Busy News Day: Hilton, Holloway, Peterson, Wesley and Britney

Well there certainly is no "shortage" of news in the last few days.

Gary Hilton cops a plea deal.
Gary Hilton took a guilty plea in the death of Georgia hiker Meredith Emerson.

11alive.com reports:
The guilty plea came just three hours after a 23-member grand jury in Dawson County handed down a true bill indictment of murder against Hilton.

Emerson's parents openly sobbed after Hilton was given a life sentence in the kidnapping and bludgeoning death of their daughter. This plea agreement means Hilton gets to keep his life, for now. There are still other unsolved murder cases that LE believes were committed by Hilton.

Natalee Holloway: Is the Case Solved?
Dutch television crime reporter Peter R. de Vries is reporting on his website that he has solved the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway over two years ago in Aruba. de Vries will reveal the confession on Dutch television Sunday, February 3rd. ABC has obtained the broadcast rights and will air it in the US the following day, Monday February 4th.

Radionetherlands.com is reporting:
Prosecuting authorities in Aruba have reopened the case of Natalee Holloway and are again investigating the role played by Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot.

Steve Huff's True Crime Weblog has an update that MsNBC is reporting that Joran van der Sloot has been rearrested, but I can not find an online source to verify that. Steve has written extensively on this case and he has quite a few readers who follow his reports. There are some interesting comments by Huff's readers on his latest Holloway entry that I recommend.

Last minute insert update! CNN.Crime is reporting that prosecutors are requesting that Joran van der Sloot be rearrested, based on new evidence.

Drew Peterson: Salvio Family Gets Ready to Sue
When you hear the word scumbag, just think Drew Peterson and you have a perfect description. I heard reports a few days ago, that Peterson wants to divorce his fourth wife Stacy. It appears that he will have to wait an entire year before he's able to actually get that divorce. Let's hope Stacy is found soon and Peterson is denied that opportunity because LE would then be able to charge him with her murder. In other Peterson news, the family of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio plan to sue Peterson.

Here is what upi.com is reporting:
Two of Kathleen Savio's siblings, preparing to sue her former ex-police officer husband Drew Peterson in Illinois, petitioned to reopen their sister's estate.

The late Savio's brother, Henry, and her sister, Anna Marie Doman, are planning to initiate a wrongful death case in Joliet, Ill., against Peterson, a petition filed in Will County civil court states.
Aw. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy! I hope that this wrongful death suit can go forward, and that the Savio family is not stymied in their efforts in the same way that Lana Clarkson's family has been in their wrongful death suit against Phil Spector.

And the day would not be complete without a little "celebrity" news too!

Wesley Snipes verdicts are in!
The jury in the Wesley Snipes gave him a "pass" ~otherwise known as not guilty~ on the more serious tax fraud charges but convicted him on three charges of failing to file and/or pay taxes. He could face up to three years in prison.

NYTimes.com reports:

Mr. Snipes had become an unlikely public face for the tax-denier movement, whose members maintain that Americans are not obligated to pay income taxes and that the government extracts taxes from its citizens illegally.

Two co-defendants — Eddie Ray Kahn, a promoter of tax denial, and Douglas Rosile, a disbarred accountant — were convicted on separate felony counts.

“The verdict shows that promoters face serious jail time” but clients who follow their advice will face a lesser but still-serious risk, said JJ MacNab, a Maryland insurance analyst who attended the trial and is writing a book about tax deniers.

Wesley, I recommend you consider getting competent legal advice before you hire your next accounting and tax preparation firm. MISSWASABI reminds me that "Wesley will have to pay up." I bet his legal fees cost him more than if he had just paid his taxes to begin with.

Britney, Britney, Britney.
Can we stop being surprised about the latest Britney news now? Under a 5150 hold at UCLA's Psych ward, TMZ.com is now reporting that Britney went ballistic when she learned that a judge had appointed her father as conservator of her estate.

From TMZ:
In a heavy British accent, a ballistic Brit screamed (about her parents), "I'm so sick of all of this they can have the God Damn house and stick it up their f**king asses. Actually, no they can't."

Brit, who sounded drugged up, was furious that her dad became a conservator of her estate. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, at times impossible to understand. At one point she screamed, "Nobody's taking my house. Who is my family?"

Holy cow. I can only sympathize with the nurses and doctors who have to work the upcoming shifts on "Britney watch."