Marijuana found in face-chewer's body, but no other drugs, medical examiner says

Handout / Reuters

Rudy Eugene, left, was shot after he refused to stop chewing the face of Ronald Poppo, right.

By NBCMiami.com

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner found only marijuana in the body of the man who was fatally shot while chewing a homeless man's face over Memorial Day weekend.
The medical examiner's office said on Wednesday that 31-year-old Rudy Eugene's toxicology was complete.

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"The department's toxicology laboratory has identified the active components of marijuana," the medical examiner said in a statement. "The laboratory has tested for but not detected any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs."

The department also ruled out common drugs found in the street drugs called bath salts, which authorities had initially speculated were the cause of the brutal attack on Ronald Poppo.

He has been recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center since the May 26 attack along the MacArthur Causeway.Poppo was rushed to the hospital after he was attacked by Eugene, who tore off and chewed most of the 65-year-old's face, authorities said. He also suffered trauma to his brain, doctors said.Poppo also had a couple puncture wounds in his left chest area.About 50 percent of his face, including his forehead and cheek, was affected and he has an infection, brain injury and a puncture wound to his chest.

Report: Miami face-chewing attacker had no flesh in stomach Eugene was fatally shot by an officer after he refused to stop the savage attack on Poppo, police said. Witnesses said a naked Eugene was throwing his clothes into traffic and swinging from a light pole shortly before the attack.  The medical examiner's department also got assistance from an outside forensic toxicology lab, which confirmed that there were no bath salts, synthetic marijuana or LSD in Eugene's system.

New tourist stop: Miami site where naked man chewed off victim's face
"Within the limits of current technology by both laboratories, marijuana is the only drug identified in the body of Mr. Rudy Eugene," the statement said.
The attack sparked a statewide crackdown on synthetic drugs and bath salts, with many South Florida counties and cities moving forward with ordinances to ban and restrict their sale.
Also on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi held a ceremonial signing of House Bill 1175, which outlaws more than 90 new forms of synthetic drugs.

Gruesome Photos Put Spotlight on China's One-Child Policy

Family photo

Photos of Feng Jianmei on her hospital bed after a forced abortion have been circulating on the web. The photos were taken by her sister who in turn contacted the media about the story. The photos originally appeared in a local newspaper report online and then they were picked by netizens and distributed online.

By Bo Gu, NBC News

Updated at 10:33 p.m. ET: China state media says city officials have apologized to Feng Jiamei and suspended three officials, the BBC reported.
Xinhua news said the Ankang city government will urge the county government to review its family planning operations, according to the BBC report.
BEIJING – Feng Jianmei says she was manhandled by seven people, some of them local family planning officials, some of whom she didn’t know.
Feng, 22 years old and seven months pregnant, was dragged out of her relative’s home, carried and shoved into a van that headed straight to a hospital on June 2, she told NBC News in phone interview.  She was blindfolded, thrown on a bed, and forced to sign a document that she couldn’t read with the blindfold still on her eyes. Then two shots were injected into her belly. Thirty hours later, on the morning June 4, she gave birth to a dead baby girl.

Feng is one of the many Chinese women who have been forced to have abortions under China’s strict one-child-only policy started in late 1970s to contain the country’s fast growing population, which has now topped 1.3 billion people.

One-child policy

China’s long time Communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong originally encouraged women to have as many children as possible during the Cold War-era when human power was believed to be an important force if war broke out. But the country’s rulers soon found it too difficult to feed the huge population – so they 

adopted a harsh policy that allows urban citizens to have only one child, and rural couples to have two, if the first child is a girl.The policy has been carried out for more than three decades despite public opposition, from human rights activists to ordinary people. Thousands of years of Chinese culture fostered the belief that “more children is more blessing,” especially in remote and rural areas where the elderly lack adequate social benefits and depend on children as they grow old.

Government family planning officials are also under pressure to make sure their constituencies follow the quota of babies allowed. When there’s no clear law telling them what they can and cannot do, forced abortions, often on late-terms pregnancies, have become the norm, particularly for the poor who are unable to pay the hefty fines to have additional children.

