Marietta

A registered sex offender who served more than 17 years in prison for sexually abusing a young relative is now charged with murdering his daughter’s boyfriend -- and then marrying her. Larry Paul McClure Sr., 55, of Pendleton, Kentucky, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the Valentine’s Day killing of John Thomas McGuire, 38, of Owatonna, Minnesota, according to authorities. McGuire’s remains were found Sept. 24 in a shallow grave at a home in Skygusty, West Virginia, where McClure lived prior to moving to Kentucky. McClure’s two daughters, Amanda Michelle Naylor McClure, 31, of Chisago City, Minnesota, and Anna Marie Choudhary, 32, of Boone, North Carolina, are also charged with murder and conspiracy in McGuire’s death, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Amanda McClure was McGuire’s girlfriend at the time of his death, according to authorities. She, her sister and their father are all being held at separate jails, according to the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority’s website. A gruesome death detailed  The grisly details of McGuire’s slaying, as well as the nature of Larry and Amanda McClure’s incestuous relationship, came out earlier this month during a preliminary hearing in Choudhary’s case, in court documents and a handwritten confession Larry McClure sent to authorities the day before the hearing. According to the Daily Telegraph, West Virginia state Trooper K.M. Saddler testified at Choudhary’s Nov. 5 hearing that Larry McClure and both of his daughters were involved in the killing. “On or about February 14, Mr. John McGuire was struck in the head with a bottle of wine, then tied up, and then injected with two vials of methamphetamine,” Saddler testified, according to the newspaper. “After the injection, he was strangled.” McGuire’s body was buried in the backyard of Larry McClure’s home at 11715 Skygusty Highway, but was later moved to a side yard, Saddler said. That is where it was found when McClure, who was jailed for failing to tell West Virginia authorities about his move to Kentucky, told investigators about the killing in September, the Daily Telegraph reported. “He told officers at the McDowell County holding facility he wanted to speak with an officer regarding a murder,” Saddler testified. Larry McClure told state police investigators where to find the body. An autopsy confirmed the remains were those of McGuire, who had last had contact with his family in February. According to the Owatonna People’s Press, the father of five was reported missing in June by Angela Erickson, the mother of his three oldest children. He left Owatonna for a road trip with Amanda McClure shortly before his death, Erickson told the newspaper. McGuire, an Alabama native known by family and friends as “Bama,” planned to head south at some point to visit his mother in Opelika, Alabama, the People’s Press reported. He never made it. A handful of posts were posted on McGuire’s Facebook page Feb. 15, the day after authorities believe he died, but the writings were ominous. “Job completed, the Firefox is dead,” the first one read. “Hahaha! The Maddhatter (sic).” A second post indicated laughter and a third stated, “You all are (expletive) just like Firefox, and you will all end up the same way. Hahaha.” Amanda McClure and Choudhary were initially charged with concealment of a human body after McGuire’s remains were recovered. All three suspects were charged with murder in October, according to The Associated Press. Saddler said in court that Larry McClure was “more of an orchestrator” of the crime, the Daily Telegraph reported. The trooper said Choudhary admitted she injected McGuire with the drugs and hit him with the wine bottle. The trooper testified that all three suspects participated in burying the victim. It was not immediately clear what, if any, additional participation Amanda McClure is accused of. No motive for the crime was established in court. The judge ruled that enough evidence exists against Choudhary to put the case before a grand jury. A separate hearing for Amanda McClure held Oct. 22 resulted in the same outcome. Larry McClure waived his preliminary hearing that same day. “We have had three preliminary hearings for each of the three co-defendants and after those hearings, now we’re waiting for it to be bound over to the grand jury presentment, which will be either February or June of 2020,” McDowell County Prosecuting Attorney Emily Miller told WVNS in Ghent. The case remains under investigation and additional charges are possible, the news station reported. ‘All I can do is hope for mercy’  The more shocking of the revelations in the case have come in the form of court records, which includes the criminal complaint against the trio. In the last paragraph of the complaint, Saddler wrote that Larry McClure and Amanda McClure had sex at the home where they are accused of killing McGuire. The father and daughter traveled across the state line into Tazewell County, Virginia, several weeks later and, on March 11, were married by a Methodist minister, the Daily Telegraph reported. The marriage license indicates that Amanda McClure gave someone else’s name as her biological father, the newspaper said. Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt told the paper the alleged marriage is a misdemeanor in Virginia. The pair could face charges there. Larry McClure was convicted July 22, 1998, of first-degree sexual assault for abusing a family member between the ages of 6 and 12, according to West Virginia’s sex offender registry. He served about 17 1/2 years in prison. The identity of McClure’s victim in the 1998 case was unknown Tuesday. Amanda McClure was 9 years old when her father was convicted and her sister was 10. The court records obtained by the Daily Telegraph also include the confession Larry McClure sent to the court outlining the roles he claims he and his daughters each took in McGuire’s death. He painted Amanda McClure as the ringleader of the plot but said he did not know her motive, the newspaper said. “I cannot tell you why Amanda wanted John McGuire dead,” Larry McClure wrote in the letter dated Nov. 4. He alleged, however, that his daughter was spending McGuire’s monthly Social Security benefits after the man’s death, the newspaper reported. McClure wrote that he didn’t want to waste taxpayers’ money on a trial or hurt either his or McGuire’s families more than they had already been hurt. “All I can do is hope for mercy on this, but my sentence on this really does not matter because I am old and in bad health,” Larry McClure wrote, according to the Daily Telegraph. “I will never live to see the parole board in 15 years anyway and that is OK. “I will say I am sorry for my part in this crime, to both my family and John McGuire’s family.” He ended the letter by saying he just wants the ordeal to be over. “NO TRIAL. NO TAXPAYERS MONEY SPENT FOR A TRIAL,” he wrote in all capital letters. “It is hard for the state of West Virginia to fight against itself because I plead GUILTY/NO CONTEST.” He thanked court officials for their time before signing his name to the document. ‘He was my dad’  McGuire’s two oldest children, Justice and Jacob McGuire, spoke with the People’s Press earlier this month about losing their father. Justice, 18, told the newspaper she and her father didn’t always get along, but they didn’t let their disagreements come between them. “He was my dad. I loved him,” Justice said. The children and their mother, Erickson, said it became apparent early on that something was terribly wrong when they had not heard from McGuire in several weeks. “It was clear after Mother’s Day went by and he didn’t call that something was wrong,” Erickson told the newspaper. “He always called me and his own mom to tell us what good mothers we were.” When Jacob turned 16 over the summer and didn’t hear from his father, their fears deepened. The teen said it was then that he “started to prepare (himself) for the worst.” Erickson got word Sept. 29, five days after Larry McClure led authorities to McGuire’s remains, that the father of her children was dead. His remains were cremated and sent back to her in Minnesota. She and the teens described McGuire as a man who loved everyone. Erickson said his love extended to her youngest child, his own children’s half-sister, even though it had been years since he and Erickson were a couple. She said her ex had gone through bad choices and bad times, including struggling with substance abuse, but that he was ultimately a good person. “He had a heart of gold, the gift of gab, and he was friends with everyone,” Erickson told the People’s Press. “I’m going to miss everything about him.” A tearful Erickson said McGuire almost seemed to sense something bad coming the last time they spoke to one another. “I was worried about the kids, and he just told me, ‘Please don’t worry, I’m always looking out for them even when I’m not there. Trust me,’” she told the newspaper. Justice said her father took care of everyone he could. “He would make sure you felt safe, and he would always give you whatever you need,” the teen said. “Even though he didn’t have a lot, he wanted to make sure that you did. “He wasn’t always there for us, but he was. I think we still have him now, watching over us.”

