investigation news stories on Newser

'Police Gang' Probed in LA

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:49:11 CDT

Seven deputies suspected of belonging to a "police gang" that supports street crime crackdowns backed by shootings have been suspended from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, according to officials. The so-called "Jump Up Boys" apparently operated like a squad within a squad, with members believed to sport similar tattoos...

Police Check MI6 Agents' DNA in Dead Spy Probe

Kevin Spak — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:05:05 CDT

London Metropolitan Police suspect that one of Gareth Williams' MI6 co-workers was in his apartment the night he died, and they want DNA samples from 50 of them to test that theory, the Telegraph reports. Weak traces of DNA from at least two people have been found in the flat,...

RNC: Obama Fraudulently Using Air Force One

Kevin Spak — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:26:05 CDT

Republicans think Barack Obama's trips on Air Force One amount to nothing less than fraud. RNC Chair Reince Priebus has sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking it to investigate Obama's recent travel, alleging that the events he's traveling to have been "widely reported to be equivalent to...

Top French Academic in Manhattan Mystery Death

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:35:00 CDT

A prestigious French scholar in Manhattan for a conference was found nude and dead in his midtown hotel room in suspicious circumstances, according to investigators. Richard Descoings, 53, a member of France's Council of State and director of top French university Sciences Po, was discovered by hotel staffers after they...

Church Staged Teen Kidnap to Teach Persecution

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 01:05:59 CDT

County prosecutors are investigating mock "abductions" orchestrated by a Pennsylvania church that left one 14-year-old girl bruised, battered, and terrified, according to authorities. The horrifying ordeal was intended to teach the unsuspecting teens at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Middletown about persecution of Christian missionaries, reports the Daily...

US Inquiry Pins Koran Burning on 5 Soldiers

Kevin Spak — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:34:05 CST

The US has completed its promised investigation into the Koran-burning incident at Bagram Air Force Base that plunged Afghanistan into turmoil last week, naming five soldiers as responsible for the debacle, the Washington Post reports. The US says the culprits will be disciplined, but insists the incident was an unfortunate...

Afghanistan Probes Teen Bride's Torture

Matt Cantor — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:49:51 CST

Afghanistan's president has ordered an investigation following reports that a 15-year-old girl was locked in her in-laws' basement and tortured. Police say they rescued Sahar Gul last month after her parents said they hadn't seen her for months. The girl had been starved and "we saw her nails had been...

War Crimes Court's Next Target: NATO?

Matt Cantor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:36:41 CST

Is the International Criminal Court's next target NATO? Some NATO officials fear an investigation is nigh, after the ICC's prosecutor said Libya war-crimes allegations would be reviewed "impartially and independently," NATO-affiliated diplomats tell the AP . But an examination of allegations won't necessarily lead to an investigation, and in an effort...

Paterno Turns to Criminal Defense Lawyer

Kevin Spak — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:06:47 CST

Joe Paterno hasn’t been charged with any crimes in the Penn State abuse case, but he has reached out to prominent criminal defense lawyer J. Sedgwick Sollers to represent him just in case, sources tell NBC News . The Washington-based Sollers is famed for having once represented George HW Bush during...