True Crime

Karen Read may be tried again for the death of her boyfriend after the judge declared a mistrial, but murder charges may not be on the table ... because according to the defense, the vote on the murder charge was 12 - 0, IN FAVOR OF ACQUITTAL!

Read's lawyer, Alan Jackson, has just filed docs arguing prosecuting Read for 2nd-degree murder a second time would amount to double jeopardy. Shockingly, when the judge declared the mistrial, she didn't say anything about the jury's vote on the murder charge.

We've also learned the jury was unanimous in favor of acquittal on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident where there was injury or death. The only charge on which the jury was deadlocked was vehicular manslaughter, where the jury apparently voted 9 - 3 in favor of guilt.

Bryan Kohberger allegedly entered a house with a knife and slaughtered 4 people when 6 people and a dog were in the 3-level home, so how could a first-time killer pull that off?

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," which begins airing Monday on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore strange, unexplained and downright weird stories, and the Idaho murder case raises lots of questions.

According to prosecutors, Kohberger first killed Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen on the third floor of the house, then went downstairs and killed Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He then allegedly encountered one of the 2 survivors in the house but didn't harm her, and then he left.

A photo of Karen Read's attorney Alan Jackson embracing her tightly from behind is as innocent as her fans believe she is in her murder case ... at least according to people in Karen's inner circle.

The photo, taken outside a Smith & Wollensky restaurant in Boston, has created a big stir around the high-profile case since it was taken on June 27. The jury was in the middle of deliberating ... deciding whether Karen had indeed murdered her police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe.

But, a source close to Karen tells TMZ ... the image is being taken out of context, as it was actually an innocent moment of celebration -- and there was "nothing to this other than goofing around."

Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman's families are slamming O.J. Simpson's "In Memoriam" tribute at the BET Awards ... calling it entirely inappropriate.

Fred Goldman, Ron's father, tells TMZ he can't wrap his head around the O.J. tribute ... saying there was absolutely no positive spin on his inclusion in the segment, which was introduced as honoring Black excellence lost in the last year.

Fred insists, even though they probably won't, BET should issue an apology ... telling us, "I think they shouldn't include anyone of that caliber -- a wife beater, murderer … can't imagine why they would include someone like that."

O.J. Simpson was included in the 2024 BET Awards' "In Memoriam" segment ...

Check out the clip from the ceremony -- the audience was enthusiastically applauding Sunday as photos of the departed flashed onscreen ... but when O.J.'s picture appeared, labeling him  "Former NFL Player," an awkward silence enveloped the room.

As the shock wore off, a few hesitant claps could be heard ... but the atmosphere remained uneasy.

Kevin Costner is reflecting on his divorce, Ariana Grande is getting dragged for some podcast comments, and two Australian wrestlers are getting hitched ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles dive into Kevin's comments on his divorce from Christine Baumgartner ... and how the split left him feeling crushed.

The murder trial of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney will not include key evidence prosecutors obtained from her mother's iCloud ... after a Miami-Dade judge ruled in her defense team's favor.

Judge Laura Cruz announced her decision Wednesday, finding the prosecutors violated attorney-client privilege when they accessed messages between Courtney's parents and their lawyers which were on Deborah Clenney's iCloud account.

Remember, Courtney was arrested and charged with 2nd-degree murder over the fatal stabbing of boyfriend Christian Obumseli in April 2022. Her parents -- Kim and Deborah Clenney -- were later arrested and charged with allegedly accessing Obumseli's computer.

Ariana Grande surprised her fans with a story she recalled from years ago -- the fact that her younger self would have liked to have sat down for a hypothetical meal with Jeffrey Dahmer.

The singer recently went on Penn Badgley's "Podcrushed" podcast -- and she admitted to having previously told fans that the late convicted serial killer was her dream dinner guest ... 'cause she's always wanted to pick his brain.

Ariana -- who said she was infatuated with serial killers growing up -- explained the topic came up during a Q&A with young fans at the start of her singing career ... and she says she told the kid the truth, that she'd wanna chat up Dahmer in a would-be dinner.

O.J. Simpson went to ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson's condo the night of the murders in a Ford Bronco, but there's evidence that the Bronco wasn't his.

