Mastering Organizational Communication in 2025

[Muuttu] Mie sinut pitää liikkeessä. Autovakutus Fenniaista. Nyt kaskoista minus 20 prosenttia. Tutustuttaarioxen Fennia vistevi kautta autovakutus. Tulevaisuutesi Fennia. This is a true crime roundup from the on deadline podcast. We explore crime stories reported on by Odyssey's radio newsrooms across the country. I'm your host Lauren Berry. In this episode, we'll cover developing crime stories and updates on several cases reported by Odyssey newsrooms this month. These include jury selection in the top smash shooting case out of Buffalo, New York and the latest regarding Luigi Mangioni's trials. Our first story was reported by Odyssey Station WWJ News Radio in Detroit on June 4. It's a strange case unfolding downriver. Police looking for a man who allegedly lived in a motel room with his girlfriend's body for days before she was found dead. WWJ's Charlie Lenten joining us live with more Charlie. I tell you what Jackie, please need the public's help right now in this very bizarre story. Last week a worker at the Red Roof Inn in Taylor discovered an abandoned room in there. There was trash all her two dogs and the dead body of a woman. Now, please now say that her boyfriend Christopher Schunmaker had been living in that Red Roof Inn with his dead girlfriend for days. The woman Rebecca Pettinoid showed no signs of foul play after autopsy was conducted although authorities are still waiting for the toxicology results. The boyfriend, however, took off with his girlfriend's credit cards. And if you have any information about the boyfriend or anything regarding this case, call the Taylor Police. As of this Friday, police were still searching for the suspect. On June 8, Odyssey Station KNX News in Los Angeles reported on a tragedy that unfolded in Kanoga Park, an area of the city located in the San Fernando Valley. In front of an apartment complex on Owensmouth, right across from Lannard Park were just north of Strathurn. People have been coming by, leaving flowers, teddy bears. Can't imagine somebody doing that to their own family and the mom and the family I can't imagine. This woman, named Aanika, brought two bunnies, one each for the 10-year-old boys twins, who were murdered by their father, who shot and killed himself. I don't know if anybody's ever known twins, but it's a very special bond that twins have. So, all I know is that they're with God or the Creator. Neighbors say there may have been some sort of party going on. The mother told police she heard two pops, went into the bedroom to see what was going on. The father pointed the gun at her, shot but missed, then shot and killed himself. The motive is still unclear. In Kanoga Park, I'm Emily Veltis. This week, KNX also reported on another disturbing story out of Kanoga Park. A police officer there allegedly fatally shot a family's dog during a celebration for the New York Knicks Super Bowl win. The incident was captured on body camera footage that was released by police this Friday. In Chicago, Odyssey Station WBBM News Radio reported on a deadly incident at an Amazon warehouse earlier this month. Twenty-year-old Quentin S. Williams, Jr., has been charged with one count of first-degree murder. Melrose Park, police say on June 4, Travian Artaler of Chicago, was in the parking garage with an Amazon co-worker who was arguing with Williams. When Williams pulled out a semi-automatic rifle and fired several shots, police say Taylor was shot in his back and later died at a hospital. A judge on Monday ordered Williams held in jail pending his trial. Roger Plummer, News Radio, 1059 WBBM. This next report from Odyssey Station KYW News Radio in Philadelphia has the potential to impact a murder case from the 1980s. A former top supervisor within the Philadelphia DA's office has been suspended from practicing in federal court for three years, accused of lying to a judge in order to overturn a death penalty sentence. More now from KYW's Crime and Justice Reporter, Kristen Johansson. The federal court unsealed the order to suspend Nancy Winklman, a former supervisor in the District Attorney's Law Division earlier this week. A panel of three judges agreed the long-time attorney should be suspended because they say she misrepresented critical facts in order to vacate a defendant's sentence. It comes several months after her subordinate Paul George was disbard from federal court for the same reason and the same case, which involves Robert Wharton, a man convicted of murdering a mount-airy couple in the 80s. After exhausting all of his appeals at the state level, Wharton turned to the federal court to vacate his sentence and the DA's office sided with him. The judges say George didn't investigate or properly vet the case before siding with the defendant and he didn't notify the family specifically that baby girl. They say Winklman didn't review any of what was presented to the judge but signed off on it anyway. In a report the judges write quote, "We further find that she was willfully blind to and complicit in George's misrepresentations." Earlier this week, a state court directed the state's Attorney General to review cases, the DA's office wants to overturn accusing the DA of misrepresenting facts. The court says the court will