A Democratic candidate for Congress in Arizona says she was attacked and raped by two men while checking campaign signs late at night.

Bernadette Greene-Placentia, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, told deputies the alleged assault occurred between 2 and 3 a.m. on August 14, 2026.

According to a report from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Greene-Placentia said she had been putting up or repairing signs along the roadside before walking back to her vehicle. She described the late-night work as part of her usual campaign routine.

The allegations have not been tested in court. Authorities have not identified or arrested any suspects in connection with the reported attack.

Greene-Placentia told investigators that two unidentified men struck her in the back of the head as she headed toward her car, leaving her unconscious.

She said she later regained consciousness while one of the men was sexually assaulting her and holding her down.

The sheriff’s report states that she woke to the pain of one of the men withdrawing after sexually assaulting her while she was restrained.

She told deputies that the second man then sexually assaulted her.

Greene-Placentia told deputies she tried to fight back during the alleged assault, kicking her feet in an effort to resist.

She also recalled one of the men making a remark to the effect of “not f****** worth it,” according to the report.

She further reported that one of the suspects allegedly referred to her as a “democratic b****.”

Investigators said she could not provide detailed descriptions of either man.

She did remember that one suspect wore black boots and appeared to have small feet.

Greene-Placentia later told an officer that she did not seek immediate medical care or undergo a forensic examination following the alleged assault.

She said she initially tried to block out what had happened and did not tell anyone for several days. In the immediate aftermath, she took three showers and a bath.

Greene-Placentia was “missing in action” for two days after the alleged attack, her husband, Alex Placentia, and campaign manager Isaiah Lopez told The Phoenix New Times.

Greene-Placentia stayed at her apartment in her district while her husband called her several times from their home.

When Placentia called, she was repeatedly in the bath and at times was ‘being nauseous on the phone,’ he recalled.

Placentia said it was unusual for him to go two days without seeing his wife.

He admitted that he was hurt by the distance and began wondering whether she was hiding something from him.

On Sunday, she finally disclosed the alleged assault to campaign staff and told her husband the following day.

She told the officer she waited two to three days before confiding in her husband.

Greene-Placentia has said she believes she suffered a concussion and was covered in bruises after the attack.

The police report also noted that she reported vaginal bleeding for several days afterward.

She did not report the alleged assault to law enforcement until roughly two weeks later, later explaining that she felt embarrassed and wanted to forget what had happened before ultimately deciding to come forward publicly.

Her campaign communications director, Craig Beckman, told the Daily Mail that speaking publicly about the alleged assault has been difficult for Greene-Placentia, but she decided to share her story because she knows many survivors struggle in silence.

‘Bernadette is still processing the trauma of the assault, but she understands the importance of having these conversations.’

 In the days and weeks after the alleged assault, Greene-Placentia said she became ‘a very angry person,’ while her husband recalled her cycling through ‘crying times and angry times.’

She told her husband and campaign manager that she wanted a ‘f****** rematch’ with the men she says attacked her.

‘I want to call them out. I want to like go on TV and say, ‘Let’s go again and don’t come at me from behind,’ she recalled to the Phoenix New Times.

At one point, her campaign even held a staff meeting at a gun range after she said she wanted to shoot something.

‘I know that sounds crazy,’ she said. ‘But I was just mad.’ 

Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct and improper campaign spending this year, said he was ‘absolutely heartbroken’ by the news and commended her bravery.

‘We cannot tolerate political or sexual violence in any form. Those responsible must be held accountable,’ he wrote on X.

‘Thank you for speaking out, Bernadette. We’re with you.’

Sam Wood’s stepdaughter, Eve Markoski-Wood, posted a cryptic message about regretting a social encounter just hours after the former The Bachelor star was arrested and charged over an alleged domestic violence incident.

Wood, 46, married Eve’s mother, Snezana Markoski, three years after the pair met on the Channel Ten dating show in 2015. He has since been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation in a domestic setting.

Police and paramedics were called to the La Mer luxury holiday villa in Noosa, which reportedly costs $3,000 a night, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on Saturday evening.

A woman was taken from the property by ambulance, while Wood was questioned by police at about 9pm before being transported to the Maroochydore Watchhouse.

Wood was reportedly staying at the beachfront Hastings Street resort with Snezana, their three young daughters and his 21-year-old stepdaughter, Eve.

On Sunday, Eve—who until recently frequently documented her close bond with her stepfather online—reposted a video on TikTok.

