Hatchet Attack Inside California Home Leaves Man Dead | Crime House 24/7

Hi listeners, it's Vanessa Richardson.

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America's most infamous crimes.

Posted by Katie Ring.

Each week Katie takes on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history.

Serial killers who terrorized cities, unsolved mysteries that keep detectives up at night,

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Good morning everyone.

We have multiple breaking true crime cases this morning that you need to know about and

we're starting with the biggest one.

A Bay Area man is dead, allegedly killed with a hatchet inside his own home.

And weeks before it happened, a Facebook post appeared to name him as a target.

This is Crime House 24-7, your non-stop source for the biggest crime cases developing right

now.

Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Vanessa Richardson and we have quite a lineup for you today.

Here's what you need to know.

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A man from Chico, California was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of brutally attacking

and killing another man with a hatchet.

The suspect 35 year old David swank prince has officially been charged with murder in connection

with the death of 34 year old Christopher jaber.

As of this recording, prince was set to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon March 25.

At princess hearing, he could enter a plea to a murder charge at a sentencing enhancement

for the use of a deadly weapon.

The crime itself has left neighbors and investigators deeply unsettled.

It all started on the morning of March 21st at approximately 1130 in the morning on

a Saturday, a relative of jaber called 911 to report something alarming, a suspicious

person armed with a hatchet was in the backyard of their property on Westminster Place in

Lafayette, California.

The collar told dispatchers the individual appeared to be breaking into the accessory dwelling

unit, a small separate structure behind the main house where jaber lived.

Lafayette police responded quickly, when officers arrived at the scene, they found Christopher

jaber inside the unit.

He was dead.

A short distance from the unit, officers located a man who would later be identified as prince.

Prince was eventually detained at the scene and subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder.

According to the contra cost to county district attorney's office, which announced formal charges

on March 24th, prince, quote, unlawfully and with malice, a forethought took the life

of jaber with the use of a hatchet.

He's been charged with murder along with a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly

weapon.

The killing sent shockwaves through Lafayette, a city in the lemurenda area of the East

Bay that's known for being one of the more affluent and low crime communities in the

region.

Homicides here are exceedingly rare and neighbors described the scene as deeply jarring.

One woman, Christina Colridge, told KTVU, she witnessed prince being taken into custody.

She described him as blonde, clean cut with black glasses and said he appeared entirely

calm.

She said, quote, he was handcuffed and he had plastic bags on his hands.

Colridge described jaber as a friendly presence in the neighborhood who would ride his bike

and go out of his way to make conversation.

She said he tries to make friends.

Colridge believed the killing was a targeted act, meaning Prince did not randomly end up

at Jaber's door.

The investigation into whether the two men knew each other and what the motive may have

been is ongoing, but a series of social media posts has emerged that is raising serious

questions about premeditation.

In February, approximately a month before the killing, a Facebook post surfaced on a page

under a name matching the suspects.

That post referenced Christopher Jaber by name and included his home address.

The message read, quote, if you need the chaos of the supernatural to end, Chris Jaber,

34, aka the eye resides at Westminster Place, Lafayette, California, go with God, end quote.

Then approximately a week before the killing, someone responded to that original post on

what appears to be the same account, writing quote, can someone please kill this man, end

quote, that Facebook page has since been deleted.

Authorities have not officially confirmed whether Prince authored those posts, but neighbor

Colridge summed up what many are thinking.

Quote, it seems like he was looking for him, either he knew him or he had definitely targeted

him based on that Facebook post we saw end quote.

Legal analysts are already weighing in on how those posts could factor into the case.

According to KTVU Legal Analyst Michael Cardoza, prosecutors could use the post to argue

premeditation, one of the key elements needed to pursue a first degree murder charge.

Defense attorneys on the other hand may argue the post reflect a state of diminished

mental capacity rather than deliberate planning.

KTVU also reported that court records indicate Jaber had previously been placed under a conservatorship.

His family has declined to comment publicly.

