Texas Courthouse Suspects: Sombrero Wearing, Dancing Drunks

Bexar Co. Sheriff's Dept.(BEXAR COUNTY, Texas) -- Authorities investigating a break-in at a Texas courthouse overnight now believe the incident was little more than a "prank" by drunken 20-somethings, officials said.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff told ABC News the three men arrested in what the FBI initially considered a "high-priority" situation were spotted on the court's surveillance tapes dancing in the hallways and waving the court's gavel, all while wearing sombreros.

Wolff said they appeared to be "having a good time" and "could just be some guys on a prank."

The men, who a senior FBI official said appear to be of Moroccan descent, reportedly forced their way into the courthouse around 1 a.m. Two other men, who were outside the courthouse, were also arrested, Bexar County Sheriff's Department spokesman Louis Antu said.

In the course of their investigation, authorities uncovered pictures of courthouses and water systems from around the U.S. in the van used by the men, law enforcement officials said. Bomb-sniffing dogs were called to the scene as a precautionary measure but no explosives were found, Antu said. One FBI official said there did not appear to be an immediate threat to public safety.

An official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who is also assisting in the investigation, told ABC News that two of the men had names similar to two that appear on an FBI watchlist.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Cupcake Attack: Wife Charged with Domestic Battery

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) -- Dawn Montesdeoca, 50, of Chicago, used an unusually sweet weapon when she assaulted her husband, Arturo Montesdeoca, 56, with cupcakes during an argument that got progressively sticky and ended with a charge of domestic battery.

The fight began as a verbal disagreement around 7:30 p.m. Saturday but soon escalated to a physical altercation.

“The woman struck the husband about the head with her hands and then commenced to hit him with cupcakes,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement.

When police arrived, they found Arturo Monesdeoca with icing smeared on his head and clothes. Police arrested his wife for misdemeanor domestic battery.

On Sunday morning, Cook County Circuit Judge Adam D. Bourgeois Jr. charged Montesdeoca and released her from jail on a $10,000 bond and ordered electronic monitoring.

Arturo Montesdeoca reportedly told police that his wife had been verbally aggressive, and that he feared for his safety when he called police, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Dawn Montesdeoca is scheduled to appear in Domestic Violence Court Nov. 1.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Woman Who Killed, Ate Husband Denied Parole

Hemera/Thinkstock(CHOWCILLA, Calif.) -- A California woman has been denied parole from a 25-years-to-life prison term she's been serving for killing her husband -- and then cooking and eating some of his remains.

Omaima Nelson, a former nanny and model whom prosecutors compared to the fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, was convicted in 1993 of second-degree murder in the death of her 56-year-old husband, William. A psychiatrist testified that she was probably psychotic at the time of the killing.

Nelson, a native of Egypt who was 23 at the time of the murder, will not again be eligible for parole for 15 years, or until 2026, according to a prosecutor at her parole hearing, Randy Pawloski.

Nelson was not represented by an attorney as she appeared before parole commissioners at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowcilla, Calif.

She was denied parole partly because, according to Pawloski, she shows no remorse, takes no responsibility for her actions and still blames the victims.

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 1991, prosecutors said Nelson pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed her husband in their apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif. She then cut off her husband's head and genitals.

According to the DA's office, Nelson cooked her husband's hands in oil, boiled the head and placed it in the freezer. She later used a garbage disposal to get rid of the chopped-up body parts.

Nelson claimed she was acting in self-defense because her husband was sexually assaulting her; prosecutors claimed that she was probably planning to rob him. They said she enlisted the help of two ex-boyfriends to remove her husband's teeth so his remains could not be identified.

Nelson previously tried to seek parole in 2006, but was denied after prosecutors argued she was a still a threat.

The case is listed as one of the 50 most notorious crimes in Orange County history.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Mom Drives Off with Suspected Burglar in Family Car

Comstock/Photodisc/Thinkstock(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Shannon Carter knew suspected burglars were on the loose in her neighborhood, but she didn't expect to find one stowed away in the trunk of her car.

"It was like out of the horror movies," Carter told ABC News Sacramento, Calif., affiliate News10.

The Sacramento mom took her kids to the movies Tuesday morning and returned home around noon to find officers and K-9 units from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department searching her neighborhood, according to News10. A neighbor told her suspected burglars were thought to be lurking in the area.

Carter went inside the house to pack lunches to take to the park and recalls leaving the garage open for a few minutes before closing it and locking the doors. She piled her kids and a neighborhood child into her seven-person SUV and drove to Elk Grove Park.

"All of a sudden, I look behind and this guy's head comes popping up," Carter said. "It was so freaky. [He] pops up out of the back of the car and my kids are screaming their heads off."

Carter said the suspect repeatedly said, "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," which she said was comforting in the moment. Carter said the young man told her he had gotten into a fight at school and was just trying to get away.

Carter described him as between the ages of 16 and 18 with a sandy-colored buzz cut.
The man got out of the car and began to run off before stopping to apologize for scaring the children and asked Carter not to call the police. Carter saw him run across the street and ask to use a cellphone from a group of teenagers. After not being able to reach whoever he was calling, he took off.

After he fled, Carter immediately called 911. By the time police arrived, though, the suspect was long gone and has not yet been located.

The Sacramento Sherriff's Department was searching Carter's neighborhood after they responded to a nearby call for a burglary in progress. A neighbor saw two males break the window of a house and enter, but the two men ran away before police could catch them. A three-hour search was unsuccessful and the authorities expanded the perimeter of the search to include Carter's neighborhood.

While no definitive connection has been made between the burglar and the man in the car, Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ramos said it is "very conceivable" that the teenager in Carter's car was one of the two suspects who broke into a nearby home.

"Her description of the guy is consistent with one of the people responsible for the burglary," Ramos said. "There's a good possibility that this is one of the guys that got away from us."

Ramos said the man did not show any signs of injury, according to Carter, so his story about getting in a fight "didn't jive." Ramos said the man was probably "not the most sophisticated, seasoned criminal" and was likely panicked about how he would get away.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio