Crime

The former Ohio lawyer whose attempt to shoot his ex-wife in public was foiled by his gun's safety just had the book thrown at him ... the judge sentenced him to nearly a quarter-century behind bars and used video of the attack to tear apart his defense.

Matthew Exton was sentenced Monday for attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, and multiple firearm charges after he was convicted earlier this month in a trial that went viral.

The 43-year-old insisted he never intended to kill or hurt his ex-wife ... calling the charges political and arguing, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

A mother of two in Florida has been charged with attempted murder after cops say she intentionally gave her two adult sons with autism overdoses of medication.

According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office ... on September 8, sheriff's deputies received a report about overdoses at a house in Kissimmee.

Deputies say they found 3 people -- 68-year-old Marilyn Therrell and her two sons, 32 and 30, respectively -- suffering from apparent medication overdoses.

Melissa McCarthy says playing JonBenét Ramsey's mother in a true crime drama forced her to make up her own mind about the murder ... and she doesn't believe anyone in the family did it.

The actress plays Patsy Ramsey in Netflix's upcoming "The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey" ... and she tells Variety she developed a lot of compassion for the family while working on the project.

Melissa says the case became something people treated almost like a sport ... with everyone offering up their own theory as if it were fact.

She says she couldn't play Patsy without deciding for herself what she believed happened.

Lindsay Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, is asking the court to allow for a thorough investigation of the holdout juror ... including access to his phone records and a review of his 2021 criminal charge for allegedly assaulting his wife.

The attorney filed a document in court recently asking the judge to let his team see the confidential juror questionnaire and "Juror Doe's record from the statewide domestic violence registry."

Reddington is asking for the juror's mobile phone records -- calls, texts, and data from August 27 through September 4.

Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband Patrick Clancy sat down for an emotional interview on "60 Minutes" ... and he opened up about the heartbreaking moment he held dying son Callan in his arms as he passed.

In Sunday's wide-ranging interview ... Patrick said during his son's final moments in the hospital, he told him he was sorry.

Patrick told CBS' Ross Douthat ... "I said 'I'm so sorry,' and I got to hold him, I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms."

The holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy can be seen holding his daughter in a new pic shared by his legal team ... and his lawyer has a message for everyone interested in his client.

Attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik shared a photo of Michael Péguy Desronvil -- and Desronvil's daughter as a baby -- on Instagram Saturday ... calling the juror an "American hero champion of justice."

Desronvil previously told TMZ that he "didn't have any doubts" about Lindsay ... and opened up about what went down in the jury room.

Nick Reiner says he hasn't even received $5 for the jail commissary from his family's trust ... as his legal team says he's owed $558,000.

Nick's legal team says he hasn't been able to access the family's trust account -- which is worth $1.6 billion -- for even the most basic necessities ... this according to new filings obtained by PEOPLE.

Nick's legal team wrote in the filing ... "Nick still has not been able to access even $5 from his trust to buy basic subsistence items from the jail commissary."

The White House seemingly poked fun at the massive Ponzi scheme that claimed Travis Kelce as a victim ... and jokingly offered him a job.

Sharing an X post about the news that Kelce had been hoodwinked by the fraudster accused of stealing $35 million in total from his victims ... the White House wrote ... "This is why we do what we do."

They added ... "Seems like a good time to re-up the work of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud: identifying fraud & protecting Americans. Oh and it looks like the next draft pick to join the Task Force is [Travis Kelce]."

Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband Patrick Clancy says he thinks he did the "best I could" during their marriage ... but he lives with the fact Lindsay killed their 3 kids "every day."

In a teaser for his interview with "60 Minutes" Sunday, he said ... "I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time. And I live with the outcome. I live with it every day. But I think I did the best I could."

In several clips published this past week during the lead-up to Sunday's emotional sit-down, Patrick opened up about the aftermath of his kids' death.

