Torture

A former budding hip hop-artist turned gang leader pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in the brutal double murder of a young woman and her boyfriend in Camden last year. Kuasheim "Presto-P" Powell, 25, pleaded guilty, his attorney said, in exchange for a 30-year sentence with no parole for his role in the torture and murder of Michael Hawkins, 23, and Muriah Huff, 18, inside a Berkley Street row home on Feb. 22, 2010. Hawkins, a former friend of Powell's and rival gang member had been beaten and shot while Huff, an 18-year-old cosmetology student, was beaten and strangled.

CHICAGO - A lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of personal responsibility for U.S. forces allegedly torturing two American whistle-blowers who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm will be allowed to move forward, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago comes just days after a similar decision by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that gave approval to an Army veteran - who also alleges that he was tortured in Iraq - to sue Rumsfeld for damages.

TORONTO - A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop betrayed little emotion during his sentencing hearing yesterday as a court was told his laptop contained hundreds of pornographic images of young boys, including photos of torture. Bishop Raymond Lahey, 71, sat quietly, his right hand trembling slightly as he ran his index finger along his lips and chin, as Detective Andrew Thompson told the court that almost 600 photos, mostly of young teen boys, were found on Lahey's laptop and hand-held device when he arrested in 2009.

When Jaquinn Brewton's mother fell on hard times and entrusted care of the 3-year-old to his godmother, she could never have imagined the tragic fate that would await her youngest child. Police said yesterday that Jaquinn was kicked, punched and even burned with a blowtorch every day for three months before he was hospitalized June 29. He died this week after being taken off life support, and his death has been ruled a homicide. "The little boy took all the pain that he could, until he couldn't take it anymore and succumbed to his injuries," Homicide Capt.

When Ashley Brewton moved to a homeless shelter in March, she entrusted her 3-year-old son to Nadera Batson, a family friend she had known for years. On Friday, homicide detectives charged the 22-year-old Batson and her boyfriend, Marcus King, with systematically beating, burning, and eventually murdering Jaquinn Brewton, who died Monday after he was taken off life support. Jaquinn was hospitalized June 29 after Batson, described by family members as Jaquinn's godmother, called police to report that the child fell down a flight of stairs in her West Philadelphia apartment and would not wake up. An autopsy found that the boy died from blunt force trauma.

By Gregory Rodriguez Kim Kardashian's butt is real. Some haters said it was fake. To prove them wrong, she had a doctor take X-rays to show that it was implant-free. Odd as it sounds, when a symbol of trumped-up celebrity has a part of her anatomy authenticated, it's a perfect expression of Americanness. So, I'm adding Kim Kardashian's butt to the list of the things I celebrate. Americans have a complicated relationship with authenticity. We celebrate our national ability to reinvent our lives, to leave the past behind, or get a makeover, but we simultaneously bemoan the absence of an authentic American culture.

A convicted killer today escaped death row after a Philadelphia jury failed to come to a unanimous decision on whether he should receive the death penalty. Daryl Thurston, 36, of Northeast Philadelphia, will instead spend the rest of his life in prison. Thurston was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month. His victim, Juan Rosa, 32, of Feltonville, was found dead in Trenton. Before Rosa was shot four times in the skull and once in the chest, he was stripped naked, tortured, then wrapped in plastic.

BENGHAZI, Libya - Dozens of detained rebels returned Friday on a Red Cross ship to their eastern stronghold, detailing how they were tortured by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces. The ship carrying 51 prisoners also brought back 249 people who wanted to be reunited with family in eastern Libya, Red Cross spokeswoman Deepa Fakhir said. It was not immediately clear whether there had been a prisoner swap with the Gadhafi government. "They electrocuted us, they tortured us in every possible way," said Yousef al-Fetori, who had been detained in the capital of Tripoli.

By David H. Rittgers The successful raid on Osama bin Laden's safe house in Pakistan has reinvigorated debate over the role "enhanced interrogation techniques" have played in fighting al-Qaeda. No one is switching sides, which has turned the argument into a theological one between two sets of true believers. Each views the other as heretics. The whole debate is pointless posturing. There is no way to prove or disprove that America's experiment with waterboarding and other coercive techniques was worthwhile.

GREENSBURG, Pa. - The conviction Thursday of Greensburg teen Angela Marinucci for the slaying of Jennifer Daugherty has set the stage for the prosecution of five other suspects accused of kidnapping the mentally challenged woman, torturing her for more than two days, and stabbing and choking her. Defense attorneys are arguing that two suspects are so intellectually deficient, they are ineligible for the death penalty. On the other side is District Attorney John Peck, who will seek the death penalty against Ricky Smyrnes, 25, and Melvin Knight and Amber Meidinger, both 21. Meidinger testified that Marinucci had wanted Daugherty dead, so Marinucci lured the victim to a Greensburg apartment shared by the suspects.