faked death

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Kayaker Who Faked Drowning Tells Cops How He Did It

Wisconsin man Ryan Borgwardt is somewhere in Eastern Europe, sheriff says

(Newser) - A Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning this summer so he could abandon his wife and three children has been communicating daily with police from somewhere in Eastern Europe but has not committed to returning home, police said Thursday. Ryan Borgwardt has been talking with police since Nov. 11,...

Cops: Wisconsin Kayaker Faked Death, Fled to Europe

Ryan Borgwardt left wife, 3 children behind

(Newser) - A Wisconsin man apparently faked his own drowning this summer so he could abandon his family and flee to eastern Europe, investigators say. Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podell said in a news release Friday that the Dodge County Sheriff's Office informed his agency on Aug. 12 that Ryan...

Kentucky Man Faked His Own Death to Avoid Child Support

Jesse Kipf gets 6 years

(Newser) - Jesse Kipf faked his own death, and now he'll lose years of his life to prison. The Kentucky man was on Monday sentenced to six years as part of a plea deal related to charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Kipf hacked into Hawaii's...

Alleged US Fugitive Appears in Court, Speaks in British Accent

Man identified as Nicholas Rossi identified himself as Arthur Knight Brown

(Newser) - A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the US to avoid rape charges in Utah denied at a court appearance Tuesday that he is the suspect and, in an apparent British accent, called allegations that he wasn't giving his true name "complete hearsay." Nicholas Rossi,...

Canadian Author Pleads Guilty to Abducting Son

Prosecutors said Dawn Walker faked their deaths before fleeing to Oregon

(Newser) - A Canadian author accused of faking her death and the death of her 7-year-old son before fleeing to Oregon last year has pleaded guilty to charges including parental abduction, but will probably avoid prison time. Dawn Walker, an award-winning Indigenous writer from Saskatchewan, also pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of...

Serial Rape Suspect Who Faked Death to Face the Music

Scottish ministers sign order allowing Nicholas Alahverdian (Rossi) to be extradited to US

(Newser) - A convicted sex offender who faked his death to avoid a rape charge in Utah will soon be heading stateside. Scotland's Justice Secretary Angela Constance signed an extradition order last week, eliminating one of the final hurdles preventing Nicholas Alahverdian's return to the US. Alahverdian, who uses numerous...

Case of American Accused of Faking Death Takes New Turn

Scottish judge rules Nicholas Rossi can be extradited to Utah to face charges

(Newser) - An American fugitive accused of faking his own death to avoid a rape charge in Utah can be extradited to the US, a judge in Scotland ruled Wednesday, calling the man "as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative." The wanted man known in Scotland as...

Killer Rapist Thought to Have Died in Prison Actually Escaped

Thabo Bester has been loose for 10 months, says South Africa's corrections department

(Newser) - Last May, South African prison authorities announced a man serving a life sentence for rape and murder had died in a fire in his cell. Dubbed the "Facebook rapist" for his habit of luring victims on the site, Thabo Bester had apparently set himself alight inside the maximum-security Manguaung...

Author Emerges Years After Apparent Suicide. It Doesn't Go Well
Author Emerges Years
After Apparent Suicide.
It Doesn't Go Well
in case you missed it
Jan 8, 2023 4:10 PM CST

Author Emerges Years After Apparent Suicide. It Doesn't Go Well

'Let the fun begin,' Susan Meachen apparently wrote on Facebook, to fans' horror

(Newser) - For more than two years, the Facebook page of self-published author Susan Meachen has served as something of a shrine, used to promote her romance novels and share posts about suicide prevention. In October 2020, a person claiming to be Meachen's daughter posted from Meachen's account, announcing the...

Feds: We Caught Man Who Faked His Own Death in 2016

Jacob Greer arrested six years after allegedly writing a suicide note

(Newser) - An Iowa man who "faked his own death" to avoid standing trial on child pornography charges has been arrested some six years after the fact, authorities say. "The arrest of Jacob Greer after six years is a testament to the tenacity of Deputy US Marshals and our investigative...

