International

Woman drugs husband, burns house in scheme to gain more money

Published

1 month ago

August 6, 2024

Barbara Pasa

Woman drugs husband, burns house in scheme to gain more money

An Iowa nurse had one final act of desperation to keep her husband from divorcing her and to cash in on life and home insurance payouts: set her house on fire — killing her husband inside.

Barbara Pasa denied murdering her husband, Timothy, but was found guilty by a jury after only three hours of deliberation.

“I think Barb was in a bad place financially,” said police chief Tom Demry on Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen. “She wanted to appear to be the perfect family. Have the perfect home. The perfect cars. And I think it got to the point where she was not going to be able to uphold that appearance and that’s why she did what she did.”

Tim and Barb met at one of Tim’s country band concerts in 1999. The two were born and raised in the small town of Centerville, Iowa. They eventually had two children together.

“Barb and Tim seemed to have a great life, and she was so proud of her home,” said Sonja Carson, a former friend of Barb, on Snapped. “She always had pictures on Facebook. It seemed to be a well-rounded family.”

But appearances were deceiving. Two weeks before her husband’s death, Barb made an eerie threat while out with friends.

“She talked about a pending divorce,” Carson said. “She said that she hated him. She said it with a lot of emotion. And that if she wanted to get rid of someone, she knew she could.”

What happened to Tim Pasa?

Around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2018, a neighbor spotted a fire at a home in Centerville, Iowa and called for help. When firefighters got the flames under control, they found the body of 50-year-old Tim Pasa on the bed in the master bedroom.

Firefighters noticed a few disturbing details in the home, including two smoke detectors that were disabled, and a candle on the floor of the bedroom.

“These were some things that stuck out to me as red flags because this is not normal stuff that you usually see,” Vern Milburn, Centerville fire rescue assistant chief, said on Snapped.

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Neighbors had been unable to contact Tim’s wife, Barb. When they finally reached her, she said she’d been at her children’s soccer tournament. Police said she showed little emotion when she was told her husband was dead but asked to see his body in the ambulance outside their home.

“When she came out, we were waiting for her, and she was very stoic,” Carson said. “I just thought she was in shock. She didn’t show a lot of emotion and I was concerned that when she broke, it was going to be bad.”

Barb Pasa had an explanation for the disabled fire alarms.

“She said something had burned while she was in the process of baking and set off the smoke alarms,” Demry said. “And so, she asked Tim to take the batteries out of the smoke alarms until they could get the smoke cleared out of the room.”

She also explained that she’d lit a candle in the master bedroom area to cover up the smell of dog pee on the carpet.

When Barb was told there would be an autopsy on her husband’s body, police said she grew angry.

“I thought Barb’s reaction to that was not typical,” Michael Moore, Centerville police officer, said on Snapped. “I just felt that maybe she was being overwhelmed with everything that had gone on that morning.”

Barb Pasa explained that she and her children left the house just before 7 a.m. to head to a soccer tournament and had left Tim sleeping in bed. But police and firefighters found other red flags in Tim’s death, including that he had made no attempt to get off the bed or move during the fire.

“Even if a smoke alarm didn’t go off, the smoke, the heat, and the flames would have woken somebody up,” Demry said. “And there was no indication that that happened … why wouldn’t somebody wake up when there was a roaring fire right next to them?”

But the smoking gun that turned it from an accident investigation into a murder investigation: The medical examiner found no smoke inhalation in Tim’s lungs, meaning he was dead before the fire started.

How did Barb Pasa try to deal with her money troubles and impending divorce?

Friends agreed Barb Pasa was upset at the prospect of divorce.

“I think they stayed together for the kids … and Barb, I think she did not want to have a marriage that ended in divorce,” Carson said. “In her eyes, she would have felt like she wouldn’t be accepted or that she wouldn’t be able to do things with us as couples.”

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Finances were other source of tension in the family.

“Barb always wanted the kids to have the best of everything,” Carson said. “They drove nice cars, had the newest shoes — whatever they wanted. She also spent a lot of time shopping for herself … Spending money was one of her favorite things to do.”