The seemingly innocuous clip shows a group of people gathered inside a house, accompanied by the caption: ‘Do you ever leave a social situation and you’re just like hmm that was not my best work.’

There is no suggestion that the original video related to Wood. However, the timing of Eve’s repost has attracted attention because she has otherwise remained notably quiet on social media since her stepfather was charged.

Eve is typically an active social media user and had been regularly posting updates about her life in the days before the alleged incident.

After returning from an extended European trip, she told followers that she was spending a week in Noosa with her mother, Snezana, and the rest of the family.

In the lead-up to Wood’s arrest, Eve shared fashion and lifestyle content, including footage filmed by her mother while she modelled different outfits for her audience.

That regular stream of posts stopped abruptly after the alleged incident. Apart from TikTok reposts, Eve has not published further public content.

The precise events that preceded Wood’s arrest have not been disclosed and are expected to emerge during his bail application on Thursday.

Wood remains in custody at the Maroochydore Watchhouse on the Sunshine Coast, a short-term facility for people awaiting processing or their first court appearance.

When the matter was before Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday, his lawyer, Mathew Cuskelly, confirmed Wood would apply for bail.

Wood did not appear in person due to ‘mental health concerns’, the Mail understands.

‘He’s simply worried about his family. A bail application will be heard on Thursday,’ he said, adding: ‘The charges will be defended.’

Wood earned a national profile as a star of The Bachelor’s third season in 2015, during which he met his wife, Snezana.

He later launched the successful home fitness business 28 By Sam Wood and sold it in 2022 for $72million, but remained the face of the online platform.

But on Tuesday, the entrepreneur was sacked from the wellness company, with his contract officially terminated by its owner, DBG Health.

In addition to the fitness empire parting ways with Wood, other companies and celebrities are also following suit.

Pre-packaged meal company Foxes Den cut ties with Wood on Monday after having worked with him for the last six years.

Celebrity trainer Tiffiny Hall, who had strong links to the fitness and nutrition empire, also confirmed she was no longer affiliated with the brand.

It comes after Eve’s biological father, from whom she was reportedly estranged, told the Mail they had been in contact since Wood was charged with DV offences. 

Perth-based Jason Rapoff, who is a paraplegic after breaking his back in a dirt bike accident when Eve was an infant, confirmed on Tuesday morning that he had been in contact with his daughter via phone.

‘Nah, I’ve spoken to her,’ he said, when asked if he was concerned for his daughter.

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Mr Rapoff’s mother Sophia, also based in Perth, reiterated that her granddaughter was ‘doing fine’ after charges were laid against her stepfather.

‘I don’t know what was discussed [between Jason and Eve] and he will not talk to anybody,’ Ms Rapoff said.

‘He has been in touch with Eve – she is fine. That’s all we’re concerned about.’

Ms Rapoff also told the Mail that vile false theories had been circulating on Facebook suggesting her wheelchair-bound son was somehow involved.

That, of course, would be impossible: Jason Rapoff is not in regular contact with his daughter and was on the other side of the country at the time.

‘Some people are saying, “Oh, it might have been him!” He’s 5,000km away.’

Ms Rapoff said she was still reeling over the arrest of her granddaughter’s stepfather. 

‘I actually could not believe it. It’s the last thing you would ever think. They [Sam and Snezana] have got everything. They look happy.’

Ms Rapoff said she hadn’t seen Eve since Christmas 2019 ‘due to Covid, and then she moved to New York’.

Eve is studying fashion and business at the Parsons School of Design and New York University, but she currently lists her location on Instagram as Noosa.

‘She’s doing well for herself, which is good,’ Ms Rapoff added.

It follows Noosa neighbours recalling the frantic moments emergency services descended on the beach holiday property on Saturday.

Guests at nearby units, who did not want to be named, told the Mail they first became aware something was wrong when police and paramedics arrived at the complex that night.

One guest said she had not heard any disturbance beforehand but saw a woman let paramedics into the Woods’ $3,000-a-night apartment.

A woman was later taken away by paramedics.

The guest also witnessed Wood being questioned by police at around 9pm before he was arrested and taken to the Maroochydore Watchhouse.

‘Police have charged a 46-year-old Victorian man with domestic violence offences early this morning, 4 October,’ a police spokesperson said.

‘The man has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and strangulation in a domestic setting.’

Another two witnesses told the Mail they saw police and an ambulance outside La Mer ‘after dinner in the late evening’.

A male guest said he had seen the Woods at the apartment during their stay but did not witness any altercations or arguments.

