Briefly 6/8/18

Hannibal man gets life term for killing father with crossbow

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- A man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his father with a crossbow and hiding the corpse in a freezer inside a northeast Missouri home.

The Hannibal Courier-Post reported 32-year-old Carl Goldberg, formerly of Las Vegas, was sentenced Thursday. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February.

The body of Carl Maxwell was found in October 2015 inside a freezer in a Hannibal home, but authorities believe he was killed in February 2015.

In a written confession, Goldberg said he and Maxwell were involved in an argument, after which Maxwell fell asleep in a chair. Goldberg said he used the crossbow to shoot Maxwell in the chest as the older man slept. After about 20 minutes, he shot Maxwell a second time in the head.

Arkansas lobbyist pleads guilty in bribery scheme

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- An ex-lobbyist has pleaded guilty in a multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe Arkansas lawmakers and embezzle from a Missouri-based not-for-profit where he worked.

Rusty Cranford of Rogers, Arkansas, admitted paying bribes to former state Sen. Jon Woods, former state Rep. Henry Wilkins IV and a legislator identified only as "Arkansas Senator A."

Outside his lobbying work, Cranford oversaw Springfield, Missouri-based Preferred Family Healthcare's operations in Arkansas.Woods has been convicted and Wilkins has pleaded guilty. Both await sentencing.

A plea agreement unveiled Thursday described "Senator A" as the sponsor of two bills legislative records attribute solely to Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, a nephew of Arkansas' governor. The senator's lawyer, Tim Dudley, said he had reviewed the plea agreement and said he was confident Hutchinson did nothing illegal or unethical.

Woman sentenced for supporting ISIS on Twitter

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A 40-year-old southern Missouri woman who sent threatening messages to several people in support of the Islamic State will spend years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said Safya Roe Yassin, of Buffalo, was sentenced Thursday to nine years in federal prison without parole. Federal prosecutors said Yassin used several Twitter accounts to transmit information she believed was from the Islamic State, including soliciting violence against two FBI employees and two former members of the military and their families.

Prosecutors say those four victims were targeted only because of their service to the U.S.

Using the name "Muslimah," Yassin tweeted messages supporting ISIS or reposted messages she knew were from ISIS operatives.Some of the tweets including identifying information of the victims with the phrase "Wanted to Kill."

Woman pleads guilty to abandoning corpse in Missouri

NEOSHO, Mo. -- An Arkansas woman accused in a man's death in Missouri has pleaded guilty to abandonment of his corpse

The Joplin Globe reported 40-year-old Brandy House received a suspended sentence and supervised probation in a plea bargain Monday.

House and 37-year-old Derek Reeves were charged in 2015 with abandonment of the corpse of 43-year-old Luther Wren along a McDonald County road.

Police said a witness reported a murder in a Neosho RV park that year and accused Reeves of being responsible. Reeves and House lived in the RV park for some time.

Reeves led investigators to the body but denied killing him. A medical examiner couldn't determine the cause of death because of the corpse's decomposed state.

Reeves pleaded guilty to abandoning the corpse and other changes in 2016.

Crash sends $25,000 in coins onto highway in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City police said a crash involving an armored truck sent thousands of dollars in coins spilling across a highway

The accident happened Thursday when the armored truck stopped at an intersection in northern Kansas City and was hit from behind by a truck. KCTV reports the force of the collision dumped about $25,000 in coins onto Missouri Highway 152. The highway was closed for about four hours as employees from the armored car company used shovels, brooms, leaf blowers and then vacuums to clean it all up.

The driver of the truck was critically injured. The armored truck driver was not injured.

-- From wire reports