Crime Chronics

Reported that a 32-year-old woman was killed in a Dresden court on Wednesday after being stabbed by the defendant. Woman’s name is Marwa al-Sherbini, she was the wife of Egyptian academic Elwi Ali Okaz who was also hurt in the incident by police and now is in critical condition in hospital, the state-owned Al-Akhbar reported.

The attacker stabbed Sherbini “shortly before she was to give evidence in an appeal lodged by the man against a conviction for insulting her over wearing the hijab,” Marwa Al-Sherbini died in the courtroom after 18 stabs yes 18 stabs inside the court. Murder (or police?) also stabbed Sherbini’s husband, Elwi Ali Okaz while he was trying to save his wife. And adding further insult to injury, a security guard shot Okaz in the leg because he mistook the husband for the attacker because of his ethnic looks according to German prosecutors.

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Police spokesman Thomas Geithner confirmed that the woman was still in the building when she died of her injuries. “The man attacked the woman with a knife in the courtroom,” Geithner said, adding that a policeman had fired a shot in the ensuing struggle.

All the background details are not known yet, but a spokesman for the state prosecutor said that the incident, which occurred shortly before 10:30 am, happened during an appeal hearing in a libel case. The defendant had been convicted and fined for libel last year.

Bettina Garmann, a spokesman for the court, said that there had been no reason to believe that special safety procedures would be necessary for the case.

The incident recalled a similar scene of courtroom violence in the Bavarian town of Landshut in April, when a 60-year-old man shot his sister-in-law before turning the gun on himself, following an inheritance ruling.
Christian Avenarius, the prosecutor in Dresden where the incident took place, said the killer was driven by a deep hatred of Muslims. “It was very clearly a xenophobic attack of a fanatical lone wolf.”

A German government spokesperson condemned the attack and said Berlin “naturally condemns this in the strongest terms.”

According AP Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher.

The gunman fled, but a 51-year-old suspect was arrested some 170 miles away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said.

The suspect’s name was not released; police had been looking for a gunman who fled in a car registered in the Kansas City suburb of Merriam.

“We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down,” Troy Newman, Operation Rescue’s president, said in a statement. “Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.”

President Barack Obama said he was “shocked and outraged” by the murder. “However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence,” he said.

At Tiller’s church, Adam Watkins, 20, said he was sitting in the middle of the congregation when he heard a small pop at the start of the service.

“We just thought a child had come in with a balloon and it had popped, had gone up and hit the ceiling and popped,” Watkins said.

Another usher came in and told the congregation to remain seated, then escorted Tiller’s wife out. “When she got to the back doors, we heard her scream, and so we knew something bad had happened,” Watkins said.

Legendary rock and roll music producer Phil Spector was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in the February 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, 40, was a hostess at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. She left the club with Spector and was later found shot at his home. He said he is innocent and that she shot herself. After more than six years of investigation, authorities concluded Spector shot her. He was officially charged in November of 2003 but was free on $1 million bail.

Second-degree murder carries a penalty of 19 years to life in prison. The firearm enhancement adds three, four or 10 years in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

The judge denied bail and Spector, wearing a fire-engine red tie and pocket square, was taken into custody after the verdict was announced. He also wore a “Barack Obama Rocks” button on his left suit lapel.

Spector and his wife entered the courtroom at about 2 p.m., and the verdict was read at about 15 minutes later. His son and daughter were seated next to him at the counsel’s table.

Spector’s wife, Rachelle, cried as the decision was announced. Spector showed no reaction as his attorney rubbed his client’s left shoulder.

Spector, who would not be eligible for parole until he is 88, showed no emotion before being led away to prison.

Spector’s lawyers spent two trials and millions of dollars arguing that Clarkson killed herself while battling depression. They vowed to appeal.

His family seemed as divided as the jurors who had deadlocked at his first trial.

“This is a sad day for everybody involved,” said Spector’s 28-year-old wife, Rachelle. “The Clarkson family has lost a daughter and a sister. I’ve lost my husband, my best friend. I feel that a grave injustice has been done and from this day forward I’m going to dedicate myself to proving my husband’s innocence.”

Members of the Clarkson family, including her mother and sister, also were in the courtroom.