Man acquitted of rape guilty of threatening prosecutor
BOZEMAN, Mont. - A Montana man who was acquitted of rape has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill the prosecutor and the detective involved.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported 35-year-old Jared Kuntz of Bozeman pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of intimidation in an agreement that recommends a five-year sentence with the Department of Corrections. The agency would determine his placement.
Kuntz was acquitted of the 2012 rape, but was convicted of a misdemeanor for giving alcohol to the 18-year-old woman.
In May 2016, Kuntz posted on his Facebook page saying he would beat the prosecutor and the detective to death with a baseball bat unless they each paid him $500,000.
Kuntz said he was frustrated because he spent 20 months in jail and nearly $100,000 defending himself. He said he "kind of vented on Facebook" and deeply regretted it.
Idaho sells five commercial properties, but five receive no bids
BOISE - Five properties Idaho officials offered at an auction sold for above appraised value, but five others didn't receive any bids.
The auction Wednesday by the Idaho Department of Lands brought in nearly $8.5 million, about $1.6 million above the appraised value.
An office building in Idaho Falls brought in the most at $5.3 million, $125,000 above its appraised value.
An office building in Boise sold for $1.6 million, nearly double its appraised value. Three parking lots in Boise also went for above the appraised value.
The five properties with no bids at or above the appraised value include a commercial building in Idaho Falls and four commercial lots in Meridian.
Board: Seattle officers' shooting of 19-year-old reasonable
SEATTLE - The Seattle Police Department's Force Review Board has found that it was reasonable for officers to kill a 19-year-old man during a shootout last April which also left an officer seriously wounded.
The Seattle Times reported on the board's findings Thursday in the shooting of Damarius Butts, who was being sought for flashing a gun while he and his sister stole doughnuts, potato chips and a 12-pack of beer from a downtown convenience store April 20.
Butts ran into the Federal Building, being chased by officers. He shot one in her ballistics vest, and she shot him. The review board said he continued firing shots as other officers arrived, striking one in the chin and another in his thumb.
Jury finds man guilty of causing women's fatal burns in Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. - A federal jury in Montana has found a man guilty of strangling a woman, pouring gasoline on her and setting her on fire, leading to her death more than two months later.
Jurors deliberated for two hours Thursday before finding 20-year-old Dimarzio Swade Sanchez of Busby guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2016 death of 28-year-old Roylynn Rides Horse.
Sanchez faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced on March 29.
Co-defendant Angelica Whiteman pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree murder for beating and strangling Rides Horse on the Crow Indian Reservation.
Prosecutors said the group had been drinking and were driving around when Whiteman and Rides Horse got into a fight that continued after Sanchez parked the car.
A passerby found Rides Horse 14 hours after the attack, suffering from third-degree burns and frostbite.
Man arrested with murder charges after toddler's death in SeaTac
SEATTLE - Authorities have arrested a Renton man in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy in SeaTac.
SeattlePI.com reported authorities responded to the Willow Lake Apartments Sunday afternoon on a report that the boy wasn't breathing.
The King County Sheriff's Office said the boy couldn't be resuscitated and was pronounced dead.
The sheriff's office said the boy's mother was at work at the time and had left her son in her boyfriend's care.
The 24-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night for investigation of murder and booked into jail.
Man who bilked $100 million from investors flees California prison
SEATTLE - Authorities say a Washington man who bilked investors out of more than $100 million in a Ponzi scheme has escaped from a federal prison in central California.
According to The Seattle Times, prison officials said 55-year-old Frederick Berg was discovered missing Wednesday from a minimum-security work camp next to a penitentiary in Atwater, Calif.
Berg in 2012 was sentenced to 18 years after pleading guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud.
Prosecutors have argued that Berg used investor funds from his company, Meridian Group, to buy Lear jets, yachts and million-dollar homes.
They said he used more than $100 million from more than 800 investors to keep his investment fraud scheme going.
Associated Press
