Oklahoma authorities name the BTK killer as the ‘prime suspect’ in at least two unsolved cases

(AP) — The BTK serial killer has been named the “prime suspect” in two unsolved killings — one in Oklahoma and another in Missouri — leading authorities to dig this week near his former Kansas property in Park City, authorities announced Wednesday.

Osage County, Oklahoma, Undersheriff Gary Upton told The Associated Press that the investigation into whether Dennis Rader was responsible for additional crimes started with the re-examination last year of the 1976 disappearance of Cynthia Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader in Pawhuska. The case, which was investigated on and off over the years, was reopened in December.

Sheriff Eddie Virden told KAKE-TV that a bank was having new alarms installed across the street from the laundromat where Kinney was last seen. Radar was a regional installer for ADT at the time, although the sheriff wasn’t able to confirm that Rader installed the systems. He also was involved in Boy Scouts in the area.

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Virden said he decided to investigate when he learned that Rader had included the phrase “bad laundry day” in his writings.

Upton, the undersheriff, said the investigation “spiraled out from there” into other unsolved murders and missing persons cases.”

“We sit just on the other side of the state line from Kansas and Wichita, which is his stomping grounds. And so yeah, we were following leads based off of our investigations and just unpacked other missing persons and murders, unsolved homicides that possibly point towards BTK,” he said.

Upton said Rader is also the prime suspect in the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber, whose body was discovered in December 1990 in McDonald County, Missouri. An autopsy revealed she had been raped, strangled and restrained with different bindings about two months before her body was found. Her remains weren’t identified until 2021.

Rader’s taunting killing spree started in 1974 and ended in 1991.

A city code inspector in Kansas, he was arrested in February 2005 — a year after resuming communications with police and the media after going silent years earlier. In earlier communications, he gave himself the nickname BTK — for “bind, torture and kill.”

BTK resurfaced in 2004 with a letter to The Wichita Eagle that included photos of a 1986 strangling victim and a photocopy of her missing driver’s license. That letter was followed by several other cryptic messages and packages. The break in the case came after a computer diskette the killer had sent was traced to Rader’s church, where he once served as president.

Rader, now 78, ultimately confessed to 10 killings in the Wichita area, which is about 90 miles (144.84 kilometers) north of Pawhuska. The crimes occurred between 1974 and 1991.

He was sentenced in August 2005 to 10 consecutive life prison terms. Kansas had no death penalty at the time of the murders. His earliest possible release date is listed for the year 2180.

An Associated Press phone message seeking comment from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Upton declined to say how many other missing person and homicide cases are being re-examined, but told the AP that Rader could be a suspect in more cases.

No information has been released yet about what the search Tuesday in Park City uncovered. Upton described the discoveries only as “items of interest,” in a news release. The release said the items would undergo a thorough examination to determine their potential relevance.

Upton said his department is working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The KBI didn’t immediately respond to an email message from the AP seeking comment.

Phil Bostian, the police chief in the Wichita suburb of Park City, told KAKE-TV that Osage County called them as a courtesy and said they asked public works to move some cement and do a little digging.

Police there didn’t immediately return a phone message from the AP seeking comment.

The Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense didn’t immediately return a phone message inquiring about Rader still has an attorney representing him.

Rader’s daughter, Kerri Rawson, told the Wichita Eagle that she worked with investigators this summer by meeting with her father in person and communicating with him for the first time in years. Rawson told Fox News that she believes investigators were looking for items related to the unsolved cases that Rader may have kept and buried on his property under a metal shed he built. The shed and Rader’s former home have been leveled.

Rawson said she also told investigators to check where Rader buried the family dog. She said she hopes investigators can determine if her father is linked to any of these other cases. “I’m still not 100% sure my dad did commit any more at this point,” she said to the newspaper, adding: “If my dad has harmed somebody else, we need answers.”

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By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press

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Muhammad Ali’s grandson used to fight when challenged because of his name. Now he’s an MMA fighter

NEW YORK (AP) — Biaggio Ali Walsh used to think about fighting only when someone wanted to see if the grandson of “The Greatest” was any good himself.

Muhammad Ali is one of the biggest and best-known figures in boxing history. When kids in Las Vegas discovered he was also the grandfather of Biaggio and his brother, Nico, they’d challenge the siblings to put on the gloves.

“People would find out who me and Nico were related to and they’d say, ‘Oh, can you fight?” Ali Walsh said. “And I’m like, ’I don’t know.’”

The answer now is clearly yes.