Prince is currently being held at the Martinez detention facility on $1,030,000 bail.

On March 25, he scheduled to appear in court at 1.30pm, where he could enter a plea to

the murder charge and the accompanying deadly weapon enhancement.

It's worth noting that the Lafayette police were able to make this arrest almost immediately.

Surveillance from a neighbor's camera captured a man in the area around the time of the killing

and officers located Prince still on foot nearby.

That swift response has been one of the few things giving neighbors any comfort in a case

that, in nearly every other way, remains troubling and deeply unsettled.

Next, we're heading down south to Pasadena, where a preliminary hearing is underway in the murder

of the younger brother of Laker's legend Michael Cooper, who was shot and killed at a park

where the two brothers grew up playing basketball.

On March 25, 24-year-old Aaron Miguel Connell of Pasadena is facing his preliminary hearing

at 8.30am in Department H of the Pasadena Courthouse.

The proceeding were a judge determines whether there's sufficient evidence to require him

to stand trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, and assault with a semi-automatic fire

arm.

He has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.

The victim of the center of this case is 64-year-old Mickey Cooper, the younger brother of NBA

Hall of Famer Michael Cooper, the Pasadena-Rays defensive star who won five championships

with the Los Angeles Lakers during the showtime era of the 1980s.

Mickey Cooper was found in the early morning hours of November 18, 2023, at Washington Park,

a park in the 700-block of East Washington Boulevard that holds deep significance for the

Cooper family.

The brothers grew up just 10 houses away from it and played basketball there as children.

In the years since, Mickey had struggled with drug addiction and was known to sleep at

the park.

His brother Michael later described it as a place Mickey felt comfortable and safe.

At a November 2023 press conference, he said, it was a safe haven for him, a place he

felt he could be comfortable and it had been up until that tragic night."

Pasadena police were alerted to the scene by their shot spotter gunshot detection system,

which picked up gunshots at approximately 4-10 a.m.

When officers arrived, they found Mickey Cooper with multiple gunshot wounds.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, with his cause of death determined to be a gunshot

wound to the head.

Connell was arrested the following day, less than 24 hours after the murder, in an operation

involving Pasadena police, the U.S. Marshall Service Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive

Task Force, SWAT and K-9 units.

He was initially booked on an unrelated assault with a firearm charge while detectives continued

gathering evidence, and murder was added to his booking charge on November 20.

Investigators recovered a loaded 9-millimeter semi-automatic firearm from Connell's vehicle,

which they believe was used in all three of the alleged crimes he now faces.

And those alleged crimes, according to prosecutors, form a pattern.

Pasadena police have described the killing of Mickey Cooper as part of a series of apparently

random violent acts attributed to Connell during the fall of 2023.

The charges include in October 29, 2023 incident at Washington Park, the same park where prosecutors

alleged Connell shot a man in the neck, causing life-threatening injuries.

On November 5, 2023, roughly two weeks before Mickey Cooper's death, Connell allegedly walked

up to a car at a Pasadena gas station and pointed a semi-automatic firearm at a man seated inside.

Pasadena police lieutenant Keith Gomez was direct about what he believes drove the violence.

Gomez said, quote,

"'Aren Connell is diabolically evil. That's the only motive we've come up with so far,'

investigators said there is no known connection between Connell and any of his alleged victims.

Connell entered his not guilty plea on February 15, 2024.

His bail has been set at $4.25 million.

If convicted as charged, he faces up to 50 years to life in state prison.

The case is being heard by Judge Rupa Goswami of the Pasadena Courthouse.

The preliminary hearing is a significant milestone in a case that's been more than a

year in the making. And one that the Cooper family and the city of Pasadena has been waiting on since

that early November morning, when a park that was supposed to be a safe haven became a crime scene.

From Pasadena, we're heading to the Midwest, where an Indiana woman is accused of crossing

state lines to carry out a triple homicide, then driving home like nothing happened.

