Maniac allegedly murdered female coworker who repeatedly refused his advances: Police

Maniac allegedly murdered female coworker who repeatedly refused his advances: Police



A Minnesota man is facing murder charges after a female coworker was brutally gunned down in the parking lot of the facility where they both worked.

According to police, Nicole Hammond, 28, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, was shot in the neck just before 7 a.m. on October 24. When police arrived shortly thereafter, they attempted to render Hammond lifesaving aid, but she died at the scene.

Screen shot of FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul YouTube video

Police then learned from Hammond's coworkers at Dubow Textile Inc. that another employee, 36-year-old Jordan Carpenter, had been spotted in the parking lot shortly before a gunshot was heard. He then allegedly got into his vehicle and left the premises.

Coworkers also indicated to police that Carpenter had a "bad temper" and that he had made several romantic advances toward Hammond, who was not interested. In a subsequent investigation, police found that Hammond and Carpenter had exchanged several angry text messages the night before she died. In the text messages, Hammond stated firmly that she did not want Carpenter to touch or manipulate her. She also requested him "not to make things uncomfortable at work."



While police were interviewing Dubow staff about the shooting, they learned that one employee was then on the phone with Carpenter and that he was currently located at his sister's home in Sauk Rapids, just a few miles away. Police found Carpenter there and arrested him without incident just before 10 a.m. During the arrest, they reportedly recovered a 9mm handgun and a loaded magazine with rounds matching a casing found at the scene. Carpenter was then booked on one charge of second-degree murder.

In subsequent conversations with police, Carpenter supposedly admitted that he had been walking toward Hammond's vehicle when she was killed and that he had heard a gunshot. He then said he fled the scene because the sight of Hammond's severely injured body "traumatized" him.

"He didn’t render aid, go to work, nor did he call 9-1-1," police said.

Carpenter never admitted to killing Hammond.

Dubow CEO Rob Dubow said that management did not know that Carpenter had allegedly been harassing Hammond.

"Unfortunately, we had no idea," Dubow stated. "Any time there is anything that requires our intervention, we step in. But in this case, we had no indication that there was anything awry."

"Quite honestly, it's my worst nightmare," he added.

It is unclear when Carpenter is expected to appear in court.

Election officials rejected fewer mail-in ballots in 2020 than in previous elections



In this clip, Pat explained that mail-in ballot rejection rates plummeted for first-time mail-in voters this year. States like Georgia, Michigan, and other swing states saw fewer rejections despite the increase in ballots cast by mail.

The New York Times reported, "With absentee ballots flooding election offices nationwide, the officials processing them are tentatively reporting some surprising news: The share of ballots being rejected because of flawed signatures and other errors appears lower — sometimes much lower — than in the past."

Watch the video for more on this story.


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Believe it or not, deep-blue California rejects affirmative action, upholds ban on considering race in hiring, college admissions



It might be hard to fathom in California — where close to half (46.3%) of all registered voters are Democrats as opposed to just 24% of voters registered as Republicans — but voters on Election Day rejected affirmative action, the Fresno Bee reported.

What are the details?

Proposition 16 — which aimed to repeal Proposition 209, a 1996 ban on considering race and gender in public hiring, college admissions, and contracting — was soundly defeated: It was failing 56% to 44% as votes were still being counted, the paper said.

Proposition 209 barred the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any person or group based on race, sex, ethnicity, or nationality, the Bee noted.

And it isn't as though the "Yes on 16" campaign was short on cash. The paper — citing campaign finance records — said the campaign raised more than $16 million between January and October while the "Californians for Equal Rights, No on Proposition 16" campaign raised a comparatively paltry $1.5 million.

Arnold Steinberg, a strategist with the "No" campaign, declared victory Tuesday night, the Bee said.

"We faced a daunting uphill battle against an initiative put on the ballot at the last minute by the state Legislature," Steinberg, who worked as a Proposition 209 strategist, told the paper. "In a state hardly seen as conservative, voters rejected a repeal of the state constitution's guarantee of equal treatment by race."

Why did Proposition 16 fail?

Lawmakers and advocates told the Bee public opinion groundwork was insufficient to win over hearts and minds for Proposition 16, particularly on a ballot dominated by the presidential election.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, both Democrats, argued Proposition 16 would create equal footing among Latinos and blacks and increase racial and gender representation in higher education and in the public workforce, the paper said.

"It's unfortunate that we didn't have a chance to explain it to more voters, but we're hopeful that justice works out," Gonzalez said on Tuesday night, the Bee reported.

More from the paper:

Former University of California Regent Ward Connerly, the lead advocate for Proposition 209, helped lead the campaign against the effort to overturn it.

He and other opponents called Proposition 16 divisive and discriminatory and argued that diverse communities in California have already made strides in representation since its ban.

In July, for instance, the University of California system announced a record number of incoming Latino freshmen admitted to the fall 2020 semester, surpassing Asian American students for the first time.