A runaway British aristocrat and convicted rapist were found guilty over their baby’s death. Here’s how their story unfolded
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Sycamore Gap: Two men convicted of felling one of UK’s most famous trees in September 2023
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage. The tree was located on the historic UNESCO World Heritage listed Hadrian’s Wall, which was constructed around 1,900 years ago. Both men will be sentenced on July 15. The sycamore tree was made famous to millions around the world when it appeared in the 1991 blockbuster movie “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves’’ The National Trust: “The needless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree shocked people, demonstrating the powerful connection between people and natural heritage.’ ’ The tree had stood sentinel on Britain’s Roman-built Hadrian’s Wall for more than 200 years before being felled in September 2023. “It took the two men “just under three minutes” to end the tree’s “historic legacy in a deliberate and mindless act of destruction,” a prosecutor said.
Two men have been found guilty of criminal damage for felling a landmark sycamore tree in northern England.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage, one relating to the tree and the other to Hadrian’s Wall that the tree fell on, according to the UK’s PA Media news agency on Friday.
The verdict was handed down following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in northeast England. Both men will be sentenced on July 15.
They will remain in custody until then, the judge ruled, noting that Graham has already been in custody “for his own protection” since December. Mrs Justice Lambert also remanded Carruthers, saying there “is a substantial risk” he will fail to surrender as well as a risk to his own welfare since his identity is widely known.
The tree had stood sentinel on Britain’s Roman-built Hadrian’s Wall for more than 200 years before being felled in September 2023.
The sycamore tree, located in the Northumberland National Park in northern England, was made famous to millions around the world when it appeared in Kevin Costner’s 1991 blockbuster movie “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”
The tree – at a spot known as “Sycamore Gap” – was located on the historic UNESCO World Heritage listed Hadrian’s Wall, which was constructed around 1,900 years ago to guard the furthest northwestern frontier of the Roman Empire.
During the trial, prosecutor Richard Wright KC said the felling was an act of “mindless vandalism.” He detailed how the two men drove 30 miles (48 kilometers) at night to reach the tree before one cut it down while the other filmed it.
Video Ad Feedback Watch CCTV footage of Sycamore Gap tree being cut down 00:24 – Source: CNN Watch CCTV footage of Sycamore Gap tree being cut down 00:24
The jury determined Graham and Carruthers caused £622,191 (about $826,000) of criminal damage to the tree and £1,144 ($1,500) of damage to Hadrian’s Wall, according to PA Media.
Jurors heard how the two men sometimes worked together and had experience of cutting down large trees. Although originally the “best of pals,” the two defendants now appear to have fallen out and their friendship has “unravelled,” the court was told.
During testimony, Graham told the court that Carruthers had told him that the tree “was the most famous tree in the world” and had spoken about cutting it down, reports PA Media.
Daniel Graham leaves Newcastle Crown Court. PA/AP
Adam Carruthers arrives at Newcastle Crown Court. PA/AP
As well as filming the felling, the pair later took photos and videos of a piece of wood next to a chainsaw in the back of Graham’s vehicle, the court heard.
“This was perhaps a trophy taken from the scene to remind them of their actions, actions that they appear to have been revelling in,” said Wright, who also detailed how the pair joked about cutting the tree down in WhatsApp messages the following day.
Tree destroyed in minutes
It took Graham and Carruthers “just under three minutes” to end the tree’s “historic legacy in a deliberate and mindless act of destruction,” Gale Gilchrist, a top prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement.
Northumbria Police said that “at no point have the two men given an explanation for why they targeted the tree – and there never could be a justifiable one.”
Sycamore Gap was considered one of the most photographed trees in England and was voted as English Tree of the Year in 2016.
The National Trust heritage charity, which co-manages the site, said in a statement Friday: “The needless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree shocked people around the country and overseas, demonstrating the powerful connection between people and our natural heritage.”
Fillmore Woman Arrested after Fatal Car Collision, Son and Oxnard Woman Killed
Myryam Castillo, 28, of Fillmore was arrested for two counts of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated. She was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility, but was later released after posting $100,000 bail. Two other children were also seriously injured in the collision and treated at local hospitals.
On July 2nd, Fillmore deputies reported to the scene of 1305 Ventura Street where a injury traffic collision had occurred around 8:45pm. Upon arrival, it was determined that two vehicles collided with one another head-on in the westbound lanes of Ventura Street.
Deputies found that Myryam Castillo of Fillmore had driven her car across the two-way center turn lane of Ventura Street, traveling in the opposite direction of traffic. Castillo’s vehicle fatally struck Maria DonDiego’s vehicle, killing the Oxnard woman and Castillo’s five-year-old son.
Two other children were also seriously injured in the collision and treated at local hospitals.
During their investigation, Camarillo Traffic Investigators obtained evidence that Castillo had consumed alcohol prior to getting behind the wheel.