Former NFL star Adrian Peterson is close to wrapping up his criminal case for his 2025 DWI after completing over 30 hours of community service ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ obtained court docs showing Adrian racked up the hours from July 13 to July 30 by working 4-hour shifts at Meals on Wheels, a local food drive, helping supervise youth bags for the homeless, working a July 4th event for senior citizens, and assisting with a YMCA program.

You'll recall ... Adrian was ordered to complete 32 hours of community service, which it looks like he has now satisfied. The former All-Pro running back reached a plea deal with Minnesota prosecutors in March 2026.

A woman from Missouri who allegedly threatened to kill Austin Metcalf's father has been indicted ... federal authorities announced.

Sharifa Nicole Henderson has been indicted on 3 counts of sending threats to injure after authorities say she sent some pretty terrifying messages to Jeff Metcalf.

According to the indictment, Sharifa allegedly sent multiple threatening messages back in June ... including one which reads, "I will hunt you forever until I kill you ... I will be there. You will always have to look over your [expletive] shoulder."

2:40 PM PT -- Jeremy Saland, who represents Scott Kretzschmar, one of the defendants, tells TMZ ... "We wholeheartedly deny the allegations in the complaint ... we possess documents that thoroughly corroborate our position, including the plaintiff's own words, statements from other parties, and scientific evidence demonstrating that the claims against him are false."

Saland adds ... "Our system of justice allows anyone to make a complaint, criminal or otherwise, even a wrongful one. However, it is lost on no one that the criminal investigation led to no charges against Scott even if the plaintiff for some odd reason states she believed the investigation remains open nearly two years later. Simply, the evidence against him, or, more accurately, lack thereof, didn't even muster up to the nominal standard of probable cause because the allegations against him as described did not happen. Simply, there was absolutely no criminality on Scott's part. He is completely innocent. Period."

Seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted a 20-year-old student after drugging her with ketamine ... and sent each other disturbing text messages to join in the gang rape ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

The suit, filed this week in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges a Jane Doe under the age of 21 was served alcohol at a local bar before stumbling alone to the Chi Phi frat house to hang out with one of her sorority sisters.

Inside the Chi Phi frat house, she says frat brothers Matthew Ingalls and Johnathan Newell pressured her into snorting ketamine before beginning to sexually assault her.

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, ripped into Vice President JD Vance ... roasting his "fake" beard and challenging him to a bench press competition.

Check out the new YouTube collab between TMZ and the New York Post, "The Low Down," where we bring you stories that are gripping, outrageous, and sometimes scandalous.

New footage of the Los Angeles news helicopter that crashed shows the blades of the airship seem to have stalled before it fell to the ground, exploded and killed three people.

"American Idol" alum Caleb Flynn allegedly wasn't subtle about wanting his wife dead ... prosecutors say he texted his mistress about wanting to kill his wife and get away with it.

Caleb is standing trial on charges he murdered his wife ... and during opening statements Friday, prosecutors said investigators found more than 100,000 messages between Caleb and his mistress from the year before his wife Ashley Flynn was killed.

In one alleged message, prosecutors say Caleb wrote he stayed up until 4 AM "trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail" ... adding he'd kill Ashley "in a heartbeat" if he could do it without going to hell.

Stedman Bailey has officially been charged after cops say the former Rams wide receiver got caught knockin' boots at a Florida mall arcade.

TMZ Sports obtained the Broward County charging doc -- filed by prosecutors earlier this month -- in which they formally accused Bailey of exposure of sexual organs, a first-degree misdemeanor.

The alleged incident went down July 27 at an arcade called Round1 inside the Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines, FL.

Prosecutors say Bailey, 35, “pulled down his clothing to engage and/or was actively engaging in contact of a sexual nature” in public at the bowling alley and arcade bar.

The Florida mother charged with incest, Christina Clemens, is out of jail as she awaits trial ... and a judge ordered her to have absolutely no contact with her son, Shane, who she allegedly had sex with around 100 times.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a Florida judge released 46-year-old Christina from custody but specifically barred her from having any direct or indirect contact with her 22-year-old son.

Shane was released from custody on Thursday, according to jail records ... so they're both fresh out.