Crime

One of the 7 Cornell frat brothers accused of gang raping a fellow student allegedly called a sorority member to instruct a friend of hers not to discuss what she "thinks" may have happened on the night in question.

The sorority member -- who was at Chi Phi the night of the alleged gang rape -- told investigators one of the accused rang her up the next day to make sure a friend of hers didn't "say anything that she thinks might've happened last night" ... CBS News reports.

She ended up passing the message along, and her friend told investigators that the message "clicked" when Cornell sent an alert email about the sexual assault.

New body cam footage of Luigi Mangione's arrest shows the moment cops placed him in cuffs inside a McDonald's after a 5-day manhunt.

In the clip obtained by CNN ... an officer asked Mangione to pull down his mask inside the Altoona, Pennsylvania restaurant ... before cops privately shared their belief that he was "100%" the suspect they were looking for.

After giving cops a fake ID, authorities then asked if his real name was Mark Rosario ... before Mangione confirmed his actual identity and admitted he "clearly shouldn't have" lied about who he was.

10:01 AM PT -- The medical examiner tells TMZ ... "As you all know an autopsy was conducted this morning on Mr. Urker. At this time, there is no definitive cause of death. The case remains pending completion of toxicology testing, and no further information regarding the cause of death will be available until those results are received and the investigation is complete."

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's ex-fiancé Ken Urker is now in the hands of a Louisiana coroner -- and TMZ has learned his autopsy is scheduled for today.

In fact, Urker's autopsy is slated for this morning at the Jefferson Parish Forensic Center in Harvey, Louisiana, according to Kayla Breaux, the Lafourche Parish Coroner.

Breaux tells us Urker died in Lafourche Parish ... but since her office doesn't have a pathologist, Ken's body will be examined by a forensic doctor in Jefferson Parish. Breaux also said standard toxicology tests will be performed on Urker.

A man was fatally stabbed on an NYC subway Wednesday ... and insane video shows the aftermath as bystanders chase after the knife-wielding suspect.

According to police, 25-year-old Jyrell Thomas was acting agitated and pacing inside the J train before walking up to fellow passenger Mesias Lojano and swinging at him with a kitchen knife.

A bystander on the train began filming on his phone amid the chaos ... recording as he chased after the suspect through the platform and down the street.

Christa Pike claimed she was the victim of horrific childhood abuse at the hands of relatives as she fought to get taken off death row ... and her allegations are horrifying.

TMZ obtained court docs from previous appeals in her murder case in which the convicted murderer laid out the abuse she claims to have suffered in her childhood ... and it's a lot to take in.

Christa, who was fighting to be taken off death row at the time based on ineffective assistance of counsel, claimed the court had not considered the abuse and neglect she suffered ... including sexual abuse from multiple abusers and her placement in juvenile facilities where she said the "semblance of continuity and stability actually caused her to sabotage her own chances of going home."

Lindsay Clancy just lost her recent bid to have the murder case against her thrown out ... TMZ has confirmed.

New court docs, obtained by TMZ, show Judge William Sullivan denied Clancy's motion to find her not guilty of murder after the trial resulted in a hung jury. 

Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, argued in court earlier this week that the prosecution failed to prove she murdered her kids.

However, the judge found prosecutors presented enough evidence for a "rational" jury to "find beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the charge of murder."

Christa Pike made some horrific noises for nearly an hour during her botched execution ... and one local TV news anchor who was there is describing it for us ... and it sounds unpleasant.

Tori Gessner -- an anchor for WKRN news in Tennessee -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to discuss what she saw and heard during Wednesday night's execution attempt ... which she says got off to a weird start when they didn't open the curtain for nearly an hour.

Tori says it's normal for the curtain to be closed at first ... and that during this time, it's generally assumed IVs are being attached to the inmate.

However, Tori says this usually takes 10 to 15 minutes ... but this time it took about an hour. During this time, she says she could hear some moaning, whimpering, and crying.

