Ohio jury convicts teenager of Craigslist murders

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - A jury convicted 17-year-old Brogan Rafferty of murder on Tuesday in the deaths of three men, two of whom were lured to Ohio by a Craigslist ad promising work on a farm.

Rafferty and Richard Beasley, 53, were charged with murder in the deaths of the three men. Two men answered a social media ad for a $300-a-week job as a caretaker on a farm about 100 miles south of Cleveland.

Although prosecutors said Beasley pulled the trigger, they accused Rafferty of assisting in the crimes and the attempted murder of a fourth man, Scott Davis.

Rafferty was 16 when he was arrested in November 2011, but was tried as an adult. He faces up to life in prison in the killing of David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Virginia; Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron, Ohio; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio.

Rafferty did not react as the multiple guilty verdicts were read by Judge Lynne Callahan, but his mother dropped her head and sobbed.

Kern's father cried when the guilty verdict in his son's murder was read. After all of the verdicts, he gave a thumbs up.

The Summit County, Ohio, jury of seven women and five men took 20 hours to reach a verdict.

During the trial, Rafferty testified that he feared for his life after watching Beasley, a man he considered a father figure and spiritual leader, shoot Geiger in the head execution style.

Rafferty admitted he dug two holes that he said were meant to be graves. He told jurors that he felt trapped into doing what Beasley said because he was "terrified" of the older man.

But prosecutors called Rafferty an apt pupil of Beasley and said the teen had ample opportunities to turn the older man in and protect himself and his family.

After the trial concluded, some of the jurors spoke to reporters about the verdict.

"It was a tough one. He was a child and he is a child, and it was very difficult to make a decision," juror Michele Lewis said.

A male juror who asked not to be identified said the jury did not believe Rafferty's story that he was so afraid of Beasley that he cooperated in the murders.

"This was not one man intimidating another," he added.

Beasley, a friend of the Rafferty family, is scheduled to stand trial in January. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Rafferty's sentencing is scheduled for November 5.

The Ohio crimes are among a growing number of incidents involving Craigslist and other social media, including other attacks on people responding to advertisements.

In 2009, a former medical student was accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist. In February, two men in Tennessee were accused of killing a man and a woman for "unfriending" the daughter of one of the suspects on Facebook.

(Editing by Greg McCune and James B. Kelleher; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-jury-convicts-teenager-craigslist-murders-013916249.html

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U.S. refiners to assess damage as Sandy moves inland

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. refinery and pipeline companies that nearly halted East Coast fuel supplies ahead of Hurricane Sandy will begin assessing the storm's damage on Tuesday, hoping that their flood defenses and on-site power allow a quick return to service.

Three of the area's six key refineries -- including the two largest -- effectively shut down operations in advance of landfall Monday evening for the Atlantic storm. Two more reduced operating rates, curtailing at least two-thirds of the region's capacity.

Major ports that supply the area with some 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of imported fuel were also shut, while the northern leg of the Colonial Pipeline from the Gulf Coast was idled. It supplies as much as 15 percent of the East Coast's 5.2 million bpd of gasoline, diesel and fuel demand.

As Sandy's up to 90 mile per hour winds slow over land and its 13-foot storm surge subsides, operators such as Phillips 66 and PBF Energy will assess any damage to their facilities, and start making plans for restoring operations - a delicate process in the best of times.

If damage is limited, many experts say fuel supplies should resume within a few days, potentially reversing the three-day, 6 percent rally in benchmark New York harbor gasoline futures as traders shift their focus from the threat of a supply squeeze to the loss of demand from airport and road closures.

"Markets have already bumped up prices to some degree. If there's no major catastrophes then prices are going to go in the other direction," said John Auers, senior vice president and refining specialist at Turner, Mason & Co. in Dallas.

He said that the East Coast plants, even those near the water, are better protected from potential flood damage than those that suffered weeks-long outages on the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita seven years ago.

But even well-prepared plants can face problems. Two months ago Phillips 66, which reported a power outage at its 238,000-bpd Bayway, New Jersey, refinery on Monday, was forced to clear more than two feet of floodwater from its Alliance, Louisiana, refinery following Hurricane Isaac, delaying its restart.