Another female guest said Wood’s youngest child had sleepwalked and left the room during the family’s stay.

She said the family packed up and left their apartment later that night after Wood was taken away by police.

It’s believed that the Wood family has returned to Victoria since Sam’s arrest.

Snezana is believed to be bunkering down at one of the family’s Melbourne homes, with the two youngest children reportedly sighted at a rental property in Brighton.

They are said to have attended school as usual on Tuesday, having been escorted by two women.

On Tuesday, neighbours noted that a CCTV camera had been installed overnight at the multimillion-dollar home the family are believed to be renting while another property they own in the suburb undergoes renovations.

Family associates were allegedly seen performing ‘decoy drives’ around the block to avoid being tailed by the media. 

A Brighton neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the family were ‘absolutely private’ but also ‘nice people’. 

She said she was ‘shocked’ to see her neighbours featured on the 6pm news.

‘She was a nice woman, they were nice people. Anything you want, anything you need, [they’d help],’ the neighbour told the Daily Mail.

The neighbour also described Wood as a ‘very nice man’.

‘One time, he asked me, “What are you looking at?” because my gate was closed, it was cold and I couldn’t get in, so he helped me. He jumped over the gate and let me in. A very nice man. He said, “Any time you need anything, just ask.” And then I see him on the news. I was shocked.’

The neighbour said she hadn’t seen Snezana in several days.

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is facing allegations that he disregarded serious security warnings before entering a high-risk area of Ukraine, where a Russian strike killed two members of his team and left him critically injured.

The claims form part of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the parents of 24-year-old Ukrainian producer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, who was killed in March 2022 alongside longtime Fox cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski.

Two security advisers who worked with Fox News in Ukraine have supported important parts of the family’s account. Speaking to NPR, they said the network and Hall had received repeated instructions to avoid the area northwest of Kyiv because of the escalating danger.

Former Fox security adviser Aaron King told NPR that, in his view, “If you took Benji out of the equation, this never would have happened.”

Fox News has strongly rejected the accusations, saying it plans to “respectfully defend against the inaccurate claims within this lawsuit.”

The network has also maintained that protecting its journalists “has always been our number one priority.”

There Was No Way We Were Going There 

Hall has previously recalled believing that the crew was traveling to a location that would be considerably safer than the area they ultimately reached.

The British-American journalist nearly died in the March 14, 2022 attack. He suffered devastating injuries, including the loss of his right leg below the knee, most of his left foot and part of one eye.

Kuvshynova and Zakrzewski died in the attack, as did two Ukrainian soldiers who were traveling with the journalists.

The assignment took place as warnings about the territory northwest of Kyiv grew increasingly urgent, with Russian forces advancing through the region.

Just one day earlier, American documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud had been shot and killed in Irpin. The city’s mayor then issued a public warning urging journalists not to enter the area.

Shane Thomson, a security adviser who later joined Kuvshynova’s parents in their lawsuit, said the threat level was unmistakable.

“There was no way we were going there,” Thomson told NPR, referring to the security intelligence available at the time. “No way. Not after the credible intel, what we had and everything what we had before. It was all on point. There’s nothing, no gray areas.”

Patently and Knowingly False 

According to the lawsuit, the guidance given at a Fox security meeting the night before the assignment was equally direct: crews were instructed to stay inside Kyiv’s city limits.

The following morning, Hall, Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova left to record defensive trenches reportedly being built within the Ukrainian capital.

Hall has said the team’s “explicit intention was to avoid the front lines, stay clear of active fighting, remain within the city’s borders.”

But when Ukrainian troops refused to let them film at the trenches, the plan changed.

Two Ukrainian soldiers accompanying them suggested traveling to Horenka, a nearby suburb that had been devastated by Russian forces.

Hall later wrote that the crew understood Russian troops to be at least 30 miles away.

Fox’s attorneys have acknowledged in a court filing that Hall believed the location was safer than it really was and that he and the Ukrainian soldiers were wrong.

The family’s lawyers go much further and argue that Hall’s account was ‘patently and knowingly false.’

Their lawsuit also claims the crew’s security adviser gave Hall specific instructions not to travel anywhere that had not undergone a proper security assessment or venture beyond the checkpoint inside Kyiv where they had originally intended to film.

Reverse the Car! 

Hall’s team nevertheless traveled beyond the checkpoint and city limits, according to NPR.

As they returned toward Kyiv after filming scenes of destruction, disaster struck.

‘The first missile came out of nowhere, lands about 30 feet in front of us,’ Hall later recalled in an interview with Sean Hannity.

