Details emerge after Miami star throws punch at Indiana defender in national title loss
An Indiana Hoosiers defensive lineman was accused of making a remark about Miami Hurricanes star Mark Fletcher Jr.’s deceased father after the national championship game on Monday night, nearly sparking a brawl between the two players at Hard Rock Stadium.
Fletcher was caught on the ESPN broadcast taking a swing at Hoosiers defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker. Players and personnel from both schools had to come between the competitors before the issue escalated further.
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Mike Rumph, Miami’s director of recruiting, alleged in a comment on Instagram that Tucker made the comment.
“Dude was talking about Mark’s dad who passed away last year. Mark is and always will be one of the most classy people you will meet. RIP Mr. Fletcher,” Rumph wrote.
Tucker had a different take, saying that Fletcher was trying to sucker punch him.
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“I was just trying to congratulate him on the game,” he told The Herald-Times. “He tried to sneak me, everybody kind of held me back. That was a cheap punch. Luckily, we got the win, I’m not really too worried about it. He’s salty, he going home with the L.”
Tucker apparently wanted to congratulate Fletcher on his two touchdown performance before things went awry, according to The Herald-Times. He said he didn’t say anything to him.
Fletcher hasn’t said anything about the incident.
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The star running back nearly carried the Hurricanes to a national championship. But a few miscues ultimately sunk them in a 27-21 loss.
Men visiting popular tourist area stalked and shot dead after car trouble, family says
Three men who were waiting for assistance after car trouble were stalked from a distance before they were allegedly gunned down by a “frequent flyer” with the criminal justice system in Florida, the victims’ families said.
According to a joint statement from their families shared with Fox News Digital, the men had traveled to Central Florida to attend the Mecum Car Show, the world’s largest collector car auction, and were staying at an Airbnb. The families said that the suspect eyed the victims at a distance before they were shot and killed.
“There were no known interactions between the men and this individual prior to the event; they were then approached and senselessly murdered,” the family said. “This was a random, tragic act.”
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired at 12:14 p.m. Saturday in the Indian Point subdivision. When deputies arrived, they discovered three men dead in front of the residence, all suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
FLORIDA REPEAT OFFENDER ALLEGEDLY KILLED 3 TOURISTS MINUTES FROM MAGIC KINGDOM AFTER RUN OF VIOLENCE: RECORDS
The victims were identified as Robert Luis Kraft, 70, of Holland, Michigan; his brother Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, of Columbus, Ohio; and James John Puchan, 69, also of Columbus.
The men, according to the family statement, were preparing to travel home on Saturday but were forced to extend their stay due to rental car trouble. The “random” shooting happened as they were standing outside the residence waiting for a replacement rental car to arrive.
The suspect was identified as 29-year-old Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, who lived next door to the rental property.
According to the sheriff’s department, authorities observed Bojeh flee to his residence shortly after the shooting, where he was later detained and found with two firearms. He has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Bojeh had multiple prior encounters with the criminal justice system before Saturday’s deadly shooting, including a 2021 case in which he was charged with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and aggravated battery after allegedly shooting at a person and random vehicles in a Kissimmee gas station parking lot.
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Court records obtained by Fox News Digital show Bojeh was later found not guilty by reason of insanity in that case.
Additional records show Bojeh had prior arrests for felony drug possession and misdemeanor resisting an officer without violence, reflecting years of repeated contact with law enforcement.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier criticized the legal loopholes that allowed Bojeh’s prior release.
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“Across the country, we see violent criminals getting to walk free, back into society, because of insanity defenses,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital.
Uthmeier is now calling on the Florida Legislature to narrow the insanity defense to ensure violent offenders stay confined in either prison or mental institutions.
“We won’t tolerate leftist prosecutors releasing murderers and violent criminals to hurt our families,” he said.
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Bojeh was denied bond during his first court appearance on Sunday. The investigation remains active as authorities work to confirm if the recovered weapons were used in the murders.
“There is no threat to the community, as a suspect of these horrific and senseless murders has been caught and arrested by Osceola County deputies,” Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon said.
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New China war report warns of rapid US breakdown and $10T global shock
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration asked for redactions to a sweeping new Heritage Foundation report modeling a potential U.S.–China war over Taiwan, even though the analysis relied entirely on publicly available, unclassified data, according to the report’s authors.
