Rape Victim Runs Over Wrong Man

HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. -- A chain of horrible events in Florida ended with a rape victim in jail and an innocent man dead.

Amber Lee, 21, has been jailed on preliminary charges of murder after authorities said she ran over a man she thought raped her. But the Florida Highway Patrol said she hit the wrong guy.

She claims it was a horrible accident, but the victim's family isn't so sure.

"I'm not a murderer," Lee said.

Lee and her boyfriend were trying to sell their CD player last December when the alleged rape occurred.

"He made me get out of the car and pulled me behind a building and that's where he raped me," she said. "When he pulled me around the building, I thought I was gonna die. I didn't know he was gonna do that until he told me to get on my knees."

Lee said she pleaded with the man to let her go, thinking of her young daughter.

"We were just trying to get out of there," she said. "We tried to go around one man in the middle of the road. It just ended up happening, it happened so fast."

The Florida Highway Patrol said Lee mowed down Timothy Bualkmann, 32, with her car. Authorities said she thought Bualkmann had raped her.

"It's hard," Lee said. "It's not fun, it's not easy. I'm sorry for the man's family and everything, but what happened was an accident."

Baulkmann's cousin said he doesn't feel bad for Lee, and wants her to pay.

"He lost his life; we lost a family member," Tim White said. "The law can do something to her."

Now just months away from giving birth to another child, Lee worried the accident could mean a life sentence away from her two children.

"From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry," she said. "I can only imagine what they're going through. But I don't want them to think that one day I don't think about him."

Lee's attorney said the man accused of raping Lee was arrested, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him.

Woman accused of trying to hire one ex to kill other ex

PORT ST. LUCIE — A 54-year-old Port St. Lucie woman is out on $25,000 bail after being charged with conspiring to kill her ex-husband and getting her ex-boyfriend to do “the job,” a police warrant application shows.

Port St. Lucie Police on Wednesday charged Mary F. Pedreira, of the 600 block of Southwest Ewing Avenue, with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder after the former boyfriend she attempted to hire told police about the plot.

She was released on bail Wednesday.

The warrant affidavit gives the following account:

On Aug. 10, Pedreira’s ex-boyfriend told police she had been asking him since the end of May to kill her former spouse. He gave police documents he said Pedreira gave him to help identify her ex-husband: the man’s insurance card that contained a description of his vehicle and license plate number and a picture of the ex-husband that was attached to the card with a “kitty cat” sticker.

The ex-boyfriend told police he and Pedreira had argued about money Aug. 9 and she asked him to leave her home. Later, he told a friend about the argument and that Pedreira had asked him to kill her husband. The friend urged him to go to the authorities.

The ex-boyfriend told police he was under the impression that he and Pedreira would be together and that killing her former spouse would make her happy. However, he told police they had never discussed money.

Police revealed the plan to Pedreira’s ex-husband, who said he believed his ex-wife was capable of hiring someone to kill him.

Police set up a call between Pedreira and the ex-boyfriend, during which he agreed to kill her former spouse.

Ex-boyfriend: “Do you still want him dead ... done?”

Pedreira: “Yes”

During another meeting about the proposed killing, the ex-boyfriend offered to use $40,000 he had saved to hire and pay Chris, a fictitious friend, to kill her former spouse. Pedreira agreed to the plan.

During a later conversation in which police were listening, the ex-boyfriend expressed doubts the two should continue in the plot, but Pedreira said that they need “to get our story straight.”

On Aug. 20, the two went to the police station, where officers asked Pedreira if she could have said anything that could have been interpreted as wanting someone to kill her ex-husband. She said she takes tranquilizers and did not recall anything.

Man says he's grateful ex-wife's boyfriend told police about murder plot

PORT ST. LUCIE — The man whose ex-wife police said tried to have him executed said in an interview Friday he was thankful an informant brought the information to authorities.

“It’s mind boggling,” said Glenn Pedreira, who divorced his wife of 34 years at the beginning of this year. “We’re almost a year separated, but unfortunately sometimes things can’t move on.”

Mary Pedreira, 54, of the 600 block of Southwest Ewing Avenue, is out on $25,000 bail after being charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, a police warrant application shows. She wanted her ex-boyfriend to hire someone to kill her former husband, according to affidavits.

“She was very vindictive and controlling,” said Glenn Pedreira, 55, who raised two sons with his ex-wife. “She couldn’t control me anymore, and she literally wanted to find a way to control it.”

During the Pedreiras’ separation, one of their sons got married. Glenn Pedreira attended the ceremony but said his ex-wife did not. The former couple also became grandparents during their separation, he said.

On Aug. 10, Mary Pedreira’s ex-boyfriend told police she had been asking him since the end of May to kill her former spouse. He gave police documents he said she gave him to help identify Glenn Pedreira.

The ex-boyfriend told a friend the woman had asked him to kill her ex-husband, the affidavit states. The friend urged him to go to the authorities.

