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Larry Webb’s deathbed confession solves 2000 cold case murder of Susan and Natasha Carter, 10, whose remains were found hours after he died

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Larry Webb’s deathbed confession solves 2000 cold case murder of Susan and Natasha Carter, 10, whose remains were found hours after he died

An ailing West Virginia man confessed on his deathbed to killing a mother and her 10-year-old child nearly a quarter century ago and led investigators to their bodies.

Larry Webb, 82, said he shot and killed both Susan Carter, 41, and her daughter Natasha “Alex” Carter in August 2000 and then buried their bodies in a shallow grave in the woods on his property, WSAZ reported.

The remains of the mom and daughter were discovered on Webb’s Beckley property Monday — roughly six hours after their killer died at Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County in what police called “a bit of a poetic ending.”

Alex Carter, 10, and her mother were last seen on Aug. 8, 2000. FBI
Larry Webb confessed to murdering Carter and her mother, Susan, 41, on his deathbed. FBI

Webb said that he had gotten into an argument with Susan Carter, who was living in his home with her daughter, over money and shot her. He said he was missing cash and believed that she had taken it and spent it, Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said.

After fatally shooting Susan, Webb said he “knew he had ruined his life forever,” investigators said, according to WSAZ.

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He then shot little Alex dead so that there were no witnesses.

“Once he had killed both individuals, he had stored them in the basement of the home where he cried himself to sleep that night. And then over the course of the next two nights, dug a shallow grave in the woods on his property,” Hatfield said, according to Fox News.

Webb was previously indicted for Alex’s death in October 2023 and was placed in custody earlier this month after the FBI took back up the cold case in 2021, according to the local news station.

Webb told investigators that he shot Susan following an argument over money and then killed Alex to cover his tracks. Fox

Investigators searched his home last year and found a bullet embedded in the wall of what was the girl’s bedroom, the station reported. The bullet was tested for DNA, which confirmed that blood on it belonged to the 10-year-old girl.

Webb reportedly confessed to the murders in a “come to Jesus” moment on his deathbed during the first week of April, West Virginia state police said, according to Fox.

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Susan and Alex Carter’s bodies were found Monday after nearly 24 years. FBI

Alex’s father, Rick Lafferty, who was in a custody battle with Susan over their daughter at the time of her death, said he was thankful to investigators for finally closing the case.

“Kind of a sad day, but also a happy day, because I can bring my baby home,” he said at a press conference announcing the findings.

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Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.

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Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.

Gaetz not returning to Congress

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Gaetz on not returning to Congress after dropping out of Trump attorney general consideration

02:05

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida says he doesn’t intend to return to Congress in January, after resigning from his seat and withdrawing from consideration as U.S. attorney general. 

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Gaetz announced his withdrawal Thursday, citing the distraction his impending nomination was causing, and President-elect Donald Trump soon afterward said former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi would be his new pick for the job. But Gaetz won reelection to his U.S. House seat earlier this month, so there were some questions about whether he was considering a return to Congress in January. 

But Gaetz told conservative personality Charlie Kirk on Friday that he doesn’t intend to go back to Congress, though he vowed to continue to fight for Trump and do “whatever he asks of me.”

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz told Kirk. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress. … Charlie, I’ve been in an elected office for 14 years. I first got elected to the state house when I was 26 years old, and I’m 42 now, and I’ve got some other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue with my wife and my family, and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump. I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

But it may not be the end of his political career. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, first elected in 2018, will not be running again in 2026, since he’s limited by law to two terms as the state’s chief executive. 

Gaetz stepped down from Congress as the House Ethics Committee was weighing whether to release the report from its yearslong investigation into sexual misconduct and illegal drug use allegations. The committee lacked sufficient votes to release the report earlier this week but will, according to Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, reconvene on Dec. 5 to “further consider” the matter. 

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Where Trump Gained and Harris Lost in New York

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Where Trump Gained and Harris Lost in New York

Where each candidate gained
or lost votes compared with the party’s 2020 candidate, by
borough

Donald J. Trump won 30 percent of the votes cast in New York City this month. It was a seven-point jump from his performance in 2020, and a higher share of the vote than any Republican nominee has won in the city since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

But his improved vote share was driven more by the votes Democrats lost than by the votes he gained.

How votes changed since 2020

In every neighborhood in New York City, from Red Hook in Brooklyn to Riverdale in the Bronx, Vice President Kamala Harris received markedly fewer votes than Joseph R. Biden, Jr. did in 2020, while in most neighborhoods, Mr. Trump notched modest increases compared with his last run.

The votes cast in New York City have not yet been certified, but more than 97 percent of them have been counted. That includes all ballots that were cast in person, both on Election Day and before, and a majority of absentee ballots, according to Vincent M. Ignizio, the deputy executive director of the city’s election board.

As it stands, the downturn in votes for the Democratic candidate was six times the size of Mr. Trump’s gains when compared with 2020. In some boroughs, the ratio was even larger.

Change in vote by borough, compared with 2020

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All of New York City

−573,600

+94,600

Queens

−164,900

+35,400

Brooklyn

−151,700

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+16,600

Manhattan

−120,900

+17,900

Bronx

−111,000

+23,800

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Staten Island

−25,100

+900

Many New Yorkers moved out of the city during the pandemic, and by the 2022 midterms, the total number of registered voters here had already started to drop. As of this month, there were about 230,000 fewer active registered Democrats in the city than there were in 2020, and about 12,000 more registered Republicans.

