Jury takes 17 minutes to convict former limo owner of killing baby mama

It took a Manhattan jury only a lightning-fast 17 minutes yesterday to convict a former limo owner from Orlando, Fla. of shooting his baby mama dead as she slept in her Jefferson Houses bedroom in 2009.

Edward Demirdjian, 57, slaughtered pretty Sherra Morgenstern so he could keep custody of their toddler daughter and cash in on a $250,000 insurance policy, lead prosecutor Shanda Strain had argued.

The stately, white-haired murderer had gone to trial despite the steep hill of evidence against him, including cell phone tower records showing he had travelled up the East Coast from Florida on the day of the murder.

Two shell casings recovered from the hair of her decomposing corpse matched Demirdjian's gun perfectly, according to testimony.

Then there was the victim's close friend, who took the stand to recount to jurors how Demirdjian once told her, "Before she ever gets the baby back, she'll be dead -- I'll kill her."

Demirdjian faces a maximum of 25 to life when he is sentenced on April 23 by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon.

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American Airlines, US Airways announce merger

After a nearly yearlong courtship, the union became official Thursday: American Airlines and US Airways have formally announced plans to merge.

An early morning announcement by the airlines confirmed reports widely circulated after boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday.

The move brings stability to one of Miami-Dade County’s largest private employers more than a year after the airline and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the fate of thousands of employees — and the largest carrier at Miami International Airport — in question.

According to the Thursday announcement, the deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, creating the world’s biggest airline with implied market value of nearly $11 billion, based on the Wednesday closing price of US Airways stock. The airline will have close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft, $38.7 billion in combined revenue.

The deal must be approved by American’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, but no major hurdles are expected. The process is expected to take about six months, according to a letter sent to employees Thursday by American CEO Tom Horton.

Travelers won’t notice immediate changes. The new airline will be called American Airlines. It likely will be months before the frequent-flier programs are merged, and possibly years before the two airlines are fully combined. The new airline will be a member of the oneWorld airlines frequent flier alliance.

And for Miami travelers, it’s unlikely that much will change at any point. American and regional carrier American Eagle handled 68 percent of traffic at the airport last year, while US Airways accounted for just 2 percent. American boasts 328 flights to 114 destinations from Miami.

“We don’t expect any substantial changes at MIA if the merger occurs because our traffic is largely driven by the strength of the Miami market and not the airlines serving it,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

American has said for more than a year that its long-term plan calls for increasing departures at key hubs, including Miami, by 20 percent. That pledge has already started to materialize; in recent months, the airline has added new service to Asuncion, Paraguay and Roatán, Honduras.

During its bankruptcy restructuring, about 400 American employees lost jobs, leaving American and its regional carrier, American Eagle, with 9,894 employees in Miami-Dade County and 43 in Fort Lauderdale. US Airways has few employees in the area.

“It really isn’t going to affect Miami in a very major way anytime soon,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. “Only because US Airways isn’t a big player in South Florida.”

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, American and US Airways combined would still only be the fifth-largest airline after Southwest, Spirit, JetBlue and Delta, a spokesman said. The two airlines have little overlap in routes from Fort Lauderdale.

Despite the lack of major changes, Boyd said the merger would be a good development for Miami.

“It should be positive for the employees and it should be positive for the communities that the airlines serve,” he said.

Robert Herbst, an independent airline analyst and consultant, said US Airways will add a “significant amount” of destinations in the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

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Key West’s ‘Scrub Club’ reportedly scrubbing debit cards of adult-entertainment clients

Key West has a long-held reputation as an anything-goes party town that tolerates -- and in many cases facilitates -- an array of bawdy pastimes.

A stroll down Duval Street yields strip clubs, clothing-optional bars and establishments catering to alternative lifestyles. But the Adult Entertainment Club, formerly and colloquially known as the Scrub Club, at 1221 Duval is different.

In the 765-day period between Jan. 1, 2011, and this past Feb. 4, Key West police logged 301 calls related to the Adult Entertainment Club -- that's a call every 2.5 days, a staggering number for an 800-square-foot place in a neighborhood otherwise populated by cafes, wine shops, boutiques and art galleries.

The main complaint: Unauthorized use of customers' debit or credit cards, often to the tune of thousands of dollars.

The club's website, signs and brochures offer scantily clad women available for "bachelor parties, fantasy and fetish shows, nude snorkeling, nude parasailing [and] divorce parties." It offers "free shuttle and 24/7 escort service."

But the voluminous police reports, along with a long trail of Internet posts, message-board threads and complaints with the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean, paint a far different picture of what goes on inside. But barring specific complaints, the Key West Police Department has no plan to take a closer look.

The pattern is usually the same:

It's late at night and an intoxicated man steps inside, where he pays an entrance fee, usually more than $100. That begins a conversation with one of the female employees, described on the business website as "classy and sophisticated," leading to a private room.

