All Blog Posts from Crimesider

NEW YORK - Holly Sampson and Veronica Siwik-Daniels, two women who have claimed they had sexual affairs with embattled golfer Tiger Woods, appear to have complicated personal histories.

Siwik-Daniels, a 32-year-old adult actress who performs under the name Joslyn James, is wanted in Washington State for unpaid child support. Sampson, a 36-year-old porn star, appears to also be a paid escort, according to a series of Internet advertisements and Michelle Braun, a busted Hollywood madam who told E! Network and the New York Daily News that she hired Sampson to entertain Woods. Braun also provided tax returns that purport to show her travel agency front company paid Sampson more than $24,000 in 2009.

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LOS ANGELES - Samantha Geimer, the woman who Roman Polanski raped as a 13-year-old girl in 1977, is now fighting in a California court to set the embattled director free.

Geimer's attorney, Lawrence Silver, argued in front of California’s Second District Court of Appeal for an end to the 32-year-old case, Thursday Dec. 10, saying Geimer has repeatedly said she wants it dropped, and citing a recently adopted law allowing victims to have a say in cases.

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LOS ANGELES - Michael Barrett, the 48-year-old insurance executive who allegedly made secret nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, is set to plead guilty to stalking in the case, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Andrews was unknowingly taped in peephole videos showing her naked in hotel rooms as she traveled across the country to cover sporting events for the all-sports network.

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ORLANDO, Fla. - Attorneys for Florida mother Casey Anthony, charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, are expected to ask a judge to stop prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

A hearing in Anthony's case is set to begin Friday morning in Orlando.

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LOS ANGELES - When it comes to peddling porn, Larry Flynt wants you to know his videos of people having sex are a cut above other smut on the rack.

So when a pair of nephews Flynt personally groomed for the porn business decided to launch their own company last year and use the family name, the creator of "Barely Legal," "Busty Beauties" and "Daddy Gets Lucky" wasted no time suing the upstarts for trademark infringement.

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NEW YORK - Raymond Martinez was running a common scam on the throngs of holiday tourists in Times Square, pushing shoppers to buy his CDs, police said.

But Martinez was no ordinary peddler, they said: He was carrying a loaded machine gun and had a handful of business cards from gun dealers in his pockets.

The 25-year-old was shot to death by a plainclothes police sergeant Thursday after trading gunfire in the taxi area of the landmark Marriott Marquis hotel.

Sgt. Christopher Newsom operates a task force that monitors aggressive panhandling and was patrolling with an anti-crime unit when he recognized Martinez and his brother from past run-ins. He asked the two for their tax stamps, which allow peddlers to sell on the streets. But Martinez took off running, through to the hotel's passenger drop-off area.

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NEW YORK - Every villain knows you don't mess with Catwoman. A burglar who allegedly stole $25,000 worth of jewelry from famed "Catwoman" actress Julie Newmar found out the hard way.

Robert Ouriel, 48, of West Los Angeles, was charged with grand theft and scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. Police say he tried to sell the stolen gems on eBay.

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NEW YORK - Crimesider can’t say for certain if Veronica Siwik-Daniels, who performs under the name Joslyn James, is romantically linked to Tiger Woods as has been reported on Deadspin.com and The Daily Mirror. What we do know for sure is she is wanted in Washington State for being a deadbeat mom.

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NEW YORK - It was a scene straight out of a movie.

That's what one eyewitness says of the all-too-real shootout in New York's Times Square Thursday afternoon, where a plainclothes police officer chased and gunned down a man on sidewalks crowded with holiday shoppers and tourists. Police described the suspect as a scam artist. In earlier reports, he had been described as a panhandler.

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NEW YORK - A scam artist opened fire on police in busy Times Square on Thursday afternoon and was shot and killed by an officer near the famed Marriott Marquis hotel, police said.

No one else was injured. The 25-year-old suspect was recognized by a plainclothes sergeant on a task force that monitors aggressive panhandling, and took off running through to the hotel's passenger drop-off area, chief New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

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