TMZ has a new documentary on Tubi -- 'O.J. How He Really Did It' -- in which Harvey Levin, then a reporter at KCBS-TV in L.A., shares never-before-heard stories about the murders.

One thing that always puzzled him ... how is it that O.J. would have been soaked in blood after brutally stabbing 2 human beings to death, yet his Ford Bronco had relatively little blood inside the vehicle?

Gypsy Rose Blanchard says she never had a chance to properly explore her sexuality -- including potentially being attracted to women -- but when she was locked up ... she did.

In the latest episode of Lifetime's "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up," GRB reveals she was immersed in a journey of self-discovery at Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center -- a state prison for women -- after her girl crushes as a kid made her question her sexual identity.

Gypsy dropped the bombshell, saying she experimented with ladies while behind bars ... this after being confused about her attraction to women while growing up.

The O.J. Simpson murder saga has direct connections to the house owned by then-KCBS TV reporter Harvey Levin, and one of the connections involves what O.J.'s best friend might know about the killings.

Harvey, who covered the trial for KCBS, bought the Hollywood Hills house in 1984 from Wayne Hughes, who owned Public Storage. It was Wayne's bachelor pad, and he threw lots of parties. Among the guests ... his good friends O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson.

During the trial, prosecutors wanted to call Wayne to the stand to testify about several occasions where Nicole came to the house in the middle of the night and cried out for help. She told Wayne O.J. had beaten her and she was scared of him. Judge Ito would not allow Wayne to testify.

O.J. Simpson went back to the scene of the crime -- where he killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman -- and our own Harvey Levin happened to be there and a wild chase ensued.

The chase is part of a new Tubi documentary "TMZ Presents O.J.: How He Really Did It" -- marking the 30th anniversary of the murders -- in which Harvey tells a bunch of stories he's never told before during his days at KCBS TV covering the O.J. Simpson murder case.

Among the stories -- a week after O.J. was acquitted in the murder trial, Harvey drove a friend to Nicole's condo where the murders occurred, and a limo was parked in the alley. As Harvey pulled up, the driver looked in the side view mirror and the 2 made eye contact, then immediately turned on the ignition and started to drive away.

O.J. Simpson's FBI file just got released -- and right off the bat, what stands out is the fact agents went to excruciating lengths to study the shoeprint found at the murder scene.

The feds dumped their records on the late O.J. Friday -- and there's dozens of documents within it ... most of which pertain to the infamous 1994 murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson ... for which O.J. was the prime suspect and put on trial, only to be acquitted.

As we all know, there was a shoeprint left in the ground that was matched up to a Bruno Magli shoe -- something FBI agents testified about at the time ... but the process of examining it is now being shown in full through this file -- and you can tell they dove in.

Rex Heuermann -- the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer -- has been hit with 2 additional charges over the deaths of 2 more women ... greatly expanding the case's timeline.

Heuermann has now been charged in the 2003 death of Jessica Taylor after prosecutors say her remains were found scattered between Gilgo Beach and a wooded area elsewhere on Long Island.

The architect was also charged in the 1993 death of Sandra Costilla ... although officials say her remains were not found on Gilgo Beach, but rather in North Sea -- a hamlet in Southampton.

The seemingly never-ending saga of the Amanda Knox murder case in Italy was front and center again Wednesday as she failed in her attempt to clear her name of her last remaining conviction.

This week, Knox returned to the European nation to overturn her 2009 conviction for slander after she fingered the wrong man as an accomplice in the slaying of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

But, her efforts backfired because she was re-convicted on the slander charge in a Florence, Italy courtroom.

Rex Heuermann -- the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer -- will be hit with a new charge tied to his murder case ... TMZ has confirmed

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Heuermann will be arraigned in Riverhead, NY on Thursday -- and while the exact details aren't official yet ... we're told he's expected to be hit with yet another murder charge ... his fifth in the sweeping case.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney told CBS News Monday ... "There were a number of necessary investigative steps that were taken, we've pointed out just some of them. Thursday, you will see the fruits of that investigation." The identity of the new alleged victim has yet to be released.