Christopher McNabb is currently serving life behind bars for his horrific crimes
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A murderer unknowingly set himself up to receive the 'maximum sentence' after a judge let him dictate his own punishment.
Christopher McNabb, from Covington, Georgia, was found guilty of killing his 15-day-old daughter Caliyah in 2019.
Take a look at his sentencing here:
Judge lets killer 'choose' own sentence
The Toolbox Killer Recounts Crimes
The jury heard how the dad and his girlfriend Courtney Marie Bell were under the influence of crystal meth when he beat the the tragic tot to death in October 2017.
The parents initially told police that their little girl had been abducted from their trailer park home while they were sleeping, and pretended that they had been frantically searching for Caliyah.
The following day, her body was discovered inside of a Nike backpack in a wooded area close to the property.
The court was told that the family's home was filthy and that the relationship between McNabb and Bell was filled with violence and drug use.
McNabb admitted that he had been physically abusive towards Caliyah’s mother, but told police he was not responsible for the two-week-old baby's murder.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Bell said in her interrogation: "I am guilty because I did drugs, but I ain’t never seen this comin’, that’s my baby. I went to put her to sleep and I woke up and she was gone."
The parents maintained their innocence throughout the trial, but both were found guilty.
Christopher McNabb insisted he was innocent but was ultimately found guilty of murdering the baby girl (YouTube/11 Alive)
McNabb was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, murder in the second degree, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to children in the second degree, and concealing the death of another.
Bell was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree child cruelty, and contributing to the dependency of a minor.
She was handed a sentence of 30 years, the first 15 of which would be in confinement - although the Georgia Court of Appeals later reversed the murder and cruelty convictions, according to The Covington News.
At McNabb's sentencing, the killer continued to protest his innocence, and he told the judge: "I'm innocent, I didn't do it. I've maintained that the whole time.
"I just don't understand how you find somebody guilty of doing something to a 15-day-old baby, because there was no evidence whatsoever that proved anything about me putting my hands on those kids.
"I've never done it, I never would. I don't believe in it. I was beat as a child and I don't agree with it at all. I would never do it. I would never do this. That's all I got to say. I'm innocent."
The judge wasn't swayed by McNabb's last ditch attempt at proclaiming his innocence and told the dad that he had 'one simple question' to ask him.
He unknowingly set himself up to get the 'maximum' sentence (YouTube/11 Alive)
"You claim you're innocent," the judge said. "So, you tell me what sentence the man or woman that you claim did this should receive?"
McNabb replied: "If you ever find out who did it, they deserve to be under the jail," to which the judge then responded: "Okay...so they ought to get the maximum sentence?"
After McNabb said 'most definitely', the judge then said: "On the crime of malice murder, I sentence you to life in confinement without parole."
The prosecutor accused the dad of producing 'fake tears' in the courtroom and said the comments he made about how much he loved his children were 'a joke'.
"That child didn't do anything but need love, and her daddy killed her," District Attorney Layla Zon said of Caliyah. "She was a gift to Cortney Bell and Christopher McNabb.
"That child was doomed the moment they left that hospital. They took pure innocence and brought that child into a life of hell."
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/11 Alive
Topics: US News, True Crime, Crime
Man speaks out after he was reported as a missing person for 33 years without even realising
Steve Carter had no idea he was at the centre of a missing person's case
A man at the centre of an astounding missing persons case has spoken out about the moment he discovered he was 'kidnapped' as a baby.
Steve Carter had always grown up with several questions about his childhood. The salesman was raised in Philadelphia but had been adopted, and had no idea about his biological parents' identity.
However, his curiosity about his life prior to being adopted took a hugely unexpected turn after he learnt about the story of an Atlanta woman, who had been abducted from a hospital as a baby in early 2011.
With his interest peaked, Steve then decided to browse the database MissingKids.com - and was stunned to find a photo of himself staring back through the screen.
Steve Carter now. (Youtube/Tamron Hall Show)
After looking up the phrases 'Hawaii', 'missing 34 years' and 'male' on the website, Steve unearthed the case of a missing baby named Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes and immediately knew it was him.
"I got chills," Steve said in an interview with People Magazine in 2012. "I was like, 'Holy c**p, it's me'."
He initially brushed the similarities off until he showed the website to a friend, who urged him to contact the police.
Steve told CNN: “I let them know my info and they ran with it," adding: "They were the ones who did all the legwork."
What he learnt next would shock him.
Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes was born on 17 January, 1977 and had been reported missing in June that year by his father Mark Barnes after his mother, Charlotte Moriarty, took him for a walk and never returned.