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term supply. On March 25th, 30-year-old Jenna Strubel of St. John in Deanna is being held at the

Lake County Jail, awaiting extradition back to Illinois, where she faces nine counts of first

degree murder in connection with a triple homicide. It started with a welfare check.

At approximately 2am on March 23rd, a concerned family member called the Wilk County Sheriff's Office

asking deputies to check on a home in the 3,400 block of East Norway trail in unincorporated

Crete Township Wilk County. When deputies arrived they found the bodies of three adults,

all residents of the home. 32-year-old Jacob Lambert was found shot to death inside a car

in the driveway. His parents, 54-year-old Stacey Ford and 55-year-old Patrick Ford were also

found shot to death just inside the front door on the first floor. Neighbors told reporters

they'd heard gunfire in the area before the bodies were discovered. According to investigators,

Strubel had an on-again off-again romantic relationship with Lambert, and the two had children

together, a four-year-old daughter named Ella, and a three-year-old son named Rhett,

according to a church group connected to the family. The Wilk County Sheriff's Office described

the killings as a targeted incident. Strubel allegedly traveled from Indiana into Illinois

to shoot Lambert and his parents. She was seen fleeing the scene before deputies even arrived.

Investigators say she then drove all the way back to her home in Indiana,

where local police took her into custody later that morning. The case against Strubel rests on

multiple pieces of evidence. During interviews with detectives following the homicides,

she gave what the Sheriff's Office described as incriminating statements. Investigators also

recovered a firearm and confirmed it matched the weapon used in all three killings. The shock hit

the neighborhood hard. One neighbor who spoke with Shaw Local while walking her dog near the scene

described the Ford family as warm, welcoming, and deeply community-minded. She recalled seeing

them just recently outside with their grandchildren and their dog, and she said the block had never

known them to have any domestic issues. However, this was not the first time law enforcement had

been to this address. Records show deputies were called to the same Norway trail home in January

2025, roughly 14 months before the killings, for a domestic battery call,

add a mental health intervention. According to the Sheriff's Office, Strubel was involuntarily

committed during that incident. Autopsies were performed on March 24, though final cause and

manner of death determinations remain pending toxicology results. Strubel will remain in Indiana

custody until her extradition to Illinois is completed. From one disturbing case to another,

our next story today is out of Utah, where what one mother is accused of doing to a child

has resulted in felony charges. On March 23, 40-year-old Shannon Marie Tufuga of

Provo, Utah, was formally charged in fourth district court with child kidnapping and intentional

or knowing aggravated child abuse, both second-degree felonies. According to prosecutors, Tufuga was

driving around the Provo area, looking for an 11-year-old boy she believed had been bullying her

son. When she found him riding his bike, she allegedly stopped her car in front of him and

made him get in. She then transported the child without his parents' knowledge or consent

to her home in Oram, where she kept him until he apologized to her son. But the apology

wasn't where it ended. According to the charging documents, Tufuga then threatened to have her

husband physically assault the boy and told him he was, quote, lucky she did not run over his

bike. The boy was eventually driven back to his home, but the damage prosecutors say was done.

Court records indicate the child suffered serious emotional distress as a result of the incident.

He now experiences high anxiety and has significantly altered his daily routines.

Reports indicate Tufuga's son has autism, and Tufuga has said publicly that she felt little was

done when she reported the bullying to school officials. Her attorney has denied the allegations

in the charging documents. It's also worth noting that Tufuga was working as a crossing guard

for Provo City at the time of the incident. She is no longer employed there. The charges filed

are typically first degree felonies, but the Utah County Attorney's Office reduced them to second

degree felonies, stating the reduction was in the interests of justice. A second degree felony in

Utah can carry a sentence of one to fifteen years in prison. Tufuga is not currently in custody,

but a summons has been issued and she is scheduled to appear at the Utah County Jail by April 30th

for processing. Tufuga's case is a reminder that no matter the circumstances, the law draws a

clear line and taking matters into your own hands, especially with someone else's child, will have

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Before you go, let me tell you what else is happening at Crime House today.