be in the court. The court will now be sentenced to 20% of the court's sentence. The court will be sentenced to the court. John Almore, who represents survivors and families of the shootings victims, joined Odyssey Station WBEN News and Talk and Buffalo this week to discuss jury selection for Gendron's trial. The jury selection process is underway in the federal trial, the top smash shooter. John, we know 1200 questionnaires went out to prospective jurors. What are we seeing now this week in federal court? What's happening is that these jurors are received questionnaires. The purpose of the questionnaires is to find out whether or not a person is fit to serve in a death penalty case. The jury determines the sentence of the defendant if he is found guilty. The jury selection process in a death penalty case is much different. In most trials, jurors don't get questionnaires. In most criminal trials, as well as civil trials, the jury selection process lasts one or two days. Because this is a death penalty case, death is different. The jury selection process is very complicated. All the jurors are filling out questionnaires. Eventually those questionnaires will be distributed to the lawyers. Once they're distributed to the lawyers, the lawyers will exercise what's known as challenges for cause, which means that if for a legal reason a jury is unfit to serve, then they would be not called in the court to be questioned individually. The jury perspective juror that believes that that should be automatic sentence. If somebody is convicted of a death eligible crime, they cannot serve. If somebody believes that under no circumstances, would they vote for the death penalty? They cannot serve. You have to think about it. This is a very difficult decision that you're putting in a citizen's hands to determine whether or not a person lives and dies. This process is going to, the questioning process is going to last for a long time. Eventually the jurors are going to be brought into the courtroom to be questioned individually. Not only about their views of the death penalty, but just a lot of questions about their backgrounds, their feelings about our criminal justice system. Then what's going to happen is again, if they get challenged for cause and can't serve because their views on the death penalty or maybe other views that it could be a hardship, family hardship, the inability to miss work or anything like that. Or just a certain bias. It could be racial bias. It could be animosity towards police or law enforcement or whatever that would make them unfair, unfit, then the judge will strike them. Then after that, each side will have the opportunity to exercise what's known as paramptory challenges in a federal death penalty case. The prosecution and the defense have what's known as paramptory challenges 20. And they can just use those challenges to exercise for a potential juror that they just do not feel fits the profile that they want to have in this case. -Selmäällä. like a lot of people who might not be qualified, is it gonna be tough to see the jury? - It is gonna be very, very difficult. I mean, 1200 questionnaires is a lot, normally in a criminal case, you know, they may call 30, 40, 50, 60 potential jurors and then eventually get a will down to 12 to hear the case and one or two alternates, but in a death penalty case because, I mean, this is the ultimate decision that anybody could make in their lifetime whether or not somebody lives or dies. And not only that, but this is gonna be a long, complicated trial. You know, most trials are over in four or five, six days. Not only, there's this trial accepted, expected to be very lengthy, but you know, it'll probably last over a month. And in a death penalty case, there's two trials. One is to determine whether or not the person is guilty of a death eligible crime. And then if the 12 jurors agree on that, then there's a second phase where they get instructed about what their role is in determining whether or not death is the appropriate sentence. And then the lawyers then try a case all over again where the fence puts on mitigating evidence and the prosecution argues against the mitigating evidence and then the jury's given instructions again. And then they go and deliberating again about the sentence. So it's a long sacrifice when you think about it. Who can just take two months of their life, maybe even a longer and come into a court room in Buffalo, New York and listen to testimony, you know, six, seven hours a day and then go home and to try and live a normal life. - Trials for Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson are also impending. This week, Mangione's legal team made a surprise move. Let's hear about it from Taylor Rivera out of Odyssey Station WCCO News Talk in the Twin Cities. A judge in New York this morning announcing that Luigi Mangione will assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial. Mangione's lawyers will attempt to show that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the shooting on a mid-town sidewalk. If successful, Mangione could be sent to a psychiatric treatment facility rather than prison. The announcement in open court this morning may explain the unusual closed-door hearing the judge held two weeks ago