Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The confession of the 36-year-old exterminator Jason Smith who allegedly killed Philadelphia doctor Melissa Ketunuti was read in court Wednesday during a preliminary hearing.
The confession of the 36-year-old exterminator who allegedly killed a Philadelphia doctor was read in court Wednesday during a preliminary hearing, according to several reports. Jason Smith, 36, of Crescent Lane in Levittown will face trial on charges of arson, murder and related charges in the death of his customer, Melissa Ketunuti who was a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to an article on PhillyBurbs. Smith told investigators, according to previous Patch reports, that Ketunuti "belittled" him when he was on a freelance exterminator job at her brick-faced townhome at 1728 Nauddain St. in Center City on Jan. 21, which led to an argument that escalated. A transcript from Smith's confession was released by…
Friday, March 15, 2013
Michael 'Pooh' Brooks was found guilty last month of killing Levittown man Daniel Buchanan in 2007.
One month after a jury found Michael 'Pooh' Brooks guilty of murdering Daniel Buchanan, a life sentence was handed to the Willingboro man at the Bucks County Courthouse, according to a phillyburbs.com report. During the four-day trial, witness testimony described Brooks as a drug dealer who had shot Buchanan on June 15, 2007, because the victim owed Brooks money from a previous transaction, the article states. Brooks' attorney told phillyburbs.com that he plans to appeal the sentence at a higher court. Check out the full story at phillyburbs.com.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The son of Detective Sgt. Luddie Austin from the A&E reality show, "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" was shot dead on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old son of a reality television star was shot dead in a Tuesday afternoon murder across the Delaware River in Trenton, N.J. NJ.com identified the gunshot victim as James Austin, son of former Trenton police Detective Sgt. Luddie Austin and one of stars of the A&E reality show, "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force." James Austin was shot in the chest while visiting the mother of his two children on East State Street in the afternoon hours, The Trenonian reported. Both news organizations said a suspect had not been captured. Luddie Austin served on the Trenton police force years and the military overseas before retiring from law enforcement in 2011. The officer, who served on the task force featured on the small screen, said in his A…
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Nakia Adams, 28, was arraigned on Monday on a charge of child endangerment.
Last week a Bristol man was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder in the death of an 18-month-old Bensalem girl. This week the mother of the child is facing criminal charges for child endangerment, police say. Nakia Adams, 28, was arraigned on Monday before Bensalem District Judge Leonard Brown on a charge of endangering the welfare of children, and was released on $75,000 unsecured bail, an article on PhillyBurbs said. Patch previously reported that Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said that the child was abused for "weeks if not months" prior to the incident that led to the her death. Then in court on Jan. 29 when Adrian Allen, 28, was sentenced to life in prison, prosecutor Matt Weintraub said that …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Michael 'Pooh' Brooks was found guilty of murdering Daniel Buchanan in Bristol Township.
- POLICE & FIRE
-
Tuesday, February 5
A jury in Doylestown found 28-year-old New Jersey man Michael “Pooh” Brooks guilty in the murder Daniel Buchanan, the Bucks County Courier Times reported in Tuesday's print edition. Brooks murdered 33-year-old Buchanan by gun after he saw him drive into the Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section of Bristol Township in 2007. Witnesses said previously that Brooks had been attacked by the victim during a prior altercation. The newspaper story said that Brooks will be facing life in prison with no chance of parole. Buchanan's murder was one of several that occurred in the Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section during the middle part of the last decade. One murder remains unsolved. Another was recently solved by police. Ckaron Handy will be going to trial in …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Adrian Allen pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and child endangerment on Tuesday and was sentenced to life in prison.
A Bristol man was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder in the death of an 18-month-old Bensalem girl, according to reports. Adrian Allen, 28, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and child endangerment in the death of his girlfriend's daughter, Barbara Camille Adams of Bensalem, ABC6 and Phillyburbs reported. Allen also pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in the child's death and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, according to a Phillyburbs article. The child's mother, Nakia Adams was in the courtroom, according to the article, when Allen looked at her and said, "I truly am sorry from the bottom of my heart... I hope what happens today brings you some kind of closure, brings some kind …
Monday, January 28, 2013
Police are testing Smith's DNA in a national database. Also, Smith's former sister-in-law speaks about the Levittown man and more details on his arrest record come out.
Investigators in Philadelphia will run DNA samples taken from alleged murderer and Levittown resident Jason Smith through a national crime database, police said. NBC10 reports that police are comparing Smith’s DNA to that of the Fairmount Park Rapist and samples gathered after several sexual assaults near Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia. City police say the suspect in the Fairmount Park is connected to at least three violent sexual assault cases. All the crimes happened between 2003 and 2007. One of the cases includes the 2003 murder 30-year-old Rebecca Park, a medical student, whose death was caused by strangulation. The suspect in the murder and rapes was described to Mt. Airy Patch in 2011 as a Hispanic male with scars on his …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Several who knew Crabtree resident Jason Smith, who is accused of murdering a Philadelphia doctor, say he had temper issues in his past.
Prior to his arrest on charges of murder last week, Levittown pest exterminator Jason Smith had a relatively clean criminal record. However, several people close to the 36-year-old father said he had a somewhat troubled past. A former friend of Smith’s who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Patch that the Crabtree section resident could have a temper, but murder was not something he felt his old friend was capable of. Smith's fiance, who shared the two-story Crabtree section house with him, her young daughter and other family members, told 6abc the whole family is upset and knew nothing about the her partner of six year's alleged crime until authorities took him away and shot the family dog Wednesday night. On the WebSlueths.com …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Police release more details about the murder of Philadelphia doctor Melissa Ketunuti, who was allegedly killed by a Levittown exterminator, Jason Smith.
He was an exterminator; she was a young pediatrician at one of the nation’s most esteemed children’s hospitals. Late Monday morning, police allege, Melissa Ketunuti, 35, and Jason Smith, 36, of Levittown, crossed paths when the freelance exterminator came to her brick-faced townhome at 1728 Nauddain Street in Center City for a scheduled appointment to take care of rodents in the home. Philadelphia police homicide unit Captain James Clark said at a Thursday morning press conference that the two got in some type of argument while in the basement of the doctor’s home. At some point, the argument went “terribly wrong” and escalated to Smith striking Ketunuti, knocking her to the ground. He immediately jumped on top of her and strangled her to …
Police say that Jason Smith, 36, of Levittown, has been charged with the murder of Philadelphia pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti.
Thursday, 11:13 a.m.: During a press conference, Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark, Commanding Officer of Homicide Unit, stated that Jason Smith has been charged with the murder of pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti in addition to an arson and related charges. Detectives used "every bit" of surveillance footage in the area of the victim's home to develop Smith as a suspect. At 10 p.m. Wednesday night, Philadelphia Police, U.S. Marshals and Bristol Police went to Smith's house in Bristol Township and transported him back to the Philadelphia Police homicide unit for questioning. Clark stated that Smith gave detectives a statement, which along with evidence collected, were sufficient enough for murder charges. Ketunuti needed an exterminator…
alex dearson
9:55 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013
So sorry to hear that, and I'm so sorry for your loss more ›