A Stone Mountain man says he was the victim of excessive force after Gwinnett County police officers repeatedly used a Taser on him during a March arrest for jaywalking. John Efford told Channel 2 Action News he was on his way to a job interview when officers stopped him — twice — for allegedly crossing Holcomb Bridge Road outside a crosswalk. After the second incident, police said the 29-year-old refused their commands and resisted arrest, prompting officers to deploy their Tasers three times, Channel 2 reported. Body camera footage obtained by the news station appears to show Efford on the ground claiming not to have done anything when the officer uses his Taser. He can be seen writhing in pain as electricity from the stun gun courses through his body. While he was being handcuffed in the middle of the road by a second officer, the first officer deploys his Taser a second time into the man’s back, the footage shows. “Hands behind your back now,” the officer said to him. “You’re going to get Tased again.” As he was led to the police car in handcufffs, Efford asked the police what he did wrong. “You jaywalked — again,” an officer replies. “Right in front of us. Again, bro.” Efford was charged with two counts of obstruction and crossing a street outside a crosswalk, but those charges were ultimately dropped after prosecutors saw video of the arrest, his attorney said.  An internal investigation into the officers’ use of force determined their actions were consistent with department policy because Efford refused to follow verbal commands and physically resisted, Channel 2 reported. Efford is calling for the officers to be fired.  “This video is a classic case of police brutality,” his attorney, Jackie Patterson, told the news station. “All you had to do was write him a ticket and let him go.” In a statement, Gwinnett police told Channel 2 while use-of-force incidents can be difficult to watch, it does not mean the officers violated department policy, procedure or the law.  In other news: 

