A trial date has been set for suspects accused in the shooting death of a Richmond Police Officer.

The trial date for Raleigh Sizemore and Gregory Ratliff will be held for July 5, 2017. The judge estimated that the trial could last 30 days. Neither of the men were in court.

Both men are accused in the murder of 33-year-old Officer Daniel Ellis. According to authorities, Ellis was ambushed and shot in the head while searching an apartment for a robbery suspect. Ellis left behind a wife and then 4-year-old son.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Sizemore is accused of being the trigger man. Police say he was in Ratliff’s apartment. When asked if there were any weapons in the apartment, Ratliff is said to have told Ellis that there weren’t any.

Sizemore allegedly told Ratliff he did not intend to go back to prison and warned “not to let them in or he would shoot him,” the report says.

Proceedings, such as today’s are normally held in closed chambers but an exception was made to allow transparency in the case. Another hearing has been scheduled for Sept 30.

A Lyons Falls woman was accused of forging two checks and using a debit card without permission.

Lewis County sheriff’s deputies, following a joint investigation with the Utica Police Department, on Tuesday charged Heather Gorczyca, 43, with two counts of second-degree forgery and five counts of third-degree identity theft. She was arraigned in Lowville Village Court and released on her own recognizance pending possible grand jury action.

http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html

Ms. Gorczyca was accused of stealing two blank checks and personal identification information on a debit card from a friend in Utica, whom deputies did not name. She then used the checks and card on numerous occasions at the Falls Pharmacy, unlawfully receiving $676.97 worth of goods in the process, deputies said.

A Lexington man is in jail after documents say he kidnapped a girl and filmed himself having sex with her.

Documents say 18-year-old Malik Kenney kidnapped and restrained a 16-year-old girl back on May 11. The two were dating at the time, but on this day police say Kenney pushed, strangled, punched and kicked the girl.

Kenney’s arrest citation says that he recorded his sexual performances with the girl, and sent the video to a friend.

http://liarcatchers.com/contact.php

He was arrested Thursday and charged with the use of a minor for a sexual performance, kidnapping, assault and distribution of material portraying the sexual performance of a minor.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Jacksonville residents David Lee Mitchell (60) and Hezekiah Williams (59) to 10 years in federal prison, respectively, for their role in an identity theft and counterfeit check scheme. Varying upward at the time of sentencing, both men were ordered to serve eight years in federal prison for attempted bank fraud and possession of counterfeit business checks, followed by a consecutive mandatory minimum term of two years’ imprisonment for aggravated identity theft.

A third co-defendant, Travis Ware (24, Jacksonville), was sentenced on March 9, 2016, to a mandatory minimum term of two years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft.

http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html

According to court documents, on November 23, 2014, Florida Highway Patrol troopers pulled over a vehicle occupied by Williams, Mitchell, and Ware. During the traffic stop, the troopers observed marijuana inside the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed 25 counterfeit business checks made out to various individuals and 15 forms of identification from 7 different people. Many of the names on the identification documents matched those printed on the counterfeit checks. Further investigation determined that Mitchell, Williams, and Ware had been driving around three days earlier, attempting to fraudulently cash the counterfeit checks and recruiting others to use the various forms of identification to cash the counterfeit checks.

This case was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol and the United States Secret Service, Jacksonville Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

A Plymouth woman pleaded guilty to an insurance scam involving the faking of her ex-husband’s death.

Irina Vorotinov, 49, was accused of defrauding Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company of more than $2 million.

In 2010, Vorotinov’s ex-husband named her and her son as beneficiaries on his $2.05 million life insurance policy with the Mutual of Omaha. In 2011, an anonymous phone call to police in Moldova led them to a putrefied dead body near the entrance of the Cojusna village.

http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html

On the body, police found a passport, hotel cards and contact phone numbers, all belonging to Igor Vorotinov. Irina Vorotinov traveled to a Moldova morgue, where she identified the corpse as her ex-husband.

Following payout on her claim, the criminal complaint says she transferred more than $1.5 million of it to bank accounts in Switzerland and Moldova.

In 2013, her son’s computer was seized by Detroit custom agents. Digital photographs dating from spring 2013 showed Igor Vorotinov.

On Monday, Irina Vorotinov pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to committing fraud.

“The hard work of the agents on this case illustrates the ability of the United States government to effectively investigate complex international crimes. Would-be fraudsters should be warned that it is very difficult to steal millions of dollars from United States insurance companies with impunity,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Maclaughlin said.

The person of interest in the death of 2-year-old Vernon Parish girl allegedly left a note saying he took girl, according to an incident report obtained by our investigative team.

Willow Rain Renteria-Molina, of Hornbeck, was reported missing on May 5. Her body was found the next afternoon in Beauregard Parish. Her death was ruled a homicide and a preliminary autopsy has determined that she died May 4, the day before she was reported missing.

Vernon Parish Sheriff detectives originally recorded the case as a kidnapping, and arrived on the scene at 11 p.m. May 5 to find Willow’s mother, Vanessa Renteria-Molina, crying and hollering, “He took my baby,” according to the incident report.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

Renteria-Molina told detectives that she left for work May 5 and arrived home that night to find a handwritten note from her nanny, Rodney “Donnie” Bailey, telling her that he had taken her from the home. Chief Det. Ray Ortiz said the note was taken as evidence, and detectives are still working to make sense of the timeline.

It’s unclear when Willow was last seen alive by anyone, or when the note was written. Ortiz would not say when Renteria-Molina said she last saw Willow, but said it did not make sense with the timeline.

Renteria-Molina told detectives she was home throughout the week, including Wednesday, the day the girl apparently died, Ortiz said. She went to work Thursday and said she found the note and reported Willow missing Thursday night.

Willow’s grandmother, Glenna Vierick, told detectives that Bailey had borrowed her vehicle to visit his mother in DeRidder. The OnStar Service in the vehicle was used to track the vehicle to a home in Beauregard. Bailey was arrested in Beauregard on drugs and weapons charges, and Willow’s body was found in the same parish, officials have said.

The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, which has taken the lead on the investigation, has decline to release any other details about Willow’s death. Ortis said the department is being careful with what they release as the investigation continues.

No arrests have been made in the death.

“We’re going to go where the evidence leads us. Our office has been in constant contact with the district attorney’s office,” Ortiz said. “They know about all of the developments in the case, because we don’t want to make any type of knee-jerk reaction with arrests.”

———-

Autopsy results for a 2-year-old girl who was found dead last week was released today.

According to the autopsy report, Willow Rain Renteria-Molina’s death has been ruled a homicide and the date of her death has been determined to be Wednesday May 4, 2016.

Willow was reported missing from a home in Vernon Parish on May 5, 2016, but was discovered dead in Beauregard Parish on May 6, 2016.

“We have been working closely with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office to determine the manner of death as well as the time of the death. This information weighed greatly on the decision of who would lead the investigation and the prosecution.”

Based on this information, “It is indicative that Willow died in Vernon Parish, therefore, we are going to be the lead agency on the investigation” said Craft. “We have been and will continue to work very closely with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as the Louisiana State Police and the FBI. ”

“Rodney Don Bailey Jr. was the caregiver of the child when she died and is believed to be the primary person of interest in her death, however, we are not ruling out the possibility of someone else being involved”, said Craft.  “An arrest has not been made as of yet in the case due to the fact that we are awaiting the results of several forensic tests.