The poster Steve found on the missing children's website. (MissingKids.com)
It transpired that Charlotte had gone on to a stranger's home and later gave a fake name and date of birth for the child.
She was later taken to a psychiatric hospital, with the child taken into protective care.
Due to the fake name given by Moriarty, the baby was made a ward of state and later placed into an orphanage - where he would be adopted from three years later by parents Steve and Pat Carter.
The couple took their son - now also named Steve - to be raised in New Jersey, where he would continue to face questions about his true identity.
Steve would later take a DNA test to confirm that he was baby Marx Panama.
A year after he discovered his origins, Steve decided to make contact with his biological father and half-sister.
"All I could say was, ‘Wow. Oh, wow. Wow," Mark told People of their first phone contact after 33 years, adding that he had never given up hope on seeing his son again.
"I always expected a knock at the door or a phone call."
Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Tamron Hall Show/MissingKids.com
Topics: US News, True Crime
Haunting detail behind seemingly innocent underwater photo that led to husband's murder trial
Gabe Watson was accused of killing his new bride Tina Watson on their honeymoon
A haunting detail in a photo of a man and his wife underwater scuba diving led to a murder trial.
The image taken in 2003 was that of Gabe Watson and his new bride, Tina Watson, on their honeymoon. Just 11 days after getting married, the American couple were scuba diving from a dive boat in Queensland, Australia.
However, Tina, 26, went missing after a strong current had caused them to drift off course. Then a photo accidentally taken by a fellow diver showed her lifeless body laying on the seabed floor.
Gabe was first put on trial for Tina's murder in 2009 and reportedly broke down in court when he was shown the photo.
Gabe and Tina Watson were only married for 11 days (ABC News Australia)
As reported by The Mirror, he explained: "As soon as we let go, we were moving, moving quite a bit... it was definitely not what I was expecting, and neither was Tina."
He claimed in a 2012 interview with Elizabeth Vargas that they couldn't swim against the current to get back, and that he'd told his wife to fill up her buoyancy compensator so that they could float back up, but he revealed that it didn't work as 'nothing happened' from the inflater hose.
"That was when I realised, you know, We're -- This isn't good. We're in trouble. So I reached out and grabbed a hold of the b.c. strap right there." he said.
"And I just pulled her in, and then I turned and started heading back to the anchor rope."
Then disaster struck as he said that on their ascent, he felt a 'whack' across the face from Tina, displacing his mask, and as he let go to readjust it, he looked back to see his wife 10 feet down and continuing to sink, as reported by ABC News.
Tina's body can be seen in the background (ABC News Australia)
"She was face up, and she had her arms up. She was reaching out for me to grab ahold of her," Watson said.
"I kinda just turned on my head and gave a few kicks down to see if I could grab her, and she was still out of arm's reach. And that I just decided I got to go find somebody."
He then swam to the surface, later admitting: "I don't think I was making rational choices at that point. I don't know what I would have done had I stayed with her. I don't know that there's anything that I was actually capable of doing."
He said he then called for help, with a dive master going down to find Tina and bring her up, after which several crew members and passengers made numerous attempts at resuscitating her for 40 minutes.
The haunting photo revealed the lifeless body of Tina Watson on her honeymoon on the seabed floor (10 News)
After initially being charged for murder by Australian authorities, Watson was later plead guilty to the charge of negligent manslaughter, and he served 18 months in an Australian prison for a four and a half year sentence, ABC News reported at the time.
A murder retrial in Alabama was thrown out by a judge in 2012 due to a 'lack of evidence' to convict him.
According to The Guardian, Judge Tommy Nail acquitted Watson on his own, agreeing with defence that prosecutors had failed to prove that he had allegedly planned to kill his wife for insurance money.
Diving medical expert Dr Carl Edmonds said that 'it all fits together... as a very common drowning accident'.
Additional words by Joshua Nair.
Featured Image Credit: ABC News Australia
Man released after 30 years in prison for crime he didn’t commit following new DNA evidence
Gordon Cordeiro had spent three decades in prison over a fatal shooting in 1994
A man who served three decades behind bars has been released after new DNA evidence revealed he was not connected to a 1994 murder.
Gordon Cordeiro, from Maui, Hawaii, was sentenced to life without possibility of parole for the killing of Timothy Blaisdell on a remote dirt road on the island.
According to court documents, Blaisdell had been shot after travelling to purchase pound of marijuana with $800 (£633) in cash.
His body was later found at the bottom of a ravine.
The moment Cordeiro walked free was captured on camera (YouTube/@hawaiinews)
Cordeiro, aged 20 at the time of the killing, was later found guilty of murder, robbery and attempted murder in a second retrial and received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Over the next couple of decades, Cordeiro's family would continue to argue his innocence, with his case later being picked up by The Hawaii Innocence Project, who argued the now 51-year-old should be released after new DNA testing indicated that he was not present at the crime scene.