It is not clear how much that contributed to the outcome of the election, but the pattern of Democratic losses and Republican gains was clear across all income levels and ethnic groups in the city. The drop-off was most pronounced among working-class immigrant groups who live outside Manhattan, many of them in the neighborhoods that were hit the hardest by the pandemic and the economic disruption that followed.

The neighborhood where Democratic turnout dropped the most in terms of percentage change was Borough Park, an Orthodox Jewish enclave in Brooklyn that voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump. While support for Mr. Trump increased only slightly, from about 22,200 votes in 2020 to 22,700 in 2024, turnout for the Democratic candidate dropped 46 percent, from about 7,600 votes in 2020 to about 4,100 in 2024.

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Where Democratic support declined the most

Percentage change in votes compared with 2020

Borough Park, Brooklyn

−46%

+2%

Woodhaven, Queens

−42%

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+46%

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

−40%

+12%

Corona, Queens

−40%

+57%

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Richmond Hill, Queens

−39%

+35%

Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn

−39%

+1%

Elmhurst, Queens

−38%

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+30%

Gravesend, Brooklyn

−37%

+13%

Flushing, Queens

−36%

+11%

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Dyker Heights, Brooklyn

−36%

+9%

Morrisania, Bronx

−36%

+62%

East Tremont, Bronx

−36%

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+57%

East Harlem, Manhattan

−36%

+26%

South Richmond Hill, Queens

−36%

+49%

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Concourse, Bronx

−35%

+58%

Note: Data includes neighborhoods that had 10,000 votes or more in 2024.

Among income groups in the city, the precincts with the lowest median incomes saw a the largest drop in support for the Democratic candidate, and the largest increase in support for Mr. Trump.

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Percentage change in votes compared with 2020

Lowest income

−32%

+24%

Middle income

−26%

+12%

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Highest income

−17%

+7%

Note: The lowest income areas have a median income in the bottom 25 percent of all precincts; middle income areas have a median income in the middle 50 percent of all precincts; and highest income areas have a median income in the top 25 percent of all precincts.

Ms. Harris lost substantial support in precincts with larger populations of Latino and Asian voters. Asian voters have been shifting rightward in recent years because of a mix of concerns about crime, city education policies and the economy.

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Mr. Trump made significant gains in precincts where a majority of residents were Latino or Black.

Percentage change in votes compared with 2020

45% Asian

−37%

+19%

70% Hispanic

−37%

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+55%

70% Black

−21%

+46%

90% white

−18%

−2%

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Northvolt chief resigns a day after battery maker collapses into bankruptcy

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Northvolt chief resigns a day after battery maker collapses into bankruptcy

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Northvolt’s chief executive has resigned a day after Europe’s big battery hope filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Peter Carlsson took responsibility for the dramatic collapse during a town-hall meeting with employees on Friday morning, the Stockholm-based company said.

Northvolt was Europe’s best-funded start-up, having raised more than $15bn from investors and governments, but was left with just $30mn in cash — enough to operate for a week — before its bankruptcy filing under US Chapter 11 rules that gives it protection from creditors.

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“The Chapter 11 filing allows a period during which the company can be reorganised, ramp up operations while honouring customer and supplier commitments, and ultimately position itself for the long term. That makes it a good time for me to hand over to the next generation of leaders,” Carlsson said.

He later told reporters that Northvolt needed about $1bn-$1.2bn to be able to continue as a going concern after Chapter 11.

The former Tesla executive founded Northvolt in 2016 and positioned it as Europe’s answer to the growing dominance of Asian players in battery manufacturing such as China’s CATL and BYD, Japan’s Panasonic and South Korea’s LG and Samsung.

Northvolt gathered more than $50bn in orders from automotive groups such as Volkswagen, BMW, Scania and Porsche as well as billions more in capital from the same groups and from financial investors including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock.

But it said late on Thursday that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US with $5.8bn in debts, so that it could access $145mn in cash and $100mn in fresh financing from truckmaker Scania. It is now looking for one or more investors to provide it with future financing to exit Chapter 11.

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Current and former employees have told the Financial Times that the fall of Northvolt was due to a litany of issues, from mismanagement and overspending to poor safety standards and over-reliance on Chinese machinery.

Several investors had privately urged Carlsson to resign to take responsibility for Northvolt’s dramatic fall from grace.

Speaking to reporters on Friday about what went wrong, Carlsson said: “I should have pulled the brakes earlier on the expansion path to make sure the core engine was moving according to plan.” He also said there had been “gravel in the machinery”.

VW, Northvolt’s biggest current shareholder with a 21 per cent stake, had told the start-up that “they’re not able to continue capitalising us”, Carlsson continued. But he also said that the company had received strong support from Scania, Porsche and Audi, which are all part of the VW group.

Northvolt has struggled to ramp up production at its sole factory in Skellefteå, just below the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden.

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Its plans for factories in Germany and Canada remain unaffected by Chapter 11 as they have received significant subsidies from the respective governments.

“We are incredibly thankful to Peter for his vision and dedication to building Northvolt from an unprecedented idea to becoming Europe’s battery manufacturing champion,” said Tom Johnstone, Northvolt’s interim chair.

The company will begin searching for a new chief executive immediately.

Its present leadership consists of Pia Aaltonen-Forsell, chief financial officer; Matthias Arleth, a former VW executive who is now head of cells and who will also take the role of chief operations officer; and Scott Millar, an executive at Teneo who has become chief restructuring officer.

Carlsson, currently one of Northvolt’s largest shareholders, will remain on the company’s board and as a senior adviser.

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