But police learned the Pasa home was about to go into foreclosure when Tim died, and the couple was swimming in overdue credit card bills. Barb had also taken suspicious steps before Tim’s death.

“Barb had maxed out Tim’s life insurance from $50,000 to $200,000,” Moore said. “That had happened approximately five months prior to this incident. We were also able to determine she had increased the amount on the homeowner’s insurance for the residence.”

Although an initial toxicology report on Tim’s body didn’t show anything suspicious, when police considered Barb Pasa’s profession as a surgical nurse, that led toxicologists to test for an anesthetic called propofol, that’s commonly used to sedate patients before surgery. The drug was found in Tim’s blood.

“The injection of propofol is going to cause a person to sleep, and it can also affect the heart and lower blood pressure,” said Dr. Laura Labay, forensic toxicologist, on Snapped. “It can cause an individual to stop breathing, and a sufficient concentration can lead to death.”

Although Barb told police she had left the house by 7 a.m., an eyewitness proved that wasn’t true.

“As I was driving to work, I happened to notice that Barb’s vehicle was at home,” said Meghan Decena, a former co-worker of Barb, on Snapped. “I knew it was her vehicle based on the personalized plates that she had that spelled out ‘Pasa.’”

Decena used an app for work that tracked her whereabouts, and it put her by the Pasa house at 7:22 a.m.— well after Barb claimed to have left.

“Barb snapped because she didn’t want people to know the truth,” Moore said. “She didn’t want them to know that her life was not as it was portrayed.”

Barb Pasa testified in her own defense at her trial for murdering her husband.

“The tears that she was giving — all phony. The entire thing was phony,” said Rich Parker, a friend of Tim Pasa, on Snapped. “In my opinion, this woman is a psychopath. Lucky for us, she’s not a very smart psychopath. If she was as smart as she thought she was, Tim would have had smoke in his lungs. She didn’t think that part out.”

Barb was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years. Her children now live with family and have no contact with their mother.

“These children lost a father and a mother both, and the kids will remember this forever and it’s just a very, very sad ordeal,” Milburn said.

Watch all-new episodes of Snapped on Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen and the next day on Peacock.

Woman drugs husband, burns house in scheme to gain more money

International

Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

Published

11 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Trends Admin

Chiara Petrolini and the garden

Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

A local babysitter had two newborn babies buried in her garden, an investigation into infanticide revealed.

Chiara Petrolini, 22, was arrested after DNA tests allegedly confirmed she was the mother of one of the infants, a boy, found buried in her garden.

Petrolini, who lived with her parents, was described as a “model university student” and was holidaying in New York when the grim discovery was made by authorities. The investigation into the garden in the quiet commune of Vignale di Traversetolo near Parmer in Italy began last month, August, when Petrolini’s grandmother’s dog unearthed a body.

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The baby had been buried alive, as indicated by “soil found in the lungs” according to a leaked autopsy report.

Last week, a second body was discovered, but no details about that infant’s de@th have been disclosed yet.

The autopsy of the first baby revealed that the father was Petrolini’s 22 year old boyfriend, named locally as Emanuele.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the second body was found after Petrolini confessed to the police.

She is currently in custody on suspicion of infanticide and has reportedly claimed that she acted alone without anyone else’s knowledge.

Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

International

UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

Published

11 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Trends Admin

UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins

UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

The UK government’s West Africa Research and Innovation Hub (WARIH) has launched ‘Sankore’ to support economic growth by strengthening technology and innovation across West Africa, in close partnership with country governments.

UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins, announced the call for creative proposals for the project from non-profit organisations (including UN Agencies) at a press conference on Tuesday in Accra.

The Sankore call for proposals will support the UK government’s partnership with the Government in Nigeria and Ghana on science, technology and innovation, facilitate commercialisation of innovative solutions, improve innovation policy and enhance government digital service delivery.

Named after a West African medieval center of learning, Sankore will establish new partnerships worth up to £1.9 Million with non-profit organisations (including UN agencies) in Ghana or Nigeria.

