Crime

Seized: Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Domestic Violence Center Shut Down for Being a Total Fraud

​A Fulton-based resource center for battered women has been ordered by the state to shut down all operations. This shouldn't be terribly difficult since the Battered Mother's Resource Fund (BMRF) never actually did anything anyway. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in a news release ... More >>

Five Injured in Two Separate Shootings in Downtown St. Louis Today

St. Louis police are investigating two shootings today within several blocks of each other in downtown St. Louis -- one of which sent a bullet spilling into a bank where it grazed a woman. The first shooting occurred around 12:52 this morning when three people -- described by police as black males a ... More >>

South County Shooting Spree Leads to Three Arrests in Metro East

Three men are in custody on suspicion of shooting two men late last night and early this morning in the south St. Louis County. The first shooting occurred neary Jefferson Barracks Park. The second shooting followed minutes later at Baumgartner and Telegraph.​According to St. Louis County Police ... More >>

Marcus Blue & Jeremy Davis: East St. Louis Homicides No. 8 & 9; Shot During Memorial Day Domestic Disputes

Marcus Blue, a 23-year-old from Belleville, was shot to death Tuesday night at 1235 Boisemenue Ave, in East St. Louis. View Larger MapPolice were called to the residence at 12:48 a.m. when Blue attempted to enter the home, which belonged to his ex-girlfriend. Her new boyfriend, another 23-year-old ... More >>

Dennis Powell: Hannibal Man Sentenced for Drugs Busted Trying to Bring Pot to Prison

hannibal.netDennis Powell​If at first you don't succeed, fail, fail again. That's the lesson learned from Dennis R. Powell. Powell, 19, was being processed at the Marion County Jail in Palmyra, Missouri, this month on a previous drug charge when authorities say they discovered marijuana on the new ... More >>

Violent Crime Dropped One Percent in St. Louis in '09; Nationwide Dropped 5.5 Percent

​The FBI yesterday released its uniform crime report for 2009. The data shows that violent crime nationwide dropped by 5.5 percent and property crimes declined by 4.9 percent compared to 2008 figures. The results weren't nearly as good here in St. Louis, although crime in both categories did drop ... More >>

Are Some Missouri Counties Ignoring Meth Labs?

Provided by the Missouri State Highway PatrolMissouri meth labs in 2009. Click for larger image.​While the focus of this week's RFT feature is meth lab explosions and the impact that injured meth cooks are having on hospitals across the Midwest, the story also touches on the reasons why meth has r ... More >>

Ass Clown of the Week: Tessa Vanvlerah, Charged with Prostituting Infant Daughter

Vanvlerah​The result are in, and in overwhelming fashion the readers of Daily RFT have elected Tessa Vanvlerah as this week's Ass Clown. Vanvlerah won the 79 percent of the vote after being arrested on charges of rape, statutory sodomy, child pornography and incest in an alleged sex crime involvi ... More >>

Ballwin Mother Accused of Sex Crimes Involving Her 13-Month-Old Daughter

Courtesy St. Louis County Police DepartmentTessa Vanvlerah, 20, of Ballwin.​The St. Louis County Police Department has arrested Tessa Vanvlerah on charges of rape, statutory sodomy, child pornography and incest in an alleged sex crime that involves her thirteen-month-old daughter. The 20-year-old ... More >>

Police Arrest Cross-Dressing Robber, But Is It the Same She-Man Who Struck Last Week?

St. Louis PoliceJames T. Duke​St. Louis police last week arrested James T. Duke in connection with two robberies last month in which the suspect allegedly dressed in women's clothing and armed himself with a long-barreled gun. The robberies occurred January 3 and 4 when the 28-year-old Duke allege ... More >>

Guess How Many DWI's St. Louis Police Gave Out on Mardi Gras

Image Via Soulard needs a new street sign​If you saw our earlier post today about the 92 arrests made by St. Louis' finest on the biggest drinking holiday of the year, you already know that a whopping 48 kids were cited for underage drinking on Saturday.But with more than 100,000 adults (a ... More >>

Dissecting Teen Homicide Numbers in St. Louis

Photo: Jennifer SilverbergA street memorials honors Robert Walker, a 17-year-old gunned down in St. Louis in 2006.​Last week I asked the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to provide me with some raw numbers concerning homicides. In particular, I was interested in knowing how many teenagers ... More >>

The Big Bloody: Two Police Chases Lead to Fatality, Officers Firing at Suspects

Two car chases in St. Louis led to crashes and the death of at least one innocent motorist in the past 24 hours. The first accident happened just before 7 p.m. Thursday. That's when St. Louis police say that the Upland Parks police department pursued a Dodge Stratus into city limits. The chase proce ... More >>