"Bayway is probably the most exposed as it sits right out by the water and it's certainly in the path of the storm," said Matthew Partridge, downstream analyst at Wood Mackenzie in Houston. He said plants should be up "within a few days" if they escape damage, although it was too early to give an assessment.

Most refineries have some on-site generation equipment that could help restore operations if there are power outages. Phillips 66 did not immediately respond to an email seeking further details on the Bayway outage.

The largest risk may simply lie in restarting vast, intense equipment after a brief shutdown.

"You're talking about heating up oil to fairly high temperatures, putting it through processing units at high pressure," said Auers. "Anytime you interrupt that steady-state there is always the potential for issues."

SUPPLIES STRETCHED, BUT DEMAND WEAK

Oil traders were already beginning to reconsider the run-up in fuel prices ahead of the storm. RBOB gasoline futures slipped 0.8 percent in overnight trading, the first loss in four days. One trader offering to sell physical cargoes in the New York harbor market found no buyers on Monday.

That's despite the fact that fuel stockpiles -- heating oil in particular -- are unusually low for this time of year.

While awaiting news on fuel supplies, oil traders began totting up the impact on demand.

Airlines had canceled more than 13,700 flights for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, including more than 7,600 for Monday alone, Flight-tracking service FlightAware said. Road travel ground to a halt, with major bridges and tunnels shut down. Marine traffic at some of the nation's busiest ports was halted.

"The flip side is demand is going to be a lot lower this week, as not many people are going to be out there driving," said Partridge. "If this number of refineries went offline during the summer driving season gasoline prices would go through the roof."

The precautionary refinery closures are more widespread than during Hurricane Irene in August 2011, when only the Bayway plant shut completely.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions began the precautionary closure of key units at its 330,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Philadelphia refinery, the biggest in the region.

Hess Corp said it shut its 70,000-bpd refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey, while PBF Energy opted to reduce rates at its 180,000-bpd Paulsboro plant in southern New Jersey, and its Delaware City facility.

Delta Air Lines' Monroe Energy said it was monitoring the storm, but did not anticipate altering operations at its 185,000-bpd plant in Trainer, Pennsylvania, which has only recently returned to service after major maintenance.

Even if the refineries escape unscathed, however, any damage to the vast network of oil terminals, pipelines and truck racks could complicate supply logistics.

NuStar Energy and Magellan Midstream Partners, two of the biggest players in the nation's pipeline and storage terminal business, also shut terminals along the East Coast.

"As a result, the distribution infrastructure, including pipelines and refined product terminals are extremely important and could hamper recovery efforts if significant amounts of this infrastructure is damaged," said Roger Ihne, principal in the oil and gas practice at consultancy Deloitte.

(Reporting By Janet McGurty, Jonathan Leff and David Sheppard; Editing by Michael Urquhart)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-refiners-assess-damage-sandy-moves-inland-054951534--finance.html

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Turn of Mind: A Brilliant and Disturbing Tale of ... - Maine Crime Writers

James Hayman:? ?My name is Dr. Jenifer White . I am sixty-four years old. I have dementia. My son , Mark, is twenty-nine. My daughter, Fiona, twenty-four. A caregiver, Magdalena, lives with me.?

This is the opening paragraph of the front jacket copy of one of the most original, beautifully written and genuinely frightening murder mysteries I?ve read in years. Titled Turn of Mind, the book is a debut novel by a writer named Alice LaPlante ?who teaches creative writing at Stanford and San Francisco State University.? LaPlante?s previous fiction consisted of short stories published in literary journals like Epoch and the Southwestern Review.

Imagine a murder mystery largely narrated in the voice and thoughts of the suspected and likely murderer, a once distinguished orthopedic surgeon who specialized in surgery of the hand but who is now descending into advanced Alzeimer?s Disease.? The suspect, a woman named Jennifer White, has no idea whether or not she committed the crime. At times she thinks she may have.? At other times she thinks she might not have.? As often as not she?s not even aware that the victim of the crime is actually dead. Or that her husband James is also dead. Or, as the book progresses, even who her own children are.

Still the evidence against Dr. White as the killer seems compelling.? The victim, named Amanda O?Toole, was, before her death, an imperious and controlling woman in her seventies who lived a few doors down from Dr. White in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. In spite of O?Toole?s bristly personality and their frequent disagreements O?Toole and Dr. White are described as lifelong best friends. Each had keys to the other?s house.? O?Toole was the godmother of the Whites? two children, Mark and Fiona.

