The latest battle over genetically modified organisms is brewing in Key West. On one side, a British biotechnology firm called Oxitec and a mild-mannered Midwesterner by the name of Michael Doyle, who heads mosquito control operations in the Keys. Together, they want to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the heart of…
Nicole Okrzesik and James Ayers have been arrested in the March murder of 19-year-old Juliana Mensch.We’ve already brought you the creepy text messages between Okrzesik and Ayers after the crime and the homicidal Google searches Okrzesik allegedly made, but there’s more: In addition to text-message arguments about what to do…
If you haven’t already heard about the weirdest DUI arrest since the Ron Jon Surf Shop guy got caught drinking Four Loko in his car, a quick run-down: Police say Orange County anesthesiologist Zachary Bird was arrested on DUI charges after he almost side-swiped a cop car and failed sobriety…
For more than a year, New Times has been investigating Thompson Academy, a publicly funded, privately run juvenile detention center in Pembroke Pines where teens have alleged they faced physical and sexual abuse. Most recently, the lockup’s top administrator, Craig Ferguson, left his post while under investigation by the state…
We’ve got a twofer of animal stories out of Palm Beach County. The first is from Delray Beach: According to police, two men tried to break into a house on Swinton Avenue on May 17 by chucking a brick through a window but fled when they discovered the windows were…
People magazine broke a story Tuesday under the headline “Casey Anthony Flushed Out of Hiding.” It featured Orlando lawyer Matt Morgan saying that he’d found Casey Anthony in order to serve her papers in a lawsuit but that at the 11th hour, her lawyers accepted the papers for her.”Our investigation…
Aside from the kids in the Palm Beach County jail, tenth-grade students at Mavericks High in Palm Springs fared worse on the FCAT reading test than any of their peers in the county, according to data released last week by the state Department Education. Only 7 percent of the 54…
Broward Sheriff’s Office Det. Anthony Costanzo faces charges of witness tampering, evidence tampering, disclosure of confidential information, and felony use of a two-way communication device, all of which could theoretically put him in prison for life.But a review of county personnel files shows Costanzo as a 13-year officer who, once he…
An early-morning message from Village Voice Media:Every week, writers for New Times Broward-Palm Beach and our parent company, Village Voice Media, produce elegant magazine-style feature writing — a gritty portion of which comes in the form of true-crime stories.Now VVM has collected some of its best recent true-crime yarns into…
A federal judge has found that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “had a policy of threatening hospital staff” who refused when ordered by police to take blood samples in DUI cases, finding that “this policy directly impacted the Fourth Amendment rights of hospital employees… the Sheriff’s Department knew or…
UPDATE, 6/7: Okrzesik was indicted today for first-degree murder.Original post, 5/21:Police say 19-year-old Juliana Mensch was strangled in a Fort Lauderdale home by two of her friends, James Ayers and his girlfriend, Nicole Okrzesik, who wanted to rob her for drug money. Ayers was arrested several days following the killing…
UPDATE 5/18: Goodman was released from jail this morning and is now home in Wellington.5/17: When polo mogul John Goodman goes home to Wellington to serve house arrest while appealing his conviction for DUI manslaughter, he will join a prestigious group of felons who had a similar luxury. As we…
Broward Sheriff’s Office Det. Anthony Costanzo turned himself in yesterday on charges of witness tampering, evidence tampering, disclosure of confidential information and felony use of a two-way communication device — all of which are felonies and one of which, witness tampering, which carries a potential life sentence.The Broward County State Attorney’s Office…
On Monday, George Zimmerman’s lawyers posted on Facebook that they’d received documents and digital records that included “witness statements, 911 calls, nonemergency calls, photos, video, medical records, and more.” Mysteriously, that was the same day ABC News got hold of a medical report that says Zimmerman suffered a broken nose,…
A federal judge declined today to release a man from prison where he is serving a 24-year term on drug charges, despite the fact that prosecutors have agreed to drop the charges against him. Elroy Phillips will remain in federal prison in Miami while prosecutors and his defense attorney file a…
Multimillionaire John Goodman will soon return to the lap of luxury, at home beside the lush green grounds of the International Polo Club he founded in Wellington. Rather than immediately serving his 16-year prison sentence, he will win this get-out-of-jail pass after posting a $7 million bond and paying for…
A hearing in Palm Beach Circuit Court this morning hammered out the final details of John Goodman’s release on bond while he appeals his conviction (and 16-year sentence) in the 2010 death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson. It looks like what was agreed to late Friday, but the document wasn’t finalized…
We told you yesterday about James Benjamin, the 39-year-old accused of killing Jessica Delgado, his ex-girlfriend and mother of two children with him. The way he reportedly told it to police, the two of them got in a fight early May 8 because she was dating someone else and didn’t…
A federal inmate who has served 11 years on drug charges he says he didn’t commit has convinced prosecutors to let him out of prison. Elroy Phillips refused to accept his fate after being sentenced to 30 years on charges of selling drugs to an undercover cop. He conducted records…
If James Benjamin has a lawyer, he should be fired.According to police, the 39-year-old Lake Worth man admitted to the murder and rape of 36-year old Jessica Delgado, a mother of five children, including two she had with Benjamin. Police say Delgado’s body was discovered by relatives the morning of…
Update, 5/21: We’ve got the Google searches made from Okrzesik’s phone the night of the murder. They’re not nice at all. Update 2: Also their Facebook messages.Original post, 5/14:Police say 19-year-old Juliana Mensch was strangled to death March 23. A week later, 32-year-old James Ayers was arrested and charged with the murder…
From Friday evening, in case you missed it: Wellington polo mogul John Goodman was sentenced to 16 years in prison at a hearing that lasted more than two and a half hours and featured the interrogation of a juror, testimony from victim Scott Wilson’s mother, and the reading of a…
