Karas on Crime

Charles Merritt Trial
2019-01-07 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Opening statements and testimony are set to begin today in the capital murder trial of Charles Merritt, accused of killing all four members of the McStay family in 2010. The McStays lived in San Diego County but their remains were found years later in shallow graves in San Bernardino County. The judge is allowing the trial to be televised.

Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Civil Trial to Begin in California
2018-12-03 09:00 - 17:00
Judy Huth says she was only 15 years old when Bill Cosby allegedly drugged and raped her at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1974. While it’s too late for a criminal prosecution, Huth filed a civil suit against Cosby in December 2014. The case is set for trial today.

Robert Durst Preliminary Hearing
2018-04-16 09:00 - 17:00
Durst is charged with murder in the Dec. 2000 execution-style death of his friend Susan Berman. The hearing to determine if there’s sufficient evidence to go forward was continued to this date from last October because Durst’s Houston-based attorneys sustained damage from Hurricane Harvey. Durst denies killing Berman.

Bill Cosby Retrial in PA
2018-04-02 09:00 - 17:00
Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial is scheduled to begin in Norristown, PA. A jury from the Pittsburgh area deadlocked on June 17, 2017. Cosby’s legal defense is now headed by LA attorney Tom Mesereau.

Todd Kendhammer Sentencing
2018-03-09 09:00 - 17:00
Todd Kendhammer faces a sentence of life in prison for the first degree murder of his wife Barbara in September 2016. A jury convicted his last December following a trial at which he testified.

McStay Family Murders--Status Conference
2018-01-12 09:00 - 17:00
Charles “Chase” Merritt will be in court for a status conference today. He faces four counts of capital murder in the Feb. 2010 bludgeoning murder of Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr. Merritt was arrested in November 2014.

Teresa Sievers Murder Case
2018-01-11 13:30 - 14:30
Mark Sievers has been in custody since February 2016, charged with hiring two men to kill his wife Teresa. One man, Curtis Wayne Wright, took a plea and will be a witness for the prosecution. The other hitman, Jimmy Rodgers, continues to face murder charges. Today is a case management conference date. The case should be moving to trial this year.

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2017-12-31

Todd Kendhammer Trial
2017-12-04 09:00 - 17:00
The murder trial of Todd Kendhammer accused of bludgeoning his wife to death in Wisconsin is set to begin today. The judge set aside Dec. 4 to 15 for the trial.

Bill Cosby Retrial
2017-11-06 09:00 - 17:00
Bill Cosby’s retrial for alleged sexual assault of Andrea Constand in 2004 is scheduled to begin today with jury selection.

Robert Durst Preliminary Hearing
2017-10-17 09:00 - 17:00
Durst is scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing. The prosecution is expected to present enough evidence to establish probable cause that Durst murdered his friend, Susan Berman, in December 2000. If the evidence is sufficient, Durst will be bound over for trial.

Trial of Man Accused of Killing Jessica Chambers
2017-10-09 09:00 - 17:00
A man accused of murdering Jessica Chambers, 19, by setting her car on fire in December 2014 in Mississippi, is scheduled for trial today. Quinton Tellis faces capital murder charges. He was indicted in February 2016.

Second Slenderman Trial
2017-10-02 09:00 - 17:00
The trial of Morgan Geyser, accused of attempted first degree murder, for stabbing a friend 19 times in order to please a fictional, online character known the “Slenderman” is scheduled to begin today. Co-defendant Anissa Weier’s trial was scheduled for September 11 in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Both girls were 12 when they stabbed Payton Leutner. Leutner has recovered from her injuries. The defendants are being tried as adults.

Charles Merritt: McStay Family Murder Trial
2017-09-25 09:00 - 17:00
A tentative date has been set for Charles “Chase’ Merritt who is accused of murdering the McStay family of four in February 2010. He faces 4 counts of capital murder. The bodies were found in shallow graves in San Bernardino County in November 2013. Merritt had a business relationship with Joseph McStay.

Shayna Hubers Retrial--Moved to Jan. 2018
2017-09-18 09:00 - 17:00
Hubers is accused of fatally shooting her boyfriend Ryan Poston on Oct. 12, 2012 in Kentucky. She was convicted in 2015 but given a new trial when it was learned that one of the jurors was a felon. The retrial is originally set for today but is now rescheduled for January 2018.