The redacted report, TIDALWAVE, warns that the United States could reach a breaking point within weeks of a high‑intensity conflict with China — conclusions that the authors say prompted senior national security officials to seek redactions over concerns adversaries could exploit the findings or use them to identify U.S. and allied military vulnerabilities.
Those conclusions include warnings that U.S. forces would culminate far sooner than China, suffer catastrophic losses to aircraft and sustainment infrastructure in the Pacific, and still fail to prevent a global economic shock estimated at roughly $10 trillion, nearly a tenth of global GDP.
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According to the report’s authors, the AI‑enabled model drew exclusively on open‑source government, academic, industry and commercial information. An unredacted version of the report was provided to authorized U.S. government recipients for internal use.
Unlike traditional tabletop war games, TIDALWAVE employs an AI‑enabled model that runs thousands of iterations, tracking how losses in platforms, munitions, and fuel compound over time and drive cascading operational failure early in the conflict.
According to a Heritage spokesperson, the report had been shown to “high-level national security officials” who requested some of the specifics be crossed out in black ink before its release to the public. The report still details how quickly U.S. forces could reach a breaking point and why the conflict would carry global consequences.
“Redactions were made at the request of the U.S. government to prevent disclosure of information that could reasonably enable an adversary to (1) re mediate or ‘close’ critical vulnerabilities that the United States and its allies could otherwise exploit, or (2) identify or exploit U.S. and allied vulnerabilities in ways that could degrade operational endurance, resilience, or deterrence,” the report said.
A Department of War spokesperson declined to comment on discussions surrounding TIDALWAVE’s publication, but added: “The Department of War does not endorse, validate, or adjudicate third-party analyses, nor do we engage publicly on hypothetical conflict modeling. As a general matter, we take seriously the protection of information that, if aggregated or contextualized, could have implications for operational security.”
The White House could not be reached for comment.
The war is decided early
According to the report’s redacted findings, the U.S. would culminate in less than half the time required for the People’s Republic of China in a high-intensity conflict. Culmination is defined as the point at which a force becomes incapable of continuing operations due to the loss of platforms, ammunition and/or fuel.
The report is explicit that the first 30 days to 60 days of a U.S.-China war determine its long-term shape and outcome, as early losses in aircraft, ships, fuel throughput and munitions rapidly compound and cannot be recovered on operationally relevant timelines.
The report concludes that the U.S. is not equipped nor arrayed to protect and sustain the Joint Force in a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific. Rapid platform attrition, brittle logistics, concentrated basing and insufficient industrial surge capacity combine to force an early operational breaking point for American forces.
Catastrophic losses in the Pacific
The report warns that U.S. reliance on a few large, concentrated forward bases — particularly in Japan and Guam — leaves American airpower dangerously exposed to Chinese missile forces.
In multiple scenarios, up to 90% of U.S. and allied aircraft positioned at major forward bases are destroyed on the ground during the opening phase of the conflict, as runways, fuel depots, command facilities and parked aircraft are hit simultaneously.
Munitions collapse within days
The report finds that critical U.S. precision‑guided munitions — including long‑range anti‑ship missiles, air‑to‑air interceptors and missile‑defense systems — begin to be unavailable within five to seven days of major combat operations. Across most scenarios, those critical munitions are completely exhausted within 35 days to 40 days, leaving U.S. forces unable to sustain high‑tempo combat.
Fuel emerges as the most decisive vulnerability of all. The report makes a critical distinction: the U.S. does not run out of fuel in most scenarios — it loses the ability to move fuel under fire.
CHINA’S MISSILE SURGE PUTS EVERY US BASE IN THE PACIFIC AT RISK — AND THE WINDOW TO RESPOND IS CLOSING
Chinese doctrine explicitly prioritizes attacks on logistics vessels, ports, pipelines and replenishment tankers. Even limited tanker losses, port disruptions or pipeline severance are sufficient to drive fuel throughput below survivable levels, forcing commanders to sharply curtail air and naval operations despite fuel remaining in aggregate stockpiles.
China endures far longer
By contrast, China is assessed as capable of sustaining high‑intensity combat operations for months longer under the modeled assumptions.
Chinese ammunition stockpiles of critical munitions begin to be depleted after approximately 20 days to 30 days of major combat operations. However, substitution effects extend China’s ability to sustain combat operations out to months — well beyond the point at which U.S. forces culminate, according to the report.