These days, Ali Walsh can’t wait to fight, and he’ll do so again Wednesday at Madison Square Garden with his next bout on a Professional Fighters League card.

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Five fights into his MMA career, it’s the second time he’ll be competing in an arena where his grandfather participated in some of its most memorable events. Ali lost to Joe Frazier there in the 1971 “Fight of the Century” but won his other seven bouts, including a rematch with Frazier, and was the guest referee in the first Wrestlemania.

Ali Walsh fought on his first PFL card at MSG, challenged as much by the historic setting as his opponent.

“I was super nervous but I went in there and just stayed calm, just got the job done and that’s how I want to be in every fight,” Ali Walsh said.

Ali Walsh (4-1) still fights as an amateur, trying to make up for a somewhat late start to a combat career.

Two weeks shy of 25, he certainly lacks the foundation of his grandfather, who began boxing at 12 and was just 18 when he won a boxing gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

But fighting at any age was never part of Ali Walsh’s plan. He was a running back at powerful Bishop Gorman High School, where he scored 65 touchdowns and rushed for more than 4,500 yards on teams that went 45-0 and won three consecutive Nevada state championships from 2014-16. He then spent two seasons at California before transferring back to UNLV to play for his high school coach.

While training to stay in shape as his football career was ending and working as an intern, he developed an itch to join the guys he was helping as a strength and conditioning coach.

“I just saw them putting in all this hard work and I was like, ‘I’m 21, 22 years old, I’m still young, I could do this,’” Ali Walsh said. “Like, I could just go for it. I don’t want to be 40 years old and think, ‘Oh, would I have been a good fighter?’ Like, I don’t want to have those kind of thoughts and regret, so I just said you know what, I’m just going to go for it.”

But having never even wrestled in high school, Ali Walsh had to learn every aspect of his new sport.

Ali’s body was already too ravaged by Parkinson’s disease to have ever shown him his skills — not that the “Ali Shuffle” would do much use in a cage against guys who could go for his legs — so their time together was spent more on dinners and movies. But Ali Walsh was able to pick up something by watching old footage.

“Stylistically, my grandfather had such a stinging jab,” Ali Walsh said. “He really used his jab to set up a bunch of stuff and I think that one of the biggest things that I pick up from him is how he sets up his right hand using his jabs, or he sets up other combos using the jab.”

It’s working for Ali Walsh, who has won all three fights on PFL cards by first-round knockout on punches, including his most recent outing in June.

Still, he concedes he’s a long way from being able to match the experience of the PFL pros fighting for a $1 million prize. Even if he opts to turn pro next year, Ali Walsh said he still wouldn’t expect to go right into the PFL season.

But he’s come a long way already from the guy who lost his debut in June 2022, so overrun with nerves and anxiety that he wilted quickly and found himself in the hospital after the fight, with his family certain he wouldn’t want another one.

He’s come even further from the teenager who recalls being apprehensive when an older kid wanted to fight him.

“He just kept running his mouth, telling me he wants to box me and stuff, ‘Ali’s grandkid, let’s box,’ and I kept saying no, no, no because I was kind of intimidated,” Ali Walsh said. “The dude was a senior. Like, he’s talking down on a 14-year-old. I was kind of intimidated, I don’t want to box, I’m tired. And then obviously the crowd peer pressured me, so I put the gloves on and just freaking whooped his (behind). It was fun.”

It’s more fun now that he knows what he’s doing, believing he’s getting better with every bout. And with Nico an unbeaten pro boxer who has his next fight a few days later in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s safe to say none of those kids back home would be messing with Ali’s grandsons today.

“They wouldn’t try it now,” Ali Walsh said.

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By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Sports Writer

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Bengals RB Joe Mixon found not guilty of aggravated menacing during traffic dispute

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon was found not guilty Thursday of aggravated menacing in a January traffic dispute.

Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Gwen Bender acquitted Mixon of the misdemeanor charge after a four-day bench trial.

A woman had accused the 27-year-old of pointing a gun at her as their cars were stopped next to each other at a traffic light. Mixon’s attorneys argued it couldn’t be proven that he ever had a gun in the car.

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The woman involved, whose name wasn’t disclosed in court, said she and Mixon yelled at each other angrily after he cut her off in traffic. Mixon contended the woman started the confrontation by flipping him off.

She said Mixon then pointed the gun at her as their cars were stopped.

“This is a classic case of ‘he said, she said,’” defense attorney Scott Croswell said.

