Lending Crime a Hand
In Ljubljana, Slovenia, an unnamed 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old relative were arrested for insurance fraud, police announced on March 11, after the young woman cut off her hand in order to collect almost 400,000 Euros in insurance payments. Two other relatives were released in the case. The four had recently signed up with five different insurance companies for life and injury coverage. “With one of her accomplices, she intentionally amputated the hand at the wrist with a circular saw, hoping to stage it as an accident,” said police spokesman Valter Zrinski, according to the Daily Mail. The group left the hand behind when they went to the hospital, intending to ensure a permanent disability, said police, but doctors at the Ljubljana University Medical Center were able to retrieve and reattach it. The woman and her accomplice face up to eight years in prison.
Wedding Bell Blues
In Granville County, N.C., Melissa Godshall, 31, and her boyfriend, Robert Kennerley, 46, were minding their own business, panhandling at the side of the road, when a car pulled over, and Godshall received an unusual proposal: Levan Lomtatidze, 44, from Georgia (the country, not the state), would pay her $12,000, give her a car and make rent payments for her if she would marry him so he could stay in the U.S. She agreed, according to U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr., and Kennerley served as a witness at their nuptials. Alas, this romantic partnership was not to be: On March 7, Godshall and Lomtatidze were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud, visa fraud and making false statements in immigration proceedings, the Raleigh News and Observer reported. If convicted, the two face 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Best man Kennerley also faces prison time and fines for aiding and abetting marriage fraud.
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Ignoring an Alvord Plea
As a wedding party of 30 guests gathered on the beach at Oceanfront Park in Ocean Ridge, Fla., on March 3, Jeffery Alvord, 27, and his bride posed for photos before the ceremony. Trouble erupted instead when a 24-year-old man would not move from his spot on the beach to make way for the photos, the Palm Beach Post reported. In fact, Alvord told police, the man wouldn’t relocate even after being offered $50 and became “very belligerent.” The unnamed man on the beach informed Ocean Ridge police that a groomsman held him while Alvord punched him three times in the face, breaking his nose and his glasses. Alvord spent what would have been his wedding night in the Palm Beach County Jail and faces charges of aggravated battery and criminal mischief. He and his fiancée have since gotten married.
Carpenter Exposed!
He’s been dubbed the “Naked Carpenter” for renovating his home wearing only a tool belt, but Robert Jenner, 43, of Snodland, Kent, England, seems to have crossed the line with local jurors. Jenner was convicted on March 12 of 10 counts of indecent exposure in Canterbury Crown Court. Jenner’s nudist habits have put him on the wrong side of law enforcement before, reported Metro News, but this time his offenses included delivering packages for a courier service wearing trousers with a hole cut out of the crotch, exposing himself to a teenage girl, and running past a children’s play area while wearing “see-through trousers.” Jenner’s attorney, Kate Chidgey, tried to explain her client’s behavior: “It was not his intention that people were caused distress by what he did or didn’t wear.” She added that he strongly believes in “naturism.”
‘Deck the Halls With [inaudible]’
As Clayton Lucas, 25, was being transported through East Deer Township, Penn., from a halfway house to a treatment class on the morning of March 4, the van driver, one after another, regaled him with Christmas songs—69 days after Christmas. Turns out, Lucas isn’t a fan of holiday tunes (who is in March?), so he reached into the front seat and began choking the unnamed driver, who was strangled almost to the point of losing consciousness, according to police. KDKA reported that another driver flagged down a state trooper and alerted him about an altercation happening on the shoulder of the highway. After a struggle to get handcuffs on Lucas, the officer deposited him in the Allegheny County Jail, where he will face multiple charges.
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