Christa Pike's botched execution attempt took a serious toll on her ... with her lawyer saying she's in bad shape in the hospital -- but making it clear she's not in a coma.

An attorney for the convicted killer tells TMZ ... "Christa is critically ill but not in a coma as I understand it." He tells us she's still unconscious and unable to communicate.

The attorney also adds Christa's execution warrant expired at midnight ... so the Tennessee Supreme Court will have to set a new date before they can try to execute her again.

Christa Pike's attorneys are calling on Tennessee to commute her death sentence after her failed execution ... saying Pike was actually helping the execution team try to place her IV lines.

Randy Spivey and Stephen Ferrell both urged the state to take another execution attempt off the table Thursday ... arguing Pike had already endured a cruel and traumatic ordeal.

Spivey said Pike remained "kind, cooperative and at peace" as workers struggled to establish access ... even telling them to try higher up toward her shoulder and thanking them when they thought they'd gotten a line.

Christa Pike's ex-boyfriend -- who helped her torture and kill a 19-year-old woman -- is still locked up ... but he's taking steps to change his scenery.

Tadaryl Shipp is currently housed in Tennessee's Northwest Correctional Complex ... according to Department of Corrections records obtained by TMZ.

Shipp -- who had been sentenced to life -- was previously denied parole in Oct. 2025.

However ... Department of Corrections records show that his case will be reviewed again in Oct. 2031.

Ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger will be leaving lockup after serving only part of her murder sentence ... because she's been granted parole.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed she'll be released after serving only 7 years of her 10-year sentence for killing Botham Jean.

Back in 2018, Guyger mistakenly entered Jean's apartment thinking it was hers and -- believing he was a burglar -- fatally shot Jean inside his own home.

Christa Pike's botched execution was a total disaster ... according to the mother of the girl Christa murdered in 1995.

May Martinez -- Colleen Slemmer's mom -- told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday ... "It was a mess."

As you know, Christa survived 2 lethal injections Wednesday night in Tennessee during her attempted execution for Colleen's murder.

Nashville reporter Tori Gessner described the execution during a news conference, saying she could hear Pike say ... "My arm feels like it's about to burst open."

The doctor who oversaw Christa Pike's failed execution in Tennessee also presided over another botched attempt back in May ... making him 0-for-2.

Dr. Mark Fowler -- who oversaw the administration of 2 lethal injections to Pike -- supervised the called-off execution of Tony Carruthers on May 21.

The Carruthers execution was stopped in its tracks after medical staff spent more than an hour trying -- and failing -- to insert a needle to establish a backup IV line and central line too ... NBC News reported.

Tennessee Senator and gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn offered a blunt solution following the botched execution of Christa Pike by lethal injection ... bring back the electric chair.

In a statement, Blackburn says ... "This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago. Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly. As your governor, I will do just that."

Blackburn, who leads in a recent poll by TargetSmart against Democratic candidate Jerri Green, has been vocal about ushering in the return of the electric chair.

Christa Pike survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her Wednesday night ... and years before the botched lethal injections, she was fighting the state over another part of death row -- decades spent virtually alone in solitary confinement.

In a 2022 federal lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Pike asked to be released from mandatory segregation ... with her attorneys saying she had spent more than 25 years with virtually no meaningful human contact.

Her lawyer wrote Pike's life had been defined by "four concrete walls and bare floor" ... adding, "She is fundamentally alone."

Michigan just wiped 20,000 convicted sex offenders off its sex offender registry ... and Larry Nassar was one of them.

Here's what happened ... Michigan's Supreme Court recently ruled that amendments issued in 2021 to the Sex Offender Registration Act can't be used to retroactively require registration due to older incidents ... and as a result, the Michigan State Police scrubbed 20K sex offenders whose crimes happened before July 1, 2011.

That means Nassar's been scrubbed from the registry ... and a search for his name yields no results.