“Thank God he was someone who was an upstanding citizen because it could have been the other way,” Glenn Pedreira said. “You would have been taking a picture of me in the grave right now.”

Police set up a call between Mary Pedreira and the ex-boyfriend, during which he agreed to kill her former spouse. During a second meeting about the proposed killing, the ex-boyfriend offered to use $40,000 he had saved to hire and pay Chris, a fictitious friend, to kill her former spouse. Mary Pedreira agreed to the plan, police said.

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Taliban attack NATO bases in Afghanistan's Khost area

[Taliban insurgents wearing US military uniforms have attacked two coalition bases in eastern Afghanistan, Nato forces say.]

Coalition forces repelled both attacks, killing 24 militants, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.

There were no coalition casualties in the fighting, in Khost province, south-east of Kabul, Isaf said.

The Taliban said about 30 fighters were involved in the two separate assaults.

Five attackers were captured, Isaf said.

The attacks on Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province and nearby Camp Chapman began at about 0400 (2330 GMT).

Two of the insurgents managed to breach the fence at Forward Operating Base Salerno and enter the compound, but were killed, a statement from Isaf said.

"Coalition forces had the two insurgents under surveillance and when they cut the fence a quick reaction force was dispatched to the location where they were killed immediately," the statement said.

According to the statement, its troops called in helicopters to assist in repelling the attacks.

Three people, said to be involved in the attack but fleeing in a vehicle, were killed by an airstrike, the statement added.

We are about to crash, jet passengers told in error

LONDON — British Airways apologized on Friday after a crew member mistakenly played an emergency message warning Hong Kong-bound passengers that the plane they were on was about to plunge into the sea.

About 275 passengers on a Tuesday flight out of London's Heathrow Airport heard the message: "This is an emergency. We may shortly need to make an emergency landing on water," NBC News reported.

"People were terrified, we all thought we were going to die," passenger Michelle Lord, 32, told Britain's The Sun newspaper, which first reported the incident. "They said the pilot hit the wrong button because they were so close together."

"I can't think of anything worse than being told your plane's about to crash," the Sun quoted another passenger as saying.

The plane was flying over the North Sea at the time.

Cabin crew on the Boeing 747 quickly reassured passengers that the message was a mistake and there was no emergency, NBC News reported.

"We would like to apologize to passengers on board the flight for causing them undue distress," British Airways said in a statement.

"Our cabin crew immediately made an announcement following the message advising customers that it was played in error and that the flight would continue as normal," the airline said.

The airline is investigating the incident to determine whether it was human error or a computer glitch, British Airways told Reuters.

Britain's Telegraph newspaper on Friday reported that a similar incident occurred on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Paris in 2009.

Crew played an announcement in English warning of turbulence, followed by one in French saying the crew was preparing for an emergency landing about twenty minutes into the flight, the newspaper reported.

Ghost hunter looking for ghost train killed by real train

CNN) -- The facts: On August 27, 1891, a passenger train jumped the tracks on a tall bridge near Statesville, North Carolina, sending seven rail cars below and about 30 people to their deaths.

The legend: On the wreck's anniversary, the sounds of screeching wheels, screaming passengers and a horrific crash might still be heard. You might also see a uniformed man with a gold watch.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, on the 119th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge train tragedy and at about the same time, between 10 and 12 ghost hunters were on that approximately 300-foot long span.

They were hoping to hear the sounds of the crash, and perhaps see something.

Instead, a real Norfolk-Southern train -- three engines and one car -- turned the corner as it headed east to Statesville, about 35 miles north of Charlotte, authorities said.

The terrified "amateur ghost watchers" ran away, back toward Statesville, trying to cover the nearly 150 feet to safety, said Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Darren Campbell.

All but two made it.

Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte, was struck and killed, said Campbell. More

$10,000 reward offered for suspect in Utah deputy's killing

FREDONIA, Ariz. — The U.S. Marshals Service offered a $10,000 reward Saturday for information leading to the capture of a man accused of killing a Utah sheriff's deputy in the Arizona town of Fredonia.

Authorities say 23-year-old Scott Curley vanished after he fatally shot 41-year-old Kane County Deputy Brian Harris on Thursday and was believed to be hiding in the wilderness on the Arizona-Utah line.

"There is somebody out there that knows where this guy is," said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona.

Harris was shot Thursday while chasing Curley, who was suspected of trying to burglarize Fredonia High School and holding a janitor at gunpoint on Wednesday night.

The janitor was unharmed, and Curley avoided authorities until Thursday.

A manhunt was under way for Curley. More than 300 law enforcement officers from 36 agencies have taken part in the search.

The U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and sheriff's offices from across northern Arizona and southern Utah have all pledged manpower in the search for Curley, The Arizona Republic newspaper, based in Phoenix, reported.

"This is a cop killer," Gonzales told the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News. "We take all murders seriously, but when someone kills a cop, they will kill anyone. … We'll be here to the bitter end until we arrest this guy. We don't care how long it takes."

Investigators say Curley was armed with an assault rifle. More