In a significant development linked to a high-profile murder case, three white men convicted of the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, are appealing their hate crime convictions. Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan, already sentenced for murder in 2021 and hate crimes in 2022, argued before the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, seeking to overturn the hate crime verdicts. The men had chased Arbery, a black man, with vehicles and shot him during a jog, with the pursuit and killing captured on video. Their attorneys are focusing on technical aspects of the case and the influence of the defendants’ racist communications, which were instrumental in their hate crime convictions. The appeal has been closely watched due to its implications on the justice and accountability mechanisms in cases of racial violence.

In another case attracting nationwide attention, Lori Vallow, dubbed the “cult mom,” has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of her two children and her husband’s first wife. Alongside her upcoming trial, Chad Daybell faces charges related to the same crimes, including disturbing behaviors and beliefs held by the couple. Their doomsday cult ideology involved bizarre claims such as being able to kill “zombies” and using a scoring system to evaluate souls, leading to multiple deaths. The investigation revealed the children’s bodies buried in Daybell’s backyard, bringing to light the extent of the couple’s alleged crimes. This case has left many in shock, awaiting further developments as Chad Daybell’s trial commences.