True Crime

A 65-year-old woman from Arizona is finally facing justice decades after she allegedly suffocated her newborn baby to death and tossed her in the woods at a North Dakota college campus.

Nancy Jean Trottier was arrested April 7 for the alleged murder of the baby, named "Rebecca" by police, after a DNA breakthrough linked her to the child's corpse, local Fargo, ND outlet Valley News Live reports.

Trottier is accused of birthing the baby and then stuffing her inside a plastic bag -- with her umbilical cord still attached -- and dumping the bag in a wooded area behind Valley City State College in 1981. Trottier was reportedly a student there from 1978 to 1982.

Brian Hooker almost vanished just like his wife Lynette ... after he fell overboard while handcuffed on his boat in police custody ... but he was saved in the nick of time, TMZ has learned.

The latest twist in Lynette Hooker's disappearance in the Bahamas kicked off late Wednesday night after Brian's arrest in connection with the case, according to his attorney, Terrel Butler. Butler tells TMZ she visited Brian Thursday night at the Central Police Station in Grand Bahama -- and Brian told her a harrowing story.

He said the police took him out on his boat under heavy rain and strong winds to search for Lynette. He said his hands were cuffed in front of him while gripping a change of clothes when, suddenly, he lost his footing as he moved sideways across the wet, unstable deck.

Brian Hooker -- the man arrested in the disappearance of his wife Lynette Hooker -- says he got separated from her due to heavy winds after she fell overboard Saturday night, according to a new report.

Two days after Lynette vanished at sea in the Bahamas, Brian was contacted via text by a buddy, Daniel Danforth, who checked in with him Monday after seeing all the headlines, CBS News reports.

Daniel cited a report about Lynette falling off the boat -- prompting Brian to reply, "The wind blew me away from her and she swam towards the sailboat and we lost sight of each other pretty quickly as it was just about sundown."

Security staffer Nation Wood -- who previously worked for former President Joe Biden and posed for a picture with Kamala Harris -- has been arrested on involuntary manslaughter charges in San Francisco ... this according to SFPD.

The 25-year-old has been booked for allegedly shooting and killing a woman -- identified by the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as Samantha Emge, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Cops say they found Samantha suffering from a gunshot wound in a 22nd Street residence Tuesday.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department canned one of its deputies after he was arrested on a kidnapping charge ... according to KOLD-TV.

The deputy, Travis Reynolds, was booked by the Tucson Police Department Thursday ... and he was in court Friday, where the judge set his bond at $200K.

Prosecutors claim a female victim told authorities she was afraid of the deputy because of the "power dynamic" between the two of them after Reynolds allegedly called her "hot" and shared a vape pen with her while transporting the woman to Pima County Jail in Arizona.

Jarvis Butts has reportedly died in prison ... just two weeks after being sentenced for killing 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, the Michigan Department of Corrections says Butts died on Thursday at Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center … and his death is being investigated as a suicide. Officials say the staff took “life-saving measures” that were ultimately unsuccessful.

On March 12, Butts pleaded guilty to Na’Ziyah’s murder and was sentenced to 35 to 60 years behind bars -- seen in the video above. During sentencing, the judge said … “Mr. Butts, you’re going to have many years to sit and dwell on your horrible actions.”

Savannah Guthrie says she knew her mom, Nancy, hadn't just wandered off when she surveyed the scene at her home ... and she focused on one eerie clue in particular -- the doors were left propped open.

In an interview with her "Today" co-anchor, Hoda Kotb, Savannah revealed her first thoughts when hearing about her mom's disappearance.

She said, "We thought she must have had some kind of medical episode in the night and that somehow the paramedics had come, because the back doors were propped open, and that didn't make any sense."

Savannah Guthrie is speaking out about her mother Nancy Guthrie's kidnapping in her first public interview ... airing on "TODAY" Thursday and Friday.

The "TODAY" show played a preview of the emotional interview between Savannah and Hoda Kotb during Wednesday morning's broadcast ... and it shows a heartbroken Savannah describing the intense pain her family feels.

She's in tears and pleads ... "Someone needs to do the right thing ... We are in agony. ... It is unbearable. And to think of what she went through."

A wallet belonging to James "Jimmy" Gracey -- the University of Alabama student who went missing in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday -- was reportedly found in the ocean near where he vanished.

