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Beloved teacher killed as she slept, daughter stabbed in attack as motive remains unclear: DA
A beloved Southern California elementary school teacher was killed and her daughter, a nationally recognized mental health advocate, was critically injured after a man allegedly broke into their home and stabbed them as they slept, prosecutors said.
Sergio Meza Fraire, 30, of Burbank, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the April 20 attack on 59-year-old Arti Varma and her 25-year-old daughter, Meera Varma, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities say Fraire entered the home sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. while the victims were asleep. Around 6 a.m., he allegedly went into a bedroom and repeatedly stabbed both women.
Arti Varma, a first-grade teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School, later died from her injuries. Her daughter survived and remains hospitalized.
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Meera Varma is a prominent mental health advocate and TEDx speaker who has worked alongside high-profile figures including Oprah Winfrey, President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, according to her personal website.
She was the youngest speaker in TEDxUCLA history and has been invited to the White House to discuss youth mental health. In 2023, she appeared with Winfrey at UCLA to speak about the youth mental health crisis, focusing her work on supporting young people and encouraging open conversations around mental health.
Investigators have said the attack does not appear to have been random, though authorities have not publicly disclosed a possible motive or whether the suspect knew the victims.
“Detectives do not believe this was a random act; however, they continue to investigate the relationship between the suspect and the victims, as well as motive,” Burbank Police Department Lt. Brent Fekety told Fox News Digital.
Despite a burglary charge, police indicated there is no evidence the suspect intended to steal anything.
“It does not appear the suspect entered with the intent to commit theft,” Fekety continued.
Fraire was identified as a suspect following what police described as a comprehensive investigation involving interviews, surveillance review and evidence collection.
Fraire pleaded not guilty in court and is being held without bail. He is expected to return to court in June as the case moves forward.
“Arti Varma was a deeply beloved elementary school teacher who was senselessly taken from her family and community in an act of horrific violence,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
“We will take every necessary step to ensure that the defendant is held accountable for this vicious and unprovoked attack.”
If convicted, Fraire could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, prosecutors said. A decision on whether to seek capital punishment will be made at a later date.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Man confesses to dismembering father, stuffing remains in suitcases as DNA finally solves cold case: police
New DNA technology has cracked yet another cold case surrounding a man’s dismembered body parts being found inside two suitcases in Ohio nearly three decades ago, police said.
Larry Drotleff, 81, of Euclid, confessed to the 27-year-old dismemberment of his father, Lawrence A. Drotleff, who would have been 93 at the time his remains were found, Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said in a news release.
The case began in February 1998, when authorities received a complaint regarding a suitcase found by a group of children on Winkler Hill Road in Dover Township containing unidentified male body parts – including a pelvis and part of one leg.
One week later, a second suitcase containing a torso was found along Boltz Orchard Road in Jefferson Township, authorities said.
Despite the recovery of a body, authorities were unable to determine the identity of the victim or a potential suspect.
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“While DNA was collected from the remains in both suitcases, neither fingerprints from the suitcases themselves nor the DNA from the body parts ever led to the identification of the remains or a suspect,” Campbell said. “All leads were run out and leads that did come in over the years were investigated with no progress on identifying the victim or a suspect.”
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The case ultimately ran cold until investigators decided to take another look in February 2023, with DNA testing pointing to Larry Drotleff as a family member of the deceased, Lawrence A. Drotleff, police said.
Authorities then learned Larry Drotleff had previously been caught collecting retirement and social security funds from his father, according to police. When questioned by social security investigators at the time of the alleged thefts, Larry Drotleff offered the explanation that his father had moved away.
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In January 2024, Larry Drotleff told investigators he was living with his father when he came home from work and found him deceased, according to authorities. He cooperated with the investigation by providing his own DNA for investigators to confirm his father’s identity.
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“Larry indicated that he then cut up his father’s body with a manual hand saw and disposed of some body parts in the suitcases and others by just putting them in bags in a dumpster near his workplace,” Campbell said.
Although the statute of limitations has passed on abuse of a corpse charges, Larry Drotleff is facing two federal counts of stealing his father’s Social Security and pension funding, totalling over $250,000.