He said Zakrzewski screamed: “Reverse the car! Reverse the car!” The vehicle became stuck.

‘Pierre shouted, ‘Get out of the car! Everyone, get out of the car!’ And the next second, the second bomb hits right in front of the left of the car. And that one, I went black.’

Zakrzewski managed to escape the vehicle but suffered a devastating leg wound and bled to death beside the road, according to his widow’s lawsuit.

Kuvshynova and the two Ukrainian soldiers never managed to escape the vehicle.

Hall was eventually found alive and was evacuated from Ukraine before receiving extensive medical treatment.

In the Dark 

Kuvshynova’s devastated parents say they were left largely in the dark about their daughter’s fate.

They claim nobody from Fox contacted them on the day of the attack and that it was Kuvshynova’s boyfriend, Ukrainian lawmaker Sviatoslav Yurash, who ultimately told them she had been killed.

Her father later retraced the crew’s route and said a Ukrainian commander told him that Hall had been warned not to continue beyond the checkpoint but had done so anyway.

The family was told 48 hours after the strike that Kuvshynova’s remains were in a morgue. Her father said her body was so badly burned they initially identified her from her clothes, with DNA testing later confirming her death.

Days later, Fox offered the family payment covering wages and benefits, funeral expenses and an additional sum approximating life-insurance proceeds.

Fox says the payment exceeded what it was contractually required to provide and was offered ‘as a show of sympathy and goodwill.’

The network argues a document subsequently signed by Kuvshynova’s father released it from legal responsibility, calling the agreement ‘the beginning and the end of the case.’

But the family argues they did not understand what they were signing amid the chaos of Russia’s invasion and the unimaginable grief of losing their daughter.

‘I did not know the extent Fox was at fault,’ Kuvshynova’s father said in a sworn affidavit.

A New York judge has allowed significant portions of the case to proceed to discovery, potentially giving the family’s lawyers access to internal Fox correspondence and other evidence.

Grave Injustice 

Judge Mary V. Rosado said it would be ‘a grave injustice’ to prevent the parents from investigating whether they had been told the truth about their daughter’s death.

Meanwhile, Zakrzewski’s widow Michelle Ross-Stanton is pursuing a separate case in Britain. 

NPR reported that an earlier Washington Post story said she was seeking more than $11 million in compensation over allegations that Fox failed to adequately protect and insure her husband.

Fox continues to deny responsibility for the tragedy.

Kuvshynova’s parents insist their fight is about far more than money.

‘Fox treated us shamefully because they didn’t consider us and didn’t respect us,’ her mother, Iryna Mamaysur, told NPR.

‘This world has lost Oleksandra Kuvshynova – a musician, a poet, an athlete, a photographer and the best daughter. It lost my love.’

The BBC’s new director-general has faced criticism after delivering what staff described as a “cringeworthy” David Brent-style pep talk, urging employees to be “more Elvis”.

Insiders branded Matt Brittin “tone-deaf” over the remark, made as the BBC advances plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs. BBC Three and BBC Scotland could also be taken off air and moved online as part of a drive to save £500million.

Mr Brittin told staff that he wanted the broadcaster to “be more Elvis”, a reference to the singer’s lyric “a little less conversation, a little more action”, as employees face the prospect of widespread redundancies.

An audio recording has revealed that the former Google chief executive made the comment during an online staff meeting. He was presenting potential new iPlayer features in an apparent attempt to boost morale.

During the call, Mr Brittin, 58, acknowledged that the BBC was “going to be smaller”, but argued that it could achieve greater impact by becoming “a bit more Elvis – a little less conversation, a little more action”.

He told employees: “I’d like us to celebrate activity less and outcomes more. And getting faster to outcomes that make a difference to an audience.

“Not [just], ‘We did this great marketing campaign’ but, actually, ‘it drove up watch time usage and active accounts’ – right? Or ‘we did this piece of journalism and it changed the law, and it landed with these audiences’.”

According to the recording, obtained by Deadline, he also said the BBC needed to rethink fundamentally how it served audiences online. He urged the corporation to recognise that digital, rather than traditional broadcasting, “can be flagship”, while accepting that it was acceptable to “experiment and fail”.

Mr Brittin appeared to present iPlayer as central to the BBC’s future. During the meeting, staff were shown a version of the platform featuring a new artificial intelligence tool called Iggy.

The feature will allow users to request similar programmes or find shows in other languages. Mr Brittin said he hoped it would prompt the public to say: “iPlayer and chill”.