From there, it's not clear what goes on other than the price goes up, the man supplies his debit card and personal identification number to the woman -- he's generally nude at this point -- and she leaves the room. Later on, the man notices unauthorized charges on his card and contacts police.

Case in point: On Feb. 4 around 2 a.m., a Russian tourist who told police "he had been drinking" went into the club and agreed to pay $100, according to a report prepared by Officer David Fraga.

"While in the club [the tourist] said he gave his ATM card to one of the employees along with his PIN." Four hours later, "He saw there was a total amount of about $2,500 charged on his card."

Fraga told the man to "go to the business and fill out a complaint form for the issue."

A few days earlier, on Jan. 31, a man from St. Johns, Fla., called police to report that on Jan. 26, when he was in town visiting, he went into the Adult Entertainment Club and "agreed to pay $200 with one of the females working on this date for sex," according to a report prepared by Officer Tricia Milliken.

He also said he agreed to tip the female $100 prior to the services being rendered and gave her his Visa debit card and PIN. He "stated he expected sex from the female and she would not give him what he expected, so he got dressed and left the establishment."

When he returned to St. Johns, he said he realized his card was charged $1,000, not $100. Milliken provided him with a case number.

Police spokeswoman Alyson Crean said the department has heard the Adult Entertainment Club is about more than just "entertainment," but that the department focuses its attention on higher-priority initiatives like dealing with aggressive vagrants drinking and panhandling on city streets, and quelling drug dealing.

"We do not get complaints of prostitution," she said via e-mail. "Certainly there are intimations and innuendoes that this activity may be occurring. That being said, without any complaints, there are other, higher priorities set by the community and by the department."

"Look at the issue of vagrancy and panhandling. A task force made up of business owners, residents and even the mayor has told the department that the community will not tolerate certain behaviors, and we have four quality-of-life officers dedicated to seeing that priority is addressed."

"Getting drug dealers off the streets is another issue that the community has made very clear is a top priority for our city. Same thing with reducing incidents of burglary. So in those terms, I would answer that there is no specific enforcement strategy for this business."

The city's Code Compliance Department has been more proactive, fining the business $500 last year after investigating offsite promotional and solicitation activity. Basically, club employees would park their advertisement-emblazoned vehicle in other parts of Old Town and hand out brochures for the business in violation of code.

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Stars Without Makeup!

Kate Upton

Two-time Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl Kate Upton proved she looks just as amazing without any makeup, as she made her way through JFK Airport in New York City.

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11 injured in Harlem bus accident

A car crashed head-on with a stopped MTA bus this morning after it collided with another car -- injuring 11 people, authorities said.

The M10 bus was at a bus stop at 6:45 a.m. on Broadway and West 135th Street when an SUV came at the bus head on, the MTA said.

A livery cab was heading north down Broadway and when it tried to make a U-turn it clipped an SUV, witnesses and MTA said.

“I was headed north and I was making a U-turn. The Jeep was going north, after that I don’t know what happened,” said Amadou Barry, 64, the driver of the Lincoln Towncar.

An SUV was clipped by a livery cab that tried to make a u-turn on Frederick Douglas Blvd and W. 135th Street. The SUV then crashed head-on into a bus that was sitting in the bus stop.

The SUV lost control and collided with the stopped bus.

“The cab hit the other car and it ran into the bus. A couple of people in front of the bus went flying,” said a 13-year-old boy who was on the bus.

In total 11 people had non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to area hospitals, including St. Lukes Hospital, Harlem Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, fire officials said.

Five of those sustained serious injuries and six had minor injuries, the FDNY said.

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Marriott skyscraper coming to old Miami Arena site?

Is a massive new skyscraper coming to the site of the old Miami Arena?

Two of the city’s top real estate blogs caused a stir Tuesday when they shared an architect’s video rendering of a huge tower called the Marriott at MWC. The video posted on YouTube by Nichols Brosch’s Igor Reyes was a computer-generated aerial shot of a potential mixed-use complex superimposed on the site. The land is owned by the developers of the proposed Miami World Center, a stretch of lots last recently positioned as a possible home to a Las Vegas Sands casino.

ExMiami .org posted the video first, followed by Curbed Miami, at miami.curbed.com. “If this is an actual thing, and not just an architect's dream, then this is biiiiig news,” Curbed wrote. Shortly after the posts, the Reyes video was made private. Nichols Brosch did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Representatives of the Miami World Center group, which includes Art Falcone and Nitin Mitwani, declined to comment, a spokeswoman said. The old arena site was turned into a park and then sold to the Miami World Center group last year. Marriott spokesman John Wolf said Tuesday: “We are always interested in development opportunities. It would be premature to comment any further.”

DOUGLAS HANKS

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Woman gets 55 years in Rilya Wilson foster-child abuse case

Geralyn Graham was sentenced to 55 years in prison Tuesday in the Rilya Wilson kidnapping ad abuse case.

The Kendall woman, 67, was convicted by jury last month in a case that roiled Florida’s child welfare agency, which was supposed to monitor the child. The body of Rilya, who was 4 years old when she vanished, has never been found.

Graham got 30 years for kidnapping and 25 years for aggravated child abuse.

"One can only be inherently evil to inflict that type of pain and torment on an innocent child,” Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez said. “Rilya Wilson deserved nothing less than a loving, caring, nurturing environment. Instead she lived in fear and suffered in a house of torture, torment and abuse."

Tinkler Mendez could have sentenced Graham to as much as life in prison.

Prosecutors believe Graham smothered Rilya, a foster child, with a pillow, disposed of her body near water in South Miami-Dade, then spent years telling conflicting versions of what happened to the child. Jurors, by an 11-1 vote, deadlocked on a count of first-degree murder.

The jury convicted her of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated child abuse and one of child abuse.

The case was significant for the Florida Department of Children & Families, which did not notice the girl was missing for 15 months. Graham told investigators that a mystery DCF worker whisked the child away for mental health treatment.

Graham was later arrested for and convicted of fraud. Based on incriminating statements from her domestic partner, Graham was then charged with aggravated child abuse of Rilya.

Her partner, Pamela Graham, no relation, agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of child neglect.

Pamela Graham, a meek shell of a woman, testified at trial that Geralyn Graham would bind the child’s hands to the bed railing with plastic “flex cuffs” and confine Rilya in a laundry room for hours.

A friend of the pair told police that Graham borrowed a dog cage to put Rilya in when she misbehaved, although no could say they saw the child in there as punishment.

Acquaintances also testified that Graham gave conflicting stories about what happened to the girl — to some, she claimed the girl was on a road trip with a “Spanish lady” friend.

A grand jury indicted Geralyn Graham in 2005 after she allegedly confessed in detail to inmate Robin Lunceford, who testified at trial over four days. Two other inmates also testified that Graham, while behind bars, suggested she killed the child.

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Elijah Wood Maniac Trailer

When I chatted with Elijah Wood last July, the actor excitedly spoke about the Maniac re-imagining he was fronting and now you can see the fruits of his murderous labor in this just released red band (ie: violent) trailer.

The film casts Wood as Frank, the owner of a mannequin shop develops a dangerous obsession with a young artist, and adopts a unique perspective on the traditional slasher. Literally.

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"A majority of the film is from my point of view," Wood told me. As for the acting challenges that presented, he relished every single one. "It was like playing a character in three different movements. The character was comprised of my voice and we re-recorded all the dialogue from the film in a booth, so I knew a significant portion of the character would be created in that environment in terms of atmosphere, his presence and him vocally. The second was arms and hands in frame – trying to navigate around a moving camera. The third was ultimately the camera operator. Our Director of Photography was effectively me. He stood where my character would during filming. Often we worked together and every scene was choreographed. It was so interesting."

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In the end, all the behind-the-scenes choreography was worth it, as Wood says, "I think the film we ended up making was quite different than the film we intended to make. It ended up far more beautiful and artistic than we imagined … while also brutal. I mean, I do scalp women in it."

Check out the trailer and see if you agree with Wood.

Maniac opens later this year.

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Man mines Mars

NASA's Mars Curiosity next to the tiny hole it drilled in the surface of the red planet. The hole, drilled in the white area near the bottom of the photo above is 1.6 centimeters across and 2 centimeters deep.

For the first time ever human beings have drilled into a planet other than Earth, and you can see the fruits of that labor in an amazing panoramic shot from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover.

On Feb. 8, the rover drilled a hole barely big enough to hold the tip of your pinkie finger into a rock nicknamed "John Klein," according to Wired.

EPA

A close-up of the hole drilled by the Mars Curiosity rover.

This is the most complicated operation the rover has completed to date.

The rock the rover drilled into is in an area called the Yellowknife Bay that scientists believe was repeatedly flooded with water in the past.

The tiny 1.6 centimeter across hole is a test in preparation for the rover's big time drilling operation when it will drill 5 cm into Mars' surface in order to analyze the planet's interior.

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U.S. Century to OK details of new deal

U.S. Century Bank is expected to sign off on Monday on its letter of intent — the framework for a plan to recapitalize the bank.

Under the deal, a local group of investors, led by Jimmy Tate of Tate Capital and Sergio Rok of Rok Enterprises, will bring in fresh capital and wipe out the Doral bank’s bad loans, while allowing it to operate independently.

The investor group is expected to inject $50 million in capital into the bank, becoming majority owners. In addition, the group will pay about $90 million to buy certain loans, including all $98 million of U.S. Century’s non-performing loans, said U.S. Century President and Chief Executive Carlos J. Dávila. The deal would also provide for a negotiated amount to be paid to the federal government to repay U.S. Century’s $50.2 million in TARP funds.

A definitive agreement, based on the letter of intent, is expected next month. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal could be completed by mid-year, Dávila said.

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