

Suspect Nora Nelson is charged in Boston lawyer Joseph Donohue’s murder

A 24-year-old woman accused of knifing a 65-year-old Boston lawyer to death on his houseboat before taking measures to dump his body out at sea found her protests drowned out in the courtroom during her arraignment Friday morning.

Joseph Donohue suffered multiple stab wounds before police found him around 11 p.m. Sunday wrapped up on his vessel after his son asked for a wellness check at a marine in Charlestown, according to authorities.

Suspect Nora Nelson, who appeared in court wearing white sweats and shackles, answered his door when officers arrived, Assistant District Attorney Rita Muse told the court during the hearing.

“When asked about Mr. Donohue’s whereabouts, she was evasive and unresponsive,” Muse said. “Her statements were contradictory, and frankly, she lied.”

She allegedly claimed her name was “Casey” and told police Donohue was at a strip club. An officer, suspicious of her claims, searched the houseboat anyway.

“He made his way through the residence towards the back bedroom,” Muse said. “When he opened the sliding doors in the bedroom leading to a patio area, he saw what would later be identified as 65-year-old Joseph Donohue’s body, wrapped in a white and blue covering, secured with duct tape and affixed with weights.”

Additional officers arrived and found Donohue’s dog dead in the water nearby and alleged evidence that someone had tried to clean up the crime scene.

Nelson allegedly gave “nonsensical answers” to homicide detectives along with a second fake name, Muse said.

Police arrested her at the scene on unrelated warrants. She was formally charged with Donohue’s murder Thursday after an autopsy found his cause and manner of death to be a homicide by stabbing.

Without going into specifics, Muse told the judge that forensic evidence recovered from Donohue’s remains linked Nelson to the crime.

The defendant, who had her eyes turned downward as Muse spoke, appeared to wipe a tear from her eyes when the prosecutor told the judge there was probable cause to believe she had murdered Donohue.

Defense attorney Ian Davis asked for time to review discovery before filing a potential bail request.

The court entered a not guilty plea on Nelson’s behalf before the judge granted the prosecution’s request to have her held without bail, prompting the defendant to speak up.

“No one ever told me that this –” Nelson began, before her voice was drowned out by others in the courtroom trying to cut her off. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard this –.”

She is due back in court on March 6.

The investigation is ongoing and Boston police are asking anyone with information on the case to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.

Donohue’s connection to his suspected killer was not immediately clear. Public records show he lived on the houseboat and has been licensed to practice law since the 1980s.

A Texas man has been executed for the killing of a Dallas area pastor who was attacked in his church during a robbery

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man convicted of beating and suffocating a Dallas area pastor in his church during a robbery was put to death Wednesday evening, the second execution in the U.S. this year and the first of four scheduled in Texas over the next three months.

Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CST at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was convicted of the 2011 killing of the Rev. Clint Dobson, a 28-year-old pastor who was beaten, strangled and suffocated with a plastic bag inside NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington. The church’s secretary, Judy Elliott, 67, was severely beaten but survived.

Shortly before the injection began, the inmate repeatedly told his wife, who watched through a window a short distance from him, that he loved her and that he was thankful and grateful.

“It is what it is,” Nelson said. When he added that she should “enjoy life,” the woman, Helene Noa Dubois, held up to the window a white service dog that she was allowed to bring into the witness area.

“I’m not scared. I’m at peace,” Nelson added. “Let’s ride, Warden.”

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began to be administered, he told Dubois, who married him recently while he was in prison, “Let me go to sleep.” The drug appeared to take effect as he said the word, “Love,” the he gasped twice and appeared to try to hold his breath. His head, shoulders and arms trembled for a few seconds before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 24 minutes later.

Nelson was the first Texas death row inmate executed since Robert Roberson’s Oct. 17, 2024, execution date was delayed in what would have been the first in the U.S. tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

South Carolina carried out the nation’s first execution of 2025 on Friday. Marion Bowman Jr. received a lethal injection for his murder conviction in the shooting death of a friend whose burned body was found in a car in 2001.

Relatives of the victims declined to speak with reporters and released statements earlier Wednesday.

“As a family, we have chosen to take this day to focus on the great memories we have of Clint rather than giving time to his killer,” Dobson’s family said in its statement. “Steven Nelson forever changed our lives, but he has never occupied our minds. … We miss Clint every day. We miss his laughter and his wit, his advice and his love for us.”

Bradley Elliott, whose mother Judy survived the attack, said: “I hope that today as Mr. Nelson took his last breath that he was greeted by the same loving and gracious Savior that has stood by us through all we have been a part of.” The statement added: “Mr. Nelson, we forgive you and hope to see you when we are called home from here.”

Nelson was a laborer and high school dropout with a long history of legal trouble and arrests that started as early as age 6. Nelson had pleaded for mercy, claiming that he had only served as a robbery lookout and blamed two other men for killing Dobson.

Nelson testified at trial and has maintained that he waited outside the church for about 25 minutes before going in and seeing that Dobson and the secretary had been beaten, and he insisted Dobson was still alive. Nelson said he took Dobson’s laptop and that one of the other men gave him Elliott’s car keys and credit cards.

The victims were later found by Elliott’s husband, the church’s part-time music minister, who didn’t immediately recognize her because she had been so severely beaten.

Trial evidence showed Nelson’s fingerprints and pieces of his broken belt at the crime scene, drops of the victims’ blood on his sneakers, and surveillance video showing him driving Elliott’s car and using her credit cards. Investigators also said the two men Nelson blamed for the attack had detailed alibis.

Nelson’s attorneys appealed on claims of bad legal representation at his trial and sentencing, saying this lawyers did little to challenge the alibis of the other men, or present mitigating evidence of a troubled childhood in Oklahoma and Texas.

While awaiting trial, Nelson was indicted in the killing of another jail inmate. He was never tried on that charge after his guilty verdict and death sentence.

Nelson’s appeals had been denied by state and federal courts. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied a stay of execution on Jan. 28, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay hours before the execution.

Three more executions are scheduled in Texas before the end of April. The first is scheduled for Feb. 13. Richard Lee Tabler was condemned for gunning down a strip club manager and the manager’s friend in 2004.