First Trial in Holly Bobo Murder
2017-09-11 09:00 - 17:00

First Slenderman Trial
2017-09-11 09:00 - 17:00
The trial of Anissa Weier, accused of attempted first degree murder, for stabbing a friend 19 times in order to please a fictional, online character known the “Slenderman” is scheduled to begin today. Co-defendant Morgan Geyser’s trial is scheduled for October 2 in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Both girls were 12 when they stabbed Payton Leutner. Leutner has recovered from her injuries. The defendants are being tried as adults.

Angelika Graswald Trial (Death on the Hudson)
2017-08-15 09:00 - 17:00
The second-degree murder trial of Angelika Graswald was scheduled to begin today. She was accused of letting her fiance drown in the Hudson River when his kayak took on water. Did she intentionally not assist him so he wouldn’t drown? The State says she admitted to acts that created a risk to Vincent Viafore’s life but the defense says she made false admissions. Viafore drowned on April 19, 2015. His body was found more than a month later in the Hudson River in update New York State. If convicted, Graswald faced 25 years to life in prison. UPDATE: On July 24, 2017, Graswald pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide, a low level felony that carried 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison. She should be out by December.

PSU Hazing Death Preliminary Hearing Continued
2017-08-10 08:30 - 17:00
The preliminary hearing against a Penn State University fraternity and 18 students for the hazing death of a student last February continues today and into tomorrow, if necessary. The hearing was begun in June and adjourned to today.

Michelle Carter Sentencing
2017-08-03 09:00 - 17:00
Michelle Carter is to be sentenced today. She faces up to 20 years. On June 16, 2017, a Massachusetts judge convicted 20-year-old Michelle Carter of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. The encouragement was via text messages. Carter waived her right to trial by jury and opted for the judge to decide.

Jody Herring Trial
2017-08-01 09:00 - 17:00
UPDATE: Herring pled guilty to murder on July 6, 2017. She faces a minimum of 55 years in prison. A sentencing hearing that could last up to five days may take place in October. (This was a tentative trial date for Herring, accused of murdering a social worker and three relatives in Vermont.)

Robert Durst Hearing
2017-07-24 09:00 - 17:00
More witnesses will testify in a pretrial hearing in Robert Durst’s murder case in Los Angeles. Durst is accused of fatally shooting his close friend Susan Berman allegedly to silence her from speaking to authorities about the disappearance of his first wife Kathleen in 1982.

Dalia Dippolito Sentencing
2017-07-21 09:00 - 17:00
Dalia Dippolito faces up to 30 years in prison for hiring a hitman to kill her husband. She is scheduled to be sentenced today.

Angelika Graswald Pretrial Conference
2017-07-17 14:00 - 17:00
Graswald is charged with second degree murder for the drowning death of her fiance Vince Viafore on April 19, 2015 while the couple was kayaking on the Hudson River in New York. This could be the final pretrial conference before her August 15, 2017 trial.

Mark Sievers/Jimmy Rodgers Hearing
2017-07-14 08:30 - 12:00
A case management hearing is scheduled for today at 8:30 am in Fort Myers, FL (Lee County) in the capital murder case of Mark Sievers, accused of hiring Jimmy Rodgers and Curtis Wayne Wright to murder his wife Teresa, a popular physician in the community.

First Trial in Holly Bobo Murder
2017-07-10 09:00 - 17:00
The trial of Zachary Adams, the first of three men accused of murdering Holly Bobo in 2011 in Tennessee, was scheduled to begin today. It has been rescheduled for September 11, 2017.

Angelika Graswald Hearing
2017-06-20 09:00 - 17:00
A hearing is set for today as attorneys prepare for an August trial. Graswald is charged with second-degree murder in the drowning death of her fiance Vincent Viafore on April 19, 2015.

Adnan Syed Appellate Argument
2017-06-08 09:00 - 13:00
A Maryland Court of Appeals will hear argument on Syed’s appeal that he be granted bail pending a new trial.

Bampumim Teixeira Court Appearance
2017-06-08 09:00 - 10:00
This is the first court appearance since Teixeira’s hospital arraignment. He is being held without bond on two counts of murder for the May 5, 2017 murder of two Massachusetts physicians who were engaged to be married. Richard Field, 49, and Lina Bolanos, 38, both anesthesiologists, were found with their throats slit and their hands tied.

Michelle Carter Trial
2017-06-05 09:00 - 17:00
Michelle Carter is charged with manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide via text messages. She was not with him when he killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014 in Massachusetts. Both were teens at the time. Carter is now 20 years old. The trial was continued to today from March 6.