Advocates on behalf of these women are usually ignored or face government repression. For example, Chen Guangcheng, the famous blind lawyer and human rights activist, represented victims of family planning abuse in Shandong Province. Chen was jailed for four years for his advocacy and put under house arrest until he recently escaped illegal detainment and fled to the U.S. last month.

Transgender Pageant Winner Murdered in South Africa

By Isolde Raftery, msnbc

A South African who had won a Miss Gay pageant was found in his rented room with his throat slit,

Thapelo Makutle, 23, had argued late Friday night with two men about his sexuality, his friend, Shaine Griqua told mambaonline.com. Those two men followed him home, broke down his door and killed him, Griqua said.

Makutle, known as Queen Bling, was active in the LGBT community in the Kuruman region, a rural area in the north, Griqua told mambaonline.com. He said his friend identified as gay and recently started calling himself transgender.

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"It's so sad. I can't describe the pain that we are feeling right now," Griqua told mambaonline. "We have lost a young, talented, gay man who was open about who he was. The last few days have been like a dark cloud."
Griqua, the director of Legbo Northern Cape, a nonprofit that provides sexual health education, released a statement saying that witnesses had seen Thapelo’s body, and that his genitalia had been “severed and inserted into his mouth.”
There was no sign of burglary, Griqua said, according to globalpost.com.
Police have not arrested anyone in the case, according to media reports.
South Africa has long been lauded for its liberal positions on gay rights. The country was the first to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution, and same-sex marriage became legal in 2006.
But a Human Rights Watch report from 2011 found that black lesbians and transgender men in rural areas of South Africa face “extensive discrimination and violence in their daily lives, both from private individuals and government officials.”
Nearly all 120 people interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they lived in fear of sexual assault and that they were reluctant to approach police for protection.

In upscale Cairo suburb, Many Vote for the Revolution

By Charlene Gubash, NBC News

DIGLA, Egypt -- Several hundred voters lined up Saturday in the hot mid morning sun to cast their votes at Victoria College in the upper middle class district of Digla, a leafy oasis on the outskirts of crowded Cairo and home to many in Egypt’s expatriate American community.
If presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, guardian of stability and secularism to supporters and proxy of the hated old regime to critics, would do well, one would expect it to be here.
After all, he is running against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi who has pledged to impose religious law.
But the reality was very different.

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"If you have a snake, you have to cut off the head and tail, or the serpent will revive. Shafiq would give the snake a new head,” said retired army officer, Mahmoud Sabri, as he leaned on his cane.

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Mahmoud Sabri shows the dye on his finger used to make sure voters cast ballots only once.

“I think these people (the Muslim Brotherhood) had been imprisoned for eight years. They are still struggling against the dictatorship and against every bad thing we have suffered since the revolution of 1952,” added Sabri.

Engineer Mohamed Hassan, who lived in the U.S. for 10 years and got his PhD from the University of Illinois, said, “I am voting for Dr. Morsi ... (he) will continue what we started one and a half years ago. The revolution was started to change the regime and Morsi will continue to build a real democracy. We do not want a military backed system. We need freedom, and different parties and so on.”

Was he worried they would impose an Islamic state?
“They are peaceful people ... and have been pushing for democracy for thirty years.”
Pharmacist Ayman Mohamed also shared his opinion.
“I want Morsi,” said Mohamed. “Shafiq represents the old system and corruption and the revolution hoped to remove Shafiq. If there is no corruption, I think Morsi will win.”
“I am very worried about the country,” added Hisham Watani, a young music composer. “I am worried about Shafiq winning so I voted for Dr. Morsi. All of (former President Hosni) Mubarak’s men will destroy us and destroy Egypt.”
Haitham, an engineer who gave only his first name because he works with an international company, asked: “Why did we do a revolution? If Shafiq will come, the revolution is dead. We need change. My choice depends on Morsi. He can change the system.”
“I am not happy with either but I have to choose one,” said Mohamed Abbass, project engineer with a petrochemical company. “Shafiq is against the revolution so I chose Morsi. I hope Morsi will make big changes,” added Abbass.
Some Shafiq voters were also unenthusiastic but more concerned about stability than change.
"God help us!," said Ali Mostafa, one of the first to arrive to vote. "I had to choose a candidate to feel like I did something. I chose Shafiq."
“I prefer Shafiq who will bring back security and stability,” said businessman Mohamed Mohsen.
Haitham, a computer engineer who also refused to provide his last name because of his company affiliation, said he had more confidence in Shafiq’s ability to lead.
“I voted Shafiq because of his previous experience as a leader and manager. Experience plays a bigger role in time dependent decisions.”
Surgeon Maher Salib voted Shafiq for the same reason. “I believe he can control this country.”
A senior citizen, aided by a young woman, refused to provide his name but said that while it was a tough decision, he voted for Shafiq. “He will return stability and security,” he said. “I feel relaxed. At last I have voted.”
Haitham, the computer engineer, voiced concern about the day results are announced. "What will happen after the election is what worries everyone. We expect unrest no matter who wins."
Many worry the ruling military council will stage a coup if the Muslim Brotherhood candidate prevails. Others fear Islamists will take to the streets if Shafiq wins, in the belief that power was snatched from their hands by fraud. 

147 people feared dead in Nigerian plane crash

Reuters

Wreckage burns in Lagos, Nigeria, on Sunday after a passenger jet went down with 147 people on board.

By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

Updated at 1:54 p.m. ET: Nigeria's aviation ministry said Sunday that 147 people were aboard a Dana Airlines passenger jet that crashed into a two-story building in Lagos, the country's largest city. "I don't believe there are any survivors," said Harold Denuren, Nigeria's director of aviation.

By M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

The flight originally was reported to have been carrying 153 people, but the Civial Aviation Authority said in a statement that 147 people were on board. It wasn't known how many people may have been killed or hurt on the ground.
The plane was heading from to Abuja, the capital, to Lagos when it went down about 3:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET), crashing into a building and splitting into two before burning up, witnesses said.

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Local reports indicated that at least three buildings were severely damaged, one of them a church. Nigerian Eye reported from the scene that bodies could be seen burning on the ground, while pictures on the Internet showed large plumes of smoke across the city.

Al Jazeera reported from Abuja that witnesses said the the plane may have hit a power line in clear and sunny weather.
The crash came after 10 other people were killed when a Boeing 727 cargo plane flying from Lagos crashed Saturday in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and hit a bus, the Sunday Tribune of Nigeria reported.
The crew of four survived, authorities said.
A senior military officer told the Sunday Tribune that the bus was severely damaged, while the plane's wings and tail broke off from its body.

Man interviews for job, ends up getting detained for 1975 murder

By NBCWashington.com

Both suspect and police are shocked when job application leads to a 1975 murder warrant. Chris Gordon reports.

A Washington, D.C., man was detained for first-degree murder when a background check for a new job revealed an outstanding warrant in one of the oldest cold case murders in Montgomery County.

Bobby Coley, 63, of southeast Washington, was applying for work as a temp Tuesday, when a background check uncovered an outstanding warrant in his name. When Coley went to the sheriff’s office to clear his name and land the job, he had no idea the warrant was for murder.

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We weren't finding anything, and so we finally looked in judicial case search and we actually saw that a warrant popped up under that name, Bobby Coley, and it said, ‘first-degree murder,’” Montgomery County Sheriff Darren Popkin said.

The victim, Leopold Lynwood Chromak, disappeared on July 26, 1975. Two days later his wife contacted police and reported him missing.  “But Mr. Chromak was never located, never returned home,” said Lucille Baur, of Montgomery County police.

In 1984, a detective learned that the missing person case was actually a murder-for-hire, and that Chromak’s wife, Frances, had hired three men -- Griffin, Smitty and Bobby Coley -- to kill her husband. According to police documents, the woman said her husband was abusive and had beaten her.

The three men allegedly smothered Chromak at Winexburg Manor Apartments in Silver Spring, Md., wrapped his body in a rug or carpet, took it to a van and dumped it along Central Avenue.

The 63-year-old Coley, who has been in and out of federal custody on various charges since 1968, was in the D.C. Jail when the arrest warrant was filed in 1984. He wasn’t detained afterward and apparently never knew of the warrant.

The detective investigating the murder-for-hire said Frances Chromak changed her name to Barbara Ann Stevens and moved to Laurel, Md. Her whereabouts are unknown but she is believed to still be alive.

