Law&Crime Network will report on the following trials this week. You can follow the trials live on our website and YouTube page.
FL vs. Jaycee Wasso
Jaycee Wasso (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office).
Florida psychic Jaycee Wasso is accused of tricking one of her clients, Lin Halfon, into stealing more than $1 million from Halfon’s wealthy husband. According to investigators, Wasso Halfon said that “terrible things” would happen to her if she did not receive large sums of money or valuables from her elderly husband, Richard Rappaport.
Halfon took jewelry and wrote several checks from her husband’s accounts – cashing the checks in Tampa and New Jersey – and then handed the cash over to Wasso, authorities said. Law enforcement became aware of the scheme when Halfon attempted to check a $1 million cashier’s check at a Tampa Amscot, investigators said.
When Halfon went to court, she told her lawyers that she was under Wasso’s spell. Wasso was arrested on multiple charges including grand larceny from a person aged 65 or over, organized fraud and conspiracy to commit grand larceny from a person aged 65 or over.
Halfon will testify against Wasso at her trial. Jury selection and the opening speech are expected to begin on Monday, February 27th.
FL versus Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome
Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, Trayvon Newsome (Broward County Sheriff’s Office)
Three men are charged with first-degree murder in the death of up-and-coming rapper XXXTentacion. Prosecutors believe Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome killed the rapper outside a South Florida motorcycle shop in June 2018.
Investigators said the trio shot XXXTentacion and then stole a Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000 from his car.
XXX attends the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund 15th Anniversary Event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on November 5, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York.
A fourth suspect, Robert Allen, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery in the case.
The latest in the process:
A Broward County judge ruled that famed rapper Drake need not appear for testimony because there is no evidence linking him to the murder of XXXTentacion. Opening statements revealed a possible connection between Drake and XXXTentacion.
Last week, a coroner detailed the gunshot wounds XXXTentacion sustained when he was gunned down. The young rapper was shot three times in the neck.
SC vs. Alexander Murdaugh
Alex Murdaugh exits the courtroom at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool
Disgraced attorney Alexander “Alex” Murdaugh is accused of murdering his wife Maggie Murdaugh and youngest son Paul Murdaugh at their hunting lodge in Colleton County. He was arrested and charged with double murder.
Prosecutors believe Murdaugh killed Maggie and Paul in June 2021 to gain sympathy and avoid a series of financial crimes.
Maggie Murdaugh, pictured left, was killed alongside her son at the family hunting lodge in June 2021.
The latest in the process:
Prosecutors commented in his defense last week, walking Alex Murdaugh through a detailed timeline of events immediately before and after the shooting of his wife and son. The questioning began with District Attorney Creighton Waters hammering out the fact that during Thursday’s testimony, Murdaugh admitted for the first time that he lied to investigators about being near the doghouse shortly before Maggie and Paul were killed .
As Murdaugh continued to defend himself on Friday, Waters repeatedly called the testimony of the disgraced and barred attorney his “new story” and suggested he fabricated it as part of a new alibi.
Murdaugh has claimed he lied to investigators because he was paranoid about his drug addiction and had a bag full of pills when he found the bodies of his wife and son.
