Mushroom poisoning is poisoning resulting from the ingestion of mushrooms that contain toxic substances. Symptoms can vary from slight gastrointestinal discomfort to death in about 10 days. Mushroom toxins are secondary metabolites produced by the fungus.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-east of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
The Claremont serial killings is the name given by the media to a case involving the disappearance of an Australian woman, aged 18, and the killings of two others, aged 23 and 27, in 1996–97. After attending night spots in Claremont, a wealthy western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, all three women disappeared in similar circumstances leading police to suspect that an unidentified serial killer was the offender. The case was described as the state's biggest, longest running, and most expensive investigation.
Peter Norris Dupas is an Australian convicted serial killer, currently serving three life sentences without parole for murder and primarily for being a serious habitual offender. He has a very significant criminal history involving serious sexual and violent offences, with his violent criminal history spanning more than three decades, and with every release from prison has been known to commit further crimes against women with increasing levels of violence. His criminal signature is to remove the breasts of his female victims.
Marlene Garcia Esperat was a Filipina whistleblower and investigative journalist who wrote a weekly anti-graft column for local newspapers. As a result of her anti-corruption work, she was murdered in her own home.
Thallium poisoning is poisoning that is due to thallium and its compounds, which are often highly toxic. Contact with skin is dangerous and adequate ventilation should be provided when melting this metal. Many thallium compounds are highly soluble in water and are readily absorbed through the skin. Exposure to them should not exceed 0.1 mg per m2 of skin in an 8 hour time-weighted average.
Crystal Gail Mangum is an American former stripper from Durham, North Carolina, United States, who has been incarcerated for murder since 2013. In 2006, she came to attention in national news reports for having made false allegations of rape against lacrosse players in the Duke lacrosse case. Mangum's work in the sex industry as a black woman while the young men she accused were white generated extensive media interest and academic debate about race, class, gender, and the politicization of the justice system.
Martha Needle was an Australian serial killer known for poisoning her husband, three children, and prospective brother-in-law. She was hanged on 22 October 1894 when she was 31. She was convicted for the murder of Louis Juncken, brother of her fiancé Otto Juncken, on 15 May 1894. Although Needle collected substantial sums of insurance money, her exact motive for murdering her family has not been determined. Several times she stated her innocence, but she was eventually hanged.
The history of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals, legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. The people who are the targets of such violence are believed to violate heteronormative standards and they are also believed to contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQ may also be targeted for violence. Violence can also occur between couples who are of the same sex, with statistics showing that violence among female same-sex couples is more common than it is among couples of the opposite sex, but male same-sex violence is less common.
In 2011, deaths occurred at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. After suspicions were raised concerning the similarities of the deaths, a murder inquiry was launched. Nurse Victorino Chua was found to have poisoned several patients with insulin. He was convicted of murder in 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The FEAR militia was an American terrorist group of between four and eleven individuals that the State of Georgia alleged in 2012 to have planned to destroy a dam and poison apple orchards in Washington State, set off explosives in Forsyth Park in Savannah, Georgia, and assassinate President Barack Obama. Four of the individuals charged were soldiers stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. The group killed two people in an attempt to prevent them from revealing their plans to the public. The group used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an alpha and omega symbol.
On 16 July 2013, 23-27 students died, and dozens more fell ill at a primary school in the village of Gandaman in the Saran district of the Indian state of Bihar after eating a Midday Meal contaminated with pesticide. Angered by the deaths and illnesses, villagers took to the streets in many parts of the district in violent protest. Subsequently, the Bihar government took a series of steps to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.
Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury was an Australian schoolgirl from Preston, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Maybury was kidnapped, raped, and murdered on 6 November 1984, the date of the 1984 Melbourne Cup Day; and she was nicknamed in the Melbourne tabloid newspaper The Sun News-Pictorial as the Cup Day Girl.
Tiahleigh Alyssa Rose Palmer was a 12-year-old Australian girl who lived in Logan City, Queensland. She was murdered on 30 October 2015. Her remains were found six days later and her foster father, Rick Thorburn, was charged with her murder on 20 September 2016. Thorburn pleaded guilty to the murder before the Supreme Court of Queensland on 25 May 2018.
On 6 January 2016, Wayan Mirna Salihin died in Abdi Waluyo Hospital after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee at the Olivier Cafe in the Grand Indonesia shopping mall in Jakarta. According to the police, cyanide poisoning was most likely the cause of Mirna's death. Police charged Jessica Kumala Wongso with her murder. Jessica was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to 20 years. Jessica's appeal was later rejected by the higher court.
On August 20, 2016, a mass killing occurred in Citronelle, Alabama, United States, resulting in the deaths of five people, including a woman who was five months pregnant. They were killed in the early morning in a private residence in a rural area west of the city. It was owned by a brother of Laneta Lester, who had sought refuge there. She and her brother's infant were abducted and taken to Leakesville, Mississippi, by her estranged boyfriend, Derrick Dearman. He released her that day. Lester returned with the infant to Citronelle. She notified police of the killings. Investigators described this mass killing as the worst in Mobile County's history. The house burned down a couple of weeks after the crime.
On October 15, 2018, 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson abducted 13-year-old Jayme Lynn Closs after fatally shooting her parents, James and Denise Closs, at their home just outside of Barron, Wisconsin, at 12:53 a.m. Patterson took Closs to a house 70 miles (110 km) away in rural Gordon, Wisconsin, and held her in captivity for 88 days until she escaped on January 10, 2019, seeking help from neighbors.
Patricia Jocelyn Alatorre was a teenager from Bakersfield, California, who was raped and murdered after disappearing on July 1, 2020. Alatorre and her killer met through social media and shared explicit photos of themselves, with the suspect convincing Alatorre to meet up on two occasions. On the second meeting, Alatorre was raped and strangled to death, with the killer having sex with the body before burning it. Armando Cruz was arrested after police found a white pick up truck similar to the one used during the kidnapping. Alatorre's rape and death has been described by the Bakersfield Police Department as one of the worst missing children cases they have ever had.
On February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, was murdered while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Her body was found in Oconee Forest Park near Lake Herrick; her death was caused by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
Philip K Dunn KC is an Australian barrister known for his extensive experience in criminal law. He holds an LLB from the University of Melbourne and has been practising law for over five decades. Philip Dunn was admitted to practice law on 1 March 1968 and signed the Bar Roll on 13 February 1969. Early in his career, he read law with the distinguished barrister, jurist and Governor of Victoria, James Gobbo. He was appointed as Queen's Counsel (QC) on 5 December 1995, a title now known as King's Counsel (KC)
