​Ashley Dunlop doesn't want red roses or a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day. All the San Francisco woman is asking for is her boyfriend's rare and valuable bass guitar to be returned -- now.

On Tuesday, shortly after Dunlop left for work at 8:15 a.m., someone broke into the Panhandle apartment where she lives with Evanescence bass player Tim McCord, and stole, among many other valuables, McCord's Yamaha bass guitar that had been handed down to him by his father after he died.

"He is absolutely heartbroken," Dunlop told us. "It is the most important possession he has and it means the world to him. To have that taken -- he was broken by it."
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Last month, SF Weekly published a cover story revealing that two candidates for Catholic sainthood -- including Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity order and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize -- had taken steps to protect convicted pedophile priest Donald McGuire after molestation allegations were lodged against him by a Bay Area family in 1993.

Mother Teresa's implication in the McGuire scandal comes through a typed 1994 letter, never before published, in which she appears to urge the priest's Jesuit superior to return him to active ministry despite the abuse allegation. (McGuire returned to ministry, and molested multiple additional boys before his arrest in 2003.) While the letter is unsigned, it bears a salutation in her characteristic handwriting, and contains strong clues indicating Mother Teresa as the author. For instance, the letter-writer refers by name to the nun's four top deputies, calling them "my assistants."

We just came across a videotaped response to our story that was published by Mary Johnson. A former Missionaries of Charity nun, Johnson left the order after 20 years and has just published a book, An Unquenchable Thirst, detailing her experiences working under Mother Teresa. She read our story and the letter, which we published online.

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Man killed

​San Francisco medical authorities have identified the man who was stabbed to death inside a SOMA homeless shelter earlier this week as 44-year-old Abdul Smith.

Police were called to the Multi-Service Center South shelter, located at 525 Fifth St., just before 7 p.m on Tuesday where they found Smith with a stab wound to his chest. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he later died.



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Rodney Pool

​Homicide investigators have arrested a 59-year-old man in connection with the murder of Rebekah Wilson, 37, at the Winsor Hotel earlier this month.

According to police, officers were called to the hotel, located at 20 Sixth St., just before 7 p.m. on Feb. 2. When they arrived, they found Wilson dead in the hotels.

Six days later -- on Feb. 8 -- medical authorities ruled her death a homicide.
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Her new residence: Jail

​Police say they have arrested a San Francisco mother in connection to yesterday's house explosion that sent both mom and a 12-year-old boy to the hospital with burns.

Sgt. Daryl Fong tells us that police arrested 33-year-old Angelic Cisneros yesterday afternoon on suspicion of recklessly causing a fire, child endangerment, and drug possession. She was booked into the San Francisco County Jail.

The Fire Department responded to a call at 1228 Capitol Ave. just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Firefighters called police to alert them of the possibility of a drug lab inside the home. 

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Blue Suicide

​You can always count on San Francisco for intense drama.

A San Francisco man put up a serious fight against police yesterday evening, hoping the cops would kill him in his elaborate plan to commit suicide. According to police, it all started when the suspect banged on his neighbor's door, then punched her in the face when she opened it.

The building manager tried to intervene, but the suspect assaulted him, too. The drama spilled out onto the building's third floor, where the suspect kicked the manager several times. When another person intervened on this attack, the building manager ran off, but the suspect followed him into the street, where he hit him several times with a belt, police said.

The suspect then came back to the apartment only to stir up more trouble.
 
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Sell our trade secrets ... that's one way to ensure China's economy surpasses the U.S.

​A San Francisco federal grand jury has charged five people and several companies -- some located in the Bay Area -- with espionage and selling American trade secrets to help companies in China quickly flourish.

According to the indictment, China decided that it wanted to develop chloride-route titanium dioxide (TiO2) production capabilities, without investing the time and research. TiO2 is a commercially valuable white pigment used to color paint, plastics, and paper. To quickly pave the way for this development, companies controlled by China conspired to illegally obtain the TiO2 technology that had already been developed by the U.S.-based E.I.du Pont de Nemours & Company, also known as DuPont.

The companies used their employees, who obtained the TiO2 trade secrets and then allegedly sold trade secrets to the Pangang Group to help it develop large-scale chloride-route TiO2 production in China, including 10,000 planned factories.

In exchange, the companies and their employees received in excess of $20 million, according to the indictment.
 
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Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi outside court today

​Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi regained the right to see his 2-year-old son in family court today, overcoming a protective order that a judge had issued after domestic-violence charges were filed against him last month.

According to an agreement between Mirkarimi and his wife and alleged abuse victim, Eliana Lopez, Mirkarimi will be able to see his son without supervision for two hours daily and up to six hours on the weekend. Mirkarimi said he planned to see the boy, Theo, today.

"I can't tell you how excited and gratified I am. This has been a tortuous process," Mirkarimi said on the steps of the civil courthouse on McAllister Street today, appearing to choke back tears before a throng of reporters. Holding aloft a small toy fire engine he said he planned to give to Theo, Mirkarimi added, "I'm just so hungry to see my son. I'm going to gobble him up."

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Man stabbed, another man arrested

​Police say they arrested 63-year-old Ricky Leon Scott on suspicion of stabbing to death a 44-year-old man at a homeless shelter yesterday evening.

According to Sgt. Daryl Fong, officers caught up with Scott about 10 minutes after the stabbing occurred at the Multi-Service Center South shelter in SOMA and arrested him on suspicion of murder. Witnesses identified Scott as the suspect in the stabbing.

Scott, a San Francisco resident, was booked into County Jail; however, police are not releasing his photo.

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Man stabbed

​A 44-year-old man was stabbed to death yesterday evening inside a SOMA homeless shelter.

Police were called to the Multi-Service Center South shelter at 525 Fifth St. at 6:58 p.m. where they found the victim stabbed in the chest. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Medical Examiner's Office told SF Weekly they have identified the victim, but were not ready to release his name, pending notification of his family.
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