The phrase is likely to have raised eyebrows among those listening, as it echoes “Netflix and chill” – an expression that has become a widely used euphemism for casual sex.

One source compared Mr Brittin with Brent, the hapless manager played by Ricky Gervais in the sitcom The Office. Speaking to the Mail, the source said: “It’s completely tone-deaf to use meaningless and utterly cringeworthy ‘buzzwords’ to try to rally support for the future at the BBC when there won’t be one for many soon.”

The comments come as hundreds of BBC jobs remain at risk and staff wait anxiously to learn whether BBC Three and BBC Scotland will be shut down.

Mr Brittin’s proposals were met with hostility from increasingly frustrated employees, who challenged him over the corporation’s continuing job cuts.

The BBC is continuing to set out details of a plan to eliminate as many as 2,000 roles in an effort to save £500million.

Several staff members on the call alleged that executives were being protected while junior employees bore the brunt of the reductions.

One employee described the BBC as “an incredibly top-heavy organisation” and asked whether senior management would be affected by the redundancies, before adding: “All the ‘doers’ are getting cut.”

‘I don’t want to hear about savings when bosses get huge salaries,’ another participant argued.

Rhodri Talfan Davies, the deputy director general, said senior roles would also be affected by the staffing cuts. 

‘We are expecting changes at all levels of the organisation,’ he said. ‘So there isn’t a cohort of senior leaders that are excluded from this process. 

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‘I think when we look back at the changes that have been introduced, you’ll probably see that it’s at the most senior levels that some of the steeper reductions have happened.’

More announcements on cuts are due to come in the next few days.  

Axing BBC Three and BBC Scotland – which have been performing badly – is expected to be the next move of the corporation’s plan to save money.

It will no doubt be a major blow to audiences as BBC Three is home to beloved shows such as lockdown hit Normal People, Ruth Jones and James Corden’s comedy series Gavin And Stacey, and Killing Eve.

The channel’s highest-rating show this week was Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over which, despite being broadcast in a primetime slot, netted just 74,000 viewers.

Cuts are closing in fast on BBC Three as it was announced last month that financial difficulties were forcing the channel to cancel RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

It’s an even more abysmal picture at BBC Scotland, launched in 2019, after the BBC’s latest annual report in March revealed just 12 per cent of people in the country watched the channel live.

It has received up to £250million in funding since its launch but has failed to attract large audiences.

Its flagship news programme, The Nine, was scrapped two years ago after episodes drew as few as 1,700 viewers.

In June, bosses announced it was cutting 60 jobs in Scotland to save £10million.

Mr Brittin, who was named director general in May after Tim Davie stepped down, has long preached that linear TV and radio services may have to shut as audiences choose digital.

Rumours began to swirl about BBC Three and BBC Scotland when an email was sent last week from the director of iPlayer and Channels division, Dan McGolpin, calling for expressions of interest across the department in taking voluntary redundancy.

He said the plan was to ‘mitigate the number of [enforced] redundancies’ including sounding out staff interest about job-sharing arrangements, a reduction in hours, and ‘relocating to another BBC base across the UK’.

Insiders at the Beeb have revealed to the Daily Mail that staffers at Radio 1 and Radio 2 are also bracing themselves for devastating job losses expected shortly.

A source said: ‘Morale is very very low across R1 and R2 [Radio 1 and Radio 2]. People are fearful they are going to lose their jobs today.

‘It’s set to be an absolute bloodbath, with talk of studio managers being cut from Radio 2, with presenters having to do the desk themselves.

‘And over at Radio 1 it’s the assistant producers who are facing the axe because the shows are going to be so simplified, they won’t need them. It’s abysmal.’

Radio 4 has already faced a round of redundancies in June as six shows, including the World Tonight and the Midnight News, are being cancelled from early next year.

Its flagship show, The Today Programme, reduced its permanent presenters from five to four last month, and only one anchor presents on Saturdays.

Elsewhere in television, the BBC has been seemingly ruthless in its recent spate of cancellations in a bid to meet its savings target of £500million in the next three years.

BBC Sport is cutting 41 roles and has scrapped its lunchtime and overnight bulletins, in an attempt to make a saving of £2,6million.

Fans of Winterwatch were left devastated when the programme was scrapped this year after a 14-year run, similarly comedy show Live at the Apollo which has been axed after 22 years.

Light entertainment shows Blankety Blank and Celebrity Mastermind have also been cancelled, leaving producers and showrunners fearful of what will be next.