A $10 trillion global shock
The consequences extend far beyond the battlefield.
The redacted report concludes the U.S. is highly unlikely to prevent massive global economic fallout once a Taiwan conflict begins.
Disruption of shipping lanes, destruction of critical infrastructure and the collapse of Taiwan’s semiconductor production would trigger a global economic shock estimated at roughly $10 trillion, with enduring ripple effects across financial markets, manufacturing and global trade.
Wartime footing for rebuilding the industrial base
The report comes amid years of concern over U.S. military readiness and industrial capacity, as China rapidly expands its naval forces and shipbuilding base.
The U.S. Navy operates a smaller fleet than planned, while American shipyards face workforce shortages, aging infrastructure and chronic delays — even as China, the world’s largest shipbuilder, continues to outpace the U.S. in producing new naval hulls.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military leaders have vowed to put the Pentagon on a wartime footing for industrial capacity.
Deterrence at risk
Perhaps most alarming, TIDALWAVE warns that the scale of losses in the Indo‑Pacific would leave the U.S. unable to deter or respond effectively to a second major conflict elsewhere in the world.
A war over Taiwan could open the door to follow‑on aggression by adversaries such as Russia, Iran or North Korea, fundamentally destabilizing the global security order.
The report is blunt in its assessment: existing Pentagon programs and congressional funding are too slow, too fragmented and too modest to address the scale of the challenge. In many cases, the timeline required to fix critical vulnerabilities exceeds the likely timeline to conflict.
The call to action
To avoid what the authors describe as a strategic defeat, the report urges Congress to immediately expand munitions stockpiles, strengthen fuel reserves and distribution infrastructure, harden and disperse forward bases, and accelerate sustainment and logistics reforms. Without rapid action, the authors warn, the U.S. risks entering a conflict it is structurally unprepared to fight or sustain.
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With intelligence warnings mounting that China could move on Taiwan before the end of the decade, TIDALWAVE cautions that the window to correct these deficiencies may be closing faster than Washington is prepared to act.
Scientists discover how vitamin derivative undermines cancer-fighting immune cells
A substance the body makes from vitamin A can make the immune system less effective at fighting cancer, a new study reveals.
Vitamin A itself is an essential nutrient, but one of its byproducts can accidentally “turn off” parts of the immune response against cancer, according to new research published in Nature Immunology.
Blocking that byproduct’s effects can restore immune activity and may improve cancer immunotherapy, the findings suggest.
FAST-GROWING CANCER COULD BE SLOWED BY COMMON BLOOD PRESSURE DRUG, RESEARCH SHOWS
Researchers at the Princeton University Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research made this discovery by growing dendritic cells, key immune cells that activate the body’s defenses, in a lab.
As these cells developed, the scientists noticed they naturally turned on an enzyme that makes retinoic acid, a molecule that comes from vitamin A.
Retinoic acid can weaken dendritic cells’ ability to stimulate immune responses. This reduces the effectiveness of dendritic cell vaccines, an immunotherapy that trains the immune system to attack cancer, according to the study.
The researchers also found that when dendritic cells made a lot of the retinoic acid, they were less able to send strong danger signals to the immune system.
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When they removed the retinoic acid, the dendritic cells became stronger and better at activating T cells, which are the immune system’s cancer-killing cells.
A second study, published in iScience by collaborators from the same research group, looked at how to develop drugs to block this process.
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Using computer modeling and large drug screens, the team designed and identified small molecules that blocked the enzymes that produce retinoic acid.
This led to the creation of a promising inhibitor that shuts down retinoic acid production in a controlled way, the same tool used in the first study’s experiments, the researchers noted.
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“Taken together, our findings reveal the broad influence retinoic acid has in attenuating vitally important immune responses to cancer,” lead researcher Yibin Kang said in a press release.
“In exploring this phenomenon, we also solved a long-standing challenge in pharmacology by developing safe and selective inhibitors of retinoic acid signaling and established preclinical proof of concept for their use in cancer immunotherapy.”
Study limitations
As these findings are based on laboratory and animal models, they may not fully reflect how retinoic acid functions in humans.
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Also, the studies examined a specific vitamin A-derived molecule (retinoic acid) acting in immune cells, not dietary vitamin A intake or overall vitamin A status.