The victim is already dead when the book opens.? Her body was found lying in a pool of blood.? The cause of death was a blow to the head. White and O?Toole were heard arguing loudly shortly before the killing.? Even more damning for White, the hand surgeon, is the fact that four of the fingers of O?Toole?s right hand were carefully and expertly amputated after her death for no apparent reason.? Later in the book a Saint Christopher?s medal belonging to White turns up. It is found to have traces of O?Toole?s blood on it.

What makes this book so compelling and frankly unforgettable, however, is not the details of the crime or the work of the cop in charge, a dogged and determined woman named Detective Luton. It is not even the ultimate solution to the murder.? Rather it is the beautifully constructed portrait of the disintegration of a once brilliant mind belonging to a character we come to know and care for.

A group blog on this site this weekend will have us all tell of the scariest books we?ve ever read. While Dr. White is no Hannibal Lechter, in many ways she is more frightening.? The descent into Alzheimer?s Alice LaPlante describes so beautifully is a condition we all fear for ourselves.? It is one that many of us have experienced first hand watching the slow disintegration of elderly parents or others we care for. It makes an absolutely brilliant choice to wrap around a tale of murder and deceit.

Source: http://mainecrimewriters.com/jims-posts/turn-of-mind-a-brilliant-and-disturbing-tale-of-murder

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A circus comes to Gaza _ minus lions and ladies

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? The circus came to Gaza on Friday, accompanied by blaring music, juggling clowns and fire blowers ? but getting it there required its own high-wire act.

No women performers were included for fear of offending conservative Palestinians and the Gaza Strip's militant Hamas rulers, and the circus' lone lion and tiger were left behind because of the high cost of transporting them legally into Gaza.

The Egyptian National Circus put on its first show of a month-long visit to the impoverished coastal territory on Friday, a sign of warmer relations between Hamas and post-revolution Egypt, which is governed by the Islamic group's ideological parent, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Although it's not state-sponsored, the Egyptian circus could only come because the country's government loosened restrictions on the flow of passengers in and out of Gaza. More foreigners now enter Gaza, including the ruler of the resource-rich Gulf state Qatar earlier this week.

Once in Gaza, the Egyptians' faced an unusual situation ? most Palestinians here don't know what a circus is.

"I think it's going to be really surprising for most people," said Riwa Awwad, 19, ahead of the opening night.

"Gazans are famous for not liking anything and I think they'll do the impossible to entertain us," said Awwad, who came with her extended family to the fairground on Friday.

In an ironic twist, the cheery circus with its flashing lights was held on the grounds of a notorious security prison that was destroyed during an Israeli offensive four years ago.

For the Gazans fortunate enough to see the opening show, it was a welcome relief from conflict and despair. The fairgrounds were packed with excited children in new cloths, women in glittery headscarves, others in black face veils, and men in suits and freshly pressed shirts. Families snacked on pumpkin seeds.

They hollered and cheered as a tight-rope walker wiggled his hips and belly-danced on a thread suspended above the ground. A performer hurled silver knives around volunteers. A red-clad fire blower shot whooshing, yellow licks of flame out of his mouth. Two clowns dressed in yellow-and-blue bumbled and fumbled as they tried to juggle, delighting children.

It took months to arrange the visit to the impoverished territory, where 1.6 million people live in a 25 mile-long sliver wedged between Israel and Egypt and face a punishing blockade imposed after Hamas seized control in 2007.

Aside from a circus' brief visit in the 1990s, there's never been anything like it since Israel captured the strip from Egypt in 1967. Israeli forces and settlers withdrew in 2005.

Businessman Mohammed Faris said he remembered seeing the circus under Egyptian rule in the 1950s, when Gaza was still a liberal place with casinos and bars. He said he recalled as a child seeing men walking on nails and female acrobats flying across stage.

"It was men and women - pretty women," he said.

Not this time around.

Organizer Mohammed Silmi said female performers had to stay behind because the circus was worried that leaping ladies in tights would offend Gazans.

He said Hamas didn't explicitly ban women but he was asked to abide by Gaza's "traditions" when he petitioned to get the circus to come.

In practice, the circus wiggled a little around the no-women rule. At one point a man in drag, sporting a brown wig and red dress, sang and danced with Bunduk the clown.

After Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade that aimed to weaken the militants who seek Israel's destruction.

Under international pressure, it was loosened after Israel raided a blockade-defying boat and killing nine Turkish activists aboard in 2009. Key restrictions still remain on exports and importing raw materials.

All the circus equipment came through the Rafah border crossing, but expensive fees and cumbersome paperwork kept the circus from bringing lions, tigers and horses across the border.

Gaza's makeshift zoos and other merchants often bypass that problem by hauling animals through smuggling tunnels linking the territory to Egypt. In one famous scene captured on film, Gazans used a crane to lift a camel over the border fence as the animal twitched in the air in agony.

Animal welfare aside, Gaza's main zoo recently turned to improvised taxidermy to keep its deceased animals on exhibit.

The area also continues to be violent. As circus technicians were setting up their tent earlier this week, Palestinian militants were fighting Israeli forces in tit-for-tat rounds of rocket fire and retaliatory airstrikes.

Egyptian technician Khalil Gomaa, 55, jolted upon every crashing boom. He told his children he was in Jordan so they wouldn't be worried. "But I'm worried," he said.

But the circus' biggest challenge may be packing the 1,000-seater tent for the month-long visit.

A series of Palestinians interviewed didn't know what a circus was, and the tickets ? ranging from $5-$10 seats ? are too expensive for most of Gaza's traditionally large families.

Some 40 percent of Gazans live on less than $2 a day, a third are unemployed and most need U.N. donated food.

They include the mother of eight, Sabrine Baoud, and her unemployed husband. After the circus was explained to her, Baoud, 35, said she was glad her children didn't know anything about it.

They'd never be able to afford to go.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-26-Gaza-Circus/id-c1845b8e28b847cba82a3153e34356d9

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Kids' mountain bike program likely the first of many in Old Town ...

Ten children in Old Town learned the joys of mountain biking during a monthlong program for grades 4-8 that ran mid-September through mid-October.

The program was made possible by a first-of-its-kind collaboration of three Maine-based organizations: Old Town Recreation, Maine Winter Sports Center and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

?They were very excited to just go out and experience the outdoors,? said Kevin McPhee, director of Old Town Recreation, which hosted the program. ?We have a river trail here in the Old Town-Orono area that goes along the Stillwater River. It?s just a beautiful bike trial, and they were able to experience that on a couple of occasions.?

Biking in the mud was their favorite part.

?They usually came back and had mud up their backs and huge smiles,? McPhee said. ?Their parents would come to pick them up and just shake their heads and smile.?

Healthy Hometowns, the community development program of the Maine Winter Sports Center, provided mountain bikes and helmets for participants, as well as training and curriculum for leaders.

?The focus of this program was on experiencing the lifelong, active outdoor pursuit of mountain biking,? said Central Maine Healthy Hometowns coach Lauren Jacobs. ?Kids had a blast exploring the trails, getting muddy and becoming skilled bikers.?

In April, L.L.Bean announced a $1 million donation to Healthy Hometowns to expand the program into a year-round, statewide effort. This donation coincides with L.L.Bean?s mission to get more children outdoors during their 100th anniversary year and beyond.

?In the past, Healthy Hometowns has been primarily cross-country ski-oriented and mostly in the County, up in Aroostook,? Jacobs said. ?With the funding in April, we can go statewide and year-round. This is the first time we?ve had equipment to use in other regions.?

The funding is providing staff, training and resources for Healthy Hometowns expand its focus to outdoor activities such as paddling, hiking, mountain biking, orienteering and camping.

So far, the donation enabled Healthy Hometowns to purchase 20 mountain bikes, three boat trailers of kayaks, and expand their ski collection to approximately 1,500 sets of skis. The program ?coaches? have started spreading out across the state, and the equipment supply will continue to grow over the next three years, Jacobs said.

The 10 children who participated in the Old Town mountain bike program gained skills and confidence through riding on local trails and fields and engaging in a variety of games and activities used to teach bike handling, shifting, braking, safety and navigating obstacles.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine, a statewide cycling advocacy group, supported the initiative with a safety program for participants and program leadership by a coalition employee.

?Participants markedly improved their biking skills while getting great exercise and getting the opportunity to experience the great Maine outdoors as it was meant to be enjoyed,? McPhee said.

