Archive photo of a man in jail.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Mexican man who was arrested on an immigration charge hanged himself in the El Paso County Jail.

Norberto Santa Cruz, 42, of Juárez, was arrested on a warrant for an illegal reentry charge, a sheriff’s spokeswoman told the El Paso Times. 

Santa Cruz died Saturday, a week after he was on life support following the attempted suicide.

The motive is unclear because no note was found.

Santa Cruz was arrested on March 3 after climbing onto a train and illegally crossing the order.

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• Border Patrol Agents Find Child Abandoned by Smugglers
• Nearly 250 Foreign Nationals Detained on East Coast in 2-Week ICE Sweep
• FBI Billboards Seek Info About Man Arrested for Old Slaying

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A former NYPD cop fatally shot himself in the head as FBI agents pulled him over to arrest him as part of a quadruple homicide and cocaine conspiracy, the New York Post reports. 

Gerard Benderoth, 48, committed suicide on a quiet suburban road in Rockland County around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday.

Benderoth, nicknamed “White Rhino” from his days as a strongman competitor, was about to be arrested on a seal indictment in connection with a murder and drug conspiracy case.

“If this guy put a bullet in his head rather than go and talk to them, he must have been in deep,” a law enforcement source noted to The Post.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A 38-year-old U.S. Marine who shot at Border Patrol agents in northern Michigan died turning the gun on himself, MLlive.com reports. 

Aaron Andrew Furness, 38, shot at Border Patrol agents on Drummond Island on Sept. 24 before agents returned fire.

About eight hours later, authorities found him dead in a remote cabin on the island.

Agents were investigating the area after finding a pickup in a ditch.

As they approached a cabin, they were fired upon.

“That’s the big question that we may never know the answer: What prompted him to do that?” state Police Lt. David Hopper said.

Lennon Lacy

It was a disturbing discovery – a black teenage boy hanging from a swing set in a trailer park in North Carolina.

Was it a suicide or a lynching?

The state has determined that 17-year-old Lennon Lacy committed suicide in August.

But the New York Times reports that the FBI has agreed to join an inquiry after family members and the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP urged the bureau to intervene.

The formal request for the FBI’s involvement came from Thomas G. Walker, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Last week, a march was organized to show solidarity with Lacy.

“They have the resources and the mandate of law and the kind of specialized training to look at these facts on all sides,” the Rev. William J. Barber II, the president of the North Carolina N.A.A.C.P. and an organizer of Saturday’s march, said of the F.B.I.

The state has defended its handling of the investigation and said there was no evidence of a lynching.

Steve Neavling

Investigators made a disturbing discovery at the bedside table of a man accused of possessing child pornography – cassette tapes showing him raping and molesting unconscious girls, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Authorities found the cassettes among tens of thousands of images and videos of child porn at the Georgia home of Matthew Coniglio.

But identifying the children won’t be easy because Coniglio hanged himself in jail just days after his arrest on April 20.

Now authorities must try to identify the victims without the help of the perpetrator, and many of the faces on the videos are difficult to make out, the AP wrote.

So far, authorities have only identified a single victim.

Steve Neavling

A federal agent committed suicide inside a Homeland Security building in Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon, Reuters reports.

James McConaughy, 43, of Beaver Falls, shot himself and was pronounced dead at 4:19 p.m.

An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Pittsburgh police would only say that homicide investigators were called to the scene.

Homeland Security didn’t respond to questions as of Friday morning, Reuters wrote.

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• FBI Searches Home of Arizona Sheriff Following Complaint of Abuse
• DEA Targeting Doctors Linked to Medical Marijuana Groups
• FBI Showcases How Evidence Response Team Works

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Authorities aren’t certain how many children have been victimized by a teacher who has been accused of drugging and molesting boys over four decades at schools worldwide.

But the FBI is beginning to get a better idea after hundreds of people have contacted the bureau since investigators announced last month that William Vahey molested at least 90 boys whose photos were kept on a memory drive, the Associated Press reports.

On Tuesday, the FBI said it has “been contacted by several hundred individuals from around the globe wishing either to reach out as potential victims or provide information in the ongoing investigation.”

Vahey, 64, committed suicide after a maid stole his memory drive that contained the images.

Steve Neavling
ricklethethewire.com

It’s a nightmare for any parent or law enforcement officer: A suspecedt serial child molester traveled the globe teaching young children.

Now the FBI is beginning the arduous task of tracking down what could be up to 90 victims, the New York Daily News reports.

The FBI turned to the public Tuesday to help identify potential victims of William James Vahey, 64, who worked abroad at 10 American and other international schools.

Vahey killed himself on March 21 after agents filed a search warrant for his computer thumb drive, which contained pornographic images of more than 90 boys who appeared to have been drugged and unconscious.

They were between 12 and 14 years old.