in the ceiling of the transcript. Because Mangione is facing federal charges as well is a attorney's argue that what was discussed behind closed doors could impact his federal case. Taylor Rivera, News Talk 830, WCCO. - Adam Carter of WCCO News Talk. - Discussed with this change in the Mangione case really means with Jack Rice, a defense attorney. - Explain this defense of extreme emotional disturbance. Is this somewhat similar to an insanity defense or how is this different? - Absolutely. It is similar to an insanity defense. Think about it like this. If you think that for a moment, I lost my mind, right? And you're arguing that temporary insanity, if you will, that in the example that people have used in the past is if a spouse walked in on another spouse that was cheating, they've killed them and they've claimed, oh my gosh, I just lost my mind for a moment. And that's how people might argue this. In New York, it's not technically an insanity defense because if you're convicted of it based upon this extreme emotional disturbance, it actually, you're still convicted, you'd still get sent to prison, but it would be at a lower level instead of a second degree murder, it would be a first degree manslaughter charge, which is a much less sentence. So it's a little bit different, but kind to the same. But you know what, in the end, the real problem that Mangione has is that they have video of him, they have the gun, they have a book that describes everything that was gonna happen. This state is lined up a ton of stuff here. - Yeah, and the alleged writings he put on the bullets. I mean, that certainly doesn't seem like that was a spur of the moment thing. - Yeah, see that's the real problem here, is it technically, when you look at all these things, you're gonna have to make the argument that not only was you just walking down the street and walked in the room like, you know, the spouse kind of thing, this has to be the whole build up, and I think you just put your finger on it. That's the difference. You gotta go back and say, I lost my mind, maybe just for the moment when I'm walking down New York City Street, it's the whole build up onto it. - ABC reporter Peter Haralambus joined WBN for some more insight into the emotional disturbance defense. And why Mangione's unusual popularity for an accused killer might be one of the reasons why his legal team has chosen this path. - Can you help us understand what went on in the courtroom and what his lawyers might be looking to do? - Yeah, good morning. It's really a dramatic change for Mangione's defense. After spending 18 months basically arguing that Luigi Mangione was not the person who had gotten down United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, his lawyers yesterday acknowledged that they're changing strategy. They're thinking about using what's called an emotional disturbance defense. It's a New York specific defense for they might basically just argue that in that moment of the alleged crime he was undergoing an extreme emotional episode. And that because of that, he basically lost control of himself. The goal there is basically to drop this case from murder, which carries a possibility of life in prison, to manslaughter, which only carries a maximum of 25 years. They're basically just trying to argue that, yes, potentially he was the guy who did this crime, but because of these emotions, because of this psychiatric episode, he lacked the intentionality, the willfulness needed to prove murder as a crime. - I think a lot of people, when they heard this yesterday, thought, oh, it's an insanity defense, but an extreme emotional defense is different, isn't it? - Yeah, that's exactly right. We're talking about two related but different things. If you're using an insanity defense, the outcome there is that, you know, even if you're found not guilty, you'll be committed to a psychiatric institution. The emotional disturbance defense, this New York specific defense, is much narrower rather than trying to say, outright, he's necessarily, they're trying to knock this down from murder to manslaughter and basically say he was not culpable for the specifics of that crime. That being said, he's not trying to say outright that he's totally insane, that he's lost control of himself and what's going on in the world. But they're still going to present him as, you know, a cogent person who, just at the time of the alleged crime, about two years ago, was going through an episode that was outside of his control. We'll have to learn over time what exactly they're gonna argue that episode was. Eventually they're gonna have to un-seal all of these records about this defense and potentially reveal some of his psychiatric records as well. - It's a different thing that we're used to seeing. How do you go about proving this? And does it have to be a, you know, when you mention a strong emotion, I'm picturing in my head, you know, like a moment, something that would, you know, happen in the snap of your fingers or the blink of an eye, maybe not something that was planned out ahead of time, but does that necessarily have to be the case? - Yeah, that's what's gonna get tricky because prosecutors have pointed to this, you know, evidence of premeditation, the fact that, you know, he