Here are some stories about the Mel Gibson film, the Passion of the Christ.
HOUSTON -- Texas officials are crediting "The Passion of the Christ" with helping to solve a crime.
A Houston detective says a man who saw the movie and then talked to a
spiritual adviser has confessed to murdering a
woman. A coroner had ruled the pregnant woman's death by hanging a suicide.
The woman's body was found in her apartment southwest of Houston in
January. The detective says all physical evidence
pointed to suicide.
He says the perpetrator "was very, very meticulous,"
wearing gloves and leaving none of his own DNA behind. Officials say
the pregnancy appears to be the motive -- with the perpetrator
believing he was the father.
The detective says suspect Dan Leach apparently felt that, "to
have redemption he would have to confess his sin and do his
time." The 21-year-old faces up to life in prison if convicted. (AP)
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A couple who got into a dispute over a theological point after
watching "The Passion of the Christ" were arrested after the
argument turned violent.
The two left the movie theater debating whether God the Father in the
Holy Trinity was human or symbolic, and the argument
heated up when they got home, Melissa Davidson said.
"It was the dumbest thing we've ever done," she said.
Davidson, 34, and her husband, Sean Davidson, 33, were charged with
simple battery on March 11 after the two called
police on each other. They were released on $1,000 bail.
According to a police report, Melissa Davidson suffered injuries on
her arm and face, while her husband had a scissors
stab wound on his hand and his shirt was ripped off. He also
allegedly punched a hole in a wall.
"Really, it was kind of a pitiful thing, to go to a movie like
that and fight about it. I think they missed the point," said Gene
McDaniel, chief sheriff's deputy.
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A man who robbed a Florida bank in 2001, has given himself up after watching Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
James Anderson robbed a Palm Beach Gardens bank of $25,000 (£14,000) in December 2001.
He fled the bank and disappeared, leaving police mystified, says the Palm Beach Post.
He surrendered to sheriffs in Palm Beach this week and was handed him
over to police. Anderson was arrested on a charge
of armed robbery.
When a sheriff's detective asked him why he gave himself up, Anderson
said he was stirred deeply after watching The
Passion of the Christ and felt compelled to come clean.
But Palm Beach Gardens police, who interrogated him at length, say
Anderson's surrender was far more calculated.
"He's broke and convinced he has prostate cancer," said
Palm Beach Gardens police Sgt. Richard Geist.
"What's more, he's tired of living in his car and falling to
pieces every time a cop pulls him over. He's looking for medical
attention he doesn't have to pay for. That, and he's probably tired
of living out on the streets," he added
****
GREAT FALLS, Montana (AP) -- A teen who wrote about wanting to do
"horrible things" was sentenced to 50 years in
prison for trying to kill a woman by driving up onto a sidewalk to
hit her with his sport utility vehicle.
District Judge Kenneth Neill sentenced Daniel Robbins to 80 years,
with 30 years suspended, for attempted murder. Robbins
pleaded guilty in February.
Police say Robbins, now 17, told investigators he tried to kill Patty
Emanuel, 40, while she was jogging last May 27 because
he wanted to have sex with her corpse.
"Mental health is no excuse for this act," Neill said. "He knew what he was doing."
Neill noted a class assignment where Robbins, at age 15, listed as
New Year's resolutions goals such as tasting human flesh
and getting a driver's license "so I can do those horrible
things people like to read about in the paper."
"The defendant made up his mind to run her down well in advance," Neill said. "It is a miracle that she survived."
Emanuel was hospitalized for 24 days with six fractured vertebrae,
four fractures in her pelvis, a collapsed lung, three broken
ribs and other injuries.
As with all juvenile sentences, Robbins' will automatically be reviewed before he turns 21 in November 2007.
At a hearing last year, the police officer assigned to C.M. Russell
High School testified that school officials had met with
Robbins and his parents several times after his teacher alerted them
to the boy's "resolutions."
****
An apologetic Peeping Tom in northern Arkansas left a $20 bill and a
note for his victim asking if she would not mind if he
peered at her outside her window, police said on Friday.
The note and the cash were found on Monday night at an apartment
complex in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Police said the
writer of the letter apologized for looking into the window. They
said the letter appeared to have been written on a personal
computer.
Police would not release the note because the case is under
investigation. "It's kind of an odd case," said Mountain Home
police Sgt. Nevin Barnes. -AP
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Sex stimulates the brain and makes people more intelligent, according to a top German researcher.
Werner Habermehl, from the Hamburg Medical Research Institute, says that regular sexual intercourse promotes intelligence.
He said that love making not only excited the body but also the brain
and the increased amount of adrenaline and cortisol
hormones that are produced stimulates the grey matter, reported
magazine Unicum Campus.
"Sex makes you more intelligent in that experiences are
collected that can be used later on in areas of life not linked to sex,"
said Habermehl.
He added that the added injection of endorphins and serotonin that
resulted from an orgasm strengthened self-confidence
- giving the body a mental as well as physical work out.
Webmaster Note: Hey Baby, want to get smarter?
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Prosecutors in Indianapolis have filed numerous
charges against the parents of a four-year-old boy
who brought ten-thousand-dollars worth of crack cocaine to preschool.
The boy had it in his book bag when he showed up Monday for a Head Start program.
A police search of the couple's home turned up a handgun, rifle
rounds and shotgun shells, along with scales, suspected
marijuana and a bulletproof vest.
The mother surrendered last night, but police are still looking for
the boy's father. The parents are charged with drug dealing,
cocaine and marijuana possession and neglect of a dependent. (AP)