True Crime

Chandra Levy -- the slain Federal Bureau of Prisons intern who went missing back in 2001 -- may have been killed because she knew too much about UFOs ... so say her parents.

Robert and Susan Levy talked about their daughter's death on NewsNation's "Jesse Weber Live" ... and they mentioned that Chandra indicated to them she knew information about UFOs because of her relationship with Representative Gary Condit shortly before she went missing.

The pair mentions the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe's drug overdose as more possible examples of people being killed for knowing too much.

Brian Hooker calmly ... very calmly ... explained what happened to his wife just days after she went missing near the Bahamas in a new video obtained by TMZ.

The clip -- taken on Monday, April 6 -- two days after Lynette disappeared and two days before Hooker was questioned by the Royal Bahamas Police Force -- shows a fellow seafarer engaging in a conversation with Hooker.

The two have a conversation from their separate ships ... with Brian standing on "Soulmate."

Bryan Kohberger's mom called her son an "angel" after FBI agents arrested him for the slaughter of 4 Idaho college students -- and she even claimed the authorities got the wrong guy, according to a new report.

Maryann Kohberger was interviewed by 3 FBI agents following the 2022 raid on her Pennsylvania family home, during which Bryan was taken away in handcuffs, the Daily Mail reports.

Bryan was charged with murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He later pleaded guilty to butchering the students with a Ka-bar knife as they slept in beds inside an Idaho home. Under a plea deal, Bryan was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison.

The parents of Anna Kepner's stepbrother T.H., accused of murdering her on a cruise ship, are now fighting over child support for him ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, T.H.'s dad, Thomas Hudson, is making moves to pay less monthly child support to T.H.'s mom, Shauntel Hudson.

Thomas said Shauntel kicked T.H. out of her home, saying the child was not welcome in the home due to him being accused of Anna's murder. Thomas claims that because T.H. no longer resided with Shauntel, his child support obligations should be reduced for the amounts allocated to him.

A California man was charged with murder Thursday in the stabbing death of a beloved Burbank 1st-grade teacher earlier this week.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is charging Sergio Fraire with murder, with a special circumstance of lying in wait, for allegedly attacking and killing Arti Varma in a Burbank, CA home early Monday morning.

Arti’s daughter -- identified by neighbors as 25-year-old mental health activist Meera Varma -- was also stabbed in the attack ... she was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

On top of the murder charge, Fraire has also been hit with one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of first-degree residential burglary.

Elizabeth Smart has gone from kidnap victim to child safety advocate — and now to professional bodybuilder with the mother of 3 looking absolutely stunning!

Smart posted an Instagram message Tuesday with a photo of herself wearing a bikini while showing off her perfectly sculpted body during a bodybuilding competition last weekend.

In her message, Smart said it would shock many of us to learn that she has now competed in a total of 4 bodybuilding competitions. She said she was frightened at first to post her muscle pics, thinking she would not be taken seriously or perceived as someone unworthy to continue helping survivors like herself. 

The hunt for Nancy Guthrie in her cold case may have just hit a turning point ... because the FBI is using new technology to zero in on DNA evidence.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ that agents are analyzing what could be a crucial sample recovered from the 84-year-old’s Tucson, Arizona home ... and it’s already been sent through a private lab working with the Pima County Sheriff's Department before landing in federal hands.

This is the same DNA evidence that was recovered from Nancy’s home earlier in the probe. But here’s the catch ... the DNA isn’t clean. Investigators say it’s a mixed sample from multiple people, meaning it’ll take time to separate and figure out what actually matters.

Brian Hooker hightailed it out of the Bahamas to visit his ailing mother, leaving behind the yacht named "Soulmate." His wife Lynette's location is still a mystery nearly two weeks after she allegedly fell overboard on a dinghy as it was traveling to the larger boat.

Brian's attorney, Terrel Butler, tells TMZ ... Brian left the Bahamas Wednesday to attend to his mother, who is sick.

While he's gone, Brian's keeping his boat anchored in Marsh Harbour, a town in the Abaco Islands, Bahamas, while police and the U.S. Coast Guard continue their search for Lynette. TMZ just obtained photos of Brian's "Soulmate" yacht parked at a dock.

A Coast Guard official told TMZ Tuesday ... they are still "conducting a criminal investigation into the disappearance of Mrs. Hooker." And the Royal Bahamas Police Force says Brian remains a suspect in the case.

Chilling security video shows the exact moment an Oklahoma high school principal explodes out of an office and tackles an armed gunman -- a takedown that ends with the heroic principal getting shot in the leg.

Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore went into full hero mode ... charging 20-year-old armed suspect Victor Lee Hawkins from behind, slamming him onto a bench, and ripping a handgun from his grip as terrified students scatter.

Check out video from inside the school ... which shows Hawkins lurking in the hallway with his firearms.

Anna Kepner’s stepbrother, T.H. -- who is accused of raping and murdering her on a Carnival cruise -- has been living with family while being monitored by the feds ... but now that he's charged as an adult, prosecutors have changed their tune and want him behind bars pending his trial ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, T.H. -- who was arrested in February and indicted by a federal grand jury for first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse as an adult this week -- has been staying at his uncle Devon Ziske’s home.

T.H. was ordered to stay at home and always be under the supervision of an adult. He was made to wear a GPS monitor and not allowed to be alone with anyone under the age of 18, unless supervised by an adult.

Brian Hooker is going quiet ... and it’s raising just as many questions as answers in the desperate search for his wife, Lynette Hooker, who's been missing for 10 days after she went overboard on a boat in the Bahamas.

The husband at the center of the mystery has officially stepped back from the spotlight ... with his attorney, Terrel Butler, announcing Tuesday he will no longer be doing media interviews as the situation intensifies.

Hooker’s focus is locked in on finding his wife of 25 years ... pouring all of his emotional and physical energy into the ocean search while working behind the scenes with “relevant parties,” according to his lawyer.

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.