Crime News

Kentucky State Police say a census worker staged his own death to look like a homicide. Bill Sparkman, 51, left, was found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" on his chest in September. Authorities say he had taken out two life insurance policies recently.

A former aide to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is on the run from prison. Jane Andrews was convicted in 2001 of murdering her boyfriend, Thomas Cressman, because he wouldn't marry her. Andrews escaped after being transferred to a minimum-security facility.

The FBI says reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups went up sharply in 2008. Overall, the number of reported hate crime incidents increased about 2 percent. These same figures show a nearly 11 percent increase in hate crime offenses based on sexual orientation, and a nearly 9 percent increase in such offenses based on religion.

A Pennsylvania man allegedly kicks his girlfriend's puppy to death because the animal wouldn't behave before the start of a Pittsburgh Steelers game. According to police accounts, William Woodson, 23, began his assault on the pit bull while taking it for a walk. Woodson is in jail on a charge of animal cruelty.

A lawyer for one of the five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks says the group will plead not guilty so that they can voice their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy. Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, says they wouldn't deny their role in the attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."

Authorities in New York City say a 37-year-old Bronx man riding a subway killed another passenger in a dispute over a seat. Gerardo Sanchez, who allegedly stabbed the victim in the neck and face with a knife in front of horrified onlookers Saturday, has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.