was planning this out for a while that we're talking about, you know, weeks here, detailed plans about how we was gonna do this, how we was gonna escape the city. And this defense is usually reserved for a much shorter episode. Think of an example of someone walking in on their partner having an affair and then in the heat of the moment, killing the person the partner was having an affair with. Really a split second in which emotions take over and remove a person's basically control of themselves. That's kind of the argument they're using here in the case of killing of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. And in the case of Luigi Mangioni, he's, you know, spending some, someone who spent, based on the evidence we've seen thus far, at least a few weeks planning this out. So it's gonna be complicated. Under New York State penal law, there's a three-pronged test they need to prove to get this defense over the line. They need to prove that he was undergoing an episode that basically prompted him to totally lose control. That the reason for that emotional episode was reasonable that, you know, if you consider his circumstances, the fact that he was going through this was kind of beyond his control. And then last, that psychotic episode actually was invoked at the time of the alleged crime. So if they're able to succeed with that three-part test, they could theoretically reduce the amount of prison time he faces significantly. I'm wondering, Peter, based on the legal experts that you talk with, is this viewed as a long-shot defense or a real crime? realistic path for this team yes the so far based on the conversations i've had uh. legal experts are basically said that this is potentially a win-win for mangeonies legal defense in that uh. you know they were dealt a pretty poor hand uh. last earlier uh. this year were judge basically ruled uh. that from the strongest evidence against mangeonie including the alleged murder weapon writings that prosecutor say amounts of confession uh. could be used the trial since since that really uh. really tough ruling for them uh. this new defense uh. really open some doors for them it creates the possibility that this sentences reduced down to about a maximum of twenty five years and according to one legal expert i spoke to it could also present uh. back door during all the occasion uh. the idea being that indescribable why this emotional episode was reasonable it could provide the federal attorneys times it basically explain mangeonies grievances with the health care system in doing so it could be basically invite the jurors to uh. talk about the kind of the ethics behind this uh. their grievances with the health care system and potentially convinced one or two jurors uh. to to quit even if though the evidence overwhelmingly shows guilt that illegal during all the occasion is not allowed uh. but this defense uh. you know at the end of the day uh. during all the occasion is not allowed by law in york state or or anywhere you can just hold a jury to basically find someone not guilty because they think the crime they did was justified but by describing why they think mangeonies alleged emotional episode uh. was reasonable his grievances potentially with the health care system it could basically open up a window for these lawyers to say uh. you know here's why he was so angry here's why he had this episode and maybe find a few sympathetic jurors who agree and have similar grievances with the health care system so we'll have to say however brad young an attorney and legal expert who joined the day of glove or show out of audacity station k_m_o_ x_ in st louis this week said it's a pretty risky move he's he's stating that he was acting under extreme emotional disturbance that's his defense right so if he wins on that argument then the jury still finds him guilty but he gets a lesser charge but here's why this is i think very dangerous legally to to exercise that defense that you're acting under an extreme emotional disturbance when you kill brian tomson the c_e_o_ of united health care at that point he has to admit that he did it uh. he has to actually admit that he shot and killed the guy and he's saying yeah but i did it because i was under extreme emotional disturbance so now all of a sudden the prosecution doesn't even have to prove you did it they're going to admit that they did it and to me boy that's a hail marie i mean either it is it you win it big or you lose it big uh. but i i think that's a dangerous defense thank you so much for listening to this true crime in real time round up from the on deadline podcast this episode was written and produced by me more and bary special thanks to w_w_j_ news radio in detroit k_n_ x news and loss and elis w_b_b_m_ news radio in chicago k_y_w_ news radio in philadelphia w_b_e_n_ news and talk in buffalo w_c_c_o_ news talk in the twin cities k_m_o_ x_n_s_a_ at louis ten ten wins in new york and the dana and parks show out of k_m_b_z_ in kansas city you can find these programs on the audacity app or wherever you find your podcasts you can find these true crime round ups by subscribing to the on deadline podcast the who killed strawberry podcast or the bitter academia podcast on the audacity app or wherever you get your podcasts