On murder, true crime stories, we examined the killing of Veronica Garen, an Irish journalist

who's reporting didn't just describe crime, it disrupted it. Garen focused on Dublin's drug trade

at a time when many of the people involved operated with relative confidence that they wouldn't be

named publicly. She changed that. She connected individuals to networks, networks to money and

money to influence. And in doing so, she crossed a line that exists in many investigations but

isn't always visible because there's a difference between reporting on crime and interfering with

the people behind it. Some investigations stay at the surface. Others go deeper into finances,

relationships, and systems of power. And when they do, they stop being informational and start

becoming threatening. Here are five investigations that made powerful enemies.

Daphne Caruana Galicia. Daphne Caruana Galicia spent years investigating corruption in Malta,

a country where political and business interests often overlap in ways that can be difficult to

untangle. Her reporting focused heavily on financial misconduct, offshore accounts, shell companies,

and the movement of money through systems designed to obscure its origins. When the Panama

papers were released, Galicia used them not as a standalone story, but as a framework. She connected

international financial data to specific individuals within Malta, including high-ranking political

figures. That shift from abstract corruption to named involvement significantly raised the

stakes of her work. Her blog became one of the most widely read sources of investigative reporting

in the country, but it also became a focal point for criticism, legal pressure, and threats.

At the time of her death, she was facing dozens of libel suits, a tactic often used to

financially and legally burden journalists who pursue sensitive topics. In October 2017, Galicia was

killed by a car bomb placed in her vehicle. The investigation into her murder exposed a network

that extended beyond the individuals who carried out the attack. Allegations reached into business

circles and, potentially, political structures. Her death did not end the questions she raised.

It intensified them. What made her dangerous wasn't just that she reported on corruption,

it was that she traced it in a way that made it actionable, visible, and difficult to ignore.

Robert Saviano. When Robert Saviano published Gomora in 2006, he did something that many

investigative work struggled to achieve. He made the internal operations of an organized crime

syndicate understandable to the general public. The Gomora had long operated through a combination

of violence, economic control, and secrecy. Its influence extended into construction,

waste management, fashion, and international trade. But for many people, it remained abstract,

known, but not fully understood. Saviano changed that by focusing on structure. He wrote about how

the organization functioned, how it made money, and how deeply it was embedded in legitimate industries.

He described specific practices and patterns, giving readers a clearer picture of a system that

had previously been difficult to grasp. That clarity came at a cost. Shortly after publication,

Saviano began receiving credible death threats. Intelligence reports indicated that elements within

the Gomora had discussed plans to assassinate him. He was placed under police protection,

where he has remained ever since. His life became defined by restriction.

Movement had to be coordinated. Public appearances were limited. Even daily routines required

planning and security oversight. The investigation didn't end when the book was published. It became

ongoing, not in terms of research, but in terms of consequence. Saviano's work permanently altered

his relationship to the world he exposed. Gary Webb. Gary Webb's Dark Alliance series,

published in the 1990s, explored alleged connections between US intelligence linked operations

and drug trafficking networks that contributed to the crack cocaine epidemic. The reporting

suggested that individuals associated with US backed efforts in Central America had played a role

in facilitating or benefiting from these networks. The story immediately drew national attention.

It also drew intense criticism. Major media outlets questioned Webb's conclusions,

dissecting the reporting and highlighting areas they argued were overstated or insufficiently

supported. The backlash was swift and sustained, and it had a significant impact on Webb's career.

What made Webb's investigation notable is not just the controversy,

but the scale of what he was attempting to examine. He wasn't investigating a single criminal

organization. He was examining the intersection of intelligence operations, foreign policy,

and domestic drug distribution. Areas where documentation is limited and narratives are tightly

controlled. In the years that followed, government reports acknowledged certain elements related

to the broader context of Webb's work, though debate continues over the interpretation and

scope of those findings. Webb's investigation illustrates a different kind of risk,

not direct violence, but institutional resistance, the kind that can isolate, discredit,

and ultimately sideline a journalist. In challenging a powerful narrative, he became part of it.

