Margaret Tessneer, 79 - found dead in her home on September 20, 2003, with the door unlocked and the phone lines ripped out
Lottie Ledford; Lillian Mullinax - also found dead in their beds under similar circumstances in over the course of 4 months in 2003
Donald Eugene Borders, now 50 - arrested Monday, December 28, 2009 and charged with murder, rape, and breaking & entering in the death of Margaret Tessneer; initially considered a witness
Shelby, NC

It took investigators more than six years. But the man police say is behind the mysterious death of an elderly Shelby woman has been indicted for murder. On Monday, a Cleveland County grand jury indicted Donald Eugene Borders, 50, for first-degree murder in the 2003 death of Margaret Tessneer.

Borders was arrested at his Cherryville home in December for murder, first-degree rape and felony breaking and entering in connection with 79-year-old's death. He was later indicted for the rape and breaking and entering charges. When the grand jury did not indict Borders on the murder charge in January, the charge was dropped.

Although prosecutors didn’t know the reason behind the grand jury’s decision then, they speculated on their concerns in the case and resubmitted that evidence Monday. “Given the nature of the evidence, we anticipated what the grand jury’s concerns may have been when the case was submitted,” said Cleveland County District Attorney Rick Shaffer. “We submitted a new bill of indictment, presented a witness to the grand jury that we felt may address the potential issue.”

Staci Michelle Montgomery, 25 - shot in the head and killed on December 20, 2009
Scott Matthew Marshall, 39 - personal injury lawyer arrested on felony murder charges in the death of Staci Montgomery
Sarah Laine Durand, 27 - charged with failure to report a felony, a misdemeanor; charges dropped
Addison (Dallas County), TX

Dallas County prosecutors will seek an indictment for murder against plaintiffs attorney Scott Marshall in connection with the Dec. 20, 2009, shooting death of Staci Montgomery, the ex-wife of Marshall's former law partner, Bady Sassin. According to an e-mail from Jamille Bradfield, spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney's office, prosecutors will present the case against Marshall to a grand jury on Friday.

Montgomery’s death occurred as the two former partners were engaged in a legal battle. Sassin filed Sassin Law Firm v. Marshall Law Firm in August 2009, alleging that Marshall did not hold up his end of the partnership after they agreed to start Marshall Sassin in January 2009.

In his first amended petition, Sassin accuses Marshall of fraudulent inducement and breach of contract, among other things -- allegations Marshall denies in his response and countersuit. Marshall filed a countersuit in December 2009, alleging that Sassin "wrongfully misappropriated” case files and profits of Marshall Sassin and did not share the proceeds with Marshall. Sassin denies that allegation.

Kelly Wing Schmidt, 39 - shot and killed by her ex-husband on Friday, April 17, 2009
Barbara Wing, 66 - shot in the chest but able to contact 911
Scott E. Schmidt, 38 - Appleton Fire Department arrested at the scene for the murder of his ex-wife and shooting of his ex mother in law
Audio Schmit Shooting 911 Call (MP3 - graphic language)
Grand Chute (Outagamie County), WI

A remorseful Scott Schmidt took the stand this afternoon saying he wishes he never shot his wife Kelly Wing Schmidt...and described the details of what happened that fateful morning. "I love my wife," Schmidt said on the stand. A statement he made over and over again.

"I loved her, I didn't want to lose her," he says. Schmidt told jurors he never intended to kill his wife and described the events for the jury of the final moments before he admits to shooting her. "I remember pushing the door open and I remember hearing a shot, but I don't remember shooting her."

Schmidt says he also doesn't remember shooting his mother-in-law Barbara Wing, and says the events of that morning still haunt him to this day. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I didn't pull that trigger...I took the most important person in my life away out of here...I was trained to save lives not take them."

Amber DuBois, 14 - last seen at/near Escondido High School on February 13, 2009' body found Saturday, March 6, 2010
Offsite Link: Bring Amber Home Website
Escondido (San Diego County), CA

The parents of Escondido teenager Amber Dubois say they are angry about misinformation being spread by a private investigator the family hired shortly after Amber disappeared in February 2009. Amber’s father, Moe Dubois, said Monday that neither he nor Amber’s mother, Carrie McGonigle, have spoken to private investigator Bill Garcia since their daughter’s skeletal remains were discovered Saturday near Pala.

“Carrie is livid that he is going out and speaking on behalf of the family,” Dubois said. “We haven’t talked to him.” Garcia told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a phone interview Sunday afternoon that the tip leading investigators to Amber’s remains did not come from John Albert Gardner III, the man now facing murder charges in connection with the death of 17-year-old Poway High School senior Chelsea King.

A few minutes later, when he was asked again about the tip and how he knew it didn’t come from Gardner, Garcia said, “I talked to someone who knows it first-hand.” He said he couldn’t say any more without getting into trouble.

Amber Robinson, 15 - stabbed to death during a fight in a parking lot involving a large number of teenagers
Khrendon Gray, 18 - charged with murder in the death of Amber Robinson
Rashon Martin, 17 - charged as an accessory for allegedly handing Gray the knife; charges dismissed at trial March 9, 2010
West Chester (Butler County), OH

An alleged accomplice has been cleared, but the trial is proceeding against the man accused of killing a 15-year-old West Chester girl. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth threw out a complicity to murder charge Tuesday in the case of Rashon Martin, 18, of Forest Park, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegation that he provided the knife that was used to kill Amber Robinson last Sept. 10 in a West Chester street fight.

“We argued that there was enough evidence for the jury to consider the charge, and the court believed differently,” Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper said. “All we can do at this point is concentrate on the actual murderer…that case, we’re confident, is very, very strong.”

At least one witness testified that he saw Khrendon Gray of Springfield Township stab Amber; a second witness also testified she heard Gray threaten to kill Amber. A Lakota West sophomore, Amber was stabbed in the back during a fight at the North Pointe Townhomes apartment complex where she once lived. The five-to-six-inch wound penetrated her lung and heart.