A Catalan Police aquatic unit scoured the water in search of the 20-year-old American spring breaker and came up with James' wallet off Somorrostro beach -- just a few hundred feet from the popular nightclub Shôko, where James was reportedly last seen -- according to Alabama's WBMA-TV.

As we told you, James' mother, Therese Gracey, asked for help finding James in a Facebook post, writing that James "didn't make it back to the Airbnb" but cops have his phone.

"The Real Housewives of Pretoria" star Melany Viljoen was cuffed in her bathrobe after allegedly shoplifting from a Florida supermarket ... and it's all captured on new body cam footage.

ICYMI ... Melany and her husband Petrus "Peet" Viljoen were booked last Wednesday after Boca Raton police say the couple stole more than $5K worth of groceries from a local Publix.

In the body cam footage -- obtained by Page Six -- of their arrests, you can see Melany answer the door of their home and get handcuffed ... while wearing only a bathrobe.

Jordan Jones' heroic attempt to protect a woman who was being attacked was captured in a harrowing, newly released 911 audio -- with a witness telling dispatchers the late pro football player tried to intervene before he was shot.

TMZ Sports obtained the 911 calls just days after Jones was shot and killed outside of Saddle Bar in Acworth, Georgia, on March 7.

A caller at the scene broke down what happened to the dispatcher ... saying Jones, who worked as bar security, was shot in the parking lot after he told another man, alleged gunman Daniel Di Vonne Parsons, to stop assaulting a woman.

Erika Jayne's shocking 'RHOBH' abuse confession is shedding new light on a frightening police response to her home ... 'cause TMZ has learned the incident involved a suspect who refused to leave.

During a recent episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," EJ made the revelation during a tense conversation with Denise Richards and Sutton Stracke about Denise's divorce from Aaron Phypers. After a photo of Denise with a "black eye" came up and Denise explained it, Erika said she had also experienced abuse in the past. She made it clear it did not involve either of her former husbands.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a male suspect -- described as a black man and a friend of Erika's -- allegedly broke into her Los Angeles home on September 20, 2024, and refused to leave.

State officials in New Mexico are reportedly conducting the first known thorough search of Jeffrey Epstein's infamous Zorro Ranch ... years after an anonymous tip alleged there were bodies buried on the property.

According to The New York Times, investigators began their search Monday, but acknowledged the passage of time may make things difficult.

The state's attorney general, Raúl Torrez, wrote in The Albuquerque Journal last week that there will be "real obstacles" to finding evidence of any potential offenses that may or may not have taken place on the ranch, but that "the people of New Mexico, and those who were harmed, are entitled to a complete and transparent accounting of what we found and what we did not."

"90 Day Fiancé" star Leida Margaretha’s baby daughter Alisa’s death has been deemed "non-accidental," TMZ has confirmed.

Leida’s attorney, Taylor Hart, confirmed the finding from Adams County Health and Human Services Department's initial assessment ... which Starcasm reports states there’s "a preponderance of the evidence to substantiate maltreatment of physical abuse to the infant by the mother."

The Wisconsin report notes no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the baby’s death ... and the investigation remains ongoing.

Savannah Guthrie was putting on a brave face in the New York chill -- stepping out as the desperate search for her mom, Nancy Guthrie, stretches into the sixth week since she was last seen.

The "Today" show anchor was spotted Sunday in the Big Apple with husband Michael Feldman and their son Charles ... trying to keep things as normal as possible despite the turmoil that’s gripped her family in recent weeks.

Even in the middle of the nightmare, Savannah managed a few smiles ... doing her best to carry on after briefly returning to the "Today" studio last Thursday for an emotional visit.

Misty Roberts -- the disgraced former Louisiana mayor -- is extending her 15 minutes of infamy by posing for a new mug shot Thursday after she registered as a sex offender.

As you can see, Roberts was in no mood to smile as her picture was snapped during the process of registering as a sex offender in Beauregard Parish, LA, which includes DeRidder -- a small city of about 10,000 people -- where Misty was mayor until the scandal broke.

On Tuesday, Roberts she was convicted at trial of two felonies -- carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior of a juvenile. She was also required to register as a sex offender with the state.