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Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment : Fact Sheet
The FBI on the case: Thirty-three years after Etan Patz went missing in New York, a man who worked in a nearby bodega has confessed to strangling him.

Have the cops finally caught Etan Patz's killer?

Police take a suspect into custody, raising hopes of a breakthrough in a missing-child case that had been cold for 33 years

 
Crime and Punishment : By the numbers
Of the 400 million serious criminal cases prosecutors have handled since 1989, at least 2,061 of them were wrongful convictions, according to a new report.

25 years of wrongful convictions: By the numbers

Getting thrown in jail for a crime you didn't commit is a nightmare scenario — one that has been a reality for more than 2,000 Americans since 1989

 
Crime and Punishment : Instant Guide
Al Capone may have been the king of Alcatraz, but he never had fresh-brewed coffee or his own recording studio like the inmates at Norway's Halden prison.

The jail where every prisoner gets a flat-screen TV and private shower

In Norway's Halden prison, murderers, rapists, and pedophiles live in relative luxury, and the results are impressive. Would the U.S. ever pamper inmates this way?

 
Crime and Punishment : The List
A copy of a Zodiac cryptogram sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on Nov. 11, 1969: An ex-cop says the infamous Zodiac Killer is still at large, a 91-year-old man living in comfortable retirement.

The new book that claims to unmask the Zodiac Killer: 6 takeaways

A notorious serial killer with a taste for cryptograms haunted San Francisco in the '60s. And after decades of mystery, an ex-cop says he has solved the case

 
Crime and Punishment : Controversy
A photo of Carlos DeLuna taken in January 1983: Wrongly convicted of stabbing a convenience store clerk to death, DeLuna was executed in Texas in 1989.

The Carlos DeLuna case: Definitive proof that Texas executed an innocent man?

A Columbia law professor and his team compile a massive, super-detailed dossier alleging that Texas sent the wrong Carlos to his death two decades ago

 
Crime and Punishment : Burning Question
Death row inmates at San Quentin exercise in confined outdoor cells: The California prison is home to the nation's largest death row.

Will California abolish the death penalty?

The Golden State will vote on a measure in November that could repeal capital punishment — and save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year

 
Crime and Punishment : Instant Guide
A copy of the original missing child poster of Etan Patz, who disappeared in 1979, and whose case helped spur a more robust national awareness of child abductions.

Etan Patz: The resurrection of a 33-year-old missing child case

Investigators in New York City are searching a basement that might contain the remains of a 6-year-old boy who disappeared in 1979

 
Crime and Punishment : Slideshow
Charles Manson

Charles Manson's 12th parole: A look back at the notorious cult leader

The convicted mass murderer is now 77 years old, and prosecutors say he remains a danger to others. A visual history of his life and crimes

 
Crime and Punishment : Instant Guide
Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, were arrested Sunday in connection with a shooting rampage that left three black people dead and two more injured in Tulsa, Okla.

Tulsa's serial murders: A hate-crime spree?

Two white men are arrested in the shooting deaths of three black people in Oklahoma — and hours before the crimes, one suspect posted racial epithets on Facebook

 
Crime and Punishment : Analysis
In some parts of the country, Tide laundry detergent has become a sort of black market currency, traded for marijuana and heroin.

The 'amazing' Tide detergent crime wave

Apparently, liquid laundry soap has become "liquid gold" for discerning thieves and drug dealers. A concise guide to the phenomenon

 
Crime and Punishment : Instant Guide
Hacking group LulzSec was brought down by its own leader, 28-year-old Hector Xavier Monsegur.

The 'stunning' LulzSec hacker bust: A concise guide

One of the world's most notorious hacking collectives suffers a brutal blow — after its leader rats out his comrades

 
Crime and Punishment : Instant Guide
15-year-olds Rachel Johnson and Iravia Cotton fought back fiercely when two suspected thieves tried to steal $200 in Girl Scout cookie revenue outside a Houston-area Walmart.

The 'gutsy' Girl Scouts who fought their cookie cash thieves

When two men allegedly tried to steal the Scouts' hard-earned $200 in cookie revenue, two 15-year-old girls turned to vigilante justice

 
Crime and Punishment : Controversy
The recreation area at Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta: Gitmo's 171 inmates will get a new soccer field in April.

Do Gitmo detainees deserve a $750,000 soccer field?

After well-behaved inmates lost their old playing area, the military ponied up big time to get the ball rolling again

 
Crime and Punishment : Burning Question
Two students place flowers on a makeshift memorial at Chardon High School, where T.J. Lane allegedly opened fire on his fellow students, killing three.

Ohio's 'horrific' high school shooting: Who's to blame?

As Americans mourn the loss of three young people in Chardon, Ohio, the search for an explanation begins

 
Crime and Punishment : The List
Since 2001, at least 500 Americans have died after being Tased by law enforcement officials, according to Amnesty International.

America's Taser problem: 8 unfortunate Tasing incidents

A naked man gets stunned in Walmart, a Florida cop sends a handcuffed girl into a coma, and other strange, dark tales of the Taser

 
Crime and Punishment : Analysis
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was executed in 1994 for the brutal death of 33 people, may not have worked alone, according to two lawyers.

Did serial killer John Wayne Gacy have accomplices?

New evidence emerges suggesting that the "Killer Clown" may not have acted alone during his notorious 1970s murder spree

 

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Lauren Odes

A lingerie store fires a staffer for being too buxom — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation

Can you guess what's really going on in these bizarre photos?

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