Vitamin A remains an essential nutrient for normal immune function, growth and vision, according to the National Institutes of Health, and extensive human studies have found no evidence that vitamin A causes cancer.
Gang terror grips vacation spot as US Embassy warns Americans to keep ‘low profile’
The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala has issued a security alert warning Americans to use “increased caution” when in the Central American country.
“The U.S. Embassy has lifted the shelter-in-place order for their staff,” says the alert, which was issued Sunday. “The situation remains tense with coordinated, armed attacks on police in several zones of Guatemala City.”
The Embassy recommends that Americans monitor local media for updates, avoid crowds and demonstrations, and aim to keep a “low profile.”
VACATION DESTINATION SLAPPED WITH INCREASED TRAVEL ADVISORY DUE TO ‘VIOLENT CRIME’
Travelers are advised to review personal security plans and minimize unnecessary movements.
The alert comes as gangs have attacked Guatemalan police after seizing control of three prisons in coordinated riots, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Over 2.9 million international visitors traveled to Guatemala between January and November 2025, according to the Guatemalan Tourism Institute.
President Bernardo Arévalo issued an emergency declaration after prisoners took 43 guards hostage, killing 10 officers.
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There were “coordinated actions by self-named maras or gangs against state security forces, including armed attacks against civilian authorities,” the declaration noted.
The violence has been linked to major criminal gangs such as Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), both labeled as terrorist organizations by Guatemala and the United States, according to AP.
At the time, the U.S. Embassy issued a statement to AP condemning the attacks.
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“These terrorists, as well as those who cooperate with them or are linked to them, have no place in our hemisphere,” the statement read.
“The security of the Guatemalan people and the stability of our hemisphere must prevail,” it continued.
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“We reaffirm our support for Guatemala’s security forces to curb the violence.”
The U.S. State Department lists Guatemala at “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” status.
“We reaffirm our support for Guatemala’s security forces to curb the violence.”
The State Department has four travel advisory levels to help travelers assess safety risks before visiting other countries.
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The advisory levels are: Level 1 – Exercise Normal Precautions; Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution; Level 3 – Reconsider Travel; and Level 4 – Do Not Travel.
Trump gives cryptic response when asked how far he’ll go to get Greenland
President Donald Trump fueled fresh uncertainty Tuesday, offering a terse “you’ll find out” when asked at the White House how far he would go to get Greenland.
Trump dismissed concerns that Greenlanders do not want to join the U.S. and that a move to seize the island would undermine the NATO alliance.
In recent weeks, Trump has zeroed in on Greenland, the world’s largest island and a strategic outpost in the Arctic.
The remote, semi-autonomous Danish territory, a NATO ally, hosts a key U.S. military base and occupies a strategic position in an Arctic region growing more competitive as melting ice opens new shipping lanes and access to critical resources.
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Trump has repeatedly framed Greenland as a national security necessity, arguing that Russia and China would gain ground in the region if the U.S. does not acquire it.
TRUMP THREATENS TARIFFS ON COUNTRIES OPPOSING GREENLAND TAKEOVER PLANS
The latest revelation comes as Trump heads to the snow-capped city of Davos, Switzerland, where global leaders have flocked to attend the World Economic Forum.
The issue of Greenland is likely to dominate the sidelines of the summit as European leaders grapple with Trump’s fresh threat to impose tariffs on countries opposing his Greenland plans.
The threat of additional tariffs comes as his administration awaits a Supreme Court ruling on whether some of the trade duties he imposed in 2025 were legal.
European leaders suggested over the weekend that they would be willing to hit back with retaliatory measures worth up to $107.7 billion.
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Trump first raised the idea of acquiring Greenland during his previous term, drawing swift pushback from Denmark and other European leaders, resistance he now appears willing to confront again.
Whether the Trump administration strikes a deal to take over Greenland remains unclear. But as ice melts and competition in the Arctic intensifies, the island’s strategic importance is only likely to grow.
Baseball Hall of Fame adds 2 new members, including one tied to Astros’ scandal
Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones, who combined to hit 869 home runs (Beltran hit 435, Jones hit 434), were both elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
In his fourth year on the ballot, Beltran received 75% of the votes needed to be inducted into Cooperstown, finishing with the highest percentage (84.2%) among possible inductees.
