To my mind, the highest form of mystery novel is the “locked room” murder or “impossible crime.” While Agatha Christie is the mistress of misdirection with an unequaled gift for plotting, John Dickson Carr remains the master of those howdunits involving what is sometimes facetiously referred to as a “hermetically sealed chamber.” For example, in Carr’s masterpiece, “ The Three Coffins ,” two murders are committed by seemingly supernatural means. In one, a man is shot at point-blank range while standing in a courtyard covered with freshly fallen snow. His are the only tracks in the snow. Moreover, there are eyewitnesses who can swear that they saw no one near the victim at the time of the shot and that it wasn’t suicide. How was he killed? Read full article > >

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Michael Dirda reviews Christopher Fowler’s ‘The Memory of Blood’

Bringing a federal hate crime charge against a neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin will be “a challenge, to put it lightly,” the victim's lawyer said.

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Hoodies expected in churches Sunday

A 13-year-old girl who died after being stabbed in South Yorkshire was the victim of a random attack, the BBC understands.

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Girl killed in ‘random stabbing’

Blood found on the clothes of a man accused of raping and murdering a pregnant teenager matched the victim’s DNA, a jury is told.

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Victim DNA ‘on accused’s clothes’

Detectives investigating the murder of a young woman found on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate name the victim as a 17-year-old girl.

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Body on Queen’s estate identified

Whoever he is — if he’s still alive — he attacked at least seven and probably nine women in Montgomery County and Georgetown in the 1990s. Eight were raped, including a 28-year-old biochemist he beat to death with a slab of rock. The other victim fought off a rape attempt until the assailant cracked her skull with a radio and fled. Read full article > >

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Digital blitz launched against ’90s D.C. area serial rapist

PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors on Wednesday abandoned their 30-year push to execute convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther whose claim that he was the victim of a racist legal system made him an international cause celebre. Abu-Jamal, 58, will instead spend the rest of his life in prison. Read full article > >

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Philadelphia DA dropping death penalty against Mumia Abu-Jamal in racially charged murder case

Alleged Victim 1 filed allegations in 2008.

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Sandusky Accuser Will Testify at Hearing

AMSTERDAM — Police say an argument about loud music could be the reason Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death. Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels tells The Associated Press that loud music “appears to be the reason the victim walked downstairs,” but police are still trying to piece together what happened after that. Read full article > >

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Dutch police say loud music may have led to the slaying of Seattle Mariners outfielder Halman

Raphael Rowe meets the victim of a violent burglary who agreed to go into a prison to meet one of the men responsible

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VIDEO: Victim meets violent burglar

ATLANTA — Georgia’s execution of Troy Davis for the murder of an off-duty police officer has done little to resolve the debate over his guilt that captured the attention of thousands worldwide, including a former president and the pope. Davis remained defiant even after he was strapped to a gurney Wednesday night in the state’s death chamber, declaring his innocence and urging the victim’s family to continue searching for the truth. Read full article > >

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Ga.’s execution of Troy Davis leaves debate over guilt unresolved; inmate maintained innocence

A crane toppled over at the National Cathedral this morning, sending one person to the hospital and damaging two out-buildings and crushing several vehicles. DC Fire/EMS Battalion Chief John Donnelly said one person was taken to the hospital but he did not have not have more information on the extent of the victim’s injuries. No one was trapped or injured, said Oscar Mendez, a D.C. Fire/EMS spokesman. But when the crane came down, it damaged both the Herb Cottage and the Church House, the headquarters of the diocese. Three to five parked cars were also crushed, Mendez said. Read full article > >

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Crane topples at National Cathedral, damages buildings

Another victim has died in Tuesday’s shooting rampage at a Carson City, Nevada, IHOP restaurant, officials said.

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5 dead, including gunman, at Nevada IHOP

Prosecutors say the victim, Nazish Noorani, had recently texted her brother about her husband, Kashif Parvaiz: “Someday U will find me dead, but it’s cuz of Kashi.”

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Husband Is Charged in Wife’s Killing in New Jersey

A judge in Aruba on Monday ordered a Gaithersburg man held for an additional 16 days as investigators continued to probe how and why his traveling companion disappeared two weeks ago. Gary V. Giordano , 50, appeared before an examining magistrate for more than two hours. The proceeding was closed to the media, as is typical at this stage in Aruban investigations. But Aruban Solicitor General Taco Stein said prosecutors argued to the judge that Robyn Gardner, 35, might be the victim of foul play and that Giordano was involved. Read full article > >

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Judge extends detention of Gaithersburg man in Aruba