Scary Numbers Part II: Man Has 11 Kids, Gets 13 Years In Jail, For Selling 62.4 Grams of Crack

www.flickr.com/photos/skyzyx​A week ago we crunched the numbers on Christopher Elders, the 30 year-old Affton man who posed as a 17 year-old in order to sodomize a 14 year-old girl. The criminal testing our math skills this time around is Lewis Lawson of East St. Louis. Lawson, 32, was sentenced t ... More >>

Speaking Out

Seen This Guy? Police Say He's Robbed Five St. Louis Area Stores, Banks

​St. Louis Police are looking for the man above who they believe robbed a Fed Ex/Kinko's at 700 Olive last Thursday. They also suspect he has pulled off the following heists: June 17 robbery at Walgreens, 3631 Gravois August 1 robbery at Deals, 3148 S. Kingshighway August 8 r ... More >>

Man in "Gangsta" T-shirt Robs Local Bank

Photos courtesy FBIWhat do you expect of a gangsta?​I tend to ignore most breaking news releases asking the public for help tracking down armed robbers. But this one about a robbery today of a Commerce Bank in suburban Webster Groves is just too good to pass up  -- if only because of the "Gan ... More >>

Owner of Pre-Paid Funeral Company Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering

Sutton allegedly used Wite Out to wipe out customers' accounts.​Randall Sutton, former chief financial officer, president and director of the now defunct Clayton business, National Prearranged Services Inc., was indicted this week of a massive fraud involving pre-paid funerals in some 19 states. A ... More >>

St. Louis Police Dismantle North City Drug Ring; 15 Members of Gang Indicted

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department today announced the indictment and arrest of 15 area people charged with operating a major cocaine operation in St. Louis. The investigation focused on gang-related drug activity in the Jeff Vander Lou area (see map below) o ... More >>

Psst! Want to See Some Pictures? Of Alleged Child Pornographers? Are You Sure?

Okay, but they ain't pretty. St. Louis police released the following mugshots today.Left to right: Bobby Plain, Kurt Carson and Adam DerbyThe police say they began an investigation in February 2009 into a resident of the 4500 block of Evans Avenue said to be offering known images of child pornogra ... More >>

Fairmount Park earns some green while Wash. U. breeds fruit flies in need of naps

Cherokee Street Merchant Caught With "Trailer Load" of Fake Goods Pleads Guilty

Here's an update to a story Daily RFT first reported back in April. Photo: Nicholas PhillipsFrango's store on Cherokee Street.Yesterday the U.S. Attorney's office announced that Passaro Frango, owner of West African Art (at 2623 Cherokee Street) and F & A Fashions (at 6212 Dr. Martin Luther King ... More >>

Uncivil War

¡Ask A Mexican! Mexican, Schmexican: All molesters deserve to rot in Hell

The Rockwell Files

Steven Spielberg's stolen painting, a St. Louis art thief, and a plot to kill Martin Luther King. It could make a helluva movie.

Michael Devlin Charged With Attempted Murder

St. Louis Forensic Archaeologist Testifies at Saddam's Trial

Battle Lines

Gangs keep their murderous hold on the streets of St. Louis. And kids like Lil' Robert Walker pay the price.

The Gang That Couldn't Dress Straight

Meet the cross-dressing bank robbers who confounded cops for years

Cold as Ice

Two St. Louis rappers deconstruct an early-'90s classic

A Shot in the Arm

A federal appeals court says Darryl Burton might very well be innocent of the 1984 murder of Donald Ball. But there's nothing they can do about it.

All Oddz on Me

Think you know who killed 2Pac? Wanna bet?

Immaculate Deception

Some dirty little secrets followed Archbishop Raymond Burke from Wisconsin to St. Louis

World of Hurt

The St. Louis Police Department faces a taboo topic: Domestic violence within its ranks

Grand Theft Audio

Radar Station discovers the soundtrack to crime

Carnage

Despite the cost, local cops can't resist deadly pursuits

Hard Case

Marie Clark's group-therapy sessions are a sex offender's worst nightmare. Her down-and-dirty approach gives some of her colleagues the willies too.

Fatale Detraction

Beyond cheap turn-ons, there's nothing to recommend Brian De Palma's latest

Open Season

Police crackdown on guns and gangs runs into Way of the Gun mentality

Deadly Dilemma

In Stanley Parker's neighborhood, what you wear and where you go can get you killed

Fallen Angel

Angela Coffel, the first woman in Missouri deemed a sexually violent predator, is locked up despite overwhelming evidence that she isn't one.

The Politics of Alcohol: Way Over the Limit

Cruel and Usual

Tamms Correctional Center is one of the toughest, most expensive and least crowded prisons in the nation. But does it accomplish anything —- besides driving inmates insane?

Mickey Blue Eyes

Directed by Kelly Makin

Lost in America

When the feds busted the "Black String Gang," they scratched the surface of the Vietnamese youth problem in South St. Louis. But no one's bothered to dig deeper into how it started.

Letters to the Editor

News of the Weird

News of the Weird