True Crime Story Blog

16/12/2025

Case name: National Guard Members shot, one killed
Location: Washington D.C.
What we know: Two National Guard members shot in D.C., one killed.
Date: November 2025

Attack On the National Guard: One Injured, One Killed

On November 26, 2025, two members of the West Virginia National Guard, U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, who had both been deployed to Washington, D.C., were shot in Washington D.C. The attack took place the day before Thanksgiving and stunned people throughout the United States.

The suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had been living in the state of Washington with his family. He was also shot and injured. Officials believe that Lakanwal left his home in Washington and drove to Washington D.C. to carry out the attack.

Sarah Beckstrom was seriously injured and died from her injuries on Thanksgiving Day. Andrew Wolfe was also seriously injured and is currently in critical condition in the hospital.

Prosecutors have charged Lakanwal with murder. Currently, the motive for the attack on the National Guard members is unknown.
Members Of the National Guard, Sarah Beckstrom And Andrew Wolfe, Are Shot

Two members of the West Virginia National Guard, 20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, had both been “deployed to D.C. as part of (President Donald) Trump’s monthslong crackdown on crime in the district,” per NBC.

On November 26, 2025, both Beckstrom and Wolfe were seriously injured when they were both shot at close range two blocks away from the White House, close to D.C.’s Farragut West Metro station in Washington, D.C. After the attack, Beckstrom and Wolfe were taken to the hospital.

Jeff Carroll, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief said, per the BBC, that “the suspect ‘came around the corner’ and ‘immediately started firing.’” Carroll also added that the soldiers were “ambushed.” The mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, said that the incident had been a “targeted attack,” per the BBC.

Moments after Beckstrom and Wolfe were attacked, the main suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal who had allegedly been the shooter, was shot.

Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, graduated high school in 2023, and enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard that same year. The West Virginia National Guard said, per the AP, in a statement: “She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism.” The statement also said Beckstrom “volunteered to serve as part of Operation D.C. Safe and Beautiful, helping to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital.”

Beckstrom had also worked at the behavioral health center Seneca Health Services as a community engagement specialist. Marcie Vaughn, the company’s CEO, said, per CNN, “It takes compassion, courage, and discipline to serve in any section or area of the armed forces and Sarah (Beckstrom) had all of these qualities and more.”

On November 27, shortly after Beckstrom had passed away, Gary Beckstrom, her father, wrote on Facebook, per CNN: “My baby girl has passed to glory. If I don’t talk to you don’t be offend(ed). This has been a horrible tragedy.”

The other National Guard member injured during the attack, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, is in a hospital in Washington, D.C. and is still in critical condition after being shot multiple times. Patrick Morrisey, the Governor of West Virginia, said, per Fox News, according to USA Today, “Andrew is fighting for his life right now. And his family and all of his friends, they’re trying to harvest as many prayers as possible.”

Andrew Wolfe of Martinsburg, West Virginia, enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard in 2019. Michael Langone, who lives next door to Wolfe, called Wolfe “a great guy, great neighbor,” per CNN. Langone also said, “I just hope his family’s doing okay with it. They’ve always been good to us, and we’ve always looked out for each other, and that’s about being a good neighbor,” per CNN.

Tara Newcomb, who went to Wolfe’s school and graduated a few years after him, said, per CNN, “A lot of people liked him and knew him. I hope he’s doing okay.” West Virginia Representative Riley Moore told CNN, “He is fighting for his life. His family wants everybody to know he’s a fighter and he’s hanging in there.”

Jason Wolfe, Andrew Wolfe’s father, told CNN, “Please keep my son in your prayers.” Jason also said that Andrew is “a great person,” and “he’s a fighter,” per CNN.

Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal Is Charged

Authorities have said that the weapon the gunman used to shoot both Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.

The main suspect is an Afghan national, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal. In Afghanistan he had “served alongside U.S. troops,” per NBC. During the Afghanistan War, he had also “worked with the CIA,” per the AP. He “served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit, known as one of the special Zero Units,” per the AP.

