Investigators say Jose Ibarra’s clothing on Snapchat confirmed suspicions in Laken Riley case

ATHENS, Ga. — Hours before the killing of nursing student Laken Riley, the man charged in her death posted photos of himself on social media.

In those images, Jose Ibarra is wearing a black-and-white shirt, a black Adidas hat and a blue jacket. That’s significant, an FBI agent testified, because a security camera captured video of a similarly dressed man discarding into a dumpster a blue jacket that, when tested, contained Riley’s DNA.

Agent Jaime Hipkiss took the witness stand Monday, the second day of Ibarra’s trial.

Ibarra, a Venezuelan who authorities say entered the country illegally in 2022, is charged with felony murder, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, hindering a 911 call and tampering with evidence. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The prosecution spent much of Monday trying to prove to Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who will render a verdict in the case, that Ibarra and the man in the video footage are one and the same.

Hipkiss said Ibarra’s DNA was found on the jacket, along with Riley’s.

Using cellphone records, WhatsApp communications and social media posts, Hipkiss put together a timeline of Ibarra’s movements the night before and the morning of Riley’s Feb. 22 killing on a running trail near the intramural fields on the University of Georgia campus.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Search of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' cell uncovers witness-tampering plot, prosecutors allege

Evidence found in Sean "Diddy" Combs' jail cell suggests he has influenced a witness in his New York sex trafficking and racketeering case and is trying to blackmail others, prosecutors allege. They say that he has sought to avoid federal detection by using three-way calls and other inmates' phone access codes.

In a motion filed Friday, federal prosecutors say Combs was using secretive methods to contact outsiders from jail, and evidence gathered shows "the clear inference that the defendant's goal is to blackmail victims and witnesses either into silence or provide testimony helpful to his defense. An allegation that is more often seen in mob trials or Mexican Mafia-style cases."

But in a motion filed Monday, the music mogul's lawyers contend that what investigators actually seized from his Metropolitan Detention Center cell in Brooklyn was "attorney-client privileged material," including handwritten notes by Combs.

"This search and seizure are in violation of Mr. Combs' Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights," his attorneys wrote. "The targeted seizure of a pre-trial detainee's work product and privileged materials – created in preparation for trial – is outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation."

The attorneys only learned that notes were seized from Combs cell when prosecutors filed a motion 30 minutes before midnight Friday citing them as evidence opposing his release, his attorneys wrote.

The battling motions come as a federal judge is slated again this week to decide whether Combs, who has been behind bars since his September arrest, should be granted $50 million bail and released to house detention.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs and his associates are accused of luring female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship, and allegedly using force, threats of force, coercion and drugs to get them to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes in what Combs referred to as "freak offs."

—Los Angeles Times

Appeals court cancels DA disqualification arguments in Georgia election interference case

ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday, without explanation, canceled the scheduled Dec. 5 oral arguments over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

The decision took many attorneys involved in the appeal by surprise. It simply said the arguments were canceled “until further order of this court.”

“It’s not something you normally see,” said Marietta attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who brought the initial motion to recuse Willis because of her romantic relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

“They could reschedule it,” she said. “It could mean they don’t need to hear oral arguments and can decide it on the merits.”

The court also could have made its decision because Trump was recently elected to be the 47th president of the U.S. and is to take the oath of office on Jan. 20. It was recently disclosed that Trump’s lead Atlanta attorney, Steve Sadow, was preparing to ask the appeals court to dismiss the case outright because Trump is about to return to the White House.

Trump is one of nine defendants appealing Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s decision in which he said Willis could only continue prosecuting the case if Wade was no longer a member of the team. Although Wade immediately stepped down, Trump and eight co-defendants appealed the decision to the state appeals court. The court did not have to accept the discretionary appeal, but in May it decided to hear it.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls on military to prepare for war

SEOUL, South Korea— North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called on his country's military to focus all efforts on completing war preparations, state news agency KCNA reported on Monday.

KCNA reported Kim as describing the Korean peninsula as "the world's biggest hotspot," in a speech delivered to battalion commanders in Pyongyang on Friday.

Kim also accused the U.S. and South Korea of having brought tensions in the peninsula "to the worst phase in history," KCNA reported.

On Saturday the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that North Korea is now supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine not only with soldiers and ammunition but also with heavy artillery.

According to the report by the UK newspaper, some 50 M1989 Koksan self-propelled howitzers and almost 20 multiple rocket launchers produced in North Korea have arrived in Russia in recent weeks.

The U.S State Department recently claimed that thousands of North Korean soldiers are actively fighting alongside Russian forces in the border region near Kursk, where they are engaged against Ukrainian troops.

South Korean intelligence reports further suggest that North Korea has deployed over 10,000 soldiers to Russia, in addition to supplying artillery ammunition to Russian forces.

The increasing military cooperation between the two countries has been solidified through a recently signed agreement, which includes a mutual defense pact.

—dpa