“While the case did not prove to be a murder, it should be noted that the inhumane treatment of the Corpse was conduct so inexcusable that this case remained a priority for the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office,” Campbell said. “It remains difficult to comprehend that the greed of theft could cause someone to treat their father’s body in this manner.”
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LeAnn Rimes poses in red bikini in Cabo, shares emotional message about ‘heart-wrenching’ family issues
LeAnn Rimes is posing in a tiny red bikini as she celebrates her wedding anniversary that is filled with “very tense, heart-wrenching things happening at home with family.”
On Thursday, Rimes took to Instagram to share photos with Eddie Cibrian for their 15th wedding anniversary in Cabo, revealing family struggles.
“we got to step away for 3 days amidst work and some very tense, heart wrenching [sic] things happening at home with family,” Rimes’ caption began.
“it’s been a different anniversary, one filled with tears and worry, but in between, there were moments of laughter and deep gratitude for this love of ours. day by day, we walk hand in hand through the rollercoaster of life… and god, i’m so grateful that it’s with each other.
“we’ve been through so much in our 15 years as husband and wife,” she continued. “we know how to ride the waves 🌊, hold each other in times of need, mend what needs mending. i’m so proud of what we have created together. 15 years is just the beginning.”
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Rimes included photos with Cibrian on the beach and also thanked the Las Ventanas Al Paraíso romance director for making their anniversary “so special.”
Amid the very heavy message, Rimes shared a photo of herself in a red bikini, holding a drink in a coconut. “till next time, cabo…” she wrote alongside the image.
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Cibrian and Rimes first met while filming the TV movie “Northern Lights” in 2008. Their relationship began controversially while both were still married to other people, leading to highly publicized divorces before they eventually married in 2011.
In February, Rimes spoke to E! News about her marriage to Cibrian ahead of their anniversary.
“We’ve evolved so much. We’ve been through so much together. Now our boys, my stepsons are 22 and 18. They’re grown boys. And to help raise his sons — we have a very calm life, which is wonderful,” she began. “And it didn’t start out that way at all, but now, we’ve really grown into — we just love each other. We love being around each other. We laugh a lot. He’s just a good guy, he really is.”
“So, 15 years is wild to think about that it’s been that long. But so far, so good,” Rimes concluded.
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Transgender lawmaker ‘doesn’t know what a woman is,’ White House says after dig at Trump firings
The White House brushed aside remarks made by Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., to a reporter alleging that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would be the next Cabinet official to leave the administration because President Donald Trump “only fires women.”
“Rep. McBride doesn’t know what a woman is,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said of McBride, a biological male who identifies as a woman.
McBride speculated to MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manríquez that Tulsi Gabbard will be the next Cabinet member on President Donald Trump’s chopping block. In separate interviews, Manríquez asked McBride and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who they believed would be next to be fired. Both said it would not be a man.
The remarks come amid a shake-up in the Trump administration, as Trump announced the dismissal of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi within a span of four weeks. On Monday, Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid allegations of misconduct towards staffers.
“All of them deserve to be fired,” McBride quipped. “I’m supporting impeachment of Pete Hegseth, because obviously right now, we are engaged in a reckless war of choice that he was a primary driver of.”
“But we know this president,” McBride said. “He only fires women, so my guess is Tulsi Gabbard.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., echoed McBride’s sentiment when asked the same question by Manríquez.
“Is he out of women?” Ocasio-Cortez asked. “Because that seems to be his pattern right now.”
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She went on to say that Trump “seems to only have the capability to fire female secretaries.”
In response to a follow-up question about the “clownish behavior” of War Secretary Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that what Patel has done is “a thousand times worse” than what other officials have done.
Neither Manríquez nor Ocasio-Cortez gave specific examples of misconduct by either man. Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic over reported allegations that he is a heavy drinker and that it affects his work. Meanwhile, Hegseth faced sexual assault and drinking allegations during his confirmation hearings, which he denied, and his tenure at the War Department was rocked by two separate Signal chat leaks in which information about military airstrikes were inadvertently shared with a journalist.
While the White House has stood by Hegseth, Democratic lawmakers have demanded his resignation and criticized his handling of the war with Iran.
“If you’re a man in the Trump administration, it seems that they reward misconduct,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
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