True Crime News Roundup: Millionaire Robert Durst On Trial For Murder
A woman allegedly killed her newborn after delivering; the lawyer whose wife and son were murdered in June was shot in the head; and a toddler died after suspects police believe are students shot up his family’s home.
Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool
A look at the week's true crime headlines:
Lawyers give closing arguments in the trial of Robert Durst.
Robert Durst, heir to a New York real estate conglomerate, is accused of the 2000 murder of Susan Berman. Prosecutors allege that Durst murdered Berman so that she couldn't tell authorities that she provided a "false alibi" for him in relation to the disapperance of his wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, in 1982. During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian showed the latex mask Durst is said to have worn to allude capture. Durst, now 78, has pleased not guilty.
Watch Robert Durst: An ID Murder Mystery on discovery+.
New York woman allegedly killed her newborn son and threw his body in a garbage can, prosecutors said.
Andee Wright, 30, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in connection to the death of her newborn son in October 2020. Wright, who was 38 weeks pregnant, allegedly delivered her baby alone at her home in Tonawanda, New York, sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. while her boyfriend was out. “She is accused of hitting the baby at least twice, which fractured the infant’s skull and resulted in his death,” the Eerie County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “The defendant was found in medical distress later that morning by her boyfriend who called 911. Upon further investigation, the infant was found deceased in a garbage can in the basement of the house.” Wright faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges against her.
A toddler was fatally shot after individuals police believe are high school students opened fire on a home.
Asiah Fiqueroia, 3, lost his life and his 4-year-old sister is expected to recover from a gunshot wound after a group unleashed around 150 bullets into their home in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a targeted attack just before midnight on September 7, police said, according to WBTV. Surveillance video captured on a neighbor’s Nest camera allegedly shows two cars pull up to the residence and several individuals exit. The suspects, who police believe are Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students, then shot up the residence before fleeing the scene.
South Carolina lawyer whose wife and son were murdered in late spring shot in head while changing a tire.
On September 4, Alex Murdaugh was in Hampton County, South Carolina, changing a tire when he was shot in the head by an unknown assailant. He is expected to survive his injuries, but the incident is the latest in a series of events involving his family that have made headlines in the past three months. Two days after the shooting, Murdaugh, a prominent attorney, resigned from his job as a prominent attorney and said he was entering rehab. “The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life,” he explained in a statement. “I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret.” His law firm later alleged Murdaugh was stealing money, according to WJCL. On June 7, Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son, Paul. The two had been shot dead at the family’s hunting estate. At the time of his death, Paul was awaiting trial for allegedly boating while intoxicated and causing the death of a teenager in 2019.
Teenager faces murder charge after police locate his father’s body buried in their backyard.
On September 6, Truman Nguyen, 78, was reported missing from Fairfax County, Virginia. Two days later, police took Nguyen’s 19-year-old son, Philip, into custody on suspicion of second-degree murder and he is being held without bond. Investigators had received a tip and located his father’s body buried in the backyard of the Falls Church home they shared. “This is the fifth time in 2021 … where a father or a mother or a sister … has been murdered by a son or a brother,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said, according to Washington D.C.’s WTOP. “On four separate occasions in 2021, we have homicide victims whose lives have been taken by sons, and a brother — a disturbing trend indeed.”
Police believe an Ohio man fatally shot his wife, their two sons and the family dog before turning the gun on himself.
Police conducting a wellbeing check on a family in Avon Lake, Ohio, just after 1 p.m. on Sept. 7 discovered the bodies of Jeffrey Hull, 50, his wife, Heidi, 46, their two sons, Garrett, 9, and Grant, 6, and the family dog. A colleague of Heidi Hull, an insurance executive, requested the check when she failed to join a scheduled conference call. Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the apparent murder-suicide, Cleveland television station WOIO reported.