While Lakanwal was being apprehended, he was shot four times and injured. He is still in the hospital.

Lakanwal’s neighbor, Mohammad Sherzad, told the AP that Lakanwal had been “polite, quiet and spoke very little English.” Sherzad said, “He was so quiet and the kids were so polite, they were so playful. But we didn’t see anything bad about him.” Sherzad also said that around two weeks ago, Lakanwal had “disappeared.”

Lakanwal had a job as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex for a short amount of time. Amazon Flex “allows people to use their own cars to deliver packages,” per the AP. He started at the end of July, and continued until the end of August, but Lakanwal didn’t continue working for Amazon Flex after that.

After the shooting, Lakanwal was first charged with weapons possession and assault. However, after Beckstrom passed away on November 27th, he was charged with murder. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, told Fox News, per NBC, that “We are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree.”

On November 28th, 2025, “federal prosecutors in Washington D.C. filed a first-degree murder charge,” per USA Today, against Lakanwal. He has also been charged with “two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed,” per the AP.

Lakanwal had been living in Bellingham, Washington, with his family, which included his wife and their five children. One of his relatives, who said they haven’t spoken to Lakanwal for several months, said, per NBC, “I don’t know what happened. I need your help to know why this happened.”

Officials believe Lakanwal drove from his home in Bellingham in the state of Washington to Washington, D.C. According to USA Today, “The FBI is investigating the shooting as possible terrorism.” Lakanwal has been described as a “lone gunman in a targeted shooting,” per USA Today. Investigators have been working to uncover a possible motive.

Written By: Elizabeth DeMaine
Contributing Writer/Editor

16/12/2025

Another Twist: Rob Reiner’s Son Turns to Lawyer Who Defended Harvey Weinstein

16/12/2025

This Day in True Crime — December 16, 1989


The Mail Bomb Murders of Judge Robert Vance and Attorney Robert Robinson

On December 16, 1989, federal Judge Robert S. Vance was killed instantly after opening a package mailed to his home near Birmingham, Alabama. The package contained a powerful bomb that exploded on contact, marking the beginning of a targeted domestic terror attack against the U.S. judicial system.



Just two days later, on December 18, another mail bomb killed attorney Robert Robinson inside his office in Savannah, Georgia. Two additional bomb packages — addressed to the federal courthouse in Atlanta and the Jacksonville, Florida office of the NAACP — were intercepted before they could be opened, preventing further loss of life.



The FBI launched an immediate investigation, forming a task force known as Operation VANPAC (Vance Package Bomb). Investigators employed advanced forensic techniques, including DNA analysis from saliva on postage stamps and material tracing of nails and paint used in the explosive devices.



The case turned when agents linked the bomb design to a 1972 pipe bomb constructed by Walter LeRoy Moody, who had previously been convicted for a similar attack. Although initial searches of Moody’s home yielded no direct evidence, bomb experts concluded the devices shared unmistakable construction traits.



In June 1991, a federal jury convicted Moody on multiple charges, sentencing him to seven life terms plus 400 years in prison. In 1997, he was additionally sentenced to death in Alabama for the murder of Judge Vance. Walter LeRoy Moody was executed in 2018.



The case remains one of the most chilling examples of domestic terrorism targeting the American justice system.

16/12/2025

16/12/2025

Some cases refuse to settle — and this is one of them.
What do you think really happened?

16/12/2025

Tuesday's What do YOU think?

16/12/2025

Tuesday Did you know?

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Family Horror: Rob Reiner’s Son Arrested Just Hours After Daughter Finds Parents Dead

16/12/2025

This Day in True Crime — December 15, 1988



James Brown Enters Prison After High-Speed Police Chase



On December 15, 1988, legendary singer James Brown — known worldwide as the “Godfather of Soul” and the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” — became inmate number 155413 at the State Park Correctional Institute in South Carolina.



