SAN MATEO, CA - If Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan is approved, San Mateo County could be on the hook for up to $17.1 million annually to house convicts it would typically ship to state prisons, according to Sheriff Greg Munks. Convicts sentenced to more than one year currently are sent to state prison, Assistant Sheriff Trisha Sanchez said. But under ...

WEATHERFORD -- A Corsicana man accused in the abduction, rape and torture of a Parker County woman at what authorities called a "house of horrors" is also under investigation in the disappearance of two other North Texas women, the Parker County sheriff said Monday. Jeffrey A. Maxwell was arrested Saturday just minutes after authorities discovered a missing 62-year-old Parker County woman ...

TRENTON — The case against former Middlesex County sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo widened today, as state authorities arrested a sheriff's officer accused of working as his bagman. Spicuzzo, arrested March 7, is accused of accepting at least $50,000 in bribes in return for jobs and promotions. State authorities said the officer arrested today, Paul Lucarelli, accepted a $25,000 bribe from a recruit ...

CLEARFIELD, Utah (AP) — Police serving a search warrant in a drug investigation said they found something more ghastly in a backyard shed: Two human skulls in a shrine, and several hundred pounds of animal bones, flesh, and blood believed to be part of a religious ceremony. Roberto Casillas-Corrales, 53, of Clearfield, remained jailed Monday, a day after he was arrested ...

CHICAGO - The beating officially started with a quick crack to the back of the gang member's head. And then about 15 others descended, punching and kicking him for two minutes. The rapid-fire punches landed from all directions on his body, sounding strangely like corn popping. Then the victim fell to the floor and the group continued to pummel him with ...

York, PA - The Pennsylvania State Police has requested that people planning to block a proposed protest by the Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of seven children who recently died in a Perry County house fire not attend today's ceremony. A March 9 fatal house fire claimed the lives of the seven children belonging to Theodore and Janelle Clouse. The ...

LONG BEACH, CA - A 35-year-old man was struck 12 times by gunfire in the chest, arms and lower legs last December when police mistook a water hose nozzle he was holding for a gun, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference Monday. McDonnell told reporters that he wanted to offer further details about the fatal shooting ...

BETHESDA, MD - She was on her way to earning an MBA from Johns Hopkins's Carey Business School. She'd spent years in international marketing. For her 30th birthday, she went bungee jumping. But Jayna Murray's life ended in the most brutal of ways Friday night, when she was slain after two masked men entered the Bethesda yoga clothing store where she ...