Man in England killed wife who destroyed his Star Wars toys during years of spousal abuse: police

Rickie La Touche sentenced to life in prison for suffocating wife with pillow

Manchester Police

Rickie La-Touche, 30, told a court that his Thai wife Pornpilai Srisroy, 28, had damaged his precious Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker memorabilia.

An English man convicted of suffocating his wife claims she abused him for years — and even destroyed his prized “Star Wars” collection.

Rickie La Touche, 30, was found guilty in England on Tuesday for the April murder of Pornpilai Srisroy, according to London's Telegraph.

Srisroy and La Touche met in 2001 and married two years later, but he claims the love soured and she eventually turned to the dark side, the Telegraph reported.

La Touche said his 28-year-old wife ruined his Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader memorabilia — and once struck him with a pool cue. The abuse even drove him to call a domestic violence hotline in 2010, he said.

"We argued and she said she was going to make my life hell," he told police. "She’s put me through it before. I couldn’t let that happen again."

The night of the killing at their home in Greater Manchester, La Touche said he snapped.

"I then just remember getting up from on top of her," he said to police that night, according to the Telegraph. "I think I’ve choked her."

The couple got into a fight over needing a passport for their daughter, he told authorities.

After the killing he ran straight to his mother and told her he had "killed her." Police later found Srisroy dead in their bedroom, a pillow over her face, according to BBC News.

La Touche fought the charge of murder, arguing that his crime was manslaughter.

A jury ultimately convicted him of murder and sentenced him to life in jail. He will be eligible for parole in 12 years.

Slain U.S. Airways flight attendant met killer at Mexico City bar: cops

Security footage showed Nick Aaronson returning to his hotel room with suspected murderer

Police say Jose Manuel Ramire killed Aaronson in his Mexico City hotel room and then robbed him.

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Aaronson's body was flown back to Phoenix on its way to his mother's home in California on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old suspect in the brutal slaying of a U.S. Airways flight attendant in Mexico City last week met his victim at a bar and then went with him to his hotel, where he beat, robbed and strangled the young Phoenix native, authorities say.

Front desk workers at the Hilton Hotel Mexico City may have been the last to see Nick Aaronson alive, as security footage showed him signing his suspected killer, Jose Luis Ramirez, in as a guest early Friday morning, police said.

Hotel workers found Aaronson's bound body lying next to the bed in his room some 24 hours later.

Ramirez, who was arrested on Sunday, admitted to entering the 27-year-old's room and beating him, but denied strangling him with a belt and robbing him, CNN reported.

Police say the alleged killer, who has served time for robbery, tried to throw off investigators by shaving his head after the deadly attack.

But the ex-con wasn't clever about covering his tracks. Police busted him near the same pub where Aaronson first picked him up, according to Reuters.

Ramirez is facing homicide and robbery charges.

Meanwhile, hundreds of flight attendants, pilots, friends and other mourners gathered on the runway at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport on Wednesday to pay tribute to the beloved young attendant as his body arrived on a flight from Mexico City.

"He was the light of everybody's life. He was the firework in everybody's heart. He made everyone smile. He was an amazing caring person," his boyfriend, Kalven Smith, told a local ABC affiliate.

Rides : The Basics Of Auto Theft

The Highway Loss Data Institute has rolled out its latest figures on vehicle theft, and the crew from CarBuzz have taken the time to compile a list of the 10 models most and least likely to be stolen based on the number of claims per 1,000 vehicles. It should come as no surprise to hear that the Cadillac Escalade once again takes the honor of the most stolen of them all, followed quickly by a bevy of full-size pickup trucks, including the Ford F-250 Crew 4x4 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew. In fact, the only two cars to break the top 10 most stolen vehicles are the Chrysler 300 at number six and the Chrysler 300 Hemi at number 10.

Meanwhile, the Audi A6 has managed to rank as the least-stolen vehicle, followed by the Mercury Mariner and the Chevrolet Equinox. Surprisingly enough, the Volkswagen CC, Lexus RX 350 and Mini Cooper Clubman all got a nod as grand theft auto untouchables. Hit the jump for a look at the full infographic.

Rides : Porsche thief leads Aussie cops on crazy car chase

When was the last time a high profile police chase caught by television cameras ended with the driver getting away? Thankfully, we can't think of any examples, but most bad guys don't have a stolen Porsche Boxster at their disposal. A 23-year-old on Australia's Gold Coast had just such an escape vehicle, and a TV news helicopter caught all the drama from 1,500 feet above the ground.

Hit the jump to watch a humdinger of a police chase. It should come as a surprise to nobody that the alleged thief was caught by police, but only after the bright yellow Boxster's right front wheel was ripped off and fire shot out of the exhaust. Heck, even after the Boxster was rendered unusable, the young man jumped out of the Porsche, took off on foot, got chased by dogs, stole an SUV and knocked over a tree before finally getting caught. Eat your heart out, O.J.

Rides : Police grab $2 million worth of cars after Canadian street race

This could be the plot for a movie, "Fast and Furious Canada," or maybe "Fast and Furious, the Young and the Rich."

Police in British Columbia say they impounded $2 million worth of high-end vehicles this week after witnesses reported the 13 cars racing on a metro Vancouver highway at speeds of 125 mph (200 kph).
The high-end race cars included a Ferrari, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, an Audi, an Aston Martin, Nissans and a Mercedes, according to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police press release.
Two of the racers would run side-by-side to block other traffic going in their direction on the highway while the others cars would take off in a race, witnesses told the RCMP.
"These drivers seemed to be looking for attention. Well, they definitely got the attention of police," Cpl. Holly Marks, spokesperson for the Lower Mainland District Regional Police Service, said in the press release.
What the racers, who police said are all under age 21, won't get is harsh punishment.
"Each driver will be charged with Driving without Reasonable Consideration and receive a violation ticket with a specified penalty of $196. Additionally, these drivers will be responsible for all associated towing and storage charges," according to the RCMP press release.
That's because police didn't actually catch them in the act and acted only on witness accounts. They weren't caught on radar, video or seen by a police officer, Superintendent Norm Gaumont, RCMP officer in charge of traffic enforcement for the Lower Mainland, told the Surrey Now newspaper.
"I know there's a lot of disappointment, wondering why we only charged them with an offence of $196. They fact of the matter is, we have to look at all the evidence we have and what we're able to prove," Surrey Now quoted Gaumont as saying. "That's why we've charged them with driving without due consideration for the public."
If police were able to charge the 13 drivers with more severe offenses, they could have faced forfeiture of their vehicles, according to a Vancouver Sun report.
The RCMP said most of the drivers were operating their vehicles on "N" class licenses, which means they had not yet attained full driving privileges. Only one of the drivers was the registered owner of the car they were driving, Gaumont told Surrey Now.
The drivers included 12 men and one woman, according to Surrey Now. Gaumont told the paper they were on their way to have a meal when they decided to race.
According to the Sun, the vehicles were:

• 2007 Ferrari 599
• 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo
• 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo
• 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo
• 2009 Audi R8
• 2012 Nissan GT-R
• 2010 Nissan GT-R
• 2010 Nissan GT-R
• 2010 Maserati Turismo
• 2010 Maserati Turismo
• 2011 Mercedes SL63
• 2011 Mercedes SLS
• 2005 Aston Martin DB9