stupid crime of the day

Connecticut Man Holding Ex-Wife Hostage Because He Does Not Want Media Coverage

Richard Shenkman, a 60-year-old advertising executive fed up with press coverage of his divorce in Hartford, Connecticut, has kidnapped his ex-wife and is holding her hostage. He snatched Nancy Tyler from a parking garage this morning and is now holed up in a suburban home, where he’s already fired at police negotiators and a waiting bomb squad. No one has been harmed, and cops at the moment are trying to speak with him. According to the AP, Shenkman alerted police to his actions — and warned them that the house was “wired” — in an effort to get the Hartford Courant to take stories off its website that concerned the couple’s divorce proceedings and its sensational details (Shenkman was charged by police with forging his wife’s signature on insurance documents, and burning down their beach house just before he was set to sign it over to her, among other things). He set a 2:30 p.m. deadline, which has now passed. The paper continues to cover Shenkman. “The request has been that he does not want the publicity at this point,” said a police source. “He does not want names out there or details of the incident.” He’s also apparently made other demands that the police won’t share. So far, obviously, at least the primary one is not being met.

POLICE: MAN HOLDING HIS EX HOSTAGE IN CONNECTICUT HOME [NYP]

Connecticut Man Holding Ex-Wife Hostage Because He Does Not Want Media Coverage