Shannon Dean Egeland, 43, of Kuna, Idaho, was found guilty Feb. 28 in Portland, Ore., of an elaborate scheme to delay a prison sentence and collect insurance. The Idaho Statesman reported that shortly before Egeland was to begin a 10-year jail term in 2014 for his role in a $20 million housing scandal, he took out a disability insurance policy and talked his then-17-year-old son into shooting him in the legs with a 20-gauge shotgun, which would delay his prison term — not to mention letting him collect on the new insurance policy. After the teenager shot him, Egeland called police and said he'd been assaulted, but police became suspicious when they found that Egeland's wallet and BMW were still at the scene. U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown tacked three years and 10 months of additional time onto Egeland's original sentence. Egeland, who eventually lost his left leg, stood before the judge on his prosthetic leg and said he'd had a lot of time to reflect on his crimes and realized that he needs mental health counseling. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford called him a "menace to society."
Owl steals the show
A traditional March wedding at Peckforton Castle in Tarporley, Cheshire, England, was briefly interrupted when an owl trained to deliver the rings to a waiting best man changed its mind about where to land. The betrothed, Jeni Arrowsmith and Mark Wood of Wrexham, watched as the barn owl flew down the aisle toward the best man, but a seated groomsman then pointed at the bird, which it took as a signal to fly to his hand. "The owl just dived in and hit the guy — who is terrified of birds!" said wedding photographer Stacey Oliver. "He fell off his chair." The bride later told the BBC: "Everyone was absolutely hysterical. It made the wedding because we were talking about it all night."
Least competent criminals
When an intoxicated man arrived at the Delaware State Police Troop 1 station in Wilmington on March 20 looking for a ride home, officers thought he seemed familiar. Turns out he was Christopher McDowell, 34, a suspect in a Feb. 22 shoplifting incident at a local Kohl's store, according to the News Journal. McDowell was charged with shoplifting and arraigned, then released on $1,000 bail. After he made a phone call to a friend for a ride home, his Kohl's accomplice, April Wright, 48, showed up — and she too was arrested and charged.
Counterprotest
In Toronto, a group of animal rights advocates started protesting outside a restaurant called Antler in early December. By March, the protests had grown, and Antler's co-owner, Michael Hunter, had had enough of the "murder" signs and "You've got blood on your hands" chants. So on March 23, he told the Globe and Mail, he figured, "I'm going to have my own protest. ... This is who we are and what we do. So I went and got a deer leg." Hunter brought a cutting board, knife and the hindquarter of a deer into the front window and butchered the meat while the protesters looked on. As a result, Hunter and the protesters are now trying to open a dialogue, and reservation requests at Antler have increased.
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