Crime

7/10/26 7:31 AM PT -- You may want to keep your Johnson tucked away ... because Christopher Peden is out on bail.

This story ain't for the squeamish ... a man in Indiana chopped off his penis and set it ablaze using lighters and gasoline, according to his attorney.

Christopher Peden allegedly told police that he walked inside a garage in Fort Wayne, IN, and sliced off his junk with a kitchen knife, his lawyer, David Felts, tells TMZ.

Felts said Peden then allegedly placed his severed penis on the floor, doused it with gasoline from a container and set it on fire using 4 lighters.

Police and firefighters responded to the May 6 incident after receiving a call for a stabbing at the detached garage belonging to the property owners, cops said.

2:44 PM PT -- Prosecutors showed fragments of the alleged bullet jacket that killed Charlie Kirk.

10:29 AM PT -- Tyler Robinson said he regretted killing Charlie Kirk, even crying in the aftermath of the controversial commentator's shocking death ... according to Robinson's romantic partner, Lance Twiggs.

After 4 days of arguing in court, a Utah judge has ruled that confessional videos of Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin -- 23-year-old Tyler Robinson -- as well as alleged text messages, will be shown publicly today ... and TMZ is streaming live from the courtroom where the exhibits will be shown.

While some video will be redacted ... the public will now be privy to what Tyler admitted to police upon arrest ... as well as what his roommate -- Lance Twiggs -- said in an interview.

The ruling comes after Charlie's widow, Erika Kirk, urged the court to make the evidence public.

The so-called "Tinder Swindler" has settled with an Israeli billionaire's family after being sued for allegedly impersonating a member of their family as part of an elaborate ruse to score millions of dollars from women he met on a dating app ... TMZ has learned.

Leviev family attorney Guy Ophir tells TMZ ... both sides reached a settlement and presented it to the Israeli court for approval. 

We're told the settlement contains two significant provisions.

First, the man dubbed the "Tinder Swinder" in the Netflix doc, Shimon Hayut, denies allegations that he impersonated the family, but promises never to represent that he's connected to the Leviev family or their various companies going forward.

Secondly, Hayut cannot seek reimbursement of legal costs or attorney fees.

Savannah Guthrie's latest absence from "Today" has viewers wondering if it's connected to the kidnapping case involving her mom ... but TMZ has learned that's not what's going on.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Savannah is off for a few days to spend time with her family, and her absence has nothing to do with the investigation into the Nancy Guthrie abduction.

Savannah was absent from the NBC morning show for a second straight day Thursday, with Laura Jarrett filling in alongside Craig Melvin after Sheinelle Jones stepped in Wednesday.

Ex-Olympian David Hearn is officially telling the judge he's not the one to blame for more than $1,000 in damage to the now-infamous liner of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Hearn entered a not guilty plea Thursday morning during his arraignment ... a move that's in line with the fact he told us "every American should be alarmed" after he was indicted.

As you know, this case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, and she is adamant Hearn defiled the monument.

Erika Kirk wants full transparency during the preliminary hearing of the man charged with killing her husband ... asking the judge to publicly reveal all the evidence in hopes of ending the string of conspiracy theories around Charlie Kirk's death.

Erika filed documents earlier this week stating she and Charlie's parents traveled to Utah to watch the preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson's murder case, and to "to bear witness to the evidence concerning the death of their husband and son."

However, Erika says she and her in-laws had to sit through the preliminary hearing while certain exhibits were entered into evidence, but not made available to the public ... a practice Kirk says damaged their ability to "meaningfully observe" the hearing.

A New Jersey officer in charge of the K-9 unit has been charged with animal cruelty ... after he allegedly left two department dogs to die in a hot car.

Cody L. Henderson of the Salem County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday and charged with recklessly causing the death of Boomer, a 6-year-old springer spaniel, and Rip, a 4-year-old Belgian malinois, according to NJ.com.

Both dogs were left in the same cruiser May 29 ... allegedly for seven hours in the beating sun ... with the engine off, no windows cracked, while Henderson worked the courthouse. He is accused of ignoring the dogs until the end of the day, when he discovered them dead of heat stroke.

A distressed woman scaled the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in NYC ... but she didn't plunge into the East River ... her life was saved thanks to the NYPD.

The death-defying incident went down Wednesday night on the Brooklyn-bound side of the bridge, where the woman in her 30s was sitting on a support suspension beam near eyewitnesses.

The NYPD's Emergency Service Unit officers quickly responded to multiple 911 calls and climbed up the bridge to talk with the troubled woman.

Courtney Clenney says she wasn't staying silent after allegedly catching beatings from boyfriend Christian Obumseli ... she was texting him about them ... and now she wants to use the messages in her criminal trial, in which she's accused of murdering him.

