Violent Crime and Courts

In a Manhattan state court trial, 31-year-old Randy Santos is asserting an insanity defense for the 2019 Chinatown rampage in which four homeless men were bludgeoned to death and two others badly injured with a 4‑foot metal bar as they slept on the streets. Prosecutors say surveillance video, eyewitnesses and DNA on the blood‑covered bar show Santos methodically attacked the men between 1:30 and 2 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2019, pausing to avoid witnesses and later telling police, “Yeah, that’s me,” when shown the footage. His lawyer told jurors Santos had been diagnosed with schizophrenia months earlier and was hearing voices ordering him to kill 40 people or die himself, arguing he knew what he was doing physically but could not appreciate its wrongfulness and should be sent to a psychiatric facility instead of prison. The state counters that his efforts to look for bystanders and wait for a passerby to leave prove he understood the moral and legal consequences of killing the men, who ranged in age from 39 to 83, and that he had carried out a similar 'trial run' beating a week earlier. If jurors reject the insanity claim, Santos faces a potential life sentence; if they accept it, he could be involuntarily committed for as long as doctors and the court deem necessary, a decision that will shape how New York handles one of its most notorious recent attacks on people living on the streets.

San Bernardino County authorities have arrested 66‑year‑old engineer and tech executive Gordon Abas Goodarzi on suspicion of murdering his estranged wife, 58‑year‑old Aryan Papoli, whose body was found Nov. 18, 2025 about 75 feet below Highway 138 near Crestline in the San Bernardino Mountains. Papoli’s death was initially consistent with a fall, but the county coroner later ruled it a homicide, and the sheriff’s department says an 'extensive and persistent investigation' led detectives to identify Goodarzi as the suspect, though they have not yet detailed the evidence or a motive. Court records show Papoli filed for divorce on June 12, 2025 after 28 years of marriage, seeking spousal support and a split of more than $4.5 million in property, including the Rolling Hills Estates home where Goodarzi was arrested and a property in Crestline near where her body was recovered; the divorce case was terminated Dec. 23 after her death. Charging documents from the San Bernardino County District Attorney allege Papoli was 'particularly vulnerable' and that the killing involved 'planning, sophistication, and professionalism,' aggravating factors that could shape any eventual sentence. Goodarzi, who sold his clean‑energy firm US Hybrid for $50 million in 2021, is being held without bail at the Central Detention Center, with his arraignment continued to Thursday as Papoli’s family publicly remembers her as an Iranian‑born entrepreneur and 'ray of light' even as they decline to discuss her relationship with her husband.

Brendan Banfield, an ex‑federal agent, is on trial in Fairfax County for the 2023 killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and visitor Joseph Ryan; prosecutors say Banfield and Brazilian au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães impersonated Christine on a sexual‑fetish site to lure Ryan, and Magalhães—who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and has testified—says the two killed both victims and staged the scene to look like an intruder attack. The defense has attacked Magalhães’ credibility with jailhouse letters and questions about who controlled the online account and forensic work, a judge denied a motion to dismiss, jurors have viewed body‑cam footage that showed Banfield visibly emotional, and he also faces child‑abuse and felony child‑cruelty counts.