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At the launch of the call for proposals, the UK Minister for Africa said: “This initiative is all about how we can work together to strengthen the global technology sector, creating opportunities for rapidly growing economies with lots of potential to compete on the world stage.

“The Sankore grant fosters partnerships at its heart, with a strong message that we go far when we go together.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, said: “Sankore project is a pivotal opportunity for Nigeria to enhance its innovation landscape, by strengthening industry-science linkages and developing an enabling policy environment.

“This partnership underscores our shared commitment to developing practical solutions that lead to sustainable and inclusive growth.”

Also commenting, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, said: “Sankore exemplifies the UK’s commitment to driving innovation and sustainable development in Nigeria.

“The project will strengthen partnerships between businesses and innovators as well as drive the development of innovative solutions that address critical gaps in priority economic sectors.

UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

International

Hamas chief says they’re ready for ‘long war’ in Gaza

Published

2 days ago

September 17, 2024

Trends Admin

Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar

Hamas chief says they’re ready for ‘long war’ in Gaza

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories: Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar said Monday the Palestinian group had the resources to sustain its fight against Israel, with support from Iran-backed regional allies, nearly a year into the Gaza war.
Sinwar, who last month replaced slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said in a letter to the group’s Yemeni allies that “we have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition.”
Deadly fighting raged on in the besieged Gaza Strip, where medics and rescuers said Monday that Israeli strikes — which the military has not commented on — killed at least two dozen people.
The latest strikes came as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that prospects for a halt in fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon were dimming, yet again raising fears of a wider regional conflagration.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP at the weekend the group “has a high ability to continue” fighting despite losses, noting “the recruitment of new generations” to replace killed militants.
Gallant last week said Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, “no longer exists” as a military formation in Gaza.
Sinwar, in his letter to Yemen’s Houthis, threatened that Iran-aligned groups in Gaza and elsewhere in the region including Lebanon and Iraq would “break the enemy’s political will” after more than 11 months of war.
“Our combined efforts with you” and with groups in Lebanon and Iraq “will break this enemy and inflict defeat on it,” Sinwar said.
Independent UN rights experts meanwhile warned that Israel risked international isolation over its actions in Gaza and called on Western countries to ensure accountability.
Spain, which recently joined several European countries in formally recognizing the State of Palestine, is due to host Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday, an official in his office told AFP.
Abbas, who is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and holds little sway in Gaza, is set to meet Spanish King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, before heading to New York for the UN General Assembly.

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The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Tensions have surged along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, amid fears the violence could explode into an all-out war.
“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” Gallant told visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein, a defense ministry statement said.
Israeli media outlets said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering firing Gallant, one of several officials who have been at odds with the veteran leader on war policy. Netanyahu’s office denied the reports.
Netanyahu told Hochstein later Monday he seeks a “fundamental change” in the security situation on Israel’s northern border.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since October in stated support of ally Hamas.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Saturday his group has “no intention of going to war,” but if Israel does “unleash” one “there will be large losses on both sides.”
The violence has killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.

In central Gaza, survivors scoured debris Monday after a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Ten people were killed and 15 were wounded when an air strike hit the Al-Qassas family home in Nuseirat in the morning, said a medic at Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
“My house was hit while we were sleeping without any prior warning,” said survivor Rashed Al-Qassas.
Gaza’s civil defense said six Palestinians were killed in a similar strike at night on a house belonging to the Bassal family in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighborhood.
Emergency services later reported six more deaths, with Al-Awda Hospital saying it received the bodies of three people killed in Israeli strikes on Nuseirat.
The Gaza war has drawn in Iran-backed Hamas allies across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis, whose maritime attacks have disrupted global shipping through vital waterways off Yemen.
On Sunday the rebels claimed a rare missile attack on central Israel which caused no casualties, prompting Netanyahu to warn that they would pay “a heavy price for any attempt to harm us.”
In a televised speech, the Houthis’ leader said the rebels and their regional allies were “preparing to do even more.”
“Our operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza continue,” Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said.