A record 31.6 million passengers are expected to travel on U.S. airlines over the Thanksgiving travel period, according to an airline industry group. >> Read more trending news  Airlines for America said the busiest day of the year in history for U.S. airlines is expected to be Dec. 1, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. On that day, 3.1 million passengers are expected to fly on U.S. airlines. Another busy day during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period from Nov. 22 to Dec. 3 will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Nov. 22, the Friday before Thanksgiving, will be the third-busiest day. The least busy day is expected to be Thanksgiving Day.

A Georgia man on the way to a job interview said officers used a Taser on him three times for jaywalking. Police say he refused verbal commands and physically resisted. >> Read more trending news  This began in March, when the officers gave John Efford a jaywalking citation on Holcomb Bridge Road in Gwinnett County.  Efford said that a couple of minutes later, the same officers approached him again, saying he jaywalked again. He said that's when they refused to answer his questions and began using a Taser on him. 'I was terrified,' Efford told WSB-TV. He was charged with two counts of obstruction and improper crossing a roadway. Police sent WSB-TV a use of force report that indicated the level of force used was within policy. It said Efford refused to follow verbal commands and physically resisted. An officer's body cam video recorded the incident.  'Hands behind your back now! Cuff him. You're going to get Tased again,' an officer is heard on video.  Once officers arrested Efford, he asked what he did 'You jaywalked again right in front of us. Again, bro,' the officer said.  'Y'all doing all that over jaywalking?' Efford responded.  Efford said the officers used excessive force and he said it was unlawful arrest. 'This video is a classic case of police brutality,' said his attorney, Jackie Patterson.  Patterson said officers terrorized his client for no reason. 'All you had to do was write him a ticket and let him go,' Patterson said. Patterson said the charges were dropped after prosecutors saw the video. Efford is not letting this go. 'I want them to lose their jobs,' Efford said. In the use of force report, a major said Officer Charles Bynum was counseled on the importance of advising suspects they are under arrest. Another major said the officer's version of what happened and the video were not consistent. Still, it said the use of force was within policy. Efford said he plans to file a lawsuit.

The Christmas season has barely begun, and a South Florida man could be getting coal in his stocking. >> Read more trending news  Sean Francis Budge, 24, of Port St. Lucie, is accused of stealing a woman's glasses and riding away on a motorcycle while wearing a Santa Claus hat, TCPalm reported. According to an arrest affidavit, Budge stole a pair of prescription glasses from a woman leaving a bar in downtown Stuart around 11;17 p.m. Monday. The woman called the police and said the glasses were stolen by a man wearing a Santa hat, TCPalm reported. Several minutes later, an officer reported seeing a motorcycle traveling 70 mph down a highway, the website reported. After a chase, the motorcycle driver returned to the downtown bar and stopped in front of the business. Budge was arrested on charges of robbery by sudden snatching, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving and resisting without violence, TCPalm reported.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez is facing 21 new counts in a Pennsylvania court after being arrested for sexual assault. >> Read more trending news  In his second preliminary hearing Tuesday in Westmoreland County, Vazquez, 28, was charged with 11 counts of child pornography, along with 10 counts of unlawful contact with a minor. According to a police affidavit, police found an iPhone XS and a MacBook Pro at Vazquez's Pittsburgh apartment. On those devices, detectives said they saw seven photos and three videos of an underage girl in 'various stages of nudity.' Police said Vazquez requested the images and videos from the girl, WPXI reported. Vazquez was arrested in September in Allegheny County on charges out of Florida, where the alleged victim now lives. Shortly thereafter, charges from Westmoreland County were announced. Vazquez admitted to exchanging sexually explicit pictures with the 13-year-old victim and driving to her home in Scottdale, where he attempted to have sex with her in his car about two years ago, officials said. The girl is now 15 years old and lives in Florida. According to an affidavit from Westmoreland County, Vazquez admitted to investigators the victim 'looked too young and that she appeared to be 16 years of age or younger.' Police said Vazquez told them he initially refused to communicate with her due to her age.