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Speaker 1: Crime Alard hourly update Breaking crime news Now.

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Speaker 2: I'm Nicole Pardon. Tragedy struck outside the Capital Jewish Museum

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Speaker 2: in Washington, DC as a young couple both aides at

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Speaker 2: the Israeli Embassy were shot and killed. Confirmed by authorities,

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Speaker 2: the incident occurred on Wednesday at around nine pm local time,

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Speaker 2: prompting a swift response from the Metropolitan Police Department after

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Speaker 2: multiple reports of gunfire in the vicinity of Third Street.

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Speaker 2: Chief Pamela Smith addressed the media, saying officers arrived to

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Speaker 2: find a male and female adult unconscious and not breathing.

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Speaker 2: The Israeli Foreign Minister later confirmed on social media that

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Speaker 2: the deceased were embassy personnel. The Israeli Embassy in the

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Speaker 2: US shared a tribute post on social media honoring the victims,

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Speaker 2: Sarah Milgrim and Yuran Lajinski, describing them as quote dear

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Speaker 2: friends and colleagues who were quote living their best life.

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Speaker 2: During the press briefing, Chiefs Smith reported that both individuals

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Speaker 2: had died despite attempts to revive them, mentioning that initial

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Speaker 2: investigations indicate they were leaving an event at the Capitol

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Speaker 2: Jewish Museum when the shooting occurred. Quote We believe a

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Speaker 2: single suspect is responsible and he is now in custody.

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Speaker 2: She said.

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Speaker 3: The preliminary investigation indicates that both victims were exiting an

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Speaker 3: event at the Capital Jewish Museum, located in the five

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Speaker 3: hundred block of Third Street Northwest, when the shooting occurred.

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Speaker 3: We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect

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Speaker 3: who is now in custody. Prior to the shooting, the

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Speaker 3: suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum.

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Speaker 3: He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun

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Speaker 3: and opened fire, striking both of our decedents. After the shooting,

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Speaker 3: the suspect then entered the museum and was detained by

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Speaker 3: event security.

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Speaker 2: Prior to the shooting, the suspect was seen behaving radically

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Speaker 2: outside the museum. To Smith quote, he approached a group

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Speaker 2: of four people, brandished a gun and opened fire, targeting

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Speaker 2: our victims, she explained. After the attack, security personnel at

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Speaker 2: the museum detained the suspect, who later revealed the location

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Speaker 2: of the firearm, which has been recovered. Smith also noted

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Speaker 2: that the suspect made statements indicating his admission of guilt

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Speaker 2: while in custody. He chanted free free Palestine, she added,

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Speaker 2: tentively identifying the suspect as thirty year old Elias Rodriguez

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Speaker 2: from Chicago, Illinois. Israeli ambassador to the US shared poignant

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Speaker 2: details about the victims during a press conference, stating they

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Speaker 2: were on the verge of an engagement. The couple that

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Speaker 2: was tragically taken from US in the name of quote

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Speaker 2: free Palestine had plans to get engaged, he said. He

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Speaker 2: revealed that the young man had purchased an engagement ring

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Speaker 2: just days prior and intended to propose in Jerusalem soon. Quote.

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Speaker 2: They were a lovely couple enjoying a night out in

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Speaker 2: Washington's Cultural Hub. In response to the incident, President Donald

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Speaker 2: Trump expressed his outrage on his truth social platform, stating, quote,

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Speaker 2: these horrific killings in d C, clearly motivated by anti Semitism,

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Speaker 2: must come to an end immediately. Hatred and radicalism have

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Speaker 2: no place in America. My condolences to the victim's family.

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Speaker 2: It is heartbreaking that such acts can occur. God bless

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Speaker 2: you all. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Christy Nome,

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Speaker 2: also addressed the tragedy on social media, saying, quote, two

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Speaker 2: staff members from the Israeli Embassy were senselessly murdered tonight

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Speaker 2: near the Jewish Museum in Washington, d C. We are

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Speaker 2: actively investigating and will share more information as it becomes available.

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Speaker 2: Please pray for the victim's families, she said. Or crime

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Speaker 2: and justice news after this and now to Illinois, where

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Speaker 2: a man has received a sentence after being found guilty

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Speaker 2: by a jury for the of his mother, whom he

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Speaker 2: strangled with a bungee cord. Neil Howard, forty six, was

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Speaker 2: handed a thirty year prison term for killing sixty year

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Speaker 2: old Norma Character shortly after she returned home from a date.

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Speaker 2: This as reported by the Madison County State Attorney's Office.

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Speaker 2: During the trial, Assistant State Attorney Luke Yeager highlighted Howard's

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Speaker 2: alleged motivations, saying, quote, this defendant reached his breaking point

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Speaker 2: with his mother. He was fed up with her dating

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Speaker 2: life and her refusal to give him money. Jeger explained

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Speaker 2: that Howard's anger grew increasingly intense, until, after consuming alcohol,

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Speaker 2: he could no longer contain himself. In a moment of rage,

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Speaker 2: he wrapped that bungee cord around her neck and pulled

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Speaker 2: until she died. At the time of the incident, Howard

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Speaker 2: was residing in the basement of his mother's home in Troy,

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Speaker 2: a city near the Missouri border roughly twenty five miles

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Speaker 2: northeast of Saint Louis. On September thirteenth, twenty three, around

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Speaker 2: one thirty am, Howard called nine to one one, expressing

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Speaker 2: concern that his mother was unresponsive. Upon their arrival, police

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Speaker 2: discovered character's body in bed with a bungee cord secured

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Speaker 2: around her neck. Authorities later concluded that she was likely

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Speaker 2: murdered shortly after returning home from a date. Following a

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Speaker 2: two week trial earlier this year, Howard was convicted of murder,

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Speaker 2: with the jury taking three hours to reach their verdict.

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Speaker 2: At the sentencing hearing, Yeger urged the judge to impose

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Speaker 2: a forty five year sentence, citing Howard's prior arrest related

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Speaker 2: to other family members and an existing order of protection. Quote,

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Speaker 2: it is evident that this defendant exhibits violent tendencies, particularly

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Speaker 2: towards women, Yeger remarked during the proceedings. Ultimately, circuit Judge

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Speaker 2: Amy Mayer sentenced Howard to thirty years in prison, stipulating

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Speaker 2: that he must serve the entire sentence without the possibility

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Speaker 2: of parole.

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Speaker 1: How could a beautiful, young first grade teacher be stabbed

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Speaker 1: twenty times, including in the back, allegedly died of suicide. Yes,

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Speaker 1: that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a closed

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Speaker 1: door meeting. He first named it a homicide. Why what

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Speaker 1: Happened to Ellen Greenberg a huge American miscarriage of justice.

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Speaker 1: For an in depth look at the facts, see What

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Speaker 1: Happened to Ellen on Amazon. All proceeds to the National

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Speaker 1: Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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Speaker 2: For the latest crime in justice news, follow Crime Alert

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Speaker 2: hourly update on your favorite podcasting app with this crime Alert.

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Speaker 2: I'm Nico Parton