The 1975 murder case presents challenges for prosecutors. No body has been found, there is no direct evidence against Coley, and anonymous sources who supplied information in the past may no longer be available.

“So, now the investigating begins anew,” Baur said. “Now we go back. We find the original case files, the records.”

The public defender representing Coley in court said there’s no proof there was a murder and it’s unfair to hold Coley in jail while police and prosecutors investigate.

The prosecutor said he has to assess the viability of the 37-year-old case.

Coley is being held without bond.

Police: Mom arrested after leaving baby on car roof and driving off

By msnbc.com staff

Sat Jun 02 10:24:18 PDT 2012

Mother arrested after forgetting baby on roof of car

A woman has been charged with aggravated DUI and child abuse after her 1-month-old baby was found abandoned in the street. view 

A 19-year-old Arizona mother who police say left her 5-week-old baby strapped in a car seat atop her car roof and drove off is under arrest on child abuse and aggravated DUI charges, Phoenix-area media reported Saturday.

The child, found in the middle of the road, was "perfectly OK," said Officer James Holmes, Phoenix police spokesman, told The Arizona Republic.

The car seat was damaged, Holmes told TV station KTVK.

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The baby is in the custody of Arizona Child Protective Services, officials said.  At about 1 a.m. Saturday, police got calls from the area near North 45th Avenue and West Cholla Street in northwest Phoenix that a baby was in a car seat in the middle of a road, The Arizona Republic reported.Phoenix Fire Department officials found the baby and took him to a local hospital, officials said.  Holmes told reporters that the mother, Catalina Clouser, had apparently been smoking marijuana late Friday night at a nearby park with her boyfriend.  About 11 p.m. they left the park to buy some beer, and the boyfriend was arrested on aggravated DUI charges while on the way, Holmes told The Republic.  An upset Clouser then reportedly went to a friend's house, where police say she admitted smoking more marijuana, Holmes said. Clouser left the house with the baby asleep in the car seat about midnight, he said.efore driving away, Clouser apparently forgot that she had left her child sitting on the roof of her car, Holmes said.

Clouser realized the baby was missing when she reached home, and started calling friends to look for him and retrace her route, KTVK reported.

The friends ran into the officers investigating the found the baby, and when Clouser arrived, she was arrested, KTVK reported.

Australia teen dies after YouTube 'Final Goodbye' video goes viral

By Jim Gold, msnbc.com

A video uploaded to the Internet by a terminally ill 17-year-old has been watched by more than a million people around the world. Australian Shaun Wilson-Miller's film was originally intended to tell his friends he was dying, after his body rejected a second heart transplant, but a glitch uploaded the video to YouTube instead. ITN's Damon Green reports.

By Jim Gold, msnbc.com

Australia teenager Shaun Wilson-Miller died Saturday, just weeks after posting his emotional "My Final Goodbye" message that went viral on YouTube.

In the 17-year-old's video, intended for family and friends but seen by 1.9 million people by Sunday morning, the Melbourne schoolboy revealed he was suffering chronic heart rejection after his second transplant and that there could not be a third.

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"I won't be here for as long as I thought,'' he said in the video.
"This has been an awesome ride. I have no regrets,” he said. “Live life to the fullest because you never know what's going to happen.''

Dad Cameron Miller said his son's positive outlook had never faltered, with Shaun giving him constant hugs in recent days, the Herald Sun reported Sunday.
"He passed peacefully with me holding his hand; that is something the family will hold with us,'' he told the Herald Sun.
Tributes immediately began flowing in from around the world and from his beloved Essendon Football Club, the newspaper said.

Shaun Wilson-Miller, as seen in his YouTube video, "My Final Goodbye."

He had also found love with a fellow heart patient, the Herald Sun reported.
Shaun had sighed: "The hardest thing for me is leaving her, knowing that I won't get to marry her. To have kids together. To grow old together. That is what makes me sad.''
He recently filmed a guest appearance on the Australian TV show “The Neighbors” and met Essendon captain Jobe Watson.
Condolences message on his parents Facebook pages include, "You showed so much courage for so long,'' ninemsn TV reported. "Fly high sweet angel."
A June 15 fundraiser Shaun was planning for Heartkids has now been turned into a tribute for the teen, ninemsn reported.