Scotland Jails Fugitive Whose Obituary Has Already Run

Sheriff declares American Nicholas Alahverdian untrustworthy

(Newser) - Update: A wanted man who evaded capture for years after, authorities say, faking his death, was jailed Friday without bail in Scotland when the court decreed he "cannot be trusted." Nicholas Alahverdian was picked up after failing to show up for an extradition hearing, the AP reports. He'...

He Left a Suicide Note for His Mom. He Wasn't Really Dead

David Adler Staveley, first American charged with CARES Act fraud, sentenced to 4 years

(Newser) - When David Adler Staveley's unlocked car was found near the Atlantic Ocean in May 2020, with his wallet inside, family members assumed the Massachusetts man was dead. After all, the 54-year-old had left what appeared to be suicide notes for his associates and relatives, including his 80-year-old mother, per...

Cops Thought He Drowned, Then Heard the Horrible Claims

Scot Kim Avis gets 15 years for rape, failure to appear after faked death in California

(Newser) - Numerous people have drowned at Monastery Beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., earning it the nickname "Mortuary Beach." Kim Avis is not one of them . The Scottish street vendor reported missing at the notoriously dangerous site in 2019 in fact faked his own death while facing dozens of accusations of...

Husband Who Helped Wife Fake Her Death Learns His Fate
The Evidence Suggested She
Fell From a Cliff. It Was Planted
in case you missed it
Apr 11, 2021 9:30 AM CDT

The Evidence Suggested She Fell From a Cliff. It Was Planted

Rodney Wheeler gets 8 months of home confinement for helping wife fake death

(Newser) - A West Virginia man will spend eight months in confinement for helping his wife fake her own death. Rodney Wheeler called 911 on May 31, 2020, to report that his wife had fallen from a steep cliff some 1,400 feet above West Virginia's New River. After days of...

She Faked a 'Traumatic Death.' That Just 'Made Matters Worse'

W. Va's Julie Wheeler gets year sentence for cliff fall scheme, on top of another sentence of 42 months

(Newser) - She thought she'd avoid jail by faking her death. Instead, she'll spend an extra year behind bars on top of an earlier sentence of 3.5 years. Julie Wheeler—who was found hiding in a closet last spring, days after her husband claimed she'd fallen from a...

Fugitive Accused of Faking His Own Suicide Is Caught

Jason Blair Scott allegedly raped his stepdaughter and now faces life in prison

(Newser) - A man faked his own death in an attempt to avoid penalty for raping his stepdaughter, who was found to be pregnant with his child, according to the US Marshals Service, which is now celebrating "the fastest apprehension of a fugitive in the 37-year history of the 15 Most...

Man Who Used Corpse to Fake His Own Death Learns His Fate

Igor Vorotinov sentenced to more than 3 years behind bars

(Newser) - A Minnesota man will serve more than three years in prison for faking his own death eight years ago in Eastern Europe to collect a $2 million life insurance policy, the AP reports. Fifty-five-year-old Igor Vorotinov, formerly of Maple Grove, was sentenced for mail fraud Monday in US District Court....

Murder-Suicide by Wife Foils Hubby's Fake Death

He reportedly hoped insurance money would pay for daughter's epilepsy treatment

(Newser) - Lesson learned: Tell your wife if you ever plan to fake your own death. A 34-year-old man who failed to do so turned up alive to find his wife had killed herself and their two young children, according to police in China. The man, identified only by the surname He,...

Murdered Journalist Shows Up at News Conference Alive
Murdered Journalist Shows Up
at News Conference Alive
the rundown
May 30, 2018 12:55 PM CDT

Murdered Journalist Shows Up at News Conference Alive

Arkady Babchenko's death was faked

(Newser) - On Wednesday morning, the AP referred to it as a "brazen killing." Hours later, it reported a shocker: that Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who was reportedly shot dead in Kiev on Tuesday, is actually alive. He showed up at a news conference in Ukraine. The initial reports into...

His Blood-Stained Boat Was Found. But He Wasn't Dead

Richard Ohrn faked his disappearance last March: cops

(Newser) - When police officers boarded a rented fishing boat adrift off Florida's Boynton Beach on March 31 of last year, they probably feared the worst. There was "what appeared to be smeared blood in various locations on the boat," which had been rented by banker Richard Ohrn, along...

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