Brown’s incarceration followed a turbulent summer marked by multiple run-ins with the law. The most serious incident occurred on September 24, 1988, when Brown entered an insurance seminar in Augusta, Georgia armed with a shotgun and a pistol, ordering everyone inside to leave. He then fled the scene in his pickup truck, leading police on a multi-state chase through Georgia and South Carolina.



Despite officers shooting out three of his tires, Brown continued driving on exposed wheel rims for several miles before crashing into a ditch. Police alleged Brown attempted to run them over, while Brown later claimed he feared for his life after officers smashed his truck windows as he was attempting to surrender.



Following the incident, Brown’s wife, Adrienne, stated that he had been taking medication for jaw surgery and was “not in his right mind.” At the time, Brown was already facing charges related to weapons possession and P*P earlier that year.



Brown was ultimately sentenced to six years and six months in prison on charges of aggravated assault and failure to stop for a police officer. He was released after serving approximately three years and later returned to touring, though further legal issues followed in the 1990s. James Brown died in December 2006 at the age of 73.



The case remains one of the most dramatic intersections of fame, mental health, law enforcement, and accountability in American music history.

16/12/2025

"Should people who have committed violent crimes be allowed to be released early?"

Case Name: Peyton Leutner
Location: Illinois
What we know: Morgan Geyser escaped a mental health facility.
Date: 2025

Slender Man Attacker Morgan Geyser Escapes, Caught Next Day

Morgan Geyser, one of the 12-year-old girls who was involved in the Slender Man stabbing that nearly took the life of 12-year-old Payton Leutner, was allowed conditional release from a mental health facility in September.

However, on November 22, 2025, Geyser, now 23, cut off the ankle monitor she was supposed to be wearing. She then escaped from the group home where she’d been staying and left with 43-year-old Chad Mecca. The two got on a bus and went to Posen, Illinois.

Geyser and Mecca were caught by authorities the next day, November 23rd, and both were detained. Geyser was extradited back to Wisconsin and is currently in jail. She has a hearing scheduled on December 22nd.

Slender Man Stabbing

When Morgan Geyser was 12 years old, she and another 12-year-old girl, her friend Anissa Weier, lured 12-year-old Payton Leutner into a park and tried to murder her. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times.

Leutner survived the brutal attack, and Geyser and Weier said the reason they attacked Leutner was to “appease Slender Man.” Slender Man is a tall, thin, “faceless, fictional internet-based character that garnered a cult-like following,” per ABC. Geyser and Weier had also been worried that the character would hurt their families if they didn’t kill Leutner.

In 2018, Geyser was sent to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She was later found to be “not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,” per ABC. She was given a sentence in a psychiatric institution for up to 40 years. Weier received a sentence of up to 25 years in a psychiatric institution and was granted conditional release in 2021.

Morgan Geyser Is Allowed Conditional Release, Then Escapes

When Morgan Geyser was granted conditional release, some officials were against it. They alleged that 23-year-old Geyser had been “communicating with a man who collects murder memorabilia and [had] sent him her own sketch of a decapitated body and a postcard saying she wants to be with him,” per MPR News. They also alleged that Geyser had read a book that had “themes of sexual sa**sm and murder,” per ABC, while she was inside the facility.

In September, a judge in Wisconsin allowed Geyser’s release after determining she had not attempted to conceal anything. Geyser had been in the facility for nearly eight years and was released to a group home that was located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Geyser had certain conditions for her release, and one of them was that she had “to wear an ankle monitoring device,” per ABC.

On November 22, 2025, the night Geyser decided to escape, “she cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet”, per ABC. She then fled from the Yoyo Quality Care group home where she had been staying in Wisconsin. She left with 43-year-old Chad Mecca, and the two of them took a bus, and traveled on it overnight to Posen, Illinois.

Geyser later told law enforcement she had met Mecca at a church event a couple of months before. According to the criminal complaint, per ABC, “When asked about her ankle monitor, she [Geyser] stated that she cut it off with scissors and that she and Chad [Mecca] discussed potentially making their way to Nashville, Tennessee.”

