Meat may indeed be murder (or perhaps suicide), as the erstwhile Sausage King of San Leandro, who was convicted of murdering three meat inspectors last year, was found dead in his San Quentin jail cell early this morning. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. And the annual race to the final murder count begins, as SF hits murder number 96 in the early am hours of Boxing Day, with a shooting outside the Velvet Lounge on Broadway. Oakland is fast on our heels with murder 93, with two shootings over the weekend in East Oakland. ...and hey, number one on the threatdown -- bears! Vinters in Napa have started asking for permits to shoot the bears that munch away on this year's cabernet grape harvests. The Aetna Springs Vineyard shot four bears after the owner began to fear for the safety of his workers (and after his fences and vines were damaged) -- but the woman who owns the golf course down the street from Aetna Springs calls it "wine for blood, life versus profit," saying that it's wrong to move into a wildlife area and then kill off the wildlife. Other neighbors think the bears are "neat." more ›

Earlier this week there were cheers and high-fives from the crowd waiting outside the Redwood City courthouse where Scott Peterson was given the death sentence. Classy! Nothing like doling out the ultimate penalty to fire up a crowd. We hope they were all excited over what this could mean for Ben Affleck's career as a dramatist, and not over the the prospect of yet more death in this tragedy. more ›

Stuart Alexander convicted in multiple murder. more ›

EssEffist's coworker spent weeks in Oakland's jury pool waiting to find out if he would have to serve on a jury for five months. He couldn't talk about the case until he finally got rejected, but when he did, it was rich. more ›