During the summer, Healthy Hometowns and Old Town Recreation worked together to provide kayaking and biking opportunities to summer camp participants. And this winter, the two organizations will work together for the third year to offer a youth cross-country ski program in conjunction with the Penobscot Valley Ski Club.

?This will be an ongoing effort,? McPhee said. ?We look forward to doing this spring, summer, fall and winter. We look forward to partnering with them each season to provide a different activity.?

Healthy Hometowns trailers filled with cross-country skis and snowshoes will travel throughout the state all winter to give children the chance to experience winter sports. Several schools in the Bangor area have booked the equipment, including schools in Winterport, Hampden, Bangor and Dover-Foxcroft.

?We are really focused on winter right now, planning winter sports, getting out calendars filled up and getting ready to do our ski weeks,? Jacobs said. ?But it won?t be long before we start thinking about spring and getting programming lined up. We already have a couple of requests ? Milo has already scheduled the mountain bikes for their outing club members for some time in May.?

For information about Healthy Hometowns, including equipment rental and outdoor programs, visit www.mainewsc.org; the Old Town Recreation Department at www.oldtownrec.com; and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine at www.bikemaine.org.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/24/outdoors/kids-mountain-bike-program-likely-the-first-of-many-in-old-town/

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One foot from the grave!

Public release date: 15-Oct-2012
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Contact: University of Leicester Press Office
pressoffice@le.ac.uk
44-011-625-22415
University of Leicester

You wont believe it! Archaeologists who led Search for King Richard III reveal Victorian builders came within inches of destroying human remains

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester who uncovered a grave thought to contain the skeleton of King Richard III have revealed that the remains came within inches of being destroyed by Victorian builders.

The University of Leicester led the search for the Anointed King who died at the battle of Bosworth in association with Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society. The University team dug three trenches under a Leicester car park before their discovery was made.

Now site director Mathew Morris has disclosed that the remains were found just inches below Victorian foundations. Had the 19th century builders dug a little further-no remains would have been found.

Mathew said: "It was incredibly lucky. If the Victorians had dug down 30cm more they would have built on top of the remains and destroyed them."

City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby added: "It is extremely lucky that the remains were found at all.

"His head was discovered inches from the foundations of a Victorian building. They obviously did not discover anything and probably would not have been aware of the importance of the site.

"If their plans had been just a little different, they could have destroyed a most significant historic find."

A team from the University of Leicester, including archaeologists and geneticists, is now engaged in a scientific investigation to determine whether the remains are indeed of King Richard III.

Using DNA extracted from Michael Ibsen, believed to be a descendant of King Richard III's sister, the team will seek to determine if there is a match.

###

The entire dig was filmed by Darlow Smithson Productions for a Channel 4 Documentary.

You can watch the Press Conference announcing the results from the dig here http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/media-centre/richard-iii

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: University of Leicester Press Office
pressoffice@le.ac.uk
44-011-625-22415
University of Leicester

You wont believe it! Archaeologists who led Search for King Richard III reveal Victorian builders came within inches of destroying human remains

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester who uncovered a grave thought to contain the skeleton of King Richard III have revealed that the remains came within inches of being destroyed by Victorian builders.

The University of Leicester led the search for the Anointed King who died at the battle of Bosworth in association with Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society. The University team dug three trenches under a Leicester car park before their discovery was made.

Now site director Mathew Morris has disclosed that the remains were found just inches below Victorian foundations. Had the 19th century builders dug a little further-no remains would have been found.

Mathew said: "It was incredibly lucky. If the Victorians had dug down 30cm more they would have built on top of the remains and destroyed them."

City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby added: "It is extremely lucky that the remains were found at all.

"His head was discovered inches from the foundations of a Victorian building. They obviously did not discover anything and probably would not have been aware of the importance of the site.

"If their plans had been just a little different, they could have destroyed a most significant historic find."

A team from the University of Leicester, including archaeologists and geneticists, is now engaged in a scientific investigation to determine whether the remains are indeed of King Richard III.

Using DNA extracted from Michael Ibsen, believed to be a descendant of King Richard III's sister, the team will seek to determine if there is a match.

###

The entire dig was filmed by Darlow Smithson Productions for a Channel 4 Documentary.

