Dateline: VietnamA man at a wedding in southern Vietnam allegedly murdered a fellow guest after an argument over karaoke. The state-run VNExpress news portal reports that 44-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Diep went on a stabbing spree at the wedding reception of his neighbor, Le Van Si, on the evening of May 23. The incident reportedly started after another guest, 27-year-old Le Van Cuong, mocked Diep’s singing and took his microphone away. The two men got into a verbal altercation, but agreed to stop when other guests intervened. Diep returned home, but came back to the party shortly thereafter and attacked Cuong with a knife. When a third guest, 35-year-old Le Hong An, tried to stop the attack, he was stabbed several times in the chest. He later died at a hospital. Cuong was severely injured and remains in the hospital. Diep, who hails from the Cho Gao District in Tien Giang Province, was arrested on charges of murder.Dateline: CaliforniaA woman is suing the makers of Jelly Belly jelly beans because she was shocked to find the product contained sugar. Jessica Gomez of San Bernardino County filed the case against the candy company earlier this year, claiming that “fancy phrasing” tricked her into thinking the product contained no sugar. According to legalnewsline.com, Gomez purchased Jelly Belly’s Sports Beans, a product marketed as an exercise supplement containing carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins. “Evaporated cane juice” is one of the ingredients listed on the label. The ingredient is a sweetener derived from sugarcane syrup, but it undergoes less processing that typical white sugar. In her class action lawsuit, Gomez claims the wording on the label is in violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Business Practices Law and False Advertising Law. Jelly Belly has dismissed the case as “nonsense,” arguing that “no reasonable consumer could have been deceived by Sports Beans’ labeling”—which contains the product’s sugar content on its Nutrition Facts panel. The Fairfield, Calif.-based company is now asking a judge to throw the case out, primarily because the “plaintiff does not explain why an athlete—or anyone—would be surprised to find sugar in a product described as ‘Jelly Beans’.”Dateline: FloridaA 36-year-old woman claiming to be God moved into a $1.3 million beachside mansion, telling police the angels bought it for her. Franchesca Pacheco of Kissimmee, was arrested on charges of burglary, grand theft auto, battery of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence after Melbourne Beach Police met up with her on May 18. Oddly enough, it was Pacheco who waved down an officer to report that someone had stolen her driver’s license. “Then she started saying she’s God, and that the angels bought her a mansion and paid for her vehicle, a brand-new $45,000 van,” Melbourne Police Chief Dan Duncan told floridatoday.com. Police say the woman broke into the Melbourne Beach mansion several days earlier while the homeowners were out of town. Pacheco made herself at home, greeting neighbors and making use of the homeowner’s vehicle. When officers found out the woman did not have permission to be living there, they attempted to take her into custody. That’s when she acquired the resisting arrest and battery of a law enforcement officer charges. Pacheco was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being booked into the Brevard County Jail.Dateline: DelawareOn Monday, May 22, a pickup truck crashed into a building owned by a company called AnalTech, creating a giant hole, releasing a mysterious odor and prompting a HazMat situation in Newark, Del. WDEL reports that at approximately 6:30am, two pickup trucks crashed into one another, forcing one of the vehicles to crash into a laboratory owned by AnalTech. According to first responders, the crash caused a mysterious smell to emanate from the building. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was alerted and a HazMat team was brought in to handle any leaks. Though it was not determined what materials were damaged in the incident, the scene was deemed safe after three hours. Despite its unusual name, AnalTech manufactures thin-layer chromatography plates. In an email sent to the Houston Chronicle back in 2009, a company spokesperson revealed, “In 1964 the company paid a marketing firm to come up with a different name. They said, ‘Well, you guys do Analytical Technology—why don’t you put the two words together and call it ‘AnalTech’!” The spokesperson went on to admit that “AnalTech faces certain challenges because of the ‘juvenile’ humor that has developed in the past few decades and current web filters that may block the company name.” No doubt the company’s unfortunate gas leak will fuel further calls to change the name.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