This backs up an alibi presented by Cordeiro's attorneys, who argued that he was at home with his family on the day of the killing and nowhere near the remote road, which is referred to by locals as Skid Row, Associated Press reports.
Three decades on from the conviction and Cordeiro has now been freed from prison, after judge Judge Kirstin Hamman ruled that the new evidence presented would likely change the outcome of another trial.
"And the judgement and sentence is vacated and the defendant is ordered to be released from custody," she told the court, while gasps and cries could be heard in the courtroom.
Cordeiro has since branded his release 'Freedom Friday' and thanked his family and supporters for sticking by him.
He was convicted over the 1994 killing of Timothy Blaisdell (The Hawaii Innocence Project)
"[I'd like] to thank all these people. This is the people that helped me out," he told Hawaii News Now, adding: "Without them, I wouldn't have made it out."
He will also be eligible to file for $50,000 (£39,582) compensation for every year he served, totalling $1.5 million (£1.1 million).
His joy was shared by Kenneth Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project, who said: "He cried, we all cried."
Cordeiro's attorney's had previously argued that a man named Michael Freitas, who had accompanied Blaisdell on the day of his killing, was actually involved. Freitas has since passed away in 2020.
"The police botched this case from the beginning and turned the number one suspect into the state's star witness, resulting in a 30-plus-year nightmare and miscarriage of justice for Gordon and his family," Lawson added (via The Daily Mail).
Regional prosecutors have since disagreed with the ruling, with Maui County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin stating that he is seeking for bail conditions to be imposed.
"None of the judge's findings exonerate him in any way," Martin said (via CBS), adding Cordeiro was a flight risk.
Featured Image Credit: Hawaii News Now
Man executed after 20 years on death row despite prosecution thinking he was innocent
Both the prosecution and the victim's family pushed for Marcellus Williams' execution to be called off
A death row inmate was executed yesterday (24 September), despite a prosecutor in the case and the victim's family believing that he should live.
Marcellus Williams was convicted of the 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a journalist for the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
The American was put on death row as a result, and two decades later, was executed via the lethal injection, as his Imam and his son, Marcellus Williams Jr, were with him in the execution room.
After eating his final meal at 10.53am, which included chicken wings and tater tots, he was taken to be executed, with his final words being: "All praise be to Allah in every situation!!!"
Williams was executed after 20 years on death row (CNN)
Having been held behind bars in Missouri for two decades, Williams became the third execution in the state this year, and the 15th in the US.
Following Williams' death, his attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said in a statement: “Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouri’s grotesque exercise of state power.
“Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.”
Missouri Governor Mike Parson received over a million petitions requesting a stay of execution, according to the WEproject, who campaigned against Williams' death.
British billionaire Richard Branson even weighed in on the situation, writing on Twitter: "Marcellus Williams was killed today by the state of Missouri for a crime he didn’t commit. It’s a shameful day for Missouri, and a shameful day for Governor Mike Parson, who failed in his duty to protect an innocent man from injustice."
Despite backlash from the public, Parson and the state Supreme Court refused to intervene, despite the petition revealing that even the victim's relatives wanted the sentence changed to life without parole.
Despite last-minute protests, Williams was executed anyway (Innocence Project)
Williams' attorneys filed two last-ditch attempts with the US Supreme Court this Monday (23 September), though both were denied.
Three justices dissented from the second request in particular, as alleged new DNA evidence and claims from the prosecutor's office suggested that he may have been innocent.
His attorneys stated that DNA evidence on the knife used in the murder was linked to an unknown male that did not match Williams, though the court rejected a hearing about this on Saturday (21 September)
St Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton said: “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding.
“Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.”
Despite a trial judge approving the prosecutor's office notion to vacate his conviction, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey contested the decision, with the same trial judge then reversing his initial decision.
Williams was executed on Tuesday afternoon (CNN)
Williams was described as a 'caring and loving father' in the trial, and was given a stay of execution by former Missouri Governor Eric Greiten in 2017, as a board of inquiry was appointed to look into the case.
Governor Parson then dissolved the board and lifted the stay when he was elected last year.
The murder of Gayle was described during the trial by the prosecutors, who said that he broke into her home, heard the shower running and used a large butcher knife to stab her 43 times when she came downstairs, before stealing her laptop and purse, according to officials.
Williams' execution was the Missouri Department of Corrections' third attempt to put the convict to the death, as the state Supreme Court called off his initial execution in 2015 for further DNA testing.
Featured Image Credit: CNN
Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.
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