A conflict marked by complex political dynamics and widespread allegations of human rights abuses.

Her reporting often centered on civilian experiences, detentions,

disappearances, and violence carried out in areas with limited oversight.

She traveled to the region repeatedly, gathering first-hand accounts and documenting incidents

that contradicted official statements. Her work was published both in Russia and internationally,

bringing attention to aspects of the conflict that were not widely covered

in state-aligned media. Politkov Skaya faced escalating pressure as her reporting continued.

She was detained, threatened, and at one point fell seriously ill after an apparent poisoning

attempt while en route to cover a developing crisis. Despite this, she continued her work.

In 2006, she was shot and killed in her apartment building in Moscow. Her death highlighted the risks

associated with reporting on state-linked conflict, particularly in environments where

dissecting narratives are viewed as a threat. While several individuals were later convicted

in connection with the killing, questions about who ultimately ordered it have remained unresolved.

Politkov Skaya's investigation didn't just document a war. It challenged how that war was being

presented and who controlled that presentation. Don Bowles. Don Bowles was not investigating a single

crime when he was killed in 1976. He was investigating a network. As a reporter for the Arizona

Republic, Bowles focused on land fraud, organized crime, and political corruption in Phoenix.

His work explored how these elements intersected, how business deals, political influence,

and criminal activity could operate together in ways that were difficult to separate.

This kind of investigation requires a different approach. It's not about a single incident or suspect.

It's about patterns, connections, repeated interactions that suggest a larger structure.

Bowles was following those patterns when he received a call about a potential story.

He went to meet a source at a hotel shortly after arriving, a bomb placed in his car exploded.

He died days later. His death prompted a response from journalists across the United States,

who came together to continue the work he had started. The Arizona project expanded on his reporting,

publishing findings that further exposed corruption in the region. What made Bowles investigation

dangerous was its scope. It didn't threaten one person. It threatened multiple overlapping

interests. And in doing so, it created multiple potential enemies. Why these investigations

become dangerous? These cases don't just involve crime. They involve systems, organized crime

networks, political structures, financial systems, institutional narratives. Each operates on a

degree of control over information, over perception, over who is allowed to know what. Investigations that

stay at the surface can exist within those systems. They describe them without disrupting them.

But investigations that go deeper, that identify individuals, trace money, and connect actions

across different areas begin to interfere with that control. That's when the risk changes.

Because at that point, the investigation is no longer just about what happened. It's about who

is being exposed. Veronica Garen's reporting forced attention onto people who had operated

without it. She didn't just describe a problem. She identified the individuals behind it.

And in doing so, made them visible in a way they hadn't been before.

For the full story behind her investigation and the consequences that followed,

listen to today's episode of Murder True Crime Stories. Because sometimes the most

dangerous part of a crime is the person who refuses to look away.

You've been listening to Crime House 24-7, bringing you Breaking Crime News. I'm Vanessa Richardson.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with more developing stories. Stay safe, and thanks for listening.

Get insights from doctors and researchers on New York Presbyterians' podcast for medical professionals,

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most innovative developments in medicine today. From building AI models to detect cardiovascular

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learn how experts in their fields are shaping the future of healthcare. Listen now wherever podcasts

are found. Thanks for listening to today's episode. Not sure what to listen to next.

Check out America's most infamous crimes hosted by Katie Ring. From serial killers to unsolved

mysteries and game-changing investigations, each week Katie takes on a notorious criminal case

in American history. Listen to and follow America's most infamous crimes now wherever you listen to podcasts.

Get insights from doctors and researchers on New York Presbyterians' podcast for medical

professionals, Advances in Care. Listen to experts from Columbia and Wild Cornel Medicine discuss

the most innovative developments in medicine today. From building AI models to detect cardiovascular

disease, to behind the scenes details of a pediatric domino heart transplant,

learn how experts in their fields are shaping the future of healthcare. Listen now wherever podcasts

are found.