If Mixon had been convicted, he could have faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“Joe has been a top level running back with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and he has been an even better teammate enjoying real popularity among his peers,” the Bengals said in a statement later Thursday.

“During the past seven years, Joe has been active with the community, and his constant smile and energy have made him a favorite among thousands of fans. The organization is pleased that this matter is now behind everyone, and we look forward to an exciting season with Joe being an important part of the football team,” the statement said.

A second-round draft pick by the Bengals in 2017, Mixon’s best year was the Super Bowl season of 2021 when he rushed for 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Before this season, Mixon agreed to restructure his contract to take a pay cut so he could stay with the Bengals.

Mixon may be facing another legal issue. In March, Mixon’s sister and her boyfriend were indicted after shots were fired from Mixon’s property at some neighborhood teenagers. Mixon was named in a lawsuit filed by the parents of a 16-year-old who was shot in the foot. The civil action accuses Mixon of being negligent.

While in college at Oklahoma, Mixon was suspended for the 2014 season after punching a woman at a restaurant. He apologized publicly and reached an out-of-court settlement with the victim.

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Supreme Court sees no emergency in tribal jurisdiction fight over speeding ticket

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court turned down an application Friday from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in its bid to retain jurisdiction over a 2018 speeding ticket. 

While the ruling from the court’s emergency docket came without explanation, Justice Samuel Alito joined a statement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that clarifies the court’s decision to deny relief. 

“The City of Tulsa’s application for a stay raises an important question: whether the City may enforce its municipal laws against American Indians in Tulsa,” the Trump appointee wrote. “For example, may Indians in Tulsa violate the City’s traffic safety laws without enforcement by the City?” 

Kavanaugh said the posture from which the application came about is was what stopped the court from interfering. The 10th Circuit remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings. Kavanaugh said the application did not yet reach the important jurisdiction arguments proposed by amicus curiae like the state of Oklahoma. 

“As I understand it, nothing in the decision of the Court of Appeals prohibits the City from continuing to enforce its municipal laws against all persons, including Indians, as the litigation progresses,” Kavanaugh wrote. 

Friday’s ruling vacates the temporary stay granted by Justice Neil Gorsuch last week to review the emergency application from the city.

Tulsa police issued the ticket to Justin Hooper while he was driving on the Muscogee Creek Nation reservation in 2018. Hooper, a member of the Choctaw Nation, originally paid the fine, but a subsequent landmark ruling on tribal authority from the Supreme Court made him question if the city of Tulsa could even issue the infraction. 

In the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, the justices said Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction under the federal Major Crimes Act to prosecute Indians or non-Indians for crimes committed in large swaths of eastern Oklahoma, part of the Creek Nation before the Trail of Tears. 

Since then, however, the court has already narrowed McGirt. In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, the justices said the federal government and the state should have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country. 

Hooper attempted to obtain post-conviction relief from Tulsa’s municipal court after the court ruled in McGirt. The municipal court denied Hooper relief, leading him to turn to the district court, where he asked for a declaratory judgment that the city does not have jurisdiction to prosecute Indians for violations of city ordinances that occur within both city limits and the Muscogee Creek Reservation boundaries. 

Using the 1896 Curtis Act, a federal judge rejected Hooper’s claims. The century-old law established a pre-statehood process for cities that could subject all inhabitants — both Indians and non-Indians — to ordinances of the city government. 

The 10th Circuit said, although a provision of the Curtis Act submit city inhabitants to its laws, Tulsa incorporated the provision after joining the state of Oklahoma, and gave up this authority by doing so. 

Tulsa then turned to the high court, asking the justices to clarify how the Curtis Act should be understood in light of McGirt. 

“While the Curtis Act is not new law, the question of application of the act to modern day enforcement of municipal ordinances against Indians was not brought to the forefront until this Court’s decision in McGirt turned over 125 years of jurisdictional suppositions and exposed this long-dormant question,” Kristine Gray, an attorney with the office of the city, wrote in Tulsa’s emergency application. 

Hooper said the high court should not put the appeals court ruling on pause because it doesn’t currently conflict with other circuit court rulings or present an important federal question. 

“Tulsa’s only argument is that under Rule 10(c), the proper interpretation of Section 14 of the Curtis Act is an important federal question that should be reviewed by the Court,” John Dunn, an attorney with the law offices of John Dunn representing Hooper, wrote in his response brief. “But on the merits, Tulsa’s application makes abundantly clear that its petition will be no more than a request for error correction, which is not a likely basis for a grant of certiorari.” 

The case will now return to the district court for further proceedings. 

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