Kansas City Woman Kills Her Brother’s Suspected Murderer
Jackson County Detention CenterAuthorities found a series of incriminating text messages on Tityana Coppage’s phone.
Sixteen-year-old Jason Ugwuh of Kansas City, Missouri, was an outstanding student and a top-notch basketball player. Tragically, he was fatally shot in an unsolved homicide on January 10, 2021. His 21-year-old sister Tityana Coppage couldn’t let that stand — and sought vigilante justice.
“I tried to shield y’all from everything I had to witness as a kid,” Coppage wrote on Facebook after Ugwuh’s death. “I worked hard and long hours to keep a roof over y’all head… All I wanted is to see you happy finish school and make it to the top. But somehow I still failed you.”
While 36-year-old Keith Lars had already become a potential suspect in the case, police were unable to question him — as he was found gunned down in a parking lot on January 13. Surveillance footage revealed Coppage as his killer, showing her leave home and travel to and from the crime scene.
Coppage had also left a trail of incriminating text messages behind. One had been sent to her dead brother and read: “I owe em that body.” Another was sent to a contact named “Auntie” and mentioned .45-caliber ammunition. And so it didn’t take long for Coppage to be taken into custody.
She was charged with second-degree murder and held on a $200,000 bond.
The Nun Who Stole $800,000 From The Catholic School Where She Worked
Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesSister Mary Kreuper was the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years.
Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper vowed to dedicate herself to children’s education when she became a nun at age 18. While her job as principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, suggested Kreuper had done so, she had also stolen over $800,000 in funds. She retired in 2018.
By June 2021, authorities had charged the 79-year-old with money laundering and wire fraud. The U.S. attorney for the Central District of California also revealed that she had stolen money raised for the school to support a gambling habit and to pay off her credit cards.
While it’s unclear when exactly she dipped into the charitable honeypot, Kreuper had worked at St. James for 28 years. An investigation uncovered that she had even asked colleagues to falsify financial records.
Ultimately, her crimes were only discovered after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles looked over the school’s finances following Kreuper’s retirement. While the archdiocese initially planned to “address the situation internally,” the Torrance Police Department eventually became involved.
Kreuper ultimately pleaded guilty to the charges, and currently faces up to 40 years in federal prison. She will be sentenced on February 7, 2022.
Nevada Girl Murders Her Father With Help From Her Boyfriend
Left: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police; Right: Salt Lake CountySierra Halseth and Aaron Guerrero were lethally enraged when their parents forbade them from running off together.
The death of Daniel Halseth was unimaginably horrific on its own merit. The 45-year-old father was found stabbed some 70-odd times, stuffed into a sleeping bag, and set on fire. Most disturbing, however, was that his own daughter had killed him with the help of her boyfriend.
Las Vegas police found the charred corpse on April 9, 2021. Readying for a thorough investigation, they were stunned to find an incriminating video made by the killers themselves. It showed 18-year-old Aaron Guerrero and 16-year-old Sierra Halseth having a disturbing conversation.
“Welcome back to our YouTube channel,” Guerrero jokes. “Day three after murdering somebody.”
While Halseth admonished him for vocalizing their crime on camera, the two lovers had already sealed their fate. Both were soon charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, arson, and four counts of fraudulent use of credit or debit cards.
Perhaps most confounding was the question of why Halseth and Guerrero had committed the grisly crime. They had only been dating for a few months when it occurred. Ultimately, it appeared that Halseth’s parents had forbidden the couple from running off to California together.
Their response was unspeakable — and saw them try to dismember the victim’s body before setting the house ablaze and crossing state lines. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother had tragically tried to contact him, only for her granddaughter to claim that his phone was broken.
Both are being tried as adults, with Guerrero facing a possible death sentence for having been an adult when he committed the crime.
