LAKELAND - Budwin Brace and his wife Loma divorced just days before she was found beaten to death 21 years ago inside her Lakeland home. Suspicion quickly focused on Brace, then a successful Pasco County builder. He was later convicted of forging his wife's signature on documents surrendering ownership of property they owned in common. He served more than a year in state prison. ...more

February 1, 2008

The wiry, graying drifter sought for several days in the New Year's Day disappearance of a 24-year-old hiker pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering her in what authorities called a frustrated robbery attempt. ...more

February 1, 2008

Broward County prosecutors said Friday they have offered to try as a juvenile a 12-year-old boy accused of fatally beating his toddler cousin, if he pleads guilty to second-degree murder. ...more

January 27, 2008

The former University of South Florida professor who pleaded guilty to aiding a Palestinian terrorist group was not immune from a subpoena forcing him to testify in an unrelated investigation of Muslim charities, an appeals court ruled Friday. ...more

January 26, 2008

A grand jury indicted two former golf club employees on theft and animal cruelty charges after police said they butchered and ate a patron's pet dog. ...more

January 25, 2008

Marcos Gomez-Romero told investigators in a sworn statement that he beat his 4-month-old daughter to death because he wanted a son and not a daughter, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. ...more

January 12, 2008

The cause of death of 3-month-old Alexa Hall was released Wednesday by the Highlands County Sheriff's Office as blunt force trauma, not shaken baby syndrome as had been reported earlier. The baby, Alexa Hall, died at St. Joseph's Hospital, where doctors reported it looked like a case of shaken baby syndrome. ...more

January 9, 2008

Edgar Michael Otero, 29, of Sebring was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday afternoon on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. ...more

January 8, 2008

Sami Al-Arian is no longer in contempt of court, a federal judge in Virginia ruled Thursday, paving the way for the former University of South Florida professor to complete his prison sentence and depart for Egypt. ...more

December 14, 2007

The Rev. Al Sharpton angrily denounced federal authorities Thursday for investigating him and his civil rights organization, suggesting the Justice Department was retaliating against him for his civil rights advocacy. ...more

December 14, 2007