You can watch the Press Conference announcing the results from the dig here http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/media-centre/richard-iii

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/uol-off101512.php

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'Taken 2' proves unstoppable at box office

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

Box office revenues soared 58 percent over a year ago thanks to a handful of films that overperformed, led by Liam Neeson action pic "Taken 2" and Ben Affleck's awards darling "Argo."

From 20th Century Fox and EuropaCorp, "Taken 2" grossed $22.5 million from 3,706 theaters in its second weekend to stay at No. 1. An unqualified hit, the pic has now earned $86.8 million domestically and $132.8 million internationally for a worldwide total of $220 million -- just shy of the $226.8 million earned by the first "Taken" in its entire run.

STORY: THR Cover: Confessions of Ben Affleck

"Argo," from Warner Bros., grossed a strong $20.1 million from 3,232 locations in its debut to easily take the No. 2 spot. The critically acclaimed film surged 47 percent from Friday to Saturday as moviegoers flocked to see the period political thriller, about the rescue of six Americans during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.

Affleck both directed and stars in the $44 million film, which received a glowing A+ CinemaScore, guaranteeing a long run for the film throughout awards season.

The movie's opening weekend was fueled by older moviegoers -- 93 percent of the audience was over the age of 25, and 52 percent over the age of 50 -- but Warners is confident the audience will expand. In terms of gender, 54 percent were females.

"Good movies rise to the occasion. Both 'The Town' (also directed by Affleck) and 'Gran Torino' played older initially and then turned into four-quadrant movies," Warners president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said.

Based on the true story of the rescue of six Americans hiding out at the Canadian Embassy during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, "Argo" also headlines Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman. The film chronicles how the Americans were able to escape Iran after the CIA and specialist Tony Mendez, played by Affleck, staged a fake movie production as a cover.

GK Films and Smokehouse, George Clooney and Grant Heslov's former production company, produced "Argo."

Q&A: "Argo's" Bryan Cranston on CIA secrets, Ben Affleck's directing style

Summit Entertainment's pre-Halloween pic "Sinister" also overperformed, taking the No. 3 spot with $18.3 million from 2,527 theaters. The pic is the most profitable of the weekend, considering it cost under $3 million to make.

The R-rated "Sinister" marks another victory for uber horror producer Jason Blum and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones' Automatik, a joint venture between IM Global and Alliance. They produced alongside the film's writer and director, Scott Derrickson ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose"). The film stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer whose family is plunged into danger after he finds a box of gruesome home movies.

"Whenever you overperform industry expectations, it's always a nice thing," Lionsgate executive president of distribution David Spitz.

Sinister, receiving a C+ CinemaScore, common for a horror film, skewed slightly male (54 percent), while two-thirds of the audience was between the ages of 18 and 34.

Sony's animated hit "Hotel Transylvania" showed no signs of slowing down in its third weekend as it jumped the $100 million mark, grossing $17.3 million to come in No. 4. The film's domestic cume is $102.2 million; internationally, it's also overperforming and has grossed $49.3 million through Sunday from a total of 24 markets.

"'Hotel Transylvania' is performing beyond anyone's imagination, and the holds are ridiculous. It exceeds expectations in every new market it opens in," Sony president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer said.

STORY: Horror watch: 16 spooky movie choices for Halloween at home

"Hotel Transylvania" even beat new Sony family comedy "Here Comes the Boom," starring Kevin James (also a voice lead in "Hotel Transylvania") and Salma Hayek. The pic, produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison, grossed a soft $12 million from 3,014 theaters to place No. 5. The film did receive an A CinemaScore.

CBS Films' dark comedy "Seven Psychopaths," only opening in 1,480 locations, slightly underperformed in grossing $4.3 million to place No. 9. A favorite on the festival circuit, the pic stars?Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken and Abbie Cornish.

Saturday's live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera's "L'Elisir d'Amore" placed No. 10 with $2.3 million from 900 theaters. The broadcast kicks off the seventh season of "The Met: Live in HD" program.

Summit's specialty pic "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" placed No. 11 as it expanded into a total of 726 theaters, grossing $2.2 million for a pleasing cume of $6.2 million.

Conservative offering "Atlas Shrugged: Part II" came in No. 12 in its debut, grossing $1.7 million from 1,071 theaters.

Related content:

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/14/14432028-taken-2-proves-unstoppable-at-box-office-for-second-week-argo-in-close-second?lite

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