Jones had to wait nine years, but it was worth it. He finished with 78.4% of votes, coming down to the wire to get into Cooperstown and not have to sweat out his 10th and final year on the ballot in 2027.
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New York Mets fans’ core memory of Beltran is his strikeout to end the 2006 National League Championship Series, but the nine-time All-Star was a consistent force throughout his entire career. He even made the Midsummer Classic in his second-to-last season, when he hit .295 with an .850 OPS, 35 home runs and 101 RBIs.
Beltran, a switch-hitter, won three Gold Glove Awards while accumulating 2,725 hits, 435 of which were home runs. He also stole 300 bases in his career, making him one of just eight players in MLB history to be in the 300-300 club. Beltran has the fourth-most home runs by a switch-hitter, trailing Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones.
He is also one of 39 players to both drive in and score at least 1,500 runs. Thirty-two of those players, including Beltran, are in the Hall of Fame — the other seven that aren’t are either tied to performance-enhancing drugs (Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez) or are not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame (Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera). In 65 postseason games, he hit .307 with a 1.021 OPS. Beltran spent seven seasons with both the Mets and Royals and put up nearly identical stats, so it remains to be seen what hat he will wear on his plaque.
While the numbers scream Hall of Fame, it became clear that voters were giving him a self-imposed punishment for his involvement in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Beltran, who won his lone World Series with that tainted Houston team in his final MLB season, has been considered a mastermind of the scheme, which cost him his job as New York Mets manager in 2020 before he managed a game. Beltran was the only player on the team directly named by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred when announcing punishments for the organization.
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As for Jones, the Curaçao native is one of four players with 400 home runs and 10 Gold Glove Awards, along with Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Schmidt. Jones led the majors with 51 home runs in 2005, finishing just short of the MVP Award to Albert Pujols.
A five-time All-Star, the outfielder spent 12 of his 17 MLB seasons with the Atlanta Braves and played in 76 postseason games.
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The duo, along with Jeff Kent, will be formally inducted into Cooperstown in July. Kent was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era committee in December.
Timothy Busfield to be released from custody pending trial in child sex abuse case
Timothy Busfield will be released from custody as he awaits trial in his child sex abuse case, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
Busfield’s wife, Melissa Gilbert, teared up in court when the judge announced his ruling, and the conditions of Busfield’s release.
New Mexico prosecutors argued that Busfield had a history of making inappropriate advances, and described a report from actress Claudia Christian, who claimed Busfield “forcibly grabbed her and threw her against the wall” while they were working together on “The Strays.” Christian allegedly reported the incident to an assistant director.
In considering bail conditions, the state noted that 87 letters of support were submitted on behalf of Busfield, stating that “he would never do this.”
“The state is concerned about again the defendant is using his control in deciding when he wants to comply with an order,” prosecutors argued. “That order did not say, ‘Sure, turn yourself in in 5 days.’ That order was for him to be arrested and come deal with these charges. Instead, he drove 2,000 miles … he got a polygraph.
TIMOTHY BUSFIELD HELD WITHOUT BAIL IN NEW MEXICO CHILD SEX ABUSE CASE
“I’m not saying defendants don’t have a right to defend their case … but that shows this court that the defendant is only going to comply when he wants to, when he’s ready to.”
Days before Timothy Busfield was remanded and held without bail on multiple counts of child sex abuse, the 68-year-old actor underwent a psychosexual evaluation at the recommendation of his attorney.
According to court documents filed on Jan. 17 and obtained by Fox News Digital, Busfield participated in the assessment on Jan. 12 to determine the risk of committing sexual offenses compared with those convicted of a sexual offense. During the evaluation, Busfield was asked a series of uncomfortable questions, including details about his sex life with his wife, Melissa Gilbert.
TIMOTHY BUSFIELD’S LIE DETECTOR OFFER IS ‘PUBLIC RELATIONS STUNT’ AS HE FACES CHILD SEX ABUSE CHARGES: EXPERT
“Mr. Busfield reports he and his current wife have a satisfying sex life and at their ages they simply enjoy one another’s company and cuddling more often than engaging in sexual intercourse,” the evaluation stated, per the documents. “Mr. Busfield’s wife confirms his statements about a satisfying sexual relationship between them.”