On Tuesday, July 8th, the 28-year-old was arrested for two counts of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated. She was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility, but was later released after posting $100,000 bail.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or has any information about the incident is encouraged to contact Deputy Bradley Bordon at (805)-388-5146 or bradley.bordon@ventura.org.
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Virginia Giuffre, prominent Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse survivor and accuser of Prince Andrew, has died
Virginia Giuffre, 41, was a prominent survivor of financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes. She alleged Britain’s Prince Andrew abused her when she was a teenager. She was found unresponsive in her home near Perth, Western Australia, on Friday night. Her death is not being treated as suspicious, police said in a statement on Saturday. The mother of three was one of the most vocal accusers of the wealthy and well-connected sex offender Epstein. He was accused of running a child trafficking ring to provide him with girls as young as 14 for sex and nude massages at his homes in New York City and Florida.
Virginia Giuffre, a prominent survivor of financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes, who alleged Britain’s Prince Andrew abused her when she was a teenager, has died by suicide, her family said. She was 41.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” read a statement from the family.
Police confirmed that emergency services found a woman unresponsive in her home near Perth, Western Australia, on Friday night. She was pronounced dead at the scene after first aid was unsuccessful.
Her death is not being treated as suspicious, police said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,” her family said in the statement.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.”
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Giuffre, a mother of three, was one of the most vocal accusers of the wealthy and well-connected sex offender Epstein. In 2019, she publicly alleged Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including Prince Andrew, when she was 17 years old.
She also claimed the prince was aware she was underage in the US at the time.
Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the claims.
In July 2019, Epstein was indicted on one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, to which he pleaded not guilty. One month later, he died by suicide in prison.
He was accused of running a child trafficking ring to provide him with girls as young as 14 for sex and nude massages at his homes in New York City and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
A 2009 settlement agreement, unsealed in 2022, showed that Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 to drop a case without any admission of liability or fault.
Prior to that, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, one involving a 14-year-old girl, and served 13 months in prison under a controversial plea deal.
His ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and accused of facilitating Epstein’s abuse scheme. A jury in 2021 convicted her on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy. She was sentenced to 20 years in jail a year later.
Giuffre was not one of the four women who testified in the trial that they had been abused.
Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US, call or text 988, for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Globally, the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.
Gonzalo Cuevas extradited, tried, and sentenced to 48 years for sex crimes against three children
Cuevas was sentenced to 48 years in prison for a string of crimes. The crimes took place between the 1970s and the 1990s. Cuevas was arrested in Mexico and extradited back to the U.S. for the crimes. He was sentenced by a judge in Santa Barbara, California. The judge ruled that Cuevas must serve at least 20 years before he can be eligible for parole. The case is still pending.
Before Cuevas could be arrested for the crimes, he fled to Mexico in 2019 and he was eventually caught and extradited back to the country explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office share that the alleged abuse in this case took place in Goleta between January of 2014 and January of 2019.
After being extradited, six additional survivors came forward and detailed that Cuevas has molested them and their allegations ranged from the late 1970s to the mid-2010s stated the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
The 61-year-old former Goleta resident was not charged for those new allegations due to the statute of limitations as well as the conditions of the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
In January of this year, he was arraigned on his original charges and was sentenced by Judge Pauline Maxwell in Department 2 of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court shared the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
“While these crimes could not be alleged due to the statute of limitations and the nuances of our extradition treaty with Mexico, the bravery of these victims in coming forward certainly encouraged the Defendant to take responsibility for his actions after decades of having abused young girls within his reach,” read a press release about the sentencing Friday from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. “All too often, survivors of sexual abuse remain silent out of fear that no one will believe them. Like many others, the historical victims in this case believed their voices would be dismissed. But the three named victims found the strength to come forward, and through their bravery, they brought an end to the Defendant’s decades-long pattern of abuse. With the dedicated work of Senior Deputy District Attorney Lauren Franco, who prosecuted the case, these girls and women finally secured the justice they so rightfully deserved.”
Father Detained by ICE at Oxnard Gas Station, Leaving his Two Children Still in Car
A father was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at an Oxnard gas station, leaving behind his two children still in the vehicle. The identity of the man was not released, and why he was detained is unknown.
805 UndocuFund says on May 4th, around 9:30am, a man stopped at a Sinclar gas station at the intersection of Ventura Rd. and Wooley Blvd. in Oxnard. A witness says as the man got out of his truck to pump his gas, a group of vehicles pulled up and surrounded him.
Fox 11 details the man was taken into custody quickly, leaving one minor child and their older 19-year-old sibling in their father’s truck. The group says the children were “old enough to be left alone but unable to drive, stranded, and powerless to leave.”
The witness told 805 UndocuFund he helped the children move the truck away from the pump, they then called their sister to come pick them up.
The identity of the man was not released, and why he was detained is unknown.