According to the criminal complaint, per ABC, “She [Geyser] then expressed how unfair she was treated at the group home and how she was upset that Chad [Mecca] was not allowed to visit her. Morgan stated that on multiple occasions Chad visited her at the group home by climbing [up to] her window and sneaking in.”

Early on the morning of November 23, 2025, officials reported that Geyser was missing. The last time Geyser had been seen was on November 22, at around 8:00 P.M. An adult acquaintance had been with her at that time.

Morgan Geyser Is Caught the Day After Escaping

A large search was started, and Morgan Geyser and Chad Mecca were discovered by authorities over 160 miles away in Posen, Illinois, at a truck stop on November 23, 2025. When the officers asked them their names, both Mecca and Geyser gave them fake names at first.

Police said, per ABC, “The female repeatedly refused to provide her real name and initially gave a false one. After continued attempts to identify her, she finally stated that she didn’t want to tell others who she was because she had ‘done something really bad’ and suggested that officers could “just Google her name.”

Authorities eventually learned who they were, and Geyser and Mecca were then detained. Mecca was charged with obstructing identification and criminal trespassing. Mecca was then “released on a citation,” per ABC, and was also told to appear for an upcoming court date.

Mecca said that Geyser had decided to escape “because she was afraid her group home would no longer allow them to see each other,” per MPR News. Mecca told WKOW-TV, per MPR News, “She ran because of me.”

What Will Happen To Morgan Geyser Now?

Morgan Geyser waived her right to an extradition hearing, and Illinois authorities extradited Geyser to Wisconsin a few days after her capture. She is currently in Waukesha County Jail. “Geyser is set to remain in custody until December 22, when Wisconsin Department of Health Services officials are expected to discuss a formal revocation of her conditional release,” per Fox.

Her lawyer, Anthony Cotton, who had represented Geyser during her case when she stabbed her friend and classmate Payton Leutner, has said that Geyser should be returned to a mental health facility instead of remaining in jail.

In a letter that Cotton wrote to Judge K. Scott Wagner, he said, per Fox, “Given that she has no new criminal charges in Waukesha County and given that she has been previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on the underlying offense, it is our position that she should be housed in a mental health facility, not a correctional institution.”

Lesli Boese, the Waukesha County District Attorney, whose office had prosecuted Geyser in 2014, said about Geyser’s escape, per ABC, “When we learned of Morgan’s escape over the weekend, it unfortunately validated the concerns we have raised from the very beginning. We have been consistently and adamantly opposed to her release because her conduct has repeatedly demonstrated she poses a risk to the community.”

Boese also said, per ABC, “Her alleged actions this weekend only reinforce our position that a conditional release is unsafe and unacceptable.” Boese would also support “a petition to revoke the conditional release she [Geyser] was granted in September,” per ABC. She said, “We fully support that motion,” per ABC.

Boese also said, per ABC, “What we know is that there was a period of time between approximately 8 o’clock on Saturday evening to when she was taken into custody in which she was not monitored by any person, she was on the loose and her whereabouts were unknown. So, we take this very seriously.”

If her conditional release is revoked, Geyser could return to the mental institution she had previously been in. Geyser might also receive new charges connected to her escape. She has a motion hearing set for December 22nd.

Geyser’s attorney Anthony Cotton told ABC, “The question becomes, going forward, is she still a risk to society? And I stand by every word of what I’ve said earlier. She is not a violent risk to others. I don’t believe that she is. And that’s why we found out that during her time out, she engaged in no violence whatsoever and had no weapons on her.”

A spokesperson for Payton Leutner’s family told ABC in a statement: “Payton Leutner and her family are aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser. Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety.”

The family’s statement continued, per ABC, “The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan. The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends, and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time.”

Written By: Elizabeth DeMaine
Contributing Writer/Editor

15/12/2025

One detail still doesn’t add up — the ransom note.
What’s your theory?