“Mr. Busfield reports that as he reflects, he believes and values that an individual needs to have a certain level of maturity to understand and embrace the intimate nature of a sexual relationship,” the evaluation continued. “Additionally, he also believes sex is a natural experience for all humans and that at a certain age you begin to start experiencing feelings in your body (puberty). Mr. Busfield also reports that he has come to realize that he never had the mate he wanted until he met his wife, Melissa.”
After an extensive look at Busfield’s family history, his background, and his social and sexual behavior, the actor was assessed as “very low risk” based on the outcome of the clinical interview and risk assessment measures indicated.
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“Mr. Busfield demonstrated an ability to be forthcoming in his responses despite the sensitive nature of the questions. Mr. Busfield reports continued steady employment, strong family support, and engagement in prosocial activities with prosocial peers.”
Fox News legal contributor Donna Rotunno said it’s likely Busfield underwent the evaluation in an effort to prove he is “not a threat to society.”
“When you submit to those evaluations, you have to answer truthfully. He is hoping that the evaluation will help the judge decide he is not a threat to society,” said Rotunno. “As uncomfortable as the subject matter is, it is common that they would interview the wife under the circumstances for corroboration, and to see how forthcoming and truthful he is being.”
“When you submit to those evaluations, you have to answer truthfully. He is hoping that the evaluation will help the judge decide he is not a threat to society.”
Included in the court-filed documents were more than 75 letters written by former colleagues, friends, and his wife, who described decades of interaction with Busfield and denied ever witnessing inappropriate behavior.
“The reality is that Tim Busfield is my love, my rock, my partner in business and life. He is my comfort and my council. His joy, humor and quick wit bring sparkle to my life. Tim is, quite simply, the beating heart of our wild and wonderful extended family,” she wrote.
The “Little House on the Prarie” actress told the court she knows Busfield “better and more intimately than anyone else in his life,” describing him as a man guided by principle and compassion.
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“Tim has the strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known,” she wrote. “He has dedicated his spiritual self to always being of service to others. He starts every day with kindness and compassion.”
“This is the strangest letter I’ve ever had to write,” she wrote. “So, I will close by asking you to please, please, take care of my sweet husband,” Gilbert continued. “As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart. I am relying on you to protect him for me.”
On Jan. 9, an arrest warrant was issued for the director and Emmy Award-winning actor, and obtained by Fox News Digital.
The police investigation into the allegations against Busfield began on Nov. 1, 2024, after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital alerted officers about a case of alleged sexual abuse.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by Fox News Digital, two 11-year-old twins allege that the director, whom they were told to call Uncle Tim on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” had touched them inappropriately. One twin claimed an incident had occurred while alone with Busfield in a bedroom on set, alleging he had been touched over his clothes on his genitals and bottom. The warrant further states that hospital professionals later informed the parents that the children showed signs of being “groomed.”
“The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,” a representative from Warner Bros. Television told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”
A makeup artist told investigators that everyone on set knew to avoid Busfield “because he was creepy.”
In police audio presented to court by Busfield’s attorney on Monday and obtained by Fox News Digital, the child actors are asked by the police officer: “You know no one can touch your private areas?” to which the twins say: “Yes.”
They are then asked by the police officer if Busfield ever touched their private areas. The twins said, “No.”
Busfield surrendered on Jan. 13 to local authorities on child sex abuse charges. He was held without bail at the time of his arrest on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.
The director has denied all the allegations against him.
In the state’s expedited motion for pretrial detention, prosecutors argued that Busfield “poses an ongoing and serious danger to children and the community.” They noted that his conduct reflected a “calculated pattern of grooming, lack of boundaries, and exploitation of professional authority to gain access to minors.”
“The defendant has demonstrated: willingness to exploit positions of trust; ability to offend in professional environments designed to appear safe, minimization and denial of conduct, access to children through his profession, a pattern of inappropriate conduct spanning decades,” documents stated.
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“Witnesses in this investigation expressed fear of retaliation and career harm for reporting the Defendant’s conduct, further underscoring his ability to intimidate and silence others.”
During a press conference on Jan. 15, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman addressed the media with the latest on the case.
Busfield is currently charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, child under 13, and one count of child abuse. Under New Mexico law, each count of criminal sexual contact carries up to six years of incarceration, and child abuse carries up to three years, Bregman stated.
If convicted, Busfield could face up to 15 years in prison.