FACE OF A KILLER....... OAKLANDS NO STRANGER TO THOSE



Anthony Wayne Smith, a former Oakland Raiders defensive end, has been charged with three counts of murder stemming from the kidnap-killings of three men from 1999 to 2001, reports Reuters. There are a total of four counts leveled against him - one from the original case, which was a 2008 shooting death where the trial ended in a mistrial, and the three previously listed.

The allegations say the three men from 1999-2001 were tortured before being killed. An arraignment has been set for July 17.

Smith played for seven seasons in the NFL in the 1990s after being a first-round draft pick by the Raiders. His attorney says these criminal charges came as "a surprise" and that Smith will plead not guilty to all of the charges.

Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons says the new charges are in connection with the killing of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles, who were abducted from a car wash by two men posing as police officers and then found shot to death the next day, and the slaying of Dennis Henderson, who was kidnapped with another man. The other man was freed, but Henderson was beaten and stabbed to death, then found in the back of a rental car.

The original charge against Smith is for the 2008 death of Maurilio Ponce, a man found shot to death in Lancaster, Calif. The original trial for Smith ended in a hung jury, which voted 8-4 in favor of finding him guilty.

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