New court documents, obtained by TMZ, reveal the OnlyFans model wants to introduce a string of text messages backing up her claims she endured repeated abuse before fatally stabbing Obumseli in their Miami high-rise apartment in 2022.

According to the filing, one exchange came after Clenney claimed Obumseli punched her in the face in April 2021. Her attorneys say she immediately fired off a text accusing him of hitting her "in my face as hard as you could" ... while Obumseli allegedly brushed it off, responding he was only trying to move her hand and "really didn't mean to."

Clenney argues the messages show a pattern of him minimizing what allegedly happened.

12:23 PM PT -- Christine Russo joined us today on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, where she explained that Mackenzie's behavior is making a mockery out of their family's tragedy.

Mackenzie Shirilla is posting glammed-up prison selfies on Instagram ... but Dominic Russo's sister tells TMZ all she sees is a convicted killer soaking up attention online.

Mackenzie's new prison selfie and a message saying she's "trying to do better every day and holding on to hope" has Christine Russo demanding prison officials investigate whether she's improperly accessing social media behind bars.

Christine tells TMZ ... "As Dominic Russo's sister, it is heartbreaking to see someone convicted in connection with my brother's death appear to have a social media presence while our family is suffering every day. While my brother is buried, seeing her post selfies, full face of makeup, and bragging how she is famous is painful and, to me, completely inconsistent with remorse."

Here's the booking photo Big Tigger's estranged wife Alicia Brown posed for after being busted on kidnapping-related warrants ... and she looks shocked and surprised.

The mug shot, obtained by TMZ, was snapped after Brown was taken into custody Monday during a felony traffic stop on Interstate 85 in Georgia.

As TMZ first reported, the Hart County Sheriff's Office says deputies received a BOLO for Brown's vehicle after learning she was wanted on kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland. With help from the Georgia State Patrol, authorities tracked down the car, conducted a felony traffic stop and arrested Brown without incident.

Taylor Parker's disciplinary file behind bars appears to be remarkably thin ... and the lone conduct report is over her chosen sleeping arrangement ... TMZ has learned.

According to jail records obtained by TMZ, Parker was written up after allegedly refusing a direct order from a correctional officer.

The incident report says the official ordered Parker to stop sleeping on the floor using her mattress ... however, according to the write-up, Parker "failed to obey the order."

Mackenzie Shirilla is sharing a new photo from behind bars ... along with a positive message after suffering a legal setback.

Despite being locked up, Mackenzie's supporters are using her Instagram account. In a recent post, they uploaded a snap of her from prison, explaining she's "trying to do better every day and holding on to hope" ... despite a recent court decision denying her request for post-conviction relief.

Mackenzie's team explained the denial wasn't based on the substance of her claims. Instead, they said the filing was rejected because it was submitted one day past the deadline.

Big Tigger's estranged wife, Alicia Brown, is now facing a whole new set of legal problems ... TMZ has learned she's been arrested in Georgia on a warrant related to kidnapping.

Hart County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... deputies tracked down Brown's SUV Monday night after receiving a BOLO tied to outstanding kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland. Authorities say Brown was arrested without incident during a felony traffic stop on Interstate 85, and two young children inside the vehicle were safely recovered.

We're told Tigger's kid that he shares with Brown was one of the children in the car.

Investigators say the Maryland warrants stem from the 2019 disappearance of a 10-year-old child. Brown faces a felony interference with child custody charge in Georgia, and officials say she'll be extradited to Maryland.

Diddy's getting his steps in behind bars ... TMZ has obtained video showing him out for one of his daily walks inside FCI Fort Dix.

The footage is quick, but it's a rare glimpse of the Bad Boy founder on prison grounds in New Jersey.

Take a look ... Diddy can be seen making his rounds inside the federal compound Monday afternoon, dressed in a light T-shirt, shorts, sneakers, and a hat.

We're told the video was shot around 2 PM -- right in the middle of Diddy's regular outdoor routine.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Diddy spends about two hours walking the compound every day, from roughly 1 PM to 3 PM, as long as the weather cooperates.

Andrew Gillum -- the ex-politician who lost to Ron DeSantis by a slim margin in the 2018 Florida governor's race -- was arrested last week in Alabama on drug offenses, TMZ has learned.

Gillum was taken into custody Thursday night by officers in Daphne, AL, and then booked in the Baldwin County jail for possession of dangerous drugs, drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana, according to online police records. The Daphne PD has yet to release details on what led to his latest brush with the law.

You may recall ... in 2020, Gillum and another man were found dazed and confused inside a room by paramedics at the Mondrian Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Another man discovered the two and called 911, worried that the person with Gillum had possibly overdosed.